ã€ŠMy Soul card is a Reaperã€‹


 Chapter 1: Azrael Garcia

    "Soul Card. An existence that''s present in all human beings living in the world of Gaia.

    The major functionality of the card is to gather the power of one''s soul that''s hidden inside of it, and with its help, the user can bring out his strength to the world.

    While everyone is born with a soul card, but only a few special individuals, one out of a thousand can awaken their power. Such beings are known as Arcana Masters.

    And the representation of their power is known as Arcana.

    Arcana is divided into three categories, namely, the tool type Arcana, beast type Arcana, and plant type Arcana. For the past hundred thousand years of civilization, there''s never a human who was able to awaken any other type other than those three.

    Yet, there exists a clan that hid itself from society for thousands of years that possess such type of exception in the form of their clan leader. It''s the Death clan, a clan that existed solely to maintain the balance between life and death."

    "Teacher, how is it possible for such a clan was able to stay hidden even to date?" A kid asked a young man, who looks like he''s in his late 20s but in truth, he''s more than 1000 years old.

    The teacher shook his head with a sigh, "No, it no longer exists. The clan collapsed after their clan leader went missing, five hundred years ago."

    An eight-year-old girl raised her hand, and asked, "Teacher, I heard that Death clan''s last clan leader, the legendary Azrael Garcia is one of our alumni. Can you tell us about him?"

    "Azrael?" A lot of scenes appeared in his head.

    Looking at the students who seemed very interested as soon as the name up by the Moon clan''s princess, the teacher nodded in agreement. "Yes, he was a student at this school, a thousand years ago. He is..."

    *Tring*

    The bell rang, reminding him that the class is over.

    As soon as he heard it, the young man stopped his lesson and started to take the books before leaving away. Suddenly remembering something, he turned towards the students and spoke, "By the way, the school trip to the Arcana world is decided in the first week of the next month."

    The class erupted in cheers with excitement, hearing the good news.

    Leaving the class, the teacher glanced in a certain direction and mumbled, "When are you going to return, Azzy? Are you even alive?"

    1000 years ago;

    Southern Qudour Nation, Luzurian Province;

    Town of Sliya. A small town located at the banks of a river with a population of little over fifty thousand, filled with common people who aren''t blessed with enough soul power.

    And yet, there''s a hall of Arcana, constructed in the town to test everyone''s soul power only because of the fact that a living seven-star Arcana Master once hailed from this town, several centuries ago.

    Even though, a couple of talented kids appear every year, alas, none of them were able to break past the four-star and increase their lifespan. As a result, they just disappear in history.

    It was the last day of the year.

    People of the town are decorating their houses and the town administration is busy with cleaning the snow on the streets just like every year.

    On the west side of the town, where most residences are located, there''s a large house built with even a courtyard, which seemed a bit out of place when compared to the surrounding residences.

    One look at it, anyone can figure out that the people living in the house are very rich.

    All people in the town respects the family not because they are rich but because of another reason.

    The family that resides in the house belongs to the only 4-star healer in the town, who heals every patient without taking a single copper coin as a fee.

    "Grandpa, look. I did it." An eight-year-old boy spoke with excitement, wiping off his sweat.

    His skin was a healthy wheat color, his black short hair appeared very neat, and his clothes, though simple, were clean.

    "Good job, Azzy. You are progressing very well." The grandfather smiled widely, feeling proud of his grandson.

    "I don''t think I''m talented as you, grandpa," replied the boy. He took out a recovery card from the basket beside him and recovered his soul power.

    "Next."

    Filling his soul power, the boy took out a basic healing card from the basket and placed it on the forehead of the next patient who seemed to be suffering from high fever.

    "Heal." The boy spoke without taking any rest.

    Visible green energy erupted from the card and started flowing into the girl''s body while the boy is concentrating on directing the energy to remove the illness.

    As the card disappeared, her body''s temperature became normal while his soul power became empty once again.

    A few hours later;

    "Phew" The boy wiped his sweat once again. His hands started to shake a bit.

    "Take rest, Azzy." The four-star healer said, after realizing his grandson''s condition.

    The boy lies on the floor, mumbled as he stared at the ceiling. "I wonder what will awaken on my soul card."

    "What are you wishing for?" The grandpa asked, hoping to hear something pleasant like a Unicorn, the beast that''ll be helpful for a healer or maybe, something like a Ginseng that''ll increase healing efficiency.

    It was known that once, a seven-star healer with a unicorn as his Arcana can revive the dead within a certain time limit. That''s why Arcana masters with Unicorn beast type Arcana will be sought out by the Empire.

    The boy replies, "maybe, a tool type Arcana."

    "Huh!" His grandfather was taken aback by his response, remembering something.

    Meanwhile, the next patient that entered the room and the boy''s attention shifted to him for a second.

    A dark aura surrounded the old man, who was carried by his two sons.

    "There''s no use in saving him," a mumble escape from the boy.

    "Hmm, what did you say?" asked the grandfather.

    "Nothing." The boy turned his body to the side and mumbled to himself again as he closed his eyes, "not again."

    The day went by with everyone celebrating the last day of the year and getting ready to welcome the New Year.

    As the first day of the New Year arrived, the streets were once again bustling with crowds. Parents are accompanying their kids to the Hall of Arcana, where a three-star Arcana Master appointed by the Mayor of the nearby city will arrive and test them with an Awakening scroll.

    It''s also called the ''Awakening ceremony''. Children ranging from eight to twelve years of age from nearby villages and towns will come here every year on this day, to awaken their soul card.

    Those who were able to acquire Arcana will be recommended to Larnwick academy and those who only get a blank soul card will be returning to their ordinary lives.

    "State your name and age." The Three-star Arcana Master asked the boy.

    "Azrael, eight years old"

    Upon hearing the name without any surname for the nth time, the Arcana Master sighed, ''another commoner¡­ I thought this kid is noble judging by how everyone outside is respecting his grandfather and gave their spot to the kid. I was a fool to even think that a noble is living in his shabby town. Or maybe, this kid isn''t his real grandson¡­''

    "Mister¡­" Reaching his hand, Azrael called out, to bring him back to reality.

    The Arcana Master told the boy to place his hands on the scroll.

    As he made an incantation, Azrael heard his heartbeat loud and clear at once before feeling something warm in his chest.

    His surroundings were replaced by the scenery. The boy was standing at the edge of a cliff, staring at the barren land filled with countless corpses while dozens of black lightning struck continuously with clouds covering all over the sky.

    Slowly, a dark aura started releasing from them and formed a Giant specter with a skull and skeleton body.

    It has a long, black cloak. The cloak wraps all the way around the specter''s body and shrouds his face beneath a deep hood, loose and tattered.

    The creature carries a strange weapon in its right hand. It''s a long pole with a curved blade fixed to the top, almost like a scythe the farmer used to harvest the crops but only that this seems bigger, not as curvy as them.

    An hourglass is hanging around his waist with the help of a rope.

    Looking at the specter before him, fear enveloped Azrael and his whole body started shivering.

    Then, the creature spouted a few words.

    "Azrael Garcia, Child of the Death Clan, receive my power."

 Chapter 2: A Scythe and a Hourglass

    "Azrael Garcia, Child of the Death Clan, receive my power."

    The boy was stunned upon hearing the words of the specter.

    There''s a blinding flash before him.

    Coming back to reality, Azrael closed his eyes, instinctively covering them with his right hand, felt a heaviness in his left hand, followed by hearing a sound as if something metal struck the floor.

    Meanwhile, he also felt he grabbed something with his right hand.

    Opening his eyes, the boy saw the scythe in his left hand, which looks identical to the weapon that was carried by the strange creature he saw during his awakening.

    Meanwhile, in his right hand, there''s an hourglass, which contains white sand.

    Looking at the two weapons in each hand, the examiner was stupefied in a shock, ''a twin Arcana?''

    But, as his attention placed on the white soul card, he immediately shook his head and dispelled such thought.

    ''No, there''s only one soul card. Both of them must be a set. Then, again, this intensity¡­''

    He stared at the scythe in Azrael''s left hand and thought, ''that weapon must be atleast of purple-grade quality. On the other hand¡­''

    Then, he turned towards the Hourglass, ''this one emits nothing. Strong should smell like strong and weak should smell like weak.

    But, this one smells like nothing. Strange, indeed. I should ask the Master about it.''

    After inspecting the weapons, he then looked at the boy, ''Can''t believe I was able to find a gem in such a small town.''

    At the same time, Azrael is also stunned, although for a different reason.

    As he caught the floating soul card, he saw the ghoulish humanoid creature''s picture on the card, instead of the scythe and the hourglass.

    ''A beast type? I thought I awakened an Arcana weapon. No, this isn''t a beast type. It resembles a human, except that it''s a skeleton. Necromancy? No, it isn''t...''

    Then, remembering the words of the specter, the boy fell into deep thoughts, ''Wait a second. The skeleton addressed me as Azrael Garcia. I have a last name?''

    "Congratulations, Azrael. You have awakened a strong tool-set type Arcana in your soul card." A voice resounded across the chamber, bringing him back to reality.

    "Thank you." Azrael bowed in response and both of the weapons disappeared from his hands along with the soul card with just a thought, surprising the examiner even more.

    The examiner then took a form out of nowhere and handed it to him, "You can go and sit in the corner and fill this form."

    "Next"

    Despite being a first-grade student, he filled the form without any external help and quickly handed it to the examiner after another awakening ceremony is finished.

    The examiner, who was brimming with happiness, started thinking of how he will be rewarded for scouting a high potential candidate, spoke, "the letter from the academy will reach your house in a week."

    Azrael gave a simple nod in response, starting to get uncomfortable for some reason, suddenly.

    Meanwhile, the Arcana Master continued after sending away another failure, "The academy of Larnwick starts in the first week of April. So, you can''t write final exams at your school.

    It''s better for you to drop out of school and focus on training for the next four months.

    Let me tell you something important. Assigning of the classes will be decided by test results on the first day.

    So, you should atleast become a 1-star master to get into the top class."

    Azrael nodded, "I understand."

    The Arcana Master was taken aback by his change in tone before calling the next person to enter.

    As he left the chamber, he deeply frowned while feeling extremely uncomfortable as if his body whole body is itching for something but it is unknown what it is craving for¡­

    Leaving the hall, he quickly found his grandfather who was busy chatting with fellow townsmen.

    "Grandpa." A cold voice resounded across the hall, scaring a few children of the same age.

    His Grandfather, Oakley frowned at first but then, misunderstanding that his grandson might have turned out to be a blank, he quickly left the group and left the hall amid gazes of everyone who shake their heads with a sigh.

    As Azrael sit in the back seat in silence, the grandpa started to drive towards his home.

    It wasn''t until they reach the home did Oakley asked the boy about his awakening.

    "No, I didn''t awaken a blank soul card," replied the boy.

    "Then, did you get a weak plant type Arcana?"

    Azrael shook his head, "No. The examiner said mine is a strong one. See¡­"

    With just a single thought in mind, a scythe with a long handle appeared in his left hand while an hourglass appeared in his right.

    All of a sudden, a strange silence enveloped the house of four-star Arcana master Oakley as he stared at the scythe and the hourglass in the hands of his precious grandson.

    When he saw the scythe, his expression changed to that of serious but when his eyes landed on the hourglass, the old man almost lost his balance for a second.

    "Grandpa, Are you alright?" Little Azrael asked in worry but his eyes and his tone appeared rather indifferent.

    "I''m fine." Oakley then knelt to the boy''s height and inspected carefully the hourglass after asking him, especially the pure white sand inside of it.

    "Sands of time. No way¡­" whispered Oakley before he shouted, "Ethar."

    "Yes, milord." As soon as his name was heard, he appeared beside them.

    "Quickly, bring the book of Death from my room. It is located in the third drawer of my desk." Oakley ordered as if he was in a hurry leaving the boy in confusion.

    ''Book of Death? Why does it so sound familiar?'' Then, he remembered the second part of the sentence that the specter spouted. ''That''s right. It called me the Child of the Death clan. Do both of them have any connection?''

    "Milord." The servant reappeared quickly as if he was teleporting to and fro before handing a thick book to the old man.

    Azrael glanced over the book.

    The surface and the pages of the book appeared rather old but the most distinctive feature of the book is the 3D drawing of a skull on its cover.

    The old man continuously turned the pages and stopped at one.

    Then, he started to stare back and forth between the book and the hourglass as if he was comparing the pictures.

    The boy found the smile on his grandfather becoming wider each second as he is reading something and then, closing the book, he saw Oakley closed his eyes and mumbled, "Yes. It''s the sands of time. That means the other one is the Scythe of Death. Finally, after many millenia, it reappeared¡­"

    "What reappeared, grandpa?" Azrael asked him curiously, bringing him back to reality. "What does ''Sands of time'' mean?"

    Instead of answering, Oakley grabbed his grandson''s shoulders and stared into his eyes, "I''ll tell you later. I''m going to visit a place, tomorrow. Until I return, you should stay in home."

    "Where?'' asked Azrael.

    "Home," answered the old man.

    "Huh?"

 Chapter 3: Leaving the Home

    The next day, his grandfather disappeared and the clinic was closed.

    Since he was neither attending the school nor helping out at the clinic, boredom took over Azrael.

    Lying on his bed, he started to think about the events that occurred earlier.

    "Looks like I indeed have a surname. Perhaps the Death clan is one of the noble clans in some kingdom?"

    Everyone knew that only nobles are allowed to have surnames in the continent to distinguish among themselves. If anyone dares to have a surname without any proof, the only thing that awaits them is death.

    Considering how rich they are, Azrael started to wonder whether they are fallen nobles, hiding from their kingdom in this small town. That can also explain why his grandfather is a four-star healer.

    To fulfill his curiosity, he went upstairs to his grandfather''s room and checked the desk.

    ''Third drawer, is it?''

    As he pulled out the drawer, he found the book was placed in it.

    Without touching anything else, he took the book to his room and started reading it.

    ''The Death Clan is one of the nine hidden clans that exist for a hundred thousand years founded by a noble family of the Empire of Arcana.

    Azrael Garcia, also known as the Angel of the Death is the founder of the clan''

    "Oh! I have the same name as the founder. Cool¡­"

    The starting pages of the book told about the origins of the clan, and how it started.

    Then, it tells about the story of the youngest child of the noble family Garcia, who slowly paved his path from a weak kid to one of the Angels.

    Then, it mentions the ten-year war with the demons and Elves that brought the ancient Empire of Arcana to ruins and led the nine noble families, starting a clan to stay hidden for the sake of mankind while new Empires started to rise.

    Because he was still a child, Azrael wasn''t able to understand the meaning behind a lot of words. So, he skipped a lot of things and searched for the information of Hourglass.

    While turning the pages, he stumbled on the scythe''s info.

    "So, my weapon isn''t a simple scythe but a death scythe, huh. Let''s see¡­"

    As he proceeds to read the abilities of the death scythe that their founder has, Azrael was taken aback, "this¡­ No wonder it is called the death scythe. If my weapon is the same one, then, my soul skills will be also the same, right?"

    For an eight-year-old bright kid, who learned that his weapon isn''t used for protecting but solely based on killing, it should be a heavy shock that can shake his heart.

    On the contrary, Azrael was calm and collected. He frowned as he felt it was normal.

    "Ever since the awakening ceremony, something changed in me."

    Only then did he realize the changes in him must have been because of the awakening ceremony.

    But, he still didn''t realize how he was changed though.

    Putting aside those thoughts, for now, he continued to read the book.

    The next page has information about the Death skull, which was used by one of the clan heads.

    Then, it has the Death Note, which was used by another clan head. Then, a Sword of Death, Cerberus, Ghostly and skeleton version of beasts like Ghostly horse, skeletal dragon, etc¡­

    The series of pages contains various Arcana used by the past clan heads.

    Azrael found one more peculiar thing. Many Arcana weapons are repeated with the same set of soul skills, which kinda confused him a bit as they weren''t supposed to be.

    One more thing that surprised the boy is that many clan heads also have humanoid creatures like the Lich, Death Knight, Skeleton, all of which have necromancy skills.

    But, strangely, they were stopped after the Hourglass. Suddenly, Arcana like healing plants like Ginseng, and healing beasts like Unicorn, etc... started to show up in the book. Several generations of clan heads possessed healing Arcana instead of the dark-type.

    As he proceed to turn the pages, he finally stumbled on the Arcana of the Grim Reaper, which has an identical appearance as his'' Arcana.

    Azrael was stunned as he saw it. After reading its info, he can''t help but let out a comment, "Am I the incarnation of the founder or something?"

    Three weeks went by. His grandfather never returned. Azrael, who was forbidden to go outside, let alone school, spent his time at home.

    Because the clinic is closed for a while, a lot of townsmen come to the house and inquire about it.

    Azrael doesn''t have any idea what to explain while the servants are silent as usual.

    Since his friends from the school are never allowed into the compound, Azrael also began to feel bored after watching a few episodes of cartoons.

    This is one another change he discovered after the awakening. He no longer felt interested in television except for the news channel.

    So, he started to read books available in the house, in the hopes of finding a way to train his soul card. Unfortunately, none of those books he read have those things.

    It was only after he asked Ethar to buy a guidebook; he understood that such things aren''t permitted to sell outside. They are monopolized by the recognized schools in the cities or the nobles.

    The only option for a commoner to train is either by hiring an Arcana master, learning from his/her parents, or by attending a recognized school.

    Azrael then tried his luck, asking their butler, Ethar, who himself is a 6-star Arcana Master but he faced with a rejection stating that he wasn''t qualified to teach young master.

    *Sigh* "Do I need to wait just like this. There''s only a little over 3 months left till the academy starts." Little Azzy stared outside from the window in boredom, not knowing how to spend his time while missing his grandpa.

    It was at that time, a voice was heard from downstairs.

    "Azzy¡­"

    Upon hearing grandfather''s voice, Azrael''s eyes lit up and he quickly ran downstairs.

    "Eh?"

    There are a couple of new faces who were standing with his grandfather. But it wasn''t because of that, he was stunned.

    What made him shocked that all of the white hairs of his grandfather turned black while his body is brimming with vitality. He no longer looked like an old man but a middle-aged person.

    "Grandpa, your hair¡­" As Azrael pointed it out, the latter just laughed, "some fortuitous encounter. Don''t mind it. Do you miss your grandpa?"

    Just as he raised his arms, intending to hug his grandson, who ran towards him, one of his arms was suddenly grabbed by the lady and muttered in a cold tone, "Don''t you dare, father. Remember your position¡­"

    Upon hearing her words, his expression dimmed and he put down his hands, making Azrael stop and stare at the lady in a suit who stood beside him and addressed his grandpa as her father and even belittled him a little bit.

    Staring back at him, she bowed like a servant, "Avia of the Night clan greets the young master."

    The man on the left of his grandpa also did the same, "Aspen of the Night clan greets the young master."

    ''Night clan of the Freyles nation; It was mentioned in the book of death. They are one of the subordinate clans of the noble Garcia family, and are a key figure in the Death clan.''

    Azrael greeted in response, getting the hang of everything. "Hello, nice to meet you." But, the lack of respect is evident in his greeting while maintaining a frown on his face.

    Both of them didn''t mind it and stayed silent and let Oakley talk.

    "I need to tell you something. I¡­" Oakley stopped all of a sudden and then let out a deep sigh, "you are leaving with them, right now."

    "Huh! Where?" The boy asked in confusion, despite feeling something wrong inside of his heart from the moment he heard his grandpa was addressed as a father by a member of the Night clan.

    "Everything will be explained by those two on the way," Oakley replied while looking elsewhere, holding back his emotions.

    As Azrael turned his head towards those two, meanwhile, Ethar suddenly appeared beside him as the old man called out his name.

    "Did you prepare everything I asked?" Oakley said to Ethar.

    The servant took out a storage card and handed it to him.

    Azrael was surprised upon seeing this card.

    Unlike the other storage cards, this one is gold in color, which indicates the portable storage room inside of it is atleast 100 sq.m in area and 5 meters in height.

    Closing his eyes, Oakley then concentrated on the items that were placed inside of it.

    Nodding with satisfaction, he then handed it to the boy, "this has everything that you need."

    As Azrael took it, he felt like this might be a sudden goodbye. He looked at his grandpa and asked, "Are you not going with me?"

    At that moment, Oakley saw the sadness in the boy''s eyes despite his words doesn''t carry a shred of emotion.

    Looking at the grandson he raised for the past eight years, he sighed again, "No."

    "Young master, we''re leaving." The lady spoke before leading him into a car.

    If it was Azrael before the awakening, he might have cried for his grandpa but now, as the vehicle started to drive, he wasn''t able to express such a thing and simply stared at his grandpa, who let out a deep sigh once again.

 Chapter 4: Entering the Clan compound

    Somewhere in the mountains of Helenus range;

    A helicopter landed on a flat ground.

    Little Azzy and the two members of the night clan stepped down from the helicopter.

    Stepping down on the ground, the boy saw a couple of middle-aged men, waiting for them.

    "Is this him?" One of them asked the lady for confirmation.

    As the lady nodded, the two of them bowed to the boy, "welcome home, young master."

    Azzy, who was explained on the way, calmly nodded before following them.

    Even though he was able to understand the situation the moment the lady addressed his grandpa as her father and then, she introduced herself as one of the members of the Night clan, but still, it pained him a little bit, knowing that his only relative that was alive isn''t actually his.

    And the actual relative isn''t interested to care about his well-being.

    His grandpa was nothing more than a caretaker his late parents entrusted him to, before they went on a journey to the Cursed Forest of Death, which is located in Arcana World, and got themselves killed by a monster.

    When he asked for what reason they have to go on a dangerous journey, leaving behind their newborn child, Avia and Aspen went silent, not intending to answer.

    Azzy has other doubts like why his parents trusted someone who was exiled from the clan rather than someone inside, when the clan head, his great-great-great-grandfather is still alive. And why no one thought of picking him up until his soul card is revealed.

    A clever kid like Azzy realized that he wouldn''t get his answer from the two of them.

    So, he didn''t bother to ask further and just concentrated on the items his grandpa prepared for him in the storage card.

    Back to the present;

    Azzy looked around. There''s no trace of the so-called clan village. All he was able to see the clouds in the sky and a small lake before him.

    Remembering that the Death clan is one of the hidden clans, he thought the village must be hidden somewhere.

    "Let''s get going." Upon hearing the tone of Avia, the two Elders nodded and walked for a hundred meters before reaching the lake.

    "Is the village located under the lake or something?" Azzy muttered under his breath.

    As powerful Arcana Masters, they were able to hear his words clearly, and Aspen Night answered him, "No, it isn''t, Young master. Our clan doesn''t exist in this world."

    "Huh?" Azzy turned his head to look at him in confusion.

    Right then, one of the Elders took out a mysterious card and thrust it as if he was stabbing someone with it. It began to glow. Then, he turned it counter-clockwise until the card is horizontal.

    All of a sudden, a massive door appeared out of nowhere, engraved with several complicated ancient runes and symbols.

    As the card on the Elder''s hand disappeared, the door opened to reveal the clan village.

    Azzy widened his eyes, looking at the view before him.

    "Are you surprised?" asked Aspen.

    Azzy replied, "When you say the clan village, I didn''t expect it to be this big."

    That''s right, unlike what he expected, it looked too big for a village.

    Two years ago, when Azzy went on a school trip, he saw his town from the edge of a cliff.

    But, now, the place before him looked more than a hundreds times bigger than his town. How this is called a village. It must be called a Province.

    There are lakes around everywhere. Forests can be seen. The architecture of the buildings looked ancient just like those tourist attractions.

    ''Well, the clan is said to have existed for a hundred thousand years. So, I guess it''s normal.'' Azzy thought before he realized it was impossible such a big place coexisted with these chilling mountains.

    He asked the lady beside him, "Ms. Night, is this some kind of bigger version of a storage room." While his words might sound a bit rude, everyone quickly understood that the boy doesn''t exactly mean that but he doesn''t have any other words to describe it.

    She replied, "not exactly. This is a pocket world. You can say this is a mini version of Arcana World, where all of our clans live. The only difference other than space, this one needs a key to enter."

    Azzy didn''t ask further as he knew he will learn it eventually.

    Using a 4-star flying card that was able to carry five of them, they took off from the cliff and traveled to the compound that''s located right in the middle of the world.

    As the flying card is descending, Azzy saw there are a lot of kids, standing on the side with their parents. Meanwhile, four more old men stood together to welcome him.

    "Greetings, Young master." All the four of them greeted him with a bow.

    As Azzy returned their greeting with a nod, one of them pointed his hand towards the road, "Follow us. The clan-head is awaiting your presence."

    The two elders who accompanied them joined the four of them who followed the trio.

    "Those four are the Elders of Indigo, Green, Blue, and Orange pavilion respectively," Aspen whispered into Azzy''s ears, inputting him the information before he even asked.

    Azzy turned his head towards him, and asked, "On our way, you said the Elders of Red, and Yellow pavilion will pick us up at the mountain. Then, there must be a Violet Pavilion, right?"

    As he heard of certain colors, Azzy quickly realized they divided the parts according to the spectrum, which he just learned the names of them, a couple of months ago.

    Aspen nodded, "It''s the strongest Pavilion. All the members of the Violet Pavilion are Elites."

    "But the Elder is missing here." Azzy commented, wondering whether the Elder of Violet Pavilion has the higher authority or maybe, he was busy.

    "The Elder is right here." Aspen slowly whispered, pointing the lady beside him.

    Azzy stopped in his tracks for a second, "Ms. Avia is the Elder of the Violet Pavilion?"

    "Shh! Here in the clan village, you should address her as the Elder. She''s also the head of the discipline hall. So, everyone is afraid of her." Aspen whispered once again, making Avia twitching her eyebrows.

    ''Wow, she must be very strong, I guess.'' Inwardly, even though Azzy was amazed but on the outside, he appeared rather indifferent.

    So, everyone who was keeping an eye on him misunderstood that their young master is mentally strong, and became impressed.

    "Then, what about you, Mr. Aspen?" asked Azzy, feeling that this man must also be someone important to walk with the Elders.

    "He isn''t that important. Don''t need to care¡­" All of a sudden, Avia replied in her usual cold tone, making his face darken.

    "I''m the next head of the Night clan, sister." A small growl escaped Aspen in response.

    Azzy felt this was the first time, he saw a mixture of frustration and rage in this man''s words from the moment they picked him at his house.

    It led him to believe that it''s not that these fellow clan members devoid of emotion. They just suppress it for some reason.

    This realization made him sigh in relief as he thought he will lose all the emotions, later, training with people like them.

    After all, he was experiencing the changes inside of him from the moment of awakening. A few things like not being able to show a smile despite feeling happy inside. Not being able to cry despite feeling sadness because of missing his grandpa, etc¡­

    Not being able to express his emotions like before made him despair a little bit but after looking at this one moment, hope generated in his heart once again.

    "We are here." Avia ignored Aspen and spoke as they reached a house that looked like a large palace from ancient times.

    "Clan-head" Everyone except Azzy kneeled on one leg as they reached the middle of a dim-lit hall, where Azzy wasn''t able to even see the person, who was sitting on a throne, at the other end of the hall.

    *Thud*Thud*

    Footsteps were heard from the front and revealed a thin old man with a long beard that''s even touching the ground. His eyes were barely open. He walked slowly as if there''s no energy left in him.

    One look at him, anyone will think that he was a sickly old man who was near his death door.

    No one would believe this ancestor is a peak 9-star Arcana master with nearly 9 Billion soul power. He is a mighty figure that almost touched Immortal/Demigod''s realm, just short of another billion soul power.

    As he stopped a meter before the boy, Azzy stared back at this ancestor of the Garcia family and bowed, "Greetings, Ancestor."

    He didn''t greet him as the clan-head like others, indicating that he won''t recognize himself as a part of the Death clan. At least, not yet.

    And just as he expected from the head of the Death clan, the first thing the ancestor said, the moment he met his direct relative is, "show me the Death scythe and the hourglass."

 Chapter 5: Successive breakthoughs

    As soon as the words escaped from his mouth, the elders were stuck on to the ground.

    Following the request/order of the old man, who lived for nearly eight-thousand years, Azzy summoned the weapons of his Arcana.

    Just like his grandpa, this ancestor''s attention was stolen by the Hourglass, which might seem rather ordinary but truly a terrifying item.

    His eyes widened in response, ''What Oakley mentioned is true after all. The Sands of Time once again emerged within the clan after my younger brother.''

    Then, his attention turned towards the scythe and with one look, he inspected it and gave a nod of appreciation, ''that is indeed a death scythe. Hmm?''

    All of a sudden, a frown appeared on his face, causing a panic among the Elders who are still kneeling.

    "Tell me, boy, what''s your Arcana?" Even though he only spoke in a whisper, the voice reverberated in everyone''s ears and the Elders felt a huge pressure on them, once again.

    The power of a nine-star Master is something not to be trifled with¡­

    Meanwhile, because his soul power is too low, Azzy didn''t feel its effects and he humbly took out his soul card and handed it to the ancestor instead of telling it.

    Taken aback by his descendant''s actions, the ancestor still took the soul card.

    Once his eyes laid on the picture on the soul card, a small laugh escaped from him, "Haha¡­"

    The Elders felt a huge pressure once again¡­

    "Hahahaha¡­ Finally, the founder has blessed us¡­"

    Meanwhile, the ancestor''s laugh increased its intensity, and this time, the pressure was felt across the surroundings.

    While the people with low soul power didn''t feel the effect, the Elites with high soul power, especially the members of Violet Pavilion faced extreme pressure on him, which forced them to kneel on the floor.

    On the other hand, the Elders who were kneeling before the clan head thought whether this old man finally went crazy or something.

    But then, again, for several generations, since the clan heirs are only awakening a healing type, the appearance of Azrael is indeed a blessing for the Garcia family.

    What they don''t know is that the clan head is happy because of the image of Grim Reaper on the card.

    While the Death Scythe and Hourglass are something that was repeated throughout the time, the reaper never appeared in the clan for a hundred thousand years.

    "Boy, your parents did a good job, naming you after the founder." The old man commented while returning it to him.

    "Avia Night, you may stand up."

    "Yes." Suddenly, the young Elder of the Violet Pavilion felt the pressure disappeared around her.

    As she stood up, the clan head spoke, "I''m leaving my successor in your hands."

    "Eh? But, there are other candidates. Deciding like that¡­"

    "Hmm?"

    She suddenly stopped as she saw a frown on the old man and she became stifled for a few seconds before she bowed, "Yes, I''ll try my best to groom him as the next clan head."

    "Now, that''s the way it should be." He bared his teeth as if he was happy, then, he turned his head towards Azrael and spoke, "before you leave, let me give you a piece of simple advice. Strength and Authority are like the different sides of a same coin. In the eyes of the world, neither will be worth much without the other. Never forget it."

    "Yes, I will remember it," Azzy replied while giving him a deep bow.

    "All of you may leave." The old man then returned to the darkness and sat on his throne.

    Meanwhile, the remaining Elders stood up after the pressure disappeared and left the palace while Avia brought him to his room that was prepared long ago.

    Even for a person who enjoyed being rich in his grandpa''s house, the new room overwhelmed him, although on the surface he displayed no such expression.

    It is that he doesn''t want to, but he wasn''t able to.

    "Take rest for today. Your lessons will start, starting tomorrow." She went back to her aloof self, looking high and mighty.

    After she left the room, Azzy looked at the maids, "I need to be alone for some time."

    "Sigh¡­ Even if I''m an understanding person, why no one cared to ask my opinion. These adults are really unfair¡­" Little Azzy collapsed on the bed, resigning to his fate.

    A few moments later, the surroundings around him once again turned dark and he found himself at the same place as during awakening.

    Once again, down below the cliff, the entire land is filled with countless amount corpses while the black lightning still raining onto them.

    At the edge of the cliff, floating in the air, the giant reaper once again appeared before him.

    This time, Azzy didn''t feel scared. On the contrary, he somehow felt a kinship with it, maybe because of the bond they have, because of the soul card.

    "Hello." Azzy greeted it with a bow, not knowing what to call it.

    The Reaper who understood his thoughts, right away, answered, "I''m called Chronos, and I''m also called the Grim Reaper. I''m the personification of time and the reaper of death."

    "Eh?" Azzy was taken aback after realizing that it wasn''t simply some specter he was talking to. It was none other than a deity, who was standing before him.

    Azzy stayed silent and let it talk.

    The Reaper continued, "Child of the Death Clan, this is but a simple part of my power that I''m bestowing upon you. How you utilize it, is upon you. Goodbye¡­"

    After saying the words, the world crumbled around him.

    Meanwhile, on the outside, Azzy was floating in the air while he was still asleep.

    A dark aura enveloped him along with the soul card that''s hovering around him without his permission.

    Before him, An old man stood there in silence. He was neither the clan head nor he is one of the elders. He''s nothing but a tomb keeper of the clan. But, right now, he is in the palace, staring at the boy as he was going through the baptism/purification.

    Every Arcana Master goes through it once in their lives when they were acknowledged by their Arcana.

    The later the acknowledgment, the less his/her potential.

    Although there are geniuses around the world who went through baptism within a week, still three weeks are also considered good.

    Slowly, the number on the soul card increased and it changed to pale yellow, indicating he breakthrough and became a One-star Arcana Master.

    But, it didn''t stop there. Slowly, the pale yellow turned to bright yellow and further deepened as his soul power rose rapidly before it changed to pale green in color and stopped.

    The dark aura was gone and Azzy slowly landed on the bed.

    Looking at the sleeping figure, the old man mumbled, "this is the first time I''m seeing the purification ceremony to bring such an extraordinary result. Interesting."

    Azzy didn''t wake up for several hours, skipping dinner.

    In the early morning, he finally woke up from his sleep with a yawn and was taken aback to see unfamiliar surroundings.

    "Ah! That''s right. I''m at the clan compound, right now."

    He sprung up from his bed and stretched his body to go to the bathroom, first.

    As he walked a couple of steps, Azzy then felt something different in his body, a pleasant feeling as if his soul was drastically strengthened, overnight.

    Finishing his activities, Azzy sat on his bed in a meditative position and concentrated on the changes inside his body.

    Somewhere in the middle of the chest, the soul power which is as tiny as a flame on the candle now appeared as big as a football.

    "This¡­ Did I breakthrough, last night?" Azzy mumbled, experiencing a shock as he summoned his soul card.

    Instead of white, now his soul card changed its color to pale green while the number on the top-left edge of the card changed to 105.

    "Soul power 105?" His eyes widened and rubbed his eyes, not believing whether it''s really true. Pinching his cheek once again, as he saw the number same, Azzy became excited. "I''m a 2-star Arcana Master."

    "Hmm? Wait a second. What about soul skills?"

    Every time an Arcana Master breakthrough the ranks, he/she will receive a soul skill but little Azzy who doesn''t have any prior education about it didn''t know how he would get his soul skill.

    After all, it is different from games where a player would automatically receive a skill as soon as he crossed the level.

    Suddenly, something lit up in his mind, and he quickly searched his pockets to took the storage card and took out the Book of Death from it.

    *Knock*Knock*

    Someone knocked on the door at that moment.

    Azzy quickly put the book back into the storage card and answered, "Yes. Please, come in."

 Chapter 6: First day of training? Reset?

    "Young Master Garcia, follow me to the Violet Pavilion, right now." Avia directly gave a command without any pleasantries of exchanging good morning greetings.

    "Hmm? 2-star?" As her eyes laid on his figure, she was taken aback at first to see this successor that was dumped onto her, already made a breakthrough, not just once but twice.

    Ever her, who was regarded as one of the greatest geniuses of the clan, who got acknowledged by her Arcana within two days after her awakening, still only made a breakthrough once and the progress stopped after her soul power reached 60.

    But, the kid before him, has a raise of more than 90 at the very least because of baptism, even though his'' arrived way later than hers.

    Quickly, she calmed herself and turned around to walk away as a gesture to follow her without any questions.

    Azzy sprung up from the bed and do it as she said.

    Instead of traveling on a flying card, Azzy was forced to walk all the way to the Violet pavilion, which is located atleast 5 miles away from the house.

    For a normal adult, 5 miles might not be a big deal but for a kid who''s barely 8 years old with no prior experience of physical training, it''s definitely tough even if he''s a 2-star Arcana Master.

    After walking for a while, he wanted to ask whether they can fly to the Pavilion but watching the respectful greetings his clansmen were giving him, Azzy thought she might want to let him see this.

    Alas, he misunderstood. She was just in a bad mood because of a fight that''s happened at her house with her father, the Night clan''s head.

    When she found out that this kid''s Arcana was more potential than hers, her mood became worse, and took out him, in this way.

    After all, she is now the master of Azrael. She has the right to teach him however she wants.

    Of course, there''s also one more reason. But, it has nothing to do with it.

    Meanwhile, little Azzy followed her, despite feeling pain in his legs, and sweating all over the body, even though the sun is just up and the temperature is moderate.

    "We are here," Avia spoke as they reached the entrance of the Pavilion.

    "Phew" Wiping off his sweat, he raised his head only to see hundreds of steps that were leading to the top of a cliff, with each one at least 1 meter big.

    Despair fell onto him.

    "Physical strength is the foundation for everything. Your training starts, right here. The first step is to climb the stairs to reach the top of the cliff, where our Pavilion is located.

    We''ll move on to the next step, the moment you reach the top. Until, then, you will temper your body."

    Upon hearing her words, Azzy became confused a little bit and stared at the stairs. ''Tempering my body with climbing these stairs?''

    "You are wondering, what so special about climbing these stairs, aren''t you?" Avia spoke as she looked at the top.

    Azzy wants to say he''s not thinking about that but he just went silent and let her explain its specialty.

    "There are a total of 365 steps, representing the number of days in a year. Just like months, each set of steps represents a month.

    You start with the first month. When you step onto the second month, the gravity will be increased by twice. For the third month, it will be increased by two more times of the original once again.

    By the time you reach the last 31 steps, the gravity will be increased by 22 times. And at the top of the cliff, it''ll increase two folds that of the gravity that presents on the last step.

    "44 times," Azzy muttered under his breath as he stared at the stairs thoughtfully.

    Avia nodded, "Yes. The clan head has given me the responsibility of grooming you as the successor. My methods aren''t easy for a kid like you, who lived his life in greenery until now.

    If you want, you can always choose the easy way of convincing the clan head to choose another master. In my view, he''s fond of you, very much. He won''t say no if you request something.

    I''m giving you two choices.

    Persist and become strong by following me, or take the easy route and return to the home.

    I''ll take it that you are ready if you can meet me at the top of the stairs.

    However, there''s one condition. You shouldn''t use any external assistance. I''ll be monitoring you from the top, every day."

    Since the moment he met her, Azzy felt it was the first time she talked this long.

    However, he felt that all of this was unnecessary as he already made the choice the moment he stepped inside that car without any resistance.

    Without waiting any longer, he stepped onto the first step, surprising her a little bit.

    Giving a nod, she disappeared from the spot and reappeared at the top of the stairs in an instant, using her teleportation ability.

    Meanwhile, Azzy climbed the first 31 steps with ease, despite feeling pain in his leg as he didn''t take any rest on the way.

    But, as soon as he stepped on the 32nd step, just like she mentioned earlier, he felt his body became heavier and immediately collapsed on his knees on the spot.

    He gritted his teeth and stood up before taking the next step.

    ''It isn''t that easy to climb these stairs kid,'' Avia shook her head, observing him from the top.

    "Junior sister, is that him? The direct descendant?" Suddenly, a voice was heard from the right side.

    Avia nodded without turning towards the voice, "Yes. If nothing unexpected happens, then, he''ll be our future clan head, too."

    "So, it''s true then. I thought it was just a rumor created by the other Pavilions." A burly man who looks like he is in his late thirties commented, folding his arms to the chest. "Aren''t you being a little harsh on him? He''s going to faint at any time¡­"

    "Why the concern for a person who you really wish to die¡­" Avia suddenly commented, taking him by surprise.

    As the man was stupefied a little bit, Avia turned her head and stared into his eyes coldly and said, "I heard that five of your clans are having a constant meeting with each other, leaving our Night clan and the Silver clan out of it.

    Thinking of starting a coup, now, Are we?"

    "The clan head is stronger than the whole clan. Even if all of us fight against him, everyone would be crushed." The man replied before turning away.

    ''It would be a lot easier to believe your words if you have at least denied my words. Your actions show that you are indeed thinking of it,'' Avia thought, looking at his back with a frown on her face.

    Meanwhile, Azzy made it past the second month of 28 steps and stepped on to the 60th step, where the gravitational force is now 4 times that of the normal.

    He fainted right away as it became too much for him.

    Upon watching it, Avia teleported to where he was and picked him up on her shoulders before she took him to his room.

    Placing him on his bed, she shook her head, "this kid even forgot to use soul power to power himself up."

    What she has forgotten is that he only received the training of using the soul power for applying healing card, recovery cards, etc¡­ that were crafted by his grandpa. He doesn''t know how to use soul power on his body at all.

    A couple of hours later, Azzy woke up from the unconscious state and finds himself in his room.

    "Eh?"

    Just then, he witnessed a strange incident. His Hourglass was floating in the air while the white sand is pouring downwards.

    As he tried to grab it with his hand, all of a sudden, it disappeared on its own and the door was tightly closed.

    The bright lit room turned dim while he felt all of his energy drained from his body as if his soul power is emptied.

    The Book of Death that was supposed to be in his storage card suddenly appeared before him.

    "Huh!"

    As Azzy looked at the book in confusion, all of a sudden, the door was knocked on twice.

 Chapter 7: Resetting the day, again?

    *Knock*Knock*

    Azzy puts the Book of Death away in his storage card and answers, "Yes. Please, come in."

    The door was opened and Azzy saw his master, who entered the room and spoke, "Young Master Garcia, follow me to the Violet Pavilion, right now."

    "Huh!" Azzy was surprised, upon hearing her words. "Didn''t we just..."

    Azzy became silent and looked around him again, ''Am I experiencing some kind of d¨¦j¨¤ vu?''

    "Just¡­ what?" Asked Avia with a frown.

    Azzy shook his head, "nothing. Just give me a second."

    He instantly took out a 2-star soul recovery card from his storage card and applied it to himself to recover 100 soul power in his body.

    He stepped down from the bed and followed her as she leads the way by walking.

    He followed her along the way while panting as he went out of breath by the time they reached the stairs that lead to the Pavilion.

    "Physical strength is the foundation to everything¡­ Your training starts right here. The first is to¡­"

    As Avia was ready to give him a long explanation, starting with these steps, Azzy interrupted, "Climb the stairs to reach the top of the cliff. We''ll move onto the next step once I reach the top. Until then, I''ll temper my body?"

    Avia looked at him in surprise as this successor that was dumped onto her, told the words that were still in her throat.

    But, she didn''t want to show that. So, she quickly controlled her expression.

    Still, that didn''t get in the way of her praising, "Yes, exactly. You are a smart kid as my father mentioned to me."

    Upon hearing different words from her this time, Azzy tested something as he stared at the stairs, "I feel like there''s something special about these steps."

    "Yes. There are 365 steps here, each of them representing a day of the year¡­"

    As she proceeds with the explanation, Azzy thought, ''what''s happening? This can''t be d¨¦j¨¤ vu. It''s too long for such a thing. Did I dream about the future or something¡­ Wait a second.''

    Then, he suddenly remembers the incident when he woke up after sleeping a couple of hours.

    The first thing he saw was the Hourglass. Clearly, it was doing something on its own accord and then, he lost all of his soul power.

    "I''ll give you two choices¡­ Persist¡­"

    Azzy didn''t wait to finish her words and climbed the first step and then the second.

    Avia was once again surprised and she teleported to the top.

    Just like before, his legs weren''t able to hold after climbing the 32nd step. And once again, he gritted his teeth and forced himself to climb until the 59th step.

    "Phew" Looking at the next step, Azzy mumbled, "if I remember right, then, this step will have four times the gravity and I will collapse."

    Azzy stopped there and sat down to take a rest and kept staring at the next step as he put his hand on it while thinking of something.

    Meanwhile, at the top, Avia frowned as she placed her attention on Azzy after sending away the man who was trying to scheme for the next clan head position. "What is he doing?"

    Azzy, who was getting the feel of gravity on his hand, mumbled, "I can hardly raise my hand. March has 31 days, so, 31 steps ahead of me. Can I last that long in my current condition?

    Well, if I have a stamina recovery card, it would be quite easy but she won''t allow¡­"

    He remembered her words again and realized the key words, "Tempering the body, huh!"

    Azzy stood up and to her surprise, instead of going to the next step, he turned around and walked down the stairs to reached the bottom, and sit aside for a while.

    Ten minutes later;

    As she was wondering whether he was trying to rest so that he wants to try again or return, the boy suddenly stood up as if nothing happened and climbed the stairs again at a high speed, this time.

    His pace slowed down after he reached the second level but he didn''t stop even while panting heavily and feeling extreme pain in his legs until he reached the 59th step.

    But, then, all of a sudden, Azzy once again turned around and walked down the stairs, wiping off his sweat.

    "I see¡­ It seems this boy figured out quickly. Even for me, it took a whole hour to realize it." Avia let out a comment in a small tone.

    Five hours later;

    *Hah!* Hah!* Heavily panting Azrael sat down on the ground at the bottom of the stairs while nodding to the greetings given by some of the Masters at the Pavilion who knew his identity.

    Meanwhile, most of the disciples of the Violet Pavilion ignored him while some of them tried to advice him not to be reckless.

    Of course, there are a couple of disciples who sneered at him, not knowing his identity.

    But, at the very next second, they found a whip made of dark energy, extended all the way from the top, hit them.

    As a result, they were seen flying for more than a hundred meters before crashing onto the ground.

    After seeing that, no disciple even dared to try to make fun of the situation.

    "Ok, let''s stop. Go and take a rest for the day. Tomorrow, sharp 5 A.M." Avia''s voice whispered in his ears, even though she is nowhere near him.

    Thinking that she might have other things to do, Azzy turned around and walked to his home. Since it''s pretty much the straight road, she didn''t escort him.

    After reaching the Garcia main family residence, a servant escorted him to his room.

    Freshening himself up, Azzy was led to the dining hall for lunch, although on the table with at least 50 seats on either side, only Azzy was the one to sit and eat.

    He missed his grandpa a little bit as he remembered they always eat their lunch and dinner together.

    But, since he can''t do anything about his current situation, he pushed such thoughts away.

    Returning to his room, he sends the servants away and then, closed the door before sitting on the bed and recalled the earlier events.

    Then, he took out the Book of Death and searched for the pages that have the information on the Hour Glass.

    "Here it is. The hourglass contains an element known as the sands of time, which can reverse the time."

    "Reversing the time? Then, that means¡­"

    He drifted off a little bit as he remembered the scene earlier today. The boy continued.

    "Oh, it looks like there are quite a few members who owned such an Arcana¡­ The last one to own is Rigel Garcia? Who is he? I don''t think I remembered seeing his name in the list of past clan heads. Might be a sibling or from a branch family...

    Anyway, what else is there¡­

    Oh! Soul skills.

    The first soul skill is the time-stop. For how long? It didn''t say anything. I guess it depends on the user?

    The second soul skill is the time reverse. I''m a 2-star. So, did I unknowingly use the second soul skill while I was unconscious?"

    Azzy shook his head in denial, "No, it''s not possible. Even if I was able to use that, these abilities affect the target, not the entire world. Maybe, my soul skill is different.

    After all, in my case, it isn''t Arcana but a weapon wielded by my Arcana¡­ So, there''s a difference. Maybe, my soul skill is to get a glimpse at the future?"

    All of a sudden, something clicked in his mind, and he stopped reading the details and turned the pages until it landed on the Reaper.

    "This is it¡­ I think it''s the time for me to understand my soul skills, if now, at least their names and their effects¡­"

    After a while, Azzy closed the book and summoned the hourglass from the soul card.

    An hourglass that''s filled with white sand in one of the glass bulbs.

    "Hmm, how to use this?"

    He turned it upside down, and wondered, "Like this?"

    Just as he did that, the sand started to fell into the other glass but at the same time, Azzy felt his hand also stuck with it. He can''t move it either until all of the sand falls into the other glass bulb.

    It took him more than 30 seconds to complete the task.

    Azzy saw his surroundings changed, once again.

    He found himself at the 44th step of the stairs that lead to the Violet Pavilion and his soul power was emptied once again, making him too weak to stand on a place where gravity is two times the original.

    "What the¡­" Avia took a step back in surprise as just for a moment, she saw an Hourglass appeared in the boy''s hands along with the soul card that hovered around him before both of them disappeared, leaving Azzy in a pitiful state.

 Chapter 8: Understanding the power of Hourglass

    For a while, Azzy didn''t move and just concentrates on taking rest to recover his soul power in a natural way.

    But, he didn''t expect Avia to capture every moment very clearly.

    "Tell me. What just happened, right now?" A voice was heard from behind, making him jump on his feet.

    As his eyes met her eyes, he felt like he was naked with everything exposed to her, including the secrets he was hiding.

    "Just now, I have seen you summoned the soul card and the hourglass, and now, I see, your soul power is exhausted. Moreover, I remember making myself clear that you should..."

    "Oh! I didn''t."

    Only then did she realize she forgot to mention it to him. Azzy climbed the stairs before her words finished. So, they never escaped her throat.

    "Okay, if you want to reach the top and go to the next step of training, then, you should forbid yourself by using to rely on other things, including your Arcana. That''s how you temper the body."

    Azzy silently nodded, gesturing he understood and sat in a meditative position to recover his soul power along with analyzing what just happened to him.

    ''So, my Hourglass can reverse the time, just as it was mentioned in the Book of Death but how much time is it?''

    He then did realize he left the watch in his room, so, he turned towards the sky to look at the position of the sun.

    ''Previously, I woke up by noon and the sun doesn''t seem like it''s at the head. But, I also have to consider how long I was...

    I need to use the skill a few more times to confirm.''

    Meanwhile, Avia who teleported back to the top, wondered whether the kid was tired as she saw him, glancing at the sun.

    A few hours later;

    Sitting inside his room, Azzy equipped the watch and looked at the time before summoned the Hourglass again and turned it upside down.

    Azzy found himself on the 38th step this time. And the first thing he did is to look at his watch.

    "1:12 P.M.?"

    Glancing at the sun, Azzy thought, ''so, the things that traveled through time with me don''t change. Okay, I learned something new¡­''

    "Young Master Garcia, what are you doing? I saw¡­"

    Before she was about o lecture him again, he interrupted by apologizing, "I''m sorry. I just thought using soul power would help me somehow. I''ll not try to use Arcana, again."

    As Avia realized she hasn''t instructed about it, she replied, "if you want to use soul power, then, you should spread it all over the body or at least legs to face off against the gravity."

    Upon hearing a piece of advice, which he hadn''t got for the past three times, Azzy became excited inwardly and asked her for further advice on how to do that.

    But, she didn''t explain to him the details and teleported back to the top.

    After she left, Azzy returned to the bottom of the stairs to recover his soul power with a recovery card before stepping on to the stairs once again.

    Three hours later; Azzy returned to the house for lunch and take a break for the rest of the day.

    Going back to the time, again and again, while constantly tempering his body for several hours, exhausted his mind, so, he decides to use the skill after a few hours.

    Until the time of the dinner, Azzy did nothing but holed himself up in the room. He refused to meet other elders or the clan leaders with an excuse of being tired.

    Looking at the wall clock, Azzy mumbled as he summoned the Hourglass, "Ok, it''s now 8 p.m."

    He turned the Hourglass upside down once again and started the stopwatch at the same time.

    The white sand started to fall in the other glass bulb while his right arm is being frozen.

    Once his arm became free and his soul power emptied out, the surroundings didn''t change anything this time except that there''s sunlight passing through the ventilation and illuminating the room, instead of electricity.

    Another change is that the time on the wall clock changed to 4:15 p.m.

    He glanced at the stopwatch and 35 seconds passed.

    ''So, let''s write what I discovered.''

    He took out one of his school notes and started to write in it.

    ''First, it takes around 33-35 seconds to launch the skill.

    Second, either its soul power consumption is huge or it generally takes all of the soul power and the time would probably depend on it. More research is needed.

    Third, I can atleast turn back the time for nearly 4 hours, not for the target like the usual hourglass but the entire world.

    Well, it seems like my Arcana has its disadvantages when comparing to the normal hourglass. For one, my soul skills are divided into two of them.

    I can''t use time stop until I reach four-star. On the other hand, other users can use it when they become one-star.

    And I can''t also stay at the same place I used the skill. I will be teleported to the place I was supposed to be. It''s like I''m erasing the timeline between the destination point and present.

    But, the advantage is that my powers will affect the entire world and, no one can resist. Despite being stronger than me by many ranks, Ms. Avia didn''t even realize it.

    If I can control the hourglass, then, I might do wonders¡­''

    Three years later;

    Violet Pavilion, the Death Clan;

    At the top of the stairs, Avia was folding her hands to the chest and continue to stare downwards.

    Beside her, stood the heir of the Crescent clan, Gredor Crescent who is also a descendant of the Garcia family. "What a shame¡­" He sighed while shaking his head.

    He is also one of the prime candidates to be the next leader of the Death clan until Azzy showed up.

    Everyone reveres this six-star Arcana Master with his talent second only to Avia, despite always losing to her.

    Three years ago, when Azzy came to the clan village, everyone immediately discarded the thoughts of making Gredor the clan-head because no matter how much of a genius one is, a collateral descendant was lost in the status to a direct descendant from the moment they are born.

    And only a clan-head can scrape off this rule.

    He was taught that from the moment he was born, pointing at Azzy''s parents.

    But after the demise of them in the Cursed Forest of Death, he was brought into the limelight, which turned into darkness once again after he heard there is a direct descendant.

    Because of the presence of the old monster inside the village, he never thought of harming this boy that''s standing in his way.

    The secret clan meetings were stopped. Even his own father doesn''t dare to support him.

    So, he started to accept missions more frequently to not only keep himself from getting frustrated but also to increase his influence outside, to take care of Azzy when he leaves the clan at the age of 15 to study and graduate at the Freyles Academy of Arcana, which is the best Academy in the country, and top 3 in the continent.

    But, after two years passed, the elders and the clan leaders started to reorganize their thoughts about Azzy, who still looked like he was struggling on the stairs.

 Chapter 9: Training at the Violet Pavilion part-1

    Thinking Azrael might not have the potential to replace the ancestor when he dies, they asked Gredor to return, and once again, secret clan meetings started in the past year that excludes the Night and Silver clans.

    "Senior Sister, I don''t understand why you still want to waste your time on this kid. I don''t see any potential in him.

    How about letting him live in peace? Your training is only becoming nothing but torture for him for the past three years¡­" Gredor spoke as if he was sympathizing with the boy.

    Avia replied in her usual cold tone while still observing her disciple, "Why don''t you get back to your training and try to breakthrough seven-star, instead of wasting your time with scheming with those fellow clan-heads and partying with girls outside. Oh! By the way, Evelyn sent a message. If Evelyn hears it, you''ll be beaten to a pulp."

    Upon hearing the word Evelyn, his body shivered for a second and asked as he gulped, "when is she returning?"

    Avia answered, "Tomorrow, perhaps."

    "I see¡­ I just remembered that I have something important to do. Then, I will not disturb you, any longer. Excuse me¡­"

    Gredor quickly left the Pavilion on a flying card to his clan in a hurry.

    Not paying attention to him, Avia continues to observe Azzy, who was meditating on the 304th step. The strange thing is that he absolutely has no sweat or so whatever.

    30 minutes later;

    Suddenly, the soul card and Hourglass appeared beside him. Still, there was no exhaustion on his face with half of his soul power remaining. "It''s time."

    Avia, who was used to this kind of scene for the past 3 years, mumbled, "Did he reversed the time once again?"

    A genius like her long figured out the ability but she didn''t confront him about it and let him use it as much as he wants, following her grandfather''s orders.

    Meanwhile, Azzy, who turned back the time, stood up on his feet. The energy particles of his soul power slowly flowed through the veins and later, a faint aura enveloped his body.

    Azzy then stepped on the 305th step, where the gravity is now 20 times the original.

    He neither collapsed on the knees nor did he struggle to climb another step.

    Looking at the scene, a rare smile appeared on Avia, even though it disappeared after a second, "yesterday, it was imperfect. Now, it looks complete. Is the kid finally decided to finish it?"

    Azzy easily passed the steps of November and didn''t stop even after landing on the steps of December. As he was going against gravity, the ball of light that was containing soul power slowly but steadily expanding its size.

    Meanwhile, the numbers on the soul card that''s inside of him slowly started to change.

    991, 992¡­ 993, 994, 995¡­"

    And he took the final step on to the Violet Pavilion, where his master stood there like a statue for several hours.

    But, just then, the gravity increase to 44 times all of a sudden, and a huge pressure dawned upon him.

    He used all of his remaining soul power to force himself to stand before her properly and said, "I finished the first step of tempering my body."

    Avia nodded in satisfaction, "Good job. But, it is still incomplete. Now, until you get comfortable with the environment over here, you shall live here. During this time, I will teach you the basics, Theoretical classes. Follow me."

    Then, she took out a card that''s made of Emerald and placed it on his forehead.

    As the energy flowed through his body, Azzy felt the gravity around him disappeared.

    "It''s an anti-gravity card to lighten your body and enhance your speed for 12 hours. This one lightens your body by 50 times." She explained to him before he asked her. "And no, you can''t buy it. It can only be earned through mission points."

    ''I''m not curious about it, although feels like it must be expensive,'' Azzy thought as he followed her. Then, he asked about the mission points.

    "It is only for those above 18. You are still too early for that." All he got a nonsensical reply from her.

    "It''s a rule since ancient times," Avia spoke once again as if she read his mind. Azzy kept silent and didn''t refute her statement even though he never thought as she imagined.

    Azzy observed the Pavilion, which is as big as a normal village with several training grounds and Halls.

    Except for two to three people, he hardly saw anyone walking around.

    When asked, Avia answered that the rest of the disciples are either busy at the training grounds or the missions, outside the clan village.

    Azzy didn''t reset the time again and took a rest for the whole day.

    The next day morning, as Azzy woke up from his sleep, he felt light for some reason even though the effects of the card must have disappeared a few hours ago, ''Did she use that card on me, again?''

    Hall of Elders, Violet Pavilion;

    Azzy took a seat in the office of Avia.

    She started her Theoretical class with Death Clan.

    As Azzy knows all the history of the Death clan, how it formed, he didn''t pay much attention to it.

    Even though Avia realized it but she didn''t stop the lesson.

    "So, the clans of Night, Silver, Crescent, Blood, Smoke, and Ash are the six subordinate clans of the Garcia family. All of them collectively together are called the Death Clan.

    Our Night clan is basically the clan of Assassins. Most of our clan members have daggers as their Arcana."

    As she said that, twin daggers were summoned in her hands to show him.

    "Then, the Silver Clan. The members usually have some metal tools or beasts as their Arcana. Those who awaken metal beasts are regarded highly in the clan.

    Crescent Clan is also generated from the founder through one of his three concubines. So, they are considered intermediate nobles, a position slightly above Night and Silver clans."

    Azzy then asked, "What about their Arcana?"

    Avia shrugged her shoulders, "Well, their Arcana aren''t that special. It''s normal. Because of having marriages with several other clan members, it became mixed, although powerful. Our Night clan considers them impure."

    Azzy was stunned, "does that mean the marriages in the Night clan happen within the clan to maintain purity?"

    He thought whether they are insane. Who in the world would follow such customs at present times¡­

    "No." Avia shook her head, "we marry people from the outside world. Our partners are often people with less background, mostly mortals.

    It''s because our DNA is far stronger, the next generation will normally inherit our traits and talent. That''s how we preserve our bloodline.

    We aren''t allowed to fall in love with a powerful bloodline. Those who marry such individuals will be exiled from the clan. My father ran away with a noble family of the nation of Snieca."

    "Then, what if a child inherits the weaker kind?" Despite knowing the answer in his mind, Azzy still asked her.

    But, he didn''t expect her''s answer to be different from his imagination.

    She shrugged her shoulders, "nothing. They can either stay here to become servants or their family can move out to the outside world.

    Honestly, even if the child is a genius, the clan won''t provide resources to him unless he/she has the potential to become an assassin.

    Their fate is either to marry into other clans and join them or work at our branches that were located all over the continent.

    Luckily for me¡­"

    She then summoned a whip and continued, "I also awakened the twin daggers as my second Arcana, or else, I wouldn''t be in this position."

    While she was trying to explain that she was indeed lucky, on the other hand, eleven-year-old Azzy was stunned as he realized she is a twin Arcana user.

 Chapter 10: Training at Violet Pavilion part-2

    "Are you a twin Arcana user?" Azzy asked while thinking that his Master is indeed amazing as everyone says.

    He also got a bit disappointed after realizing that he didn''t even care to learn about her powers.

    Avia nodded to his question, "Yes." She unsummoned the twin daggers into the soul card that was hovering around her, and then, summoned a second soul card and took out a dark whip.

    Its handle has a small metal skull on the bottom while the lengthy cord was covered in spikes.

    As Azzy looked at the skull, he saw its eyes are glowing in red for a second before disappearing as if it was blinking.

    "This is Hope''s Ebon whip that I inherited from my mother''s family. I call it ''Nightglow''. I can hit my enemies even if they are a mile away. And during the dark times, its power will multiply."

    Azzy then remembered the times when some disciples were hit by the dark energy that looked like a whip when they tried to insult him during the times he was unknown to the clan.

    More than the successor of the Garcia family, Azzy felt that they respected him more because of the protection by Avia Night.

    But, right now, he also felt that she was unnecessarily bragging to him but maintaining his character, he never pointed it out and kept silent as usual.

    Avia continued, "I should be thankful that I awakened our Night clan''s treasured Night fangs or else, I would have been¡­"

    She suddenly stopped and then said, "Anyway, let''s get back to the topic. Now, where are we?"

    Azzy answered, "Crescent Clan is over."

    "Ah! That''s right. The next is the Blood Clan. They are the complete opposite of us. If our clan never marries a powerful bloodline to preserve our bloodline, they are the ones, who never marry outsiders to maintain their purity.

    Cousins are often engaged upon their birth and marry each other; in the rare case, siblings. That''s why they are too less in number.

    Unlike us who exile the people who disobey the rules of our clan, they execute them first, then refine them and turn them into something called blood source. You don''t want to know about the details.

    But, you should remember that if not for their fewer numbers, their strength might have crossed the combined strength of the other clans.

    No one knows about their origins, not even their clan leader. They merged into the Death clan around 50,000 thousand years ago. Everyone in the clan has the same Arcana; their own blood."

    "So, this so-called blood source will help them keep alive in case they lost too much blood?" Azzy quickly guessed that there''s a connection between the blood source and their Arcana, the moment he heard what their Arcana is.

    "That''s right," Avia nodded in response, not getting surprised by his quick responses anymore. "In our every mission of assassination, there will be a member of Blood clan follow the team to refine the body and collect the blood source.

    However, there''s also a clan rule that they can''t needlessly kill a person just so to collect the blood source. Strangely, they have a longer lifespan than a normal person, almost double.

    Do you know their current clan leader is in the same generation as Clan head even though he''s an eight-star Arcana Master, where the life limit was only supposed to be 5000 years?

    The clan records say it''s because they are consuming the life force of a person from the blood source."

    Azzy nodded, indicating he understood on the outside, meanwhile, shaking his head inwardly as he thought, ''That''s because they aren''t humans. Their race is a Blood race, a mutated race formed from humans back during prehistoric times.

    I wonder why their clan leader doesn''t know when it was clearly written in the Book of Death. I wonder whether this book is more special than I thought.''

    Avia continued with the next clan, "Next comes the Smoke clan. They specialize in healing and poisons. Most of them just stay as supporters.

    Their Arcana like Crescent clan is nothing special. But, they do have the largest numbers, although still useless."

    When she was describing the Smoke clan, Azzy felt a clear disgust in her tone like she''s clearly looking down on them, although there''s a faint arrogance.

    "The last but not least, The Ash clan. They are the same as Crescent, collateral descendants of the founder from one of his concubines.

    They are unique in their own way. They are called the clan of twins."

    "Clan of twins?" Azzy went into his memories and remembered the information about the history of the clan.

    It was founded by the twin sons of Azrael Garcia from his third mistress.

    One of them inherited the death scythe from the founder and the other son inherited the Arcana of Ash.

    Whenever the women of the Ash clan conceive a child, they will always turn out to be twins, and just like their clan founders, one inherits the Arcana of their father while the other receives their mother, in a rare case both receive twin Arcana.

    "So, any doubts?" Avia asked after completing the clans'' history details.

    Out of all the complicated things, Azzy asked the most useless question that every eleven-year-old Arcana Master in the world knows except for him.

    "Earlier, you said that you awakened the daggers after you awakened that whip? Does that mean, the twin Arcana users don''t awaken two soul cards at once?"

    At first, Avia was surprised but then, she remembered he did nothing but tempering his body for the past 3 years.

    So, she explained to him patiently. "No, it doesn''t work that way. To know of that, you should understand what is Soul card, first."

    Azzy answered, "Grandpa told me that Soul card is the materialization of the Soul power which exists as a medium between Arcana and the soul power."

    Avia nodded in response, indicating he was right. "Every person has two bloodlines within him that come from their father and mother respectively.

    Most of the normal people get to born with low soul power, below 2, and both Arcana absorb the share of the energy, according to their capabilities to keep themselves alive.

    When a person reaches the age of eight, the soul card will be formed and both of them fight against each other to get into it, no matter how minute or powerful they are.

    Now, when they fight each other, each will be damaged in the process, and in the end, because of the low amount of soul power, they will disappear. All of it will happen in seconds of time.

    That''s why most people only bring out a blank soul card.

    As for single Arcana users, one of their Arcana turns out to be stronger and kills the other before entering the soul card.

    But, there are rare cases like two compatible Arcana, which don''t fight against each other for a spot into Soul card. In those cases, they compromise and enter the Soul card together. They are the set Arcana. Like in your case. Mostly, it''s only possible if both of them are of tool type.

    Then, there are other cases where they will compromise in a different way. One will enter the Soul card and will be awakened and the other waits for its turn."

    "Wait a second." Azzy suddenly interrupts with confusion, "Wait for their turn? Does that mean, there''s a second awakening?"

    "Yes," Avia nodded, and then, asked in return, "do you know why the restrictions for awakening are between the ages of 8 and 12?"

    Azzy answered, "Grandpa told me that the soul card and the soul orb started to form at the age of four. And at the age of eight, the transparent soul orb will start to condense¡­"

    His eyes widen in realization, "so, it''s because of that, huh! Now, I understood. The Soul card usually stays inside the soul-orb, along with the soul energy/power.

    At the age of 13, the soul orb becomes so thick that even if a Soul card forms again, it won''t be able to penetrate the soul-orb and connect with soul power."

    Avia nodded, feeling proud inside about this student of her, despite feeling frustrated at the same time knowing that she was fated to lose against him in the future, "Yes. The Soul card takes four years to form, no matter what kind of heavenly genius one is. This rule stayed absolute in the past hundred thousand years.

    So, those who awakened their Arcana at the age of eight will get another chance to awaken their second Arcana again when they are twelve.

    But, two awaken a second Arcana, one must fulfill either of two conditions.

    One is to have two Arcana that are compatible with each other.

    Two is to have the second Arcana that''s still alive and recovered enough to penetrate the solid defense of the Soul orb."

    Azzy quickly commented, "The second condition is too difficult."

    "There''s only a 1% chance of achieving such a condition. You can only hope on the first one. Like mine, the whip and the twin daggers belong to dark type and complement each other when I held both of them." Avia replied, agreeing with him while indirectly telling him to not have hope when he participates in the awakening ceremony, next year.

    ''Maybe I was affected by this explanation. Why do I feel like I possess a second Arcana?'' A crazy hope developed in his mind, at the time.

 Chapter 11: Training at Violet Pavilion part-3

    Ten months passed away in the blink of an eye.

    In these past ten months, Avia did nothing but teach him the theoretical lessons while in the meantime, Azzy broke through the 1000 soul power barrier and reached rank 3.

    He took more or less 4 years just to breakthrough the rank 3. It was nowhere near the level of genius.

    For several millennia, the Garcia family doesn''t have an heir with dark attributes. No one thought Azzy would have one either. All of them were just hoped that he will turn out to be someone talented.

    Their hopes further increased when they saw Azzy''s rank increased to 2 overnight but his slow progression made everyone lose their interest.

    In the end, the clan leaders no longer paid attention to his progress any longer.

    The only ones who still believe him are the Clan Elders who knew what type of Arcana he awakened and what the Clan head wants for him.

    No one has the courage to talk to the clan head, and neither they have the strength to go against two of the most powerful women in the clan. So, all they can do is to ignore him.

    But if one observes carefully, they would realize he broke through three ranks without hunting the monsters, using the rare soul energy cards, or any sparring. There was no secret training involved.

    All of this was achieved purely just by climbing up the steps and living at a place where the gravity is 44 times that of the original.

    Avia calls it the tempering phase.

    People who were recruited into the Violet Pavilion are all above 5-star. So, its effect on their soul power is too little for them to consider.

    But, for Azzy, it turned out to be a blessing.

    And after ten months, Azzy finally finished with this phase.

    "Azzy, follow me." A busty and long-legged woman spoke as she opened the room without knocking.

    Strangely, this devilishly beautiful woman has a smile on her face, contrary to what was seen on other clan members who hardly show any emotions.

    "Elder Crescent," Azzy greeted her as he continues to read the book, maintaining a blank face as if he is a robot. "

    "I told you to call me as Big sister many times¡­" the woman replied as she walked towards him.

    "You are 400 years old. You aren''t that young to be called Big Sister. Please act like your age will you," Azzy replied, not paying attention to her as he continues to read the book.

    "Oh! Really?" Suddenly, he heard a whisper in his ears. It''s a husky tone and at the same time, it''s a bit sexy. She unknowingly uses her power.

    For a person, who''s started going through puberty, the effect multiplied a bit and he started losing his concentration on the book.

    Just as he was about to get drag into a lucid dream before a powerful smack was landed on his head. "You cheeky brat, you dare call me old. I''m not half old as those geezers."

    Somewhere in the clan villages, a few people sneezed at the same time.

    "Ouch" Azzy grabbed his head, "Now that I think about it, I should actually start calling you, Grandma Crescent, instead. You are even older than my grandpa."

    As Azzy spoke back at her, she pulled his cheeks, "you don''t have any respect for elders, do you¡­"

    "Sister Evelyn, back off." A voice with so much coldness resounded in the room.

    Azzy''s eyes lit up, "Master, help me. Elder Crescent is bullying me."

    "You¡­"

    "Elder Crescent, leave the Young Master, now," Avia replied, this time she called her in a formal way, indicating her position.

    "Tch¡­ No fun¡­" Evelyn freed Azzy and then said, "Anyway, follow me to Training Hall 3. Today, you''ll start your actual training."

    Azrael closed the book and followed her to Training hall-3.

    After staying in this place for ten months, Azzy no longer felt any discomfort as he was walking without the use of an Anti-gravity card.

    Since he never stepped outside of that cliff, he wondered how strong he will be if he is on the ground.

    On the way, he encountered ten or so disciples who simply bowed as a greeting and left on their way. They seem disappointed for reason.

    But, the strange thing is that he felt they didn''t bow to him but to the person beside him, Evelyn Crescent, the actual Elder of Violet Pavilion.

    He didn''t know about that until she showed up, a year ago. It seems she handed her duties to Avia who is the head of the disciplinary hall and went on for a four-star rated mission. It took her five years to complete it.

    He once asked his master about the mission but she answered him that he wasn''t strong enough to know. So, Azzy just concluded it as a very dangerous one.

    Entering the training hall, Azzy saw it was empty.

    He quickly realized why he was able to see disciples outside other than the dining hall.

    Evelyn confirmed his thoughts, "I''m allotting this training hall for you until you will be enrolled in the academy."

    Azzy thought they were probably kicked out or transferred to another training hall for the sake of him.

    She looked at him and smiled, "See, this big sister is generous, isn''t it?"

    ''Yeah, right¡­'' Azzy didn''t feel happy that others were harmed in the process for the sake of him. It''s not a problem for him to share this whole space.

    He simply nodded.

    Evelyn then summoned her Arcana, a giant silver kangaroo. But, unlike the ones he sees in the comics and television, this one didn''t have any pouch at its belly and also its entire body seemed to be made of metal.

    She looked at the beast in affection and introduced it to Azrael, "this is Aether."

    "Aether, meet my nephew, Azrael Garcia." She introduced him to her Arcana. It looked at him and greeted him with a gentle tut-tut sound.

    Azzy returned her greetings with a slight bow, "nice to meet you."

    "It''s time to say goodbye." As she raised her hands, the beast disappears and her hands are covered with gauntlets which was made of some kind of metal, and lightning energy is running all over it.

    "Well, summon yours."

    Closing his eyes, Azrael concentrates and summons the soul card.

    Apart from the picture of the specter, Azrael observes the number on the top left of the card, which says 1935.

    ''Oh! It''s been a while since I last saw it. My soul power almost reached 2000. Just need 65 more¡­''

    "What are you thinking? Hurry up and summon it." Evelyn''s voice brought him back to reality and he summons the death scythe in his hand while the soul card continued to hover around him.

    "Pfft¡­ Hahaha¡­." Evelyn suddenly started laughing as she started to point at him, "shorty, you are almost half of your weapon¡­"

    Azzy countered her teasing with, "those also look so dull to me. Are they rusted? Like owner like weapon¡­"

    Evelyn loves to tease Azzy whenever she has the time as he always has this aloof expression on his face. Unlike others, his expression was natural.

    What she doesn''t know is that Azzy was just incapable of showing it even though he feels all kinds of emotions. And getting teased by her, he always picks on her sore spot. Her age.

    Because Evelyn is the youngest Elder of the Death clan, her marriage went into crisis. As the eldest daughter of the Crescent clan''s head, she can''t marry a weakling or a person with low background.

    People who have the same status and strength as hers are just way older than her and people who are of the same age have less status than her.

    Not to mention, even the people older than her address her with respect adding Elder as a suffix.

    So, one can understand her frustration whenever she heard the words she was old or the world marriage.

    "You brat really asking for beatings¡­" Evelyn forced herself to calm down, looking fiercely at this distant nephew of hers.

    Azzy grabbed the weapon with his two hands and swung it around to get a feel. ''Cool, this isn''t heavy as I thought it was, even though it looks bigger than when I first awaken it. Hmm, looks like it''s growth is proportionate with my height¡­''

    "Are you chickening out, kid? C''mon, give it a try." She provoked him with her finger. "Try to land a hit on me."

    Azzy pushed his right leg towards the floor and dashed towards his trainer before swinging at her.

    Both the weapons clashed and ignited a spark. Azrael got pushed back a dozen meters but on the other hand, Evelyn didn''t move an inch.

    "You are too slow. Put more strength in your swing, will ya. Now, try again."

    A couple of hours later, Azrael continued to swing the scythe at his trainer while the latter just stood on the spot without moving an inch while blocking all of his attacks with her gauntlets.

    "How many times I should tell you. Use the force of your entire arm, not your hand." Unlike her usual behavior, she was now in her Evil trainer mode.

    Meanwhile, Azzy''s arms started to bleed.

    ''Bring out my power, child. You can do it¡­'' A voice suddenly whispered in his head.

    As if something took over him, Azzy''s eyes turned black. His pupils are no longer visible. And he raised the death scythe over his head.

    A dark aura started to envelop the scythe.

 Chapter 12: Training at the Violet Pavilion part-4

    Looking at Azzy''s posture, Evelyn frowned and pours a bit of soul power inside of her lightning gauntlets.

    Meanwhile, all of his soul power was gathered into the weapon and the blade imbued with dark energy.

    Azzy swung it vertically and the weapon pierced the floor while releasing dark energy in the form of an arc.

    *Screech*

    A ghostly scream resounded across the hall, which was coming from the incoming attack.

    Her face became serious.

    "Soul skill: Wall of lightning"

    She pushed her hands to the front and generated an Energy wall before her with electricity was running all over it.

    As the attack hit''s the wall, it disappeared before cracking it.

    Evelyn was stunned as she saw a large crack in the wall. The most shocking thing is that the dark energy didn''t disappear but some of it lingered on the wall, slowly corrupting it and changing its attribute.

    "This isn''t dark energy. It''s the death energy." A familiar voice was heard from behind her.

    "What are you doing here, Avia? Aren''t you busy with your work?" Evelyn spoke, coming out of her shock.

    "Nothing, Sister Evelyn. I''m just impressed with my student''s potential." A calm reply came from her, causing Evelyn to grit her teeth.

    A seven-star like her is forced to use a soul skill against a 12-year-old kid?

    But, then, something clicked in her mind and she said, "you just said it was death energy. Are you sure?"

    Avia nodded in response. "I hope Sister Evelyn to take care of him until he masters the death scythe. You owe me after all¡­"

    After reminding her about the part she took care of at the Pavilion in her place, Avia disappeared and teleported back to the Disciplinary Hall.

    "This cunning brat¡­" Evelyn cussed out before glancing at Azzy who was almost kneeling on the ground after his soul power is emptied. "That means that Arcana is the legendary death scythe?"

    Before the death energy corroded the wall, she dismissed it to save her face. After all, it is shameful to even think of a possibility that a 3-star Arcana Master was able to destroy one of the attacks of a 7-star.

    Meanwhile, Azzy, who was back to his self was confused, ''What happened just now? Why didn''t it feel like I was the one attacked, just now? It almost feels like I was being controlled by my Arcana¡­''

    He left the weapon, took out a few 2-star recovery cards and applied them to himself, and filled half of the soul power.

    "Don''t use the soul skills, yet, Azzy. Tool type Arcana is different from others. The more powerful it is, the harder is to tame it. If you can''t tame it, you should atleast become friends with the spirit.

    Even though you received an acknowledgment, without getting to understand each other, the Arcana will try to take control of your body the more frequently you use soul skills.

    And by the way, you also need to be wary of your power. You have a death attribute, not a dark attribute."

    "Death attribute?" Azzy titled his head in confusion as he never heard of such an attribute. It was mentioned in the Book of Death but Azzy never read it.

    Evelyn continued, "Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Lightning, Light, and Dark are the basic energies present in the atmosphere. When mixed, each combination gives different types of energy. Everyone''s attributes are within these limits.

    But, two types of energies are excluded from this list. They are almost considered a myth. Life and death.

    Life attribute is a unique energy that can grant life. It''s different from healing. I mean, healing can''t extend one''s life span but life energy can. But, they were only exclusive to pure Angels. Unlike us, they don''t even try to mingle with humans.

    As for the Death attribute, it''s a corrosive type of energy that''s the opposite of life. It decreases the life span. Never try to use soul skills on the same level or weaker people in a spar."

    Azrael nodded in understanding.

    "Okay, let''s continue."

    Azzy grabbed the handle and pulled the weapon. But, the scythe was stuck on the floor.

    "Argh¡­" He put his entire power in his hands and pulled it up, only to fall on his back clumsily.

    It earned another laugh from his trainer.

    Six weeks later;

    In the training hall-3, Evelyn gave a solid punch to Azzy''s cheek before he attempted to slash at her.

    Azzy crashed onto the wall and fell on the floor.

    "I told you to not only focus on offense but also defense. This handle can be used to block attacks. After all, you take too much of a long time to attack." Evelyn instructed him once again after beating him.

    "Ugh¡­" Rubbing his face, Azzy muttered under his breath, "This grandma is a bully."

    "What did you say?" Evelyn narrowed her eyes as she looked at him.

    "Nothing," Azzy replied, shaking his head.

    He stood up and picked up the scythe. "Let''s continue."

    "No, today''s training is over." Both of them heard a voice followed by Avia''s appearance in the middle of the hall. "Young Master Garcia, you will take rest for the rest of the day. Tomorrow is the day of the awakening ceremony. You are going to represent the Garcia family.

    So, return to the Garcia Mansion and make sure to get enough sleep. Be in your perfect condition. You need to be presentable tomorrow for your first public appearance."

    Azzy understood the hidden meaning behind her words as she knew that he would use the hourglass and reverse the time to repeat this situation.

    "Okay." Azzy listened to her and unsummoned his soul card before leaving the training hall.

    As he left the place, Evelyn let out a comment with a sigh, "I still wonder how you tamed that discourteous child."

    Avia countered her statement, "actually, I should be the one to be surprised. Sister Evelyn is the one only in the clan who dares to behave like that towards him."

    Upon hearing it, she grinned, "Paulea gave me that right, you know¡­"

    Meanwhile, Azzy was overwhelmed in happiness, feeling the effects of his body tempering as he started climbing down the stairs.

    "Wow, my body feels so much lighter."

    As he reached the bottom of the stairs and started to walk on the ground, the gravity decreases in his perception and he felt as if he was walking on the clouds.

    Entering the Garcia compound, Azzy saw his relatives greeted him with respect and even tried to converse like it''s been a year since he left for the Pavilion. How is he doing, Congratulating for breaking through the 3rd rank, etc¡­

    On the other hand, few clan members either ignored him as if they didn''t see him or they bowed lightly without a hint of respect.

    Azzy can''t help but sigh inside, ''Grandpa is right. Rumors spread faster than facts.''

    He ignored them in return and proceeds towards the family Mansion.

    After a while, he reached his room.

    It looks exactly the same as he left a year ago. Of course, it was kept clean always.

    After having his dinner, he was accompanied by an old man, the Garcia family Mansion''s steward, Adolphus. He''s a commoner and yet, a six-star Arcana Master.

    If the Royal family of their country knows of it, they would have even granted him, nobility, although it''s unlikely, he would want to accept it.

    "Milord, our men just brought new outfits from different parts of the nation. They are kept in the wardrobe."

    Azzy gave a simple nod that he understood.

    He slept soundly without any nightmares.

    The next day morning, Azrael woke up and chose one of the outfits randomly and slowly walked out of the house, where he saw a few parents are accompanying their kids on a flying card.

    It reminded him of his Grandpa who accompanied him to the awakening ceremony back at the town of Sliya.

    ''Looks like there are a few eight-year-olds in our family compound.'' Azzy thought as he raised his head towards the sky.

    The sky is full of flying-cards, flying from all over the village. Most of them are traveling to see the clan head while some are hoping to awake a second Arcana.

    All of a sudden, Avia appears before him. "Good Morning, Young Master Garcia." Since he was long used to her sudden appearances, he didn''t flinch and simply returned the greetings, "Morning, Master."

    "Are you ready?"

    "Let''s go," Azzy answered her before she grabbed him and teleport to the entrance of the Red Pavilion directly.

 Chapter 13: Second Awakening Ceremony Part-1

    Red Pavilion, the place where almost every member of the Death Clan starts their training, roughly at the age of 5.

    After awakening their Arcana, they wait until each Pavilion announces for recruiting.

    Once they get selected by the Elders, they''ll move on to their respective Pavilions, meanwhile, those who are willing to wait, can stay and train at the Red Pavilion.

    It is also a place for non-Arcana Masters, who can train until they reach the age of 15, and then, either become farmers or leave the clan with their memories removed.

    Of course, it goes without saying that they will be heavily looked down on or bullied by others.

    And this is where the disciplinary hall comes in. They have two departments, Judicial and Police.

    And Avia is its commander as well as the Supreme Judge. So, one can consider how fearsome her authority is. Even the clan leaders of the subordinate clans have to fear her power, except for one person.

    Her judgment can only be overridden by the Death Clan''s head.

    When Avia appeared at the entrance of the Red Pavilion and started walking, every one of them, moved aside and gave her the way.

    Azzy who was following from behind her thought she was really feared by the masses, and Evelyn wasn''t exaggerating at all.

    On the way, he saw two guards joined them, protecting the Garcia family''s heir, and to make sure no one dares to walk near him.

    Feeling their six-star aura, combining with a seven-star Arcana Master on the front, the rest of the clan members maintained their distance at least three meters from them.

    Looking around, he realized the Red Pavilion was vastly different from Violet Pavilion.

    For example, there are no multiple buildings here and the gravity is also normal.

    Even though the whole space is the same as the Violet Pavilion, the majority of the place is plain, barren land. The disciples can train wherever they want as long as it''s on the premises.

    As for the remaining, there are two structures built here.

    One is the main hall, where the disciples take missions from the Elder, learn things from the library, receive an education equivalent to primary and secondary schools.

    The second thing is the Arena, where clan tournaments, battles, etc.. takes place. It is also the place where the awakening ceremony is going on.

    It isn''t like the Arcana Hall where testing will be private. On the contrary, none of them can hide their Arcana from others.

    And this is the place where Azzy and Avia are walking towards.

    Looking at the numbers around him, he thought, ''the clan sure is populated''

    After a while, Azzy entered the Arena where one of the staff greeted them with a 90-degree bow. "Greetings, Commander Night."

    Then, she turned towards Azzy and the two guards.

    "Greetings Sirs¡­" She didn''t recognize them. So, she greeted them how she greets every other older person.

    As Avia frowned in response, she jumped back in fright.

    "It''s okay," Azzy spoke to her.

    Avia turned around and said, "Young Master Garcia, I''ll going to join others. I wish you good luck but then again, I hope you remember that it doesn''t matter whether you awaken a second Arcana or not."

    Azzy nodded.

    After Avia left, as Azzy looked at the staff member, he saw a familiar dark aura was looming all over her. He frowned and blurted out, "You don''t have much time left¡­"

    The girl''s eyes widened misunderstood and apologized, kneeling on the ground, "I didn''t know about your identity, Young Master. Please spare me¡­"

    Suddenly, it attracted attention from the surroundings and murmurings flew around.

    Azzy quickly replied, "fine. Just get up and show the way." He didn''t bother to explain himself as usual and let her think what she wishes¡­

    "Thank you." Getting up, she thanked him again for not punishing her, and gestured with her hand, "this way, please."

    With the guards behind him, Azzy was led to a huge waiting hall, where he saw a lot of kids waiting, accompanied by someone.

    "Here we are, Young Master." The girl said, "In a moment, the ceremony begins, and the chief will inform you when it''s your turn. I''ll take my leave, now¡­"

    Azzy nodded, looking at her back in pity. ''This sister looks like she''s only in her twenties¡­ The aura of death is already too strong. Her death is near¡­''

    He stepped inside the hall, and take a glance to find a place to sit.

    Even though Azzy was early by at least an hour, the waiting hall is literally packed with candidates of which half of them are around eight years of age.

    And the rest of them are like him, hoping to awaken for the second time. There are a few of them who are accompanied by powerful servants like him but Azzy didn''t care much about it.

    All of his attention was placed on finding an empty seat so that he can sit somewhere in the corner without any disturbance.

    However, his plan of staying low was disturbed by some random geezer, who gasped as soon as he saw him, "Young Master Garcia!"

    As more than half of the people in the room are Arcana Masters, even in an atmosphere with a decent noise, they heard his tone and the hall went silent, with everyone''s gazes on Azrael.

    Getting greeted by every commoner/lowborn is something he was familiar with for a long time. So, he just gave a plain nod to each of them before walking towards an empty seat to sit.

    It didn''t take long before some highborn from other clans introduce themselves to him. And the first one to do so is the twelve-year-old girl with two six-star guards behind her.

    "Hello, I''m Barbara Crescent, youngest daughter of Raleigh Crescent."

    She''s a tall girl, with short hair, wearing a boy''s clothes apparently.

    Her face is round with a pointed chin. Her eyes are big and grayish-green, with dark eyelashes, something that was common in the highborn of Crescent clan.

    She put her hands in the pocket while introducing herself. Azzy didn''t know what is that posing for¡­

    If the same thing was done by a boy, it would have been very rude considering their positions but Azzy found her actions a little bit cute, although he wouldn''t express that opinion.

    The only thing that turned him off is her face. It resembles Evelyn by a lot.

    He didn''t know who Raleigh is, but what Azzy was sure that she must be directly related to Evelyn in some way.

    "Hello, I''m Azrael Garcia." He returned the greets with a nod.

    She turned her head aside and looked at the kid who sat next to Azzy and asked, "You mind sit elsewhere?"

    The 12-year-old of the Smoke clan, who was already covering with panic from the moment Azzy sat next to him, quickly stood up and get away from there as soon as the chance is presented.

    Azzy found this behavior, not pleasant. But, since it wasn''t his business, he did nothing.

    Soon, he realized this silence cost him a lot.

    She took her seat and asked, "I heard that you lived outside for eight years. If you don''t mind, can you tell me about it?"

    For an entire hour, the curious Barbara continuously asked things about movies, cartoons, airplanes, smartphones, television, ACs, etc¡­

    Since she never stepped outside of the clan village, and there are no electricity or electronic devices available here, she asked a lot of things, and Azzy, who was stuck with this cousin of his started to feel headache.

    Finally, he concluded his opinion of her with three words, ''A troublesome brat.''

 Chapter 14: Second awakening ceremony part-2

    In the middle of the Arena, a large slab of stone was placed in a vertical position.

    This stone slab isn''t an ordinary one, for sure. It is atleast 4 to 5 meters big with several runes carved on it.

    "I heard that the outside world uses the awakening scrolls for convenience but this awakening stone of our clan has a special property. It enhances your existing Arcana while you are trying for the second awakening."

    "I see¡­ This is why there are a lot of 12-year-olds trying to participate this time," Azzy commented, hearing out Barbara''s explanation.

    "Yup." She nodded with a smile, "and you know, in the rarest cases, someone receives an additional soul skill. The last one to receive it was Lady Night. It happened 22 years ago."

    "Eh?" Azzy widened his eyes in surprise, "Master is only 34 years old?"

    "Hmm? You don''t about it?" She looked at him as if he was that clueless.

    Azzy thought his master is indeed awesome but didn''t know she was this incredible. A 34-year-old who is a seven-star Arcana Master? She''s indeed a daughter of heaven.

    He replied, "I didn''t pay much attention."

    "She''s my role model you know¡­ There was one time¡­" Upon mentioning Avia, Barbara started to show her fanatic side¡­

    "Young Miss Crescent, Young Master Garcia," At that time someone called these twelve-year-olds, making Azzy sigh in relief as he no longer wishes to stick with this cousin of his. Even her way of talking is a bit similar to Evelyn.

    The only difference is that Evelyn can drag people into random dreams with her words while this cousin has the power of persuasion in her mouth. Whenever she talks, Azzy wasn''t able to resist answering her questions or stopping the conversation.

    "Everything is ready. Please¡­" A staff told them to join the line.

    Both of them stood up from their seats and joined a line that''s full of kids.

    Azzy didn''t know what kind of reputation Barbara has but no one dared to talk to either of them when he was with her. So, he thought, even though it''s a pain, it''s better to stick with her.

    The adults stayed back in the waiting hall; meanwhile, Truman Ash, one of the Elders of the Death clan as well as the Master of Pavilion leads the kids to the Arena.

    As Azzy stepped inside, he saw it was packed with an audience numbered atleast a thousand.

    That''s when he thought the clan is a lot bigger than he imagined. This pocket world is as big as a Province for a reason.

    Unlike the usual atmosphere, the arena was filled with silence and no cheers escaped from anyone, trying to behave themselves.

    "Wow, all the clan leaders gathered here¡­" "Is he the Clan head in the middle? It''s my first time seeing him¡­" "I heard that all of them are peak rank-8 and our clan head is just a step away from becoming rank-10." "Yeah, I heard that rank-10 masters can regain their youth and live for another hundred thousand years?" "Well, in history, only the founders of hidden clans reached such rank before ascending to the celestial world of heaven."

    All sorts of murmurings rang in Azzy''s ears. Maybe, it''s because he''s a 3-star, his hearing improved quite a lot. The only problem was that he can''t control it, yet.

    Then, his eyes lay on the stone slab in the middle of a 500 sq.meter big platform.

    "That is the awakening stone I was talking about," Barbara chirped from the side.

    As everyone arrived, Elder Truman said, "eight-year-olds, the first-timers, gather on the right. Twelve-year-olds on the left."

    Barbara and Azzy moved to the left along with others.

    Elder Truman then bowed to the feeble looking old man, who sat at a certain section along with other clan leaders and elders. Avia and Evelyn also joined them.

    The clan head nodded.

    Elder Truman then addressed the audience, "everyone, welcome to our clan awakening ceremony. As you all know, first, our new generation will be awakening their soul cards through this wonderful relic left by our founder, Azrael Garcia.

    Then, the second awakening ceremony will begin, where our talented young Arcana Masters will get the opportunity to increase their potential.

    Ordinary people will become talented. Talented will become genius, the Genius will become Monsters, and the monsters will become the son or the daughter of heaven.

    As for the second part, we have made a few changes, this time." Pointing at the section where Azzy and others stood, he continued, "These young Arcana Masters will not spar against each other but display their powers, sparring against with their senior disciples from all the Pavilions.

    Of course, their seniors will hold back their strength and use the power equivalent to the candidate. Let''s give a round of applause for this young generation who will become the future pillars of our clan."

    After everyone clapped for a few seconds, he looked at the clan head to give permission.

    Qridus Garcia then spoke in a whisper, "begin." Even though it''s a whisper, it seemed loud and clear to everyone.

    Elder Truman of the Ash clan then addressed the eight-year-olds to go towards the stone slab and place their palms on it.

    One by one, they started to walk to the relic and did as they were told after bowing to the clan head and the clan leaders and Elders.

    Azzy saw, as soon as their palms touched the relic, the runes that carved on it, started to glow for a few seconds while their soul cards awakened appeared before everyone.

    The first time, when one''s Arcana is awakened, it usually appears beside its Master.

    He felt strange that his Arcana never appeared that way. Only a set of weapons appeared in his hands.

    "Aleister Blood greets the Clan Head." A cute looking boy with messy hair and large eyes with bright red pupils bowed to others before placing his palms on the awakening stone.

    Usually, the number of glowing runes indicates one potential. The higher the number, the greater the potential.

    But, as soon as his palms touched the relic, more than 90 runes of 108 runes lit up, shocking the audience.

    A soul card formed before the boy while a thick aura made of blood surrounded the eight-year-old.

    The Crescent clan leader turned his head aside and said with a smile, "Congratulations, Francis. Your clan produced a genius with great potential. We haven''t seen a situation like this for ten years."

    The Blood clan leader, Francis Blood responded with a depressed tone, "but it''s only 95. Another 5, it would have been great."

    Even though he appeared a little bit disappointed, these 8-star Arcana Masters can feel even the minute changes that are happening in their body. The clan leader was indeed pleased with the result.

    "This boy has the potential to become the next clan leader, Francis." The clan head commented as he strokes his long beard, staring at the boy.

    "You are forgetting about Remia, Qridus." Francis reminded him, his daughter.

    Being in the same generation, he''s also one of the people who are closest to the Clan head, having the privilege to call him by his first name.

    "That''s right. I almost forgot about her. It''s already been a thousand years. She had made a breakthrough to rank-8, right? Why is that irresponsible brat still playing out there?" Qridus then remembered this girl, who was always out there, trying to explore the mysterious world of Arcana.

    He was displeased with the woman who is at least 7000 years old but doesn''t know how to act her age.

    Francis'' expression turned sour.

 Chapter 15: Second Awakening ceremony part-3

    After Aleister Blood''s awakening ceremony, all other awakenings of the branch families of their respective clans looked dull.

    None of them were able to awake either a set Arcana or the number of glowing runes crossed 60.

    The second best is from a branch family member of Garcia, who awakened a healing tome like the predecessors, lighting up a fifty-eight number of runes on the awakening stone.

    Out of 29 candidates, 20 eight-year-olds were able to awaken their Arcana while the remaining left the place in disappointment.

    Now, only 16 twelve-year-olds are left in the Arena, waiting for their turn.

    Elder Truman glanced at them and spoke, "You will do the same thing as them. After the ceremony is finished, you will then release your Arcana and make them touch the relic. That way, their strength will be enhanced."

    Everyone nodded in response.

    "Okay, who wants to try first?"

    While everyone hesitated to come forward and let the Elder pick one of them randomly like how he did with newbies, a hand was raised nearby Azrael.

    "Here, let me go first." A cheerful voice was echoed in Azzy ears that were right next to her.

    Barbara volunteered to be the first one and the Elder accepted it and told her to proceed.

    She stepped on to the platform and walked towards the relic.

    She stops before the relic and bowed towards the clan head and others.

    "Barbara Crescent greets the clan head." After she greeted the clan head first, she collectively greeted the clan leaders and then Death Clan Elders.

    As she pressed her palms onto the slab, runes lit up one by one. In a few seconds, more than 80 runes lit up before halting at 84, which is higher than her first awakening by 12.

    That means, Arcana purification/acknowledgment increased her potential by almost 15% and she has the potential to be Eight-star Arcana Master.

    If she can awake the second Arcana and go through the second purification, increasing her potential further, she would be destined to be a rank 9.

    Or else she can only depend on things like treasures to increase her potential.

    Crescent Clan leader, grandfather of Barbara tightened his fists, anticipating the moment his granddaughter successfully awakens the Arcana from her father''s side.

    But, in the end, the second soul card isn''t born and the runes dimmed as she backed off her hands in disappointment.

    The clan leader shook his head in disappointment. Still after seeing she has the potential to be an eight-rank; Kylan thought he should talk with his eldest daughter to let her train at Violet pavilion instead of clan training grounds.

    Meanwhile, Barbara summoned her soul card.

    Azzy saw it was bright blue, indicating her soul power is a bit higher than his.

    "Come out, Neko."

    A blazing red-furred cat with a tail and ears made of fire appeared on her shoulders.

    No one thought the Arcana is weak judging on its size. On the contrary, feeling the intensity that cat was emitting, everyone, especially the disciples who were above rank-3 were amazed.

    Meanwhile, Azzy was also amazed, although for a different reason, "She told that her Arcana is of purple grade like my Arcana weapons. Is this how a purple grade will give? This is feebly comparing to master''s twin-daggers.

    Does that mean they are above purple, the gold grade? I wonder what''s mine¡­ If it''s a deity, it should be no less than gold, right? Or maybe, who knows, it might be the legendary platinum grade..."

    Right then, a shout filling with excitement came from the direction of the platform, "Look cousin, I received a soul skill¡­"

    As Azzy returned from his thoughts, he saw Barbara was jumping with a wide smile and waving her hands towards him while her cat reciprocates with its owner''s feelings and breathes out a streak of fire towards the sky.

    Azzy felt embarrassed and moved to the side a little bit and looked away, pretending to not know who this cousin is¡­

    *Ahem*

    At the same time, someone else is also embarrassed a little bit.

    Kylan Crescent cleared his throat, reminding her to maintain the dignity of the clan.

    She quickly apologized with a bow and scurried towards the waiting hall after realizing it.

    Since it is well known that the crescent family highborn usually faces difficulty to keep their emotions in check, no one minded her behavior and continued to watch.

    After her, one by one, the disciples went to the relic and tried their luck for a second awakening but the result is the same.

    With only 5-6 of the disciples left, now, everyone''s eyes are on Azzy as he was now visible.

    He shivered for a second, feeling gazes from everyone. While some are filled with anticipation, others are filled with mockery, pity, rage, etc¡­

    Qridus frowned a bit but he didn''t do anything about it and silently stared at his descendant.

    He already knew that Azzy won''t awaken a second Arcana because he was confident that the Grim Reaper cannot coexist with the second Arcana spirit.

    The only thing he wishes to see is his potential, whether he can light up 100 runes or not.

    If he was able to do that, then, this old man wouldn''t have any worries about the future of the clan.

    Meanwhile, Azzy felt that this is the right time for him to go forward.

    He raised his hand, "I''ll go."

    Those that were about to raise their hand immediately put their hands down and stayed silent.

    Elder Truman gestured him to go and he pointed the relic with his hand.

    Under the gazes of clan head, seven clan elders, six clan leaders, and thousand clan members, Azzy stepped onto the platform and walked towards the relic.

    "Azrael Garcia greets the ancestor and Elders." His unusual greeting shocked the audience but none of them dares to point it out. So, they watched in silence.

    It brought a frown on the clan leaders as Azzy just addressed them as Elders, implying for him, they were just someone who is older than him.

    "Elder Night, your student doesn''t seem like he wants to respect our positions," Francis quickly complained about Azzy, trying to get back at his old friend who criticized his daughter, earlier.

    "He''s the future clan head. He doesn''t need to do that¡­ Does he?" Qridus answered him in a cold tone, reminding him that even if they are friends, he should know his position.

    Francis narrowed his eyes and stayed silent. The same goes for everyone. Meanwhile, Avia was surprised, seeing the attitude of the clan head. She can''t help but think, ''I can see they are feeling suppressed. Is this why these clans are having secret meetings? I bet they will strike after they breakthrough to rank-9.''

    She''s in her own world, thinking of various conspiracy theories the five clans might plan to do¡­

    Feeling the tension around, Evelyn then spoke, "Azzy told me that he was brought here without asking his opinion. It might be the reason why he has difficulty to accept the clan even though it''s been 4 years."

    Night clan''s leader then replied, "It''s not about opinion. Everyone has their own destiny to fulfill." His answer not only made Evelyn speechless, but even the other clan leaders also received the hidden message inside it.

    Qridus didn''t pay attention to the rest and focused on his successor, who put his palms on the relic.

    He quickly stood up in shock.

    Meanwhile, Azzy''s surroundings changed and he ended up at the same place, on the edge of a cliff.

    Except that the Grim Reaper and the corpses on the field were nowhere to be seen.

    Instead, there''s only rumbling in the sky and a countless number of black bolts of lightning are striking everywhere.

    ''Is this perhaps, my second Arcana?'' A thought came into his mind and he raised his hand.

    An infinite number of black lightning bolts gathered at the spot and formed a figure, a mirror image of himself who spoke, "Descendant of Aelius Crescent, receive my power."

    The thunder echoed in response and his vision was blacked out.

    Returning to his senses, Azzy found the runes on the stone slab are glowing brightly while there''s a soul card hovering before his hands.

    He felt something like a ball in his hand.

    As he turned his head, Azzy saw a pitch-black orb made of lightning energy in his right hand, making the sounds of electricity.

    He gripped it in reflex.

    It was absorbed into his hand and sparks generating from all of his body. Intending to test its power, he raised his hand towards the sky and a lightning bolt literally shot out of his hand.

    With a thought, it returned to a lightning orb.

    Catching the soul card, he mumbled, "Vajra."

    Crescent clan leader can''t help but curse, feeling as if his world turned upside down, "Damn¡­ it''s the black lightning Arcana of Aelius Crescent. Can''t believe it fell into this kid''s hands of all the descendants."

    The other clan leaders asked at the same time, "That Aelius?"

 Chapter 16: Fate or coincidence?

    Aelius Crescent, dubbed as the lightning god, belongs to a branch family of the Crescent clan.

    To be specific, he''s the ancestor of Kylan and the last Crescent clan leader who reached the peak stage of rank-9.

    Even though Aelius Crescent is in the same generation as Qridus Garcia, and Francis Blood, he''s far more talented than them. In just 2000 years, he reached the peak stage of rank-9.

    His black lightning was the most concentrated form of lightning energy that''s recorded in the top-10 most deadly Arcana ever.

    But, genius as he is, he is also someone with notorious fame that massacred twenty million innocent people taking revenge for his eldest son and his wife who were assassinated by an enemy empire.

    It took so many rank-9 experts to hunt him down. Qridus was one of them.

    Back to the present, the old man didn''t mind Kylan''s outburst and let out a deep sigh as he stared at the black lightning orb in Azzy''s hands. "He awakened the Vajra, huh! It''s nostalgic indeed."

    The appearance of such powerful Arcana made the clan leaders even forget for a moment the fact that 103 out of 108 runes were lit up.

    Meanwhile, Azzy who doesn''t know who the hell is Aelius didn''t think too much about it and concentrated on the lightning orb.

    Since he can''t summon the Reaper to enhance its abilities, he touched the stone slab with the orb.

    Once again, his surroundings changed, and found himself at the same spot.

    The black lightning spirit that took the shape of himself, spoke, "I''m Vajra, once wielded by the King of Heavens, and now, just a banished lightning spirit who embraced the power of darkness.

    Azrael Garcia, I sense an enormous amount of dark power within you, and yet, there''s no darkness in your heart. I hope you would use my power to right the things that I have done¡­"

    "I don''t understand," Azzy scratched his head in a little bit of confusion, what does it mean by right things. He also felt something amiss in its speech but can''t put his finger on it. "What do you mean by that?"

    But, the lightning spirit didn''t give an explanation and vaguely said, "You will understand once you reach rank-7."

    ''For what?'' thought Azzy.

    Leaving Azzy in confusion, it spoke in a loud voice, looking at the sky, "I''m ready, Chronos."

    A new figure suddenly appears beside the lightning spirit. Strangely, this skeleton has some kind of Jar in his right hand.

    He immediately greeted this deity with a bow, "Hello, Chronos. It''s been a while."

    The Reaper looked at the boy without any emotions and nodded, "I''m watching you. You are doing well with the death scythe and the hourglass, Azrael."

    Then, the Reaper turned his head towards the lightning spirit and said, "Is there any left to say to the boy before disappearing?"

    Vajra replied, "Just one more thing."

    The spirit joined both of his palms and generated lightning energy before releasing it towards Azzy. As it was flying towards the boy, suddenly, it transformed into a black wolf.

    It looked at him with its big eyes before moving in a zigzag manner towards him at a lightning speed. Before he knows what''s going on, the wolf hit his chest and disappeared into his body.

    "This skill is my final gift to you, Azrael before I disappear from here," Vajra spoke to him with a smile.

    "Disappearing?" Azzy''s confusion increased and fell into thoughts, "Does that mean, they can''t share this space or something? Hmm, now that I think about it when I awaken the Arcana, I didn''t see corpses or the Reaper. But, I saw the lightning during my first awakening though.''

    Azzy, who rarely voices out his doubts, didn''t speak of it either and stayed silent.

    But soon, his expression changed as the Reaper raised the death scythe.

    Looking at him, the lightning spirit maintained his smile, "It''s a pleasure knowing you even though it''s only for a few moments. I''m entrusting my power and legacy to you. Goodbye, Azrael."

    The death scythe slashed the lightning spirit, turning it into a mass of energy before collecting it into a Jar.

    It was then, Azzy understood what''s going on and he shouted as he took a step back, "Chronos, what are you doing?"

    After all the energy was collected in the jar, the reaper answered, "doing my job as the Reaper. Vajra betrayed the King of heavens and embrace the power of Protos to become stronger."

    Azzy looked at him like, so what¡­

    The Reaper then explained himself, "I sentenced him to death but the King banished him to the spirit world.

    But, he has once again broken the rules and looked for a way to return."

    "So, he awakened in the form of Arcana?" Azzy tried to confirm his suspicion.

    The Reaper nodded, "Yes. With the power of the corrupted energy of Protos, he became the culprit of 20 million innocent deaths. The King ordered his death.

    After the death of Aelius, he returned to the spirit world.

    All the spirits in the spirit world are immortal. So, he can''t be destroyed. So, I waited.

    Whether it was just coincidence or it was really a fate, he found the direct descendant of my previous host all of the five Billion people in this world. It made it easier for me to descend to use the same thing as him."

    "So, it isn''t a coincidence that I was chosen by a deity. It''s because you have a mission to fulfill. No wonder.

    I have read so many books but I have never seen a case where one cannot summon their Arcana even after the purification.

    From the beginning, I wondered why a deity like you is an Arcana. Now, I get it¡­"

    Azzy became disappointed at the moment that he felt his world was collapsing. He expected on the day he left his home, he was like a tool to the Death clan that only cared about him because of his Arcana.

    The ground below him started to shake while a pitch-black aura completely enveloped him as it escaped from the jar.

    Reaper frowns, looking at the disgusting aura even though it is highly similar to his. "Protos?"

    Meanwhile, Azzy started seeing illusions in his head.

    Finishing the job, the Reaper leaves him, leaving him as a normal person. The clansmen are looking at him in disdain. He was getting kicked by the clan members. Avia and Evelyn ignore him.

    He got kicked out by the clan head and on the way, someone kills him¡­

    Followed by the illusions, a whisper echoes in his head, "this is your future, Azrael. Come on, accept my power and go against your fate¡­"

    "I won''t let it happen." For the first time since his emotions were taken away, Azzy roared in anger.

    The aura around him erupted, although unable to push away the Reaper, who shook his head with a sigh, "I guess it was too early."

    He quickly disappears and appears behind Azzy and knocks him out with the death scythe''s handle.

    "You haven''t even bothered to hear all of my words¡­ The minds of humans are really shallow."

    Looking at the jar, the Reaper then mumbles, "in exchange for your sacrifice, I''m fulfilling your wish. Since the Protos energy already infected his soul energy and can''t be removed, I might as well use this opportunity to tame it with yours."

    Back to reality, everyone in the Arena stood up in shock as soon as Azzy touched the relic using the orb.

    Enveloping in the aura of darkness, he fainted on the spot followed by floating in an unconscious state.

    "Purification, right after awakening?" The clan leaders once again were stunned. It''s because the less time the Arcana take to acknowledge its owner, the more it becomes easy for the owner to master its power.

    If it was some other Arcana, they would have taken it lightly but Vajra is something that''s not easily tamable.

    It was at that moment, even the Crescent Clan leader thought of dismissing all the thoughts of letting his son be the next clan head.

    The same thing ran in other clan leaders'' heads except for a certain clan leader.

    Avia displayed a rare smile on her face, feeling proud of her student, and then smirked as she takes a look at the clan leaders and everyone else, ''Hmpf, actions speak louder than words. I guess I need to show them, Azrael''s potential.''

    In the meantime, the disciples who looked down on Azzy because of the rumors, now, felt worse. If lighting 103 of runes is considered a mediocre talent, then, they don''t know what to make of the rest of the clan members.

    If having a second awakening the second Arcana is called a mediocre talent, then they don''t know about the rest¡­

    If awakening an Arcana that''s giving off an intensity far stronger than a purple grade is a mediocre talent, then, they don''t know what to call themselves¡­

    At that moment, they really want to find out the one who spread the rumors and execute him.

    At that moment, several low born clan members became worshippers and hailed him as the son of heaven in their hearts while Qridus is extremely happy that the future of his clan is safe.

    However, not all of them are happy or amazed.

    In the stands, a disciple looked at floating Azzy with seriousness and mumbled, "I need to inform Young Master."

    But, suddenly, something strange happened.

    One of the two soul cards are circling around each other, suddenly shattered into specks of light while Azzy continues to float.

    ***

    *Wow*

    He heard something braked near his ears.

    Azzy opened his eyes and found a black wolf sitting on the floor while he was on a bed.

    The wolf loudly barked a couple of times again. "You are finally back, Azrael." He understood the meaning perfectly and the voice is also too familiar. "Vajra?"

    Then he looked at his surroundings, "where am I?"

    "You woke up..." Just then, a familiar voice was heard from the direction of the door. As he turned his head, Azzy was taken aback to see two people standing together, "Grandpa?"

    Both of them looked at each other and then, looked at him with a frown, "who?"

 Chapter 17: 27 years to the past part-1

    1993, Northern Qudour Nation, Lusha Province;

    Oakley Night was driving a car with the Princess of Snieca and their 7-year-old daughter Avia sat behind.

    "Dad, that movie is really good. Does that hero really exist?" A cute and na?ve looking Avia asked her father.

    "Of course, Avia. Those kinds of powerful heroes exist everywhere in the world. As long as you can reach rank-7, you can become as strong as him." Her mother replied, caressing her hair.

    "Oh! Then, can Dad become as strong as him once he made a breakthrough?"

    "Uhh¡­ That''s¡­" As the princess was troubled to answer the question, Oakley, who was driving the car, turned his head around and answered with a smile, "of course, sweetie¡­"

    "Look out¡­" Widening her eyes, Affea shouted, as she saw a kid suddenly appeared in front of their vehicle.

    Before he turns his head, the car hit him and got itself knocked back more than five meters as if it hit the wall.

    Oakley hit his head to the steering while Affea was in time to catch Avia.

    He opens the door and gets out of the car to see a 12-year-old kid, unconscious on the road with no injuries. Meanwhile, the car''s bumper was damaged smoke rose from the engine.

    "A four-star Arcana Master?" Oakley mumbled as he crouched to check the boy to check his condition.

    Just then, suddenly, a crimson-colored soul card appeared in between them. Within a fraction of a second, it glowed and a black wolf jumped from it.

    *Grrr*

    It growled as it bares its fangs against Oakley while releasing sparks of lightning from all over its body.

    Oakley tried to communicate with it, "easy there. I''m not an enemy. Let me help the boy."

    "What happened, Honey?" Affea spoke, stepping out of the car.

    As the wolf growled once again, looking at her, Oakley released his soul card and summoned a Unicorn. "You can recognize it, right? I''m a healer. I won''t harm him, okay?"

    The wolf glared at the unicorn which replied with a soft neigh.

    It stepped aside since the spirits of unicorns are one of the most peaceful beings in the spirit world.

    Avia, who saw the unicorn through the glass, exclaimed as she too gets out of the car. "Wow¡­ Is this your Arcana, Dad? Cool."

    "Yes, sweetie. But, stay here." Affea replied to her while grabbing near to her, looking warily at the wolf that was giving off intensity far greater than a gold grade Arcana.

    Meanwhile, Oakley checked the boy''s pulse and eyes. He didn''t find anything unusual. His soul also seems to be in good condition.

    Then, he looked at the wolf and spoke, "He''s fainted. Let me take him to my home."

    *Wow*

    It barked in a low tone towards the Unicorn, who then translated it to Oakley.

    Upon hearing it, Oakley nodded, "fine. Get it."

    He picked up the boy and then said, "Affea, you and Avia sit in the front."

    She nodded.

    Meanwhile, he put the boy in the back seat and the wolf jumped on top of the car.

    The unicorn then released a thread made of energy and attached it to the car before pulling it in the middle of the night.

    Back to the present;

    After the Protos energy overwhelmed him with the feelings of darkness, Azzy''s vision went blank followed by his consciousness.

    And when he regained his consciousness, he found Vajra, who was erased by the Reaper is now guarding in the form of a black wolf.

    He remembered the final gift he was given. Azzy thought it was a soul skill but the reality is quite different.

    Vajra now has a separate body as if he was reborn as a soul beast but Azzy isn''t a condition to care about it.

    Why?

    It''s because he saw his grandpa who looks like he is in his early forties, surely younger than when he left him, four years ago, and a beautiful unfamiliar woman was holding his arm.

    The problem is, Oakley responded with, "Who?" instead of any greetings and looked at him like a stranger.

    "Grandpa, it''s me, Azzy¡­" Azzy called out to him once again, making both of them confused.

    Affea turned her head towards her husband and asked, "Honey, do you have a grandson this big or is he just became crazy?"

    Feeling her glare as if she was interrogating him whether he lied about her being his first love, Oakley defended himself, "I''m just 45. How can I be a grandpa to a kid who''s older than my daughter?"

    "If you have a child in your teenage and he/she gives birth to this kid in their teenage¡­" She quickly countered him with an unreasonable theory.

    "Don''t be ridiculous, alright," Oakley replied before turning towards Azzy, "who are you, kid? Why are you calling me, grandpa? I''m not even that old¡­"

    Azzy felt pain in his heart for a moment before he realized something''s wrong.

    ''That woman called him as his husband. But I remember Grandpa said his wife died 20 years ago¡­ He''s a lookalike.

    The book of genetics says there is a possibility of lookalikes in the world as long as they share the same ancestry even if it''s a one in a million chance.

    Moreover, grandpa is a four-star too but this guy looks far stronger, although weaker than Master. That means, around early-mid rank-6.''

    "I''m sorry. I must have mistaken you for my grandfather. He kinda looks similar to you. He''s a rank-4 by the way," Azzy quickly apologized to him to sort out the situation. "By the way, my name is Azrael."

    He left out his family name on purpose as he doesn''t know whether he''s an enemy or friend.

    According to his Master, the Death clan does have a lot of enemies. So, they shouldn''t reveal their surname unnecessarily in the modern world.

    Upon hearing Azzy''s apology, Oakley sighed in relief. If Azzy would have insisted, then he would really get fallen in trouble with his unreasonable wife.

    "It''s okay, kid. Sometimes, it happens. By the way, I''m Oakley and this is my wife, Affea. Last night, we found you teleported right in the front of her vehicle. So, we brought you here."

    Azzy was stunned this time. Now he was sure that this is his grandpa. A crazy thought appeared in his mind.

    "Can I ask what year this is¡­" Azzy asked to confirm his suspicions.

    Hearing the unusual question, they were taken aback at first, but misunderstand that the kid might have teleported from Arcana World, Oakley answered, "1993."

    "93?"

    Azzy''s eyes are widened, "27 years¡­" "27 years¡­"

    He kept on mumbling the word a few times while thinking about how it happened.

    Meanwhile, Oakley frowned, "27 years? What''s he mumbling about?"

    Affea made him realize the kid might be mentally unstable due to some reason and let him be alone for a while to sort out his thoughts. After he has enough rest, they will ask the necessary questions.

    As they left the room, Azzy then asked the wolf, "Vajra, what happened to me? Did I unknowingly reverse 27 years? No, that''s not possible since I won''t be alive, then¡­ Did I create a time paradox?"

    "I don''t know," The wolf shook its head, "I only remember about the Reaper releasing¡­"

    Right then, a familiar voice disturbed their telepathic conversation.

    "You didn''t reverse the time, Azrael. You time-traveled to 1993. It must be the fate for you to be discovered by Oakley of all the people."

    Followed by the voice, the wolf disappeared from the spot and Azzy also found himself in his mindscape.

    This time, there is no lightning from the clouds, there are only corpses left on the ground.

    And in front of him, the Reaper stood there as usual but in his right hand, there was a chain that''s linked to the neck of a black wolf.

 Chapter 18: 27 years to the past part-2

    "What''s going on?" Azzy felt confused after realizing two shocking things.

    One is that he was told that he didn''t reverse the time but time-traveled to time before he was even born.

    Second is that he saw the black wolf alias Vajra was tied by a chain like a domestic dog and Reaper is the one that seems like its owner.

    The Reaper who understood Azzy''s thoughts and feelings because of their connection, explained, "this is the deal we have made, Azrael."

    "What deal?" Azzy asked him. This time, he stopped letting things go on their way like last time and decides to get to the end of this matter.

    "In exchange for saving his life, Vajra will serve me for eternity as my slave."

    "Saving?" Azzy frowned, "didn''t you say you are erasing him for breaking the rules?"

    "Every rule has exceptions," Reaper replied in a straightforward face. Azzy thought how shameless this being is, twisting his words as soon as he fits.

    "The moment I killed him and absorbed his soul into the Soul sealing Urn, the weapon of the King of heavens is dead," The Reaper then changed his words, creating confusion in this 12-year-old boy.

    Leaving no other choice, the Reaper decides to explain everything.

    "Our original deal is that I will seal his existence in my Soul Sealing Urn for eternity and destroy the Protos energy along with it and convert the remaining energy into soul power.

    If I had done that, your soul power would have reached 30-40 million."

    ''rank-7?'' Azzy''s eyes widened in surprise. He actually thought of ''why not,'' making the wolf whimper.

    "Sorry." Azzy apologized to the wolf.

    The Reaper continued, "But, I didn''t expect the Protos energy has already infected your soul energy. It is impossible to remove it unless I kill you."

    Azzy shuddered for a second, hearing the emotionless reply.

    "That''s when I decided to make an exception and let him live. Now, in exchange for being a slave to me, he will reincarnate as a spirit of Arcana and help you in taming the Protos energy.

    As someone who has mastered it for hundreds of thousands of years, he is the perfect candidate for it."

    "Protos energy?" Azzy asked curiously.

    "It''s evil energy unique to the race of Protos, who were like anthesis like us. All of us are born from the same source. The Protos race feeds on negative emotions, uses our despair to control our body." The Reaper then slammed the ground with the handle of the death scythe.

    A fresh memory suddenly popped up in Azzy''s mind. He saw how he went crazy after seeing illusions and hearing whispers after being affected by them.

    "Of course, it goes without saying that it will increase your power¡­"

    Azzy nodded in understanding, "I see¡­ That''s why I made a breakthrough to rank-4 and feels so much amount of soul power inside the soul orb." He touched the middle of his chest, feeling such an improvement in his strength.

    Then he asked, "Then, how did I end up here?"

    "Unique Soul skill: Time Travel." The Reaper replied.

    "Unique?" Azzy was taken aback by his response, "Isn''t that soul skills acquired only when one reaches rank-7?"

    The Grim Reaper answered with a nod, "Yes. During the process of reincarnating Vajra, I had to separate his soul energy and the soul.

    Your soul power was briefly increased to 10 million and you received the unique soul skill.

    But, I didn''t expect the protos energy that was controlling you back then, used the skill. And by the time, I completed the process, you end up in this time."

    After hearing him out, Azzy felt like his head is clear but suddenly, something clicked in his mind, "Wait a second. How do I get back to my timeline, then?"

    Chronos answered, "As the personification of time, I can send you at any time but as a rank-4, your body only have a 30% chance to survive. If I use your maximum strength of rank-4, I can barely teleport you two years from now.

    Even if you want to bet on that 50% chance, I won''t recommend it. Moreover, I don''t think fate will like me to interfere."

    "Huh!" Azzy felt confused by his words.

    Chronos then said, "I don''t think it''s just because of a coincidence that Vajra appeared as your Arcana and let me follow it and become your Arcana too. And you unknowingly ended up at your adopted grandfather''s house.

    Fate is pointing you in some direction. I won''t stand in its way. Neither would I stand in yours if you wish to use the unique soul skill and return to your present."

    "Fate, huh!" Azzy mumbled, thinking of something.

    After a while, he asks, "what happens if I change the past?"

    "It goes without saying, the original timeline that you remember will be drastically changed in many ways that you can''t even imagine," Chronos answered in a calm tone as if it has nothing to do with him.

    There is a long silence.

    "You are right. It must be fate, indeed," Azzy then opened his mouth.

    The Reaper who understood his thoughts, frowned, "I must warn you about the risks though.

    If you don''t return to your present timeline before the other you get conceived in your mother''s womb, that child will be someone else as your soul stays within yourself. Your parents won''t acknowledge you as their son. Do you truly wish to do this?"

    As the God of time and death, he already has seen infinite futures and all of them chose only one option.

    "Yes." Azzy nodded.

    "It is time for you to return, Azrael."

    Azzy''s vision blackouts and he returns to reality as soon as he made a choice.

    To know how much soul power he has, he summons the soul card.

    On the Crimson-colored the image was changed.

    The Black Wolf is also added to the image of the Grim Reaper, with its neck bound in a chain.

    "Cool¡­" Azzy smiled in satisfaction as he glanced at the number written on the top left of the card. "77824"

    A few hours ago before he goes through the second awakening, he only has around 2000 but now, it increased drastically. He''s not only a 12-year-old but a person without any real training. If arrogant geniuses in various clans hear of it, they will cough blood in shock¡­

    That''s how he thought as he kept staring at the card for a while.

    Meanwhile, at the Death clan village;

    On the top of the Violet Pavilion, two women are in a battle against each other in the Arena while it was being watched by other clan elders and disciples.

    A lightning dragon breaths out multiple lightning orbs towards its opponent, a silver kangaroo who repelled all of them with its punches.

    "Told you, Izora. You are too early to defeat me." The woman spoke coldly as she folds the hands to her chest.

    "Sister Evelyn, the winner hasn''t decided, yet." Her opponent replied, taking heavy breaths.

    "Soul Skill: Punch of Fury"

    The Kangaroo disappeared and gauntlets appeared on her hands. Evelyn made a punching motion to give a jab into the air.

    A giant hand appeared before her and punched the lightning dragon, which crashed dozens of meters away.

    "Raiga¡­" Izora shouted in worry as she looked at it.

    "Your soul beast is in no condition to fight. You lose," Evelyn spoke as she turned around to walk away.

    Walking a couple of steps, she stopped and spoke, "I told you. You are two hundred years too early to think of defeating me and snatch my position."

    The clan leaders shook their heads in pity, looking at the defeated Izora.

    Both of them are seven-star Arcana Masters and yet, one was defeated so badly that she can''t even stand up.

    Maybe, this is where experience comes in. Despite being talented, and becoming a rank-7 at the age of around 100 years, Izora was soundly defeated by her cousin who took more than 250 years to become an exalt (rank-7).

    One of them was a handsome looking young man who walked forward and gave her the hand, "you fought bravely, Izora. Not many people would be able to hold for so long against Elder Evelyn."

    "I don''t need you to remind me that I''m never a match for her." She stood up on her feet, wiped the blood from her lips before walking away.

    The man sighed as he stared at the back of his fianc¨¦e.

    "Vesryn Garcia."

    A voice resounded in his ears all of a sudden.

    His eye widened and immediately knelt down and cupped his fists, facing the direction of the palace, "Yes, Clan head."

    Followed by his tone, the other elders also knelt down with him as they too heard it.

    "Come and see me. A time breach appeared in our world."

    ''Time breach?'' Vesryn wondered what it is, like the rest of them.

    All of them quickly take off the flight on the flying card and reached the palace.

    After giving their greetings, the feeble looking old man said, "I sensed someone breached to our world from either the past or the future. I need you to find and bring him/her to me."

    Everyone looked at each other faces, not knowing how to find one person in 3 Billion people.

 Chapter 19: 27 years to the past part-3

    Garcia family compound, Death Clan village;

    In the audience chamber of the palace, Vesryn was standing alone in the middle of the hall while the rest of the clan elders are kneeling.

    "Someone Time-Traveled? But, that''s impossible even with the legendary hourglass of our clan," Vesryn was taken aback upon hearing his ancestor''s statement.

    The clan elders are speechless at this scene. In the whole clan, except for that old monster of Blood clan, only he talks to the clan head as he wishes.

    The old stroke his beard, shaking his head, "nothing is impossible, Vesryn. There exist various Arcana spirits in the spirit world. I think it must be a powerful time spirit.

    If he''s someone from the past, then, bring the person here either by poaching or by forcing. We''ll help the Arcana Master to return but if it''s someone from the future, you have to give a death sentence to protect the future."

    "Death Sentence? But, that''s¡­" Vesryn was taken aback since it is unfair to just kill someone just because they time traveled.

    "Our clan existed to maintain the balance of this world," Qridus reminded him of their purpose of existence and shut his mouth.

    "I understand." Vesryn accepted the cold-hearted truth.

    "Get going¡­"

    ''Everything is fine but how do we recognize that person on a planet that has 3 Billion of population.'' Almost every elder has the same thought running through their minds.

    They looked at each other faces before saying in unison, "we understand."

    At that moment Vesryn once again saved the day as he asked, "can you tell any other details about this person?"

    The six clan elders gave a thumbs-up in their minds.

    The old man stroked his beard once again, "No. I can find nothing else. The energy is untraceable but you just need to find the people with Time ability Arcana.

    And their Arcana is definitely above the gold grade."

    "Platinum?" Vesryn was dumbfounded upon hearing it since Platinum grade Arcana users are extremely rare.

    Qridus nodded, "Yes. So, it might be easy for you to discover them. Here¡­"

    A platinum-colored item card suddenly flew towards him. Vesryn caught it in reflex.

    "This¡­"

    Looking at the card, he was taken aback and looked at his ancestor.

    The latter just replied casually, "If the person turns out to be too strong. You can use this to capture the target."

    Vesryn immediately kowtowed, "thank you, your grace."

    The remaining clan elders looked at him in envy. If looks could kill, Vesryn might die thousand times on the spot.

    It''s no exaggeration to say that this clan head of theirs really dotes on him. They thought it might be because he has twin Arcana but the truth is quite off from them. Only he and a certain tomb keeper know of it.

    After dismissing everyone, Qridus mumbles, "I wonder if this person really possesses the mythical Time Beast Znuvo as Arcana."

    Shaking his head, "I must be getting old¡­"

    ***

    Aclein City, Lusha Province, Northern Qudour Nation;

    *Hiya* A cute and high pitch sound was kept on repeating over and over in the courtyard.

    Azzy and Snieca''s princess are watching little Avia practicing the martial arts with her teacher.

    Azzy can''t help but be amused to see a cute Avia, an entirely different image from the one he knows.

    As he let out a deep sigh, thinking how Arcana can changes one''s personality, especially himself, she asked, "What happened?"

    Azzy shook his head and spoke in an emotionless tone, "it''s nothing. I just remembered my sister." He dodged her question with a quick lie.

    Upon hearing him, Snieca can''t help but look at the boy in pity.

    It''s been a month since he returned to the past.

    Since Azzy doesn''t belong in this current timeline, and neither have a place to live, he made up a lie on the spot that his entire family was massacred by the beasts when they made a trip to the Arcana World.

    He asked them to let him stay with them for a few days before he leaves for the Arcana world to train.

    The story also synchronized with how he suddenly appeared before their vehicle. They thought one of his family members might have used a rare teleportation card on him to let him escape the crisis.

    Since they are rich, they forgot the most important point. It costs at least 10 million credits to buy such a rare card.

    Both of them didn''t take the market of teleportation into account and made their own theory.

    Azzy kept his story vaguely and let them run their imagination. As he expected, the couple took pity on him and let him stay for a while.

    Azzy was sure that it worked as he would knew his grandpa very well, although he didn''t expect the princess was the one who readily accepted it.

    The few days became weeks and Azzy still continued to live with them.

    At first, he wanted to leave after a week to spend the rest of the three years at Arcana World before applying for an elite Arcana academy.

    But, after hearing out his plan, Affea suggested him to live with them for three months till the admissions begin.

    With Oakley''s recommendation, he can join the Arcana Academy of Aclein directly to grade-8.

    Since Oakley is family and close to his heart, so is his wife. His grandpa taught him that one shouldn''t hesitate to take help from the family or help them.

    Remembering his words, Azzy continued to stay.

    Since he''s too free, he helps out them with keeping an eye on Avia''s training and became a chat-buddy for his grandma Princess while his grandpa is busy with work at the clinic.

    Back to the present, both of them sat together in a corridor, watching Avia train.

    "Princess Snieca, can I ask something?" Azzy asked while continue to stare at Avia.

    "What is it?"

    "Suppose if you have the chance to go back in time, what would you do?" Azzy asked slowly in the hopes of getting an answer that bugging him for the past month.

    "Hmm, if I can go back in time, huh!" She rests her elbows on the rail and stared at the sky, "well, there are a lot of things I wanted to do but wasn''t able to because of customs.

    I have never eaten ice cream in my childhood nor did I eat street food for the past 120 years. Do you know that I saw my first movie after 60 years? I also..."

    Azzy quickly interrupted, "not that kinds of things, Princess. I mean, like very important things that might have changed your current present."

    She turned her head towards Azzy and said, "There is something¡­ When I was young, I got the chance to study at the Heavenly Academy of Arcana. I rejected the offer back then since I was scared to live in Arcana world."

    "Hmm?" Azzy was taken aback, "living in Arcana world? Is that academy forces you to adapt in the world or something?"

    "Huh! What are you talking about?" She looked at him in surprise, "don''t tell me you never heard of it?"

    Azzy shook his head.

    "Ah! That''s right, you are a commoner. I forgot about it." Princess Snieca then explained, "It''s the most prestigious academy of all the ones that were built in the world of Arcana.

    It''s like a rival for the Central Academy of Arcana, although there won''t be an entrance test to get in. You can only join through the invitation sent from the Academy."

    Azzy was amazed upon hearing for the first time that there are academies that were built in the Arcana world.

    Until now, all he thought that the Arcana world is a place full of different landscapes and beasts living in it.

    He realized that the world of Arcana might be nothing like he imagined after all.

    Princess Snieca continued, "My brother graduated from that academy. Do you know that you have to be at least rank-6 to graduate? More than two-thirds of the students wouldn''t even bother to graduate and return as it would take a long time."

    ''And still, it is a top college?'' skeptically thought Azzy.

 Chapter 20: Enrolling into the Academy

    Year 1993, 15th Epoch, Northern continent;

    The spring season arrived in the continent and the admissions for eight-year-olds in every nation began.

    Almost every nation follows the same schooling system.

    There are two types of Arcana academies. Normal and Special.

    Each city has a Normal Arcana Academy that teaches beginners, starting from Grade 1 to Grade 10.

    Grade 1 and 2 are for the kids who have yet to awaken their soul card. They will be taught about the world of Arcana as a special subject along with normal education.

    Of course, it goes without saying that the subject will cost a dime for the parents.

    After awakened, Arcana Masters will be enrolled in grade-3 and goes through an eight-year program until they complete grade-10, upon graduation, where they receive the diploma equivalent to high school in normal schools.

    A student of such an academy will be graduated usually at the age of 15, three years prior to a normal school.

    Those who are awakened late or miss the timing like Azzy have no choice but to study at home and attend private Arcana training centers.

    Or if they have a recommendation from a recognized person in the city, they can get into the academy. This is the solution Affea offered to Azzy.

    And there are special academies. Only one such academy exists for one nation.

    Unlike normal academies, they don''t have any grades. Their education was completely dependent on the Arcana world. The students have to attend universities separately on their own for advanced studies.

    While the entry age of such an academy should be at least 15, their graduation isn''t dependent on age but their rank.

    Aclein Arcana Academy, Aclein city;

    Students lined up at the entrance while parents stood on the side.

    Azzy felt embarrassed standing in the line filled with eight-year-olds. Thankfully for him, there are students, similar ages to him.

    But, being the tallest in the line and have the soul power above rank-4, many parents kept on paying attention to him.

    Even the student council Vice-president, a grade-10 student who was overseeing the admissions at the gate was no exception either.

    She kept on glancing at him from time to time while vaguely replying to others.

    After half an hour, Azzy''s turn came up.

    She initiated the greeting with a smile, "Hello."

    Azzy returned her greetings with a simple nod and handed the recommendation letter directly to her before she asks his details.

    "Eh? Divine Physician Oakley?" Looking at the stamp and signature, she was taken aback and looked at it carefully to check whether it''s a forgery or it''s real.

    After all, it is known that six-star Arcana Master Oakley is always hard to approach and have a well-known reputation in the city as the best healer.

    But, once she considered Azzy''s level, she thought it was normal and even became excited to have a genius like him to join their academy.

    She raised her hand for a handshake with a smile, "Welcome to Aclein academy of Arcana."

    Azzy once again responded with a nod making her embarrassed a little and she quickly backed her hand away before she continued to speak, "according to the letter, you wish to enroll in grade-8, is that correct?"

    Azzy responded with a simple nod once again.

    "Here." She handed a form and a letter, "fill your details and hand both of them at the reception. You''ll be given one of the keys to the room that was you are allotted, at the dormitory.

    Classes start in the last week of this month. You can keep your things in the assigned dorm at any time you want. The fees are 100 thousand credits per annum including everything.

    If you can''t afford to pay, you can also apply for a merit scholarship at the reception. As long as you are a rank-4 Arcana Master, your fees will be waived, and will even receive 2000 credits per month as a scholarship.

    The academy will also open a bank account for you. But, if you already have one on your name, then, you can add those details in the form or just keep it blank.

    Don''t forget to attend the orientation on the first day. It''s very important. Our principal. Mr. Finch Falcon is a seven-star Arcana Master. You don''t want to miss such a rare opportunity of attending his lecture.

    There are no holidays on weekends except for the Second and Fourth Sunday of every month. Only in those two days, you were allowed to leave the premises unless there''s an emergency situation in your family.

    And um¡­ What else is there¡­ yeah, every month, there will be a monthly tournament where the shuffling of classes takes place. With your rank, I''m sure you will have no problem staying in Elite class all this year."

    She kept on reminding him of this and that, forgetting that there are candidates waiting in the line. The gatekeepers felt, if not for the line, she might have even acted as a tour guide for his new student.

    After all the explanation she had done, Azzy once again responded with a simple nod as he took it and entered the premises, dumbfounding her.

    What''s more, she didn''t even take it as an offense and further spoke to herself in realization, "I forgot to ask his name."

    Meanwhile, the rest of them who stood in the line thought at the same time, ''not fair.''

    While filing the form isn''t that difficult, there a few things that troubled him.

    Like his address, his parents/guardian names, if he''s an orphan, then, the name of it, the name of the school he studied before, etc...

    After thinking for a while, he left out his surname and used the address of one of the orphanages at the town of Sliya, which is in the Southern Qudour nation.

    Unless he was a wanted criminal or some Royal family has a grudge against him, no one would bother to investigate his background too much.

    He wanted to add the Affea''s Mansion as the current address to receive the ID card before the term starts. But, at the last second, he left it blank, implying that he will take it personally from the reception.

    After handing it to the receptionist, he was given a key card for him at the boys'' dormitory, which is located, exactly behind the administration building.

    Perhaps, the dormitories were the same everywhere. This was the first thought that came to Azzy''s mind as he walked across the hallway. It is quite similar to the one at Violet Pavilion.

    Since the upper-grade students have holidays, Azzy didn''t see anyone on the floor.

    "307" Azzy stopped before a room and looked at the number, "this is my room."

    *Ding!

    The red light turned green as the door was unlocked.

    As he entered the room, he saw it was a simple room with decent furniture.

    Atleast, there are electronic appliances in the dorm, which brought satisfaction to Azzy as his previous dorm at the Violet Pavilion lacked AC, TV, and a fridge.

    There are three beds in the room with one being a king-size in the middle and the other is a single one at the window.

    Luckily, it was an unoccupied room as the previous members graduated.

    He immediately chose the single bed and took out his things from the storage card and arranged them.

    One week passed;

    Affea Mansion;

    The family of three sat at the dining table, eating their food slowly in silence.

    "Hah!" taking a deep sigh, Princess Snieca commented, "Without the kid''s presence, the table kinda feels incomplete¡­"

    Oakley suddenly asked, "Do you want to adopt him?"

    While Affea was stunned, Avia turned towards him and blinked for a while in silence.

 Chapter 21: The Academy starts

    Affea Mansion''s Courtyard;

    "Sweetheart, are you ready yet?" Affea hollered from downstairs, "It''s your first day. Azzy is also getting late for orientation."

    "Calm down, will ya¡­" As Oakley tried to soothe her, Avia replied from her room, "2 minutes, Ma¡­"

    Meanwhile, Azzy supported them, "it''s alright, Auntie. There''s still 30 minutes left."

    5 minutes later, Avia came downstairs and left for school along with Azzy and Oakley.

    The school isn''t far away and neither is the air traffic. By flying card, they reached the entrance quickly.

    After dropping the two of them, Oakley left for his clinic.

    Avia and Azzy entered the school.

    "Take right and go straight. The orientation is in the auditorium." She quickly parted her ways with him, although she was walking in the same direction, implying they are strangers in school.

    Looking at her back, he mumbled, "Is she still angry? Works for me either way¡­" He shrugged his shoulders and followed her.

    A month ago, upon Snieca''s request, Azzy helped her in training. But, since he doesn''t know how to control his strength to her level, Azzy just focused on dodging to improve her attack speed.

    Azzy who trained with a seven-star on a place where gravity is 44 times strong is now focusing on dodging against a non-awakened person.

    What can happen¡­

    As a result, she ended up crying in frustration and holed herself in her room for a while as she wasn''t able to hit him for 3 hours straight. From that day, she stopped talking to him and ignored him whenever she could.

    Back to the present, Azzy walked slowly, carefully, maintaining his distance from the little girl.

    Since he was a new face on the campus, none of the students around greeted him until he reached the entrance of the auditorium.

    There he saw the only person he knew on the campus.

    Her eyes lit up as soon as she saw him, "Hello, Azrael. You are here¡­"

    As a person who was used to getting greeted by even his seniors, Azzy responded with a nod and then, looked at the handsome who stood beside her.

    Azzy wasn''t able to figure out his Arcana rank but since a student at this school can''t be six-star, Azzy thought he must be a rank-5 like this pretty sister.

    "Did you know him?" asked the boy.

    She replied with a wide smile, "Didn''t I mention an exceptional genius entered the school?"

    "Ah! The one with Mr. Oakley''s recommendation?" The boy pointed it out in realization. His tone contains a little bit of disdain and sarcasm.

    Azzy frowned upon hearing his statement but on the outside, he looked at him emotionlessly.

    Strangely, the girl also didn''t seem inappropriate and went with introducing him, "Junior Azrael, this is Leonard Light, fifth prince of this country''s royal family. He''s the current student council president."

    Azzy stared at him for a while and nodded again as if he was saying, so what¡­

    Leonard frowned at his behavior. As someone from a royal family, even the teachers talk to him with respect. Even if he doesn''t consider the royal family, where''s the respect towards seniors¡­

    The girl whispered in his ears, "don''t mind him. I looked up his info. It seems he grew up in an orphanage and being homeschooled until now. Three months ago, he was adopted by the Divine Physician."

    At first, he was indeed taken aback upon hearing this is the adopted son of Oakley, but, still, he cannot lose his face like this. So, he directly confronted him about it. "Junior, you are supposed to greet a senior when you meet them."

    Azzy still hasn''t responded and kept silent, staring at him.

    The students who are entering the auditorium glanced at both of them before murmuring between themselves as they walked through the door, embarrassing him even further.

    The girl saw his veins popped on his hands. She quickly called him, "Azrael¡­"

    Upon her probing, he came back to his senses.

    "Oh! I''m just wondering, why a prince like him is studying at a backward school like this. I heard that the royal family will be invited to the Heavenly Academy of Arcana.

    Anyway, nice meeting you. I''ll get going."

    As he left, the girl mumbled, "So, he can talk, huh! I thought he was too shy to talk¡­"

    "Zona¡­" A low growl escaped from his prince, whose pride has been hurt further by Azzy''s remark.

    "Oops¡­" The girl realized her mistake and kept silent, continuing to greet the students entering the auditorium.

    Meanwhile, Azzy found an empty seat in the grade-8 section. Just as he has taken his seat, a person who was walking behind him sat beside Azzy.

    "Hmm?" Azzy saw a familiar-looking boy, who took his seat. He''s a boy, shorter than him by a head, and wore round glasses. His pupils are grayish-green and have thick eyelashes, a trait unique to a Crescent clan.

    He didn''t know the name but he had seen him numerous times at the Violet Pavilion.

    He was sitting thousands of miles away from the Death clan and yet, of all people, he sat beside a Crescent family member.

    At that instant, Azzy once again thought about Chronos'' words about the fate leading him to somewhere.

    The boy was also taken aback upon seeing Azzy, although for a different reason.

    As a person who was born with 160 IQ, he instantly figured out that Azzy was an exchange student in their grade. But, he was only 99% sure. To confirm the remaining 1%, he greeted, "Hello, are you a new student of grade-8?"

    Azzy nodded in response.

    "I''m Gideon." He introduced himself.

    "Azrael," replied Azzy.

    Azzy wondered why Gideon hasn''t mentioned the surname. All of their clans are registered as Freyles nation''s noble clans. They are allowed to speak unless this isn''t an enemy nation.

    Since Azzy doesn''t know the diplomatic relations between countries, he thought it might be an enemy country. But, if that''s the case, then, why he is attending here instead of Freyles Academy? Azzy fell into confusion.

    "So, where are you from?" asked Gideon, bringing him back to reality.

    Azzy replied, "Southern Qudour."

    "No, I don''t mean that. I mean, from what academy you transferred from?" Gideon asked.

    "Oh! I''m homeschooled." Azzy''s reply surprised him.

    Their conversation was interrupted by the lights suddenly going off and was centered at the platform.

    An old man appeared in their view and silence ensued in the hall.

    He is tall, slim with wrinkles all over his face. He was escorted by a young man and a young woman in their twenties on either side.

    Azzy thought he must be at least rank-7 but Gideon''s words surprised him.

    "This is our Principal, Barton Everglade. He''s the granduncle of the current King, Kyle Light. A peak seven-star Arcana Master. I heard that he''s at the edge of becoming rank-8.

    Can you believe that? A backward nation like this will have a rank-eight. In our Dea¡­"

    He suddenly stops talking, realizing his mistake of almost blurting out. He quickly tried to divert Azzy with, "look. It''s almost starting."

    Azzy who already know what he was trying to say earlier pretended that he didn''t hear him and placed his attention on the old man.

 Chapter 22: Orientation part-1

    "Welcome to another year at Aclein Academy of Arcana. To those who are here for the first time, let me introduce myself.

    I''m Barton Everglade, a rank-7 Arcana master and currently working as the Principal of this academy.

    Now, for the next few years, you are going to spend your time with us. So, let me first remind you of a few points before we move on to the main topic.

    All the grades have the same regime. Every grade is divided into five divisions. S: Elite division; A: Soul-beast division; B: Soul-weapon division; C: Soul-plant division, and E: dropouts.

    As you can all imagine, Class S will always be provided with the best resources, best training program, etc¡­

    On the other hand, Class E can drop out of the program at any time and will be more focused on normal education. One would be given a fair amount of chances to prove themselves in a year.

    If you can''t grasp it, then, it''s on you¡­"

    Upon hearing the very first point, Azzy was taken aback and thought, ''this orientation is a little bit different from what I heard it to be¡­ Is it because it was changed 27 years later?''

    Barton continued, "The classes were usually decided based on the rankings of the Annual competition. But for those new seedlings as well as the transfer students, your classes will be assigned based on your scores on the starting day.

    That means, after this ends, all of you should gather at the training grounds-5, where the teachers will test your capabilities. So, don''t forget it."

    Gideon Crescent glanced at Azzy, who was listening to Barton''s lecture with a straight face as if he already knew it.

    "Now, the next point. More than strength, our academy values discipline. No matter how talented you are, or how big of a background you have, you will be equally punished once you were caught breaking the rules.

    If you are bullied or have grudges, you can lodge an official complaint at the student council or with the homeroom teacher.

    If you can''t forget the grudges, you can initiate official combat at the Arena. The challenger will be notified but with a condition that he/she must equal or greater rank than yours.

    Monthly and Annual competitions aren''t only for moving up classes, they also have rewards namely in credits, rare cards, etc¡­

    There are also national tournaments, international tournaments, and the World League.

    They were also your chances to prove yourselves and move up the division along with extra rewards.

    Last year, our top student, Rigel reached 31st rank in the world league and 6 students got into the top 500.

    So, for this year, let''s aim even higher¡­"

    Everyone clapped for a few seconds before the old man continued.

    "Today, I''ll be giving my insights about a very basic thing that most of the people ignore and chase after improving their strength. It''s the connection between the spirit of Arcana and soul."

    Everyone went silent and listened to him in silence. Azzy also got interested to know about the spirit world.

    "Now, everyone must have known Arcana spirits come from the spirit world, a realm of immortality. But, what everyone ignores is that once this human body fails to function, our soul leaves the body and guess, where it ends up at¡­"

    Azzy''s heart skipped a beat for a second.

    Barton nodded, looking at the expressions of students, "yes, they will end up at spirit world. Neither at netherworld of Hell nor the Celestial world of Heaven."

    Suddenly, a hand rose in the air.

    "Yes?" Barton pointed towards its direction.

    Azzy thought he was pointing to him. Just as he was about to respond, he saw the boy sitting beside him, stood up and asked, "Sir, if all our souls also end up at spirit world, then, where does Arcana spirits go? Will they follow us or will they disappear as soon as we die?"

    "What''s your name?" Barton responded to him with a question.

    "It''s Gideon, Sir." He replied.

    "Good question, Gideon." Barton nodded and explained, "You see¡­ the answer is quite simple. I bet most of you must have known about the formation of Soul card, right?"

    Aside from the six-year, seven-year, and eight-year-olds, everyone nodded in response.

    "Just like how two Arcana spirits fight over the soul card, when one''s lifespan is over, the soul of our body will be released something like an invisible ball of light as it entered the spirit world.

    The Arcana spirit and your own soul that departs as one will try to devour each other. Both of them will only act nothing but pure instincts.

    It''s like a tug of war.

    Now, who wins the end depends on your rank by the time you are departed.

    The higher your rank, the easier for your soul to absorb its power, and when the soul is reincarnated, the Arcana spirit also reincarnates within him/her again.

    The lower your rank, the easier for you to get devoured¡­

    Of course, the more powerful your Arcana spirit, the easier is to get devoured too¡­"

    Barton then suddenly stopped and looked at everyone''s expressions. This is the stuff you normally only get to read, only in higher studies.

    Even to those who lived for more than 500 years, it''s pretty scary to hear that your soul might be devoured by your own Arcana even if you are the besties in your life.

    One can expect their reactions.

    Barton''s words incited four types of reactions on these students.

    First is a confident look that they can come out on top at the end. Second is a fearful look, losing out their confidence, especially the little kids who have just begun their journey.

    The third is a confused look, who didn''t understand a single of what he''s saying. It''s mostly six and seven-year-olds.

    The fourth is a calm and composed look. No, it''s more like a blank look as if I don''t care¡­ Only one such person has that kind of look, who was sitting in a corner.

    Barton, as a rank-7, of course, he didn''t miss this.

    Azzy felt a gaze on him. But, his actions didn''t change nonetheless as he was busy figuring out the mystery behind his Arcana.

    ''So, if it goes as he says¡­ that means, a hundred percent chance that Vajra might have devoured his host. Then, what about Chronos? I mean, even if the founder is a rank-10, it''s not possible to devour a god. But if he did it, then, I might be the reincarnation of the founder¡­

    It sounds ridiculous no matter how I think l about it¡­''

    Azzy felt worried that he might be wrong and get devoured in the future but his face was still emotionless.

    Barton stared at him for a couple of seconds, not able to understand what this student is thinking.

    Then, he continued, "Either way, they will become stronger. If the soul wins, he will be reincarnated with Arcana spirit and if the latter wins, then, it will become much stronger and the new host will have more potential to reach a higher rank."

    A grade-5 student suddenly raises her hands. "Sir, what about normal people?"

    "Well, it''s easy, isn''t it? Normal people don''t have anything that tries to devour their souls. So, they happily reincarnate without any issue."

    Then, a boy from grade-10 raised his hand.

    "Sir, earlier, you mentioned that the souls as well as the spirits stay in the spirit world together. Is it possible after devouring Arcana spirit, a human soul can acquire their powers and reincarnate with those powers, instead of splitting?"

    Everyone turned their eyes toward him, wondering whether he''s crazy¡­

 Chapter 23: Orientation part-2

    When the boy asked whether it''s possible for a human to acquire the powers of Arcana and then reincarnate within built powers, every student turned their heads towards his direction, wondering whether he''s crazy.

    Especially those from higher grades.

    While lower grade students thought it might be an interesting idea, the higher grade students didn''t think it''s possible since there''s no such person that''s ever existed in history who can display their powers before the age of 8 or without a soul card.

    But, Barton''s reply surprised them.

    "Yes. It is possible."

    Leonard Light, the student council president quickly asked the principal, "But Sir, our textbooks say that a soul card and a soul orb exist for a reason.

    They are also the limiters so that the human body can sustain power. If there''s no limiter, then, the cells in the human body will destabilize at atomic levels and the body will cease to exist.

    Several scientists tried experimenting on removing the limiter, and all the results turned out to be the same¡­"

    "Mr. Light, you are forgetting one important thing. Humans aren''t alone in this world. That theory only holds true for humans. However, it is different for demi-humans, who were born from Angels or Elves."

    Upon hearing him out, the lower grade students went into a daze. They felt as if a door is opened to a new world. However, the new students also felt overwhelmed with this information.

    On the other hand, the upper-grade students are a little skeptical to believe this nonsense of Angels and Elves, Demi-humans or so whatever. There was no proof and it is just a myth.

    But, Leonard, who was from the royal family, knew their existence. So, he didn''t point it out.

    The rest of them also kept silent as it would do no good to speak against the principal.

    The old man continued after introducing the existence of other races living in the human world, "Well, actually, the theory isn''t complicated. Forget about those myths, the monsters at the Arcana world are the perfect examples. They are souls that have reincarnated with the power of Arcana.

    But, if you really just wanna consider a pure human, then, unless the person is a child of two rank-10s, it''s impossible. Okay, any other questions?"

    Even though his explanation made many students doubting their lives, it didn''t stop some to ask their queries.

    A boy in grade-7 stood up and asked, "Sir, Can a human soul reincarnate as an Arcana?"

    ''That''s absurd.'' All the students in the auditorium had the same thought, even including Azzy.

    It''s not because everyone thought it''s impossible, but they can''t bear to accept that forget about whether they survive or not, even if they survive, there''s a possibility they end up as other people''s Arcana?

    They can accept if they were devoured. They can even accept if they were to reborn as a monster. But, reincarnating as Arcana and become a tool of another human? That''s disgusting.

    After all, as Arcana Masters, they too were using Arcana.

    Everyone shuddered at that thought. So they hoped the principal to quickly shut that doubt away.

    The principal and the boy in question felt a lot of gazes on them.

    At first, he wanted to answer it honestly but the earlier question''s response made Barton think otherwise.

    He shook his head with a smile, "Maybe, it can be possible, or maybe, it can be impossible. It is something you have to figure out yourselves. Perhaps, only a rank-9 Arcana Master can give a definite answer to that.

    But, it doesn''t matter. Even if you reincarnate, you or the Arcana spirit won''t remember your past. What matters is this life.

    You set a goal, train diligently, grow stronger, outlive your peers, and search for treasures, to increase your life span further, increasing your rank.

    As long as you live longer, answers can be found along the way."

    Suddenly, a bell rang at all the school buildings simultaneously.

    Even Azzy, a rank-4 was able to listen to the sound, much less a rank-7 like Barton.

    He looked at his watch and exclaimed, "Oh! It''s already been 9. Students, all of you may go to your class and start the first day of this academic year. Meanwhile, new students don''t forget to be at training grounds-5."

    "Are you a four-star?" All of a sudden, Gideon asked Azzy, who stood up along with the students.

    Looking at this peak rank-3, Azzy nodded.

    "I knew it." Gideon smiled in realization, "No wonder I can''t sense your Arcana rank. Anyway, I can see that you will get it into the Elite division. Don''t hold back with the instructor, by the way. The more potential you expose, the more resources and protection you will receive. Good luck."

    Azzy once again nodded, wondering whether all the members of the Crescent clan are chatterboxes. Still, he felt grateful for his reminder.

    One by one, the students left the auditorium to their classes and as Azzy stepped out, he saw the new students gathered by Zona, on the side.

    She quickly spotted him while he was thinking of going on his own.

    "Azrael¡­ You are also going to the training grounds, right. Can you please wait here¡­"

    Although he wanted to say no thanks, thinking that it would be too rude, Azzy simply walked a few steps to stand beside her, along with little kids.

    Azzy felt gazes from all the sides, first from the kids, second, from other students who are passing by, especially upper grades that are curious about this new handsome with rank-4 strength.

    Rank-4 is the position where a mortal increases his lifespan to 200 years. So, in a school like this, they are always the center of attention.

    And Azzy, who was used to this kind of situation, calmly waited until everyone gathered.

    He saw, other than himself, there are two more transfer students but their strength is too weak for him to consider. So, he ignored them.

    After a while, under Zona''s lead, 47 of them reached the training grounds-5.

    The training grounds 5 is but a simple barren land surrounded by huge walls over 20 meters in height.

    ''Maybe, it''s just for beginners.'' Azzy thought upon the first glance as there are hardly dents in the grounds or the walls. There are little traces of battle, which says either they repair it recently or the usual spars aren''t that great.

    It isn''t that impressive since even the ground isn''t that even. However, everyone''s eyes are on one person.

    He''s a tall, muscular, bald man meditating in the air, three feet above the ground. One look at his head, they would feel that it was shining from the rays of the sun.

    "Wow," Some of the students exclaimed in surprise as they were able to get to see a person floating in the air without the use of any flying card.

    "Teacher Hermon, the new students are here," Zona spoke to him in a respectful tone.

    He opens his eyes and they land on Azzy, first.

    A smile appeared on his lips as he mumbled, ''A high rank-4 student, eh? Looks like he''s around 12-13¡­ Now, that''s interesting.''

    "You, over there. What''s your name and grade?" Without any introduction, he directly pointed towards Azzy.

    Azzy pointed to himself, whether he was talking about him¡­

    "Yes, you... the one in blue checks."

    Everyone was taken aback by this teacher''s behavior, meanwhile, Zona bitterly smiled.

    Azzy replied in a neutral tone, "Azrael, 12-years-old and enrolled into grade-8."

    His behavior and the emotionless made the instructor frown in response. The new students are also surprised as Azzy didn''t even greet him first before answering. Where are his manners¡­

    It''s not that Azzy doesn''t want to greet him. It''s just that other than the clan head, clan leaders, his Master, and grandpa, he never greeted anyone first.

    On the contrary, Azzy was the one who was always greeted first, no matter how old or powerful the other party is...

    "Okay, let''s start the assessment with you, first. Come forward."

    Azzy walked forward and stood before him, a few meters apart.

    "Everyone, back off a bit," Zona warned everyone before moving back so that they won''t be caught in the spar.

    Looking at him, the instructor said, "Summon your Arcana."

    Azzy nodded and summoned the soul card. With a thought, he summoned the wolf without summoning the death scythe and the hourglass to hide his identity.

    *Grr* The black wolf with black sparkles all over its body growled at its enemy, baring its fangs.

    Upon one glance both the instructor and Zona took a step back with a gasp, ''this Arcana''s intensity is off the charts¡­''

    While the latter thought it was a high-level gold grade, the six-star instructor realized that it gives off the same intensity of a certain Arcana he experienced back in the World League. ''No doubt about it. It is the platinum grade...''

    While Zona was still in a daze, the instructor calmed down quickly, concluding this boy has the right to be arrogant. His earlier impression of the boy disappeared and excitement grew in his heart to see the soul skills of this Arcana, directly.

    He then summoned his soul card followed by the appearance of a giant earth golem that appeared before him.

    "He will be your opponent. I will also control his strength to rank-4. Just attack however you wish."

    Azzy stared at the Golem for a while before glancing at the wolf. He suddenly crouched down to its size and asked, "Vajra, do you have any soul skills?"

    "Eh?" Zona and the instructor were taken aback once again and mumbled at the same time, "He''s a beginner?"

 Chapter 24: Division Allotment

    "Student Azrael¡­" The instructor called out to Azzy, who crouched down to ask Vajra whether it knows the soul skills. "Hmm?" He looked at the instructor.

    "Let me ask you something. Didn''t your previous school teach how to use soul skill?" The instructor asked him.

    Azzy replied, "I''m homeschooled."

    The instructor then asked, "what about your parents?"

    "I grew up in an orphanage¡­" Azzy''s reply stunned the instructor.

    He thought, ''an orphan, homeschooled, and yet, his soul power is this high. Even if his Arcana is a platinum grade spirit, it''s impossible to rise this much without killing the monsters in the wild.''

    "So, you don''t know how to use soul skill," Hermon said with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

    Azzy nodded, implying yes.

    Just then, the wolf barked towards him.

    Upon hearing Vajra, Azzy quickly changed his stance, "but my Arcana says, it knew how to battle and use soul skill on its own."

    His reply clearly surprised Hermon as well as Zona.

    She mumbled, ''so, he''s a summoner. No wonder¡­''

    Summoners are the people who let their Arcana do their work. The advantage of such a profession is that Arcana is can train in the mindscape on their own and have the innate ability to use soul skills.

    During the battle, such Arcana is also independent of its host. This feature is like a double-edged sword though.

    The disadvantage is that the summoner won''t get a soul skill on his own. So, he''s pretty much useless in battle and often be the first one to be targeted.

    To avoid this, they have no choice but to stock up the skill cards. This way, they can not only survive but also can support their Arcana as well as their teammates from a distance.

    But, right now, Hermon didn''t care about that. In his mind, there''s the only thing. To experience the soul skills of extremely rare platinum grade Arcana''s abilities¡­

    "Okay, then, as I''ve said, I''m restricting the strength of my Didier to rank-4."

    The golem stepped forward and stood like a statue.

    Vajra got angered as if it got humiliated by his words.

    Azzy felt his rage through his connection.

    *Grr* The black wolf growled as it looked at its enemy while the black lightning sparks on its body increased for a moment before it disappeared all of a sudden.

    The kids were shocked. Zona was stupefied along with them, not believing her eyes. The instructor stood there in a daze before he slowly turned his head towards the golem.

    "What the¡­" Even Azzy can''t help but almost cursed out as he saw the wolf already reached behind the golem as if it was teleported. Meanwhile, there''s a big hole in the middle of the Golem''s chest.

    *Thud*

    It fell on its back and died.

    The whole training ground is silent as Vajra slowly returning towards Azzy.

    "Hmpf" Azzy felt like the wolf snorted as it passed the Golem''s dead body and returned to Azzy.

    "Didier¡­" The instructor screamed as he ran towards the Golem. He quickly unsummoned it back to the soul card, so that, it can revive later. Even though an Arcana spirit is immortal and can''t die until its host dies, depending on its grade, the revival time will vary.

    Arcana Spirits are divided into seven grades.

    White, Red, Blue, Silver, Purple, Gold, and Platinum;

    Each grade is 10 times stronger than its previous one.

    That means, if the hosts aren''t involved and only the Arcana are battling on their own, a rank-9 White grade Arcana will draw with a rank-3 Platinum. Of course, it''s just in theory. It''s not like a white grade spirit can reach rank-9 without external help.

    However, in reality, rank-9 will sweep the rank-3 because of the difference between soul power, techniques, battle experience, etc¡­ There are a number of ways, a lower grade Arcana can defeat a higher grade Arcana but under the same circumstances, the latter always wins.

    Vajra is an Arcana spirit that used to be the weapon of the King of the Celestial world of Heaven. Something that a god used to wield.

    With Protos energy combined, its grade already passed even the Platinum.

    So, it''s safe to say that even if a Golem still has rank-6, a Silver grade isn''t a match for Vajra that transcends the platinum grade.

    The most common grade one can see is the Silver or Blue grade. Purple grade Arcana spirits are attention-worthy. Gold grade spirits are favored everywhere. As for Platinum, only a son/ daughter of heaven will possess them.

    *Wow* The wolf barked towards Azzy and wagged its tail like a dog yearning for praise.

    Azzy crouched down and stroked its fur, "Good job."

    Vajra disappeared into the soul card.

    Meanwhile, taking back the Arcana into his soul card, the instructor pointed his finger at the wolf. His finger is shaking as he said, "Your Arcana is of Platinum grade. What is its name?"

    "I call it, Vajra," Azzy replied to him in a calm tone, implying that it is a nickname.

    "The same name as the top 3rd Arcana spirit. Good." Despite losing his face in front of the kids, he didn''t feel embarrassed but instead, he was excited to see a platinum grade Arcana from up close.

    "I give you full marks. No doubt, you are selected for the Elite division. I hope to see you at the World League, soon." Hermon shook hands with Azzy and told him to join Zona and the rest of them.

    As Azzy returned to the group, he felt everyone''s gazes on him. Most of them are filled with envy while the rest of them are filled with admiration.

    ''A platinum grade spirit, huh. It''s my first time seeing such a thing in person. I wonder how Leo will react if hears this¡­'' She can''t help but grin upon remembering that Prince''s expression.

    Meanwhile, the instructor called the other two transfer students one by one.

    Since it will take several days for his Arcana to revive and heal, he asked them to perform their attacks directly towards him.

    Since they are nothing but peak two-star ranks, they were easily handled in a spar and received low scores simultaneously, allotting them into dropout division in their respective grades.

    After scoring the three transfer students, the instructor then took out a gold-colored card and placed it on the ground before pouring his soul power into it.

    It shined for a while and a digital machine appeared before them. It kinda looked like a scoring machine in Arcade games except that it was a blank screen.

    Azzy saw there''s even an insert option.

    Pointing at it, he said, "This is a gold grade analyzing machine. All you have to do is to insert your soul card and the data will be displayed on the screen.

    This machine can display the exact amount of your soul power, the innate potential of the soul card, and the grade of your Arcana spirit.

    Since you are just rank-1 beginners, everyone''s score will be decided by this method.

    Form a line, everyone."

    Except for Zona, and the three transfers, everyone listened to the instructor.

    The first student nervously summoned the soul card and hesitated to insert it.

    Understanding his concern, Hermon spoke, "don''t worry, not even a rank-9 can destroy or take away one''s soul card."

    Trusting the instructor, as he inserted the soul card as one would insert in the ATM, it came out after five seconds.

    The student took back his soul card while the data is displayed on the screen.

    "Age: 4 months

    Soul power: 43

    Rank: 1

    Arcana Spirit: Spiral Platypus

    Grade: Silver

    Potential: Rank-6

    Overall Score: 72"

    The instructor nodded calmly, "good. You are allotted to Soul beast division, Class 3A. Next."

    "You are allotted to Soul weapon division, Class 3B. Next"

    "You are allotted to Dropouts division, Class 3E. Next."

    If it was before, Hermon would be excited to find so many talents but now, even with a student who has a Purple grade Arcana, he doesn''t feel excited at all.

    After everyone''s results are over, Zona said, "Junior Azrael, don''t you want to see your Arcana''s data?"

 Chapter 25: Blowing up the machine

    "Junior Azrael, don''t you want to see your Arcana''s data?"

    Azzy froze for a second since he doesn''t wish for his Reaper to be discovered. He immediately rejected it.

    "No thanks." He replied with a straight face.

    Zona was taken aback by his reply, "why?"

    "Don''t need to worry, Azrael. That man-made machine can''t analyze me. The very least, that machine will stop working." The Reaper''s voice echoed in his head.

    Azzy sighed in relief.

    Suddenly, the instructor called out his name. As a rank-6, he heard Zona''s words earlier and also thought of confirming his suspicions.

    "Azrael, please step forward."

    As long as his Arcana spirit''s grade is confirmed, he would inform the principal about it.

    "I don''t think it''s a good idea to do that. What if the machine can''t handle it?" Azzy asked him.

    Because of his emotionless tone, all of them thought he was just mocking the instructor. They thought Azzy was too arrogant just because his Arcana defeated the instructor''s Arcana in a duel.

    Honestly, it''s just envy of these eight-year-olds making them think that Azzy was just underestimated by Hermon.

    "It''s alright. Even the platinum grade isn''t a problem." Hermon said to him.

    The instructor thought Azzy was trying to keep it secret. ''Sorry kid, you can''t hide it from the machine. The best way to protect oneself is to expose their strength and get protection from the government. Even the royal can''t go against the government.''

    He decided to check his potential no matter what. He thought an orphan like him need the government''s backing.

    Azzy shrugged his shoulders and walked towards the machine.

    He inserted the soul card.

    "Poor fellow." Followed by the words, Azzy heard a deep sigh in his head.

    Meanwhile, along with the instructor, Zona was also expecting an extraordinary result so that she can brag to everyone that she was the one who found him first.

    On the other hand, Azzy thought the machine''s going to stop working or will show an error.

    But, the next second, everyone''s faces changed.

    *Boom*

    All of a sudden, the machine exploded and Azzy flew back for like five meters and crashed onto the ground.

    Because of his physical training and his four-star rank, Azzy didn''t receive any injuries as a result.

    Meanwhile, the machine was burning up in flames and the soul card quickly returned to its owner.

    The kids screamed and took a couple of steps back in fear; meanwhile, Zona covered her face with a shock.

    ''That''s a gold grade item worth 50 million credits.''

    Meanwhile, the instructor walked towards the flames in a daze, not believing what''s just happened before him. His entire life savings gone just like that¡­

    The machine wasn''t something that was given by the school but to judge the student''s potential accurately, he used all of his savings to buy it from the market.

    It was this machine that made him continue his post for the past 30 years.

    ''What happened? I thought it will simply stop working'' Azzy wondered in his head recalling the sigh from Chronos.

    Quickly, he received a reply from the Reaper, ''You forgot that there are two Arcana spirits in your soul card that can''t be analyzed by such a weak item. It''s like trying to fit an entire mountain in a glass of water. It bound to break.''

    Azzy was amazed to realize once again how awesome is his Arcana spirit. After thinking for a second, he also felt that the result is inevitable.

    Hermon stood there in a daze for a long time while Zona looked at him in a mixture of pity and guilt.

    "Told you so," Azzy commented as he turned around to return to his spot.

    After a while, Azzy and three other eight-year-olds went together to the Elite division building.

    They were received by a teacher, who received the reports from the instructor.

    "I presume you are Azrael, Grade-8 student?" The moment, they met, she talked to Azzy.

    Azzy nodded in response.

    "Not bad. You have trained your physical strength to the peak." Upon one glance, she was able to find out about his physical capabilities.

    "I work out," Azzy replied, hiding the fact that he trained at a surface with gravitational force.

    She nodded and then, addressed everyone.

    "Welcome to the Elite Division. I''m Emelia Light. I''m your homeroom teacher. Follow me to the reception."

    After their registrations are finished at the reception, she looked at her new students.

    "The three of you, find the class 3A there and wait for me."

    Then, she looked at Azzy, "You, come with me. I''ll take you to your class."

    She walked towards the stairs. The first impression of her isn''t good.

    First, her surname is Light, a member of the royal family and a possible relative to Leonard.

    Second, she abandoned her students to escort him to his class on the second floor.

    Azzy didn''t like it.

    Yet, he didn''t complain and quietly followed her.

    As they were climbing the stairs, she said, "frankly, I didn''t expect a person of your talent appears at this school given that recommended by the Divine physician, Oakley.

    With your rank, I''m sure you might have some doubts about whether you can learn something for this academy, then, don''t need to worry about it. Our academy doesn''t lack qualified teachers. They only lack geniuses like you¡­"

    Azzy kept silent along the way, letting her talk on her own.

    It turned out that this lady is the daughter of the royal family head''s third wife. Leonard is her brother.

    Reaching the second floor, he saw there are only three classrooms. 6A, 7A, 8A.

    They walked to the end of the hallway and stood before 8A.

    The door is closed and there''s no handle to open it.

    She knocked on the door twice.

    It was opened in the next second and he saw there''s a middle-aged man with a thick beard, messy hair, and wearing jumpers.

    "Yes, Miss Light?"

    Emelia pointed to Azzy who was standing behind her, "New student."

    "So, this is the transfer student, huh!" The teacher glanced at him and then, said leisurely while continuing to sit on his desk. "Well, what are you waiting for¡­ Come inside."

    As Azzy walked into the classroom, the teacher spoke to the students in a lazy tone, "everyone, we got a new transfer student this year."

    He gestured to Azzy to introduce himself.

    Azzy turned towards the students and saw the classroom was spacious with a lot of desks. It has a couple of windows on the side to let the natural light shine into the room.

    Yet, there are too few students. Including himself there are a total of 7 students, making the classroom seems empty.

    Everyone sat separately, far from each other, and have this gloomy face except for one fellow with round glasses. His distant uncle/cousin from the Crescent clan.

    "Azrael," Azzy introduced himself plainly.

    "Anything else? Age, Arcana, etc¡­" Emelia probed him to introduce himself more¡­

    Usually, new students introduce their Arcana when they introduce themselves first. If they don''t want to show, at least, they will tell its name and grade. She just wants to hear from his mouth to confirm Hermon''s report.

    Too bad for her, the teacher quickly pours cold water on her excitement.

    "Student, go, and take your seat." He spoke in a lazy tone once again.

    "Azrael, here¡­" Gideon waved his hand and gestured him to take the next seat.

    Azzy nodded to the teacher and sat beside Gideon.

    "Well¡­ Miss Light, if you leave the classroom, I''ll continue my lecture."

 Chapter 26: Gideon as deskmate

    "So, as I was saying, you are too young to care about things like reincarnation. It''s hundreds of years far away. All of you should focus on the present." The teacher continued his lesson without enthusiasm.

    "Everyone''s feeling down because of orientation," Gideon whispered to Azzy, getting him to know the situation. "He isn''t helping much either."

    Azzy can''t help agree with him. He felt like this homeroom teacher doesn''t like his job.

    The teacher continued, "Anyway, let''s move on to the important things. Since you are now upper-grade students, it''s time for all of you to experience the Level-2 region of the Arcana world.

    Next week, your trip is decided to the region of Nlethemar. You''ll tag along with the ninth and tenth-grade students of our division. Of course, the teachers will also be joining, just in case."

    Upon hearing the good news, the gloominess disappeared from everyone''s face, although they can''t help but curse this teacher in their minds listening to his grumble, "it''s such a hassle. What are we? Babysitters or something¡­ Level-2 is essentially harmless to anyone above rank-4.

    Even rank-3 wouldn''t necessarily be harmed that much if they encounter a monster. At most, their bones will get smashed. The school can heal them either way¡­"

    The only one who agreed with the teacher is Azzy, although for a different reason. He thought the monsters in the level-2 region wouldn''t make him stronger.

    For the past three months he stayed at Affea''s mansion, he read many books that are available in the mansion to understand how Arcana world works.

    He doesn''t know where this Nlethemar is but if there''s one thing he knows for sure, the strongest monster in a level-2 region is a rank-4.

    So, rank-4 monsters below gold grade will not help him much. A purple grade will barely suffice to improve his level.

    He has to pray that a higher grade monster was living in the region. Not to mention, it had to be a lightning attribute to improve Vajra.

    Or else, he can only look for a way to enter level-3 after becoming familiar with his current strength.

    After all, unlike others, he only has 15 years left to become a rank-seven and travel back to his timeline. If he doesn''t, his identity will be altered forever.

    The teacher continued, "There are two changes, all of you going to experience this year.

    First, a new combat class will be added.

    And second, there will be a card creation class.

    Since the school timetable can''t fit additional two classes for everyone, they will be learned together with the higher grade students.

    So, basically, your school hours will end ninety minutes later than the others.

    Your timetable will be posted on the notice board, later. Check it out in the break.

    Is there anything else? Nope, there''s nothing else to remind. It''s your first day. Feel free to do whatever you want. I''m going to take a nap in the meantime."

    As he went back to his seat, he took a card out of nowhere and threw it towards the door.

    A barrier formed over the door.

    *Yawn* "Don''t bother trying to sneak out. You can''t."

    This lazy homeroom teacher slept with his head on the desk.

    As the rest of the five knew his personality very well, they long expected it and get busy with their self-study

    Azzy saw everyone took out their textbooks. He took out his storage card that''s bound to his soul and took out a grade-8 textbook he received from the school.

    "Habitats of monsters"

    The textbook was about the environments that each kind of monster stays¡­

    But, before he concentrates on the book, Gideon disturbed him with some useless information.

    "Do you know that the Galarian beasts are often born in Nlethemar?"

    Azzy asked while turning the pages in disinterest, "What is a Galarian beast?"

    "You don''t know?" Gideon was taken aback. He then explained, "The king of Nlethemar region is a Galarian. It is the only beast with a platinum grade. I read that it was originally a gold grade but mutated twice for some reason and rose to platinum grade. It was said that the overlord of the region is as strong as a mid-rank-6 Arcana master."

    Azzy became interested as he never heard of such a strong beast that existed in the wild and that too at a level-2 region. A platinum grade monster will definitely helps his Vajra. He became excited for a second.

    Gideon continued, "But, no one has ever captured it. Very few claimed that they battled the monster. I bet they are lying."

    Upon hearing his words, Azzy got irritated. He felt he was excited for no reason. ''Are all Crescent clan members this annoying?''

    Right then, Gideon gave out another piece of information.

    "Still, rank-3 and rank-4 Galarian beasts are found in a few places. So, no need to search for the Galarian king. For rank-3 with lightning attribute Arcana Masters like me, it is one of the top choices to upgrade my Arcana and enter into rank-4. I only hope I don''t face tough competition with other academies, this time.

    ''A lightning attribute, huh! I guess it''s worth checking it out.'' Azzy already turned a deaf ear for his babbling and once again concentrated on the book until the bell rang.

    Until lunchtime, it wasn''t much different from a regular academy. The students were taught subjects like Mathematics, History, Science, and their native Language Orlon.

    Azzy who didn''t go to school for 4 years didn''t get a little bit of these advanced studies. If it wasn''t because of the chatterbox sitting beside him, he might have already slept in the class.

    During the lunch period, he made friends with the rest of the class. As a high rank-4, he was welcomed by everyone except for Leonard Light.

    And by the time the lunch period is over, more than two-thirds of the students who tried to befriend him backed away.

    As a smart person, it wasn''t hard for Azzy to figure out the reason. But, he didn''t care about the treatment. He wasn''t here to make friends either way.

    In the afternoon, the special classes started.

    The first class in the afternoon was a study of runes.

    Azzy was interested in the subject, remembering the runes on the awakening stone slab of their clan''s founder.

    A lady entered the class. She was pretty, attracting the attention of all the boys in the class.

    Looking at the students, she smiled as she introduced herself, "I''m Exea. We will be spending this one hour time together for the next year. I hope we get along¡­"

    "Ah! So beautiful¡­" Gideon muttered under his breath as he stared at her in a daze.

    Azzy observed that the rest of the students are also in a daze as if some spell has been cast on them.

    On other hand, Azzy who spent a year with Evelyn was completely immune to her charms, surprising the teacher a bit.

    ''Interesting kid.'' Her eyes lingered on Azzy for a couple of seconds before she deactivated the effect.

    "I guess all of you have basic knowledge about the runic alphabets, right?"

    Everyone except Azzy nodded their heads.

    She didn''t mind his reaction and continued, "Since today is the first day, let''s revise a few beginner topics. After all, everyone took two months of vacation¡­"

    Azzy thought it was a good idea since he might be able to understand something this time.

    "So, first of all, let''s talk about the history of runic alphabets. I bet many of you heard of this story of the origin of the Arcana masters.

    It was the time before the first Epoch."

 Chapter 27: History of Runes

    "Before the first Epoch started, everyone was a normal person without any soul power.

    There used to be a single massive continent and there is no Arcana world too. It used to be just an adjacent planet without a single drop of water.

    Suddenly, our world was bombarded with some unidentified rocks from the sky.

    No one knows their origin. Their size is from the size of a fist to the size of this building.

    The small-sized ones made several craters while the big sized ones created earthquakes and separated the one big continent into several parts.

    They weren''t simple meteors that we know¡­

    Some of the people who were able to survive the disaster discovered strange characters engraved on it. Strangely, all the rocks have the same set of 24 characters."

    Exea then started to draw 24 runic alphabets on the whiteboard.

    "Along with these strange characters, an enormous amount of energy was released into the surroundings, affecting everyone.

    That energy is called Arcana energy. It is the wildest form of Arcana that doesn''t have any consciousness. The monsters in the Arcana world possess this energy.

    Anyway, the humans and the animals unknowingly absorbed the Arcana energy.

    But, the energy was too strong for them.

    More than 99% of the organisms who were affected by the energy turned into monsters whether they are of the human race or the animals.

    The world went into chaos as they fight against each other. The humans who weren''t affected by the energy were also caught up in the mess and humanity went to the brink of extinction.

    At that moment, a god descended onto this world. Fire, Earth, Water, Metal, Lightning, and even time... Everything is under his control. One swing of his weapon killed the beasts that are considered rank-9.

    A snap of his finger stops the time or even reverse the time. He turned every beast into an infant and sent all of them into the adjacent planet of our solar system.

    To make sure they won''t escape the world, he placed a barrier over it.

    After saving the world, the god lived on a mountain for a while to take a rest.

    Some of the survivors asked him to accept them as his servants as a way of thanking him for saving their life but the god simply replied, "the runic alphabets. Use them to form symbols," as he pointed at one of the nearby meteorites.

    No one ones what happened to that god. Maybe, he returned to the celestial world.

    Following the order of the god, when our ancestors used these 24 runic alphabets to make runes, they discovered it wasn''t just a symbol. It was power.

    Using those runes, they channeled the energy and created soul cards, soul orbs, Arcana spirit, etc¡­

    It isn''t exaggerating to say that these 24 runic alphabets are the origin to where we are now." Exea finished her introduction of the history of the runes.

    Every student was listening to her lesson very attentively. Even Azzy was no exception.

    Aside from her voice, when she started her lecture, Azzy felt as if he was trapped in an illusion.

    ''Despite being only a peak-rank-5, her storytelling was even more powerful than Aunt Evelyn. Maybe, it''s the power of her Arcana,'' Azzy thought as he returned to his senses in the middle and then, continues to listen to the story in silence as if nothing happened.

    As for the others, they were still in an illusion until she snapped her finger and brought them back to reality.

    While everyone was being amazed for experiencing such a powerful illusion, Exea continued, "or the next ten months, all of you will learn how to make intermediate runes and how to channel them to make your Arcana stronger."

    Since Azzy was quite new to the subject and only heard of some useless history, he started to wonder, how these runes works¡­ The only runes he saw are the ones on the relic of the Death clan.

    Forget about intermediate runes, he doesn''t even know about the basic ones. Azzy thought he should hit the library once the school ends and spend there for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

    Since he is already staying at the school for additional 2 hours, he might as well spend an additional hour.

    As the bell rang, Exea started to walk towards the exit. Before she left, she glanced in the direction of Azzy, and then, left the classroom while wondering ''that kid can resist my charm as well as my voice even though there is a gap in our rank. Is he the one with platinum grade Arcana?''

    She doesn''t know that it was nothing to do with his Arcana at all. Azzy was only able to resist because of spending his time with a powerful charmer like Evelyn. Well, at least that was Azzy thought.

    After the runes class is finished, it''s the time of theoretical combat lessons taught by a rank-6 Arcana master, who is a popular figure in the academy.

    Everyone was excited to learn from this teacher.

    Soon, a person entered the class with a smile.

    Azzy was stunned as soon as saw the new teacher.

    He is a tall, bony man dressed in extravagant clothing, carrying a gold, ruby-eyed cobra headed staff. He has a twisted, black goatee and a faint mustache, as well as grey eyeliner.

    Azzy went down into a memory lane and remembered a certain animated movie he saw when he was around 7 years old.

    The movie was about a poor man who obtains a magic lamp and frees a genie. He gains the wishes and marries the princess.

    But, this teacher doesn''t look like a hero but seemed like an identical copy of the villain sorcerer. Strangely, even the weapon in his hand was also the same.

    ''Did they make the film, taking him as a model?'' Azzy can''t help but have useless distracting thoughts but then, as he tried to gauge his power, he was surprised.

    ''I can''t sense his level. It wasn''t as strong as Avia or Evelyn but it was much stronger than grandpa. Is he a high or peak-rank 6?''

    Meanwhile, the other six students were also taken aback, immediately judged him for his looks.

    "He looks like a greedy merchant from every angle," Gideon suddenly whispered in his ear.

    The next second, the smile on the new teacher is vanished and replaced by a frown and looked at Gideon, sharply.

    "Eek¡­" Gideon quickly lowered his head and closed his mouth.

    Azzy shook his head with a sigh, ''this fool. Doesn''t he know that if a rank-6 tries hard enough, they can even hear the whisper from a kilometer much less from a 5-yard distance¡­''

    "Hello, I''m Uphiar, a sorcerer¡­" He introduced himself to the class. "As today''s the first day, I''ll give a live demonstration of the subject."

    He then raised the staff in his hand. Azzy saw the cobra''s eyes blinked in red and a smile appeared on this sorcerer''s face.

    Everyone gulped in fear, looking at his wicked smile.

    All of a sudden, their surroundings changed. Azzy and the other found themselves on an island except that it isn''t a simple island that was surrounded by water.

    They were surrounded by lava. Azzy and the other six students felt hot under his feet but they have no time to care about such a thing because there''s a large maroon colored monster with spikes all over its back was walking towards the island.

 Chapter 28: Battle against the Lava beast part-1

    *Splash*Splash*

    The lava is being splashed as a maroon-colored monster was walking towards the island with students.

    It was maroon in color and has black spikes all over its back. Its eyes are golden and finally, there''s a hoop over its head.

    Meanwhile, the teacher isn''t seen to be present with them.

    The students were scared stiff for a few seconds before taking out their Arcana as a reflex. After all, they aren''t some sheltered brats who grow up in a greenhouse¡­

    They fought the beasts in Arcana world several times to improve their strength albeit only weak ones¡­

    Azzy saw their Arcana.

    Gideon has a sword in his hands. Sparks can be seen all over it.

    ''A Gold grade huh! As Expected of Crescent clan.'' Azzy thought as he felt the intensity released by the lightning sword.

    Other than the sword, Azzy only found one more Arcana with a Gold grade. It was an orange dog with beige fur over its head and the tail. It also has black stripes on its back.

    He can see little bits of fire near its mouth as it breathes. As the strongest Arcana in the bunch, it stepped forward and stood before everyone, baring its teeth at the incoming enemy.

    Meanwhile, Azzy wasn''t in a hurry to summon his Arcana. He was completely calm, looking at this rank-4 beast; well, at least on the outside. Inside, he was more nervous than them since he never fought a real beast in the wild.

    "This is Volcanus, a lava attribute beast that was majorly found in Volcano regions." Suddenly, they heard the voice of their teacher in the surroundings.

    Azzy glanced around everywhere but wasn''t able to find this Jafar of Aladdin.

    The voice continued, "Currently all of you are trapped in a memory of mine. But, don''t need to fear. Even if you die, you''ll resurrect on the spot since your true body is still resting in the classroom."

    It was only after hearing his words the students understood that their souls are probably trapped in an illusion.

    Azzy also came to the same conclusion. ''A sorcerer, huh!''

    All of a sudden, the surroundings froze. The students saw the monster stood there like a statue. Just then, the teacher spoke, "now, in front of you, there''s a monster of high-level rank-4 of gold grade.

    It is a lava attribute beast. That means it is mixed with fire and earth elements.

    Now all of you must have already known about the relation between the elements.

    Fire is strong against Wind but weak against Water. It has resistance to Lightning.

    Earth is strong against Water but weak against lightning. It has resistance to Fire.

    Now, what will be the lava attribute''s weakness and strengths are? Can anyone say?"

    Gideon quickly answered, "It is strong against Wind, however with no weaknesses. It''s also resistant to lightning and fire."

    "Yup. That''s right." The teacher accepted his answer, "So, that means, if you have Arcana with either pure Wind, Lightning or Fire, you should understand that the battle will be very difficult unless you are of above rank.

    So, that means, those who have Water and Earth attribute Arcana or atleast soul skills of such attributes if their Arcana is an advanced element, they will have an advantage in this battle.

    They should be the ones to deal with damage to the monster. As for Wind attribute Arcana Masters, they should just act as support unless it''s necessary. This is how you win a battle.

    Okay, let''s put this knowledge into action.

    All seven of you are trapped on an island. If you step on the lava, you die. You have but two options.

    One is to wait for the monster to reach you and defend yourselves. The second is to somehow escape from the island and reach the land, and then, confront it there.

    You are seven. The monster is one. I''ll give you five minutes of preparations. Choose a leader, assign the roles, make a plan and, see if the strategy works. Good luck."

    They looked at each other for a second before turning their heads towards Azzy.

    "Won''t you take out your Arcana?" One of them asked. Azzy heard from Gideon that this boy named Lark was continuously elected as the class monitor from grade-5 to grade-7.

    Before Azzy replied, another boy supported the young master of the Sandrou family. It is one of the small noble families of the nation. "Lark is right. We only have five minutes. Hurry up and summon your Arcana so that we can form a strategy on how to cooperate."

    Azzy summoned his soul card and then, summoned the black wolf.

    Except for the two gold grade Arcana, the remaining four quickly disappeared from the spot without their owner''s permission. Clearly, they ran away.

    A look of shock appeared on them.

    Meanwhile, Lark and Gideon were also stunned to see a beast that''s giving off a strong intensity. They felt, their Arcana were barely holding on, in its presence.

    The rest of them weren''t able to sense its power. For people like them who are at the bottom of the stairs, whether their focus is at the 1000th step or the 10000th step, both will look the same.

    One more person was stunned as he was peeking at this memory world. "It isn''t a gold grade. A platinum grade Arcana?"

    "This is why I didn''t summon my Vajra¡­" Azzy let out a comment before unsummoning it back to the soul card. Looking at them, he further said, "I''ll have to stay as a support if we have to work together."

    Gideon nodded in response, "Hmm¡­ since this is just a kind of simulation, not a real battle, it would be wise to do as Azrael says. Lark, the plan¡­"

    Without even discussing, everyone just assumed Lark as their leader. It wasn''t because he was the strongest. After all, excluding Azzy, there are two more people whose Soul power is higher than this low-rank-4.

    Except for the two, the remaining four were classmates since they were admitted into the academy. Obviously, they have more trust in Lark.

    "Okay, based on the Arcana''s attribute, we are certainly at a disadvantage since none of us have Water or Earth attributes skills. Either way, it doesn''t matter.

    Okay, we will follow the same pattern as last year''s annual test.

    My Oscar and I will take care of its attention. Gideon, your lightning sword has the strongest attack, right now. So, I''ll leave the killing on your hands.

    The rest of you will support him by shielding the monster''s attacks that are directed towards him, and clear the obstacles so that his attack will land on the monsters.

    ''Is this even a plan?'' Azzy wondered whether there was something wrong with his head. He was baffled to hear that they followed this plan several times. ''Even a beginner like me knew that a rank-4 beast is different from the previous ranks. Moreover, Gideon''s not even a rank-4.''

 Chapter 29: Battle against the lava beast part-2

    "Your five minutes are up." The teacher''s voice echoed in the surroundings followed by the resume of time around them.

    *Roar*

    The beast roared as it continued to walk towards them.

    While everyone was ready with their Arcana, Azzy, on the other hand, observed its feet that didn''t sink much in the lava.

    ''The depth of this lava lake is only like a ft or two. So, I just need to take care of my legs in case I fall. But, I wonder¡­''

    Azzy then looked at his hands, ''if my fist can work¡­''

    Since he can''t use his Arcana which scares away other Arcana and because they are in the illusionary realm, he can''t even bring out a storage card either, the only option left for Azzy to fight is through fists.

    Through training at the place with higher gravity, his physical strength is a lot stronger than his peers but since he never used it in a spar, even Azzy didn''t know how much strength he possesses, right now.

    He wanted to test himself with the beast. It was another reason, he unsummoned the black wolf.

    The beast slowly walked towards them.

    Lark told everyone to move back, right to the edge of the island, and wait until the beast steps on the island.

    As per his plan, they waited until the beast stepped onto the island.

    "Oscar, Use Flame Thrower."

    *Wow* It barked before dashing forward to get into the range and breathe out a stream of fire and hit Volcanus.

    Due to being resistant to fire, it felt nothing other than just feeling burning up all over its skin.

    *Roar*

    It roared once again. As the tiger-striped dog successfully grabbed its attention, it moved to a different location, away from the rest of them.

    Lark then gave an order, "Gideon, you are up¡­ Make sure to avoid those spikes."

    He glanced at the spikes on its back. "Yeah, I know," Gideon nodded. Then, as he glanced at the beast once again, he saw a peculiar action of the beast.

    While moving, he saw it was moving its head, retracting its neck and then, elongating it.

    He mumbled, "The neck seems to be its most vulnerable part."

    Azzy shook his head as he thought, ''not exactly. A monster''s vulnerable part is always its eyes as long as it isn''t a rank-7 or above¡­''

    "Charge." After giving out an order, Lark went after his dog while the rest of them charged forward towards the beast that exposed its back to them.

    Azzy followed them from behind.

    "Eh?" In the next second, the classmates before him disappeared.

    "Woah." To his surprise, he heard the exclaims from behind.

    Only then, Azzy realized when he pushed his leg against the ground and dashed forward, he already passed them and covered half of the distance to the beast.

    Azzy himself was surprised at how light he felt in this ordinary gravity environment.

    Without waiting for the rest to catch up, he clenched his fist as he dashed towards the monster again, intending to injure the monster so that it would be easier for the rest of them to attack.

    "What is he doing?" Lark halted for a second before dodging the attack of the fire blast from the beast.

    Quickly reaching the beast, Azzy used his soul power on the feet to jump high in the air.

    "Eh?" Once again, he used too much of his strength and jumped a bit too high.

    As he was falling, Azzy raised his leg and tried to land a kick on its head.

    Volcanus felt a chill on its neck all of a sudden.

    The beast spun around itself like a tornado and pushed away Lark and his doggie while dodging the attack just in the nick of time.

    *Bam*

    As his kick missed the target and hit the ground, cracks appeared everywhere before it was destroyed into dozens of tiny floating rocks.

    The beast lost its balance and fell into the lava, splashing the lava onto everyone around.

    As a result, five of them are unable to escape the crisis. Other than Azzy, only Lark and his doggie managed to get away with it as they received the minimum impact.

    Meanwhile, Azzy''s legs are submerged under the lava lake. But he felt nothing at the moment as the soul energy that flowing through his legs is currently nullifying the heat.

    ''Oops! I used too much strength¡­''

    Azzy can''t help but feel apologetic to his classmates but due to having a blank expression on his face, Lark went into a rage. "What have you done?"

    "I missed the target and the ground was too weak to withhold the attack¡­" Azzy blankly answered him.

    "I don''t mean that." Lark''s anger further deepened by his reply, "You are supposed to support Gideon."

    "But Gideon is a rank-3 with a lightning attribute Arcana. How can he face a high rank-4 beast?" Azzy once again spoke in a flat tone as if he was implying that his plan is stupid.

    "You¡­" Lark''s body shook in anger as Azzy didn''t even apologize for the mistake he caused. Not only he didn''t follow the order and went on his own, but also caused the death of his teammates.

    If this is a real-world, he would be a dangerous teammate.

    Meanwhile, the monster stood up on its four legs. Without wasting the time or soul power on his legs, Azzy dashed forward towards it.

    Looking at the boy coming towards it, the beast felt danger and it immediately used its strongest skill, "Earth Dome."

    Molten rocks below the lava rose and formed a large dome over the beast.

    Lark was taken aback, seeing it from far. "The monster is going on the defensive?"

    Azzy clenched his fist and punched the earth dome gathering the soul energy into his hands.

    All of his soul power is consumed at the instant while the dome was blasted into a speck of dust particles.

    There wasn''t even a trace of the monster inside of it.

    Azzy was stunned at the moment, getting a glimpse of his strength. "This is my strength?"

    Suddenly, the surroundings before him changed to the classroom and he found the others are sleeping with their heads on their respective desks.

    He also felt that his soul power is also full. He felt strange about it, considering his soul power emptied just a moment ago.

    "You are Azrael, right?" A voice brought him out of his thoughts.

    In front of him, Azzy saw the teacher was staring at him with his eyes widened in shock.

    The teacher asked, "The one who defeated Instructor Hermon''s Golem?"

    Azzy nodded in response, "Yes."

    The teacher then continued, "You are too strong and your control is also too weak. You might accidentally kill the students if I let you spar against anyone.

    At the moment, it is better if you don''t cooperate with your teammates and rather work on control. Hmm, I have the perfect training route for you. But, first, let me test the limits of your strength."

    The eyes of his cobra staff once again glowed in red and he lost his consciousness.

    Azzy found alone on the grassland of some unknown place. Before him, instead of a beast, Azzy saw a man in black armor from top to bottom. Even his face was covered by the helmet.

    Azzy wasn''t able to gauge his strength, indicating that his rank is higher.

    "The man before you is an enemy I fought and killed back when I was a 10th-grade student.

    He''s a mid-rank-5 Arcana Master and also a swordsman. Fight against him with all of your strength without using your Arcana."

    As the time in the surroundings is unfrozen, Azzy thought, ''this teacher has some unique soul skill. Throwing an opponent into memories and let him fight against the monster or a person.

    There must be a condition to achieve this, right? Or else, this would be a cheating ability. Or maybe, it because I''m a lower rank, I was pulled into that illusionary realm?''

    His thoughts are interrupted by the sudden movement of the man in the armor.

    He dashed forward towards him and tried to slash him with the sword.

    "Huh?" For some reason, Azzy felt everything in a slow-motion and he was able to see the sword and his movements clearly.

    Azzy dodged to the side and gave a solid punch to the chest while pouring the soul power into his fist.

    This time, he tried to control the amount and was able to stop the rapid absorption of soul power. This time, only around 51000 amount of soul power is absorbed leaving him with 26000 or so¡­

    *Bam*

    But, he wasn''t in a mood to care about it as the armor cracked as soon as his punch landed on the man.

    The man fell on his back on the spot.

    "What the¡­" Sorcerer Uphiar almost lost his balance because of the shock and tightly grabbed the desk.

    Azzy was also stunned on the spot as he returned to the classroom.

    "Looks like the Protos Energy improved your body''s constitution. No, it leveled up entirely¡­" The Reaper''s voice rang in his head. "Your Physical body currently has the strength of a high rank-5 Arcana Master."

    "Eh?"

 Chapter 30: Power overload once again

    ''Protos Energy? High Rank-5 Physical strength?'' Azzy was shocked to hear the Reaper''s statement.

    He was scared of how strong he might really be if he were to go all out. He thought he might contend even against Rank-6 Arcana Masters easily.

    Most people would be happy with such strength but Azzy was terrified at the moment. He knew how bad his control is. He suddenly grew too strong and didn''t know how to deal with it.

    The situation might be a blessing in a place like Death Clan that has so many experts but in an academy like this, he was especially scared that he will kill someone accidentally in a spar.

    "You said you can help me with controlling my strength, right?" Azzy then turned to the teacher. "How?"

    Uphiar came out of his daze and looked at this monster. Immediately, a grin appeared on his face as he stroked the cobra''s head. "It''s very simple actually. Off you go¡­"

    He used the same soul skill again and this time Azzy was transported to a beautiful place.

    There were two waterfalls on the opposite of the cliffs with a rainbow appearing between them.

    The lake formed by those waterfalls was calm and still.

    Azzy sensed a monster, sleeping on the bed of the lake. "A low rank-4." He mumbled.

    "Yes. It is¡­" The voice resounded in the surroundings.

    "Your task is to engage in a fight but not kill it. Your punches and kicks should contain soul energy. Until you were able to punch with a strength of only rank-2, your training partner will be this beast."

    Azzy moved to the lake and stood on the shore but it seemed like the beast didn''t sense him yet. So, it continued to sleep.

    Closing his eyes, he released his aura, an ability that lets you pressure lower rank Arcana masters or beasts.

    To not scare it away, Azzy retracted his aura after a second.

    And just as he expected, a giant snake rose from the lake.

    Azzy recognized the beast in one glanced even though he never saw it in person or the picture.

    It because of the unique feature, three heads.

    He remembers the old Avia mention that multi-headed snakes are the descendants of the legendary rank-10 beast, Hydra. The higher the rank, the higher their heads.

    One of the unique abilities of such a beast is that each head represents an element.

    It was also clear to Azzy about it since he can point out which head is which element by the color of the head.

    "Red, Green, and Brown. That means, fire, wind, and earth."

    The impatient Red-colored head didn''t even waste time as soon as it found the prey.

    It breathes out a beam of fire towards him.

    Azzy''s eyes clearly captured their path and he stepped aside to dodge the flames.

    He concentrated on pouring down the soul power to his legs.

    The soul energy quickly seeped out of the soul orb and hurried to its destination, the two feet.

    Once again, more than 2/3rds of the soul power was diminished, boosting the strength of his legs by an unimaginable amount as he jumped dozens of meters high in the air.

    The three-headed snake raised its head and glanced at the sky. The green head hissed, implying that it will take charge of this move.

    Azzy, who reached the peak, began to fall at an extreme speed, but he wasn''t concerned about that and concentrated on using soul power in his fist.

    Once again, the remaining soul power was emptied in an instant as he failed to control the amount.

    As he can''t do anything about it, he decided to punch lightly.

    Just then, he felt a powerful wind coming towards him in the form of a tornado. In the eye of the formation lies the three-headed snake with its green head was releasing the skill.

    As he was hit by the tornado, Azzy''s first thought was, ''it was weak.''

    But, then, he realized the might of the skill.

    Even though it didn''t do the slightest of the damage to Azzy, the latter was still affected by it and now, was no longer falling down directly but was moving in a spiral path along with the wind.

    *Hiss*

    The redhead hissed angrily and breathes out fire into the tornado, forming a fire tornado.

    Azzy tried to move his hands and legs but he fails to escape from the fire tornado. His body temperature rose, and his skin started to burn lightly except for his feet and the right arm.

    "Ugh¡­" Azzy groaned in pain for the first time since he arrived at this timeline. He got the urge to summon his Arcana but hold back himself, trying to get out of the situation with force.

    Right then, he heard the voice of the Reaper in his head. "Soul energy won''t disappear as long as it''s your body. Soul orb or some organ, the soul energy will always be alive unless you use it on external things¡­

    Direct the excess soul energy of your feet, back to the soul orb."

    "Argh¡­" he groaned once again as his clothes turned into ash, and his upper body that keeps on getting burned was turning slowly into charcoal.

    "Soul orb? How?" Azzy roared inside his head.

    "Forget about it. I''ll tell you later. For now, redirect them to all the body parts instead.

    Just like how concentrated on your fist when you redirect the soul energy, you concentrate on your whole body, now."

    Forgetting the pain on the outside, Azzy closed his eyes and concentrated on his right arm and the legs, and located the energy.

    He tried to redirect some of it to the other organ. A gush of soul energy from his legs was spread to the heart and lungs.

    He once again diverted some of it towards the bones.

    Time slowly passed. Azzy no longer felt pain even though he was still moving along with the fire tornado.

    As he opened his eyes, he saw his entire upper body until the neck turned to charcoal. Thankfully, his lower body was fine with pants still intact, or else he will be embarrassed to death.

    After all, there''s someone who was peeking from above, and as someone who was going through puberty, he felt disgusted about that even in his imagination.

    The Reaper''s voice disrupted his thoughts. "Good, now, you should concentrate on how to expel the soul energy from your body to outside to become free.

    Expelling is quite easy. If I should say in human terms, think of how you expel the waste from your body when you have constipation or when a mother gives natural birth to baby. Just force the energy out¡­

    Remember, it must be at once. Only, then, it will work."

    Following his advice, Azzy concentrated on the soul energy that was distributed all over his body. Just like the Reaper said, it is indeed a bit similar to it.

    However, the image in Azzy''s head was quite different. Since he never had constipation and don''t know how the other situation feels like either, he imagined himself in his own room surrounded by walls except that there''s no door. He then, imagined the walls are shrinking with each second.

    The person inside is the soul energy and the walls are the human body.

    "Argh¡­" He roared and let the soul energy that was lingering in his body expel out.

    Suddenly, an enormous amount of dark energy was erupted from his body and hit the tornado and all the surroundings.

    The three-headed snake shivered for a second as it sensed the mixed energy of Protos and Death.

    Then¡­

    Azzy opened his eyes as he felt like he was falling towards the lake but he sensed no soul power inside him.

    *Thud*

    He fell on the ground and made a small crater.

    "Ugh¡­" Azzy groaned in pain as he stood up. He felt aching all over the body but that''s it.

    "Eh?" Just as he looked around, he saw the lake disappeared along with the monster. The grass and the trees around him were pitch-black.

    "What was that?" Uphiar who was watching it from above felt like his heart shook for a second.

 Chapter 31: (Ten Runes)Decarune Sealing

    From the above, Uphiar was observing this special student.

    From the start, he knew this isn''t going to be an easy battle even for him.

    Despite that, he asked him to hold back his strength in the form of training.

    As he expected he saw Azzy was trapped by the tornado. After all, strength isn''t everything. Even if one can destroy a mountain with a fist, they can''t destroy a simple pond with something like that. They will only split the water.

    Likewise, every problem has a method of defeating it. You can''t use the same method for every problem. It won''t work like that.

    Because he saw Azzy defeated the black knight and the lava beast with a fist, Uphiar already predicted Azzy would choose the same method to defeat the snake too.

    And everything went as he planned, the snake also used the fire tornado.

    But then, he saw the kid managed to redirect the soul energy to all parts of the body. It was easier to distribute the energy from the soul orb to the whole body but is difficult to redirect the energy from a part of the body to another within a short time.

    ''What a genius¡­'' The teacher can''t help but feel excited.

    But then, he saw the dark and corrosive energy expelled from him, destroying not only the skill but also the beast as well as affecting the surroundings.

    The lake dried up. The trees withered. In an instant, the land became barren as all the life has been lost.

    "What is this dark energy¡­" Uphiar''s excitement turned into a horror. "Unless he controls his strength, I must make sure that he doesn''t fight alongside or against the peers. I need to meet the principal, right away."

    Meanwhile, Azzy saw the surroundings changed. He returned to the same place. The barren land once again turned into a beautiful lake and the beast once again came back to life, still sleeping on the lake bed.

    His charred body returned to normal and his soul power became full once again.

    He wondered. "Previously, I returned to the classroom after defeating the beast but now, the time was reversed back to the beginning¡­ Hmm¡­"

    Suddenly, he remembered Uphiar''s words.

    "I see¡­" Realization dawned upon him. "Now, I understood one of the rules of this place. The Master of this world placed a condition.

    The condition is that I need to pull the punches and kicks worth rank-2.

    Unless I achieve that, I can''t leave on my own but what''s worrisome is that¡­"

    He glanced at the surroundings and remembered the scene where all the life became devoid as they were touched by his soul energy.

    Then, he remembered his spar against Evelyn back when he was at Violet Pavilion.

    "Make sure not to use your soul skills against friends or weaker people¡­"

    He remembered her warning. At that time, he thought the Death energy was incredible but now, he realized it was far more worrisome than his lack of control over the strength.

    Azzy sat on the grass instead of engaging the combat.

    Sitting in a meditative position, he closed his eyes.

    "Hmm, what is this kid, doing now?" Uphiar wondered as he continues to watch from the above.

    Then, his attention shifted to the other memory world where the six of them are fighting against the lava beast for the fourth time.

    Azzy was back into the mindscape to meet the Reaper and his pet wolf.

    "Chronos, I need your help with..."

    "Yeah, I know." The Reaper interrupted with a nod as if he was expecting him to visit. "Now, I''m going to teach you a Sealing method. It is called Decarune Seal."

    "Sealing?" Azzy wondered what it is¡­

    The Reaper nodded, "Yes. It is a long lost method developed by the first generation Arcana Masters to improve control over their soul power and Arcana.

    With the help of Energy, you can seal your soul orb and make a window to allow only a part of it.

    But, I warn you to never use it on others, at least in public."

    "Why?" Azzy asked him.

    The Reaper answered, "it is a long lost method currently only known to the guards of Black Citadel."

    ''Black Citadel?'' Azzy wondered what that is¡­ He continued to listen keeping his thoughts to himself.

    "Reveal it unnecessarily to the world only let you become a target. Not to mention, the Protos energy will not just seal the soul orb of others, it will corrupt them¡­"

    Azzy nodded, "I understand. So, what should I do."

    "First, concentrate on your soul orb. Now, I''m going to impart the knowledge of the ten runes into your mind. Memorize the order, first."

    Azzy sat down and closed his eyes as the Reaper floated towards him and placed his skeleton hand on the kid''s head.

    Ten unique Symbols made from the runic alphabets appeared in his mind. Azzy memorized the order as well as their images before proceeding to ask, "now?"

    The Reaper answered, "Now, try to use some of the soul power and form the runes with the soul energy.

    These are nine runes, each corresponding to a rank. Since you are rank-4, you only need to apply the first five runes.

    The first rune will seal 10, the second rune will seal 100, the third rune will seal 1000, the fourth rune will seal 10000 and the fifth rune will seal 100000 soul power.

    When needed soul power, you need to open the seal in order to let the soul energy flow through..."

    Thirty minutes later;

    "Uphiar mumbled before he looked at his watch. "Oh! It''s almost time¡­"

    As he snapped his fingers, Azzy and the other six returned to the classroom.

    He was startled for a second before complaining inside, "damn¡­ I can''t even form the first rune."

    In an instant, the Reaper''s voice once again resounded in his head. "Of course, it isn''t that easy since you know nothing about the runes. It would be more helpful if you study more diligently about the subject of runes in this academy."

    Suddenly, an arm was put over his shoulder, followed by a tone filled with excitement, "dude¡­ I didn''t expect you were this strong."

    Azzy turned his head and looked at Gideon. He almost saw stars in his eyes.

    Gideon continued with a smile, "I heard from Lark. We tried so hard but all of us faced death more than six times but you killed it with one punch¡­ I bet you can take on most of the tenth-grade students even without your Arcana¡­"

    Then, he leaned forward and whispered, "Lark was complaining too much about you. It seems he''s just jealous that someone stronger popped up."

    Azzy didn''t know how to respond to Gideon, who was maintaining his liveliness even after facing death many times.

    Even now, he was feeling a little uncomfortable, remembering how his body was burnt and became charred just half an hour ago.

    He glanced at the others. ''I see¡­ So, it''s just this guy is abnormal.''

    Except for Gideon and Lark, the others seemed to be filled with despair. As for lark, he seems to be frustrated.

    Azzy and Lark''s eyes met. The latter turned his head away, clenching his fist.

    "Now, attention, please¡­" The teacher then brought everyone back to the senses. "Until now, you have faced weaker beasts but now that all of you are upper-grade students, in the Arcana World, you will face the beasts that are as strong as the one you faced, right now."

    "You over there¡­" He then pointed to Lark.

    "Yes?"

    "Tell me what went wrong¡­ Why haven''t you able to defeat the beast."

    Lark stood up and answered, "We weren''t strong enough."

    He then glanced at Azzy, "if we had our more strength backing us up, we would have killed it."

    "Do you really think so?" Uphiar asked him in return.

    "Huh?" Lark and the rest of the students were taken aback. They tried their best but their strength wasn''t enough to defeat the monster. Its spikes on the back acted as a perfect shield as well as offense.

    The teacher then took out a memory storage card that has the function of a hard disk and projector.

    He poured soul power into it and a holographic video started playing before them. "Let''s discuss where you made mistakes as well as the ideal strategy."

    He played the first battle where Azzy made a mess.

    "You should have understood from the first battle that Azrael has a terrible control over his strength. It is also the reason I isolated him from you, for the rest of the battles."

    Watching himself from the third party made Azzy wonder how much of a fool he is to charge alone, only to make a greater mess.

 Chapter 32: History class

    As they are watching the videos of their battles, the seven of them are too embarrassed to even look at the teacher. As if a professional critic writer judging food stalls on the street, he criticized the students for every little mistake.

    Even Azzy wasn''t spared. He was even harshly criticized than the others.

    He felt unfair but didn''t speak up his feelings and just blankly nodded as he knew the lack of his control and it''s also because the teacher didn''t show his other battles.

    If he would have shown the others, Azzy knew that he would be treated as a monster instead, which he doesn''t care but Gideon was a member of the Crescent clan who might or might not have the knowledge regarding the Death energy. What if he might be able to connect the dots?

    The last thing Azzy needs is for him to report it to the Death clan.

    He knew he was too skeptical but there''s nothing harm done if you are careful.

    *Tring*

    The class bell rang and the sorcerer made his way out of the room.

    Soon, an old man entered the classroom. He wore white priest robes and has a cross in his hand, which most likely an Arcana.

    The good old history teacher who was working in this academy for almost 300 years. Even though he''s only a mid-rank 5, everyone in the academy treats him with respect because of his position as Bishop at the church, an ancient organization that''s formed way before the first Epoch when there''s no such thing as soul power.

    He also received the best teacher of the year award from the government more than 25 times.

    He smiled at the little saplings, "Hello, children. My name is Klaus. I''m your history teacher for the upcoming three years. Let''s get along."

    Azzy felt as if he saw light was emitting from his body, and he felt uncomfortable. Is it because they are of opposite attributes? Maybe.

    He wondered why a priest is working as a teacher instead of spending time at church, orphanages, or giving speeches, etc¡­

    The old man also sensed Azzy, who has a dark element, an enemy of his attribute, a quite powerful one at that.

    "As you all know the history of Arcana is quite a simple subject yet complex.

    It''s just like the normal history subject but the events covered will be focused on Arcana Masters and the world of Arcana.

    Since it is the first day, I''ll let you choose the topic. Who wants to pick a topic?"

    "How about you, child?" He pointed towards Azzy.

    "Me?" Azzy pointed at him, Klaus shook his head, "not you, the boy beside you. But then again, it doesn''t matter who I ask, the end goal is still doesn''t change."

    Azzy then remembered about his Vajra. He wanted to know how powerful the Protos energy really is¡­ Since it was a well-known event, Azzy thought that it is the best chance to find something about it.

    He asked, "I was wondering if you can tell us about the Great massacre of the Last Epoch?"

    "Great Massacre?" The others also became curious. They only know the result but didn''t know the details since it is too dark. Only Lark, who was from the noble family, knew about it.

    Meanwhile, Gideon was taken aback since the story was something that was too familiar to him.

    The Priest nodded with a smile, "sure, child."

    "Roughly around 6800 years ago, back when the governments aren''t formed and the nations were kingdoms, there existed a man named Aelius, the Crescent clan leader of the current Freyles nation.

    You all might know him as the Lightning God.

    He was also considered as the son of heaven and reached the rank-9 in just 1000 years and took another thousand to reach the peak stage. You can say he reached the pinnacle of human limits, just an inch away from stage-10.

    All that''s left was to kill a peak stage rank-9 beast and consume its power to enter the next stage but the other rank-9 experts don''t want him to achieve that.

    They feared that once he enters such a realm, they will no longer able to control his actions if he were to something.

    So, colluding with the royal family, they laid a trap for him but unfortunately, his son and wife caught up instead of Aelius.

    Burning with rage, he went against the Royal family.

    As if he was possessed by the devil, he fought crazily until his last breath without caring about his wounds. In the process, the citizens of Freyles were massacred. Almost half of their population erased from the world.

    Now, History records say the estimated number is around 20 million but in reality, it might be more¡­

    Along with the people, our world has lost more than eighteen rank-8 experts, five rank-9 experts, and god knows how many Arcana Masters with great potential.

    Now, some of you might sympathize with his situation but what should learn here is that for an Arcana master, no matter the conditions, you always need to be calm and collected.

    Because you lose cool and make a mistake in rage, countless innocents will die. A person without control over his power is dangerous than the beast. The higher his strength, the more he is dangerous he is dangerous to the society."

    The six of them immediately glanced at Azzy, who was the living example of such a person.

    On the other hand, Azzy felt embarrassed for asking a question only to get lectured in return. He also understood the consequences of using Protos energy.

    He remembered the Reaper saying how the Protos energy corrupts one''s mind. He was also a victim of that.

    "Mr. Klaus, I heard that Werewolves used to exist in the Seventh Epoch but there are no public records of why they became extinct. I wonder if the Church has records of it." Gideon then dropped a question.

    ''Werewolves?'' Azzy wondered what kind of beast it is. He ever heard of such a term before¡­

    "Ah! You are talking about man-made demi-humans huh¡­" The Bishop was surprised for a moment. "Didn''t expect you know that forbidden term, child¡­"

    "Forbidden term?" Everyone was confused.

    He explained, "long ago during the fifth Epoch, some evil researchers tried various experiments to breed an artificial creature from a human and beasts.

    Of all the beasts, only wolves became a successful experiment. They are demi-humans with the appearance of humans and had the ability to transform into wolves whenever they need them to be.

    But, ultimately, by the seventh Epoch, they ended up seeing the humans as lower life forms or food, becoming the enemy of humanity, and were erased as a result.

    Some speculate that a few survived the crises by going into hiding but who knows¡­ No one has seen them till date."

    Ten minutes later;

    *Tring*

    The bell rang again. There was a 5 minutes break before the next class started.

    The people found their homeroom teacher returned. It appears that he teaches the subject of Arcana Beasts and Creatures of the wild.

    Azzy almost fell asleep because of his lay and boring explanation. Unlike the previous classes, there are no explanations. The teacher was just giving them the information one by one, ignoring the kids who raised their hands.

    Azzy felt listening to the class and reading the book by himself is just the same. He wondered why such a lazy person chose to be a teacher.

    After an hour, the bell once again rang and the teacher stepped out. The students rejoiced that they got rid of him.

    While the grade-7 and lower grade students left the academy, the upper-grade students stayed.

    They were informed to gather at the training grounds for the next two classes.

    Azzy followed the rest of the class.

 Chapter 33: Card creation class part-1

    While the rest of the lower grade students are on their way to the school gate, the upper-grade students of all divisions except for the dropouts division were summoned at the training grounds-1.

    Azzy followed Gideon and the rest of the class to the downstairs.

    He saw a group of around 17 members gathered on the side. Azzy saw there are hardly any girls in this group. He wondered whether this is a male-dominated school or something¡­

    Once again, he saw the pretty sister and the arrogant student council president.

    They were called to stand along with them so that the Elite division can move together.

    Azzy and Leonard''s eyes met. The latter''s expression darkened while Azzy looked at him blankly for a second before he followed the rest. Azzy was the only one in grade-8 who didn''t greet him.

    Leo thought of teaching him a lesson in the combat class.

    *Clap* Getting everyone''s attention, Zona said, "Okay, now that all of us are here, let''s get going¡­"

    As Azzy followed the group from behind, he realized they were going in the same direction as the auditorium.

    Only after getting there, he found out that the training grounds is right behind the school auditorium, all along. The wall behind the auditorium that he thought to be the outer walls of the school turned out to be the wall for the training ground-1.

    Upon reaching the massive door, Leo everyone to wait until the students from the other three divisions have also arrived.

    Despite their age, gender, or rank, they greeted the Elite division with a light bow. It was actually more like they are greeting the Prince but since the rest of the members are standing behind him, it appeared that way.

    The girls in other groups, especially grade-9 and grade-10 are murmuring among themselves.

    With his current strength, it wasn''t hard for Azzy to hear their murmurings. All it needs a light concentration.

    But, soon, he realized that it''s just a useless discussion of how handsome the student council president or the vice president looks¡­ They are made for each other, blah, blah¡­

    Leo then used his key card to unlock the entrance and after everyone entered the place, he locked it. "Let''s go¡­"

    Standing on the platform, Azzy looked around in curiosity since it is the first time he''s here.

    He found out that this training ground is quite different from the one he went to participate in a test.

    Instead of some barren land, it has a number of various habitats.

    "This isn''t a natural habitat¡­" Azzy mumbled to himself.

    Gideon, who heard it from beside explained, "You are right. This round was made by the Principal when the school is founded. At first, it just contained different habitats but over the course of time, the academy further developed it.

    "I see¡­" Azzy nodded.

    A few students nearby glanced in their direction upon listening to their talk. After all, that kind of information is known to everyone. As they were unfamiliar with Azzy, they wondered whether he''s a transfer student.

    Azzy felt the gazes for a while but since he was used to it, he didn''t care about it but what troubled him is a certain gaze from somewhere. It was a malicious gaze.

    "Hoho¡­ Interesting¡­" Reaper''s voice filled his head once again.

    Azzy asked him, "What is it, Chronos?"

    But, there''s no reply from him.

    At first, he thought of Leonard as he''s the only one who hates him but it proved otherwise. Leo was busy talking with his friends.

    Then, who is it? He found it was from another student nearby him but wasn''t able to figure out who. Having no other choice, Azzy behaved as if he didn''t sense it.

    They reached a hall, containing three sections and a podium with a large screen on the wall.

    Since divisions or grades don''t matter anymore, they sat together. Azzy ended up sitting with Gideon. On his left, a girl took the empty spot. Since it is the first day and no one wore any uniform, Azzy didn''t figure out which division she''s from.

    "Hello¡­" A sweet voice entered his ears.

    Azzy turned his head. He found a fellow foreigner. Even without talking to her, just looking at her blonde hair and ocean blue eyes, one would figure out that she isn''t a citizen of the north Qudour nation.

    Either that or one of her parents might be foreigners and she received their genes.

    As Azzy looked at the girl, he found out she''s just a high-rank-3. The only thing that stood out about this 14-year-old girl is her appearance, which is unique compared to the rest of the schoolmates. She can be considered beautiful but not the popular type to date.

    He returned the greetings with a plain tone. "Hello¡­"

    "I haven''t seen you around before. Are you a transfer student?"

    She asked the same question as Gideon at the orientation.

    He nodded.

    "I''m Claire Lefeuvre, Soul weapon division, grade-9."

    ''Lefeuvre? What a surname. Her accent is also a bit different¡­ Maybe, a noble from a distant country?''

    Putting his thoughts aside, he replied, "Azrael, Elite division, grade-8."

    "Nice meeting you." She smiled. He nodded blankly.

    After that, there was no conversation between them. Maybe, she wasn''t interested to talk to him anymore. Who knows¡­

    Their teacher arrived at the classroom.

    When tried to sense her rank, Azzy felt that this old lady is more powerful than the old Avia, which explains her strength must be atleast mid-rank-7.

    "Who is she?" he took the initiative to ask Gideon, this time.

    "Sahara Fauns, our academy''s vice-principal." Misunderstanding that he asked her, Claire quickly answered him, "she''s the only rank-7 in the academy except for the Principal. She''s his wife, by the way. Together, they found the school. Hah! how romantic is that..."

    ''Two rank-7 couple¡­'' Azzy was indeed amazed. Even though the Death clan contained many experts, he didn''t see a single couple that gets to live 1000 years together. How amazing is that¡­

    The only couple he heard in the clan is his parents.

    "Hello, new students." She addressed the grade-8 that is new to this subject. "My name is Sahara Fauns. You can call me Mrs. Fauns. Don''t need to be too formal with me¡­"

    Azzy was excited about this lesson. Not only will his fellow classmates start learning with him but also he was interested to see what kind of skill cards he can create with his attribute.

    "Now, let us start with the introduction. To put into simpler terms, Card Creation follows the same way as one creates their soul card except that you will manifest it according to your will."

    She raised her hand and Azzy saw visible soul energy on her right palm. In her left hands, a blank card appeared. Showing it to others, she continued, "All you need is to concentrate on controlling your soul energy and seal it into the blank cards."

    The blank card sucked the soul energy that was dancing on her palm and a drawing appeared.

    The screen behind her showed the skill card.

 Chapter 34: Card creation class part-2

    Azzy saw a fireball on the card that the old lady created in an instant.

    Showing the skill card to the students, Sahara spoke, "This is but a simple skill, a very basic one. You can see that unlike the item cards, instead of the color, it only has the number¡­"

    Two black stars appeared on the back of the card. "Just like the stages in an Arcana rank, it also has three stages. Basic, Intermediate, and advanced. Black stars refer to a basic level. Red stars refer to intermediate, and Gold stars tell that it is an advanced level card.

    The required soul power is different for each one, according to their level. For example, this fireball is a basic two-star card. The required soul power you need to consume to activate this card is 100 to 300, depending on your mastery.

    Likewise, the intermediate one would consume 300-600 and the advanced one would consume 600-1000.

    Some geniuses can activate the cards with far lesser soul power but they are exceptions. So, we don''t take them into account when we are considering them in general.

    As for the usage, you can use these blank cards until rank-3. Rank 4 to Rank 6 needs a card made from special materials. Some of you might know them as metal cards."

    She takes out a card that looks like some bronze plate. "This card made from bronze metal is used to make a rank-4 card."

    Taking out another two shining cards, "Rank-5 is silver and the Rank-6 is made from gold. And as for Rank-7 and above¡­ they need custom materials¡­ You can''t find them in the market¡­

    Either you have to craft the card for yourself or meet a card crafter to make them for you while you acquire the required materials. The most popular material used is Mythril ore but they aren''t easy to acquire either.

    There''s another way to obtain those though¡­ You can either join the royal family or the government. Once you are a rank-7, you are welcomed openly in arms in every nation.

    Anyway, that was something you don''t need to worry about now. What you need is to concentrate on making your first card

    I need to warn beforehand. Card creation isn''t as easy as fighting a beast. Not everyone is talented to create a card.

    Some will take a day; some will take a week or even a month¡­"

    *Clap*Clap* "Now, grade-8 students, move far from each other. There must be atleast three feet distance between each of you. I don''t want any accidents to occur.

    All of you will first learn how to bring out the soul energy from your soul or to outside of the body and control it.

    As usual, Grade-9 and Grade-10 students will go to the training room and wait for me. I''ll teach you the method of creating advanced level cards. Meanwhile, practice creating an intermediate skill card. Grade-10 students, you will mentor your juniors."

    "Good luck¡­" To Azzy''s surprise, the senior who sat beside him spoke with a smile before leaving with her classmates.

    Azzy didn''t get to say thank you. Just as he was about to, Gideon whispered from the right, "looks like you caught Miss Lefeuvre''s attention."

    Azzy saw a grin on his face. He didn''t understand what Gideon meant.

    He shrugged his shoulders and no longer paid attention to the matter.

    "Everyone close your eyes¡­" Sahara started teaching them as everyone spread throughout the room, maintaining distance from each other as she advised.

    Azzy closed his eyes.

    "Now, the easiest way to gather soul energy is through the hands. So, try to redirect your soul energy towards one of your hands. If you are lefty, prefer the left hand, if you are a righty, prefer right and if you are ambidextrous, then, your choice¡­"

    Azzy, who was already struggling with the lack of control, gathered more than half of his soul energy into his hands. His soul power was decreased by almost 40000.

    "Hmm?" Sahara, who was observing everyone, frowned as she looked at Azzy. ''That''s way too much¡­ Does this boy have a lack of control over his soul power? Or is it intentional?''

    She then spoke, "Now, imagine the most precious thing something you like. It can be anything from an object to a living thing." Her voice appeared hypnotic to everyone.

    A lot of things that he liked appeared in his mind and disappeared. Book of Death, the Reaper, the wolf, his Grandpa, his parents who he never met, Evelyn, his hourglass, toys that he liked when he was a kid, his storage card, etc¡­

    But in the end, the only book is left in his mind.

    Azzy was shocked, finding that the Book of Death is more precious to him than even his grandpa or the parents. ''Is it because my grandpa is now a different person and my dead parents are alive. So, I no longer care about them?'' Azzy wondered.

    He wasn''t capable of understanding his inner feelings in his present state.

    Meanwhile, Sahara''s voice continued, "now, think of that thing is just a few meters away from you while you are chained to a pillar."

    Azzy felt her voice isn''t like Evelyn or the rune teacher, Exea. Unlike those who can use it naturally, this one contained soul power.

    It''s an ability all rank-7 or above experts have. They can cause illusions to weaker people with just words.

    And the illusion already took effect. Even Azzy wasn''t able to resist it and found himself in a dark room.

    He found a desk before him and the Book of Death is placed on it. It was now burning.

    His hand reached out to it, unconsciously but it was just a few inches away from touching the book.

    He heard a whisper in his head, "if you don''t hurry up, your precious thing will be gone away. Surpass your limits and reach out your hand."

    "Isn''t this a bit similar¡­" This isn''t the first time he emitted the soul energy from his body, although it ended up in a disaster.

    As soon as he realized the meaning behind the illusion, suddenly, he felt the chains no longer bound him and he grabbed the book on the table. The fire was also put off.

    He returned to reality.

    "Good¡­ You understood the concept. What are you waiting for¡­ Force the soul energy out of your hands." Sahara''s voice entered his ears.

    *Bam*

    The chairs under Azzy crumbled and he was flattened to the ground as the soul energy gathered into his palm that was pointing towards the ceiling.

    As soon as it was gathered, it was shot into the ceiling like an energy beam, causing everyone to flinch because of the loud noise and sensing powerful energy.

    Sahara was taken aback to see a large hole in the ceiling. She stared at the ceiling in a daze. "Not even dust remained. Just how destructive is that dark energy...."

 Chapter 35: Troublesome lunchtime

    Principal''s office, Aclein academy;

    "Student Azrael, you have caused so much trouble on the very first day," Barton Everglade spoke while staring into Azrael''s eyes. "In the allotment test, you have killed Instructor Hermon''s Golem, blew up the testing machine.

    Theoretical combat teacher Uphiar mentioned that you lack terrible control over your power that you have caused the death of your teammates. Now, you have broken the auditorium''s ceiling."

    Azzy replied with a simple question, "Am I being expelled?"

    He doesn''t care whether he will be expelled or not. It was only out of obligation towards his grandpa and grandma did he accept the proposal to go into the academy. Or else, he would happily go into the wild and be a rogue Arcana Master, training on his own. The Reaper is there to help him out.

    Contrary to his thoughts, the Principal smiled, "no, quite opposite. I would like to teach you personally. I think you have the potential to get a seeded position in the world league, representing our nation."

    Azzy, who didn''t know what World League is, now connected the dots. He quickly understood it. It is probably a grand international competition between nations and every nation must have a seeded spot that''s probably earned by some other methods like recommendations, national tournaments, etc¡­

    "With two and a half years of training, I believe top 10 wouldn''t be a dream, anymore."

    He then became silent, waiting for Azzy''s reply.

    "My master told me that a person can only take one master in their life," Azzy replied in an emotionless tone.

    Barton was taken aback by his words and especially the way of his speaking. While he was wondering whether Azzy meant he was too weak to be considered as his master, Azzy''s next words made him understand the point.

    "I already have a Master. Despite not being able to learn a single thing from her, she''s still considered my master."

    "I see¡­" Barton was disappointed a little bit and thought it was normal that a genius like him would have already caught someone''s attention.

    But then, something clicked in his mind. He wondered whether that lady might have either tricked this na?ve little fellow or she might from a powerful clan.

    The latter is unlikely or else, how can one explain his lack of control at this age with such a high soul power.

    Barton then explained, "Actually, those were the customs of the ancient era. We don''t practice them in modern times anymore.

    To take one as their master, and live with their master or the clan compound, such methods have long been disappeared.

    Nowadays, you can become a disciple of any number of Masters just like how Masters took a lot of disciples.

    If a disciple has more than one master, he/she needs to consider one of them as his Prime Master and the rest of them will be secondary masters. There''s a ritual for that but you don''t need to know of it, right now.

    Anyway, once you have assigned a person as your Prime Master, you cannot take anyone else as your Master and you cannot change the position of Prime Master in life.

    These are the current rules of the Master-disciple relationship that everyone follows but then again, everyone is free to follow their own rule¡­ It''s just a matter of whether others will like your methods or not."

    Upon hearing the explanation, Azzy understood that his grandpa might have told him that because the Death clan is an ancient hidden clan that has its own set of rules.

    He wondered whether his grandpa always knew that the Death clan will come and take him away. Maybe, that''s why he wished for him to awaken a healing Arcana.

    The next day;

    After the morning classes are over, Azzy went to the cafeteria for lunch.

    From grade-3 to grade-10, the students belong to the Elite division are lining up with their trays at the counter and getting their seats.

    The dining hall is massive that even if a student chose to eat alone, they can find a separate table with chairs.

    Except for two tables that are filled with a mixture of grade 9 and grade 10 students, similar to the seating arrangement in his classroom, Azzy saw almost everyone is eating solo like the previous day.

    At first, he thought it might because the divisions keep changing and they are new to each other but now, he understood that most of the Elite division students are considered loners.

    "Hey, look who''s here. It''s that guy from yesterday who blow up the ceiling¡­" Someone from the grade-10 spoke to Leonard.

    Leonard turned around and frowned, looking at him. Naturally, the students around him also heard his words and turned their heads towards the door.

    Meanwhile, Azzy felt many gazes were on him but they are filled with more hatefulness than the previous day.

    "You really have the nerve to show your face after messing up¡­" An older student who was sitting in Leon''s group suddenly flared up. Perhaps he wants to impress the Prince or he is genuinely unhappy with Azzy. Who knows¡­

    The lower grade students turned their attention towards the direction where he was pointing.

    They wondered what''s going on.

    The seven of the grade-8 students halted in surprise.

    Supporting him, a grade-9 student who was linking her arms with Leo spoke in a sweet tone, "isn''t the student council''s job is to discipline the troublemakers? To repair the auditorium, the school management has to allocate some funds, right? Should he be left off as if nothing happened?"

    Zona who heard her words from a nearby table narrowed her eyes, ''this b***h trying to cause trouble once again¡­''

    *tap*Tap*

    Amid the gazes, as if he wasn''t talking to him, Azzy left the group and walked towards the counter, and took the tray before standing at the back of the line.

    "You¡­" Getting ignored by Azzy made the older student angrier.

    Azzy saw the students before him and the girls in the other line are staring at him. He didn''t speak a word. They turned around.

    "hahaha¡­" Another grade-10 student laughed as he grabbed the shoulder of this idiot who blabbered his mouth and got ignored, "Very bold. I like this junior''s personality¡­"

    Getting the food, Azzy turned around and found an empty table. He went and sat down.

    Just as Gideon was about to follow him, his arm was grabbed by Lark, "don''t¡­"

    He gestured with his eyes. Gideon glanced around. He saw the Prince was silently staring at Azzy. Others are also staring at him.

    "So¡­" Gideon swats away his arm, "if you want to abandon your classmate, feel free. I won''t¡­"

    Lark saw Gideon''s expression was cold.

    "Fine¡­ Dig your grave, then¡­" Gideon might not care but Lark comes from a lower noble house. He can''t go against someone from the royal family or else his family will suffer.

    "Hey¡­" Gideon greeted Azzy before taking his seat opposite to him, sharing the table.

    Azzy was surprised about his action. As a smart person, he already expected he''ll be alienated soon but didn''t think this deskmate would stick with him instead of leaving him alone.

    Maybe, it''s because he''s from the Crescent Clan?

    Or is it because he pities Azzy?

    Or maybe, he realized that his Arcana is of platinum grade?

    Or did he find out about the allotment test¡­

    Azzy wondered about Gideon''s reasoning but he didn''t say anything. He simply ate his lunch while listening to Gideon''s blabber about this and that.

    Even though he was unclear of Gideon''s intentions, he felt happy inside.

 Chapter 36: Sparring robot part-1

    "Huh! Where are you going?" Gideon asked Azzy after the lunch break as he went downstairs instead of going towards their classroom.

    "I have somewhere I need to be. I''m done for today." Azzy answered him vaguely before leaving his sight.

    It made him wonder whether this new friend is trying to skip the class on the very second day. If so, then, what reason? Bored? Not interested? Or was threatened?

    The behavior of their senior towards Azzy made Gideon suspect all kinds of conspiracy theories. In the end, he shrugged his shoulders and went back to the classroom.

    Azzy exited the building and started walking towards the Administration building that was connected to a straight road from the school gate. It was also the place where Azzy attended orientation.

    As he already came here, a day before, without any guide, Azzy reached the Principal''s office.

    He knocked on the door.

    "Come in.

    Azzy entered the room and saw the old man was reading some sort of file. He was wearing reading glasses. There are a lot of files on the desks.

    ''A peak-rank-7 needs glasses to read it? I can understand Gideon using glasses as he was born with an eye problem but what about this guy.'' Azzy kept his opinion to himself.

    Azzy greeted him with a bow and cupped his fists, "Disciple greets the Master."

    "You really follow the old ways, didn''t you¡­" He commented with a smile as he closed the file and took off the glasses. "Take a seat."

    As Azzy take the opposite seat, Barton spoke, "Actually, Uphiar''s lessons would be very useful to you but the other teachers are going to unhappy if I allow you to attend only his class."

    Azzy nodded in understanding.

    Barton then handed a card to him. It looked similar to the one Leonard used to open the gate, earlier day. "Take this. You can have access not only to all the facilities in the school except for this room but it also can be used as a credit card. This is a no-limit card. You can use a hundred thousand credits as you wish but anything more than that, I will need an explanation."

    ''Hundred thousand? That''s not much¡­'' Azzy thought as he took the card. But then, again, he was grateful for his assistance as he doesn''t wish to depend on Oakley and his family too much. "Thank you, Master."

    Even though they are considered his family, one is being his grandpa who raised him and the other is being his master, Azzy felt that he has connections with their future version. The present ones have nothing but kind strangers who gave him a place to live in.

    After taking the access and credit card, Azzy left for training grounds-1, following the Principal''s orders.

    Entering the training grounds, he roamed around. The previous day, he didn''t get that luxury. Now that he''s free, Azzy takes a look at each habitat.

    There''s an artificial lake with little islands on the. There''s a mini forest but with no animals. The occasional chirping of birds can be heard from time to time. Azzy then saw land with rocky structures, then, grasslands, there''s a minefield with danger signs on the border. Azzy didn''t go in there and looked for other habitats.

    There''s even a football field and baseball field here. He wondered whether the students will also play soccer and baseball¡­

    He then entered the indoors. There''s a fitness room with gym equipment. Like soccer and baseball, there are also courts for indoor sports like Basketball court, table tennis court, etc¡­

    As for the training rooms, there are various types but the one Azzy likes the most is the gravity room. Even though the maximum gravity is only thrice that of the original, still, Azzy was impressed.

    For a school with mediocre standards, he felt their training facility is indeed good. Maybe, this is the reason, the Princess offered him to attend. This might even be the best school in the country, regarding the training facilities.

    Two hours later, in one of the training rooms, Barton and Azzy stood beside each other.

    In front of them, there are three robotic machines¡­

    Barton started to explain. "I bet I have already mentioned about your lack of control."

    Azzy nodded.

    "We''ll focus on that." He then took out a small remote and pressed a button. Two robots moved aside and stood against the wall. "But, first, I need to see your full strength. Summon your Arcana."

    Azzy heard the same words from his Master that Uphiar spouted in the previous day. The result turned out to be disastrous.

    As Azzy glanced at the robot, he didn''t sense its strength. Not because it was stronger but he sensed neither Arcana nor even soul power at all.

    For a 12-year-old kid who didn''t have that much knowledge regarding science and technology, it was too difficult to understand. In his eyes, it was just an ordinary machine built with a metal body.

    ''Am I going to train with this lump of metal?'' Azzy wondered as he looked at the robot. He felt that it will be destroyed too quickly.

    "Don''t underestimate it. Even though this is just a basic version of the actual thing, this is equivalent to a peak rank-6 Arcana Master. The other two are rank-7 and mid-rank 6 respectively. All of them also have precise control and can adjust their strength based on the situation or the enemy.

    The government gifted us these because of our performance in the world league."

    "Oh!" Azzy became intrigued upon hearing that.

    "I sense a great nuclear energy inside this robot." The Reaper''s voice resounded in his head once again.

    ''Nuclear energy? What is it?'' Azzy wondered.

    The Reaper who grasped his thoughts explained, "It is energy extracted from the core of an atoms. It is a fundamental particle that presents everywhere in nature. Even your body contains hundred trillion cells filled with atoms.

    However, humans who attempted to¡­"

    Listening to his explanation, Azzy thought the Reaper became talkative these days.

    "Not that I enjoy it. Hmpf¡­" The Reaper''s voice made him shut his thoughts¡­

    As Barton moved back, Azzy summons Vajra. He still didn''t summon his Arcana weapons, intending to keep them as a secret.

    "Grrr¡­" A black wolf with black lightning sparks over its body appeared beside Azzy. It immediately bared its teeth towards this strange metal, treating it as a threat. At least, that was its intuition.

    "Ready." Azzy heard Principal''s voice and the robot''s eyes glowed into the blue. It spoke in machine voice, "Sparring mode, on."

    "Vajra, attack¡­"

    It ran towards the machine like a flash, intending to eliminate this threat. Barton was surprised, watching the wolf''s speed. "It isn''t just a platinum grade beast. It is top-notch in terms of speed but¡­"

    "What!" Azzy was shocked to see that the wolf''s neck was caught by the robot and was raised high before it threw towards him.

    Azzy dodged at the last second and the wolf crashed onto the wall.

 Chapter 37: Sparring robot part-2

    "You shouldn''t let your Arcana charge head-on towards a stronger enemy." Barton''s voice echoed in Azzy''s eyes as he saw his wolf was crashed onto the wall and fell on the floor.

    Strangely, the walls weren''t even cracked a bit. But Azzy''s attention wasn''t on that but his Master''s words.

    The only problem was that he never trained with his Arcana. It hasn''t even been that long since he started combat training.

    He does know how to fight with fists or with his scythe but not with the wolf.

    What tricks can he use to battle this robot¡­ He doesn''t have a clue.

    Using their telepathic connection, he conveyed the same to Vajra and asked it to use its instincts since he doesn''t have any tactic in his mind.

    Following Azzy''s order, Vajra charges head-on once again but this time, at the last second, it changes its direction in the last second, evading the robot''s hand that was about to catch it again.

    It tried to bite the robot from behind but its hands are faster.

    Instead of trying to catch, the left hand swatted the wolf, making it crash onto the wall once again.

    "Grrr¡­"

    Shaking its head, it growled while looking at this powerful enemy who hadn''t move from the spot.

    Meanwhile, the old man''s voice once again resounded in his student''s ears. "Do you see it now?"

    Azzy replied, "It indeed has precise control. It has a peak-rank-6 strength and yet, my Vajra hasn''t been harmed a bit. Forget about being injured, there hasn''t been a scratch on it."

    ''I asked a vague question but he answered it correctly. What a smart kid.'' The old man smiled upon hearing Azzy''s answer. He was satisfied with it. "Assume the roles are reversed. The Robot is a high rank-4 with perfect control and your wolf is a peak-rank-6 with a lack of control. Who do you think will win the battle?"

    Suddenly, he dropped a question.

    Azzy grabbed his chin and mumbled, "Can the robot win?" he wondered whether that''s really possible.

    Thinking for a while, he opened his mouth.

    "Obviously, not," Azzy answered it firmly.

    "Oh!" The old man was intrigued. This time Azzy''s answer was different from his thoughts. "Why?" He asked him the reason.

    "If my Vajra is a peak-rank-6, then, it will have the speed of atleast mid-rank-7 beast. Even with perfect control, can that machine able to react to Vajra''s speed if that were the case?"

    "Ah! Yes. What you are saying might be right¡­" Barton became flustered for a second. He only wanted to tell him the importance of control but didn''t expect Azzy to counter him with simple logic.

    Barton knew that the robot can analyze Wolf''s moments even if the latter is a higher rank as it has nothing to do with its power. However, if it limits its strength to rank-4, then, despite knowing the attack in advance, its body won''t be able to keep up against the wolf.

    He calms down himself and explained, "What I''m trying to tell you is that with perfect control over your strength, you won''t be wasting your soul power unnecessarily. After all, in a battle, the first to empty his soul power will be defeated."

    Azzy wanted to argue, not necessarily but in the end, he kept quiet and shifted his attention towards the spar between his wolf and the robot. The latter was getting angrier while being crashed onto the wall a number of times.

    As a former weapon of the King of the Heavens, its pride was hurt and the sparks around it became thicker and bigger. Soon, it surrounded the wolf.

    Slowly, a giant head that resembles the wolf appeared over it in the form of dark energy with lightning sparks all over it. Its eyes are pale yellow without any pupils.

    Azzy felt his soul power dropped from 77000 to 72000. He wondered, "Is this a soul skill?"

    *Wow* it let out a powerful bark.

    The head around it moved towards the robot, opening its mouth and revealing its sharp teeth as if it wants to bite and swallow the enemy.

    The Sparring bot quickly analyzed it within a fraction of a second and then, spoke in its robotic voice, "incoming attack¡­ peak-rank-5 strength. Activating Divine shield."

    As it raised its arms, a blue shield appeared before the robot like a wall and completely blocked the incoming attack.

    "What the¡­" Barton suddenly cried out in surprise. His eyes shook as he saw the shield is slowly developing cracks on it before it bursts and disappear.

    He thought, "They told that the Divine shield was supposed to withstand a soul skill from a platinum grade beast of even a rank-6.

    That means, even if this beast is a top platinum grade, a rank-4 beast''s soul skill should only able to scratch it at best. Then, how was it able to destroy the shield? Is that beast a dual attribute one with dark and lightning?" Despite living for almost 600 years and encountering many geniuses, he wasn''t this much flustered as now¡­

    Meanwhile, Azzy was as calm as ever. He experienced a similar thing back when he was sparring against Evelyn.

    The only difference is that before, his death energy slowly corroded the shield and now, it was slowly cracked. He knew that it is impossible for the black lightning to damage a higher level shield. That would only mean the situation happened because of Protos energy.

    ''How wild is that energy?'' Azzy wondered about it. He also felt more curious about this Protos energy that even gods hate.

    "Divine shield, failed." Azzy then heard the robotic voice once again. "Defense mode level-2, activate."

    This time a red shield appeared in its hand as if it gestured the wolf to attack again.

    While Azzy felt no changes in the robot, he still thought that this shield might be stronger since it initiated to challenge the shield.

    He also felt the robot is childish despite not having any emotions. Those scientists probably programmed that way.

    On the other hand, Barton frowned, as soon as he sensed an aura of mid-rank-7 from the shield. "Hostile mode, that soon? No, its eyes are still blue. So, it isn''t activated or else, there will be an energy cannon or sword in its hands."

    The hostile mode is a program, which makes the robot more initiative in attacks. It won''t hold back and fight seriously.

    Once again, Vajra dashed towards the robot, which was intending to block its attack with its red shield.

    As the wolf reached its opponent, it raised its paw. Sharp claws extended from its left paw. Right then, Azzy once again felt soul power consumption. This time, it was decreased by 10000, which means, this is its strongest attack.

    Like previously, a dark giant paw filled with black lightning energy appeared in the air and it slammed the shield.

    Azzy was standing behind the robot, felt the gush of air pushing him away. It wasn''t the attack but was just the residual force.

    To his surprise, the cracks started appearing on this shield as well but unlike the last one, the shield self repaired itself at a quick speed. It was as if the shield was never damaged before.

 Chapter 38: Bartons present

    Looking at the cracks on even the red shield, Barton realized that it has nothing to with either grade or strength.

    ''Hmm¡­ So, the beast doesn''t have dark and lightning attributes but it contains the most destructive form of lightning, the black lightning. I have heard of this before. The energy from the black lightning essentially breaks the molecular structure of everything it hits. That means¡­''

    He then glances at Azzy, who stabilized himself, and thought, ''does this boy have any relation to that Lightning god? I should investigate his origins.''

    An hour later;

    "Good job. You can take rest now, Vajra." Azzy mumbled, sending the wolf back to the soul card as his soul power emptied. He felt depressed for not being able to do anything to the robot even though the wolf fought with everything it got.

    The only good thing that came out of this spar is that Azzy found out that his soul skill isn''t divided between his Arcana despite being staying in one Soul card.

    The wolf has four soul skills and his own Reaper has his fair share of another four. So, it''s like instead of a set Arcana, he possesses twin Arcana but just in one soul card.

    The Reaper explained that it''s due to the second awakening. While his second soul card is destroyed, the second Arcana just transferred into the same space as the Reaper because of their agreement.

    Azzy was now curious about his own soul skills but since he was in a situation where he can''t use it, he didn''t bother asking the Reaper.

    "Okay. I got an idea of your strength," Barton spoke to him while the robot stopped functioning.

    "Come with me¡­" He folds his hands to the back and started to walk. Azzy followed him.

    They reached the library on the 3rd floor of the building. Azzy saw the room was quite small, like a study room, and have only like 30 to 40 books on the bookshelves. The only unique thing about them was that they look quite old.

    "Sit down."

    Azzy takes a seat and the old man walked towards the shelves and started picking a few selective books.

    *Thud*

    He put around seven books on the table before him.

    Azzy looked at them. The books are quite thick and of course, a bit old.

    "Advanced applications of Runes by Abelia Griffin?" As Azzy picked up the first book, he was taken aback. He said, "But Master, I don''t even know the basics."

    Barton nodded, "I know. They aren''t for the current you, right now."

    ''Then? Why?'' Azzy wondered.

    Barton explained, ''The pass and the credit card I gave you yesterday is just a requirement. I haven''t you presented with a gift.''

    "Gift?" Azzy replied. "Today''s not my birthday."

    Barton shook his head, "It''s not a birthday present. It''s a tradition of master would present their disciples with something. It is one of the things that didn''t change since the first Epoch. Didn''t your first Master give anything?"

    "Eh?" Azzy was surprised. He thought about it. No, Avia didn''t give him a present. He shook his head, "No."

    Barton gloated inside, ''I''m sure of it. His previous master did want to trick this little fellow.''

    *Ahem* He then clears his throat and pointed them, "Anyway, these seven books... A few of them are from the eighth and ninth Epoch and are preserved for thousands of years old. Consider them as my present."

    For someone who has a book from the first Epoch, Azzy wasn''t that impressed by how old they are. Still, he was thankful to him. After all, it''s been four years since he received something from someone. Other than his grandpa, no one gave him a present. Even in the Death Clan, no one cared to give birthday greetings or present.

    Azzy then looked at the remaining books. "Arcana Beasts and their behaviors by Cloud Inkwood" "Rune Dictionary by Onora" "Book of Arcana by Elaneus" "Advanced card crafting by Julius Light" "Sealing Magic by Gredarin"

    "Sealing Magic?" Azzy was intrigued by the word and picked up the book. He doesn''t know why but this subject interested him.

    "When you gain control over your soul energy, you can start practice the sealing magic. It is an advanced subject that you start learning actually if you were admitted into the advanced academy."

    "Oh!" It was the only thing that escaped from Azzy''s lips as he started reading the introduction.

    He was so engrossed in the reading that he didn''t even realize Barton has long disappeared from the library and returned to his office.

    Two hours later, his watch started to beep, bringing him back to reality.

    "Oh! It''s already 6?" Azzy stopped the alarm and placed the books into his storage card before leaving the place.

    Just as he reached the second floor, he heard a conversation nearby the stairs on the ground floor. Two boys are filling the water into the bottles.

    "Hey¡­ I heard that you asked out Claire on a date? How did it go? She said Yes?"

    "Nah, I was rejected," the other tone was filled with excitement instead of depression. "But she told me that she doesn''t have any interest in those who aren''t rank-5 yet. She probably didn''t know that I''m already peak-rank-4. It won''t be long before I make a breakthrough. Hehe¡­"

    Strangely, Azzy felt this tone was familiar but he can''t put his finger on it.

    Shrugging his shoulders, he continued to climb down the stairs.

    Then, he heard the first one dragged his name into their discussion.

    "Damn¡­ I knew it. She was just using an excuse to reject you. I heard that she took a fancy to that Azrael."

    "What nonsense are you spouting?" He was enraged clearly upon hearing it.

    "I heard she was asking about him during today''s class. Looks like it wasn''t a coincidence that she sat next to him, yesterday. Probably they knew each other before? They are the only foreigners in the school. So, maybe, it''s quite possible he might have transferred because of her¡­"

    Azzy was stunned on the spot, hearing his absurd analysis. Just how imaginative is this 15-year-old boy''s mind is¡­ Or maybe, he purposely want to irritate him further?

    If that''s the case, then, he''s successful as his classmate''s face turned dark and a growl escaped from him. "That damn b*****d. How dare he set his eyes on my girl?"

 Chapter 39: Retaliation

    ''Just how stupid is this guy.'' At the moment, Azzy got the urge to release the black wolf at this fool but he held back and increased his pace.

    *Tap*Tap*Tap*Tap*¡­

    As they heard the sounds from above, both of them stopped talking and glanced at the stairs above them.

    All they saw is the person of their discussion coming towards them. They were surprised. What is this guy doing upstairs¡­ Was he listening to their conversation in secret?

    As Azzy reached the downstairs, he ignored them and continued to walk on his way to the exit.

    "You¡­ Stop there, right now¡­" Azzy heard a shout from behind.

    Along with him, there are a few students who stayed around, turned their attention.

    He stopped and turned around. He recognized one of them. It was the one who shouted at him during the lunch period.

    He stared at them with a blank face and asked with a plain tone. "What?"

    "Did you hear our conversation, just now?" Reid, who agitated the fool asked Azzy.

    "Instead of wasting your time studying here, you should go and write a novel," Azzy said to him, indirectly implying that he heard it.

    He didn''t wait for their reaction and turned around to walk away.

    "You little sh** I told you to stop¡­" Unable to contain his emotions, Bay Passel dashed forward to punch Azrael.

    Right then, a dark aura was released by Azzy. No, it wasn''t just a simple dark¡­ it was a death aura that''s mixed with Protos energy.

    The students as well as the attacker felt a powerful pressure on them.

    Bay, who was supposed to punch, stopped in his tracks. His eyes widened in shock. What''s strange is that he has higher soul power than Azzy, yet was crumbling under the pressure as if he was facing a higher rank Arcana Master.

    Azzy turned around and looked at him. He wondered just what has he done to deserve so much hate from this stranger. They don''t even know each other.

    For no reason, this senior cussed at him during the lunch period. Now that he was minding his business, once again, this guy even tried to attack, almost violating the rules.

    The more he thought about it, the more his rage increased and his aura started to thicken. The pressure also increased.

    The students who were in the same hall and were paying attention gasped. They too felt enormous pressure. Those who have Purple or lower grade Arcana felt their Arcana spirits are terrified of this aura. It didn''t make them feel good either.

    Perhaps, the other students who were one in the training rooms sensed it. Leonard, Zona, and some students arrived at the scene.

    They saw Azzy was staring down at Bay who was forcing himself to stand. As for the other behind him, he was already sitting on the stairs to take support.

    "Stop it. What are you doing, Azrael?" Leonard shouted in anger. But there was no response from Azzy.

    He started walking towards Bay who had a panic expression as he was seeing an illusion of a Reaper with a scythe was coming for his life.

    Unconsciously, he stepped backward.

    Azzy steps forward, Bay steps backward. He reached the steps and fell. Azzy stops.

    Stopping before him, Azzy spoke in a plain tone, "As you can see, I can''t control my strength. So, it''s in your best interests not to poke me around. I don''t want to accidentally kill you and get expelled. You mind your own business and I''ll mind my own. Understand?"

    He nodded in a daze.

    Azzy turned around and walked away. No one said anything for a while.

    From the corner of the hall, Claire was observing the situation. She was forcefully suppressing her divine aura that was almost leaking out after Azzy revealed his.

    Looking at his back, she mumbled, "what''s this energy that''s making my divine sword spirit, so restless and expressing so much hate. It''s as if he met his natural enemy.

    This isn''t the first time either. It would be easier if it could communicate with me and tell me what''s going on."

    Meanwhile, Leo was angry. He didn''t know the whole story and just thought this troublemaker was bullying his follower.

    At first, he thought of stopping him, thinking that Azrael is going to attack Bay but then, he felt his Arcana beast was scared of Azzy''s dark or whatever aura that is.

    In the end, he just stood there like a statue until Azzy''s back disappear from his sight.

    At the same time, a person was observing the scene from the control room. Looking at the monitors, the man mumbled, "So this is the disciple of Barton? Interesting¡­" He grinned.

    The rumors started with the truth that Bay tried to fight with Azzy because he was rejected by Claire. But, the rumors never stay the same. It becomes exaggerated as it passes from one ear to another.

    Without both of them knowing, Azzy and Claire already became a campus couple. Because of that, she decides to avoid him for a while.

    With Leo working behind the scenes, he successfully alienated Azzy. He was labeled as a bully and a bad guy who don''t respect his seniors or teachers.

    Azzy was fine with it and thought it is for the best. After all, he doesn''t want to spend time with people so that he doesn''t feel any attachment when he leaves for his timeline.

    His classmates found him attends the morning classes regularly but disappears in the afternoon, only to find him again at the training grounds-1 by the end of the day.

    Leonard knows the truth from one of the teachers. So, he didn''t directly troubled Azzy either using the disciplinary committee.

    A week passed peacefully for Azzy without any troubles. He still wasn''t able to create the Decarune sealing to control his strength since he was busy with other things.

    The whole afternoon, he was taught by the Principal about runes, history, a theoretical debate of how to combat a beast in different situations, card creation, etc¡­

    The second weekend arrived. As usual, everyone wore their school uniform and wait in their classrooms.

    Azzy arrived.

    "Azzy¡­" Gideon waved his hand with a smile. He took an empty but this distant relative of his sat beside him as usual.

    He''s the only student who decided to stick with Azzy. While the grade-10 students are unhappy with Gideon, the others didn''t alienate him as they did with Azzy.

    Azzy wanted Gideon to stay away too but he stuck to him like glue even though he stopped talking to him.

    Strangely, Leo also didn''t make things hard for Gideon. Azzy can''t help but suspect he might be just waiting for the right time.

    "Grade-8, the bus arrived. You need to go."

    Azzy followed the rest of the class. As he reached the downstairs, he saw everyone from grade-9 and grade-10 of Elite divisions are gathered.

    Azzy felt a murderous gaze. He turned his head and saw Bay was staring at him. His eyes were red.

    Grade-8 to Grade10 students from the Elite division boarded the bus together.

    The other students are following in other vehicles provided for them.

    It didn''t take long to reach their destination, the Portal point.

 Chapter 40: Entering the world of Arcana

    "Hundreds of thousand years ago, when the Arcana World was still sealed in another dimension, humans tried various methods to enter the world.

    In the end, a rank-10 Arcana Master succeeded and built the first World portal, which was still functioning to date.

    Over the course of years, humans tried to replicate the world and created various portal points all over the world but a portal point is a two-way entrance.

    So, the beasts were able to escape to the human world and cause chaos.

    During the first Epoch, under the rule of the Great Empire of Arcana, various portals were destroyed and each kingdom started to monitor the portals from this world.

    On the other hand, they created a division called Guardians who stayed in Arcana World and monitor from the other side to make sure the beasts don''t escape.

    However, as tens of thousands of years passed, the royal families fell and governments formed. The term guardians changed to the Order of Arcana."

    *Twop*

    Azzy closed the book as Gideon informed him that they arrived.

    Following the rest, he got down from the bus and saw a 10 meters big wall with a large gate in the middle. Above the wall, there''s a barrier that blocks illegal entrances. So, people have no choice but to line up.

    There are four guards with their soul beasts, guarding the entrance.

    Leonard told everyone to wait in the side. Azzy followed the rest.

    A while later, Soul beast and Soul weapon divisions arrived in their respective vehicles and joined the group. Everyone waited until the teachers arrive.

    Azzy saw the beautiful Rune class teacher and the instructor from the division allotment test in the group. He didn''t recognize the remaining four of them. All of them are peak-rank-5 Experts, so, they are enough to protect this bunch in a region like level-2.

    He then looked at his fellow schoolmates.

    His eyes met briefly with Claire before she turns her head away.

    ''So, Michael''s sword was hiding himself in the spirit world, huh!'' The Reaper suddenly made a comment. ''Interesting, indeed¡­''

    Azzy didn''t understand his words but since lately he realized that he became talkative, he thought the Reaper was once again talking to himself. He ignored him and continued to observe the other things.

    Under the lead of six teachers, the ninety-five students walked through the gate.

    As he stepped inside the compound, Azzy saw a portal in the middle of a plain ground while there''s a reception desk before with a middle-aged man sitting on the chair.

    One of the teachers spoke. "Level-2, 101 passes."

    He answered, "20200 credits."

    She handed him the credit card.

    Taking the card, he then glanced at the students and then the teachers. "Okay, there are 101 in total." He then swiped it and passed it to the lady beside him.

    She then started giving a pass to each one of them.

    Azzy also got the pass. It''s an iron badge with their national symbol, a red fox engraved on it. Above the symbol, there are two stars.

    It means they are legally allowed only up to level-2 region.

    One by one, everyone is stepping into the portal without any reservations as it isn''t their first time but Azzy felt a little bit nervous mixed with excitement as technically, he''s traveling to a different planet, although on the outside, there are no visible changes on his face.

    Following the students before him, he moved as if he was stepping forward. The moment his body hits the portal, Azzy felt his surroundings blacked out for just a second before his visibility returned.

    The place around him looks completely identical to that of the one he just entered. It was the same plain ground, surrounded by walls and a barrier with a portal in the middle and a reception desk except that they are different people.

    The teachers took the students to a corner of the ground as part of the routine and instructor Hermon took out a list.

    "You all know the drill. When I speak your name, come forward and stand behind the teacher you are assigned to.

    First, Group A, Ms. Hazel will be your leader.

    From Grade 10, Reginald, Archer Filly, Elmore¡­.

    Group B¡­

    Group C¡­

    Group D, All of you will be under my protection.

    From Grade 10: Leonard Light, Bay Passel, Reid Stripes, Dale Stripes, and Ginger Rose¡­"

    Everyone gasped in surprise but quickly, they closed their mouths. Gideon whispered to Azzy, "all of them are from major noble clans/families of the kingdom and they belong to the same batch."

    Azzy didn''t think much about it. Right then, the Reaper said to him, "I''m sure your name will be in this group, Azrael."

    Azzy asked him in return, "didn''t you tell me that you can''t tell me the future?"

    "It''s something called common sense. I don''t need to see the future to predict it. It is too obvious¡­"

    Azzy quickly understood once he thought about it. Recalling Gideon''s words, Azzy wondered whether this teacher is in cahoots with the Prince. After all, he might also have a grudge on him for blowing up an expensive machine.

    Meanwhile, Hermon continued. "From Grade-9: Claire Lefeuvre, Acacia, Ferrand Ogden, Kellen Stripes, Arminius, and Ranier.

    From Grade 8: Silvester Stripes, Agustin, Angeline, Gideon, and Azrael. That''s all. Please stand behind me."

    Azzy now confirmed his suspicions. Not only Azzy, even the others can''t help but suspect there''s a conspiracy going on. It''s no coincidence that Azzy, Gideon, Bay, and Leonard ended up in the same group.

    But then again, since they don''t have good intentions against Azzy, they pushed their worries to the back of their heads.

    After the other two groups were also announced, Hermon further said, "Okay, let me remind you the important things especially for Grade-8 students who are stepping inside the level-2 region for the first time.

    Don''t wander too much after entering the wilderness and make sure not to get lost. Mobile phones don''t work here, so, we won''t be able to communicate with each other.

    Even if you get lost in the wilderness, you don''t need to despair. The level-1 and level-2 regions are always packed with people. So, you can find your way back here.

    The most important, don''t lose the badge. It is kind of an identification document for us in this world.

    Lastly, keep your nationality confidential when you meet a stranger especially if he/she is an adult. You wouldn''t know which enemy country he is from. Understood?"

    Everyone nodded in response.

 Chapter 41: Dividing into smaller groups again?

    Along with his group, as Azzy exited the portal point, he found identical-looking grounds protected by the giant wall and energy barrier.

    As far as Azzy can see, there are around 12 of them that were located adjacent to each other.

    People are lining up at the entrances of their respective portal points. Before the entrances, each one has a signboard displaying their respective city name.

    There was a wide road separating these twelve portal points and the other twelve portal points on the other side which are facing against them.

    Azzy recognized one of the names. It''s Larnwick, a city located nearby his native town from the Southern Qudour nation.

    If one were to observe from the sky, they can see this base camp was divided into several blocks with 12 portal points and are parallel to each other, separated by a wide road.

    Each of the blocks that contain 12 portal points is guarded by their respective governments while the officers of the Order of Arcana patrol 24/7 to make sure no disputes arose between them.

    Currently, Azzy''s attention was elsewhere.

    Far away on the right, Azzy saw several modern buildings as if it was a small town, and on the far left there''s a dense forest.

    He was stunned to see a city was built here.

    Azzy was already taken aback when he heard from Princess Snieca about the academy that was built here but now, he was completely shocked.

    He always thought the Arcana Masters who venture into this world will eat in the wild and sleep at some caves or on the branches.

    They hit the road started walking towards the city with Grade 10 students and 3 teachers on the front while the other 3 followed from behind to make sure none of them gets lost.

    At the entrance of the city, the teachers paid 1000 credits per person as an entrance fee.

    Like at the portal points, each of them was provided a badge with Nlethemar written on it, and the Galarian beast symbol was engraved below the name.

    As they entered the city, Azzy saw not only there are tall buildings, but also various stores, businesses, tourism spots, and an observation tower at the center of the city.

    The city was bustling with people. There are thousands of Arcana masters roaming here and there. None of them are of rank-6 and above as they aren''t allowed in the level-2 region.

    Suddenly, Gideon whispered, "Azzy, you look like this is your first time visiting Arcana city or something."

    Azzy paused for a second. He wondered whether he should tell the truth or not.

    After thinking for a while, he nodded his head.

    "No way¡­" Gideon gasped in surprise. "You never visited an Arcana city on this planet?"

    Azzy stayed silent as he can''t say that it''s the first time he was even inside this world, much less about the city.

    Nothing good comes out of saying such a thing.

    "This is the Nlethemar City." Gideon introduced him to the basics as he thought Azzy might have only trained in the wild before.

    Maybe, it''s because he''s an orphan and the orphanage can''t afford to spend money on entrance fees and the accommodation for the children.

    No wonder his friend wasn''t able to control his strength.

    It''s because the orphanage doesn''t have enough money to hire a private tutor for him.

    Like that Gideon formed his own theory in his mind.

    After having a one-hour tour, the six groups separated from each other with their teachers and chose different lodging houses.

    Because Leo was in the group, to befit his status, he spent his own money to book a few suites at the best hotel in the city.

    Azzy felt overwhelmed for a while.

    Even though he was born rich and raised like a young master in his town, he never experienced such luxury.

    But soon, he quickly gets to his senses. They weren''t staying at such a place much longer.

    As he expected, they left their rooms just after an hour.

    Azzy followed Hermon and the rest of the group towards the forest.

    *Clap* "Alright listen to me. Moving in such a huge group is risky out there. So, we''ll break into four more groups with a team of four.

    Angelina, Acacia, and Ferrand Ogden¡­ the three of you will follow Ms. Rose. Since none of you are peak-rank-4, I''ll tag along with your group.

    Arminius, Agustin, and Claire Leuf¡­ Uhh¡­ Ms. Claire¡­ The three of you will follow Mr. Passel.

    Reid Stripes, Silvester Stripes, and Kellen Stripes¡­ You will follow Mr. Dale Stripes.

    Gideon, Azrael, and Ranier will follow the Fifth Prince. The Tenth-grade students are quite experienced in wildlife. So, please follow their instructions for your safety especially you, eighth-graders.

    Any unexpected issue arises and none of you can deal with it, then, captains, use the signal flare. If not me, then, some other teacher will come to your rescue.

    Your goal today is to get to know the region and the monsters. Most of them here are relatively peaceful and won''t harm you guys unless you provoke it.

    But be cautious. You may encounter a wild Arcana beast once in a while.

    And lastly, don''t provoke a monster that''s over your rank." Combat trainer Hermon passed the instructions. "Mr. Passel, Lord Fifth, I''ll leave the safety of grade-8 students in your hands."

    Previously, when he was sorted into groups, although Azzy suspected that there''s a conspiracy going on, he wasn''t a hundred percent sure.

    Now, upon hearing Hermon''s words, Azzy was sure that this prince is pulling the strings.

    But he wasn''t worried about the schemes that he''s going to pull out now. In front of absolute strength, tricks are meaningless.

    Right now, he was the strongest of the group in raw strength even if the instructor was included.

    Worst comes to worst, he was prepared to use the Hourglass to turn around the time except that with his lack of control, he will only get back to the car incident that occurred a few months ago.

    The group of 16 that divided into four groups went in different directions.

    While they parted their ways, Claire glanced at Azzy''s back, and once again, she became curious.

    Even though dark and light are opposite, she never felt her Arcana hate the other dark attributed Arcanas as much as this one.

    She felt that if not for her perfect control, the divine sword might even summon by itself and tries to cut him into pieces.

    The divine sword doesn''t answer her. Maybe, she can find out the reason if she gets to spent time with him.

    Such a thought developed in this 14-year-old girl.

    Meanwhile, Bay frowned as he witnessed the scene. His hate towards Azzy increased further.

    Azzy''s group of four entered the forest.

    As Gideon requested that he needs to hunt down the Galarian beast to enhance his lightning element, Leo gladly leads them towards their habitat.

 Chapter 42: Sensing Aura

    *Roar*

    In the forest of Nlethemar, an angry roar reverberated in the surroundings.

    But in the next seconds, its blood was spilled as it was hacked into half by a bipedal red-colored mantis that was bigger than an average man.

    The Gorilla fell on its back before it disappears and leaves behind a purple-colored soul orb.

    The soul orb was floating in the air without any movement until a hand touched it and sucked its energy. More than 90% of its soul energy dissipated while the remaining was absorbed by Leo, who killed it in the first place.

    "Only 853, huh!"

    Azzy heard Leo mumbled with disappointment.

    He killed a purple grade low-rank-4 beast that has over 20000 soul power and was only able to absorb 1700 soul power worth of energy.

    But because his soul beast is of gold grade, the absorbed soul power of the purple grade gorilla that was refined into his became half of the original amount.

    For a person with over 120 thousand of soul power, adding 853 isn''t that much.

    No wonder this senior is disappointed. That''s what Azzy thought.

    But, Ranier, a grade-9 student praised him instead. "The fifth Prince is really incredible. Even though he absorbed the beast orb that wasn''t of his attribute, he still managed to absorb almost 10% of it."

    ''Is 10% that great?'' Azzy thought to himself.

    "An average person will absorb 10% of the beast''s soul power that they killed." The Reaper''s voice was heard in his head, trying to clear his doubt. "But this young man can absorb 20% of the soul energy from the beast orb. A decent potential."

    "Then, how much I will absorb?" Azzy asked the Reaper. He wondered about his absorption rate so that he can calculate how long it will take to reach rank-7.

    He was someone who lit up 103 out of 108 runes back during the awakening ceremony. Surely, his absorption shouldn''t be bad, right?

    The Reaper then answered, "You don''t need to compare yourself with these mediocre. You can absorb everything, although refining will be harder for you unless you find platinum grade beasts."

    "Yeah, I know that much." Azzy also knows that his soul power improvement will be slow compared to others unless he kills every gold grade beasts of a higher rank.

    "Let''s go¡­" After doing his part as a senior, Leo gestured to follow.

    "Junior Gideon, what kind of Galarian beast you are going to challenge?" Leo suddenly asked him without looking back.

    Gideon answered truthfully. "Hoping for a higher rank one in gold grade but rank-3 would be also alright."

    "I see¡­" Leo nodded but then, went silent once again, not intending to continue the conversation too much.

    *Hiss*

    Right then, Azzy heard a hiss of a snake. He looked around but didn''t find it.

    "Don''t use the material sense but spiritual senses, Azrael." The Reaper once again gave him a piece of advice. "Unlike humans, the beasts cannot completely mask their aura. Try to locate the leaking aura of a rank-4 beast."

    As Azzy concentrated on his surroundings, he sensed a few rank-3 and rank-4 experts along with his three teammates.

    "No, all of them are humans." The Reaper interrupted Azzy quickly before he mistakes the other ones are beasts. "As I have said, unless they reveal it by themselves, the aura of Arcana Masters will be masked. What you are trying to sense is the soul energy.

    Try to connect your soul with nature like how you connect with your Arcanas.

    For basics, start with the trees. All trees possess soul power no matter how minute it might be. So, try to sense them through your spirit. You can see a basic outline of their appearance instead."

    Azzy closes his eyes and concentrates on his surroundings. Once again, he can see nothing but the positions of rank-3 and rank-4 masters.

    "Concentrate your spirit first." The Reaper''s voice disrupted his concentration and guided him in a different direction.

    Just as he concentrated on his soul orb, he saw there was someone in the center with two types of energy constantly revolving around him.

    While both of them are dark in appearance and can''t be distinguished from each other, Azzy was able to find the Protos energy that''s running wildly

    He has an identical appearance to himself.

    This tiny figure just sat in a lotus position and was meditating to control the energies and trying to mix them up.

    Azzy knew this was the physical representation of his soul.

    "Now, connect with your soul and feel the energy from its perspective." The Reaper continued to guide him.

    As soon as Azzy followed his instructions, he felt like he was in some kind of space. He saw the massive Sun in the center, followed by the four planets in their own orbits.

    However, it was different from the usual solar system.

    Each planet is ten times bigger than its previous one.

    The remaining five are yet to be seen. There are also no meteorites.

    Azzy felt some kind of energy is keeping them in balance. He wondered whether it''s his soul energy.

    "The sun represents your Arcana and the four planets represent your rank. When the ninth planet is formed, you will complete the solar system.

    That''s when you were able to draw the energy from the stars and increase your soul power to create solar systems until you form a galaxy by killing a rank-10 beast and absorb its energy.

    The higher the talent, the greater the number of solar systems they can create.

    Once you reach the rank-10, you will continue to absorb the energy from the distant stars from the universe and continue to form galaxies within your own.

    For each galaxy you can form, your life limit will increase by 100 thousand years.

    And finally, after thinking that you reached the limit of galaxy creations, slaying a god or a similar level demon or creatures will help you breakthrough to rank-11 and create a universe, representing your immortality.

    Okay, anyway, now that you understood the process, you can sense the energy that was flowing into this place, right?"

    Azzy answered, "Yes."

    "Now, try to trace the energy back to the source, outside of your universe."

    Following his words, Azzy tried to sense the energy that was balancing the solar system that formed in his soul.

    Quickly, he sensed them. He got a pleasant feeling even from the wild energy.

    "Don''t change your vision. Just try to increase your range further and further.

    ''This¡­'' For a while, Azzy felt each and every cell of the body. Previously, when he inspects his body, it was like looking from the sky but now, his point of view changed as if he was standing in the center of the planet.

    As he tried to increase his range further, Azzy then saw outside of Gideon first, followed by the other two teammates, then, the trees, beasts that are quietly observing them, the aura of other Arcana Masters, etc¡­

    He was able to see one km of surroundings.

    There was an aura of a giant mamba on top of trees, gazing at them. It was a peak rank-4 but its aura too thick.

    Azzy was stunned not because of the enemy but for another thing.

    "Uhh¡­ Chronos, didn''t you say the humans mask their auras? How come I''m sensing them?"

 Chapter 43: First kill

    According to Reaper''s statement, one can''t sense the auras of other humans unless they revealed them.

    As Aura reveals one''s silhouette, it''s the same as almost spying on them from far away.

    Azzy was surprised to feel the auras of other Arcana Masters when he wasn''t supposed to see them.

    It led him to ask the Reaper directly to which the deity replied, "It''s because of Protos Energy."

    ''Protos Energy again? Just what is this Protos race anyway?'' Azzy got annoyed with the Reaper''s answer.

    Why can''t he control energy? It''s because of wild Protos energy.

    Why is he too powerful to crack even a rank-6 shield? It''s because of Protos energy.

    Why did he time travel? It''s because of Protos Energy.

    Why can he sense Auras? It''s because of Protos energy.

    Later when he dies all of a sudden, Chronos will probably reply to his soul that he died because of Protos Energy.

    For a second, Azzy felt as if the Reaper was dumping everything on Protos energy for every unnatural event.

    He was also annoyed at that Protos race for making his life harder.

    "I''m serious, Azrael." The Reaper who sensed Azzy''s feelings, explained to him, "The Protos energy is too complex for you to understand even if I start to explain. You should reach at least rank-7 to be qualified.

    Anyway, get back to work. Since you were able to detect the surrounding auras, now, you should try to control your aura sensing in a way that you can only sense what you want to sense. That''s when you will master this ability.

    First, try to isolate the humans from your senses."

    As Azzy tried to control it, instead of isolating, he only increased the range to a 2 km radius and saw a few more auras. Due to the forest being thick, Azzy saw thousands of auras that belong to the trees, causing him a headache.

    "Azzy¡­" "Azzy¡­" "Lookout"

    His thoughts were disturbed by Gideon''s scream.

    Only then did he realize that he was captured by the roots of a tree. It''s not just him; even Gideon and Ranier were captured.

    Both of them have summoned their soul weapons and trying to hack the roots to become free.

    While Gideon was unsuccessful in his attempt because of thick roots and his weak strength, Ranier was doing fairly and almost got freed from the trap.

    Leo seems to be also in the same situation but he was calm and wasn''t trying to resist.

    At the same time, the giant mamba that was earlier on the top of the trees was suddenly dived towards him while opening its mouth to swallow him.

    With a thought in his mind, the soul card was summoned before him and the black lightning wolf jumped out of the card before leaping towards the snake that''s trying to harm its master.

    "Congratulations on your first kill, Azrael," spoke the Reaper.

    "Oh!" It was all Azzy could react as he felt nothing.

    "What the¡­" meanwhile, Leo was stunned to see how everything happened instantly.

    In fact, while they were on the way, he detected the snake long ago. Then, he saw Azzy was following them with a dazed look.

    He changed the directions in the midway and let them encounter the peak-rank-4 Banyan Tree beast that ensnares everyone that goes in the way.

    He knew that giant mambas are sly beasts. They never attack head-on or someone prepared to counter. They always do surprise attacks.

    Just as he expected, the mamba attacked at the right time.

    A smile almost appeared on Leo but it suddenly disappeared as he saw the wolf bit its neck, separating its head and the rest of the body in a second before it uses its claws to cut off the roots and free Azzy.

    Maybe, it''s because it sensed the wolf is a superior grade beast. The Tree quickly retracted its roots, freeing Gideon.

    Vajra let out a low bark and looked at Azzy as if it was asking whether to finish this tree or not.

    He rubbed its fur with a smile, "it''s alright¡­"

    He might be young but Azzy at least understands that not all beasts deserve to die, at least without any reason or else, this Arcana world would have been emptied long ago.

    "Azzy, absorb it before it disperses." Unlike Ranier and Leo, Gideon saw his strength before, so, he wasn''t a bit surprised about this feat.

    He quickly reminded him about it.

    "Put your hands on the beast soul orb and try to connect with your soul energy with it."

    Azzy followed the Reaper''s instructions and put his hands on it before redirecting his soul energy towards his hands.

    As usual, more than half of his soul orb became empty while it gathered at his hands. Right then, his soul energy detected its food and started consuming the beast''s soul orb.

    "What¡­" Leo was once again stunned to see the entire soul energy of the Beast was absorbed by Azzy just in a matter of seconds.

    Ranier stood there like a statue not able to comprehend the situation. He just boasted how this Prince is incredible having a talent of consuming 20% of the beast''s soul orb but now, he saw this junior swallowed everything.

    Even those heavenly geniuses with rank-9 potential can only absorb 80-90%. People call them sons/daughters of heaven or in whole, Heaven''s favored children.

    He doesn''t know what does that make Azzy. Ranier can only think of him as one thing. Heaven''s most favorite child?

    Meanwhile, Leo clenched his fist, ''this type of talent shouldn''t be allowed to exist at all costs. He will be nothing but a threat to me if one of my brothers finds him. Before that happens, he needs to disappear.''

    "Gideon wants to look for a Galarian beast, right?" He mumbled as he glanced at Gideon.

    Immediately, a plan formed in his mind, and a smile appeared on his face ''Then, I will take him to one. I just wanted to teach them a lesson but now, I guess it would be better if there are no witnesses.''

    Meanwhile, Azzy acquires 90 thousand worth of beast soul energy but as it is refined into his, only a mere 900 soul power worth of soul energy was increased in his soul orb.

    So, his soul power jumped to 78000, not much change from before, once again surprising Leo, whose intention of killing him only increased further.

    "Come, let''s go¡­" Not intending to even praise for outward appearances, Leo told them to follow him closely.

    Meanwhile, Azzy saw a faint black aura around Leo, right now. ''I haven''t seen that aura in a while. The last time was during the second awakening,'' He thought to himself.

    That''s right. It was the infamous death aura that was only visible to him from birth. It''s his passive ability like the rune class teacher''s seduction.

    As soon as he saw it, Azzy knew he was going to die soon but he didn''t warn him.

    When he recovered his senses, a while ago, he saw how Leo was calm and not resisting the Banyan Tree''s attack.

    As they were following him, Azzy who was suspecting him from the beginning concluded that this attack might also be his scheme.

    So, he kept quiet and then, observed the remaining two teammates. They don''t have the death aura. He sighed in relief.

 Chapter 44: Entering the Sandara Desert

    After the Banyan Tree incident, Gideon and Ranier became cautious about their surroundings. Gideon even has his Nlethemar region guide open so that they will not stumble upon such monsters.

    Leo was also careful and didn''t display any signs of suspicion.

    Actually, there was one more dangerous place in the forest.

    It was native to Armored Apis Bee, which is only a peak-rank-3 but the bee nests have hundreds of them. Even a rank-5 like him can''t escape unscathed. That''s why the Order of Arcana put up a lot of warning signs so that the visitors would get careful.

    If not for the fact that Gideon wanted a Galarian beast, Leo would have chosen the path that leads to those nests.

    But it can''t be helped now that Azzy dealt with the Nlethemar''s Banyan Tree easily.

    Leo understood that any other beast that they meet on the way is probably not a match for Azzy. The only thing that can easily deal with them lies exactly at their destination.

    "Excuse me, Senior Leonard," Gideon calls him up as he was reading the guide.

    Everyone stops and he turned around. "What is it?"

    Pointing the page in the guide book, Gideon asked, "It says the Galarian beasts are also available near this place. We already passed it a while ago.

    And this path leads to the Sandara desert, right?"

    Leo frowned, "didn''t you say that you want to challenge a higher rank Galarian?"

    Gideon nodded.

    Leo then explained, "Sandara Desert is known to have a lot of lightning habitats with not only beasts like Erudines but also Galarians.

    Turn the page to Sandara Desert. You can find the remaining list of beasts."

    Leo then glanced at Azzy and found him once again in the blank state. Leo turned around with an annoyed look and started walking.

    Gideon readout as he was following the team leader, "because the lightning crystals embedded everywhere, the lightning attribute Beasts often mutate and raise their grade."

    ''I see¡­ That''s how the overlord was born.'' Gideon finally realized the reason why a Galarian beast mutated twice and became a platinum grade.

    Meanwhile, Azzy was busy with his Aura sensing training.

    While his body was currently controlled by the Reaper, Azzy, on the other hand once again appeared in his micro-universe with only one solar system and four planets.

    He was trying to isolate the trees from his senses so that he can see the monsters easily.

    His progress was slow and steady.

    By the time, the group reached the end of the forest, Azzy had almost isolated the trees. He was only seeing half of the aura of the trees than it was supposed to be.

    The Reaper smiled, satisfied with his progress.

    Other take days, months, or perhaps even years to make such progress, yet, this host of his did it in a few hours.

    "That''s enough for today. You reached your destination, Azrael." The Reaper brought Azzy to reality.

    He found the forest disappeared and replaced with a desert, large barren land with rocks everywhere. Yellow-colored crystals grew from the ground as if they are grass.

    Leo then spoke, "these are lightning crystals. They are the ones that convert natural energy from the surroundings into lightning energy, thereby making this a lightning habitat.

    By the way, since you are of the lightning attribute, you can take a few of them with you while we return."

    Gideon nodded in agreement as he saw the same thing that was mentioned in the guide.

    Azzy suddenly crouched and grabbed a crystal. First, he tried to pull it, but he found it hard.

    Then, he redirected some of the soul energy into his hands and pulled it out.

    A three feet crystal appeared in his view. Azzy was taken aback. He didn''t think it would be that big. After all, it looked like only 5-6 inches from outside.

    Another strange thing Azzy felt is that when he applied such strength to grab the crystal and pull it out, he wasn''t able to chip off even a tiny part of the crystal.

    ''It is sturdy¡­'' Azzy thought as he examined the lightning crystal.

    "What are you doing?" Leo''s annoyed voice disturbed his concentration and he looked at him.

    "I said when we return, not now." He appeared genuinely annoyed right now. Since he was going to kill him anyway, he can''t bother to completely mask his feelings. "Don''t play around. We have no time to waste."

    He turns around and continued walking.

    Just as Azzy about to throw it away, he heard the Reaper''s voice once again.

    "Don''t. Although the lightning energy is in its impure form, you can make use of it. Try to absorb it like you are absorbing the beast soul orb."

    As soon as Azzy tried to absorb it, a surge of lightning energy suddenly enters his body while the crystal cracked and became dust.

    Meanwhile, the lightning energy in his body refined quickly and he realized a small amount of increase in his soul power.

    Azzy summons his soul card and checks the amount. "Oh! One lightning can give me around 124 soul power?"

    Azzy wasn''t that impressed. How many lightning crystals he has to dig out to receive 22000 soul power? He probably had to empty the desert. He would rather go and eliminate a few beasts for that.

    Azzy continued to walk, losing his interest in the lighting crystals. He felt as if he was being pranked.

    The Reaper also didn''t bother to explain to him the reason after understanding his feelings. ''He will understand when he learns about the attribute purities.''

    "Oh! What''s that?" Azzy suddenly spots a rank-3 cute creature that was walking alone to somewhere. It''s black and has the appearance of a cat except that it has two tails and a beautiful blue-colored gem on its forehead.

    He wondered what kind of creature it is¡­

    And within no time, the answer already came to his head from the Reaper. "It''s Erudian, a dark/lightning beast. Don''t be deceived by its appearance. They are very cunning. The one you saw isn''t a rank-3 by the way. It is rank-4."

    Azzy was surprised, "it can suppress its soul power?"

    The Reaper replied, "Yes, to fool its enemies."

    He no longer paid attention to that Erudian and continues to follow the rest of the team.

    Suddenly, he sensed a few rank-3s and a couple of rank-4 from a mile away. He activated his aura sensing. Azzy then saw the outline of two beasts and five humans who have short height, presumably even younger than him.

    The two beasts are of rank-4 while the rest of them are rank-3 and it looks like they are locked in a battle.

    He became serious as he saw the death aura was also covering the three of them.

    "Follow me¡­" Azzy suddenly shouted, making others flinch in surprise.

    Previously he was in the illusionary realm with his soul. So, Azzy wasn''t able to use his strength properly against the beast and had to use soul energy to jump high.

    But, now that he''s in real-world where he''s 44 times faster, as soon as Azzy pushed his right leg against the ground and dashed forward, he was already out of their sight, leaving them in confusion. Leo''s face turned sour as he watched him disappear from his sight.

 Chapter 45: Izora leaves the clan village

    *Roar* *Roar*

    Two rank-4 quadrupedal beasts roared in anger while looking around.

    The beast looks a bit similar to a tiger but in blue color with yellow stripes on it and a white underside. It has a thin, black tail with sharp angles and a lightning shape.

    Most of its face consists of thick, white fur and shorter blue fur around its red eyes. It also has two large sharp fangs like a saber-toothed cat.

    Meanwhile, five girls around 10 years old with 3-star soul ranks are currently hiding behind the rocks separately. Two of them are injured and are currently recovering.

    All of them wore the same school uniform with a phoenix symbol on them.

    "Aphiane, you and I will have to separate the two beasts." The leader of the group, a girl named Iphi suggested.

    Aphiane nodded in understanding.

    Just as they proceeded with the plan, all of a sudden, they sensed someone is coming towards them at an extreme speed.

    Iphi turned her face.

    Her eyes captured the blurry figure of a handsome-looking boy with a higher soul rank. She widened her eyes. Just as she raised her hand to say something, the boy already passed her like wind, and all of a sudden, the rocks exploded and all of them were thrown back a few meters.

    As they dust themselves, the girls saw a huge crater with Azzy standing in the middle. The beasts were nowhere to be seen. Even their bodies were completely destroyed.

    All that''s left are the purple-colored soul orbs.

    Azzy turned his head to look at them. He no longer saw the death auras on anyone. He sighed in relief before asking, "Are you alright?"

    But the response he received was an unexpected one.

    "You¡­" One of the injured girls exploded in anger, "how dare you steal our preys. Who are you?"

    "Eh?" Azzy was taken aback as he takes a look at the little girl. "Your prey?"

    He didn''t understand what she was talking about. Should she be saying thank you for saving their lives?

    All of them have a cold expression on their faces.

    But, Azzy wasn''t an exception either. Whatever thoughts he might have, his face won''t have expressions. So, in their eyes, Azzy looks arrogant not giving any face to them.

    While the four have the same thoughts, only one girl stepped forward and explained, "Thank you for the help but we are the students of Phoenix Academy. If we take help for the mission, our Academy won''t accept it. Not to mention, you didn''t leave the corpse intact."

    "Mission? Phoenix Academy?" He didn''t understand why an academy sent rank-3 students to battle with peak-rank-4 beasts. Moreover, neither of them is using Arcana.

    Azzy looked at her in a blank face as if he was saying that whether he''s supposed to know the name?

    Iphi got angry because of his response to Aphiane''s explanation. They are a top-level Academy in the Arcana world and this guy didn''t seem like giving him a face.

    But then, she realized Azzy was too young. If he can kill those peak-rank-4 beasts that easily with a punch, he must be a five-star soul ranker.

    "Are you from Dragon Academy of Arcana?" She asked him.

    "Dragon Academy?" The other girls were surprised at her question. Since it is a rival academy of theirs, they believed even more that he purposely stole their prey.

    Azzy didn''t respond to her question. Since they are not intending on thanking him, why care about his identity and Academy. He doesn''t wish to converse with them anymore.

    So, he simply turned around and started walking away towards his team without even absorbing the purple soul orbs which slowly dissipated.

    "Girls, let''s leave¡­" Iphi then said dragging the remaining away.

    Meanwhile, the clueless teammates have no idea of what to do next.

    "What now?" Gideon asked Leo.

    "What else? We will first, let you rank up." Leo shrugged his shoulders and continued to walk without care where Azzy has disappeared to. But, his facial expression said otherwise.

    "How dare this brat abandon the team¡­" Leo mumbled to himself, growling in anger. But inwardly, he was angry that Azzy escaped and was also shocked to see his speed too.

    He convinced himself with how Azzy might have a soul skill that augmented his speed. His Arcana being a wolf supported his speculation.

    ***

    Crescent Clan Compound, Death Clan Village;

    Izora Crescent was kneeling before her uncle a.k.a Kylan Crescent, the current head of the Crescent clan.

    Her cousin and the only son of Kylan, Gredor Crescent was standing beside his dad with injuries over his body.

    Of course, the actual injuries and the bleeding were long gone with healing but the bumps and marks left by them are still there. It will take time for them to heal completely or he can use a beautify skill card and cleanse his skin.

    Folding his hands to the back, he looked at her as he asked once again, "So, Izora, are you intending to be stubborn?"

    Izora replied in a firm tone, "Gredor''s the one who started it. He should have control over his mouth. I''m not in the wrong. Why should I apologize to him?"

    "You¡­" The Panda-eyed Gredor who was beaten to a pulp spoke in anger, "You just take your revenge on me because you were defeated by my sister."

    Upon his statement, as she raised her eyes and looked at him, Gredor flinched for a second.

    Then, she looked at Kylan, "As a clan head, you have every right to punish me. So, I''ll accept your punishment but I won''t apologize to this trash."

    "Father, look at her. Even now, she wasn''t repenting her actions. Now, she even dares to curse at the member of the main branch."

    Kylan let out a deep breath, and spoke, "Whether he deserves to get a beating or not, your actions are too brutal. Not only you injured Gredor, but you also injured two elders of our clan.

    So, I''m asking you one last time. Are you willing to apologize to Gredor or not?"

    "No, I don''t¡­" Izora replied instantly.

    "Very well¡­" Kylan nodded with seriousness and then said, "I, Kylan Crescent, 39th head of Crescent clan hereby making a judgment upon you for going against the clan rules.

    Izora Crescent, you will leave the Clan and venture into the Arcana World. Apparently, one of the teachers at Lightwind Academy was killed by an assassin. You have to work there for five years and you will not step inside the village during the time. Do you accept?"

    "Eh?" "Eh?" Gredor and Izora were surprised at his judgment. They thought he is going to punish her hard but it seemed like she gets off easy.

    Gredor fell like a fool for even thinking that his dad will punish this niece of his for his favorite son.

    In the evening, Izora left the clan while saying goodbyes to everyone. No one cared much since it''s just 5 years except for two people. One is Vesyrn Garcia, who secretly has a crush on her and the other is Kylan himself who loves his late youngest sister.

 Chapter 46: Entering the Cavern

    "Where the hell are you have gone?" Leo roared in anger as soon as he spotted Azzy.

    "Nothing important to mention," Azzy replied in a plain tone before joining Gideon.

    "You¡­" Leo''s face turned red as he clenched his fist tightly.

    It''s been only a week and this brat only offended him, the member of the Royal family but he also disrespected his words so many times.

    Even if this guy doesn''t care about the royal family, he should at least give a face to the Student council president who is also the head of the disciplinary committee but Leo fails to acquire even the minimum amount of respect from him.

    For the past week, to not appear petty, Leo didn''t touch Azzy and only thought of teaching him a lesson at the Arcana World but after seeing his potential combining with his rebellious actions, Leo''s rage even increased further.

    Even though he wanted to kill Azzy, Leo never killed someone before, so he still has some guilty conscience. But, Azzy''s earlier actions removed the last shred of guilt left inside Leo.

    Now, he doesn''t feel guilty at all. Leo turned around and continued to walk. "Let''s go."

    "Hmm?" Azzy frowned as he looked at Leo''s back. ''Is this hate? No, this is malicious intent.''

    "Where did you go, anyway?" Gideon asked him slowly. "You disappeared all of a sudden."

    "Oh! I sensed a few people who are in need of help but it turns out that those kids are training and blamed me for interrupting."

    "kids?" Gideon was taken aback. If Azzy was using the term kids, then, that means, they are of a lower grade at least by two grades.

    Grade-6 or lower grade people at a level-2 region like Nlethemar... He wondered whether they belong to some top academies.

    "Who are they? Gideon asked him.

    "They said they are from Phoenix Academy." Azzy replied calmly before asking, "ever heard of it?"

    Suddenly, everyone halted their steps. Even Leo couldn''t help but turn around in surprise.

    Meanwhile, Ranier widened his eyes and pointed his finger at Azzy, "do you met Phoenix Academy students?"

    As Azzy nodded, Gideon exclaimed, "wow. You are incredibly lucky. Do you know that they are one of the top-3 academies here? It''s also the only All-girl special academy."

    "I see. No wonder all of them have peak-rank-3 soul ranks despite being so young¡­" They didn''t see any reaction from Azzy. His comment was casual as if he was saying it''s expected.

    Azzy''s comment made Gideon shook his head with a sigh. After spending a week with him, Gideon already understood Azzy''s personality.

    No matter what kind of situation it is, either nothing interests him or he can''t express his emotions at all. Gideon believed it''s the former case after seeing his strength and the gold-grade storage card that he possessed.

    Meanwhile, Leo was excited as he knew how proud those students will be. ''He offended the Phoenix Academy students. Even if Azrael was killed, as long as I can drag their name, no one will bother to investigate too much.''

    "Guys¡­ let''s go¡­" Leo failed to hide his smile which made them wonder what happened to this leader who was angry at one second and happy at another.

    The team of four continued their journey for a couple of hours before they found a habitat.

    Looking from the edge of the cliff, Azzy saw a lot of Galarians lazing around each lightning crystal. Some are rank-3 and some are rank-4 in Silver and Purple grades¡­

    "Oh! So these are the Galarian beasts, huh!" Azzy mumbled to himself as watching the familiar-looking beasts he earlier fought.

    Leo then looked at Gideon and said, "this is the Galarian habitat. You can choose a monster you like. I''ll cover you with other beasts while you lure the one you like but if you were to ask me, it''s better to go into that cave."

    He pointed in a certain direction.

    Azzy and the other two looked in the direction where his finger was pointing towards.

    There were several small caves on the edge of the field. There''s a large mountain after that, blocking their view of what lies behind it.

    "That is the boundary of level-2. Shelyra mountain acts as the barrier between this region and the level-3 region of Shelyra. Originally, it is called Xula but after a rank-9 Expert who fought against the beast tide during the Seventh Epoch, they changed the name to her.

    But anyway, those aren''t important.

    The cave which is on the edge of the field has a lot of pure lightning crystals. You can find gold-grade mutated beasts which will help you a lot. Are you up for it?"

    Since he was here to become stronger, Gideon naturally chose the risky route.

    "Here¡­" Leo then took out a purple grade card. As soon as he pours his soul power, the card activated, and a large glass but with a hard surface appeared in front of them.

    Jumping on it, he gestured everyone to get on this purple grade Flying Skill card that can carry 10 people at once.

    With the help of the Flying skill card, they bypassed the monsters and stops before the cave. "let''s get it."

    As Azzy entered one of the caves, he found it was way too big than he imagined. There''s a long path that leads to the underground cavern.

    Because of the glowing lightning crystals, they didn''t have a problem with visibility in this dimly lit cave.

    "Everyone, stick together and depend on your senses. Only Galarians won''t reside here. There are other monsters lurk in the darkness too.

    Even if we get separated, all of you must stay nearby a lightning crystal, so that it will be easier to battle in case something attacks."

    Summoning his giant Mantis, Leo further said, "It''s best if all of you summon your Arcana, and Azrael, don''t summon yours."

    Before anyone misunderstands his statement, Leo explained, "You have a platinum-grade beast. It might be useful to scare the surrounding beasts but it will also pressure our Arcana which makes it only hard to fight at our best.

    Gideon also can''t accomplish the task, this way. Your physical strength is more than enough to deal with the monsters, anyway."

    Gideon frowned upon hearing Leo''s words. He wondered whether this Prince was purposely making things harder for Azzy but he also can''t refute his words. Gideon and Ranier knew that their Arcana fears Azzy''s black wolf.

    Even though Azzy''s thoughts were also in the same line as Gideon, he nodded as he was indeed confident to deal with any monster out there. "Alright."

    Step by step, they walked down the road while Azzy activated his Aura sensing to check the positions of the monsters.

    Immediately, his face turned dark and a deep frown appeared on his face as he stared forward. ''This isn''t a gold grade. This aura, it''s a lot higher¡­ Is it a Platinum grade? The overlord?''

    Two miles deep into the cavern, a Galarian was resting nearby a lightning crystal. Unlike the others, this one has two horns on its forehead and it was white with black stripes.

    It opened its eyes and sniffed, ''intruders. A rank-5 human with two rank-4 and a rank-3?''

    It stood up on its feet and suddenly, transformed into a handsome young man with long white hair. He crouched down and picked up the clothes that were lying nearby.

    Wearing them, he grinned and mumbled in a human language, "It''s been a while since my last hunt. I wonder how their tender meat will taste." He licked his lips.

 Chapter 47: Leos Ambush

    In the caves of Sandara, a team of four is walking into the depths slowly and carefully.

    While the rest of the three summoned their Arcana, only Azzy was following them without the protection of Arcana while gazing around.

    He was practicing his Aura sensing skills and busy identifying their species through the outline of their Aura.

    "Bat" "Bat" "Bat" "Weasel" "Bat" "Salamander" "Salamander" "Scorpion" "Hmm¡­ What is that? Is it a cat?"

    Azzy wondered as he saw the aura of the creature that was sitting on two legs. It was around 5ft big with two vertical ears like a cat and a crooked tail.

    "Hmm, it''s strange that this one''s aura is too weak considering it''s a rank-4. Is it of lower grade or is it suppressing its aura to appear weak?

    If I remember correctly, that cat with a gem on its forehead suppressed its rank."

    "This one is also Erudian." The Reaper''s voice interrupted his thoughts.

    "Eh?" Azzy was surprised. "Shouldn''t it have two tails?" He clearly remembered its appearance.

    The Reaper explained, "Erudian is a dual attribute. When its lightning attribute mutates, it will grow two tails, and a gem will appear on its forehead but when mutates through a dark attribute, its tail turns crooked and a dark gem will appear on its forehead.

    While the lightning mutated Erudian can suppress its soul rank, this one can suppress its grade. However, you don''t need to be wary of these creatures as none of the creatures present in this region can harm you. Try to think you are on a field trip and absorb the knowledge as much as you can¡­"

    ''I know that. Chronos¡­ please don''t think of me as that much of a beginner.'' Azzy was annoyed with this talking machine that was treating him like a kid.

    The Reaper went silent and Azzy turned his attention to the depths of the cave, trying to sense the location of platinum grade beast.

    "Huh!" He froze in his tracks. Azzy had a surprised look on his face.

    "What happened, Azzy?" Gideon asked him, realizing Azzy''s movements have been halted.

    Azzy shook his head and continued to follow while thinking, ''How come the platinum grade beast is no longer present and there''s a sudden appearance of a rank-4 human being there.''

    Azzy didn''t know that the same doubt was going on in Leo''s mind. Although he cannot sense the aura of human beings like Azzy, he was still bewildered by the sudden disappearance of the beast.

    ''Dammit¡­'' He clenched his fist as he gritted his teeth. ''Hmm¡­ Wait a second. Maybe¡­'' Another idea appeared in his mind and he smiled.

    Thankfully, he was walking in the front, and the lighting is a bit dim, so, his facial expressions weren''t discovered by the others.

    "Now, let''s pick up the pace, everyone¡­" Leo shouted as he started running. The other three followed him.

    Ten minutes later;

    "Here, we are¡­"

    Azzy and the team reached the place where there are more than a hundred lightning crystals on the ground.

    They saw Galarian beasts roaming nearby. Some are alone¡­ some are couples while some are in a pack.

    "Listen carefully." Looking at them from a 100-meter distance away, Leo passed out the orders. "As we discussed earlier, my Shimaus will lure the monsters away. Ranier, you go and help out Gideon. As for you Azrael, you and I will kill them as many as we can."

    "Alright," Azzy accepted, despite smelling some conspiracy.

    "Good." Leo nodded with a smile before turning his attention to the front and pointed at the pack of Galarians¡­

    "Shimaus, go."

    Flapping its wings, the red-colored giant mantis flew towards the pack, attacking the weakest one in a pack with its claws.

    *Roar*

    As it was killed with one strike, the surrounding Galarians were provoked and tried to kill the enemy but it dodged their attacks and went to the next pack.

    *Roar*Roar*Roar*Roar*

    The cave started to shake with more than fifty angry roars of Galarians, Erudians, and other creatures. The Mantis flew into the depths of the cave. "Azrael, let''s go¡­" Leo leaped onto the ground and started running after the pack.

    "Good luck¡­" Wishing luck to Gideon, Azzy disappeared from his view.

    Realizing Azzy initiated the conversation, which is very rare from him, Gideon was indeed surprised and went into a daze for a couple of seconds before Ranier pulled him back to reality and pointed at the Galarian, which remained at one of the corners.

    Both of them slowly walked towards the target without disturbing the other beasts that are nearby.

    Meanwhile, the disguised platinum-grade beast halted in his steps. He frowned, "What are they doing?"

    He sensed a large horde of his kin and other beasts are rushing after some mantis. Two of his prey are following behind them while the other two were left behind.

    "Either way, the hunt became easier now." He dashed towards them.

    Back to Azzy and Leo, they reached a flat ground with a pond in the middle. There are two rank-4 giant Scorpios moving here and there while Azzy sensed a beast in the shape of a crocodile in the black pond. It is of rank-4 and gold grade level too.

    Azzy can''t help but sigh as he didn''t find his platinum-grade beast.

    "Here is the best place, Azrael," Leo spoke as he ordered Mantis to stop. "Get ready."

    He dismissed his Arcana and then resummoned it by his side.

    As the beasts lost their target, they became confused for a second and looked around. They found their enemy was with humans.

    They roared once again and rushed towards Azzy and Leo.

    Azzy made a battle stance.

    Meanwhile, Leo sneakily took out two normal-looking cards. However, one has five black stars on it and the other has four-star, meaning they are rank-5 and rank-4 skill cards respectively.

    He looked at them.

    One has a drawing of a portal on it while the other has some circle with rune symbols.

    Sending some soul energy into the card, he grabbed the one with rune symbols tightly and then said, "Junior Azrael, I should confess something."

    "Hmm?" Azzy glanced at Leo who was folding his hands to the back while the Mantis is sharpening its claws in excitement.

    "I apologize for trying to isolate you from the rest of the school and I apologize for trying to harm you earlier in the forest. You are strong, both mentally and in strength¡­ So, that''s why¡­"

    He suddenly showed him the card with runes on it, which absorbed more than 200 thousand worth of soul power from him and shined brightly.

    Azzy tried to dodge the ambush with his speed and he did it successfully too but suddenly crashed onto the ground feeling weakness.

    "What¡­ My soul power¡­"

    Azzy felt his soul power was extinguished like a flame on the candle, all of a sudden.

    "So, you must die¡­" Leo''s face turned cold as he used the other skill card while dismissing the mantis, which opened up a portal and sucked him.

    Leo, who used rank-4 teleportation scroll, found himself teleported to a random place in the cavern. Thankfully, there are no beasts lurking around here.

    "Hahaha¡­" His laugh echoed all over the surroundings.

    "Wow¡­ what a lucky day." Leo suddenly heard a human voice from behind.

    "Eh?"

 Chapter 48: Soul Absorption

    "My Soul power!" After getting attacked by Leo, Azzy felt his soul power is empty.

    The Reaper grinned, "This is what happens when you get fooled by other people''s words."

    "I wasn''t relaxed." Azzy grumbled, "I was just caught off-guard by him. Didn''t expect that he would have that kind of skill card. By the way, Chronos, why didn''t you warn me?"

    "Well¡­ You are the one who told me that not to treat you as a beginner. I thought you would realize on your own the simple thing that one should never let their guard down."

    "I already said, I didn''t." Azzy tried to argue.

    "Nope. You did. If you hadn''t, then, you should have summoned Vajra, long time ago. You just want to see what kind of conspiracy he will brew. Because he has the aura of death on him, you were also curious how would he die. That''s why you followed him.

    Underestimating others isn''t that much different from being letting the guard down. And don''t try to say otherwise. I can sense all of your thoughts." The Reaper gave him a thorough lecture.

    Meanwhile, the beasts now got lost with their target being gone. While some of them tried to settle down nearby lightning crystals, a Galarian roared.

    It sniffed out the human who was sitting on top of a rock in a meditative position.

    It rushed towards Azzy. Followed by the mutated gold-grade rank-4 Galarian, the other beasts also followed it. Their anger redirected to Azzy.

    Just as they reached nearby, Azzy suddenly stood up on his feet. A deathly aura erupted from him while his eyes turned pitch black.

    His lips curled up, "You little things are really gullible¡­"

    He then raised his hand towards them and spoke, "Soul Absorption."

    All of a sudden, the beasts felt a huge amount of suction force from the palm and they started to lose mass.

    Heavy roars escaped from them and many of them got feared.

    They tried to run away but, within just a few seconds, all of them lost all the mass, and collapsed on the ground, losing their soul power.

    As they didn''t die, no soul orbs appeared. However, they aren''t happy to be left alive.

    Meanwhile, Azzy who was still in deep meditation, trying to recover his soul power, felt bits of soul energy of lightning attribute, fire, dark, earth, etc¡­ entered his body continuously and are being refined at a terrific pace, almost instantly, filling his soul power.

    After a while, as the recovery of his soul power stopped, Azzy opened his eyes and was taken aback.

    His eyes widened in shock as he saw the skinny beasts on the ground. Many of them have fainted while the remaining that are awake, just stared at him.

    Their expression seemed as if they were begging him for something.

    "What just happened?" he mumbled.

    "Simple¡­ I took control over your body and used one of my soul skills, Soul Absorption."

    "Soul Absorption?" Azzy then looked at the pitiful beasts once again. "Is this the result of it?"

    "Yes¡­ As its name suggests you can use this skill to absorb the soul energy of others.

    Use it on the above rank, their soul power will be absorbed to fill up yours.

    Apply on the same or a below rank, their core, the soul orb will be damaged.

    Apply on far below rank, the soul orb will be completely absorbed and they will die whether it''s a human or a beast."

    Azzy now understood their expression. They wanted him to kill them, not spare them to live.

    So, he fulfilled their wishes. He summoned Vajra and ordered it to kill the beasts that are lying down.

    *Wow* It barked before dashing towards the victims.

    The black wolf started to kill one after another. Even though it was just following its master''s orders, as one the most powerful and oldest Arcana spirits, it was able to understand the feelings of spirits that are dwelling inside the fallen beasts.

    It surprised Vajra that they felt thankful towards it even though its master is the reason they are in such a state.

    After killing them, the black wolf glanced at the pond with constant ripples in the middle of it.

    It walked towards the pond and then looked into the pond.

    The crocodile inside the pond was shaking in fear. Due to being far away from the group and hidden deep inside the pond, its soul energy wasn''t absorbed earlier but it did sense a powerful beast nearby that was a lot stronger than itself, a mutated gold grade beast.

    Since its Master didn''t order to kill every beast, the wolf shook its head and turned around to walk away and return to its master.

    Meanwhile, Azzy was checking his soul card. "Hmm¡­ even after absorbing the soul energy of 57 beasts, my soul power was only recovered to more than half.

    This is one useful ability but if I hadn''t been careless and lost my soul power, I would have killed them by myself and ascend to rank-5 by now." Azzy can''t help but criticize himself for being overconfident.

    Remembering Gideon, he closed his eyes, "Let''s see what others are doing¡­"

    Activating the aura sense, he expanded it to a three-mile radius around him.

    He saw a rank-4 and a rank-3 are fighting a gold-grade rank-4 beast that has the shape of a tiger, indicating that it''s a Galarian and they are Gideon and Ranier.

    Other than that, he sensed another rank-4 and a rank-5, deep into the cavern. "That one is Leonard but who is the other man¡­"

    Azzy already sensed the presence of rank-4, hiding deep inside the cave, long ago. He frowned, "Is that the powerful helper Leonard hired to take out me? If that''s the case, everything will fit. The disappearance of platinum grade beast is also the indication of being killed."

    Azzy clenched his fist. Even though he doesn''t have an ounce of expression on his face, he was boiling in anger, inside when he thought about Leo''s actions. "Killing him only gives trouble from school and the Royal family. After returning to the school, I should report it to the Master. He''s a peak-rank-7. So, he might able to do something¡­ Hmm¡­"

    His thoughts were disrupted by a terrific scene, he saw through the Aura sensing.

    Azzy saw the rank-4 tall man, suddenly attacked Leo. "They aren''t partners?"

    "You would be surprised if you would know the real identity of the so-called rank-4 human." The Reaper''s voice once again echoed in his head. Azzy almost pictured the Reaper is grinning.

    "Who is he?" Azzy asked him.

    "Go and see for yourself," the Reaper replied casually.

    Meanwhile, in the depths of the Cavern, just as Azzy sensed, the disguised beast is in a battle with Leo.

    Leo was injured in the stomach after being pierced by the enemy''s hands.

    With his soul power getting low due to the usage of skill cards, he was only using Mantis to defend while he tried to increase the distance between them.

    But, to his surprise, his mantis was overpowered quickly and was thrown towards the wall while the white-haired man proceeded towards Leo.

    "Who are you?" He growled at him. "We don''t have any enmity. Why are attacking me?"

    "Me? Just doing it for fun." He licked his lips, "it''s been a while since I ate human flesh. So¡­"

    "Flesh?" Leo was taken aback and panic appeared on his face, looking at this psychopath.

 Chapter 49: Galarian kings unique ability

    "The platinum-grade beast can transform into a human?" Azzy was shocked to see the aura of a human disappeared and replaced with the platinum-grade beast once again while he was rushing into the depths of the cavern.

    Azzy can''t let Leo die here. Not because he was a good guy or something.

    In Azzy''s opinion, this arrogant prince deserved to die but not like this. With his reputation in the academy, not even his own master will believe that Azzy didn''t kill him.

    If Leo dies, then, Azzy should have an alibi at that time, or else, everyone will just say that Azzy might have lost control over his strength.

    "No¡­" He screamed as he watched the beast dug its fangs into Leo''s throat and lifted him up before slamming onto the ground.

    Azzy halted his steps. He now only sensed one aura, which belongs to the beast.

    That means Leo was dead and he will fall in trouble.

    "I''ll roast that beast without even leaving its skeleton¡­" A huge amount of deathly aura erupted from Azzy, spreading all over the cave.

    He was enraged at the beast¡­

    "Azrael, it will be best for you to leave it alive." The Reaper advised him.

    "Eh?"

    Meanwhile, a couple of miles away from him, Ranier and Gideon were still in a battle with the mutated Galarian.

    They were overpowering the beast.

    Right then, the Galarian started shivering and tried to run away. Both of them want to catch up but both of their Arcana quickly disappeared and returned to the soul orb in fear, leaving them speechless for a moment.

    "An enemy?" Both of their eyes widened in realization and spoke at the same time, "Azrael and Leonard¡­"

    As Arcana spirits and the beasts were more sensitive to the auras, all the beasts in the cavern became frenzy and rushed towards the exit.

    When they saw beasts were coming towards them, Gideon and Ranier ran away from there but after a while, they found out that none were chasing them. So, they relaxed for now.

    At the same time, in the depths of the cavern, the Galarian King salivated as it saw the dead body. "Human flesh, after so long. After eating you, I will get another chance to sneak into the human world."

    It pierced its hands towards Leo''s chest and grabbed the heart before taking it out. As it opens its mouth to eat its favorite part of the human body, suddenly, it sensed danger. "This aura¡­ That rank-4 human?"

    It was taken aback. "He''s a mile away but his aura can affect this far? I should be careful." It felt afraid for some reason.

    It glanced at the dead body and started to eat quickly.

    While it was gobbling the food without enjoying the sense of delicacy, it sensed the deathly aura was gone but the human was coming towards it at a quick speed.

    Having no other choice, it used the soul skill and increased its size by ten times before gulping the rest of the body at once.

    As soon as the body entered its stomach, it was digested almost instantly like how the soul energy of a beast is refined in a human''s body when consumed by the beast''s soul orb.

    "Haha¡­" It started laughing in excitement as it felt its physical strength was improved further and it closed its eyes, transforming to human form. "In human terms, my physical strength, which is used to be mid-rank-6, is now equivalent to that of a peak rank-6."

    For one second, it felt like fighting against Azzy but remembering the feeling when it sensed the aura made it retract its intention.

    By the time Azzy reached the place, he saw the beast disappeared and in place of the beast, he saw Leonard in a different set of clothes than the one he arrived with.

    "Oh! Azrael¡­You are a bit late¡­" He spoke to him in the same tone as Leo.

    "Now, did you get it?" The Reaper asked Azzy.

    ''Can the beast take the appearance and memories of whoever it eats?'' Azzy wondered as he was staring at Leo.

    "Yes, all platinum grade beasts have a unique ability. This one can transform into the one that it eats. Only a rank-8 or above grade Expert will be able to realize that he wasn''t a human." The Reaper cleared his doubts as usual.

    "What are you looking at? Let''s go¡­" Leo then walked past him and continued his way towards the entrance.

    Azzy followed him, constantly staring at his back, "Chronos, it would be a mistake to let this beast enter the human world. If it kills anyone, then, I will be the sinner."

    "Then, expose it after it enters the human world and kills it." The Reaper casually replied as if it wasn''t a problem. "But, not now... You don''t know the heart of humans, especially the royal family. They wouldn''t care about the evidence.

    All they need is the suspect and it is enough for them to take revenge. That''s why you need to act as if you realized nothing.

    Once it exits this world, since it has the memories of the Prince, it can''t return to the palace where there''s a rank-8. So, it will first return with you to the school since it is the safest place to hide. Then, it will try to escape from there.

    All you need to be patient and look for a chance during the next few months to expose its true appearance."

    As always, Azzy felt the Reaper''s words are right. He had inexplicable trust in this deity as he lacked the knowledge.

    "Alright." Azzy agreed with the Reaper and slowly followed Leo from behind. Unlike earlier, he didn''t pick up the speed and neither did he fall behind until they reached the entrance of the cavern.

    "What happened?" Leo asked them with a frown. According to the memories it found, they were here because of Gideon''s advancement and also to kill Azzy in secret using its power.

    The beast sighed in relief that Leo wasn''t successful or else¡­ It shuddered at the thought of remembering the deathly aura. Clearly, it was something that made its core shook in fear for its death.

    Adding on top of it, it also saw the memory of Leo facing the deathly aura at the entrance hall¡­

    It swore that even if it was in Leo''s form, it will never go and trouble Azzy just for the sake of appearances.

 Chapter 50: Returning

    *Slash*

    Gideon finishes off a mutated gold-grade Galarian and sat on the ground while absorbing its soul orb.

    Rank-3 to Rank-4, Rank-6 to Rank-7, and Rank-9 to Rank-10; these three advancements are special for an Arcana Master.

    When one reaches peak stage at such soul ranks, they would need to kill either a similar attribute beast of the same level or any other beast of a higher rank to advance to the next rank.

    Usually, the former method is more preferred as it would raise the ability of one''s Arcana. However, the most sought out is still the one with both of them, like a rank higher with the same attribute.

    At a lower advancement like rank-3 to rank-4, finding such a compatible beast is pretty much doable for any person as most of the Arcana Masters will be in their schools. They have a lot of seniors and teachers to guide them.

    However, for the next special advancement, it will be a very difficult challenge. Even if one finds a rank-7 beast with the same attribute and of higher grade, they won''t be able to defeat it like in previous advancements.

    To face such beasts, they would be needing the help of rank-6 or rank-7 experts which are not impossible but rare to find.

    As for Rank-9 to rank-10¡­ 99% of Arcana Masters don''t even dream about it.

    That''s why people don''t wish to miss the opportunity in the early stages and will make sure they kill a compatible beast of higher grade and rank.

    30 minutes later;

    Gideon stood up on his feet with a smile on his face.

    "Congratulations, Junior Gideon." Ranier was the first one to congratulate him, followed by the disguised Galarian.

    However, Azzy didn''t congratulate him as he doesn''t have such a habit. Instead, he asked, "Did your Arcana improved?"

    From the start, Azzy was observing the changes inside of him. As Gideon made a breakthrough, he saw his aura improved tremendously, far more than he can imagine.

    Right now, his aura was thicker than even Ranier''s. Not to mention, he is taking too much time for someone who possessed a gold-grade Arcana.

    It would only make sense if his Arcana spirit went through some changes. That''s what Azzy concluded without the help of the Reaper.

    On the other hand, the Galarian king also sensed the changes in Gideon''s body.

    However, unlike Azzy, it cannot see the aura of him. So, it thought the changes were because of gaining life force. At least, that was what it understood from Leo''s memories.

    "Come out, Shirayuri¡­" He summons his soul card and then, pulled out a sword with purple-colored lightning sparks over the edges of its blade. "My Shirayuri mutated."

    "Congratulations, Gideon." Now, Azzy felt that he needs to congratulate his friend.

    "Thanks¡­" Gideon smiled widely. He was very happy. He felt like going back home and brag about it, especially to those from the main branch.

    *Clap* "Now that we are finished here, let''s return." The Galarian King spoke in Leo''s casual tone before setting out towards the entrance. While it has a calm expression outside, however, it was excited to escape this time because of Leo''s identity as a prince.

    Two hours later;

    *Gasp* "What happened, Your Highness?" Hermon asked Leo as he saw he was wearing a loose t-shirt that was torn and baggy pants instead of his school uniform.

    The rest of the students in the same batch also looked at him weirdly.

    Galarian King who already came up with an excuse, answered with a sigh, "I fought against the Galarian King¡­"

    He stopped in the middle and then, asked to do something about his badge and the other stuff.

    He purposely left the rest of the story to their imagination to make himself appear more genuine.

    Based on Leo''s memories, the Galarian King also judged Azzy''s character and believed that he isn''t the type to take initiative and point at someone.

    It was also the reason why he never apologized for the ambush Leo did it.

    Just like he expected, although for a different reason, Azzy kept his mouth shut and behaved like the matter doesn''t have anything to do with him either.

    Meanwhile, Bay Passel got enraged as he saw Azzy. After becoming rank-5, he proposed to Claire and asked her to go out with him but the girl rejected him again, telling him that he isn''t his type actually.

    When he probed further, she admitted that she likes handsome but cold and distant guys like Azrael more.

    What can he do? Force himself on her? He got that idea as well, a year ago, but back then, Leo reminded him that she''s a foreign noble. If anything happens to her, it will disturb the relations with both the nations and ultimately, the government will make the Passel family pay for his deed.

    Right now, he was also angry at Leo. This Prince promised him that he will teach an unforgivable lesson to both Azzy and Gideon.

    But, not only Azzy''s behavior didn''t change a bit, Gideon, on the other hand, made a breakthrough and was smiling big.

    On the other hand, Leo made a mistake and offended the Galarian king and probably got beaten up.

    However, Bay didn''t lash out at Leo, remembering the latter is still a prince and more powerful than him. Offending him is the same as sealing his fate. So, he had no choice but to compress everything in his heart.

    Right now, he decided to take revenge with his own hands. Maybe, making a breakthrough made him confident. Bay swore that he will beat up Azzy in the upcoming tournament in front of Claire''s eyes.

    Phoenix Academy, Central city, Arcana World;

    The five girls returned to the academy by evening with two carcasses of gold-grade rank-4 beasts. Two of the girls also became a rank-4 while the other three reached peak-rank-3.

    By the time they entered the gate, the sun already set and the moon rose in the sky.

    "Well, well, well¡­ if isn''t the princess who proclaimed to finish the mission so quickly that she''ll make a record. Forget about the afternoon, it''s already dark¡­ You lost the challenge, Iphi."

    The group is encountered by a group of girls who are nothing but an eyesore to them.

    Despite being in a higher grade, they keep compete with these geniuses and try to step on them whenever the possibility arises.

    "Ixis¡­" Iphi growled as she looked at this arch-rival who never stops annoying her. "When you are at our age, you and your team provoked one gold-grade rank-4 beast and beaten up¡­ On the other hand, we killed two of them¡­

    You lot don''t even have a qualification to challenge us, much less win¡­ Now, disappear from our sight, now."

    Iphi''s words made Ixis angry. She felt like this little brat is not only rubbing the salt on her wounds but also humiliating her. Clenching her fist, she spoke, "You are really asking for some beatings¡­"

    "Hmpf, who is afraid of you¡­ When I''m rank-3, we won by a close margin. Now that I''m rank-4, I want to check how much stronger did I get¡­" Iphi challenged her to battle, on the spot.

    "What is going on here¡­" A teacher who was nearby called them.

 Chapter 51: Sapphire Magnolis

    "Oh! You returned." He sighed in relief, spotting the little princess of Nelnoris nation. If she wouldn''t arrive, he, who was their homeroom teacher, would be the one who will be punished for letting them go alone.

    After confirming that she was safe and alive, his attention shifted to the two beasts, one being a Galarian and the other being an Erudian. As for the quality, well, once the experts dissected them, their meat will tell their grade and rank.

    "Congratulations in advance for completing the 6-star mission."

    As they thanked him, he said to hurry up and submit the carcasses. They bowed and left for the mission hall.

    15 minutes later;

    "Both of them are of gold grade and rank-4." The lady in charge said to them. She handed them some kind of cards, and further said, "Congratulations¡­ You finished the 6-star mission in 13 hours and 35 minutes. Your grade is ''A'' and the correspondent mission points are added to the cards."

    They nodded and returned with a depressed expression. A girl named Louella gritted her teeth, "If only that boy hadn''t stolen our prey, we would have gotten S-grade."

    "What happened?" A familiar sweet tone from the side made them halt their steps.

    As they turned their heads, the girls saw a beautiful senior from advanced studies. They greeted her with a slight bow while Iphi on the other hand was taken aback, "sis, what are you doing here? Shouldn''t you be at the palace?"

    "Oh! Father asked for you to be present at our brother''s wedding. So, I''m here to take you back," replied the third princess of Nelnoris nation, 18-year-old Sapphire Magnolis.

    "He isn''t our brother," Iphi replied in a serious tone. "Just the son of a maid."

    "Iphi¡­" The elder sister frowned at her behavior. She glanced at her friends, reminding the brat where she is spouting the words. "I will take it that I didn''t hear you speak ill of our brother¡­"

    Sapphire reprimanded her not because she insulted their brother or something but even if he''s a son of a maid¡­ their brother is still the crown prince. He can''t be humiliated in front of others.

    Iphi apologized for her behavior, although she didn''t know what she did wrong.

    "Forget it¡­" The elder sister waved her hand, and then asked, "What is this business about a boy stealing your prey?"

    "It''s not a big deal¡­" As Iphi tried to be silent about it, the elder sister looked at the one who commented earlier and asked her.

    Under her pressure, Louella confessed the truth. She recounted everything that happened.

    Upon hearing her accusation, Aphiane defended Azzy, "C''mon, it isn''t his fault. Anyone in his position would have thought we are in danger."

    "No." Sapphire disagreed with her. "Just based on your uniforms, he should have realized that you belong to the Phoenix academy, right? Tell me how his uniform looked?"

    She asked them in a serious tone. Iphi, who has an excellent memory, not only described the uniform but also his face, pupils, expression¡­ everything¡­

    Upon hearing it, Sapphire grabbed her chin and started to analyze, "so, he is from neither the Dragon Academy nor Heavenly Academy, huh! You said there''s a badge that was stitched to his shirt pocket? Surely, there must be some animal symbol with the name¡­"

    Iphi shook her head, "I''m not sure. I haven''t observed him close enough."

    "Okay, fine. I get it." Sapphire nodded, "He''s probably from the other world. Anyway, after getting back to the palace, I''ll get a sketch artist for you¡­"

    "C''mon, sis. Do you want to make a big deal out of it? I will be the one who will look bad even if punished him." Iphi already felt bad for losing prey and got laughed at by her arch-rival. Does this sister of hers wanted to make her look like a sore loser¡­

    "What are you talking about? Who said anything about punishing him?" Sapphire looked at her like a fool.

    "Eh?" Iphi was taken aback.

    She thought her sister was trying to take revenge for her.

    However, contrary to her thoughts, Sapphire explained, "You said he looks like a 12-13-year old, right? A boy with a higher soul rank destroyed two purple-grade peak-rank-4 Galarians with a single fist, making a huge crater while leaving behind nothing¡­

    That means his physical strength itself is at least mid-rank-5¡­ Unless he isn''t using a disguise card, there''s a possibility that he''s a genius comparable to you.

    As long as he isn''t someone from Central Academy or an enemy nation, we can recruit him as the Royal Knight, provided that he isn''t also a Prince. So, I want to do a background check on him¡­"

    "Woah¡­ Stop right there¡­" Iphi stopped her sister who has gone too far. They were talking about him stealing their prey. How did the conversation ended up recruiting him and that too as a Royal knight?

    Is this sister of hers is going crazy? Iphi wondered.

    Looking at the expression on her little sister, Sapphire understood her thoughts. She smiled, "I know what you are thinking. But, it doesn''t do any harm in background checking, right? If he''s nothing like I expected, then, we can just forget about it¡­"

    In the end, Iphi can''t help but accept her sister''s decision just like she always does.

    Aclein city, Northern Qudour Nation;

    The students returned to the academy. While the rest of them returned to their dorms, Azzy walked back to his home where his grandpa and his wife are waiting for his return.

    He reached the mansion. Opening the door, he spoke loudly, "I''m home¡­"

    But no response came from the living room. ''Are they asleep?''

    He immediately shook his head. Feeling something wrong, Azzy then activated his aura sensing ability and found no one is present in the house, not even the servants¡­

    Well, the servants, i.e. the cleaner and the gardener usually only stay up to 6 p.m., so, Azzy wasn''t worried about them being absent. What worried him is the fact that the door isn''t locked and yet, no one is there.

    "Azrael, careful. There are enemies." The Reaper suddenly warned him.

    "huh!"

 Chapter 52: Sixteen soul skills

    "Where did everyone go?" Azzy wondered as he found the house empty. With aura sensing, there found no one in the home but strangely, the door wasn''t locked when he got in.

    "Azrael, careful." The Reaper suddenly warned him in a serious tone. "there are enemies hiding in the house, right now."

    "huh!" Azzy was taken back. "Enemies? But, I can''t sense anyone."

    "That''s because they are from the clan of assassins and of higher soul-rank. They seem well trained to be able to suppress their presence. If you had mastered aura sensing, then, you would be able to detect them but for now, do as I say."

    "What is it?" Azzy asked the Reaper.

    "There are only two assassins here and both of them are mid-rank-6. So, don''t summon Vajra. The moment you did it, both of them will attack you together. So, be as natural as possible and get out of the house right away."

    "Ok." Azzy agreed to his plan and turned around to walk away.

    Azzy is someone who lost the ability to express the emotions on his face. So, his expression stays the same in all kinds of situations. Naturally, without any change in his expression, he left the Mansion and started walked towards the academy.

    It is the only place he knows of.

    As Azzy left the house, a man and a lady who were wearing black outfits and masks appeared in the hall.

    "Do you think he noticed something wrong?" The lady asked her partner.

    "Nah!" The Man shook his head, "he''s just a kid. How would he know? Anyway, did you find the book?"

    The lady answered, "no. Maybe that kid knows its whereabouts?"

    "Hmm¡­" The man thought for a while, "he lives with them. Even if he doesn''t know it, he might be of some use. With Avia and this kid as hostages, the traitor might reveal it. Let''s try our luck. He must have gone far. You keep searching. I''ll bring back the boy."

    The man disappeared and reappeared out of the door. Before he disappeared once again only to reappear outside of the gate.

    Meanwhile, Azzy who was walking towards the academy, asked, "what now, Chronos?"

    The Reaper replied, "as I expected, one of them is following you. What do you want to do? Do you want to face him or run away?

    If it''s the second option, with your maximum speed, you have the possibility of making it to the academy."

    "Do I have the chance if I go all out¡­" Azzy instead asked the Reaper about his chances of winning as first, he doesn''t know his strength, two, he doesn''t know the enemy''s strength too.

    "There''s a possibility if you go all out, that is¡­"

    Azzy understood what the Reaper is saying. He not only needs to use the wolf but also the Death scythe and probably, the hourglass too.

    "Okay, then, I need to find a place where there are no witnesses." While Azzy was thinking about the places, he suddenly appeared at the cliff but this time without his control.

    The Reaper and the dog are standing right in front of him.

    Before Azzy asked about it, the skeleton opened his mouth, "right now, I''m controlling your body as you still haven''t learned the eye of God. Sit down. Right now, I''m going to pass you the knowledge of Soul skills."

    "Soul skills?" Azzy was surprised. "It can be learned just like that?"

    He looked at the Reaper like, why hasn''t he done it so¡­

    Azzy''s mind was like an open book to Reaper. So, naturally, his thoughts weren''t hidden either.

    "It is because I thought you won''t be needing to learn them, yet but an assassin is a natural predator for a summoner and this is a real-life situation. Before the wolf makes the move, your head will roll on the ground." The Reaper''s tone was serious.

    Azzy also knew the difference between him and a rank-6. He fought the robot after all. It was also the reason he asked whether he has any chance to defeat the enemy.

    "Now, Sit." The Reaper pointed his finger towards the ground.

    Listening to him like a good child, Azzy sat down on the ground in a meditative position while the Reaper placed his hand on his forehead.

    It was the first time Azzy had physical contact with the Reaper. His skeleton finger felt so cold that made him even shiver for a few seconds.

    Slowly, dark energy started to flow from his fingers to Azzy''s head.

    A mirror image of himself appeared in his mind. Azzy didn''t know where it was standing. It was a first-person view.

    His mirror image raised the death scythe towards himself. Soul energy was flowing like water from his soul orb to the weapon. He slashed the air with a death scythe.

    An arc made of deathly energy came towards him and disappeared.

    Followed by it, he started to receive a number of skills one by one.

    Meanwhile, on the outside, Azzy, whose eyes are pitch black without any visible pupils was running at a pace so that the assassin can keep up with him.

    When the assassin increased his speed, the Reaper did the same, and when he slowed down, thinking of giving up the chase, the Reaper controlled Azzy also slowed down.

    It made the assassin angry and felt like this boy was playing with him. he was also surprised at his speed. No matter how many times he checked it, the boy was only rank-4, and yet, even he can''t catch him up.

    Eventually, both of them ended up at the outskirts of the city, where there are little lights and trash everywhere. Currently, aside from street dogs and cats, there are no people roaming there, even though it is only 7:30 in the evening.

    After finding such a place, Azzy stopped. The male assassin also stopped.

    "So, you figured out that I was following you, huh!" The assassin was the first to open his mouth, yet, no response came from Azzy.

    His pupils were back and control from the Reaper is also gone but Azzy wasn''t moving at all.

    "You are talented, especially in speed. I have never seen someone of your age who outran me¡­ Tell me, kid, what''s your name?" The assassin asked him.

    Meanwhile, Azzy who was facing in the opposite direction was in own world, experiencing the shock of his life. "Shouldn''t one only possess one soul skill per rank? Only a twin Arcana user has two soul skills per rank, right? Then, why do I have sixteen soul skills even though I''m a rank-4?"

    Azzy''s mind was a mess. According to what he learned in the books¡­ unless one has twin Arcanas, it is impossible to have twice the number of soul skills.

    He thought his Arcana is different, not just because it was possessed by a deity but it is because he did awaken twice. So, it''s not a surprise that he would have eight soul skills, four from the wolf and the other four from the Reaper.

    But now, he received four skills of the Death scythe as well as another four soul skills of the hourglass.

    And the biggest surprise is that the soul skills are different from what he read in the book of death. In the description of the founder Azrael Garcia, he previously read about the skills.

    If their Arcana are the same, then, how come the skills are different¡­

 Chapter 53: Azzy battles a rank-6 assassin

    "Woah¡­" An exclamation escaped from his lips as he was suddenly attacked from behind.

    He dodged at a perfect time, although it''s just his reflexes that let his body acted before his mind.

    "So, kid¡­ I''m going to ask you again. Will you come with me quietly or should I drag you back with me? If you co-operate, I swear that nothing harm will be done." The assassin said to him.

    "You want me to come with you? Why?" Azzy asked in return.

    "That doesn''t concern you." The assassin replied in a flat tone before taking out his dagger, this time.

    "The matter doesn''t concern me yet, you want me to come with you¡­ Why?" Azzy once again asked, wondering whether it was connected with the missing family.

    Not to mention, he didn''t sense any malicious intent from this guy. So, he was confident that the assassin won''t attempt to kill him.

    At most, he''ll injure him heavily and then heal with a healing card. That''s why he tried to talk things out.

    But, very soon, Azzy found out how na?ve his thinking is¡­

    "You talk too much kid¡­" The assassin dashed towards Azzy one more time.

    Azzy once again dodged from the attack. He didn''t pull out his weapon yet, trying to gauge his opponent''s speed. Previously, it was the Reaper who controlled his body, so, he wants to keep up with the speed.

    In the meantime, Azzy also tried to use Aura Sensing again. This time, he was able to see his outline, although not his rank.

    However, he was sure of one thing. This guy is weaker than the Galarian King, at least according to the aura intensity but then again, humans don''t battle in a simple way like the beasts, trying to overpower everything with strength.

    "So, just because you manage to get away this far, do you think your speed is superior to mine?" The assassin got irritated with this speed game again and became serious.

    "Soul skill: Shadow steps."

    Azzy saw him suddenly disappear from his sight and in the next second, his dagger was almost behind his left shoulder, trying to pierce it.

    His extraordinary reflexes kicked in again and Azzy dashed to the front and dodged the attack. With a thought in mind, he summoned the soul card.

    The black wolf jumped right out of it.

    "Grr¡­" It growled as it glared at the enemy.

    The assassin was taken aback, "my Ogrus is shivering in fear¡­ It''s a platinum-grade beast¡­ What a lucky day¡­"

    Instead of getting intimated like others, he was excited instead.

    "Soul skill: Cloning."

    He burned another 200 thousand soul power and summoned two beginner-rank-5 clones.

    His first soul skill is still in effect. So, the two clones were able to use the same skill.

    The two clones dashed towards Azzy while he went after the wolf.

    Azzy was worried about fighting a rank-6 directly but not a beginner-rank-5. He suddenly remembered his basic lessons with Evelyn back at Violet Pavilion. "I guess the opportunity is here¡­"

    He then redirected the soul energy to all of his body. As his body was empowered by the soul energy, he burned half of the soul power but Azzy didn''t worry about it.

    The both of them coordinated with each other with one attack from the front and the other tried to slash from 8 o''clock.

    To their surprise, he suddenly ducked and swept his right leg to kick the first clone''s legs and then, gave an elbow strike to the second clone''s stomach.

    And then, he stood up and kicked in the stomach of the first clone, which lost its balance and fell on the ground earlier due to his leg sweep.

    As it flew a couple of meters, Azzy grabbed the second clone''s collar and threw it over the shoulder, slamming on to the ground.

    Clenching his fist tightly, he redirected the energy from various parts into the right finger and gave a solid punch in the stomach of the fallen second clone.

    When he punched its stomach, the soul energy inside his fist erupted out thereby hitting the target.

    It suddenly disappears along. Meanwhile, the first clone that was kicked away stands up slowly.

    It dashed towards Azzy with its dagger, not intending to give up.

    Looking at the clone, Azzy whose soul energy was consumed in the earlier attack uses the remaining soul energy in the soul orb, and this time, he pours almost all of it into legs while keeping enough soul energy worth a couple of thousand soul power.

    It was done so that his Vajra can constantly consume it to stay outside with full strength or else it will only grow weaker by each second.

    As the clone dashed towards him, Azzy pushes one of his legs against the ground and dashed forward, going against it, head-on.

    Both of them neared each other. The assassin''s clone slashes its dagger towards his chest, which Azzy blocks its arm with his left arm and then, redirects his soul energy towards his right fist once again before giving an uppercut to its chin.

    As soon as the punch landed, the clone disappeared like air.

    "Phew¡­" Azzy sighed in relief for defeating them easily without revealing his hidden Arcana. "These are indeed useful. I guess I need to learn advanced forms, later."

    Back when he was in Violet Pavilion, Evelyn indeed taught him various martial arts techniques like boxing, taekwondo, jujitsu, judo, and karate but he was only taught very basic level techniques.

    After teaching him the techniques, even though he mastered them, Evelyn stopped teaching him further and said he can only learn them after getting into advanced studies.

    Even now, he didn''t know the reason why.

    Meanwhile, there''s an intense battle going on between the black wolf and the assassin.

    It has several cuts all over its body. One look at it, anyone can see that it was having a tough battle.

    On the other hand, the assassin wasn''t having easily either. He has wolf bite marks on his right thigh and left arm, and scratches on his chest. He was also bleeding.

    He was concentrated on this beast which is two ranks lower than him, so much that he didn''t even notice the defeat of his clones.

    As for the wolf, it was also in a kind of dilemma.

    When Azzy''s body is brimming with soul energy, the wolf didn''t use soul skills but now, when it wants to unleash its soul skill to have an edge over him, the soul energy within Azzy''s body was diminished to the extent that it can''t afford to use it now.

    Because it was soundly defeated by the Robot, it became fiercer with the assassin, who also belongs to the same rank as that bullying machine.

    "Soul skill: Multiple Dagger Toss"

    Burning another five hundred thousand soul power, he threw the dagger towards the wolf.

    In the midway, it suddenly replicated itself into five daggers.

    Because of the short distance and feeling pain in its injured legs, the wolf wasn''t able to dodge them. So, it gritted its teeth and thought of facing them head-on.

    "haha¡­" The Assassin has a wide smile on his face. He felt like he''s going to kill it.

    Just right then, something flew like a flash and knocked off the daggers while spinning around vertically.

    "Death scythe?" The assassin saw it and was taken aback. As he turned his head, he saw it returned to Azzy''s hand.

 Chapter 54: Azzy battles a rank-6 Assassin part-2

    "Death scythe?" The assassin was taken as he saw the multiple daggers were knocked back by the weapon while saving the black wolf.

    *Wow*

    The wolf barked, looking at Azzy who caught his death scythe, and stared at the assassin.

    "How do you possess that weapon?" The Assassin totally didn''t expect to see the Arcana that exclusively belonged to the Garcia clan and their descendants.

    He wondered this is the reason the boy was with the traitor Oakley.

    There''s a certain rule in the Death clan. Anyone who awakens either the scythe or the hourglass will even change their surname to Garcia.

    After all, marriages often happen between the two clans, and Garcia''s descendants were no different. So, even if they marry into another clan, if a child possesses the trait of Garcia, then, he can adopt their surname.

    Azzy didn''t answer his question and directly dashed towards the assassin and attacked with the scythe.

    Instead of dodging, the assassin blocked the scythe with his dagger, and commented, "It is quite surprising that you defeated my clones, very quickly. But then again, it''s not surprising. After all, the twin users are known to be geniuses. Looking at your weapon, you are indeed the descendant of our clan. Tell me kid, who are your parents?"

    "I''m not the one who should answer questions," Azzy responded in a flat tone before swinging the scythe. "It is you. Who are you and what are you two doing at our home?"

    "You will know once you come with me quietly. Believe me, I don''t want to harm a fellow clan member." After realizing that Azzy might be the descendant of Garcia, he tried to speak as soft as possible. "So, stop trying to resist and listen to me, kid."

    Just imagine, if he takes this kid back to the clan, how would everyone react. Not only he has a death scythe but he is also a twin user with one of them being a platinum-grade beast. Surely, he would get rewarded by the clan head.

    So, he tried to talk him out of it.

    But, Azzy wasn''t the type who listens to anyone aside from the one he acknowledges.

    "Make me admit defeat, I''ll come with you." Azzy directly proposed a deal while being confident that he can win.

    "Kid, maybe, killing two of my clones and my polite behavior is making you arrogant. You don''t have much soul power left. How long do you think, you can hold on¡­" Azzy''s way of talking displeased the assassin. He decided to knock him out if the boy won''t come with him voluntarily.

    But, Azzy''s following actions stunned him on the spot.

    "Oh! Is that so¡­" Azzy then raised his hand towards him. "Don''t worry, you have plenty much soul power."

    "Huh! What do you mean by that?" The assassin didn''t get his words. What does him having plenty much soul power that has anything to do with the kid.

    Unless¡­ he can steal his soul power.

    The assassin quickly threw away the thought, believing it was absurd.

    Soon, his expression changed.

    "Soul skill: Soul Absorption."

    Azzy used the only skill that doesn''t consume his soul power.

    All of a sudden, without his permission, the assassin felt his soul energy started to sip away from his body at a rapid pace.

    He wondered whether his soul energy is misbehaving or something like that. There are soul skills that can mess up one''s control over soul energy.

    At first, he thought it was that.

    He tried to get away. When face trouble with a mission, an assassin must always run away. This is what he had learned from his master. But, this is someone he has to captured. So, he thought of maintaining a certain distance first.

    Immediately, he used his maximum speed and disappeared from there, appear a few meters away but still, it wasn''t stopped.

    His eyes captured Azzy''s figure which was surrounded by a dark aura while his soul energy was directly flowing into his opponent''s palm.

    Meanwhile, Azzy felt his soul power started to fill up after the assassin''s soul energy was refined into his.

    "This is the difference between a rank-6 Arcana Master and a rank-4 beast, huh!" He can''t help but remember the incident of absorbing dozens of rank-4 beasts only to recover half but now, it was filled maximum very quickly, although the opponent lost 800 thousand soul power at once.

    As a mid-rank-6 expert, the assassin possessed 6 million soul power. So, it didn''t weaken him or anything but the fact that his soul power was stolen by that much, frightened him.

    He never saw such an ability in his life. Before any other unexpected scene about to appear, he hurriedly took out a five-star, intermediate healing card and applied it on himself. His injuries done by the wolf have been recovered.

    Meanwhile, the wolf used its third soul skill, "Regeneration."

    Although it consumed ten thousand of his soul power, Azzy felt it was worth it as he glanced at the wolf that was healing.

    "Okay, now that my soul power is filled. Let''s continue¡­" Azzy then, raised his death scythe above his head and poured soul energy into it.

    "Soul skill: Slice of Death"

    Like before, his eyes turned black covering his pupils, however, he was still in control, this time. Meanwhile, his lack of control made the soul energy decrease by a lot.

    "Soul skill: Mirage." The assassin didn''t waste any time activating his first soul skill. Immediately, more than ten of him appeared beside him. All of them have the same soul rank and look identical to each other. They appeared like clones, however, in reality, they aren''t.

    Azzy didn''t attack them. His death scythe was brimming with soul energy but he waited.

    The assassin was confused for a second about what he is doing.

    "If you don''t make a move, then, I will." The assassin and his mirages dashed towards him and surrounded him on all sides before attacking him with their daggers.

    One of the mirage clones reached him and sliced his chest but Azzy didn''t move a bit. It passed through him. Followed by it, the second one, the third one also attacked him but the two of them also passed through him.

    The assassin was surprised to see Azzy was just standing there as if he knew they were mirages. Not only his moments didn''t change, but even his expression also appeared completely calm.

 Chapter 55: Azzy battles a rank-6 Assassin part-3

    Looking at how Azzy isn''t dodging the attack, the assassin wondered whether he wasn''t in a state to move.

    As he saw that Azzy was unleashing his soul skill, he thought it might be related to that. After all, it isn''t rare at all. Several soul skills needed one to stay concentrated and not be disrupted until they cast it, although most of the cases belong to magicians.

    Not intending to waste such an opportunity, instead of sending a mirage clone, this time, the real assassin himself made the move.

    However, just as he reached Azzy and tried to slice through his stomach, Azzy sidestepped and dodged the attack. And pushing his left leg against the ground, he dashed forward, passing through a mirage clone and created distance between them.

    With that, he escaped the encirclement of the mirage clones. And even after that, his hand and the scythe never came down.

    "How?" The assassin''s eyes widened. "Impossible. Only a rank-7 and above experts would be able to distinguish me and the mirages. This kid¡­ What is he¡­"

    He clearly didn''t anticipate such a reaction from Azzy.

    He didn''t know that because of acquiring Protos energy, Azzy was able to see aura even in humans.

    If the assassin hid himself and deliberately suppresses it, then, Azzy wouldn''t be able to find out even his presence much less aura but the assassin decided to make a head-on battle.

    He was before his eyes and so, his aura was also clear to Azzy.

    As for the other clones, because they are mirages, not actual clones, they lacked the aura, which helped Azzy to distinguish them from the original.

    *Wow*

    A powerful bark was resounded at the moment. The assassin glanced at it and saw the cuts and injuries on the wolf are gone. ''Damn¡­''

    "Vajra, use Soul skill: Lightning Paw"

    Keeping his death scythe still above his head, Azzy ordered the black lightning wolf to use the soul skill.

    Upon hearing its words, the wolf let out a powerful bark before raising its paw.

    Sharp claws extended from it as it rushed towards the assassin.

    "C''mon, then." The assassin took it as a challenge. It bit and scratched him a lot. So, naturally, he wanted to teach it a lesson.

    The assassin controlled the mirage clones and changed the position to confuse the wolf.

    "Vajra¡­ He''s third from the right." Azzy passed the message to the black wolf through telepathy.

    Just as it reached half-way distance, a dark-energy-filled giant paw with claws appeared in the air. Lightning sparks are all over the giant wolf paw.

    Meanwhile, Azzy felt his soul power was decreased by 10000, leaving him with only 30 thousand plus more¡­

    "So, this is one of the soul skills of this platinum grade beast?" The assassin''s eyes lit up in excitement. Platinum-grade beasts are extremely rare. So, naturally, he wanted to see its strength.

    However, he can''t waste too much time either. So, he threw away the thought of facing it and stayed in his position, and let the attack go by¡­

    Who could have expected the beast would suddenly change its direction as it unleashes its soul skill.

    As if the beast also spotted his position, the attack went straight towards him.

    The assassin was stunned for a second. His brain didn''t work for a second. But that one second made the attack decrease the distance and almost reached him.

    Now, even if he wanted to dodge it, he wasn''t able to.

    In reflex to block the attack, the assassin put forth his hands before his chest. Just as the paw was about to hit his arms, Azzy swung down the death scythe, creating a giant arc that was filled with deathly energy.

    Its speed was even faster than the wolf.

    The assassin underestimated the power of the soul skill of Vajra. Experiencing the battle with it, he thought the platinum grade beast can be defeated but the assassin didn''t know that Vajra is a celestial grade beast, a higher level than even platinum grade.

    Its attack even destroyed a peak-grade-rank-6 shield of the Robot.

    Naturally, taking it head-on, the mid-rank-6 screamed in pain as his bones were crushed and he loses his strength in his arms.

    Before he comes out of the pain inflicted by the black lightning paw, dense energy in the form of arc hit him dead on and flung him away dozens of meters.

    He crashed onto the ground. "Ugh¡­" The assassin groaned in pain as he gets up with extreme difficulty. He was bleeding from his lips.

    "Cough" "Cough¡­" He coughed out while feeling pain all over his body. "The damage isn''t as this wolf''s but it hurts like hell¡­"

    Looking at his hands that were hanging down, the assassin mumbled, "let''s just get out of here." He no longer wanted to contend against this monster. Remembering his teacher''s words again, he wanted to escape from here.

    As a person from the Death clan, he doesn''t fear death but he isn''t that prideful either.

    Their clan''s teachings also tell that running away isn''t cowardice but it''s just a strategic retreat. As long as one is alive, one can take revenge.

    "This is your win, kid." The assassin spoke to Azzy who stood there like a statue. After attacking once, neither Azzy nor the wolf is making a move.

    "So, you''ll answer my questions?" Azzy asked him but wondered whether he will keep with his promise. "You are too na?ve, kid¡­" The assassin laughed. "Do you think I''ll give you the information just because I lost?"

    Azzy frowned inside. He asked, "So, you are going back on your promise?" His grandpa taught him that breaking the promise is the same as committing a sin. That''s why one should never give a word either carelessly.

    "We''ll meet again very soon, kid." The assassin didn''t say directly anything about not answering his question but his stance was clear. "So, long¡­"

    "Soul skill: Shadow Steps"

    The assassin mumbled to himself, trying to activate the skill so that even if Azzy try to catch up, he fails.

    But, then, he felt nothing.

    "Huh!" There was no surge of soul energy into his legs. When he tried to inspect his body, his eyes widened in shock. "H¡­ How this is possible?"

    The assassin saw that something dark enveloped his soul orb, trying to melt it slowly. He felt his soul energy was completely trapped inside and wasn''t able to eject out of the soul orb.

    "It''s no use¡­ You won''t able to use your soul energy unless I take back the death energy¡­"

    The assassin looked towards the source who had no expression on his face even now and his tone is also unchanged. It was still flat even while threatening/informing him.

    *Clomp* *Clomp* *Clomp*

    Azzy started to walk towards him. The assassin''s pupils started to shake in fear. He lost strength in his legs and on his knees.

    Walking step by step, Azzy reached him and stopped. The black lightning wolf also stood beside Azzy baring its fangs at the enemy.

    "So, now, will you answer my questions, Mr. Assassin from the Night clan?" Azzy looked at him in the eyes, "I''ll ask again. Who are you and Why are you at my home?"

    His question was very simple, and yet, it sounded terrifying for the assassin.

 Chapter 56: Sparing the Assassin?

    On the empty alley located in the outskirts of Aclein city, a hundred-year-old rank-6 Assassin was kneeling on the ground before a 12-year-old Azzy who stood in front of him.

    "I''ll ask you again. Who are you and why are you at my home?"

    The assassin just stared at him, keeping his mouth shut. Azzy waited for a while before he said, "it''s getting late. I had neither lunch nor dinner. Hurry up¡­"

    "Just kill me¡­" After trying to struggle, again and again, he wasn''t able to use soul energy at all.

    Maybe, his little bit of pride is acting up or maybe, he was extremely afraid of the punishment from the clan for his failure, he wanted to die but he doesn''t feel any strength in his legs too¡­

    Azzy was taken aback by his resolution. He wondered whether, for this guy, revealing the secret is worse than death or something¡­

    "Use Soul search, Azrael." The Reaper''s voice resounded in his head.

    ''Soul search?'' Azzy was puzzled. "But, it will kill him¡­"

    Since he directly received the knowledge of soul skills from the Reaper, Azzy knew its effects too.

    "Yes if he''s of weaker soul rank¡­" The Reaper explained, "Just look at him. Even after being affected, your death energy that was augmented by Protos energy wasn''t able to completely melt his soul orb. If it''s a weaker one, by now, they would have lost Soul energy completely."

    "You sure?" Azzy asked him once again. No matter what kind of power he has, in the end, he''s still a sheltered 12-year-old who doesn''t know the law of the jungle.

    "Have I ever joked around?" The Reaper became a little bit upset by Azzy''s doubt towards his words.

    "Well, I trust you then."

    The assassin saw Azzy stepped forwards to come even closer. He closed his eyes, preparing for his death.

    To his surprise, instead of raising the weapon, he felt a touch on his head like a pat. He opens his eyes and saw Azzy placed his palm on his head while his eyes once again turned pitch with no visible pupils.

    "Soul skill: Soul search"

    Instantly, of the remaining thirty thousand soul power, ten thousand worth soul power is consumed while dark energy started to release from his palm and is connected directly to the assassin''s head.

    "I''ll help you out here¡­" As the assassin is an adult and might have memories that weren''t good for a child-like Azzy, the Reaper immediately took control a part of Azzy''s and assisted him in reading the memories.

    Azzy felt his surroundings disappeared and he found himself back home. He was standing in the middle of the downstairs hall. In front of him, aside from the assassin, there''s a lady in her assassin outfit.

    ''I guess she''s her partner.'' Azzy mumbled.

    He then watched him say, "The couple is now busy searching for the kidnapped girl. It''s the perfect time to steal the Book of Death."

    ''So, they are here to steal the Book of death.'' Azzy realized their aim. But then, he wondered if two of him cannot stay in the same timeline, does it also apply to the Book of death cuz along with the Storage card, the items in it also followed.

    So, technically, there are two Book-of-Deaths at the moment. ''Is that really possible?''

    "Yes." As usual, the Reaper cleared his doubt. "You and the items that are with you don''t belong to this timeline, Azrael.

    So, technically, there''s only one Book of Death at the moment and right now, it is still with Oakley. However, if it will be stolen from him, which it actually doesn''t in the original timeline, the Book of Death will disappear from your storage card.

    That''s why it is better for you to steal it by yourself. Then, the one in your storage card will disappear while you can keep the new one."

    Azzy didn''t listen to his advice and concentrated on the scene that was playing before him.

    The lady assassin disappeared. Meanwhile, the assassin saw everything around and mumbled, "They are indeed very rich."

    Azzy saw a look of greediness in his eyes as he looked around.

    While the lady is busy searching for the book, the assassin went to the master bedroom and stole whatever cash, jewelry, expensive paintings, or skill cards he found. He kept everything in his storage card.

    "This guy is a thief." Azzy was taken aback. He didn''t expect that. How can someone from the Night clan be an unethical fellow? Azzy wondered whether this is the reason he asked him to kill.

    "He said that because he was confident that a person of your age can''t kill." The Reaper who already watched everything told Azzy. "He isn''t just a simple unethical clan member. This fellow is a sinner who killed innocents after being caught stealing. He also committed heinous crimes that are considered the root of evil in society¡­ He didn''t deserve to live, Azrael¡­"

    As soon as the word escaped from the Reaper, Azzy suddenly saw the death aura appeared on him.

    While the Reaper already passed the judgment, Azzy, who returned to reality, tightly gripped the handle of his death scythe but hesitated to move it.

    "No¡­ I won''t." After struggling for a while, he took a decision to spare him.

    As Azzy lifted his palm from his head and placed it on his chest, the assassin suddenly felt the deathly soul energy that imprisoned his soul orb for a while, started to leave his body.

    He looked at Azzy with a shock. "Why?"

    After completely retracting his soul energy from the assassin''s body, Azzy spoke, "my grandpa always said even the greatest sinner deserves a second chance to change. I''ve read your memories. You don''t have any connection with the disappearance of my family.

    I''m sparing you. In exchange, I want you to return all the things you have stolen from the mansion back to their places and leave before I return."

    Azzy then took out a four-star healing card from his storage card and placed it on his forehead. As his injuries slowly started to heal, the assassin felt the strength returned in his legs.

    His hands, on the other hand, weren''t completely healed. However, he was able to move them with great difficulty.

    "Thank you¡­" He spoke softly.

    After thanking him, with great struggle, the assassin then took out a six-star healing card to recover completely. It took a million worth of soul power for a complete recovery.

    "I promise you to amend my ways¡­ You have really opened my eyes today¡­" The assassin kneeled and bowed, "thank you for your mercy. I won''t forget your kindness for the rest of my life."

    Azzy nodded and turned around to walk away.

    Looking at his back, the assassin sneered, "you are indeed too na?ve, kid¡­" He took out a six-star card from his storage card.

    It has a picture of blood drops on it. "You have shown me the hell for a few moments. I''ll throw you down to the hell for real. The blood-consuming skill card was created by the leader of the Blood clan himself. Not even a rank-7 escape unharmed once they were hit¡­

    After knowing my secrets, you can''t stay alive... Die¡­"

    He poured soul power into it and threw it towards Azzy''s back like a shuriken. It didn''t even make a sound. Just as it was about to hit his back, suddenly, Azzy disappears from his view.

    "Indeed, the boy is very na?ve¡­" He heard a cold tone from his behind.

    The assassin was frozen and slowly turned his head to see Azzy with black eyes. However, the only change is that he has an hourglass in his hands.

    "Don''t worry, he''ll learn sooner or later¡­" The Reaper turned the hourglass upside down. "But, you won''t able to live until then to see it."

 Chapter 57: Unsealing the Sands of Time

    "Indeed the boy is very na?ve¡­"

    It happened almost instantly. Not even a second has passed and the assassin found Azzy behind him.

    "But, don''t worry, he''ll learn sooner or later. However, you won''t be able to live until then to see it."

    "Sands of Time, unseal¡­" As the hourglass turned upside down, the white sand inside didn''t just fall from one glass bulb to another. It completely fell onto the ground, escaping the hourglass.

    Meanwhile, the assassin was stunned.

    "H¡­ How?" Even a teleportation skill leaves behind a trace of shadow for a second during the time of disappearance but here, he saw the boy just vanished into thin air as if he was a mirage.

    And even he assumed that was a mirage while the real one is behind him all along, then, how he didn''t sense him until now?

    The assassin wasn''t also able to comprehend how Azzy, a mere high-rank-4 did that. What''s strange here is that the boy was referring to himself as a third person.

    It''s as if he was talking about someone else. He remembered something that his teacher once said to him.

    "Arcana Possession?" His eyes widened in shock and his voice shook as he whispered. "You are indeed a platinum grade beast¡­"

    Platinum grade beasts have the ability called possession which lets them possess their hosts in times of need.

    Until now, although he was sure that the black wolf is a platinum grade, he still had a little bit of doubt but now, he confirmed it.

    However, he didn''t have time to think of that nonsense as his foot was captured by the white sand. He poured soul energy into his legs and tried to escape but he wasn''t able to move his legs no matter how much he struggled.

    The white sand slowly crept up, covering his thighs, and quickly, it reached the waist. By now, he already lost control over his lower body.

    "Please spare me¡­"

    He begged for his life as he felt he was going to die for sure.

    "You don''t have the right to live¡­" Azzy''s cold voice terrified him. Meanwhile, he felt the Arcana spirit inside him felt unconscious. "Before you die, let me clarify your doubts, so that you can die without confusion.

    One, I''m not the black lightning wolf.

    Two, the wolf isn''t a platinum grade but it''s a celestial grade spirit.

    And three¡­"

    Before he finishes his sentences, the white sand completely covered the assassin''s body.

    "Return." The sands quickly flew back to the hourglass, leaving behind nothing. There was no trace of the assassin left.

    The Reaper then sealed the sands again and spoke in the air, "The justice has been served. May your spirits rest." His voice echoed around the world, although no living person heard it.

    Meanwhile, some of the vengeful spirits who are roaming on the planet suddenly disappeared.

    They are the victims of the assassin who weren''t able to ascend to the spirit world because of their desire for vengeance. However, as they don''t remember their past, they just roam around the planet, spreading dark energy.

    They corrupt people''s minds, especially, mortals and make them commit sins. But, now, some of them were put to rest.

    Looking at the remaining ones, he sighed, "The death god isn''t managing his underlings properly. Well. it won''t be long anyway¡­"

    Azzy who was possessed by the Reaper walked away.

    Reaching the same spot, the Reaper returned to the mindscape, leaving Azzy at the same spot he possessed him.

    Azzy halted his steps.

    He looked around in confusion. The assassin was nowhere to be seen. Because of the dim light, he failed to spot the six-star card on the ground.

    In his eyes, everything was the same as before. Even his soul power remained unchanged. He mumbled, "why do I feel like I lost consciousness for a few seconds?"

    The Reaper was silent.

    "Maybe, I''m too tired." Shaking his head, Azzy started walking. Since the assassins have nothing to do with the abduction of Avia and the disappearance of the other two, he thought his Master might help.

    But, he didn''t know his address either.

    So, Azzy decided to stay at the Mansion for the night and if they still don''t return by morning, he will go to the school and ask his help.

    Defeating a mid-rank-6 easily also gave him the courage to face the other assassin if she tries to ambush him.

    On the way, he also complained about Reaper how he almost made him believe that he needs to go all-out to face the assassin.

    Forget about fighting with everything he has, he didn''t even get the chance to show half of his skills¡­

    The Reaper frowned, sensing a little bit of arrogance in Azzy. He mumbled to himself, ''no, this isn''t good. He needs a rival who can battle him equally or else, Azrael will move far away from his destiny.''

    The next day, at the downstairs Hall in the Mansion, Azzy was seen sleeping on the sofa.

    After having dinner, he waited for them all night but wasn''t able to stay awake.

    He felt someone nudged him, trying to wake him up. "Azrael¡­ Azrael¡­ Wake up"

    Azzy suddenly opened his eyes and woke up from his sleep.

    He raised his head only to see nothing. There was no one around. "They didn''t return?"

    At first, he got worried but then, remembered that he hasn''t influenced the timeline enough for the history to change.

    So, he realized that the kidnap has nothing to with his actions and it''s likely that this event happened in the past according to his timeline too.

    After all, Avia grew up to a rank-7 in the next twenty years and his grandpa''s wife will also stay alive for sure at least for the next 10 years.

    When he realized the truth, instead of being relieved, Azzy became more stressed.

    He wondered whether it is okay to report to his Master.

    What if his Master''s intervention will change their history and Affea will face the crisis earlier. Not to mention, Aspen still hasn''t been born yet. Will he disappear from the timeline forever?

    Such thoughts caused him a headache.

    "Argh¡­" Grabbing his hair, Azzy looked down, trying to make a decision.

    And just like every time, the Reaper gave him a piece of simple advice, "follow your heart, Azrael. Do what you think is right¡­"

 Chapter 58: Missing family

    Elite division, Aclein Academy;

    Homeroom teacher Rubin entered the class as if he was forcefully dragging his body.

    Everyone stood up.

    He gestured for them to sit down.

    "Hmm?" The teacher found something amiss. He was only sensing seven of them. As he opened his eyes properly, Rubin saw Azzy missing.

    "Student Gideon."

    "Yes?"

    "Student Azrael didn''t come to the class?" He asked him as they sit together. "Was he sick?"

    Gideon shook his head, "I don''t know. He doesn''t stay in the dorm."

    "Anything unusual happened, yesterday?" Since both of them were in the same group, he wondered whether Leonard traumatized him or something. After all, everyone in middle or higher grade knows about how Azzy was alienated.

    But, since he isn''t being bullied directly, none of the teachers bother themselves with the matter. After all, the other party is a Prince.

    If even his Master, the Principal is silent on the matter, why would they go and offend the Royal family over such trivial matter and fall into trouble¡­

    "Nothing, Sir. Azrael was alright¡­" Gideon didn''t know what happened between Azzy and Leo during the time they were away from him but he was sure that nothing happened at least to Azzy.

    After all, he has a platinum-grade beast.

    "Perhaps, he was with the Principal." The teacher made a passing comment before changing the topic to their trip towards Arcana World.

    "Today, everyone will come here, one by one, and share your experience with your classmates. You only have 40 minutes. So, that''s five minutes for each of you."

    The teacher took his seat and closed his eyes to take a short nap.

    After they shared their experiences of their first trip, the teacher spoke, "The monthly competition is roughly two weeks away. All of you just experienced level-2 region. Some of you even fought with rank-4 Experts.

    I heard that a few students from other divisions managed to breakthrough to rank-4. So, expect a tough competition.

    Get careless, you never know when you were going to fall back to other divisions.

    As a part of the Elite division, all of you will get another chance in the next week. So, make sure to use the opportunity."

    Unlike his usual lazy tone, the teacher appeared serious this time.

    Everyone nodded.

    Meanwhile, just as the homeroom teacher guessed, Azzy was sitting before the Principal, although for different reasons than he imagined to be.

    "Are you saying that you defeated a mid-rank-6 Assassin?" The Principal was more surprised to hear that Azzy defeated an assassin, instead of focusing on the issue.

    That''s what Azzy thought upon hearing his question.

    But, the Principal was correct in his thoughts too.

    Although he expected that Azzy''s combat strength is on par with early-rank-6 or mid-rank-6, still he is just an inexperienced kid who is also a summoner.

    Everyone in the world knew that assassins are the bane of summoners unless the latter are skilled at close combat. So, the principal can''t help but think that it might be a weak one with lesser grade Arcana.

    "I was lucky¡­" Azzy also tried to be modest. However, his expressionless face gave an impression that he was serious.

    Then the Principal also started to think about the issue. "I think the royal family of Snieca might be involved in this. You get back to the class. I''ll ask around in the meantime."

    Azzy nodded and went to the classroom.

    By the time he got there, the mathematics teacher is in the middle of his class. Strangely, he didn''t ask him about the reason for his lateness. He continued to teach as if nothing changed from before.

    Meanwhile, Gideon whispered, "Why are you late?"

    "It''s complicated," Azzy replied in a low tone while concentrating on the lesson.

    Five days later;

    Azzy was sitting in the downstairs hall before a television. It was late midnight and he just sat on the sofa, kept on looking towards the door every 15-20 minutes.

    He doesn''t know when he fell asleep but he woke up around 8.

    For the past five days, never once Azzy went and slept in his room. Every day, he wakes up at like 8-9 and misses the homeroom period or gets woke up by the cleaner at 10 and skips the morning classes.

    Either way, he never missed the afternoon class with the Principal.

    There, his Master/Principal will teach him new things every day and give him homework.

    After finishing school, he comes home and waits until midnight before falling asleep on either the sofa or the floor.

    This is the sixth day, a.k.a Sunday. It''s time for him to go on the trip to the Arcana world again.

    As the bus leaves by 9, Azzy hurriedly freshens up and changes his clothes, missing his breakfast.

    By the time he reached the academy, he saw two buses are parked before the Elite division building. While it was a rest day for others, for the Elite division, it was a trip.

    The intermediate grade students (Grade 5,6,7) went into one bus. They are going to a level-1 region.

    Meanwhile, higher grade students were going into the other one that was going to the Allerton, a level-2 region that was famous for its volcano and the lava beasts.

    An hour later;

    After teleporting to the portal point, Aclein academy students, like everyone else, went to the harbor directly, instead of going into the city like their previous time.

    They rented a ship to travel to the distant-looking island with a volcano in the middle of it.

    Azzy looked around. Because of several ships and boats that are traveling to and fro, he wasn''t even able to saw the island except for the active volcano where the lava is flowing down like a river.

    Even from 10 km away, he felt the hot temperature. As for the rank-3s from his grade, one of the teachers casted a barrier on them to negate the heat.

    Looking at the front, Gideon commented, "I wonder why it is called Whale Island¡­"

    Azzy shrugged his shoulders, "maybe, it''s because of its large size?"

    Earlier, while they were walking, he coincidentally heard someone saying that this giant single island is over a hundred thousand square km in area.

    However, to their surprise, the lazy homeroom teacher, who was tagging along with them interrupted their conversation, "it is because the island is in the shape of a whale.

    "Oh!" Gideon exclaimed in surprise, not because of this answer but right now, he looks very much active.

    Azzy was also surprised to this lazy guy even shaved his beard, neatly combed his hair, and wore some good clothes instead of a plain old tracksuit.

    Another strange thing about him is that, as soon as he got on the bus, he transformed into a completely different person.

    It even made him wonder whether he was some platinum-grade beast or something. However, his aura remained human.

    On the way to the island, Rubin answered all of their doubts without any complaint.

    Soon, the ship reached and they step down.

    Taking a deep breath, the teacher spoke to himself, "finally, after 20 years¡­ I''m back here¡­"

    "Hmm?" Perhaps everyone around heard it. They instantly turned towards him.

    He waved his hands, "it''s nothing."

 Chapter 59: Encounter at Whale Island

    Just like last time, everyone was divided into groups; however, they weren''t mixed with upper and lower grades.

    Previously, they were mixed because of several people participating in the trip, not to mention the other two divisions. Tenth graders were forced to lead the group.

    But, now that the overall students only numbered 24 and only consisted of Elite division, the teachers just divided them per grade.

    Grade-8s were placed on one team. Grade-9s on the other. The remaining grade-10 students are on the third team.

    Grade-8s were accompanied by two teachers, one is their lazy homeroom teacher who is now behaving completely opposite and the other is the sorcerer Uphiar who was usual like himself with no changes of his attire or his beard style.

    He was the one who cast a barrier on the rank-3s from grade 8 so that they don''t feel the heat.

    Meanwhile, Grade-9s were accompanied by their homeroom teacher. The male students in puberty are extremely happy with the presence of beauty like Exea. As for grade 10s, they were left on their own.

    Soon, they reached the shore of the island, and the three teams went into separate ways.

    While the sorcerer stayed silent, the lazy homeroom teacher acted as a tour guide. From the moment the ship docked till they reached their destination, he never once closed his mouth as if he was possessed or something.

    After an hour of non-stop running, the team reached the shores of the lava lake.

    It is formed due to the frequent eruptions within the volcano, once per day or two. Whenever it happens, the lava pours down from the mouth of the volcano continuously as if it was a river and ends up at the lake.

    For this reason, the lava lake never hardens up.

    Looking at the scenery around, Azzy and the others were taken aback in surprise. It looked exactly like the ones they are trained in the illusion that was cast by the sorcerer.

    The small island in the middle of the lake confirmed Azzy''s suspicions. The other six students also came to the same conclusion.

    "Remember the Volcanus, the spiky lava beast that you trained together?" Uphiar suddenly asked them.

    Everyone nodded in response. They can''t even forget even if they wanted to.

    Azzy only faced it once. However, the others faced it many times during the first week. They also experienced the feeling of dying more than a hundred times.

    Everyone except for Azzy also felt excited to kill the real one and take their revenge.

    "The beast you faced is a native monster that resides within the lake. Usually, they are peaceful beasts along with lava vipers, lava alligators, and other fish-type lava beasts.

    Usually, you can find the Volcanus King inside the volcano. The crystals you see all around the mountain are flame crystals. So, those who have the Fire Attribute will be able to take advantage of it.

    And finally, today, your mission is to provoke whatever beasts you find and each of you must dig out atleast one flame crystal."

    "Eh?" Everyone looked at him in surprise. Teachers usually say to stay away from the beasts and don''t provoke them but this guy asked them to do the complete opposite.

    "Yeah, he''s right." Rubin''s comment brought him the attention of everyone.

    The majority of them looked still confused.

    He then proceeds to explain in a serious tone, "Previously, I mentioned in the class about the monthly tournament.

    So, this is the last chance for you to improve your strength, especially you four..."

    He pointed at the rank3s who have barriers on them.

    Gideon and Lark, you two will stick together. As long as the both of you will not provoke high or peak rank-4 beasts of gold grade, you will be fine."

    Both of them nodded in response.

    Rubin''s eyes then fell on the rank-3s.

    "Curtis, Julius, Blaine Fern, and Aegis¡­ the four of you will form a group. You must focus on rank-3 beasts. If the four of you work together, then, probably, facing a beginner rank-4 will not be a problem."

    They nodded and grouped together to one side.

    Finally, he looked at Azzy. "You aren''t in a need of the team and are strong enough to face any monster. Anyway, you are free to explore the region on your own. Send a flare if you require help¡­"

    He handed him a card, which will give them a signal in the sky if he were to use it in crisis.

    Lark looked at Azzy in envy. Even though his soul power is slightly lower by about twenty to twenty-five thousand, they are still the same rank.

    Yet, the teachers have so much different attitudes towards them and Azzy. They even handed him a signal card too while none of them were given anything.

    He didn''t know that they did that because each teacher is going to follow one group to look after them.

    "Kill as much as you can, however, don''t lose the sight of your own strength. Remember that unless it is life-threatening, we won''t step in." Rubin gave a final warning before telling them to leave.

    While the rank-3s took a boat to travel to the shore, so that they can first mine the flame crystals, Gideon and Lark stepped on the latter''s flying card and flew towards the small islands that are in the middle of the lake.

    Their goal is to battle a Volcanus beast because of their familiarities with its attack patterns.

    Meanwhile, Azzy, who parted his ways with them earlier, summoned the black wolf and mounted it on its back.

    It started to run on the lava at a high speed. Due to being a platinum-grade beast, even the 700-degree Celsius temperature of lava didn''t affect it a bit, although Azzy was sweating from top to bottom.

    After traveling for 15 minutes nonstop, Azzy and the wolf reached the destination. The other side of the shore¡­ Mt. Estrya.

    The first thing he did is to pluck a random flame crystal from the ground and keep it in his storage card. Finishing his mandatory mission, Azzy then ordered the wolf to climb up the mountain.

    His aim is pretty much clear, the Volcanus king.

    The wolf started to rush towards the top of the volcano. As he reached halfway, suddenly, he heard a high pitch shout from above. "You, over there¡­ stop right now."

    Azzy didn''t think much of it and continued his path.

    Suddenly, within a few seconds, a griffin appeared before him, blocking his path.

    Azzy and the wolf stopped.

    He saw a person on top of it. She was tall, beautiful with irresistible purple eyes. She also wore luxurious clothes, implying that she''s definitely rich. She had a scroll in her hand.

    However, his attention wasn''t on the stranger that stopped him on the way.

    He was staring at the Griffin. He felt the intensity coming from it is just as powerful as the one that he sensed from the Galarian king.

    As for the rank, he thought it must be a rank-5, considering he can''t sense its soul rank.

    "Is it a platinum-grade beast?" Azzy asked the Reaper for confirmation.

    "Yes¡­ It is indeed¡­ If I''m right, she must be someone a direct descendant with Magnolis surname."

 Chapter 60: Encounter at Whale Island part-2

    "Magnolis surname?" Azzy was puzzled.

    Obviously, he never heard of it before.

    "It is a royal family that belongs to the nation of Evenor." The Reaper explained to him. "Even the death clan would think twice to make a move against it. Just the royal family has three rank-9s."

    "Of course, none of them is a match to your clan head." The Reaper added the statement as an afterword.

    "Oh! So, she''s a princess." After concluding with a simple sentence, he asked, "do you need anything, Miss?"

    "The name''s Sapphire Magnolis, Mr. Azrael of Aclein Academy." She answered him by directly mentioning his name.

    "You know me?" Azzy asked her. Inwardly, he was surprised. Why would a princess of a faraway nation know him?

    "Of course¡­" She nodded with a smile, "I knew everything about you¡­ However¡­"

    She then glanced at the wolf and said, "I didn''t expect your pet is a one top tier platinum grade beast. I should say the rumors are understated. Even my Griffin feels threatened by its presence¡­ No wonder you are at high-rank-4 at an age of 12."

    "So, what do you want with me, Miss Magnolis?" Azzy thought she might have inquired about him because of the rumors and quickly lost the interest to converse further.

    "Well, I don''t think this is the right place to talk. Can we go elsewhere?" Sapphire was too embarrassed to show that she was feeling extremely uncomfortable at the moment.

    As a person of Wind Attribute that weak against fire, she was barely holding herself to stay calm in this extremely hot environment.

    The same goes for the griffin that was screaming in her mind to it fly away from the spot.

    As if the environment is bad enough, it was standing before a powerful Arcana beast and even feels threatened by it even though it was a rank higher.

    So, this princess suggested Azzy leave for the city together and discuss there.

    But, why would Azzy go all the way back for this stranger just because she requested him?

    Naturally, he rejected it flatly.

    "I have important things to do, right now," Azzy replied with a straight face. "Either tell me here or please leave the way¡­"

    His behavior caused her to frown.

    As a princess, she ought to have a little bit of arrogance. When she was rejected by a commoner like Azzy, she was indeed displeased.

    Having said that, her arrogance isn''t that high as Leonard that she would feel the need to punish him or something.

    She swallowed her pride and tried to compromise, "you seem to be in a rush. So, I won''t interrupt you. However, I hope you spare me sometime after you were finished."

    She then threw a card towards him, which he caught in reflex.

    "I''ll be waiting." She smiled with a nod and left the place.

    Meanwhile, Azzy''s eyes fell on the card. It was a four-star card with an image of a portal. "Teleportation card?"

    Azzy has one of them in his storage card. So, he immediately recognized it. But, what''s strange is that the portal was red in color, instead of white.

    "It isn''t a simple teleportation skill card, Azrael." The all-knowing deity once again provided him the knowledge of the skill.

    "It is a variation of teleportation card. You should call it a fixed Teleportation. Once you activate it, you will teleport to a fixed location that the card was linked to.

    Since it is a four-star card, it has a limit of thousand kilometers. She''s indeed a daughter of heaven. Not everyone can create such a skill card at such a young age.

    Moreover, I don''t sense any malicious intent from her. You should get acquainted with such people¡­"

    Azzy was surprised at Reaper''s words. It was the second time he heard of this deity praising someone.

    There are a lot of talented and strong experts at Death clan. But, the Reaper never praised anyone except for Avia.

    Maybe, in his eyes, only platinum grades are worthy. Considering Vajra''s grade, Azzy thought he might be right.

    *Wow*

    The bark from the wolf brought him to reality. Caressing its fur, Azzy nodded, "Yeah. You are right. Let''s take care of the king, first."

    Upon receiving the order, the wolf dashed towards the top of the mountain.

    In no time, they reached the top.

    Looking down from the edge, Azzy used aura sensing to the maximum to get the whereabouts of his target.

    "2 kilometers away from here¡­" He mumbled and turned his head towards the direction where he sensed it.

    However, Azzy didn''t find any caves as he hoped. "Is it under the lava?"

    He can''t help but suspect that it is hiding.

    Azzy thought of running soul energy throughout his body to strengthen his defense while diving into the lava but the Reaper stopped him to do so.

    "You won''t survive if you go in, Azrael." The Reaper warned him. "The temperature inside will be twice that of the lava lake. If your Arcana spirit is of fire/water attribute, it might resist but Vajra is of a Lightning attribute. Even the Protos energy wouldn''t be able to save either of you."

    "Should I leave, then?" Since it is akin to suicide to go in, and pointless to wait, Azzy wondered whether he should look for other monsters to improve his soul power.

    In response, the Reaper suggested him to provoke the beast, instead.

    "Provoke? How?" He asked.

    The Reaper explained, "You can either send a powerful attack that will disturb the volcano or Vajra can release its aura to provoke for a battle."

    "I think the latter option is better." Azzy didn''t want to use the soul skill and cause a disturbance in the peaceful lava.

    What if his action causes the eruption?

    Azzy''s na?ve thoughts made the Reaper sigh.

    As a personification of death, he naturally doesn''t want his host to turn out to be a kind-natured brat. That kind of personality suits the heir of the light, not the death.

    The Reaper was worried that Azzy won''t be able to judge the people''s fate in the future without mercy if it goes on like this¡­

    ***

    Redwing Hotel, Estrya City;

    Iphi Magnolis, the sixth princess of Eastern Evenor was walking back and forth, in a dilemma.

    Originally, she was supposed to return to the Phoenix Academy. But, her sister said she had some business in this region.

    Iphi didn''t find anything amiss and followed her.

    She felt it doesn''t matter even if she were to spend a couple of days from the academy.

    After all, she already spent an entire week away because of her half-brother''s marriage.

    However, it was only after reaching the hotel did she hear from her sister that she came here to meet the boy that defeated her.

    Her sister even claimed that the boy is even worthy to be her fianc¨¦e, much less a Royal knight.

    Now that her sister is away, Iphi thought of running away.

    As long as she returns to the academy and asks the help of her grand-aunt, she would be able to escape the embarrassment of getting followed by a boy.

    Even though the phoenix academy is an all-girl academy, nevertheless, students like her that belong to royal families can bring a Royal knight with them.

    If it was some older guy, she wouldn''t be in this tough spot. Because of Azzy''s age, Iphi became troubled to being followed.

    As for Azzy''s opinion, she never considered it because of her status.

    After thinking for a long time, Iphi made a decision. She opened the door and walked away.

 Chapter 61: Chrono Rewind

    "Vajra, release your aura and drag the beast out of its hidden state." Choosing the second option, Azzy ordered the black wolf.

    *Grrr*

    Growling towards the lava that settled at the bottom of the volcano, the wolf released its aura to provoke the monster to battle.

    All of a sudden, the surroundings became chaotic.

    The beasts that are resting in the lava, the beasts that are battling some experts sensed its presence and started to run away towards the forest.

    None of them were willing to stay in a ten km radius around Azzy and his beast.

    Looking at such a scene, the adventurers wondered whether the Volcanus king woke up from its sleep.

    It is known that whenever this platinum-grade beast woke up, a volcanic eruption takes place.

    As monsters, naturally, they can sense natural disasters better than humans. So, everyone started to leave, right away. Even Gideon and Lark were no exceptions either.

    As for the four students who are still at rank-3, they were saved by the teachers and escorted away.

    Meanwhile, the beast that was resting in the magma, at the bottom of the volcano, felt its aura and started to dive further deep to escape for its life.

    Azzy was taken aback as he sensed what''s happening around him. "What''s happening? Did Vajra scare them away?"

    Only did then the Reaper remembered the most important thing and let out a deep sigh, ''I forgot the child neither know how to control his strength nor suppress his Arcana¡­''

    "My mistake, Azrael." The Reaper apologized, "I forgot that you hadn''t completed the Decarune sealing yet. I should have warned you about the suppression of celestial grade beast''s aura on lower grade beasts."

    The Reaper then ordered the wolf to retract its aura. Everything became calm quickly. The beasts no longer felt that terrifying aura.

    "Eh?" The Reaper''s response surprised him further. "Celestial grade?"

    He never heard of such a grade.

    Azzy then remembered the Reaper mentioned him once about how the black lightning wolf is on another level compared to platinum grade beasts.

    The boy thought it was only a top-tier beast. However, like others, he was also mistaken about its grade.

    It seems it wasn''t a platinum grade but a celestial-grade spirit.

    He wondered whether it comes after the platinum grade.

    Azzy then asked, "How many grades are there, Chronos? What is the highest grade of an Arcana spirit?"

    The Reaper answered, "In your textbooks, Arcana spirits from White, then goes on to, Red, Blue, Silver, Purple, Gold, and ends with Platinum grade. You also learned that a beast that goes under mutation two times will change its grade."

    "Like the Galarian beast," Azzy commented.

    "Then, ever wondered what would happen if a platinum grade spirit double mutates?" The Reaper asked.

    "Eh?" Azzy only thought it now. ''That''s right¡­ There''s no rule that Platinum grade spirit cannot mutate two times¡­''

    He then remembered something that the Reaper told him about the origins of Vajra.

    "Does that mean, due to the corruption of Protos energy, Vajra double mutated and became a celestial grade spirit?" Azzy asked him.

    "No." The Reaper replied that his conjecture was wrong. "Vajra was born as the celestial grade lightning spirit and mutated into a black lightning ball. If it mutates again, it will step into the next grade."

    "There''s one more above Celestial grade?" Azzy was shocked to hear it.

    The platinum grade itself scares many people. And now, he learned that there are even two higher grades above.

    "Yes¡­ Above platinum grade, there''s Celestial grade. After that, comes the Divine grade, which is the final stage. When a spirit reaches such a grade, in its next life, it will reborn at the Celestial world where the immortals reside."

    Azzy was stunned as he continued to listen.

    After all, it was unbelievable to hear such a grade even exists. According to Azzy, Gold grades are being treated as a genius. And people with platinum grade¡­ no need to mention about them. They are obviously stars wherever they are.

    However, now he heard that his black wolf not only is of celestial grade, and if it mutates just one more time, it will even reach divine grade? Just how crazy is that¡­

    So, he asked the Reaper whether there''s any existence of the beast in the past that was able to become a Divine grade.

    In response to his question, the Reaper answered with a Yes but when asked about it, he didn''t say the name and just told him that he wasn''t ready for it.

    As someone who trusted him a lot, Azzy didn''t probe it further and concentrated on the lava below him.

    Using aura sensing, he only found out that the beast has already escaped his 5 km range.

    Having no other choice, Azzy turned around to walk away.

    Right then, the Reaper''s voice once again sounded in his head. "There are no people around you, right now. You can take advantage of the situation and attack the lava to drag it out as long as you dispel the wolf."

    "But, it was already out of my sensing range. How would I even able to attack it?" Azzy asked him.

    If the attack won''t even reach it, it wouldn''t make sense that it would come out, right?

    In response, the Reaper chuckled, "did you forget your strongest weapon, the hourglass?"

    "You mean Chrono Rewind?" As soon as the Reaper brought up the usage of the hourglass, Azzy immediately realized what he was supposed to do it.

    It was one of the soul skills that will let him rewind the time of a target. Upon turning back their time, they will revert to the state and appear at the place where they were supposed to be, at that particular point in time.

    However, the only issue that''s bothering him is the control. What if he rewinds its time more than necessary?

    The Reaper who understood his thoughts said, "You don''t need to worry about that. In your current state, the most you turn back the time is around 1 week. So, even if the Volcanus King went on a rampage that day, it would still be nearby. You can catch it up either way."

 Chapter 62: Volcanus King mutates

    Trusting his words, Azzy nodded and dismissed the wolf before he summoned the hourglass.

    Turning it upside down, he spoke, "Soul skill: Chrono Rewind."

    Pouring his soul energy into the hourglass, he activated the skill. As the white sand slowly falling onto the sand, meanwhile, the beast felt some invisible force is dragging it upwards.

    It roared and tried to resist but the force appeared invincible.

    He didn''t know how many hours or days he was rewinding its time but within a few seconds, it reached the surface of the volcano and then was forced to lie on its back and float on the lava.

    Only then, it realized the force disappeared.

    As its eyes captured the sky, it then saw a boy was standing on the edge of the volcano, looking at it while holding a seemingly ordinary hourglass.

    Azzy quickly dismissed the hourglass as soon as he saw the platinum grade Volcanus king.

    He immediately summoned the death scythe that''s almost twice his size and raised it over his head.

    Azzy didn''t waste time to attack using the soul skill.

    "Soul skill: Slice of Death."

    His eyes turned pitch black with no visible pupils while his weapon was greedily absorbing every drop of his soul energy.

    The monster frowned as it sensed some unfamiliar energy from above. When it tried to sense its power, it felt the energy wasn''t comparable to the aura it sensed earlier.

    However, thinking of the earlier events¡­ first, a terrifying aura, then, forced to float on the lava, and now the energy from the scythe¡­ it felt the three are connected as they happened one after another.

    The beast somehow stood up on its four legs without drowning and then, controlled the lava beneath it to rise towards the top.

    Finding the beast coming towards him, Azzy thought the situation turned out better since he doesn''t have to waste the attack on provocation.

    He swung the scythe towards the uprising lava where the beast was standing.

    A huge arc filled with death energy cut the air as it traveled towards the target at a fast pace.

    Just as it was about to hit the Volcanus King, Azzy saw it suddenly disappeared.

    No¡­ It''s more like it drowned itself into the lava.

    The attack hit the lava and sliced into two parts, making its way towards the bottom.

    As time passed, the arc became thinner and smaller. Eventually, it disappeared after 10-15 seconds.

    Meanwhile, due to the disturbance caused by the energy attack, the uprising lava only became wilder and its temperature and speed suddenly increased tremendously.

    If Azzy either would have at least about the volcanoes, he would have found something is off about the behavior of the lava in the volcano.

    There are no tremors, no gasses being released. It was just lava that was rising as if it became angry.

    But, he was too young and didn''t have a proper education either. So, he didn''t find anything amiss and thought it was normal.

    So, he didn''t put his attention on it and looked for the beast. "Where did it disappear, all of a sudden?"

    He activated his aura sensing again to sense its location. "Eh?"

    He sensed its position didn''t change a bit.

    "Did it become invisible or something?" Azzy wondered as he was looking at the visual of the aura while the beast appeared invisible. "I see¡­ This is why the attack passed through its body and hit the lava. That was some convenient ability."

    "Azrael, use the flying card, now." The Reaper reminded him to fly away as the lava almost reached him.

    Azzy, who was in the middle of his thoughts, quickly took out the gold-grade flying card from his storage card.

    Unlike the skill cards, the item cards such as flying cards, storage cards, disguise cards, levitation cards, etc¡­ don''t have ranks but were divided into grades.

    They can be used by any soul-rank Arcana master as long as they continue to supply soul energy to them.

    The higher the grade, the greater their quality and consumption of soul power will be¡­

    It was one of the items given by his grandpa when he left for the Death clan.

    Due to not getting any opportunity to use it, he didn''t use it, until now.

    Using the flying card, as he rose up in the air and got out of the range, the lava flew out of the volcano and started to flow down like a river from all sides, joining the lava lake.

    Since there''s no presence of humans around except for himself, Azzy didn''t care about the volcanic eruption and focused on locating his target.

    He found the beast was now ended up somewhere in the middle of the lake.

    "Hmm?" Azzy stared at it, intently, for a while as he sensed its aura was becoming slightly stronger. "Is the beast absorbing the fire energy?"

    Since it appeared invisible, Azzy thought attacking is only a waste of time and soul power and just concentrated on the flying card to go near to it.

    Even though it was his first time controlling it, Azzy was able to go in the exact direction he intended to go.

    The flying card traveled straight until it reached the spot and halted, a few meters away from the beast that was standing on the lava and was constantly absorbing the fire energy from it, just like he expected.

    A few minutes later, the density of its aura grew further. Azzy felt it is now far stronger than the Galarian beast.

    Soon, the invisibility wore off and he saw the quadrupedal beast that used to be in maroon-color was now golden. The black spikes on its back now grew bigger and sharper. The hoop over its head was gone while its golden eyes turned red.

    *Roar*

    It let out a powerful roar before raising its head to look at Azzy.

    "Now that you aided its mutation, get ready to free the lava spirit too." The Reaper''s voice echoed in his head.

    "Eh? Lava spirit?" Azzy was taken aback. "What are you talking about?"

 Chapter 63: Nature spirit

    "Don''t you find it odd about the behavior of the volcano?" The Reaper responded to him with a question instead of directly explaining about the lava spirit.

    "hmm?" Azzy didn''t get what he is talking about. "What behavior?"

    The Reaper then gave him a clue, "like erupting very frequently to make sure the lava lake never hardens up."

    "So, are you telling me that this volcano was actually some platinum-grade beast in disguise?" Based on his clue and his earlier words about a lava spirit, Azzy tried to guess the answer.

    But then, he shook his head, "no, it can''t be. Even if its disguise is perfect, one can still able to sense its rank unless it completely suppressed its strength to zero.

    Others may not able to find it out but during the earlier commotion, when I tried to sense the Volcanus king, I didn''t find any other presence¡­ Wait a second."

    Something clicked in his mind, and he mumbled, "lava¡­"

    Azzy looked at the lava lake and said, "Chronos¡­ is it possible that the magma that was flowing beneath the volcano is the one that you are referring to? If the entire lava is a beast, since its core is located far away from the range, no one would be able to sense its presence."

    "Exactly¡­" The Reaper confirmed his thoughts. He was satisfied with Azzy''s thoughts.

    If anyone hears Azzy''s theory, they would think he was crazy. Azzy himself wouldn''t believe if the same theory was told by someone but he knew that the Reaper can''t lie.

    So, when he thought deeply about his words, he found the answer.

    "What you thought is right. However, there''s a small correction. The core wasn''t beneath the volcano but inside the beast."

    "Eh?" Azzy was taken aback and looked at the beast that was staring at him in silence.

    "This lava spirit is different from the ones you know. It is called a nature spirit.

    All the spirits must go through the reincarnation point to acquire a materialistic body in their next life.

    Before that, they will be judged by the Goddess of Judgment. Based on one''s deeds, she will judge where the spirit will reincarnate in its next life.

    Due to the fear, some of the spirits will try to escape the spirit world in whatever way they can, before the judgment has been passed on.

    Celestial grade beasts are too powerful to be restricted by the laws of the spirit world or the material world.

    So, they can just leave the spirit world and naturally choose a worthy host on their own just like Vajra.

    Meanwhile, due to the lack of security provided by that Spirit King, from time to time, it is common that some of the lower grade spirits will also get successful in escaping.

    However, the material world laws restrict them to possess a human body.

    As a result, they will be returned to the Netherworld and get their punishment for trying to break the laws.

    But if the escapee is a platinum-grade beast, they were able to resist it to some extent but will be trapped in the form of natural bodies such as a river, lava, mountains, lakes, ash, clouds, etc¡­

    The reason you or anyone wasn''t able to sense it, until now, is because this spirit tried to merge with the Volcanus king''s spirit.

    However, in the process, instead of getting merged, the Volcanus devoured its spirit due to the difference in their strength. This is the reason it was able to control a part of lava.

    Although it is still incomplete, I can see that almost three-fourths have been consumed.

    Once it consumes completely, the beast will be able to control the entire lava on the outside as well as the magma river that was flowing down beneath the volcano."

    "The result would be disastrous¡­" Azzy mumbled in shock as he imagined the beast summoning the entire magma beneath the volcano and attack the humans. That kind of power is dangerous.

    "That isn''t the main issue here, Azrael." The Reaper once again interrupted his thoughts. "Merging the soul itself is a heavy crime according to the celestial laws. It is your duty to kill the beast and send those spirits to the spirit world, so that, they will face proper punishment."

    "Huh!" Azzy was surprised upon hearing the Reaper''s explanation. It isn''t because of the new knowledge he received from him but rather on how he is more focused on punishing the criminal.

    Azzy then remembered the incident where he took away Vajra''s life too. He then realized the Reaper mentioned another odd thing. "Wait a second. Why it is my duty to free the spirit?" He asked.

    The Reaper fell silent for a few seconds, cursing himself for his slip-up.

    After quickly thinking of a reason, he then gave a lesson, "The more powerful one gets, the more responsible they will have to be, for the world they live in.

    After all, you can''t become powerful by yourself. You can''t even grow by yourself.

    The food you eat, the water you drink, the monsters you hunt, everything was nature''s gift. After taking away resources from nature, if you won''t return something, then, you are equal as a sinner."

    "Got it" Azzy understood what the Reaper was trying to tell him but he felt something amiss with his wording, although he can''t put his finger on it.

    The Reaper then sighed in relief and then, suddenly, his eyes widened as if he was surprised because of something. "Just one small incident changed that much?" He mumbled to himself. Only he knew the meaning behind the sentence.

    Redwing Hotel, Estrya City;

    Sapphire returns to the city while riding on her griffin. Due to the restrictions placed by the authorities, she didn''t fly within the city and ordered the Griffin run, on the way.

    Reaching the hotel, she dismissed the beast and went to her room to rest until the boy activates the fixed teleportation card and teleport directly to the hotel lobby.

    Just as she opened the door, the princess was stunned to find her sister is missing. "Iphi¡­"

 Chapter 64: Rain of Death

    Finding her little sister missing, Sapphire became worried about whether she was abducted. They are from the Royal family, after all. Getting kidnapped in exchange for money is common for them.

    However, what she was worried about is whether the abductor was an enemy. She didn''t even think of Iphi leave on her own as she knew that the girl always obeys her words.

    Not intending to waste any time, she hurriedly went downstairs and contacted the manager.

    If it has happened on their home planet, she would instantly ask the government for help to track her whereabouts through the satellite.

    But this is a place that is placed in a different dimension and was trapped by a barrier.

    Due to a pact made by all the nations, things like electricity, vehicles, military weapons, satellites, etc¡­ are forbidden in this region.

    Sure, one can bring them secretively by the storage cards. However, once get caught, they will be severely punished.

    So, Sapphire had no choice but to depend on the staff that might have spotted her.

    Sadly, what she received was a piece of bad news. For a whole hour, they searched every corner of the hotel and returned empty-handed.

    She was enraged and shouted at the manager, "A person was missing from the hotel and you say none of you even spot her while leaving? It isn''t even midnight. Are all of your staff members sleeping in broad daylight?"

    "I apologize, Your highness¡­" What can the manager do, except for apologizing, in place of the staff¡­

    She glared at him and said, "Mark my words. If I find my sister was really abducted and fallen into trouble, you can be sure that this building will be razed to the ground."

    After giving them the warning, she walked out of the door in worry while taking out a purple grade item card called a message card, which can be used to send a message to a person who owns the other card that''s linked with it.

    "Uncle, Iphi is missing. Contact the authorities and help me find her."

    As the entire city of Estrya turned upside down with finding the ten-year-old girl, meanwhile, at the lava lake, Azzy was dodging the lava attack by the Volcanus king.

    With his soul power nearly empty, he used Soul absorption on the beast, so that he can recover while injuring it heavily in the process.

    However, just as he absorbed a couple of thousand worth of soul power, this mutated platinum grade beast used the lava to protect itself by forming a thick layer over it.

    When it didn''t work, it immediately controlled nearby lava to attack him. A certain volume of lava rose like a tide and attacked him.

    Azzy immediately dodged the attack and then, found that he wasn''t able to absorb its soul power, anymore.

    "So, that means, I need to stay still, huh!" Because of this battle, he found out his soul skill''s weakness.

    So far, he thought that as long as he uses Soul absorption, he is invincible against anyone that''s equal or below his rank. He now realized that his soul skill isn''t invincible.

    It let him wonder whether there are weaknesses for his other skills too. Azzy decided to work on them after finishing off this beast.

    Looking at it, the Reaper smiled. He was happy at Azzy''s progress. He wondered whether it is better for him to leave Azzy on his own, at least in this battle.

    He wanted to see, how he would fare without his guidance.

    "There are no beasts in the surrounding either," Azzy mumbled, dodging another lava tide. "That means, I can''t absorb the soul power from others."

    Having no other choice, Azzy then took out one of his recovery cards to replenish his soul energy. However, he found out none of them are peak-grade ones.

    Maybe, it''s because his grandpa was a rank-4 in the future and wasn''t able to craft them. Or maybe, his grandpa thought that they won''t be necessary as Azzy was going to the Death clan. So, he would have an enormous amount of resources.

    For whatever reason, except for one, the remaining nine are of beginner level. So, each one only recovered 1000-5000 soul power. It took all ten of them to let him recover 90% of his soul power.

    Since he can''t waste soul power too much, Azzy decided not to depend on soul skills and only use them when it''s absolutely necessary.

    Dodging its attack once more, Azzy controlled the flying card and flew towards the shore.

    Due to its limited control over the lava lake, the beast wasn''t able to attack him.

    Stepping onto the shore, he dismissed the flying card, back to the storage, and then looked at the ball of lava, inside which the beast was staying still.

    "Is it trying to merge further?" He wondered.

    Azzy then raised his death scythe, up above his head, and ran soul energy through it.

    "Soul skill: Rain of Death."

    Previously, he felt the need to use the soul skills only when it''s necessary but to attract its attention, in the end, he still used the soul skill anyway.

    A dark cloud slowly started to form above his death scythe. As his soul power steadily decreased, its size started to increase.

    Soon, it became a giant cloud, spanning over 50 meters in size.

    As it completely formed, Azzy heard thunder within in and black rain started to fall.

    Since he''s the user, they didn''t harm him. However, the land around him that was hit by the black raindrops slowly started to melt. As a result, Azzy sunk for a couple of feet.

    As for the lava before him, as soon as the drops hit the surface, even the high-temperature liquid started to vaporize. However, due to the massive size of the lava volume, its energy was absorbed and wasn''t that much affected.

    With his death scythe as a steering wheel, he controlled the movements of the cloud.

    The dark cloud slowly made its way towards the giant ball of lava and stopped right above it.

    Slowly, the death energy started to vaporize the protective shield.

    Within no time, the beast roared in pain as a drop of black rain fell on a spike that was located on its head and was completely melted as a result.

 Chapter 65: Chasing the Volcanus King

    *Graa¡­*

    The beast roared in pain as the lava protection disappeared and its skin started to men, the moment it was touched by the black rain.

    It no longer concentrated on merging and controlled all the lava around it to rise and attack towards the cloud.

    The cloud was hit by the large volumes of lava. Clearly, continuous small drops of rain weren''t able to stop and got overpowered.

    However, the moment they touched the cloud, all of them were just absorbed into the cloud and the rain started to thicker.

    Still, the rain wasn''t able to hit the beast as it continues to gather the lava and directed them to above its head.

    The lava started to disappear and the rain continued to thicken but the beast didn''t stop its attempt.

    As for why didn''t it flee yet, is because of the large area that the cloud covered. With the rain thickened, if it would step out, all of its skin would melt away and will leave with a skeleton in the end.

    Five minutes later, the rain stopped and the cloud disappeared. Meanwhile, the depth level of Lava Lake decreased from 3 ft to 2ft.

    It just tells how much amount did the beast use just to ward off the attack.

    "Too bad that my objective failed but it fell five minutes¡­ Good." Azzy who actually hoped for the beast to move from the spot was disappointed with the result.

    Still, the fact that the death rain fell for five minutes straight, made him satisfy with it.

    Somehow, a feeling of desire to test it stemmed in his heart. He wanted to use it on other creatures and see its limitations and all.

    *Graa...*

    The Volcanus king''s roar brought him back to reality.

    He saw it spotted him and stared at him for a few seconds, but then, to his surprise, instead of rushing with rage, it turned into a scaredy-cat and started to escape towards the volcano.

    Right now, it wanted to go back and hide within the volcano to complete the merging. As it etched his image in its mind, the monster decides to retreat for now and take revenge, later.

    However, it was too na?ve to think that Azzy would let that happen.

    Once he decided on something, he will do it for sure.

    Summoning the black wolf again, he ordered it to chase the beast.

    *wow*

    It accepted his orders and started to rush. At the same time, Azzy took out the flying card once again and chase after both of them.

    As a beast of the lightning attribute, naturally, Vajra''s speed was top-notch. It easily caught up with the fleeing beast and tried to attack with its paw but the beast controlled the lava to block its attack.

    The wolf dodged the lava, making a zig-zag movement, and bites one of the Volcanus spikes that are on its back.

    It roared once again as one of its spikes was removed from his back.

    The wolf didn''t stop there. Following the bite, it raised its claws once again and invoked the soul skill.

    A huge dark wolf paw appeared in the air with its claws extending from it.

    As the wolf motioned its paws, the energy claws attacked it once again.

    Although the Volcanus beast tried to defend it with the lava, its speed turned out to be slower and the attack landed.

    Three big claw marks appeared on its back and it started to bleed. This attack hurt it a lot. Even though it didn''t see the attack, as a platinum-grade beast, it felt this is a soul skill too.

    Being a defensive-type monster, Vajra''s attack also didn''t do much damage to it. So, if it ignores the pain, it would be able to escape easily.

    However, the fact that it was escaping from a high-rank-4 beast hurt its pride.

    This time, it was thoroughly enraged and suddenly, a crazy thought emerged into its mind.

    Since this beast is of higher grade, if it consumes the flesh of this beast, it felt its merging would become a success and its soul quality will improve further.

    In the end, it decided to fight against it and stopped.

    As it turned around, Vajra also stopped its movements and stood still on the surface of lava while growling at it.

    It was actually waiting for Azzy''s arrival but too bad that the speed of the flying card is extremely slow. So, the battle resumed without his presence.

    The beast, this time, went on the offensive. It didn''t waste any time to use its soul skill.

    Its spikes on the back started to glow and the beast opened up its mouth.

    Similar to the earlier one, small orbs made of lava started to rise up from the lake.

    The Volcanus king controlled the lava spheres and attacked the wolf, one by one.

    Vajra is a beast with the specialty of speed. How can it be hit by those slow attacks?

    Naturally, it dodged them and counter attacked it by scratching its shoulder. Since it wasn''t a soul skill, it didn''t do much damage to it.

    The beast put up with it and attacked it with the lava spheres again. Like the wolf expected, they weren''t gone after they missed it.

    12 lava spheres continuously aggressively attacked the wolf.

    Vajra, on the other hand, was just counterattacking with simple scratching or biting, after it received the order from Azzy to not use the Soul skills.

    A few moments later, Azzy who caught up with the both of them saw they were in an intense battle against each other.

    Vajra no longer appeared dominating the battle, now. Volcanus King''s 12 sphere balls are moving in a completely random manner.

    Trying to help out the wolf, he didn''t hesitate to activate another soul skill that belongs to the Reaper.

    "Soul skill: Eyes of God."

    Azzy''s eyes turned pitch black with no visible pupils. By activating God''s eyes, he was able to see everything in his surroundings.

    Unlike the aura sensing, it appeared as if he was looking at the entire 1 km range from the sky.

    At the same time, everything appeared slow to him as well whether it is the movement of the lava spheres or the black lightning wolf''s fast-paced attacks.

    He observed their conditions.

    First, he looked at his Arcana.

    Looking at the burn on the wolf''s ear and its right leg, Azzy thought it might have been hit in the process.

    Then, he observed the beast and shook his head, "It is a mess¡­"

    *wow*

    Smelling his presence, Vajra barked in response.

    "Vajra, attack its left shoulder joint." He gave out a quick order.

    "Soul skill: Extreme Bite."

    The wolf''s canines grew sharp upon activating its soul skill. Lightning sparks danced around its legs for a second before it dashed towards the beast.

    The Volcanus king tried to attack it with the lava spheres again but none of them were able to hit and the wolf this time, targeted its left shoulder where its skin melted and only a piece of bones was showing.

    *Graa¡­*

    Suddenly, it felt the wolf''s bite force increased tremendously and before it know what''s going on the beast felt its entire arm was missing and it was in Vajra''s mouth, which it threw away.

    Its eyes widened in shock. It finally experienced the difference between the two of them.

    Glancing at the boy in the air, the Volcanus king once again started to flee. Until now, it felt like it was able to succeed with its attempt but now, as soon as this fellow appeared and gave one simple order, the beast felt the tides have turned.

    Once it was sure that it can''t kill it under Azzy''s watch, it only had one plan. To get back to its home and recuperate.

    One other reason that it was confident in escaping is because of Azzy''s low speed.

    The beast didn''t think that Azzy won''t be able to catch up with its speed. The present situation itself is the proof for it.

    As long as he won''t be near them, the wolf cannot receive his guidance and will only attack wildly like earlier. Even if it uses the soul skill, its back is sturdy either way.

    In the end, the chase resumed once again.

    Vajra continued to attack the running beast. Volcanus King put up with its defense.

    Soon, both of them reached the foot of the mountain.

    Because of less volume of lava, the Volcanus was forced to use one of its soul skills to make its body as hard as steel.

    Because of the high reuse time of the skill, it didn''t use it against Azzy''s black rain but now, after getting heavily injured, without the protection of lava, it felt the need to do it.

    Half an hour later, Vajra and the Volcanus king reached the edge of the volcano.

    As some time passed after the volcanic eruption, the lava returned to the base of the volcano.

    Standing at the edge, it laughed before diving into the lava. The wolf wasn''t able to follow it and stared at the falling beast in anger.

    Right then, all of a sudden, it saw the beast stopped in the mid-air like a statue.

    Vajra was taken aback in surprise. It became confused as it didn''t know what''s going on.

    For a whole minute, the beast was just suspended in the air.

    Slowly, the flying card lowered its altitude and it saw Azzy landed beside it. Along with the death scythe, he also has the hourglass.

    With its one hand, he raised the death scythe over his head and spoke, "Soul skill: Cursed Skulls."

 Chapter 66: Breakthrough to rank-5

    Teleportation point, Estrya city;

    The authorities in the Arcana world have built one teleportation point in every city to make sure the people can teleport to their desire location.

    However, there''s a catch. To go through the teleportation formation and leave the city, one must have their identification document of any kind; one must have the access badge which will only let them teleport to similar regions; and lastly, one must have enough money.

    As long as one has these three things, the guards wouldn''t care even if it''s a person with a criminal record, of course, it is only restricted to Gaia.

    If a person is a wanted criminal in Arcana world, he/she would be apprehended on the spot.

    Iphi reached the only teleportation point in the city. Thankfully, she arrived long before the volcanic eruption, so, there weren''t that many people here.

    In no time, her turn came in.

    The guardian/gatekeeper ignored her and looked at the woman who was standing behind her and asked, "Is she related to you?"

    While the woman was taken aback because of a sudden question, Iphi calmly answered in her place, "no. We aren''t related. I need to go to Central city. Here are my student ID and level-2 access badge."

    She then handed the credit card to him.

    "Are you alone? Where are your parents? If you are lost, we can help you out." Because of her age, the guardian thought she might have been lost...

    In response to his question, Iphi released her aura, surprising everyone around her.

    The gatekeeper was stunned to see a fellow rank-4 before him. He immediately looked at her ID and was shocked to see that she was indeed a young girl as he thought.

    What''s more shocking is that this ten-year-old girl managed to suppress her strength to rank-2. This is the reason he wasn''t able to found her original rank.

    As he was rooted to the ground like a statue, Iphi spoke, "Hurry up, mister. I need to get back to the Academy."

    "Ah, Yes." He nodded and moved aside to give her the way.

    Taking back her things, she walked to the formation and stayed still until another guardian who was working as an activator, took out a card and activated the teleportation formation with a dumbfounded look on his face.

    This peak rank-5 was also surprised by her soul rank.

    As the formation activated, she disappeared instantly.

    Looking at it, the guardian at the entrance mumbled, "Phoenix academy students are really different from the rest."

    *****

    Mt. Estrya;

    "Soul skill: Cursed skulls"

    Almost instantly, three energy-made skulls which are as big as Azzy''s head appeared at the tip of the scythe.

    Vajra looked at them, curiously. After all, it was the first time it was being a bystander when its host was acting.

    Other times, since it was also participating in battle, it won''t get to observe Azzy''s other soul skills from up close.

    Feeling the mixture of death and Protos energies, it was awed to see it from up close.

    Meanwhile, the time resumed and the beast continued to fall.

    As it was falling freely with its back facing the sky, it was unable to see Azzy.

    But, it felt like dangerous energy above it. It had the same feeling when it faced the black rain.

    It turned its head to see what''s happening.

    Its eyes widened in surprise.

    Just a few seconds ago, before it jumps, it clearly saw Azzy was far away.

    It wondered whether he used a teleportation skill card or something.

    In the next second, it quickly threw away the useless thoughts as soon as it saw the three skulls at the tip of the blade.

    At the instant, it remembered the scene of the black rain. It might not fear the wolf but it was scared of this mysterious boy.

    The platinum-grade beast quickly tried to control the calm lava, a kilometer beneath it, to rise and form a wall so that it may get enough time to escape.

    However, Azzy didn''t give it the chance to do that.

    "Goodbye." Azzy swung it down with every ounce of his strength while almost emptying his soul energy.

    Before the lava even rose a hundred meters, the first skull hit its back and disappeared.

    In the first second, it felt its body started to become numb. It wasn''t able to feel its front or hind limbs.

    In the next second, the second skull hit its back, and it felt some unfamiliar energy in its body, corrupting all of its soul energy. It lost its control over the lava in the process and the uprising lava stopped in the midway.

    In the final second, the last skull hit at the same spot, and all of its life force was sucked away. All of its organs stopped functioning.

    Just three seconds and the Volcanus beast ended up dead, leaving behind a platinum-colored soul orb, which kept on floating in the air while the rest of the body fell into the lava.

    "Good job, Azrael." The Reaper praised him for taking action at the perfect time. "The spirits of the Volcanus King and lava returned to the spirit world. The Celestial world is going to send a replacement for the Volcanus king to maintain the order here. So, you don''t need to worry about that. Now, go and absorb the soul power."

    Even though Azzy never asked about it, the Reaper revealed the information on purpose as he knew Azzy''s personality very well.

    If not now, in the future when he learns of the region king''s duty, he will hesitate to kill them.

    "Got it." Even though he didn''t understand what the Reaper is talking about, Azzy simply nodded as his entire focus in on the beautiful orb before his eyes.

    Dismissing the weapons into his soul card, Azzy stepped onto the flying card and slowly flew towards the soul orb.

    Placing his palm on it, Azzy absorbed it, almost instantly.

    He then felt a surge in soul energy within his body.

    In the meantime, the power was refined into his soul energy, letting him gain 25 thousand worth of soul power, instantly boosting his soul rank to beginner rank-5 without facing any issues.

    Due to the surge of energy, he felt the soul energy within his body started to run wild.

    To stabilize it, he immediately sat in a meditative position, not caring about the heat from the lava below.

    Inside his soul space, a fifth planet that is ten times bigger than the previous one has been formed.

    Half an hour later, Azzy stood up on his feet after suppressing all of the soul energy into the soul orb. He also felt his soul orb grew larger, thereby increasing the maximum capacity.

    He summoned his soul card and looked at it. The number changed to 105452.

    "Is this because the beast was a mutated one?" Azzy asked the Reaper about the reason for the massive boost of soul power.

    In the last week, when he killed a gold-grade peak-rank 4 snake, he only received 900 worth of soul emergency.

    But, now, he received almost 30 times the soul power. Azzy can''t help but doubt it.

    The Reaper confirmed his guess, "yes. Usually, if you kill a peak rank-4 platinum grade beast and absorb its soul energy, you would receive around 10 thousand worth of soul energy but it is something that has been mutated once more, and only a step away from Celestial grade. That''s why you received 25 thousand worth of soul power.

    Too bad that it isn''t of a lightning attribute or else, Vajra would have gained something more¡­ Anyway, now, you should focus on completing the seal as soon as possible. After returning, your priority must be the Decarune seal."

    "I understand." Azzy nodded.

    "Oh! By the way, the teleportation card..." The Reaper then reminded him about the lady from the Magnolis family.

    As Reaper was constantly pressing him to meet her, he decided to meet her but only after he contacts his teachers and classmates.

    Due to the earlier commotion, they were separated and now, the teachers don''t even know his location.

    Reaching the shores of the lava lake, Azzy started to walk towards the harbor where they first landed and decided to meet, later, during their return.

    As he was returning to the meeting place, Azzy saw the forest is completely in chaos, right now.

    Various types of beasts are running amok while the Arcana masters and the authorities are currently dealing with them.

    "Hey, kid, what are you doing here?" A beginner level rank-5 guardian who was fighting against a peak level rank-4 monster, shouted as he saw him. "Go away. It is dangerous."

    After warning him, he didn''t place his attention on him any longer and continued to battle the beast.

    Azzy felt guilty for he''s the one that''s responsible for the situation. So, he wanted to help them out but then, the Reaper warned him about the consequences.

    "Azrael, you aren''t strong enough to expose your strength to the world. You also have an ambiguous background. The best you can do is to quietly train and increase your strength to rank-7 and get out of here after you fulfilled your objective."

    "But¡­" Azzy tried to argue with the reaper that he needs to be responsible for his actions. In return, the reaper explained that the authorities are strong enough to take care of the situation.

    When Azzy wasn''t satisfied with the answer, the Reaper further said to complete the Decarune sealing, which not only helps with his control but also conceals his real soul rank from others.

    Filled with unwillingness, Azzy had to walk away from there.

    Meanwhile, once again, the Reaper stared blankly for a couple of seconds and mumbled to himself, "Good¡­ another event has been prevented, although the end remains the same. I wonder where the trigger is¡­"

 Chapter 67: Leonard compromises with Azzy

    Estrya harbor;

    Six Grade-8 students and their homeroom teacher are waiting for the remaining people to return.

    Gideon was staring at the volcano in worry.

    Looking at his expression, their homeroom teacher Rubin, patted his shoulder, and said, "There''s no need to worry about Azrael. He''s a lot stronger than you imagine. Unless the King made its move, I''m confident that he will be alright. Moreover, Teacher Uphiar left in search of Azzy. He''ll bring him back."

    Even after hearing his explanation, Gideon''s expression didn''t change. He wouldn''t be worried about his friend even if the platinum-grade beast went on a rampage.

    However, this is a natural disaster.

    When a natural disaster occurs, unless one is at least rank-5, they wouldn''t be able to resist and get out unharmed, no matter, how much potential, they have.

    Soon, the rest of the students also arrived at the place.

    Following the volcanic eruption and the commotion raised by the beasts that are from the lava lake and the nearby surroundings, the City Mayor ordered the guardians to take care of the situation as well as to check upon the Volcanus King.

    However, before they even arrived at the lake, Azzy killed it, thereby causing a chain reaction, making all the beasts present on the island, go into a frenzy.

    Having no other choice, the Mayor issued an emergency.

    Following the order, the guardians arrived at the island and evacuated every one else while closing off the island temporarily.

    Due to the sudden situation, the ninth and tenth graders were also forced to return to the harbor.

    While the other visitors are leaving, the students stayed at the harbor, waiting for Azzy and Uphiar.

    Soon, they were the only outsiders left on the island.

    "What are you doing here? The island was temporarily closed¡­" A guardian said to the students and the two teachers. "Please leave¡­"

    In response, Gideon spoke, "our friend hasn''t returned yet."

    The homeroom teacher supported his statement, "our colleague went to look for him. Give us five minutes."

    However, the guardian was adamant about his decision. "Provide us the details and his photo. We will contact you when we find him. For now, please leave the island."

    "Not necessary." A voice was heard from above them. Everyone raised their heads.

    Uphiar and Azzy were standing on some kind of carpet.

    "Azrael, you are finally here." The homeroom teacher sighed in relief, upon seeing the arrival of him.

    Due to the commotion caused by the monsters and the fellow visitors, he wasn''t able to track down Azzy and only brought back the remaining ones. Like Gideon, he was also worried, inside.

    It''s not like he was worried about Azzy''s life. Once a person becomes a rank-4 and broke the first shackles of mortality, they can take their decisions on their own.

    It''s more like he was worried about his neck.

    As Azzy is his responsibility, he feared the wrath of the principal if the boy were to get harmed in the process.

    It''s not only him. The other teachers also feared the same. That''s the reason why Uphiar volunteered to search for him, instead of simply reporting to the authorities.

    But soon, their expressions changed from being relieved to shock. Even the guardian was perplexed at the moment.

    The carpet landed on the ground and Azzy stepped forward.

    "Sorry for the trouble," Uphiar said to the guardian while folding the carpet. "We are leaving, right away."

    "Ah, Yes." The rank-5 Guardian stared at Azzy for a few seconds before giving them a nod and left the place.

    "Where did you go?" Gideon asked as Azzy stood beside him.

    "Here and there¡­ busy with fighting the monsters," Azzy replied vaguely.

    Everyone thought he was probably stuck with the monsters that went on a rampage. The teachers also thought the same, thinking that it made sense, considering his current level that they were sensing.

    "Congratulations, junior Azrael." All of a sudden, The Galarian beast that is in the disguise of Leonard, spoke to him.

    The students around him turned their heads in confusion.

    Bay Passel, who was standing behind the prince, frowned deeply. He clearly knew the reason behind Leo''s words.

    Looking at the confused students, Leo smiled, "welcome to the rank-5 club."

    Feeling his potential, the Galarian beast wanted to befriend him, so that, when its life gets in danger, Azzy will be forced to help it out.

    After all, it knew that Leo''s relationship with Azzy isn''t good. Since there are no witnesses either, it can easily claim that Azzy was the one that killed Leo and threatened it to take his place.

    With their bad relationship, the Royal family will believe its lie and they would enough reason to kill Azzy.

    When both of the time comes, it can blackmail the boy, making such a point. It was clearly thinking that Azzy was just a kid and can be manipulated easily, not knowing its secret was already exposed to him.

    Following its plan, Leo put forth his hand for a handshake. It was also a gesture to others that he was willing to put aside their differences, from now onwards.

    However, Azzy didn''t take his hand and simply nodded in response.

    Leo''s face darkened at first, but then, thinking that isn''t that easy for the kid to forget the ambush incident, he calmly placed his hand down.

    Right then, Exea, who was standing silently behind the grade-9 students, opened her mouth, "Student Azrael might be the youngest student from our academy to reach rank-5, right?"

    She also congratulates Rubin for acquiring such a genius.

    He can''t help but forcefully smile. After all, Azzy was his student, only in name. Every teacher knows of it.

    Meanwhile, the remaining students now realized the reason behind Leo''s changed behavior.

    Reaching rank-5 at such age means he will likely become rank-6 before his graduation.

    Such a person will not be protected by the academy, but also the government.

    With sufficient support, Azzy''s future will be limitless. And with such a person, even the Royal family can''t lay their hands on them.

    So, enmity with Azzy isn''t worth the risk to Leonard over such petty arguments.

    That''s what grade-9 students thought. As for the others from grade-10, they believed that Leo was just putting a false pretense since they knew his character very well.

    If it was the real Leo, they would have been right. However, the reality is much different. They didn''t know that Leo was dead and was replaced by a beast.

    At the same time, they also felt embarrassed by getting surpassed by a junior. Moreover, he isn''t a mere junior by one year either. Their age gap is also quite big.

    Hearing that a 12-year-old student achieved such a result, while the rest of them are still at peak-level, rank-4 stage, they didn''t know how to react to it.

    If it was someone else, sure, they would have felt happy that their fellow student is a genius, however, Azzy was someone they outcasted from the beginning.

    Even though they felt embarrassed, one after the other, the rest of the students congratulated Azzy, who responded with nothing but a plain nod.

    "Okay, let''s aboard the ship." Uphiar clapped to get attention and explained that they had to return to the academy, now that they can no longer continue with the trip.

    The students were indeed disappointed. Except for Azzy, no one, on the day, was able to make a breakthrough.

    With the monthly tournament is near, the students encouraged themselves to work hard during the next week.

    One after the other, the students got on to the ship.

    As the ship started to sail towards the city, Azzy sat in the corner, sitting alone. Gideon sat with him.

    As for the remaining, no one went near.

    Previously, no one bothered to talk with him but now, those people that expressed their willingness to ignore Azzy didn''t even dare to go near him.

    Looking at the murderous gaze on Bay, Gideon whispered to Azzy, "Did you know that you will be going to tournament finals directly?"

    "Hmm?" Azzy looked at him.

    Gideon continued, "Those who reach rank-5 won''t need to participate in preliminary rounds."

    "But, I heard that the student''s soul power will be restricted to the same level as his opponent with a lower level." Azzy wondered why he would go to finals, directly, if the rankings of their soul don''t matter.

    Gideon explained, "It''s because, excluding yourself, only Leo, Bay, and another two students of grade-10, stood at rank-5. So, naturally, the academy gives a privilege to all of you."

    "I see¡­" Azzy nodded and looked at the front, again.

    ***

    City hall, Estrya city;

    Sapphire, on her griffin, reached the city hall to meet the Mayor, upon receiving the news about her sister.

    Going into the mayor''s office, she saw two guardians were standing before the Mayor.

    "Are these the guys that teleported her to Central city?" Sapphire asked the Mayor without wasting her time on greetings.

    The Mayor nodded and pushed one of them forward, "tell her what you saw without leaving any information."

    Upon hearing everything, Sapphire was stunned. "You sure, she was alone?"

    She asked him again to confirm his statement, not believing her ears.

    As both of the guardians, replied with a yes, Sapphire asked, "after she teleported to Central city, who else went there?"

    Due to Mayor''s warning, they already prepared the list, beforehand and handed it out to her.

    She looked at the names.

    There are a lot of names on the list. However, she pointed the first five names on the list that went after her within 15 minutes.

 Chapter 68: Iphi gets abducted

    A few hours before the Volcanic Eruption;

    Outside of the Redwing Hotel, a rank-6 and a rank-5 expert are pretending to be talking to each other. However, their eyes were entirely on the hotel entrance.

    "Bro, I think we are pranked by that idiot." The young man spoke to his senior. "Let''s think about it. Why do princess of such a wealthy nation, stop by a tier 3 city like Estrya¡­ Even if they come here for the little girl, there are other level-2 regions¡­"

    "No," the rank-6 expert shook his head. "Clifford never kid around. I trust him. If he said the targets will check in to this hotel, then, it has to be true. We just have to wait. Be patient."

    "We are waiting for two days, already. How long¡­" Suddenly the beginner rank-5 junior stopped talking and looked in a direction. "Bro¡­"

    The senior glanced in the direction he was looking at.

    Right then, Sapphire exited the hotel in her luxurious wear. Even those who don''t know her would atleast think that she''s rich.

    Looking at her, the senior''s eyes lit up, "It''s her, indeed. Sapphire Magnolia¡­"

    As they continued to observe her from far away, they saw she summoned the Griffin before setting out towards somewhere.

    She actually left to meet Azzy upon receiving a report from one of the guardians who work at Northern Qudour nation''s portal point.

    "Bro, let''s follow¡­" The junior suggested not wasting any time to follow her and then, abduct her.

    Even though they knew she had a platinum-grade beast, they had their own methods to deal with her and were extremely confident in doing so.

    "Wait." The senior stopped him. "Leave her alone."

    "Huh?" The junior was puzzled by his senior''s actions.

    The senior then explained that they won''t target her but the little girl that can with her. Once they get the sixth princess Iphi Magnolis, they will lure the elder sister to a trap.

    As a part of their plan, they decided to sneak into the hotel. Both of them started to make a plan to make sure they won''t be detected by the hotel staff.

    But, who could have expected that the little girl exits the hotel, right after her sister left for Whale Island¡­

    "Bro, we''re lucky¡­" The junior grinned in response as he watched her moving on her feet, leaving towards the city outskirts.

    To not cause trouble within the city and alert the guardians, they quietly followed her all the way to the teleportation point.

    To avoid suspicions, the senior stood a person after her and the other one stood five people after his senior.

    Soon, both of them left to the same destination as her.

    Teleportation point, Central city;

    The central city is the largest city in both of the worlds, spanning over fifty thousand square kilometers in area. One should say it is as big as a small nation.

    It is also referred to as the Headquarters of Arcana world or the capital region.

    Unlike the other regions, this capital doesn''t host any king of wild zones within or nearby its surroundings too.

    The nearest wild zone, which is only a level-1, was located 500 kilometers away from the city.

    That means this was the only place where one''s soul wouldn''t be restricted. So, one can see a large number of higher rank experts, at any time.

    The city was home to a variety number of stores, the biggest underground market, auction houses, Arcana academies, Arenas, entertainment, etc¡­

    However, there''s only one rule, here. The first is that mortals cannot step inside the city. So, it is exclusively for Arcana masters. The second is that one cannot acquire land here, no matter what their background is¡­

    If one wanted to stay, they have but two options. One is to enroll in one of the academies and stay at the dorms. Two is to stay at a hotel.

    With its popularity, it''s natural that it was highly visited by thousands of Arcana masters, every day. Now, that is where the problem arises with security.

    Because the guardians were busy monitoring the higher rank individuals, the lower ranks were often gets ignored by the authorities. So, the crime rate is also pretty much high.

    Because of this reason, the two of them are confident in completing their task. They just need to make sure that there are no witnesses.

    Iphi, who didn''t know anything about the incoming danger, was smiling big, upon reaching the city.

    Exiting the teleportation point, she started to walk towards the academy.

    The moment she spoke the Central city, they already guessed that she was going to the academy by herself.

    So, it didn''t take long for them to discover her again, in the city.

    Like a normal visitor, the senior kidnapper, whose restrictions were now lifted, walked beside her. Since there are other people around, she didn''t find anything amiss.

    Five minutes later, he got the perfect opportunity to act. Taking out a six-star skill card, he quickly tapped her back and activated the skill.

    "Hmm?" Iphi felt something touched her back.

    Just as she was about to turn her head, she found the streets around her were disappeared and were replaced by prison bars.

    "Huh!" Her eyes widened in shock.

    Back to the outside world, the rank-6 expert looked at the capture card, he used earlier.

    A live image of Iphi was displayed on the top of the card.

    Putting it into the pocket as he can''t store it in the storage card, the kidnapper smirked, "done¡­ Now, all that''s left is to inform the wealthy princess. But, before that, I need to hide her in a secure place. That prison will only hold her for a couple of hours and I can''t return to the hideout before completing the task."

    Suddenly, something clicked in his mind and ordered his junior to contact a certain person.

    They didn''t stay long in the city and returned to the human world.

    Both of them didn''t know that the target they were meant to lure had already checked out their background and is busy mobilizing experts to take care of them and their organization behind them.

    ***

    Above the skies of a level-3 region, which is located in the northern part of the Arcana world, a beautiful young woman was flying towards somewhere.

    While traveling to her destination, she was admiring the view from the sky.

    The land below her was full of ice. Up ahead of her, there''s an icy mountain range filled with beautiful lakes, rivers, valleys, waterfalls, etc¡­

    "Oh! A polar bear¡­" Her eyes lit up as she saw a white giant bear of rank-6, was just sleeping peacefully, nearby a lake.

    She didn''t disturb it and continued to fly.

    "Hmm¡­" After she traveled some distance and was about to leave the region, her ears perked up.

    She glanced towards the direction and saw a couple is in a fierce battle against more than five mysterious people in black clothes.

    She then spotted a unicorn nearby that was helping out the couple.

    Immediately, she flapped her wings and changed the direction. Reaching the area, she then heard one of the rank-6 experts saying, "Surrender yourself, Princess Snieca. Don''t make it any more complicated. His highness is still willing to forgive your mistakes."

    "Who the hell that b*****d think he is¡­" She growled in response, blocking the attack with the shield. "Ten years ago, I already cut off my relations with the palace. He is no longer my brother..."

    "Still, it doesn''t erase the fact that you are Prince Ragron''s fianc¨¦e. He''s now ascended to the throne. He wished for you in exchange for the alliance. It''s in your best interests to not resist further¡­" One of the assassins continued to try convincing her. "If you don''t return, we got the orders to bring back your dead body."

    "If my strength wasn''t suppressed, all of you would have been hacked to death¡­" Affea growled at him. "And you believe you lot can kill me?"

    That''s right, they are Oakley and Affea. And shockingly, she was a rank-7 expert.

    As a healer, while Oakley and his unicorn are busy healing her, the princess was parrying their attacks with a sword and a shield.

    With the princess using a soul skill that lets her take the injury of her ally onto herself, the assassins were left with no choice but to completely focus on her.

    "Soul skill: Salvation"

    *neigh*

    The unicorn neighed before it shot a golden beam of light onto the princess.

    As she was covered by a golden aura, Affea saw all of her injuries were healed and she continued to battle.

    Right then, from the sky, a glowing heavy sword was landed in between them, creating a huge seal formation below everyone.

    All of a sudden, everyone paused. Or rather, they felt their bodies were paralyzed and weren''t to move except for their eyes.

    Along with the assassins, the wife and husband also experienced the same. The only one that was the exception is the Unicorn, which raised his head, sensing a powerful light element user in the sky.

    The girl landed on the ground, grabbing the hilt of the sword.

    Her wings disappeared and she passed soul energy into the sword, which then lifted the restrictions on the couple.

    Both of them looked at her curiously. It was their first time to meet them.

    "Who are you?" Princess Snieca asked her while being wary of her. She appeared too foreign with pale skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair.

    "I''m Syllia. Syllia Lefeuvre¡­ I''m on my way towards Sun City and saw the both of you in trouble. Do you need any help?"

 Chapter 69: Syllia Lefeuvre

    "Lefeuvre?" Affea was taken aback, realizing she''s of Royal family. As a person who belongs to the Royal family of Snieca, she obviously knew about the surnames of all other royal families.

    What surprised her is that she''s from a place where monarchism is still alive.

    Like the island kingdom of Triastal, there are a few nations that reject the formation of a government. The people wholeheartedly follow the Royal family and follow ancient traditions.

    Due to such reasons, these countries have bad relations with other democratic nations. So, unless a foreigner has an approval document from both sides, they won''t be able to visit such kingdoms.

    And the same applies to the natives of those kingdoms if they want to venture outside.

    And now, Affea not only meets a citizen of such a kingdom, to her surprise, she''s also the princess. How she could not be surprised¡­

    "Hello?" Syllia called her again as she didn''t receive any reply from Affea, who was just staring at her.

    Meanwhile, Oakley also stayed silent and kept an eye on the assassins that are struggling to move from the spot.

    "Ah, Yes¡­" Coming back to her senses, Affea said, "thank you for your help."

    As she didn''t reject her help, Syllia then paid her attention to the assassins before she raised her sword towards the sky, "Soul skill: Lightning Rain"

    The clouds gathered above their heads and soon, it started to rain heavily.

    Meanwhile, sparks started to appear around her sword, and lightning generated from the tip of her sword, connecting all the way to the clouds.

    Soon, multiple lightning bolts descended from the sky, onto the assassins that were rooted to the ground.

    As they struck them at the same time, every one of them turned to ash, not being able to withstand the attack.

    While Snieca was awed by the scene, Oakley, on the other hand, was staring intently at the sword.

    For someone who was brought up in the Death clan where there are supreme experts everywhere, he realized that it was at least a platinum grade Arcana.

    He even thought it might be a top tier too. After all, it''s rare in the world of Arcana that a powerful spirit possesses dual attributes. On top of that, light/thunder is one of the rarest combinations one can find¡­

    *Clap* "Now that they have been dealt with, I guess I should be on my way." Beautiful white wings suddenly sprouted from her back.

    Looking at them she smiled, "if you need any help, you can find me at Sun academy. I''m one of the instructors there¡­"

    Flapping her wings, she flew away, making the both of them, stun on the spot. "She wasn''t a dual attribute but triple attributed?" Oakley mumbled, looking at the sky. "Moreover, a twin Arcana user?"

    It was clear that just by having wings, she also possess the wind attribute.

    "That was the thing you are shocked about?" Affea looked at him as if he''s an idiot.

    "Hmm?" he didn''t understand what she was trying to say. If that wasn''t surprising, he didn''t know what else is¡­

    "Can''t you see how young she is¡­ If I''m right, she''s barely 20 years old and she''s already an instructor at Sun Academy."

    Upon hearing her, Oakley fell into thoughts for a while before he abruptly changed the topic, "let''s leave. Avia must be waiting for us."

    The couple left for the nearby city and then teleported to Everland city, a tier-4 city that''s located in a level-1 region.

    The Mayor of the city is one of his close friends. After saving their daughter, both of them left Avia with him and lured the two assassins to this region where there''s no restriction on Oakley.

    But, they didn''t expect that the assassins have a backup¡­

    And that''s how the two of them ended up surrounded by ten assassins.

    Back to the present, picking up their daughter, they didn''t waste any time leaving the world of Arcana.

    However, they didn''t reach Northern Qudour''s Aclein city but a completely different place.

    They took a cab and were going towards someplace.

    "What about Azrael?" Affea suddenly asked him. She was filled with worry. For the past week, there''s never a moment she forgot about his well-being.

    Like a mother, she always worried about how he is living all alone in the house. Is he eating alright? Is he sleeping well? Was he waiting for them in worry? Did he move to the school dorm?

    Several kinds of thoughts often disturbed her and wanted to go back, right away. However, her real daughter was abducted. How could she go back and rest in such a time¡­

    But now that they were reunited, she can''t help but think of Azzy, once again.

    "No, we aren''t going to contact him." Oakley shook his head, firmly, "Did you already forget why we left without a notice? We already have enough problems. Why must we drag him into our mess¡­"

    "But¡­" Even though she understood what Oakley was trying to explain, she was reluctant to part with the boy whom she was willing to adopt as her son.

    Two hours later, they reached a mansion, not as big as the previous one at Aclein but it is indeed the biggest one in town which only had a little over 10 thousand people and is mostly filled with mortals.

    By the time Avia woke up from her sleep, she found herself lying on a bed. She looked around and found it unfamiliar. She was sure that it wasn''t her room.

    "You woke up, sweety¡­" Affea, who was moving a few things around, called out to her.

    "Mom, where are we?" She asked her.

    "Our new home. It''s a town called Sliya, located in Southern Qudour." She didn''t explain too much of their situation as her daughter is still only 7 years old.

    Avia then asked about Azzy but all received nothing but silence from her. As someone who is a kid and has slight negative feelings towards him, Avia felt it is better.

    She also felt happy inside. "From now onwards, once again, I would be doted by my parents and wouldn''t share their attention with anyone else."

    She didn''t know how much her life would turn in the upcoming months.

 Chapter 70: Azzys choice

    Meanwhile, at the Affea mansion, back in the city of Azzy was sitting alone in the hall.

    As soon as he returned from the Arcana world, Azzy directly went to meet the Principal.

    He enquired about his family''s whereabouts.

    But, the Principal only disappointed him.

    Having no other choice, he returned to the mansion.

    "Azrael, don''t waste your time on something that you can nothing about. You should prepare for the upcoming tournament. You should become stronger to save your parents and return to your timeline." As the Reaper reminded of his original objective, Azzy decided to focus on completing the Decarune seal.

    He sat on the floor in a meditative pose and closed his eyes.

    He remembered the ten runes that were shown by the Reaper. Back then, he didn''t care much about their appearances, so, he didn''t notice anything strange.

    But, during the past week, upon his master''s advice, every day, Azzy read the newspapers of city edition, province edition, and country edition.

    Since Oakley is widely known as the Divine Physician of the Aclein city, if something happens to him, the principal said that it will be sure shown up at these newspapers.

    While searching for the news about him, Azzy learned many new things about the outside world. Maybe, this is his master''s aim.

    Whatever his motive is, it helped Azzy in developing a little bit of general knowledge and current affairs.

    Along with it, he also touched upon astrology, a study of the movements and relative positions of the planets and stars that influence their lives in certain ways.

    Then, Azzy saw the mystical 12 Zodiac signs with a mixture of different creatures.

    At first, he found something strange about them. He felt they were connected to runes. As he dwelled on the subject further, Azzy found ten of them are kinda similar to them.

    The only strange is that the last two of the zodiac signs are unrelated to the runes. It made him wonder whether there''s a 12-rune seal too.

    After all, he heard from the Reaper about the formation of a galaxy at rank-10 and a universe at rank-11, he wondered whether the last two of them are related to those supreme ranks.

    Back to the present, Azzy concentrated on the first rune. The soul energy sipped away from the soul orb and entered his mindscape where the Reaper and the black wolf reside.

    Maybe, it''s due to getting familiar with his Arcana or maybe, it because of the recent breakthrough.

    For whatever reason, Azzy felt easier to create a rune with his soul energy.

    As soon as it formed, Azzy saw a ring appeared around the soul orb. At the same time, a ring appeared on the first planet in his soul.

    Meanwhile, a small ring of a chain appeared on the Reaper''s left hand.

    "Good¡­" The Reaper''s voice rang in his head. He appeared delighted with the success. "Now, the second one¡­"

    The second seal took longer than the first one. It took more than ten minutes to form the rune and seal away 100 soul power.

    The third one took half an hour and a third ring appeared on the soul orb, on the third planet, along with the third chain on the Reaper''s left hand while sealing away 1000 soul power.

    Everything was smooth for the past hour. Just when he thought he will complete six seals, in no time, Azzy felt resistance for the first time.

    It was like a week ago when he first attempted to form the first seal.

    He continued to try. After an hour, he finally formed the fourth seal.

    "Okay, now, the fifth seal¡­"

    Azzy proceeded with the next one. This time, he felt the resistance increased tremendously.

    For some reason, he felt the soul energy was disobeying his will and is strongly resisting.

    He asked the Reaper whether he needed to stop there. However, the Reaper said otherwise and further explained.

    "It''s kinda similar to the immunity system of humans. The instinct of the soul energy was making it fight against the intruder that dares to seal it up. As you perform the higher seals, it will only get more difficult.

    Six hours later;

    The house became dark with no lights on while Azzy was continuing to sit in the hall in a meditative pose.

    His stomach continued to rumble. However, he didn''t open his eyes.

    Soon, the darkness fades away and the sunlight passes through the door, illuminating the hall.

    Azzy suddenly opened his eyes and a smile appeared on his face. "Sixth seal, successful. Eh?" he was suddenly taken aback and touched his lips.

    If it was anyone familiar like Gideon or the future Avia, they would be shocked to see that not only Azzy appeared like a mortal with no soul energy, but he also had an expression on his face.

    For someone who wasn''t able to express his feelings, Azzy was also puzzled by the changes too. The Reaper clarified to him that it was due to his soul energy and the Arcana spirit that made him like that in the first place.

    With him, sealing their power, it''s obvious that he would be a normal human.

    At first, he felt delighted upon hearing the news. However, the Reaper''s next sentence made him disappointed.

    "So, either I can be like a normal human with no Arcana and soul power or an emotionless Arcana master?" He asked the Reaper in confirmation.

    "Yes¡­ You cannot be both at the same time." The Reaper confirmed his thoughts and further said, "But, it''s a good thing that you can interchange with both of your personalities at any time. It''s within your hands, who you wanted to be."

    Azzy stood on his feet. He didn''t reply anything to the Reaper.

    He simply closed his eyes and unlocked all the seals, thereby, becoming a blanked expression person, and opened his mouth, "Showing the emotions will only make others annoy me. It is better if I don''t have them..."

    His tone appeared plain as before.

 Chapter 71: Eight months later

    Eight months passed away in a blink of an eye. Nothing changed in Azzy''s life.

    Oakley and his family were still missing. Gideon is still unchanged, being his best friend. The students continued to stay away from him. Previously it was out of fear to Leonard.

    Now, it is due to his cold attitude towards anyone that approaches him, although this made him a bit more popular among girls.

    Because of the school regulations, the students weren''t allowed to take a trip to the level-3 region in the world of Arcana.

    On top of that, as his master, the principal focused on improving his lack of control over his soul energy, Azzy wasn''t taken to a private trip either. So, his soul/Arcana rank improved slowly.

    The only thing that''s different is the behavior of the Galarian beast. In the disguise of Leo, it always tried to befriend Azzy no matter how many times he ignored him.

    Rumors began to circulate all over the academy.

    One rumor stated that Azzy is a prince from another country and was engaged to the youngest princess. Leonard was against this marriage.

    Another rumor says that the prince isn''t straight and pursues Azzy after falling in love with him¡­

    One more rumor says that they are best friends in the past. At first, the prince wants to suppress him and when it failed, he tried to mend their relationship

    All of these ridiculous rumors created by the grade-9 students, specifically, girls who have too much time in their hands to have such wild fantasies¡­

    Leonard, being a Galarian beast with no specific gender and only care about its survival and nothing else, didn''t care.

    As for Azzy, he was too busy to care about anyone or anything else.

    Along with receiving the mansion as a gift from Affea, he also received a letter from her, a few months ago about how they will hide for a while due to underlying reasons.

    Since they are alive and well, Azzy no longer worried about them and continued to focus on training.

    Taking the help from the seals and working hard by sparring with the special robot, Azzy was able to control his strength as long as he locked the sixth seal that restricts his soul power to 100 thousand.

    Training grounds, Aclein Academy;

    In the evening, every student from higher grades gathered at the training grounds.

    Gilaes, a peak rank-6 expert and the common combat instructor for everyone, stood in the middle.

    *Clap*Clap*

    "Now, listen carefully¡­" After gathering attention from everyone, Gilaes continued, "Today is your last week of combat training, especially for the tenth graders who will soon graduate within two months. As a special occasion, all of you will spar with a special person."

    He took out the item card that the principal lent him and ran his soul energy into it to activate it.

    Almost instantly, a robot appeared before everyone. It is the size of an average adult. However, as the students are still in the growing phase, they can''t help but raise their heads to see its face.

    "This is called 1AB, designed by our government. If we consider our Arcana rankings, its overall strength is kinda similar to the strength of gold-grade, peak-rank-6 beast. So, you can think of it as a king of a level-3 region.

    However, the difference between this robot and the beast is that it can adjust its strength according to its opponent. It has perfect control. So, it is completely safe to train with it¡­"

    When he mentioned perfect control, Gilaes glanced at Azzy, who was standing at the back of the group, along with Gideon.

    He continued, "It was lent to our academy for security purposes but the principal thinks that they can be used for training the students.

    We should thank student Leonard for winning the national tournament, which made it possible. Give him a round of applause¡­"

    *Clap*Clap*Clap*

    As everyone clapped their hands, Azzy who was in the group, also followed them.

    "Teacher Gilaes, if junior Azrael participated in the tournament, then, the winner would have been different." As Leo try to be modest, the others just shook their heads with a sigh.

    Meanwhile, Azzy looked expressionless as usual. He knew that Leo was telling the truth. However, being a person with fewer words, he didn''t comment on it either and stayed silent.

    Upon hearing Leo''s words, the smile on Gilaes was frozen and he shrugged his shoulders, "he still can''t control his strength and was still banned from participating in any kind of tournaments. Either way, the academy will be honored with this."

    Gilaes didn''t like Azzy as he also became a victim of embarrassment in a class when he tried to suppress his Arcana beast to rank-5 only for it to die.

    Unlike the situation with instructor Herman, Azzy didn''t even use Vajra to defeat his beast. After losing his face, he never asked the principal to let Azzy attend his class, again until now.

    He wanted to teach Azzy a lesson but due to fear of losing his own image in public, Gilaes never challenged him personally.

    After all, being a peak-rank-6, even if he wins, people will say that he was a bully and if he loses, he won''t be able to show his face to anyone.

    But, after hearing from the principal, he personally tested its power. When he saw himself being defeated badly, he planned to let Azzy know the fearsome power of the robot.

    So, once again, after four months, he requested the principal to let Azzy attend his class, in the name of being the last one.

    Back to the present, he looked at everyone, and asked, "Who wants to spar it, first?"

    As a student council president and a model student, Leo obviously came forward. After being surrounded by many weaklings, it also wanted to try out its strength.

    The crowd cleared the area and moved far. Only the robot and Leo left on the field.

    Standing far away, Gilaes took out a remote from the storage card and pressed the button.

    All of a sudden, the robot''s eyes turned red. "Hostile mode activated."

    An energy saber appeared in his hands.

    "Huh!" Everyone was taken aback by its sudden behavior. Only Azzy knew why it activated the hostile mode.

    As a person who actively sparred with the robots for the past year, he knew that it was due to Leo''s nature being a beast.

    His Master explained to him that the robots were actually designed by a private company named Energon, to take replace the guardians at the Arcana world and also help in maintaining law and order there...

    With such thoughts, the scientists installed a feature of the auto detector and hostile mode. According to it, the machine will always be on the side of humanity and can never take a life.

    Along with it, it will always be hostile to the beasts from the Arcana world.

    However, many nations objected to letting this man-controlled machine allow into the Arcana world. After all, not only it is riskier to let them into that world, but they also don''t want the guardians to lose their jobs¡­

    Unlike guardians, the machine cannot mistakes, cannot favor one person over the other, and cannot allow the rules to be broken either. Which upper authority like it if everyone is treated as fair¡­

    Upon their proposal being rejected so many times, Energon finally gave up on their dream and instead, started selling them to the nations to make use of them in this human world.

    They also slightly modified the hostile mode when it felt threatened by an Arcana beast whether it is a free one or a tamed one¡­

    Back to the present, the robot turned into hostile mode as soon as it sensed a platinum-grade beast.

    Since Leo isn''t a human, the robot didn''t hold back its strength and proceeded to be extremely offensive.

    "What''s going on?" Gilaes frowned at its strange behavior. He didn''t know of such a feature but considering Leo''s strength, he thought of waiting and see what happens.

    Meanwhile, Leo clenched his fist as the robot dashed towards him.

    Reaching its enemy, the robot slashed at him with the saber. The students were stunned to see how fast and aggressive it is.

    On the other hand, Leo appeared calm. He didn''t summon his Arcana beast. Everyone thought he wanted to challenge it by himself. Only Azzy knew that Leo didn''t have one to summon.

    As the energy saber almost reached him, Leo sidestepped at the perfect moment and then, threw a punch towards its waist.

    The attack by the robot missed while his punch was landed on the target.

    Because it is made of steel, Leo didn''t do much damage for he only threw a normal punch without any soul energy present in it.

    Watching it from far away, Azzy shook his head and mumbled, "foolish¡­"

    Claire, who was coincidentally standing beside him, asked, "What is being foolish?"

    Azzy answered, "He should have struck the shoulder joint."

    "Why?" She asked him but he stayed silent, not intending to talk too much.

    Gideon, who was standing on the other side of him, also asked him the reason. This time, he opened his mouth.

    Azzy explained, "The eyes are the weakness of a beast. The limbs are the weakness of a human. Likewise, the joints are the weakness of a machine. When those weaknesses are heavily damaged, they will no longer able to fight at their full strength."

    Pointing at the machine, Azzy further continued, "And if he had punched with soul energy at that spot, it would have done considerable damage. In rare cases, one in ten chances, a chain reaction will follow up it and damage its internal system¡­"

    "C''mon¡­ That''s too much¡­" Claire playfully hit Azzy''s shoulder. "You are speaking as if you knew about the robots."

    Azzy didn''t comment on it and stayed silent. Being with him for a year, she knew his personality very well, so, she didn''t feel disappointed about it. However, sometimes, she can''t help but get jealous of Gideon, who is the only one that gets treated specially by Azzy.

    Even though he treats her better than others, she still feels like this junior looks at her as a stranger or maybe, an acquaintance.

    As Azzy stayed silent and concentrated on Leo, the two of them also continued to watch the spar.

    At first, Leo successfully evaded its attack and counterattacked it with raw punches and kicks. However, slowly, the robot got used to his movements.

    Soon, its attacks started to land on him. It kinda alarmed the instructor but then, since Leo used soul energy to make his body as hard as steel to not get injured, he waited.

    Although he wasn''t injured very much, superficial cuts started to appear all over his arms when he tried to block the saber with them.

    Meanwhile, Azzy was watching Leo''s movements through aura sensing. He was observing the changes in his body. For a while, he saw the sparks of lightning appeared in his body.

    It kept on generating for a few seconds before it cools down by itself. Azzy was trying to understand the meaning behind it.

    "This beast is really a special one¡­" Suddenly, he heard the Reaper''s comment in his head. "It''s really for one to suppress their rage like this Galarian."

    "Suppress the rage?" Azzy wondered those sparks are related to it.

    Knowing what''s going on in his host''s mind, the Reaper explained, "It is controlling its power to use the soul skills. The original Leonard is a wind attribute user.

    If it reveals its lightning nature, then, suspicions will surely grow. No matter the reason, it can''t afford to be suspected. So, guess, what will it be its next move?"

    Azrael wondered, "To get knock out directly and end the spar?"

    "Bingo¡­" The Reaper was satisfied with Azzy''s answer.

    "But, can it trust the combat instructor to step in at the right time and save it?" Azzy didn''t think it would do it.

    "Only fools will put their hopes on chances and wait for them. Smart people always create chances. And the beast isn''t a foolish one¡­"

    As soon as his word ended, all of a sudden, Leo screamed in pain while flying back towards them. His stomach started to bleed but it isn''t much to be considered fatal.

 Chapter 72: Snivy and Mia Leveret

    As Leo realized that he can''t stand against the robot unless he reveals his soul skills, he purposely got hit by the saber while protecting his inner organs with soul energy.

    A large cut was slashed onto his chest while he flew back.

    Falling on the ground, a few feet away from a student, Leo then controlled his blood vessels and spit out the blood.

    Everyone immediately alarmed as the Robot didn''t stop and dashed towards the fallen boy.

    Just like the Reaper predicted, the instructor quickly moved from his spot and managed to save him just in time.

    He then deactivated the robot with the button and apologized to Leo before healing his injury with a five-star healing card.

    Everyone else looked at the robot in panic. They clearly don''t want to risk their lives while sparring with it.

    "I guess there seems to be a malfunction. I''ll contact the principal and report him about it." He dismissed the robot with reluctance. Gilaes cursed himself for letting Leo try it first. ''Damn¡­ I should have asked this blank-faced brat to be the one to test it. Anyway, he''ll stay here for the next two years. I can wait for another chance.''

    "Okay, since student Leonard was fine, let''s continue with today''s lesson. Before that, let me inform you of a few things. You''ll likely hear it again from your homeroom teachers, in the upcoming days. It''s about the Annual tournament."

    The instructor managed to change the topic quickly and clear this tense atmosphere around the students.

    "Soon, the annual tournament will be commenced, where you get to acquire the bonus score for the final examinations.

    Just like every year, students below grade-10 that made to top 10 will be exempted from final exams and directly move to the Elite division during the next semester.

    And also, the top two students from each grade will also move to the Elite division without having to attend the exams.

    As for grade-10, those who reached rank-5 are automatically eligible to graduate from the academy.

    Still, you have to work hard for AEE (Advanced entrance examination) to get admission into universities to pursue higher education or aim for Special Academies.

    Anyway, I think I said too much. So, I''ll stop here. The rest will be explained by your homeroom teachers.

    For today''s last class, let''s see how much every one of you improved comparing to the first day.

    All of you, group up according to your soul ranks. Rank-5 to the left, Rank-4 in the middle, and Rank-3 to the right."

    "Azrael, let''s go?" Claire nudged him before stepping forward to join the other rank-5s.

    Azzy also followed her. From grade-8, he''s the only one in the group. As for grade-9, along with Claire, there''s another boy who broke through to rank-5.

    The rank-4 grade-10s can''t help but look at the three of them in envy.

    Overall, seven members stood together.

    "Okay, Augustine, Gideon, Snivy¡­"

    The instructor divided the rank-4 students into twenty groups with five in each team.

    "Students with rank-5 souls, you already proved your progress. You may relax."

    He then pointed to the rank-3s who are mostly from other divisions of grade-8, and said in a serious tone, "You guys need to work hard. If you don''t make it to rank-4 by the end of the semester, you might need to depend on your theoretical examination scores."

    After giving a serious warning to them, he called two teams and called for a team battle.

    An hour later;

    "Okay, team C wins. Good job." As everyone clapped to the winning team, he continued, "Now, the last battle is between Team T and Team A. Come forward."

    From Team A, Gideon from grade-8; Snivy and Augustine of grade-9, Soul weapon division; Hurley and Eugene of grade-10, Soul weapon division, stepped forward, together.

    After the other team also gathered at the platform, everyone summoned their Arcana.

    Strangely, by coincidence, all of the students from Team A have a weapon Arcana spirit. Gideon has a lightning sword, Snivy has a giant hammer.

    When she summoned it, everyone was surprised. For a petite person, the hammer was too huge and also appeared heavier. The students even wondered where she is getting such strength to swing it like some kitchen knife.

    As for the other three, they are nothing special. One has a dagger; another has also a sword while the last one has a metal rod. However, none of those three are of gold grade. So, no one paid much attention to them.

    On the other hand, the opponent is a mixed team, comprising of a weapon, two plants, and two beasts.

    "Ha¡­" Gideon was the first one to charge towards his opponent. However, before he even reached half the distance, all of a sudden, a tree root erupted from the ground and captured his leg before hanging him upside down, surprising everyone.

    "Oh! That''s a good one¡­" The instructor praised her from the sidelines. He was indeed impressed with her sudden ambush.

    "That''s Mia Leveret. My classmate." Claire whispered to Azzy. "Her father was ex-president. She''s also Senior Leonard''s cousin."

    Azzy nodded plainly in response. He was only staring at Gideon, who was hanged upside down at 10 ft away from the ground. Claire can''t help but puff her cheeks and mumble to herself, something¡­

    Right then, to everyone''s surprise, the petite girl raised her 3m big hammer above her head and unleashed, "Soul skill: Iron Smash"

    As the hammer landed on the ground, it started to shake for a couple of seconds. Suddenly, a giant iron fist erupted from the ground, right below the opponent team.

    While the three of them were able to escape, two of them were hit and flew towards the sky for more than two hundred meters.

    "Eh?" Snivy halted her footsteps and glanced at the sky. She didn''t expect the effect would be that great. After all, when she used it on the monsters, she found there wasn''t much result.

    Along with her, the others also stared at the sky.

    The instructor immediately stopped the match and quickly dashed towards the place where they will likely fall.

    If they flew back, he wouldn''t have bothered to save them. However, they flew upwards. He thought they will be injured heavily at this rate. Since it is just a spar, he decided to catch them.

    He also summoned his Gorilla to help him out. This twenty feet big monster was enough to save them.

    Soon, everyone saw the two kids were falling at a high speed and the Gorilla spread its arms to catch them.

    Right then, the girl of the Leveret family, spoke, "I wanted to keep this skill as a secret for the national tournament but I guess I have no choice."

    The two-meter Oaktree suddenly extended its branches towards the sky and caught both of them, perfectly before bringing them down to safety.

    The instructor then scolded Snivy for using such a dangerous skill on her friends. He then praised Mia for her quick thinking.

    Meanwhile, Azzy spoke to himself, "If she can master her soul skill, she would be able to control the direction of that Iron fist."

    "Hmm?" Claire and some other student from grade-10 turned their heads towards Azzy and wondered whether he was the right person to talk about control.

    ***

    Finishing the class, Azzy returned to the dormitory. Now that Oakley and his family no longer lived in the mansion, he felt pointless to live there.

    "I''ll go first¡­" Azzy spoke to Gideon as soon as he opened the door. He rushed to the bathroom to shower, first.

    "Fine¡­ it''s not like I''m objecting." Gideon replied while walking towards his bed.

    Eight months ago, when he shifted to the dormitory, at first, he was given a room for himself but then, Gideon, who wouldn''t leave Azzy alone, ended up being his roommate without even telling him while leaving poor Lark.

    When Azzy found it out, he got incredibly annoyed and directly asked him, why he doesn''t just ignore him like everyone else¡­

    In response, Gideon simply replied that from the moment he has seen him, he felt Azzy was kinda like family to him. His behavior also constantly reminds him of his relatives. That''s why whenever he was with Azzy¡­ Gideon never missed his distant home.

    Azzy, who understood what Gideon was talking about, didn''t complain anything from that day.

    Back to the present, for the rest of the evening, the two became busy with homework of common subjects.

    From time to time, as usual, Gideon kept on chattering about this and that. In response, Azzy just listens quietly while continue to do his own thing¡­

    Three days later;

    The two of them arrived at the classroom, ten minutes before the time. However, to their surprise, their lazy homeroom teacher, Rubin was waiting for them.

    Both of them greeted him with a slight bow while wondering what''s going on...

    "Go and sit."

    Not only them, but the other eight students also wondered about his strange behavior.

    After confirming that everyone arrived, he spoke, "Today, we got an important notification from the principal. He wanted to inform all of you that, this year, our school is about to host the prestigious Champions League."

    "Champions League?" As soon as the students heard those two words, everyone''s eyes lit up in excitement.

    The only exception was Azzy, who was still staring at the teacher with blank eyes.

    As a person who was banned from sparring against fellow humans, whether it is the Champions league or the world league, they aren''t worth much to him.

    Rubin continued, "That''s why the annual tournament was pushed to two weeks earlier. Right after the tournament, the champions from all over the world will arrive at our academy."

 Chapter 73: Champions league rules and rewards

    "As we are going to host the Champions League, the summer holidays will be reduced from six weeks to two weeks. Those who have a problem with it can ask the principal by themselves.

    Also, the upcoming annual tournament format has been changed as well, so that it will be easier for our students to get familiar with it.

    Instead of a single knock-out tournament, two more categories will be added.

    One is a duo where you can team up with one more student and participate in the tournament. And the other is a team match.

    The group match is mandatory for every student to participate. However, you can choose one between singles and duo.

    As for the grade battles, they are unchanged. Battles will be conducted prior a week before the tournament. The top two from each grade will battle in the arena on the day of the finals.

    Anyway, by the end of next week, submit the names with category preference. You also need to form a team of five and submit them to the Vice-principal during lunch hours.

    Any doubts, so far?"

    Gideon immediately raised his hand, in place of Azzy.

    "Earlier, you mentioned that the group match is mandatory. Does that mean, Azrael will also participate in it? I mean, there''s a ban on him. So¡­"

    Everyone looked at him. They wondered why he is asking that question. Was he asking in place of his friend or was he hoping that he won''t participate in it?

    Azzy also turned his head to look at Gideon.

    Rubin then answered by shaking his head, "no. Unless the ban is lifted on him, he can''t participate in any tournament. And unless he was able to control his strength, I don''t think the principal will lift the ban on him."

    Upon hearing their teacher, some of them sighed in relief while the others felt its pity that their grade won''t stand out.

    "Okay, let''s talk about the upcoming Champions League. I know all of you know about it but let me explain the details.

    Champions league is the tournament conducted by WAMO (World Arcana Master organization), the same organization that conducts the international tournaments, the most famous being the world league.

    The league was divided into two types.

    One is the junior league, where the students below 15 will participate. The senior league is for the students who are below 100 years.

    Our academy is selected for junior league, which is conducted every year while the senior league is conducted every five years.

    Whenever they coincide, the tournament will be conducted in the academies with both beginner and advanced programs like Dragon Academy, Phoenix Academy, Sun Academy, etc¡­

    Now, coming to our tournament, just like its name, the Champions League is a tournament where only the Champions are allowed to participate. However, the champion here doesn''t refer to a single person.

    It refers to the academy where the champion of the national tournament is from. This year, it was decided that our Northern Qudour will get the opportunity to host the tournament.

    And our top student, Leonard Light, gave us this opportunity by becoming the winner.

    As a host nation, we get twenty slots for the tournament out of which, ten of them were given solely to our academy. We were given 4 single slots, 4 duo slots, and 2 team slots.

    And based on your performance in the annual tournament, the academy will decide them.

    Unless there isn''t an accident on the midway, you can safely assume that those who reach semi-finals in duo and single categories will be selected. As for the group, those that reach finals will be selected."

    Gideon once again raised his hand.

    "Yes." The teacher gestured to him to proceed.

    Gideon then asked, "what if someone from the team that made it to the finals, also made it to the semifinals in another category?"

    Rubin shrugged his shoulders, "then, they just have to pick a category and the void will be filled by others. Not a big deal."

    A student named Russell raised his hand and asked, "Teacher, what about the rewards?"

    "Good question." Rubin smiled as he answered, "This is the biggest change, comparing to the past years. For the annual tournament, the winner will not only receive 5 million credits but also a gold-grade flying card, gold-grade storage card, and a defensive armor that can withstand a full-powered attack of a platinum-grade beast with peak-rank-5 soul.

    The runner-up will receive 2 million credits, a gold grade item card of his choice, and a unique 5-star skill card.

    The third place will receive 1 million credits and a gold grade item card of his choice.

    Fourth to tenth places will receive 100 thousand credits and a random gold grade item.

    After that, everyone will receive some rewards, according to their ranks.

    But, the biggest reward of all is the tournament winner gets a one-on-one tutoring session with the Grand Prince Aegis Light, a peak-rank-eight expert. It is something that''s invaluable for all of you. So, don''t lose this opportunity."

    As the students were excited about the rewards that increased tremendously from the previous year, Rubin continued, "of course, these are for the senior division. For the junior and the elementary divisions, the rewards will be different but it doesn''t matter to you guys.

    Anyway, coming to the Champions League, all the 40 contestants from each category will be divided into eight groups with five in each.

    As a host nation, we also have the advantage of choosing a specific group for each contestant. Of course, only eight spots can be chosen. The remaining will be randomly placed.

    Each contestant will participate in four battles and the top contestant from each group will go to the Quarterfinals. Then, semi-finals and at last, finals.

    The winners from each category will receive the same reward as the world league winner.

    A hundred million credits; an extremely rare platinum grade item card of his/her choice; the knowledge of a unique skill card creation taught by a renowned card creator; a high-grade elemental crystal of his/her choice; a customized item forged by a renowned grandmaster that will amplify one''s strength; private tutoring session with rank-9 experts.

 Chapter 74: Azzy to not participate in the tournament

    "If a team has multiple members, they have to share the rewards between themselves.

    Along with that, a medal of honor and lastly, a free admission ticket to any special academy of one''s choice for their advanced studies.

    Of course, it goes without saying that one can''t choose an Academy if it has gender restrictions.

    The runner-up will receive twenty million credits, a random platinum grade item card, knowledge of a unique skill card creation, a high-grade elemental crystal on their choice, a defensive armor that is sturdy enough to protect your upper body from even a platinum grade beast of peak-rank-6. They too receive a medal of honor and a free admission ticket for special academies

    The third place''s rewards are ten million credits, a High-grade elemental crystal, knowledge of a unique skill card creation, a free admission ticket, and a medal of honor.

    As for the remaining rankings, they will receive similar rewards but of lesser quality."

    The rewards stated by him almost made everyone drool as they listened to them. It is obvious that every one of them got tempted. Even Azzy was no exception.

    He wondered whether he should lock the sixth seal and then, requests his master to lift the ban on him so that he can participate in the tournament but then, he immediately threw the thought away as he felt it is too pathetic.

    Meanwhile, Rubin continued, "The students from the other academies will start to arrive at our academy, ten days before the tournament.

    That means they will be watching your performance in the annual tournament too.

    So, as long as you excel and able to distinguish yourself in the tournament, even if you didn''t go to the semi-finals, even if you didn''t get the chance to participate in the Champions League, you still have the chance to get scouted by famous academies with both beginner and advanced programs like Dragon Academy.

    Or you might also have the chance to receive internship offers from various organizations¡­ Maybe, even from the government too¡­

    So, you should never lose an opportunity here¡­"

    Everyone nodded seriously. Although Azzy appeared the same on the outside, he felt that he should work harder in the following days.

    Watching everyone''s faces changed to seriousness, Rubin nodded to himself in satisfaction.

    He then spoke, "Lark Sandrou, you are not only the representative of this class but also the entire grade-8 comprising of all divisions. It will be your job to make sure that nothing goes wrong with the guests.

    Pick a Vice-representative from another division and few other members to form a committee that focuses entirely on making sure all the students of the grade-8 behave.

    During the past 250 years, since the founding of the Academy, it was the first time that our Academy was chosen as a host for such a prestigious league. The Principal will be furious if the reputation of the Academy will be harmed."

    Lark nodded seriously. At the same time, he was excited, inside for receiving such responsibility.

    As he sat down, Rubin continued, "Because every teacher would be too busy with the preparations, your classes will be ending by 12:30. After that, it will be your own time. Training grounds 3 and 4 are open to everyone. You can train with your senior or go on a self-training. It''s your choice¡­"

    The homeroom session ended with murmurings from the students. Not only was this classroom, but every other classroom is also in the same condition for the whole week.

    Instead of concentrating on the class, everyone gets busy discussing who to partner with.

    On the other hand, Azzy continues his daily life as usual.

    He diligently pays his attention in the morning classes while in the afternoon, he goes off alone to the restricted third floor of the building in the training grounds-1 where he spars with the robot alongside the black wolf.

    His only goal is to make sure to keep the soul energy consumption to a minimum.  One should say he''s improved quite a bit, compared to the first day.

    Right now, when he drew the soul energy from the soul orb and distributes it to the rest of the body, at least 10% of the energy will be consumed.

    He kept trying hard to reach 5% where it can be said that one has soul energy under their control. Most of the Arcana masters, even without training achieve this result just by breathing.

    A week passed away and the registration for the tournament has been closed. Alas, Azzy wasn''t able to register as the principal didn''t lift the ban on him.

    Although a part of him thinks it is unfair, the Reaper convinced him by telling him that gaining attention isn''t good for him and can get in the way of his goal.

    Azzy felt that the Reaper is right. His goal is more important than some material rewards. He continued his daily life as if nothing changed for him.

    A few more days later, one fine morning, Azzy and Gideon, as usual, left their dorm and started walking towards their Elite division''s Academy hall.

    Just as they reached the building, both of them saw a group of eight girls, who are wearing a different school uniform, accompanied by an adult who was taking to Emelia Light.

    The stranger and Emelia seemed like acquaintances judging by how they were all smiles.

    "Oh! Azrael, Gideon¡­" Emelia suddenly called them out as soon as she spotted them, nearby.

    Some of the girls also glanced in the direction, she was looking at.

    One of the girls was taken aback in surprise and pointed her finger towards Azzy, "it''s you¡­"

    Azzy looked at her blankly. He felt this little girl seemed familiar but nothing came to his mind.

    Emelia asked curiously, "Miss Magnolia, do you know our student, Azrael?"

    The eleven-year-old calmly replied, "We encountered each other, a couple of times."

    She then greeted him formally with a slight bow, maintaining her manners, "it''s been a while, Senior."

    Azzy blinked twice in cluelessness and asked, "Who are you?"

 Chapter 75: Encountering Iphi again

    As someone who bore ill feelings against Azzy because of her sister, she certainly remembered him.

    No, it''s not just because of her sister. It''s also because of her pride. A couple of months after Azzy''s encounter with Sapphire, during a special week that was allotted to only the Elite division, Azzy and his fellow schoolmates went to Myelin city.

    There, by coincidence or by deliberate planning, he once again encountered Sapphire. This time, her sister was also with her because of the last time.

    But, what both of them faced is a blatant rejection as soon she offered him the position of Royal knight and nobility.

    Sapphire even compromised by offering him a chance to be one of the disciples of a high-rank-9 expert but Azzy didn''t even give a thought and directly rejected the offer one more time.

    Due to the presence of the black wolf and his rank-5 strength, Sapphire felt that she might not able to force him through the strength and silently retreated from there.

    On the other hand, Iphi, who felt like she was humiliated because of the rejection, bore a grudge against Azzy.

    As time passed away, eventually, she forgot about it. However, after a little over six months, she saw him once again.

    As one of the representatives of the Phoenix Academy, she felt the need to show her manners.

    So, swallowing her anger, she greeted him with a smile while expecting the same. However, she didn''t know that Azzy never greets anyone that he doesn''t acknowledge.

    Naturally, she received the unexpected line.

    Compared to the past, she felt he grew a bit taller and more handsome.

    Other than those two irrelevant things, she felt nothing changed whether it''s his expression or his behavior.

    Her anger rose as she thought he was feigning ignorance. But, she quickly calmed down herself and replied, "Iphi Magnolis of the Phoenix Academy."

    Azzy plainly nodded, implying that he got it. Not paying attention to her any longer, he then looked at Emelia, "Teacher, do you need anything?"

    "Eh?" She was taken aback.

    "Earlier, you called us." Azzy clarified his question.

    "Ah! Yes¡­" Emelia became a little flustered upon his sudden question. She didn''t expect that he would respond like this. After all, she was with her friend who volunteered with the team so that she gets to see her.

    But, now, Azzy''s behavior caused her disappointment.

    Calming down herself, she said, "Nothing¡­ I wanted to introduce you to the guests. This is the team from the Phoenix Academy. It is one of the top 3 academies in the Arcana world.

    As they will be staying here for the next three weeks, it would be better if the two of you get to acquaint with each other."

    Gideon had a big smile on his face as he greeted them, "Hello, I''m Gideon. Grade-8."

    On the other hand, Azzy kept silent as he looked at them. He plainly nodded to them before turning towards the teacher. "Teacher, I appreciate your goodwill but you don''t need to bother yourself. I don''t socialize, either way. If there''s nothing, I have to go to the class and prepare for the exams. Excuse me¡­"

    Giving a slight bow, Azzy walked away from there, not intending to wait for the reply.

    Meanwhile, Gideon also followed him from behind reluctantly even though he wanted to stay there. After all, every one of those girls can be considered a beauty, well except for Iphi who is too young.

    As the both of them left, a frown appeared on everyone from the Phoenix Academy. Meanwhile, Emelia helplessly smiled and cursed herself inside as to why didn''t she expect something like this.

    Azzy''s character was known to the entire academy. She felt that she should have talked with them, somewhere else.

    The instructor who was accompanying them, complained in a serious tone, "Princess Emelia, who is that brat? How dare he talk to us like this¡­ Is he a member of your family or something?"

    She was clearly angered by Azzy''s earlier behavior.

    The girls from the phoenix academy nodded as if they were agreeing with their instructor.

    Emelia let out a sigh, "Miss Vella, he''s like that from the start. Don''t mind him. He''s just devoid of emotions. So, he often stays away from the crowd. We can''t do anything about it."

    "I see¡­" Vella nodded in understanding. Since she trusts her friend, she put away her anger and then comments, "Rank-5 at such early age, not bad¡­"

    Emelia wanted to brag that he''s just 13 years old. However, remembering that Azzy wasn''t going to participate in the tournament, she kept silent and then, lead them towards the other places, acting as a tour guide.

    Meanwhile, Iphi had a strange feeling upon hearing Emelia''s explanation. She didn''t know how to feel, right then.

    On one side, she thought Azzy doesn''t intend to humiliate them. On the other side, she thought he might just be taking advantage of his condition and behaves rudely.

    Even if he isn''t what she thought he was¡­ Iphi felt she doesn''t need to understand his condition. After all, they are strangers.

    "Ugh¡­" She slightly grabbed her forehead as her head was aching while thinking about it deeply.

    For now, she decided to ignore the matter for her inner peace.

    Meanwhile, Azzy and Gideon arrived at the class and found it empty as usual.

    As they took their seats, Gideon asked, "Azzy, how did you that princess of Evenor?"

    "Not sure¡­" Azzy shook his head as he failed to recall her face. In both of the times, she doesn''t leave much impression on him.

    "Did you forget her surname?" The Reaper who was silent until now chipped in. "Surely you must remember the girl with griffin."

    "Eh?" Azzy was taken aback. As he tried to recall, a beautiful image of Sapphire and her griffin appeared in her mind. "Ah!"

    Azzy shouts out loud as he stood up from the seat.

    "Hmm¡­ What happened?" Gideon looked at him, curiously.

    "Nothing, I just remembered her," Azzy answered him as he sat down.

    He then recounted his experience at the grasslands of Myelin. How he was battling a group of rank-4 orcs and how Sapphire tried to scout him, etc¡­

    He left out the encounter at the whale island as he was too embarrassed to admit that he was the one that caused the island to shut down for a while.

    Upon listening to everything, Gideon was left in a daze for a while before he returns to reality by almost screaming at him, "Are you serious? You rejected being the disciple of a high-rank-9 expert?"

    "Is it that great?" Azzy blinked at him a few times as if he was stating that it isn''t a big deal.

    Gideon didn''t know how to react and in the end, he simply laughed to brush off the awkward atmosphere.

    After a while, the class became full. Everyone else arrived with excitement. As they started to discuss, regarding the students of the other academies that arrived early, Gideon left his seat and joined the group.

    Azzy, who had nothing to do with the discussion, simply continued to go through the book. Compared to the other subjects, Azzy felt the grade-8 mathematics was slightly difficult for him. After all, he jumped five grades. So, it''s no wonder he struggles with it.

    Fifteen minutes past nine, the homeroom teacher finally arrived. However, he didn''t come alone. Along with him, three boys stepped inside the class.

    Everyone looked at them, curiously. Naturally, Azzy also observed them. All of them looked cheerful and have big smiles on their faces as they looked around the classroom.

    As for the attire, they wore the same kind of uniform as them. White shirt, grey pants with a navy blue blazer, and a striped tie.

    The only difference is that there''s a patch on the blazer, at the left chest. On it, a maple leaf was drawn.

    "Maple leaf?" Azzy mumbled, finding it familiar. He tried to recall where he heard.

    "Oh my God¡­ they are from the Maple Academy of Maple city." Gideon gasped in realization.

    Only did then Azzy remembered where he saw it. During their visit to the Springwood forest, which is located outskirts of Maple city, he helped a group of students from a mutated gold grade beast of peak-rank-4.

    On the other hand, Gideon almost turned into a fanboy with his eyes lit up in excitement, "It''s the Maple Academy. The Academy produced the most number of winners in the world league. I can''t believe their students arrive at our academy, this early. Surely, they wanted to check out our strengths¡­"

    "World league?" Azzy was taken aback as he heard Gideon''s mumbling. He didn''t know that they were that famous. He took a look at them, once again.

 Chapter 76: Students from Maple Academy

    "These are the grade-8 students, representing the Maple Academy in the upcoming Champions League. Their instructor requested to let the students experience our academy''s normal studies.

    So, for the next nine days, they will be joining you for the morning classes."

    Some students were happy that students of a prestigious academy will be joining them while the others were disappointed that they were all males.

    In the whole school, their class was extremely popular for two things. One is Azzy, a rank-5 Arcana master and the other is that it is the only class with no female students.

    These adolescent single boys were so desperate to date a girlfriend that some of them even wanted to perform poorly in the monthly tournaments to go back into a different division.

    But, as the conditions were too better at Elite division whether it is the classroom or the dormitory, they can''t help but stay here.

    Back to the present, finishing with their little background introduction, Rubin looked at them, "Please introduce yourselves."

    The tallest boy was the first to introduce himself, "Hello, My name is Roland, 14-years-old, grade-8, Forest Division, 99241 soul power. Nice to meet you."

    Everyone in the classroom stared at the boy in silence as he gave such a weird introduction.

    Maybe, Rubin understood their thoughts. He quickly clarified, "Maple Academy''s divisions are unique. It starts with the Root, then, Leaf, Branch, Trunk, Tree, and at last, the Forest. Obviously, the Forest division means they are elite students¡­"

    While everyone who heard it thought it was weird, they kept their mouths shut.

    Then the second boy, who was the shortest of the bunch, introduced himself, "Hello, My name is Kyle Ferlet, 14-years-old, grade-8, Forest Division, 97885 soul power."

    ''Why are they revealing their soul power in introductions?'' Gideon whispered to Azzy.

    Azzy shrugged his shoulders, "who knows¡­"

    The last one was different from the other two. He was neither short nor tall. Just average but what made him unique is his bald head and a foolish grin on his face.

    Azzy, who never saw a bald person in his life, looked at him curiously as if he was watching an animal in the zoo.

    He raised his hand in the air while introducing himself, "Hello, I''m Drake of Forest division."

    Almost everyone closed their ears in reflex as his voice was too loud. The shorty nudged him from beside with a frown on his face.

    The baldy toned down his voice and continued, "My soul power is 99999. I hope that I will break through to rank-5 before my 14th birthday, which is a week away."

    His voice once again rose as he waved his hands, "Let''s get along."

    Although everyone was impressed by their soul power, they still felt that this baldy was going to be a troublesome brat.

    As the representative of grade-8, Lark felt more pressure.

    "Please, sit wherever you like," Rubin told them to take any of the empty seats.

    Except for Gideon and Azzy, and two more students that got promoted to Elite division a while ago, everyone spread all over the room, making it appear empty to them.

    To make it livelier, each of them shared the desk with the original student. Gideon can''t help but gave the looks of being envious towards them.

    Azzy shook his head and continued to focus on the book.

    *Clap* *Clap* Grabbing the attention from everyone, Rubin then spoke, "the annual tournament is only two days away. I''m hoping everyone is prepared. I''ll be busy with other things in the following days, so, I''m cautioning you guys in advance."

    Everyone wondered what he was going to tell. However, his next words only caused nothing but displeasure in their hearts.

    "To maintain optimal condition in the tournament, rest is necessary before the match. That''s why¡­ make sure to practice with all your heart today and take rest for tomorrow."

    Looking at this lazy guy now behaves like a model teacher before these foreign students, everyone else scoffed in their hearts.

    He is their homeroom teacher for the past nine months. Out of nearly 230 school days until now, they saw him sleeping at his desk for more than 200 days.

    He rarely gives advice; rarely check their homework; he was even spotted sleeping in the staff room multiple times while everyone else is preparing for the Champions league;

    In their trips to the Arcana world, except for giving the information about the place, they never saw him help them out with any monster.

    A lot of times, the students found him sleeping. They didn''t know whether he was brave or foolish.

    He grabs them and takes them away only when their life is at risk. And that too, when there is no one else is available.

    So, most of these kids find him extremely unreliable. Only Azzy knew that the teacher was lazy because of his Arcana spirit.

    When he complained informally to the principal in usual study sessions, his master explained to him the reason.

    Back to the present;

    "Okay then¡­ I''m leaving. I have lots of work." Rubin then looked at Lark and told him to look after the guests.

    As soon as he left, everyone except Azzy quickly surrounded the three foreigners. As they were introducing themselves to form a friendship with them, the shorty from the Maple Academy kept on glancing at Azzy, who was busy with something.

    From the moment they arrived at the classroom, naturally, the three of them noticed Azzy who seemed stronger than themselves.

    Who wouldn''t be surprised that a person who was of the same age and has a higher soul rank is studying in a mediocre academy like Aclein¡­

    Naturally, they became curious. However, only Kyle wanted to spar with him.

    Of course, he was only expecting a friendly spar. Kyle wished to know whether Azzy is just of higher rank or whether he is really strong.

    After talking with the others for a while, he suddenly asked, pointing his finger towards Azzy, "what is his name? Is he really, rank-5?"

    The three of them turned their heads towards the direction his finger was pointing towards and then one of them replied with a nod, "His name is Azrael and yes, he''s a rank-5."

    "Is he strong?" He asked the others.

 Chapter 77: Offending the foreign students

    The others fell silent for a while before another guy replying, "Not sure. We never saw him fight but we heard that he defeated the instructor."

    "Not exactly, the instructor." Another guy chipped in with disapproval. "His soul beast defeated an instructor''s beast."

    "But, still, doesn''t everyone from grade-10 afraid of him?" The third guy supported Azzy.

    The second guy commented, "It''s just because he is the disciple of principal."

    "Nah, that''s just a rumor." The third guy shook his head. "It''s because he owns a platinum grade beast."

    Upon hearing their argument, Kyle''s eyes lit up. He didn''t expect to find an Arcana master with a platinum-grade beast.

    Kyle immediately left his seat and walked towards the front.

    They wondered whether he wanted to leave or something. However, to their surprise, he turned to the left and then walked towards the desk where only one person was sitting.

    They realized where he was going.

    "Lark¡­" A classmate named Lamar, tapped his shoulder while he was busy listening to Ronald''s explanation about their Academy.

    Lark turned his head and the classmate pointed his finger towards their left.

    As Lark looked in the direction, he saw Kyle was walking towards Azzy.

    "Do something. If he were to talk with Azrael, you know the consequences won''t be good." Lamar whispered to him.

    Roland heard the whisper and glanced at Azzy. He wondered whether this rank-5 student is a bully or something.

    Remembering that his friend was obviously strong enough to go against even a peak-rank-5, he didn''t think too much about it and continued with this explanation of how things run in their academy.

    Right then, Lark called him out. "Mr. Ferlet."

    Everyone stopped talking and looked at Lark who spoke loudly. Azzy glanced at lark for a fraction of a second before he resumed with his work.

    Apologizing to the others, he then said, "If you don''t mind, can we talk about something."

    "Sure¡­ just give me a minute." Kyle nodded and then continued to step towards Azzy and stopped before him while Lark left his seat and hurriedly went towards the both of them.

    "Hello, I''m Kyle Ferlet."

    Azzy stopped writing and raised his head, "Azrael."

    After mentioning his name, he concentrated on his formula practice, once again, implying that he doesn''t wish to talk anymore.

    Kyle thought Azzy was arrogant but he didn''t get angry. After all, according to him, owning a platinum-grade beast gives the right to be arrogant.

    He asked politely, "I wonder if we can have a friendly spar in the afternoon free time."

    Continuing to write, Azzy answered, "You are too weak. You will die within a minute. Better if we don''t spar."

    Kyle''s smile was frozen. "What did you say?"

    Azzy didn''t respond to him and concentrated on the next question.

    *bam*

    He slammed the desk before him and growled, "What did you say? Say it again."

    All of the cheerfulness he put it on outside was completely gone and was replaced with anger, just from the comment.

    Suddenly, the classroom became silent. Everyone stopped talking and turned their heads towards the both of them.

    Lark closed his eyes tightly and muttered under his breath, "Damn¡­ I knew this would happen."

    Raising his head, Azzy calmly replied, "I don''t have time to entertain you. Go and play elsewhere."

    As Kyle clenched his fist, Lark quickly came to the rescue and grabbed him. "I apologize, Mr. Ferlet. Don''t mind him. Azrael doesn''t know how to socialize."

    "Kyle¡­" Followed by Lark''s apologies, Roland called him while standing up from the seat.

    Kyle looked at him.

    Roland simply said, "Don''t cause trouble."

    Kyle then turned his head to look at Azzy and found him, no longer paying attention to others.

    He snorted, "Don''t worry. I won''t shame our academy by making a fuss out of nothing."

    As he returned to the seat, the cheerful baldy slapped his shoulder, "cool down, will ya. Not everyone is competitive like you are."

    His statement irked him only further but reminding him where he was, Kyle was able to regain his coolness.

    Meanwhile, Lark tried to talk out of Azzy. "Azrael, didn''t you hear Teacher Rubin? What will you do if they complain to the instructor?"

    "You are the class representative," Azzy commented without raising his head. "Don''t you know that this isn''t a free time that anyone can chat and freely roam as they want¡­ If you can''t control the classroom, then atleast, make sure there''s less noise. It''s disturbing my studies."

    Lark was stumped by Azzy''s reply. He wanted to make a point to him that to behave himself so that none of the guests would blame their academy because of him. After all, his neck is also on the line.

    But, instead, he got himself lectured by Azzy in return. What could he say about it when Azzy was right¡­

    "Anyway, please try not to offend anyone from these big academies." Lark requested him, and then, returns to his seat before apologizing to Roland and Kyle, once again.

    Fifteen minutes later, the bell rang and the first period started with Geography.

    Maybe, it''s because their academy doesn''t focus much on regular studies or maybe, it''s because they lack the knowledge. For whatever reason, the three students weren''t able to follow the teachings and felt the subjects are very hard to follow.

    After the class is over, Drake even admitted that their lessons are tough. It made everyone a little bit happy on the inside.

    Soon, the morning classes are over and Azzy went back to the dorm to fresh up and then, returned to the building for lunch.

    Because of the earlier incident, Gideon decided to stick with Azzy at all times to prevent any further issues.

    However, just as they stepped inside the cafeteria, Azzy found it was bustling with noises.

    Both of them walked towards the line before the counter.

    "Azrael¡­" Suddenly, a familiar cheerful voice was heard from nearby. Azzy immediately turned towards the left.

    There, he saw Claire and her friends sitting together. Right now, Claire''s face doesn''t seem good. However, his attention wasn''t on them but on the girl that was sitting with them and was waving her hands.

    His eyes widened in shock and looked at her once again. "Barbara? How?"

 Chapter 78: The girl from Original Timeline

    11th Epoch, Jan 1, 2020; Death Clan;

    The elders and the clan leaders were shocked to see the black lightning ball in Azzy''s hand.

    The Death clan head, Qridus Garcia was extremely happy that his successor received such a powerful Arcana spirit during his second awakening.

    Kylan Crescent, the leader of the crescent clan, clenched his fist and tried to suppress his frustration as he felt their precious Arcana spirit was stolen by the son of the branch family''s traitor.

    The other clan leaders congratulated Qridus. Before, they didn''t acknowledge Azzy as they thought his progress was too slow for someone who was selected as the successor.

    But, now, looking at the black lightning ball that''s been recorded as one of the top tier Arcana spirits of the continent, they can''t help but agree with Qridus'' decision.

    Meanwhile, Barbara Crescent, Kylan''s granddaughter, was filled with excitement to find her cousin awakened a second Arcana spirit.

    "Way to go, cousin." She cheered from the sidelines as everyone just clapped.

    However, all of a sudden, she saw the black lightning ball suddenly started to behave wildly.

    Azzy started to roar in pain while an hourglass appeared before him. The black lightning ball covered Azzy and started to become bigger.

    Suddenly, the stadium fell silent. Even the clan leaders were clueless about the phenomenon. They wanted to observe more.

    She didn''t know what took over. Before her brain processed the situation, her body already started to dash towards him.

    All of a sudden, everyone around there was frozen except for Barbara.

    "What the hell¡­" By the time she came to her senses, she saw her surroundings were changed.

    She was standing on top of some grassland¡­ "Where the hell am I?"

    Back to Present;

    November 23rd, 1993; Aclein Academy;

    "Azrael?" A loud cheerful sound from nearby made Azrael turn his head. He wondered why this voice sounds so familiar.

    When he looked at the source of the voice, he was taken aback in shock. "Barbara? How?"

    "What¡­ what are you doing here?" Azzy asked.

    Gideon and Claire were surprised to see Azzy, who for the first time, stuttered while talking to someone, although his tone was still plain and no expression was seen on his face.

    "It doesn''t make any sense..." Azzy mumbled to himself while his eyes widened.

    It was a person from his past, more like the one from the future that wasn''t supposed to be here. Actually, it wasn''t the first time he saw her in this timeline.

    By sheer coincidence, he saw her during one of his trips to the Arcana world. Back then, he just thought she only looks similar and due to only a short moment of acquaintanceship with his cousin, he threw away the absurd thought.

    But now, looking at her in person, Azzy was clearly frozen in shock. Who wouldn''t be in his position¡­ It''s not like he wanted to travel to the past. According to the Reaper, it was because of the mistake.

    It can be explained with Azzy as he possesses a deity-level Arcana spirit. But what about Barbara? He knew that her Arcana beast is a mere purple grade and she hasn''t awakened twice, either¡­

    It made him wonder whether he was seeing things. He rubbed his eyes and also pinched himself to check whether he''s in a dream. When he found out that he isn''t, he asked the Reaper to check whether someone performed an illusion.

    In response, the Reaper replied, "it appears that somehow she was also affected by your exploding aura back then, and time traveled along with you. And No¡­ You aren''t put under any illusion. This is reality."

    Right then, Barbara left the table and stood before him with a big smile on her face, "It''s been a while."

    "You shouldn''t be here," replied Azzy as he took her handshake before he asked, "How this is possible?"

    "It''s a long story." She sighed. "Anyway, you are free, this afternoon, right?"

    Azzy nodded in response.

    "Then, let''s talk after lunch¡­ We have a lot to catch up on¡­ Oh, by the way, join us at the table. Let''s eat together."

    She then glanced at Gideon, who was curiously looking at her. He finds her awfully similar to someone he knew. Thinking that it might be his homesickness, he quickly threw the thought away.

    Meanwhile, Barbara simply bowed to him as greeting and returned to their table without talking. As a princess of the Crescent, it''s normal that she wouldn''t know every member of the branch family.

    "Who is she?" Gideon asked in a whisper.

    Azzy replied vaguely, "someone I know."

    While he continued to stand in the line, Barbara, who returned to her seat, was asked by a boy from her school, "so, that''s the guy who you were so dying to meet with, for the past year."

    "Yes, third senior brother." She nodded, maintaining her smile. "I should actually thank master for finding him for me, so soon. And don''t you think it''s also fate that Aclein Academy was chosen as a host for this year''s champion league and I meet him, here of all the places¡­"

    Listening to her words, Claire''s face was only darkened. She didn''t know why but she doesn''t like this girl. Along with her, she found out that even her Arcana spirit seems to hate her in the same level it hates Azzy.

    She wondered whether this girl is also of extremely powerful dark attribute like him. She knew that her sword spirit only expressed a dislike to dark attributes but it''s just a dislike, not such hate.

    With Azzy''s possessing a platinum grade beast, she realized maybe, it''s due to the grade difference.

    Currently, she theorized that this girl from the Moon Academy is also a possessor of a platinum grade beast, or else, her soul rank wouldn''t be peak-4-star when she''s only in grade-7.

    Just when she was about to ask how they know each other, she heard a shocking statement from the Moon Academy team''s leader, who is a 15-year-old tenth-grade student and yet, a mid-rank-6 Arcana Master.

    "Not bad, he''s already a rank-5¡­" Her senior was satisfied with her choice, misunderstanding their relationship. "Should I recommend him to the instructor to scout him?"

    As Claire heard his intention of taking away Azzy, she felt her heart rate increased all of a sudden. She wanted to say that the principal won''t let Azzy leave the academy until graduation.

    Thankfully for her, without her opening the mouth, someone else interrupted.

    "Prince Vann, please think over again." Another tenth grader from the same academy reminded him that the academy only gave them ten slots to recruit. So, he cannot waste as he wishes.

    However, thinking about the Prince''s position, his friend further suggested that it''s better to see Azzy''s skills before he proposes it.

    "Hmm¡­ well, it''s just only two days, anyway. We can see his performance in their annual tournament." The Prince of Hildegard agreed with him.

    Claire sighed in relief. Meanwhile, her friends were also feeling the same, although for a different reason. Previously, they were envious of Azzy who attracted the attention of such a top academy.

    Now that they heard that they''ll see his skills in the tournament, they felt that it''s good. After all, it is known to them that Azzy was banned from sparring with humans.

    So, even if these foreigners knew about it, as long as Azzy was banned from sparring, he can''t show his skills. With his terrible personality, he won''t be scouted either. With such thoughts, they felt more ease in their minds.

    As for Claire, she felt uneasy. She felt that this girl would surely take him away if she kept still. Now, all she was hoping for her sister to arrive early.

    At the same time, she also decided to ask Gideon''s help to make sure he stays away, especially from this group.

    Meanwhile, Barbara was clearly displeased by his interruption. She snorted, "I''m sure Azrael will win the tournament."

    "But, I wasn''t registered for the tournament, Miss Barbara." Suddenly, she heard his voice from her behind.

    Azzy wanted to address her with her surname but then, after thinking about Gideon and her circumstances, he decided to call her with the first name.

    "Eh?" The people from the Moon Academy immediately stopped eating and stared at him.

    "Oh! You are here." Barbara turned her head and then, asked her schoolmate to sit in the empty seat of the adjacent table. "Here¡­"

    Azzy remembered their encounter. Almost 1 year ago, she did the same, back then. He felt that her princess attitude hasn''t disappeared at all.

    With no other seat available, Gideon sat at the behind table while Azzy took the seat beside her.

 Chapter 79: The girl from Original Timeline part-2

    Maybe it''s because she was from the same clan or maybe, it''s because they were from the same timeline.

    Or maybe, it''s because when they return to their timeline, she would be the only one to remember him.

    For whatever reason, Azzy felt more comfortable with her than with either Claire or Gideon, although they were nothing more than strangers if one excludes their distant cousin relationship.

    On top of that, as he was the reason she was stranded in this timeline, Azzy also felt guilty for her situation.

    He decided to fulfill her demands as long as it doesn''t cross his bottom line.

    So, when she asked to talk after lunch, he agreed without hesitation. When she asked to eat lunch together with her, he complied.

    And when she asked to sit with him, Azzy abandoned Gideon to sit with her but he didn''t expect it would be comfortable despite eating in a crowd.

    "So, what do you mean by you didn''t register?" Barbara didn''t waste any time asking him as soon as he sat down. "Isn''t it mandatory for everyone to participate in it? I heard that all the academies have the same system.

    Even for the students who study in the academies of Arcana world, the annual tournament is important. Don''t tell me you are throwing away the practical score for the final exams¡­"

    Just now she claimed that Azzy will even win the tournament. Now, she heard that he doesn''t even participate? Not only she was embarrassed but also got worried about his recruitment.

    "No." Azzy shook his head and explained, "Due to the lack of control over my strength, I was banned from sparring with others to prevent any deaths."

    Along with Gideon who was sitting behind him, Claire was also surprised to see this strange behavior of Azzy. As long as they knew him, he was never polite to anyone that he needed to explain his reasons.

    Right then, Prince Vann spoke, "how about sparring with me? I''m a rank-6. Surely, you don''t need to hold back yourself and can fight everything with you got."

    "Hmm?" Azzy looked at him. Only then did he realize Vann''s presence. When tried to sense his rank, Azzy indeed felt that he was stronger than any other person of similar ages.

    However, Azzy felt he''s also weaker than the Assassin that tried to abduct him, back then. So, he judged that he''s at most mid-rank-6 below 5 million soul power.

    "Do you have a life-saving treasure?" Azzy suddenly dropped an unexpected question in response.

    "Eh?" This time, even Barbara was surprised. On the other hand, the students from the Moon Academy frowned.

    Only Vann smiled among them, "You are an interesting character. Anyway, don''t worry. I have a life-saving treasure that lets me defend against even a rank-9 expert and also I have perfect control. So, you don''t need to worry about getting injured too."

    If it was someone with a huge ego like Leonard, they would have thought that he was mocking them. However, Azzy finds his tone appeared very calm as if he was quite confident about himself.

    "I also need to get permission from the principal. If not, at least, someone from our faculty." Azzy further pointed out his other condition. "At the same time, I also need confirmation from your instructor. I don''t want our academy to be blamed later."

    His conditions stunned the people around him. Claire sighed thinking that the good ol'' Azzy is back. He was the same as ever.

    Meanwhile, Barbara felt that Azzy got himself into trouble.

    Just like she feared, the students of Moon Academy were indeed offended by his words.

    "Don''t think highly of yourself, commoner¡­" A teammate exploded in anger as he slammed the table. "You should be grateful enough to get the chance to spar against our leader. If not for Barbara, you won''t even have the qualifications to sit with us. How dare you look down on the crown prince of Hildegard¡­"

    Due to using soul power unknowingly, the table has turned to dust while all the dishes fell on the floor, causing a disturbance.

    Almost everyone in the cafeteria stopped what they are doing and turned their attention towards Azzy and others.

    They wondered whether there''s a fight going on.

    Azzy raised his head and looked at the boy, "You are neither a student of our Academy nor are we standing in your Academy''s premises.

    Whether you are a student of a top academy or a prince of some kingdom, all of you have equal standing here. So, what qualifications are you talking about?

    If your leader is interested to battle me that badly, then, tell him to get permission from my principal and your team''s instructor or else, get lost. I don''t have time to play with you all¡­"

    Vann was taken aback as he found Azzy''s expression and tone didn''t change a bit. It wasn''t a calm and confident tone like his. He felt it''s more like Azzy was devoid of emotions.

    It made him remember certain people he met when he was a child. Those mysterious experts were just like Azzy with no emotions and certainly have disregard for the people''s life.

    After voicing his opinion, Azzy glanced at Barbara and said, "Let''s talk, right now. I''ll treat you to lunch, outside. Follow me."

    He then turns around and walked towards the exit without waiting for Barbara''s response.

    She apologized to her senior brother and ran after him.

    Feeling everyone''s eyes on them, the students of Moon Academy felt ashamed and at the same time, became angry at the guy who was exploded.

    Coming back to his senses, Vann bowed, "I apologize for the ruckus caused by my teammate."

    While bowing, he placed his hand behind the guy''s head and forced him to bow along with him.

    As the representatives of a well-known academy, they should keep their reputation, after all.

    As the atmosphere turned normal and Claire left towards the counter to take the dishes, Vann glared at the teammate and glared, "Rufus, the next time you embarrass us by doing something like this¡­"

    Vann didn''t even finish his sentence; however, Rufus found himself shaking in fear.

    Meanwhile, Azzy and Barbara exited the building, continuing to walk towards the exit.

    "So, how long has it been since that incident? 11 months?" Barbara was the first to talk now that they were by themselves.

    She then sighed, "I wanted to go back home and see my parents but I don''t even know the location. Even if I know the location of our clan, I wouldn''t be able to get back. What about you? Don''t you want to see your parents? They should be alive, right?"

    "Barbara¡­" Suddenly, Azzy raised his voice slightly making her flinch.

    As she turned her head and looked at his eyes, Azzy spoke sternly, "this is not the place for you to spout out those words." He then looked around and then, breathes out a sigh of relief, "thank goodness. No one is there."

    "What happened?" Barbara asked him as her eyes started to shake in worry. She wondered whether she said something wrong that ticked off Azzy.

    "First, be silent until we leave the academy." Azzy continued to walk, leaving her speechless for a second before she followed him.

    After they left the academy, both of them took public transport. Barbara didn''t know where Azzy is taking her but she just followed him as she has no choice.

    Azzy then opened his mouth slowly, "Barbara... there are rank-6 and rank-7 experts in the academy. What if someone hears it? I''m an orphan to everyone and I want to keep it that way."

    "Ah!" Barbara finally realized what she had done wrong. "I''m sorry." She immediately apologized and said it wasn''t her intention.

    Within a few minutes, they exited the bus at the first stop and continued to walk until they reached a mansion.

    Looking at the big house, she asked, "Where are we?"

    "Used to be my home. Now, no one lives here. Anyway, let''s get inside." Azzy opened the gate and invited her inside.

    As they walked through the gate, Azzy activated his aura sensing and scanned a one-kilometer radius around him.

    After finding there''s no higher rank expert nearby them, Azzy then asked the Reaper whether there is anyone hiding.

    Only then did he start the topic, "okay. Now, it''s safe to talk. Tell me, what happened? How are you in this timeline? And where were you until now?"

 Chapter 80: The girl from Original Timeline part-3

    Ten months ago;

    "Where the hell am I?" Barbara was confused to find herself on the unfamiliar grasslands. One second ago, she was at the Arena and now, it seemed as if she was teleported to someplace that doesn''t seem like it''s her clan compound.

    Barbara, who never stepped outside of the clan village, felt panicked for a second. To gain courage, she summoned the soul card to summon her buddy.

    "Eh?" However, to her surprise, she found the image and the data on her soul card changed. "56000 Soul power? And this¡­"

    She didn''t waste any time summoning her Arcana spirit.

    *Roar*

    Instead of the fiery blazing red cat, a 4ft sabertooth tiger appeared before her. In place of red flames, black flames were dancing around its whiskers, ears, fangs, and tail.

    Although its appearance is completely unfamiliar, at the same time, she felt it gave off the same familiarity as the cat.

    "Neko?" She called out to the tiger after a moment of hesitation.

    It let out a low growl in response while trying to rub its head to her cheeks. Barbara hugged it and caressed its head, "for one second, I thought you were different. Say, what happened to you? Did you evolve because of the awakening or something¡­"

    "Yes and No. If you check your soul orb, you would be able to find the reason." All of a sudden, Barbara heard a crispy female voice in her head. "

    "Eh? She was once again taken by another change. "Is that you, Neko?" She looked at the sabertooth.

    It nodded like a human.

    "How?" She felt confused. Previously, she was able to understand its actions and feelings based on their connection. She never participated in an actual conversation like this. "You can talk in my head, from now onwards?"

    "I don''t know what it is but some strange energy aided me to evolve more than four times in a split second. My abilities are also strengthened." It replied in her head.

    Barbara immediately sat down in a meditative position and transferred her consciousness into her soul to check the changes. "This black energy¡­"

    She remembered seeing something similar just a few moments ago. "Cousin Azrael?"

    She realized how it happened. During Azzy''s second awakening, he released strange energy which affected her as she was nearby.

    Excitement rose in her heart. Usually, people get to suffer because of their recklessness. However, she felt that she was lucky to even gain such massive benefit from it.

    Jumping on its back, she said, "Neko, now we need is to return our home. Let''s get to a nearby town. As long as I can get to the capital city, it will get easier for dad to find me."

    *Roar*

    The sabertooth started to run, searching for a nearby settlement.

    But, who could have expected that she will run into Vann of all people¡­

    She saw a 15-year-old boy fighting some masked men, all alone. For some reason, there''s no beast nearby or any weapon in his hands, either.

    Thinking that he''s in trouble, she decided to lend him a hand without considering the gap between the strengths.

    Jumping down from its back, Barbara spoke to the sabertooth, "Neko, I''ll leave this to you."

    *Roar*

    Letting out a powerful roar, the sabertooth dashed towards the masked men that surrounded the boy.

    Its roar attracted their attention and they immediately stopped the battle.

    As the masked men turned around and raised their weapons to stop the beast, the boy who spotted Barbara, ordered them to move aside.

    He doesn''t know whether it is on purpose or did the girl lose control over the beast but at the moment, this peak-rank-5 expert thought he needed to stop the beast personally.

    As for why he didn''t let the others do it, it''s because unlike him, they don''t have perfect control over strength, and he was worried that they would kill the poor rank-4 beast.

    "Eh?" Barbara was taken aback to see the masked men immediately moved aside and the boy that was supposed to be in trouble stepped forward and raised his hand.

    A soul card appeared before him and then, soon, gold scales started to appear.

    Very soon, except for his face, dragon-scale armor covered his entire body.

    Looking at his transformed, Barbara felt amazed and for a moment, she forgot that the sabertooth set its eyes on the boy, thinking that he''s the most threatening.

    "Ah!" By the time she realized that her beast was fighting the wrong opponent, the sabertooth already reached the boy, who clenched his fist and waited to give a solid punch.

    "Neko, stop." She hurriedly shouted but it was too late. The sabertooth met his fist and was landed a couple of meters away.

    It stood up on its feet and growled at its opponent who seemed shocked that his punch did nothing to it.

    "Neko, don''t attack¡­" Barbara gave an order. However, under the influence of the Protos energy, the order never reached it and its rage only increased further.

    Barbara immediately felt that her soul energy dropped by at least one-fourth. She started to run towards it, displaying her recklessness once again.

    Meanwhile, the sabertooth formed a black fireball to turn its enemy into ash.

    The boy in dragon scales frowned. Earlier, he did hear the girl''s orders to the beast. "I see. So, she lost control. Beating it up will not do. I need to capture it"

    He shouted, "Come out, Delphina."

    He summoned his Arcana spirit. All of a sudden, the masked men saw a fifty-meter giant gold dragon appeared before their eyes.

    *Roar*

    Letting out a powerful roar, it looked down at its opponent. "Delphina, the host lost control over it. I want you to hold it in your palms until it calms down."

    Right then, a giant hand suddenly descended from the skies.

    "Master?" The boy was taken aback. He saw the hand immediately pressed the saber-tooth onto the ground while injecting some light particles into it, neutralizing the effect.

    As Barbara reached halfway, an old man suddenly appeared in her way. "Relax, kid. No harm is being done to your companion. Wait until it becomes normal."

    The beast roared in pain for a while before the black aura that covered it, slowly dissipated. The hand also disappeared.

    Barbara reached and hugged the saber-tooth. It let out a soft growl. "Thanks."

    The boy unsummoned his dragon scales and the gold dragon before started to walk towards her. The masked men also followed him.

    He greeted the old man, first, "Master¡­"

    The old man nodded with a smile.

    As Barbara thanked him for the help, the old man replied, "I sensed a mysterious yet powerful corruptive energy inside the beast that seemed to mix in with your soul. For better or for worse, it was only strengthening the beast''s soul but at the same time, making it wilder.

    Heed my warning, kid. Unless you work extremely hard on controlling that unique energy, someday, you might lose yourself. Don''t underestimate a platinum grade beast."

    "Eh! This saber-tooth is a Platinum grade?" The boy was surprised and when he tried to sense its aura intensity, he realized that it was at the same level as his own Arcana spirit. "I see. No wonder it was unhurt by my punch."

    Barbara thanked the old man once again and then asked, "If you don''t mind, can you tell me the way to the nearby town. I want to go to the capital city."

    Since they already helped her that much, she thought they can at least tell her that much.

    "Oh! Capital city?" The boy then said, "We are also going that way. You can join us."

    Barbara decided to go along with him. It''s not just because she thought they were nice people. Upon seeing the old man''s strength in person, she knew that even if he has ill intentions, she wouldn''t be able to escape.

    As for revenge, she knew about the secret skill that her father placed inside her when she first awakened.

    If she ever dies, her father would immediately know of the incident and the place of death.

    Back to Present;

    "And that''s how I ended up traveling with Prince Vann and my master only to realize that I''m not in Freyles but in the kingdom of Hildegard where it was ruled by the royal family instead of the government." Barbara ended her story while sitting in the deckchair on the lawn as the house is full of dust.

    "Then, how did you ended up at Moon Academy?" Azzy asked her.

 Chapter 81: The girl from Original Timeline part-4

    Upon Azzy''s probing into the details, Barbara sighed, "It didn''t take long for me to realize that I ended up in 1993.

    I didn''t lose hope. I believed that once I get to the clan village and prove my identity, my grandfather, or maybe the clan head will help me to return to my timeline.

    I sold some of the skill cards in exchange for their currency to use for transport purposes to get out of the kingdom as fast as I can.

    However, before I did that, Prince Vann sent a few knights and took me to the Royal family''s guardian who offered me to be his disciple.

    At first, I rejected his offer but then, after hearing that he''s a peak-rank-9, someone who was in the same league as the clan head, my ambitions to grow stronger took over my desire to return.

    As a result, I postponed my trip.

    Like that, I ended up going to Moon Academy. I thought I can return home when I graduate but imagine my surprise when I saw you at Moon Island."

    A big smile suddenly appeared on her face, "Neko once told me that you might have also ended up here but I didn''t believe it. When I saw you four months ago, I realized that I''m not the only one.

    I immediately asked my master to do me a favor. When I found out, I want to come here immediately but then, I heard from my third senior brother about how your academy was chosen to host the league.

    So, I worked hard during these past few months to break through to rank-5 and then, participated in the annual tournament to acquire the rights to participate in the league. It''s really fate, isn''t it?"

    Azzy didn''t comment on her explanation and proceed to ask as if he was recording her statement, "does your master know that you time traveled?"

    Barbara shook her head, "of course not. I''m not that stupid. If people know that I come from the future, I might even be abducted by the people to get the details of the history."

    "How much others know about me?" Azzy threw out another question.

    "Not much. Just name, rank, academy name, etc... When I asked my master to search for your whereabouts, Prince Vann found out about it and asked me. I lied to him that we are close friends that grew up together."

    Her explanation made him frown inside. "Grew up together?"

    Barbara suddenly felt tensed as she heard his tone changed.

    "What about your surname?"

    "Eh?" This unexpected question threw off Barbara for a second. She answered, "I registered as a person from the Crescent family but I didn''t disclose about the clan village.

    As Crescent family is registered as one of the noble families of Freyles, I thought it isn''t a big deal."

    Upon getting all the answers he wants, Azzy grabbed his chin and fell into deep thoughts.

    "Chronos, What do you think?" He asked the Reaper. Azzy obviously didn''t trust her fully. So, he asked for a second opinion.

    The Reaper replied, "Either she''s telling the truth or a rank-10 is manipulating her to deceive you. The latter is unlikely to happen."

    ''Oh boy¡­ She messed up.'' Azzy sighed as he realized the issue.

    Meanwhile, Barbara looked at him in worry. She wondered whether she did a wrong thing in exposing her surname.

    Azzy then opened his mouth, "Do you know that people here knew that I was an orphan and was later, adopted into this house?"

    "Hmm, Yes¡­" She nodded. Barbara felt something wrong from his words but she didn''t understand what he was implying.

    Azzy then looked straight into her eyes, making her nervous.

    He then said, "Freyles is a country that''s located in the far western side of the continent. It''s atleast ten thousand kilometers away from here. Ever thought how you plan on explaining about how we grew up together?"

    "Oh! It''s just that." She sighed in relief, "I thought it is something serious."

    Her response confused Azzy. He wondered whether he didn''t ask the right question.

    "The question was already brought to me, a couple of months ago." Barbara explained, "Thanks to Neko''s suggestion, I cooked up a story about how I stayed at Southern Qudour until the age of eight and then, shifted to the clan with my parents."

    "This girl''s smart." The Reaper commented in Azzy''s head.

    "Hmm¡­" Azzy then thought of possible difficulties. When he found most of them are already resolved, he decided it was his turn to reveal the truth.

    "Barbara, the mysterious energy that led your Arcana spirit to evolve is called the Protos energy."

    "Protos Energy?" She became curious about it. After all, even her master didn''t know what it is.

    Azzy nodded, "You can say it is a unique energy that was exclusive to aliens of some distant galaxy. I don''t know much about it. During my second awakening, I inherited the Arcana spirit of Aelius Crescent. You must have heard of his name."

    "Aelius Crescent? The lightning god?" Barbara was shocked to hear the name. This ancestor of theirs was widely popular in their clan as the strongest Crescent ever.

    As a princess of the clan, she knew about the life story of Aelius even better than Azzy.

    "Anyway, something happened during the awakening and I accidentally time-traveled to the past because my Arcana spirit was corrupted by the energy."

    As he can''t reveal the existence of the Reaper, Azzy summoned the hourglass instead, "according to my Arcana spirit, when I reach rank-7, I can go back to the future. I can take you along with me too."

    "We can go back to our timeline?" As soon as she heard the words, Barbara stood up on her feet, feeling excited.

    She didn''t even care about the appearance of the hourglass or amazed by the fact that the hourglass can make the possibility of time travel.

    At present, all her thoughts were on getting back home. She grabbed his arms and asked, "Say it once again, please."

    "We can get back to our timeline. However, you need to wait several years. I''m only a rank-5, now." Barbara''s face suddenly dimmed as she was reminded that it will take a while.

    "How long do you think, you''ll take?" She asked him. As she was hit with the reality, she was worried that by the time he''ll reach rank-7, the Year 2020 will become present already.

    "Not sure but I need to reach it in 14 years. If we don''t get back to the future before our future selves are born, we will lose our identity forever. There''ll be no use to travel to the future as no one will remember us."

    "Lose our identity? No one will remember us? What does that mean?" Barbara''s heart skipped as she heard it.

    Azzy explained the theory he heard from the Reaper. "Look, this is your body and soul. 13 years later, when your mother conceives you, the baby will form a body and in turn, a soul should occupy it.

    If your soul isn''t present, then, some other soul will occupy the body. While the universe will still preserve your body since it is a materialistic property, on other hand, the memories of your parents will be linked with the baby with another soul. Barbara will cease to exist in their memories.

    So, time travel, in that case, will be useless.

    In that case, you simply continue to live in your current identity. That way, the relationships you have formed by the current you will stay even though your birth relations will be severed.

    And in case if I achieve it within the next 13 years, we will get to our timeline for sure. However, we will sever all the connections we formed in present. They won''t remember either. And also, since we revert to 12-year-olds, our soul power will also revert to normal, although our memories will stay intact."

    Upon hearing the explanation, Barbara fell silent and slowly opened her mouth for a while. "So, I can choose either the future or the present, huh!" She appeared serious.

    Azzy nodded, "yes, I chose the future. That''s why I will try hard not to form any bonds. Even if I form them, I''m prepared to leave.

    If you want to return with me, you also have to prepare to lose every connection you have, which includes your friends and even your master.

    Who knows, your Arcana spirit might also have to return to normal and you might lose your potential that you gained now.

    I don''t know what sort of complications you and I will face. After all, I never time traveled before.

    I can only say it for sure when I reach rank-7 and receive the knowledge of soul skill. So, the future is still full of mystery. If you still choose it, then,  I''ll make sure to get you back to the timeline safe and sound.

    In the meantime, I will stay in constant touch with you wherever I go. I will even try to enroll in the Moon Academy if that''s your wish.

    After all, you landed in this situation because of me, although it''s by a mistake.

    But, if you want to stay here, I will respect your decision as well. In that case, this will be the last meeting between us.

    Don''t take the decision rashly. Take your time and answer me before you return to the Moon Academy."

    Meanwhile, the Reaper who was listening to the conversation, inwardly sighed, "Azrael, I hope you won''t hate me when you realize the truth. Everything is for your sake¡­"

 Chapter 82: The girl from Original Timeline part-5

    "Finally, we are done with it." Barbara collapsed on the sofa in work clothes after finishing the cleaning.

    "Aren''t you hungry? Go upstairs and fresh up. I''ll take you to a popular restaurant nearby." Azzy said while putting away the mop and the bucket. Although he said it with a straight face, inwardly he smiled.

    For the past eight months, he would come to the house every month to make sure it''s clean even in the absence of the family.

    This is the first time he had cleaned along with a person. It didn''t feel boring and rather fun.

    He was actually pleased that he found another person that he can call family after his adopted family left him because of their personal issues.

    Another reason he was happy is because of Barbara''s answer. She doesn''t even hesitate to choose her family over strength.

    He didn''t know whether she will change her mind in the future but for now, he decided to trust her.

    A while later, both of them exited the mansion and left for the downtown where there are a number of restaurants and a few tourist attractions.

    By the time they returned to the academy, it was already evening. He walked with her until they reached the female dormitory of the Elite division.

    There, he saw a group of girls who were standing together outside of the dormitory, talking something.

    "Oh! Miss Crescent¡­" A girl called out to her as soon as she spotted her. "Eh? Azrael?"

    She was taken aback in surprise to see Azzy standing next to her.

    As soon as his name was called out, a few girls turned their heads. Most of them were from Aclein Academy. Coincidentally, Claire and Iphi were also there.

    While Iphi was just displeased upon the sight of him, Claire stared at Barbara with a frown on her face before she greeted him with a smile, "Hey, Azrael."

    She didn''t bother to greet Barbara.

    Meanwhile, Azzy greeted back the senior with a plain nod while greeting Claire with Hello.

    Zona didn''t feel offended by this as she knew he was always like this. She then asked, "Do you two know each other?"

    Azzy answered with another nod. On the other hand, Barbara widely smiled, "We knew each from childhood. Kinda grew up together."

    "Oh! I never knew that you have a childhood friend, Azrael. Did you go on a date?" She asked Azzy, trying to tease him.

    To her disappointment, Azzy ignored her and looked at Claire, "I apologize for not attending the practice session. I''m going to train at training grounds 1 before breakfast. You can join if you want."

    "It''s fine." She waved her hands, maintaining a forceful smile on her face. She was even more troubled after seeing that neither of them rejected that they went on a date.

    "Alright." Azzy nodded to her and then looked at Barbara, "I''ll take my leave then."

    As Azzy turned around and about to walk away, Barbara suddenly stopped him and asked whether she can join him for training. Earlier, during their outing, he mentioned how he had access to train with the robots which aren''t permitted to enter the Arcana world where Moon Academy was built.

    So, she became curious about it, all of a sudden.

    Zona responded, "Uh¡­ Miss Crescent, training grounds 1 is inaccessible to outsiders. I''m afraid you can''t step inside without¡­"

    Before her words finished, Azzy interrupted, "sure. I''ll take care of it."

    "Eh? You can do that?" Zona was surprised by Azzy''s confidence. On the other hand, Claire''s face darkened while misunderstanding that Barbara''s going to train with him alone.

    Until now, aside from Gideon, only she sparred with Azzy who will only do nothing but defend or dodge.

    But now, she felt like this new girl is stealing her place. As for why she was bothered by it, Claire still hasn''t found the reason.

    Saying goodbye to her, Azzy left for the dormitory. There, he didn''t find Gideon in the room.

    Azzy thought that this guy was with those foreign students from Maple Academy who were staying in the same dorm

    Shrugging his shoulders, he left for the cafeteria after having a shower. Since he was a bit late for the dinner, not many people were left there.

    He quietly ate his dinner without any disturbing him and then, walked towards the training grounds.

    Even though he wasn''t participating in the tournament, Azzy never stopped working on his control.

    Meanwhile, at training grounds-2;

    Dozens of boys stood on the sidelines, watching the battle between Kyle Ferlet from Maple Academy, Rufus Spindle of Moon Academy, and Leonard Light.

    Kyle and Rufus currently teamed up together as they battled Leo.

    After the incident with Azzy, as the representative of the academy, Leo went to them and apologized personally for his junior''s mistake.

    He then said that he''s willing to compensate in exchange to forgive Azzy.

    To his surprise, both of them asked to spar with him.

    At first, when they found out that Leo accepted both of the challenges, they argued with each other on who will spar with him first.

    However, Leo interrupted them, by telling both of them to come at him together while he will continue to restrict his strength to peak-rank-4.

    Only did then they realized that this guy was even worse than Azzy. Leo directly wanted to humiliate them by showing their place.

    And that''s how both of them ended up as a team while fighting against Leo. No one thought it was unfair either, as one, he was the one that challenged them; two, Leo is the current reigning champion of their nation.

    Even though both of them brought out their Arcana spirits, Leo, on the other hand, was simply fighting bare hands.

    And still, everyone saw Leo has the upper hand. Unlike with the rank-6 robot, Leo displayed his might against these two fellow participants without even releasing a single soul skill.

    After a while later, as both of their soul power is exhausted, both of them gave up and accepted defeat while Leo stood as the winner in the end. He wasn''t even exhausted in the least.

    Everyone was upset that they don''t even get to see any of his skills much less the trump card.

    Well, it was natural the outcome ended up this way as both of them are only peak-rank-4 while he is someone with peak-rank-6 strength despite being a peak-rank-4 beast.

    His overall strength increased from the high-peak stage after he swallowed the original Leo and took his appearance.

    So, he was unafraid of battling anyone below rank-7 as long as they aren''t a robot or a person with perfect control.

    "So, this is Northern Qudour''s national champion who everyone is eyeing on, huh!" Vann mumbled to himself while watching the battle. "The league''s going to be interesting."

    ***

    The next day morning;

    Azzy was waiting at the entrance of the training grounds at 5 in the morning.

    He saw a girl coming towards his way. He thought it was Barbara. However, to his surprise, as she came near, he found out that it was Claire.

    "Morning, Azrael." Claire greeted him with a smile.

    "Didn''t you say you won''t come?" Azzy asked her. He wondered why she changed her decision. As for what he knows of her, Azzy knew that she''s a stubborn type who always sticks with something once it was decided.

    "Nothing, I just remembered that teacher Exea''s warning to not train and take rest a day before the tournament. Thought I will finish my last practice, now."

    Azzy nodded in understanding. He felt that she was right. "Okay."

    Half an hour later, Barbara arrived there and was surprised to see this girl beside him. "Miss Lefeuvre¡­"

    Claire simply nodded as a greeting.

    Azzy took out his pass and scanned it to open the gate.

    While they were walking together, Barbara skipped in excitement. The previous night, she asked the others about the robots.

    One of the girls from the Elite division told her about how a robot with perfect control easily defeated the national champion. As she''s also rank-5, she wondered whether she can tackle it.

    "We are here." After walking for a while, they entered the building and continued to walk until they reached a metal door with a giant X carved on it.

    Azzy scanned the access card and opened the door, revealing a white room.

    They stepped inside of it.

    While Barbara looked around curiously, Claire who was familiar with it went towards a corner and said, "as usual, I''m setting it to 2 times the gravity."

    "Gravity?" Barbara was confused to hear it. She wondered where the promised robots are. Suddenly, she felt heavy. It appeared very familiar to her.

    "Azrael, is this like the Violet pavilion steps at our clan?" She asked him in excitement.

    Azzy stiffened all of a sudden.

    "Our Clan? Aren''t you an orphan, Azrael?" She asked, feeling confused.

 Chapter 83: Holy ground

    Upon hearing that this new girl suddenly indicating that both of them belongs to the same clan, Claire was surprised and immediately pointed it out, "Azrael, aren''t you an orphan with a common background?"

    Barbara, who realized the mistake, closed her mouth with the hands instantly, "oops¡­"

    Azzy who was stiffened by Barbara''s loose tongue now became angry after seeing her reaction.

    He quickly thought of an excuse on the spot, "No, she was just referring to her clan in a formal way."

    Claire just stared at him in silence as if she was thinking he was kidding. Thankfully, the blank expression on him helped at the moment and made her believe his words.

    Since Barbara is a member of the nobility, Claire also thought it might be possible. The only suspicious thing is the girl''s reaction. It appeared as if she blurted out a secret.

    Meanwhile, Azzy wondered whether this cousin of his really managed to keep the fact that she''s time traveled.

    Even though Reaper told him that she''s telling the truth, he became skeptical about it after witnessing this incident.

    "Anyway, let''s start the training. We don''t have much time." Azzy reminded Claire to divert the situation. He then looked at Barbara and said her to stand in the side for now.

    Claire nodded and continued to walk before stopping five meters away.

    She then summoned her soul card and then, took out a heavy sword that brimming with a holy aura.

    As she raised the sword above her head, the aura erupting from the sword, surrounded her. Meanwhile, her eyes turned golden. "Are you ready?"

    Azzy nodded calmly. At first, he used to get extremely uncomfortable as her strong light attribute is an enemy to his Death/Dark attribute. So, he hesitated to help her out.

    But, under the suggestion of the Reaper, he trained with her for the past six months to shake off that uncomfortable feeling. Right now, after getting used to it, he was no longer bothered by it.

    At the same time, the divine sword spirit also became good at controlling its hatred after getting used to it. Of course, it goes without saying that it still views the presence inside Azzy as its enemy.

    Of course, there''s one more person who was feeling extremely uncomfortable at the moment. Barbara who was infected with Protos energy also felt the hate from her sabertooth tiger towards the girl, or rather the sword.

    Remembering how her Neko used to dislike light attribute people, she thought it was because of the same reason.

    "Start."

    Claire quickly dashed towards him as soon as she heard him. Even under the double gravity, her moments weren''t restricted even a bit.

    Azzy stood there calmly. He waited until his opponent reached him and slashed at him.

    Just as the tip of the aura about to touch him, Azzy made his move.

    He sidestepped to the left and dodged the attack. But, it wasn''t stopped there. Azzy immediately counterattacked at the same time.

    At the instant, the sword missed the target, he instantly grabbed her left arm that wasn''t holding the sword and then, threw her in the opposite direction.

    Claire was flung away for a couple of meters before she managed to control her body and landed her feet on the floor.

    She didn''t stop and dashed towards him once again.

    This time, as she swung the sword at him, her eyes darted left and right to check where he will going to dodge.

    However, to her surprise, Azzy ducked and grabbed her shirt near the waist and flung her down at the floor before he dashed backward to gain distance.

    As he barely used any strength on her, Claire wasn''t injured in the slightest.

    "Again¡­" He spoke as she stood on her feet.

    The sparring was continued, by Claire getting defeated in every move. Azzy was simply using different kinds of techniques on her for every attack, making his pattern appear quite random.

    "This unconventional style of fighting¡­" Barbara fell into a daze as she watched the battle from the sidelines. "it kinda resembled Auntie Evelyn''s mixed fighting style."

    After a while, Azzy once again counterattacked, this time by kicking her left foot in a way that made her split her legs suddenly, thereby, losing her balance.

    Azzy walked back a few meters in a distance, waiting for her to stand up.

    "Azrael, you are going too easy on me." Claire pointed the sword at him and complained, "even if you don''t use the lightning wolf, at least use your soul power."

    Azzy put his hands behind the back and replied, "I already told you many times. I''m not your sparring partner and only help you train your battle skill. So, what you should worry about isn''t whether I''m going all out or not. First, your goal is to land a hit on me. Then, talk about making me use my soul power, later."

    Claire wasn''t offended by his remark as she was used to his personality. Instead, she takes it as a challenge and smiled, "Then, I''ll force you to use it."

    "Good luck." Azzy gestured to her to continue.

    This time, her facial expression turned serious as she unleashed the soul skill for the first time in three months.

    "Soul skill: Descent of the Heavenly Guardian."

    Suddenly, an enormous amount of natural energy absorbed into her body, filling her soul power to fill and at the same time, energy wings made of light particles appeared behind her back.

    Strangely, the sword in her hands disappeared while a halo appeared above her head.

    She appeared so pure that it almost enraged Vajra. As for the Reaper, he just laughed it off. He didn''t think much about it.

    Barbara went into a daze. She felt as if she was seeing an Angel that descended from the heavens to the earth. However, the roaring of her Neko inside the mindscape brought her to reality.

    "What''s happening with Neko? It was no longer enraged but rather terrified? A platinum grade beast is afraid of this gold grade sword with a light attribute?" Closing her eyes, Barbara went to her mindscape and then, concentrated on calming down her buddy.

    Back to the battle, Azzy, who already seen the skill once, wasn''t surprised and even praised, "Good. It appeared to be more controlled. Now, the outcome of the battle depends on what combination you will use with it."

    "Well, I wanted to save this until the annual tournament finals to surprise everyone and get into the Champions League but I guess, I have to get acknowledgment from you, first." She replied with a smile as she took out a four-star skill card.

    "Holy Ground, Activate."

    She poured her soul power into the card, before throwing it onto the floor, activating the skill card.

    The card shone brightly for a couple of seconds before turning the porcelain tiles on the floor into golden color.

    "Oh! What is this card?" Azzy looked at the golden floor, curiously as he felt a slight suppression on him.

    After all, he was someone who would be perfectly fine even if gravity was increased by 20 times. He has never seen such a skill card before.

    Claire fell silent.

    If they were just by themselves, she wouldn''t have bothered to keep it a secret. However, Barbara''s presence made her hesitate.

    After all, she''s a person from another academy. She immediately turned her head and looked at her.

    Barbara who was busy with calming her Arcana spirit just looked blankly at her in return.

    Meanwhile, Azzy understood what she was thinking, said, "don''t worry. Presently, she wasn''t concentrating on the battle right now. Either way, I will make sure she won''t spill it to her teammates. You can trust me on that."

    Claire nodded and then, explained, "I turned this area into Holy ground. This four-star card will increase the healing ability of light attributed Arcana masters by at least one-fifth. At the same time, my attacks will be also strengthened by a fold.

    And you know that I can continuously recover my soul power endlessly for ten minutes after I use this soul skill."

    "It''s not enough, Claire. There are going to be several geniuses in the tournament with higher soul ranks. You are still stuck at peak-rank-4. Add another skill card to this combo. It should be one that increases your power or speed." Azzy gave a bit of quick advice.

    "Hmm¡­ How about this?" She took out a mysterious skill card upon much deliberation.

 Chapter 84: Barbara spars with the robot

    Upon Azzy''s advice, Claire thought for a while. As a light element user, the skill cards she can create are mostly healing cards with different effects.

    The only other card she was capable to create is the Holy ground skill, which is her trump card. It''s a unique skill card of her own that she managed to finish, a month ago after working hard for several years.

    So, when she heard that the card won''t be enough to dominate the arena, she felt disappointed a bit and thought about other cards that were single-use.

    Of them, there''s one special card that she remembered buying in one of the stores at Arcana world during the trips. However, as it is very rare, she hesitated.

    Upon much deliberation, she finally took out a four-star card and showed it to Azzy to get a second opinion. "How about this?"

    Azzy saw the images of five golden swords on the card. It was also something that was new to him. "What does it do?"

    Claire explained, "This is an attack card. It will not increase my power or anything but upon activating the skill, five energy swords will appear around me which I can control each of them at a time or all at a time, to attack the enemy.

    I don''t have a skill card that boots my attack power or speed but this can be a follow-up attack.

    And according to the storekeeper, the swords won''t disappear for an hour unless my soul power gets emptied. I paid 1 million credits to acquire this card."

    Azzy was stunned for a second upon hearing her explanation and also felt it''s expensive for a single skill card of rank-4.  With such an amount of money, he would rather buy a gold-grade item card that can be used forever.

    "Well, I think it''s better to save it for a very important match. How about you focus on breaking through to the next rank..."

    Claire shook her head and sighed, "I know but it''s hard to cross this limit. No matter how much I battle, I just can''t receive the revelation needed to break through."

    "Even though she has a sword, she is still a pure light attribute user. It is obvious that fighting will only make it harder for her to proceed further into higher ranks. That''s why light attribute users always stay as support." The Reaper came to the rescue once again.

    He continued, "Healing is the way. She needs to be in a situation where she''s desperate to save someone''s life. Only then, her Arcana spirit will break the wall."

    Azzy fell into deep thoughts after realizing the issue. After forming a risky plan, he spoke, "Claire, I wanted to try something that might help you."

    "Hmm, what is it?" She asked.

    Azzy then walked towards Barbara and placed his hand on her forehead. Dark energy slowly released from his palm, "Chronos, I''m leaving it to you."

    Within a few seconds, Barbara opened her eyes suddenly and saw her cousin before her.

    "I guess your beast is stabilized." Before she misunderstood his actions, Azzy quickly said a few words that implied it was his work.

    "How?" Her eyes widened. For a while, she tried to calm down the sabertooth tiger but it continued to run here and there under the effect of Protos energy which was provoked due to the holy ground.

    "Did you forget where it is originated from?" Azzy responded with a question. While Claire didn''t understand what he was talking about, Barbara, on the other hand, thanked him.

    "Anyway, follow me to the third floor." Azzy walked to the corner of the room to reset the gravity before leaving the room.

    Both of them continued to follow Azzy while Claire dismissed the soul skill. As for the holy ground, she can''t do anything about it. It has to disappear on its own after reaching the time limit.

    Just as they reached the third floor, Claire asked, "Is it really okay for us to be here? I mean this floor is pretty much restricted to us."

    "Well, not for me." Azzy shrugged his shoulders and continued to walk.

    "Oh! That''s right. I forgot that Principal Barton is your Master." Claire let out a comment while following him.

    "Principal?" Barbara looked at Azzy. "Don''t you already have a master?"

    She once again closed her mouth, thinking that she might have said something she shouldn''t have.

    However, Azzy didn''t react to it much and replied, "According to Master Barton, the one-master one-life principle is of ancient age. It seems the rules have changed in the modern era.

    He said I can take many masters but they can only choose one as the Prime Master who will have the highest authority on their student."

    "Oh!" Both of the girls exclaimed at the same time. As a person from a distant kingdom that still follows the old ways, Claire also knew nothing about modern methods even though it''s been more than 3 years since she started studying here.

    Soon, they reached a metallic door that seemed identical to that of the one on the ground floor.

    However, unlike the gravity room, there was also a biometric lock. So, even if one has the access card, without their fingerprints registered in the system, the door won''t open.

    Thankfully, the principal has long registered it. So, they didn''t face a problem opening the door.

    "Wow" Once again, both of the girls exclaimed together as they saw the robots that were standing on either side. "Our academy has this many robots? I thought it was only one," said Claire while looking at them curiously.

    "There are three types of robots. The one on the left¡­ these five have peak-rank-5 strength. As for the right, except for the last one, they are of peak-rank-6 while the final one is of rank-7.

    I don''t have access to the last one, yet. Barbara, I''ll let you train with the rank-5 robot. Meanwhile, Claire and I will face the rank-6 robot. And I trust that this matter of sparring with robots will not leave this room.

    Both of them nodded seriously.

    "First, let''s Barbara spar with the opponent¡­"

    Azzy then walked towards a rank-5 bot and clicked on a button on the back of its neck, which opened a small compartment with a remote controller inside.

    He then clicked on sparring mode while backing away along with Claire so that the robot scan Barbara and adjust its strength. If they were together, Azzy was sure that it will fight to the best of its ability.

    Barbara didn''t take long to get into battle stance and summon the sabertooth tiger.

    *Roar*

    The beast roared at the robot before dashing towards it. Barbara didn''t stay still either. Even though she''s a summoner, she still joined the beast as a backup.

    Both of them simultaneously attacked the robot while it focused on defense.

    But soon, the situation turned around. After getting familiar with their attack patterns, the robot changed the flow completely in its favor.

    "Neko, use Soul skill: Fireblast"

    Getting into the disadvantage of the battle, Barbara lost the patience and unleashed a soul skill of the beast.

    Upon receiving the order, the sabertooth opened its mouth and conjured a black fireball before shooting it towards the robot like a beam.

    However, the robot simply raised his hand and activated another defensive mechanism. The blue shield appeared around its arms that blocked the attack.

    Even though the shield blocked the attack, due to the presence of Protos energy within the Fireblast, cracks started to appear on the shield before it exploded.

    The situation was different from Azzy. While Azzy''s Protos infected Death energy simply corrodes the energy that it touches, the Protos infected Fire energy simply increased its damage by several times.

    As the attack power already crossed the rank-5 limit, naturally, the shield wasn''t able to hold it on.

    Looking at it, a frown appeared on Claire. Her sword spirit was once again trying to go on a rampage because of the earlier display.

    However, Claire quickly managed to calm it down and continued to watch the battle in silence.

    Just then, the robot spoke, "Rank-6 strength detected. Activating Berserk mode¡­"

    *beep*

    Azzy quickly pressed the button on the remote and stopped its function. "Okay, it''s enough for today."

    Barbara was taken aback and turned her head, "why?" She was curious about this berserk mode. Claire, on the other hand, wondered whether this Berserk mode is not good.

 Chapter 85: Battle Robots Berserk mode

    "Let''s stop, for now, Barbara." Azzy deactivated the robot and stopped the sparring as soon as the robot went into Berserk mode.

    "Why? It''s fun¡­" Barbara puffed her cheeks and complained. Meanwhile, Claire wondered whether there''s something wrong with the robot''s sudden change.

    In the next second, he confirmed her suspicions, "It isn''t the moment for you to engage in a serious battle and get injured. It will be worse if your soul beast will be killed in the process. It would take a long time for a platinum grade beast to revive and you have a tournament to participate."

    "Injured? Killed? You will be underestimating me if you think this machine is strong enough to kill my Neko." Barbara was displeased by Azzy''s remark.

    Azzy responded by shaking his head, "No, you are the one that was underestimating the robot. Until now, the robot is under sparring mode. So, you only faced the power of low-rank-5. However, there are other modes, you know."

    After spending more than half a year with these machines, Azzy found out a lot about their mechanisms.

    One should say that he''s the most knowledgeable person regarding the robots in the academy, even more than the principal.

    He proceeds to explain, "First is the usual defend mode, where the robot will only defend with a shield and counterattack without moving from the spot.

    Second is the attack mode, where the robot will interchange its weapons between saber and energy canon.

    Third is the Defense mode-level-2, which will be activated when the robot is in defense mode and its divine shield failed to block the attack.

    Fourth is the Sparring mode, where the robot will adjust its strength according to its opponent. It will make its own judgments when to attack and when to defend.

    Fifth is the Hostile mode. Upon activation, the robot aims to kill the opponent at all costs. It is highly dangerous.

    And sixth is a hidden Berserk mode, which is similar to Hostile mode. However, there are differences. Unlike the hostile mode, it will not kill the human but your Arcana spirit won''t be spared either.

    The first four are practically safe as either you or your Arcana spirit will only be gravely injured, at most.

    However, the other two modes are dangerous where the robot''s attack and speed will be increased by a level, which means, you will face a full assault of a low-rank-6 platinum grade beast. This is why I can''t risk you fighting it further."

    Silence filled the room for a while. Both of the girls didn''t expect such mechanisms installed in this robot.

    Barbara only thought it was a lump of metal. While Claire has a fair idea of what a robot is, she still didn''t expect that the world has advanced so much¡­

    They wondered how those scientists even managed to create such a fearsome thing, especially the rank-7 one which will possess the power of rank-8 during the hostile or sparring mode.

    *Clap* "Okay, now, let''s get you to rank-5, Claire." Azzy then said Barbara to back away while he walked towards another robot with rank-6 strength.

    "Am I going to battle a rank-6?" She gulped in fear. She saw the strength of a rank-6 robot just a few days ago. It completely thrashed the national champion, Leo. So, how could she face it when she was only a rank-4 Arcana Master...

    Azzy shook his head in response, "not I, but we¡­"

    "We are going to battle together?" She was taken aback.

    Azzy nodded and continued, "Just remember no to use the holy ground. It will only restrict my strength. Oh! And don''t use soul skills when I use them. Both of ours will try to cancel out each other instead of facing the opponent."

    "Yeah, I know." She nodded seriously.

    As Barbara sat on the sidelines, Claire summoned her holy sword. Meanwhile, Azzy was alone with neither the wolf nor the weapons.

    "You aren''t summoning Vajra?" Claire asked him curiously. Barbara also wondered the same.

    Azzy shook his head, "Our aim isn''t defeating it. So, there''s no need."

    After answering Claire, he then looked at Barbara and further said, "no matter what, you will not intervene in the situation. Please trust me on this¡­"

    Azzy''s warning made Barbara wonder whether he was going to do something dangerous. Nevertheless, she agreed with a nod.

    "Get ready, Claire."

    As she takes a battle stance, Azzy pressed on Attack mode, instead of sparring mode.

    It quickly scanned the both of them and raised its hand. Its left hand turned into cannon while its right hand took out a handle, Soon, an energy saber formed.

    "Eh?" Even Azzy was surprised at its action as he never saw the robot battled with two weapons. It was always one or the other.

    Thinking that it might be because there are two opponents now, Azzy gave a warning to Claire, "Beware of the cannon. It is in dual weapon mode."

    "I know." Claire became serious as tightly gripped her sword before dashing towards it.

    The robot which is in attack mode also pushed its leg against the floor and dashed towards Claire.

    On the way, it shot an energy bullet from the cannon.

    Just as Claire about to block it with her sword, all of a sudden, she found Azzy appeared before her and blocked the attack with his bare body.

    "Ugh¡­" He groaned in pain while falling on the ground. Following his plan, he didn''t use soul energy to strengthen his defense. However, he didn''t expect it to be weak enough to cause only superficial pain.

    Azzy changed his plan.

    Claire abruptly hated her movements and looked at him in worry, "are you alright?"

    "Look out in the front¡­" He shouted in response.

    "Eh?" Just as she turned her head to the front, she found the robot was already just a couple of feet before her.

    She hurriedly blocked it with the sword. However, due to the difference in strength, she flew away backward.

    Azzy immediately dashed towards her and caught her at the perfect time.

    "Thanks."

    He then put her down.

    "But, are you alright? Earlier you seemed to get hit badly." She expressed her worry.

    The robot which is in the attack mode didn''t give them the time to converse further.

    As it already reached them, Azzy gave an order while he disappeared, "Dodge and aim for the joint."

    Claire then remembered Azzy''s comment back when Leo sparred with the same robot.

    Dodging the energy saber, she thrusts the heavy sword towards its left elbow.

    However, right then, the robot aimed the cannon at her. Just as it about to fire an energy bullet, a solid punch was hit on its left elbow.

    A loud creak was heard before the arm suddenly fell on the floor, making it halt its movements for a fraction of a second.

    This time, Azzy used his soul energy to punch its weak spot with all of his strength.

    "Now¡­" Getting the perfect chance to act, she made her move and aimed at the right elbow to cut off the other hand too.

    At the perfect moment, it managed to move its arm. As a result, the sword struck a part of its metal arm.

    Other than a scratch, Claire wasn''t able to do any major damage like Azzy did. And the robot didn''t give her the chance to do it again, either.

    Upon taking the fallen cannon, the robot suddenly leaped high towards the back and landed on the edge of the room, fifteen meters away.

    "Injured heavily by the opponent. Activate, Berserk mode."

    It hasn''t been even one minute, and the hidden Berserk mode was activated.

    This time, Azzy didn''t stop its function and stared at the robot as it reattached the arm with the help of magnetic force. The nuclear energy burned in its core and flew towards all of its body parts, improving its durability.

    Meanwhile, the energy saber turned from blue to red. The energy cannon disappeared and replaced by a red shield.

    "Soul skill: Sky piercing sword."

    The holy aura on the heavy sword in her hands started to thicken while the weapon slowly became bigger. In no time, it enlarged to five meters, almost touching the ceiling.

    She dashed towards the robot and swung the sword.

    The robot simply raised the red shield and blocked it. "What!" Claire was shocked to see that not only her attack was cleanly blocked but her soul energy filled aura around the sword was also absorbed into the shield.

    Its eyes locked onto Claire.

    Meanwhile, Azzy clenched his fist.

 Chapter 86: Azzy goes all out

    "It wasn''t supposed to go this way." Azzy was frustrated to see his plans go awry because of Claire''s tenacious fighting spirit and bad team play.

    Even though they never worked together, still, Azzy felt that she can''t fight the robot as if she''s alone.

    Adding on top of that, the Berserk mode robot seems to be ignoring him even though he was the one that broke its arm, earlier.

    Seeing that it was completely focusing on Claire, Azzy felt he should do something to gain its attention on him. Only that way, his plan would be a success.

    Meanwhile, Claire, who doesn''t know what''s going on in Azzy''s mind, was in an illusion, thinking that she needs to battle a higher grade perfectly controlled opponent to break through.

    With such intention, she unleashed her soul skill but what she didn''t expect is the durability of the red shield is a lot stronger than she thought at first glance.

    Not only the attack failed but even her soul skill, which was supposed to last for ten more minutes, was also wasted.

    The thickened holy aura that was filled with her soul energy was completely absorbed by the shield making the sword revert to its original state.

    "I guess this is where I need to surpass my limits and breakthrough," Claire mumbled to herself while looking at the robot that was staring at her.

    Right then, suddenly, she felt pressure and her spirit started to behave wildly in rage.

    *Grrr*

    A growl was heard from behind.

    She turned her head and glanced at the source of the sound only to see a black wolf appeared right beside Azzy.

    Black lightning sparks were generated from all over its body as it stared at the robot.

    "You decided to summon Vajra?" Claire seemed surprised. Azzy explained vaguely, "we have no choice."

    Meanwhile, Barbara was taken aback in surprise. From what she knew, Azzy had a death scythe and legendary black lightning orb.

    However, what was in front of her is completely a new beast that seemed very stronger compared to her own.

    At first, she wondered whether she was misunderstood that he inherited the Arcana spirit of Aelius Crescent.

    But then, looking at the black sparks and remembering the name Claire called it out, she theorized that this so-called Protos energy might make that lightning orb mutate into the beast just like how her kitty was mutated into a sabertooth tiger.

    She felt it was quite possible.

    "Claire, follow my lead."

    The black wolf and Azzy rushed towards the robot at an unimaginable speed. In a split second, Azzy appeared before the robot and throw out a punch.

    The robot defended the punch with the red shield while a loud sound reverberated all over the room. A small crack appeared at the spot his punch landed but it disappeared quickly.

    At the same time, Vajra also arrived and lunged at it to tear off its head.

    However, the robot was able to react to it and raised its shield to slam it into the wolf''s face.

    "Wow¡­ So fast," Claire exclaimed as she saw how quickly both of them reached the opponent and attacked.

    If not for her superior eyesight, she would have mistaken that they teleported to the opponent.

    As for Barbara, she doesn''t seem that surprised. She knew that those who trained at the Violet pavilion will be fast on the normal grounds.

    Soon, Claire joined the fight.

    Azzy, Claire, and the black wolf¡­ The three of them started to attack the robot in three different directions. Strangely, even though he got an opportunity several times, Azzy never hit its weak spot.

    All he focused is on one thing. That is to shift its attention from Claire and the wolf to himself. So, he went all out.

    However, due to his imperfect control over his soul energy, his soul power started to diminish at a rapid pace whenever his soul energy-powered fists landed on the shield as it would absorb the soul energy when it blocks the attack.

    Usually, for an expert with perfect control, when they wanted to strengthen their physical body to the limit, only 5% of their overall soul energy is needed at most.

    The soul energy will not only strengthen one''s bones and organs but also improve the recovery rate of the injuries. If healing skill applied, then, the soul energy that was outside the soul orb will speed up the process.

    Of course, a person can pour all the soul energy to strengthen his physical body too. It will make his body studier for sure but not the attack power.

    Coming to Azzy''s situation, he kept half of the soul energy inside his soul orb for Vajra to use one soul skill with maximum strength or several soul skills if it suppresses its soul to rank-4.

    Meanwhile, the other half was spread all over his organs, bones, etc¡­

    Of the 50% soul energy, Azzy''s hand and legs take 20% of it, leaving the remaining 30% for defense.

    So, whenever Azzy''s fist lands on the shield, 5% of his soul energy will be absorbed as a result, which will be replenished by taking away 5% of the soul energy that was kept for defense.

    And right now, he was even forced to leave only 20% of the soul energy in his soul orb for Vajra, which will be enough for only five attacks of its peak-rank-4 level, which is equivalent to a peak-rank-5 attack of a platinum grade beast.

    With no soul energy present in his legs, he only continued to fight with fists. On the other hand, Claire was doing fairly better with the sword in her hand.

    This is the difference between a barehanded fighter and a swordmaster. If Azzy had the death scythe in his hand, this troublesome situation wouldn''t even arise.

    Alas, with Claire''s presence, he wasn''t able to take it out.

    Back to the battle, as the robot is defending against Claire and Azzy while aiming to kill the skillfully dodging wolf, the Reaper no longer sat in silence.

 Chapter 87: Azzy gets himself injured

    "You have dealt with it numerous times. Did you forget Soul energy corruption, already?" The Reaper suddenly reminded him when nothing seemed to work out against this robot. "And why are you forcing it to defend? Increase the time interval between your attacks. It seemed to mind Vajra''s attacks the most rather than you."

    "But, I only have 50 thousand soul power worth of soul energy left for Vajra. If I use the remaining energy in the fists, I have to draw some of it once again and Vajra would be left with almost nothing. I can''t use Soul Absorption here either." Azzy expressed his concern about the usage of soul energy.

    "Well, you are partly to blame for trying to get its attention by sheer force." The Reaper indicated that Azzy should have been smart in expending his soul energy when he knew the function of the red shield very well.

    "Anyway, use the corruption to take away that shield. As for Vajra, as soon as you dismiss it, the machine will focus on you. Moreover, you have an energy recovery skill card in your storage. You can always buy them in the stores as long as you have enough money."

    "Got it." Azzy abandoned his original plan and followed the Reaper''s advice. "Claire and Vajra, both of you back off a bit."

    He then transferred all of the remaining 15% soul energy into his right fist and threw a solid punch towards the shield.

    As Claire and Vajra moved away, the robot defended the punch with its shield.

    Just when they were about to collide, all of sudden, deathly soul energy left his fist and hit the shield.

    "Ugh¡­" Azzy groaned in pain as his plain fist landed on the sturdy shield while his death energy started to infect the divine shield.

    He turned around and quickly grabbed Claire to move away from the opponent while dismissing the wolf at the same time.

    A big black spot appeared in the middle of the shield. The robot shifted its attention towards it. Soon, the whole shield was covered in black. Even its fingers were turned to black.

    To prevent further corruption, it left the shield and pulled out its hand. After a while, as if something eating it, several holes formed on the shield before it disappeared.

    As the hand was metallic, it only turned black.

    "What was that?" Claire and Barbara fell into thoughts. They felt not only Azzy but even his skills were also mysterious.

    As the beast was nowhere to be seen, the robot finally changed its target to Azzy that damaged its shield, and forced it to cut off its hand.

    "Okay, its shield is gone. Now is the time to act." Azzy put his revised plan into motion. "Claire, I want you to oscillate between supporter and attacker, according to the situation. I will be the vanguard to face the robot. Look for an opening and strike it with the sword. In the meantime, heal me if I get injured."

    Claire nodded seriously. She didn''t know what Azzy is planning but decided to see it through to the end as she still hasn''t found a way to cross the wall. Not to mention, it was the first time Azzy asked her to support him, which means he wishes to depend on her.

    Just then, the robot started its offense. It dashed towards Azzy who then moved away from Claire. The robot also followed him.

    Closing the distance, it once again attempted to hit him. However, instead of dodging with side steps, Azzy made a wrestling move.

    He jumped and evaded the saber before locking its head with his legs before throwing it behind him.

    Just as the robot about to crash onto the wall, it displayed its frightening control of landing its feet on the wall.

    Taking the rebound force as an advantage, it leaped towards Azzy while spinning around its own body in the air.

    Azzy who just stood on the floor saw the spinning attack almost reached him. Not able to dodge it, he put his arms over the chest and tried to block it.

    "Don''t do it, Azrael. The aim isn''t the right place. Don''t retract the soul energy." The Reaper''s voice echoed in his brain as he hurriedly warned him.

    Alas, he was already late as Azzy transferred the soul energy to his arms and took the hit on his chest directly.

    "Azrael¡­" Claire and Barbara shouted in panic as the energy saber was pierced in the middle of his chest while he got crashed onto the opposite wall heavily and fell on the floor.

    He started to heavily bleed and soon, he lost his consciousness.

    Azzy''s soul appeared at the mindscape before the Reaper. Sensing his condition, Azzy sighed in relief, "heavy injury¡­ only one lung has been destroyed. Not life-threatening."

    "What''s happening on outside, Chronos?" He asked the Reaper whether the plan is working well or not.

    The Reaper looked at him and commented, "Sometimes, your kindness for others even scares me a bit."

    "Eh?" Azzy was taken aback by his unexpected comment.

    The Reaper lectured, "You almost sought death foolishly, and the first thing you are concerned about whether your plan is a success or not? I warned you it isn''t the right time, didn''t I?"

    "Anything went wrong?" He asked in worry. "Don''t tell me Claire and Barbara got injured?"

    "You idiot..." For the first time, the Reaper roared at him, making Azzy shiver in fright. Thunder rumbled in the skies of his mindscape.

    The Reaper then sighed realizing he''s just a 13-year-old boy and bound to make mistakes. He calmly explained, "Nothing happened to them. And yes, Claire broke through to rank-5 but not through healing. The girl really is gifted. Once she finds the remaining fragments of Michael''s sword, she would be a force to reckon with¡­"

    "Michael''s sword?" Azzy became curious but didn''t ask him, minding the Reaper''s bad mood.

    Meanwhile, on the outside, as Claire was in a stalemate against the robot while attacking it with all her strength, Barbara, on the other hand, was struggling to remove the energy saber that was absorbing the healing power.

    Upon removing it, she shouted, "I took it out. Hurry up¡­"

    "Find the remote," Claire replied in return while slashing at its arm.

    A moment later, the robot finally stopped and Claire immediately dashed towards Azzy and started to heal him after applying soul skill that lets her recover her soul power instantly for a period of time.

    Half an hour later, Azzy opened his eyes and saw the faces of the two girls. While Barbara looked worried, he saw tear marks on Claire''s face.

    "Thank goodness, you are fine¡­" He was immediately hugged by Claire and got lectured, "You know that berserk mode is dangerous. Why do you have to dismiss the beast and faced it alone¡­ What would have happened if I wasn''t the healer¡­"

    While she continued to nag, Azzy opened his mouth, "Congratulations on becoming a rank-5 Arcana Master."

    Barbara, who was silently grinning on the sidelines, was shocked as she pointed her shaking finger at him. "You¡­ You are smiling?"

    "Eh?" Claire backed off and looked at him. Indeed, there was a smile on his face.

 Chapter 88: Laughing Skull of Darkness

    During the process of healing, the Reaper forcefully shut down Azzy''s soul orb as his death energy will oppose her life energy.

    Only the Reaper knows that her attribute isn''t light but life, an opposite element of death and is unique to a specific clan.

    Because of that, Azzy temporarily regained his emotions. As he was genuinely happy for Claire, unknown to him, a smile appeared on his face.

    Barbara, who was watching the both of them, pointed it out in shock as she captured the moment with her eyes.

    Claire backed off from him and takes a look at him. She closed her mouth with her hands while her eyes widened.

    Even she was experiencing the same amount of shock as Barbara. After all, she firmly believed that Azzy being emotionless might be a manufacturing defect.

    "Huh! What are you talking about?" Azzy''s smile was replaced by a frown as he touched his lips. "It''s normal, right?"

    "You are frowning?" As Barbara once again pointed it out, Claire grabbed his arms while smiling widely, "it''s a miracle, Azrael. You can express your emotions."

    Looking at Azzy''s puzzled expression, Claire thought that Azzy wasn''t acting until now but he really might have no idea about the facial expressions. She became happier and excited.

    Meanwhile, Azzy now realized the issue within his body. He immediately lifted the seals and once again, his face returned to normal. "Am I still frowning?" He asked them in his usual plain tone.

    "Eh?" The two of them were taken aback and Barbara sighed, "I guess it is temporary."

    However, Claire had a positive mindset, "I guess it''s because of some of your nerve blockages. When your organ is ruptured earlier, it might have got temporarily active. That means, there''s a hope of full recovery¡­"

    "It is fine. I''m good this way¡­" Azzy waved his hands in response before standing on his feet. "Now that you reached rank-5, let''s continue your practice with a rank-5 robot. You have to get used to your strength too."

    "We are continuing?" Claire was once again surprised upon hearing him. She didn''t expect this boy will spout out these words after what happened earlier.

    Azzy nodded, "Yes. This time, I will sit out but my Vajra will be your backup. Barbara¡­"

    "Hmm?"

    "You can also join if you wish." Since he forcefully stopped her earlier spar, he wanted to give her a chance. At the same time, he also wanted to make sure they don''t get overboard with recklessness by releasing soul skills and make the Robot go into Berserk mode, especially Barbara.

    With two opposite natures, Azzy hoped that they will hold themselves back.

    Two hours later;

    "Hah!" "Hah!" "Hah!" The two girls collapsed on the floor while heavily breathing with sweat all over their bodies.

    On the other hand, the robot returned to its place as if nothing happened. Azzy then pressed a button on the controller that is located at the entrance.

    A cabin opened and machinery hands came out of it.

    The rank-5 robot was dragged inside to recharge and get repaired like how the other robots were stored into their respective cabins before Azzy and Claire started their battle with the rank-6 robot.

    After a while, the girls went to the ground floor to shower and then, left for the dormitory. Training together made them a bit closer, especially on Barbara''s side.

    As for Claire, she no longer disliked Barbara but at the same time, she doesn''t like her either because of her closeness with Azzy.

    Meanwhile, Azzy went to the library on the same floor.

    After returning the book to the exact spot where he borrowed it from, he took another book, which is a history book on the Qudour kingdom.

    It was a book of Eighth Epoch when there are no existences of governments, and when Northern and Southern Qudour nations were of one single kingdom.

    After placing it in the storage card, he went to the private training room on the second floor. It was allotted to Azzy by his Master on the day he became the disciple.

    So, apart from Azzy or without his permission, it is restricted for anyone to train in this place.

    Several advanced seals are applied personally by the Principal during construction so that the walls were able to withstand the damage of even a full-on attack of a rank-7.

    "Okay, let''s complete this month''s assignment, at once."

    Sitting on the floor, he meditated until he recovered his soul energy.

    Then, he took out several blank cards that are made of bronze and a few cards that are made of silver.

    "12, 13, 14 ¡­ 19¡­" "3, 4, 5¡­ 8"

    After counting bronze and silver made blank cards, he put the rest of them into his storage before proceeding with card creation.

    He then picked up a bronze card and pours his soul energy through it while falling into a trance.

    Azzy''s surroundings changed to that of a graveyard. The sky was dark and there''s a full moon in the sky.

    Just then, dark energy emitted from the tombs and slowly, it formed the image of a purple skull that floated in the air as it stared at him.

    "He He He¡­" It started to laugh hysterically.

    It was a scene that he was familiar with. He imagined this place countless times, although he still was confused why the skull is laughing. It''s not like he wanted to scare someone or anything.

    Azzy raised his hand and the skull made its way towards him before landing in his palms. Even though it was made up of energy, it felt pretty solid in Azzy''s hands.

    The dream ended right away and he returned to consciousness.

    Only five seconds have been passed in reality and there''s an image of a skull on the supposed blank card.

    Four red-colored stars appeared on the other side of the card, indicating that it''s a rank-4, intermediate skill card.

    "Intermediate level, again¡­" Azzy sighed inwardly. "I wonder when I will create an advanced level."

    "When you master your soul energy..." The Reaper commented in his head.

    "I know that. You don''t need to remind me." He grumbled before taking out the next bronze card.

    Like the holy ground skill to Claire, this Laughing Skull of Darkness skill card is unique to Azzy.

    However, the key difference here is that the Holy ground skill''s effects are indeed unique while this skull''s effects aren''t that much great.

    Like a regular soul energy attack of his, this skull upon hitting the target will corrupt their soul energy.

    Good thing is that it won''t corrupt the soul orb, atleast, according to the Reaper.

    So, as long as one expels their soul energy, they would be able to ward off this attack, pretty much easily. Any expert with considerable battle experience will be able to do that.

    If such a case occurs, they have to replenish their soul energy too and it will give plenty of time for Azzy to attack. Maybe, that''s the reason silver stars appeared on the skill card.

    Within an hour, around 12 blank cards of bronze were filled with purple skulls while he almost exhausted his soul power for the third time.

    Just as he was about to continue, his stomach sent him a signal by rumbling that he''s hungry.

    Thinking of finishing it later, he stopped the card creation practice and left the place.

    By the time he reached the classroom, it was already 10 o''clock with two periods over already and Language class is going on.

    The shorty from the Maple Academy was glaring at him while the others didn''t pay much attention to it as it wasn''t the first time he was late. Not to mention, Azzy even skipped the class, a lot of times in the past.

    As his original spot beside Gideon was taken by Roland of the Maple Academy, Azzy sat in an empty seat of the front row.

    Two more hours later, in the staff room;

    Rubin, Exea, Uphiar, a couple of other teachers arrived one by one. Everyone had this clueless expression as they took their seats.

    Uphiar asked the vice-principal, why they have been summoned all of a sudden.

    She just shook her head, "Barton didn''t tell me either. Let''s see what he has to say. It must be important."

    After a while, the principal entered the room and sat in his chair while having a serious expression on his face.

    "Everyone, just now I received a message from WAMO. It seems the Heavenly Academy threatened them that they will not attend the league as the committee rejected their request of changing the venue."

 Chapter 89: The inspector from WAMO Headquarters part-1

    Upon hearing Principal Barton''s statement, silence filled the room. No one expected such a situation when even a couple of top academies arrived and the academy is only a day from the annual tournament too.

    "Heavenly Academy is causing trouble for us?" All the teachers assembled in the staff room frowned.

    Principal Barton continued, "I didn''t tell you all about it before, it ain''t the first academy that lodged a complaint against us. Central Academy was the first one to complain, on the basis of qualifications lacking.

    After the committee rejected their request because of the rules, the situation was calmed down. But now, as the Heavenly Academy''s request of changing the venue has been rejected, they threatened to boycott the league itself.

    You know that despite not being the most powerful academy like Dragon Academy, the Heavenly Academy has the most influence due to the royal family members.

    I guess the committee must have taken consideration about it and send me a message about how they are deploying a representative who will observe our academy facilities, students, teachers, then, judge whether we are allowed to host or not."

    "What if we fail?" A teacher gulped in worry. Like the rest of the staff, he was also looking towards this tournament and didn''t expect there would be trouble.

    Principal Barton replied that the venue will be shifted to the capital city where the country''s prestigious Egrein Academy is located.

    "What do you think the representative will look for?" Vice Principal, Sahara asked her husband.

    "Our facilities aren''t pale in comparison with any Arcana academy out there." The Principal replied while feeling proud about it. His face once again turned serious as he pointed out, "The only issue here is the quality of students. We have far too few rank-5 students compared to all the academies that were participating in the league.

    He may point out that as a host, our academy can''t be the weakest in terms of geniuses. Leonard Light is the only person who can solve this issue. With his combat ability that is at least rated as rank-6, we can make an argument."

    "What about your disciple?" All of a sudden Exea brought Azzy into the topic, "I heard that the fifth prince marked him as his rival and constantly claim that student Azrael is stronger than himself. With two students, don''t we have a better chance?"

    "No¡­" Principal Barton quickly rejected firmly. "Until I confirm that he can perfectly control his strength, I refuse to let him participate in any kind of tournament. It''s my decision as not only his Master but also the Principal of the academy."

    "Until he stays in this academy¡­ that is¡­" Uphiar let out a comment while stroking his twisted, black goatee.

    "What do you mean by that?" Rubin asked him with a frown on his face. The rest of the members also looked at him.

    "I guess you didn''t hear the news that student Azrael went on a date with a girl from Moon Academy. The whole academy is talking about it. It seems she''s his childhood friend. When I inquired about the girl''s background this morning, I found out that she''s the fourth disciple of Venerable Calidius."

    "Venerable Calidius?" Principal Barton stood up in shock and so was his wife. The remaining people were clueless about who this Calidius is. However, since only rank-9 or above Arcana Masters can be addressed with Venerable before their names, they were still surprised.

    "That would mean she''s the junior sister of the Crown prince of Hildegard?" It''s no secret to the world regarding Vann''s origins. However, he still didn''t expect there''s another monstrous genius in the Moon Academy''s lineup.

    Uphiar nodded, "Yes. I heard that Prince Vann was interested in him. I already reported you about this."

    Looking at the principal, he continued, "In the morning, their team''s instructor came to me and inquired about student Azrael. He also expressed intentions of letting Azrael have a friendly spar against Prince Vann. You told me to reject it. However, before I do that, we were called to the meeting."

    The Principal''s face darkened instantly as he clenched his fist. Lack of control isn''t the only reason he put a ban on Azzy. In the eyes of others, Azzy is surely his disciple.

    However, Azzy never acknowledged him as his Prime Master. So, he has the same status as Rubin, a teacher to Azzy.

    He knew that Azzy will surely acknowledge another person as his master but what he worried about is that the Prime Master position will go to someone far stronger than himself. Then, his existence to Azzy will diminish to the extent of disregard.

    After all, he still can''t forget two of his genius disciples who later abandoned him after becoming a disciple of a peak rank-8 and a nine-9 respectively. That''s why he can''t let Azzy go until he graduates from the academy. Until then, he keeps on supporting him to the fullest.

    Meanwhile, at the nation of Vesna;

    At a random location of Vesna, a neutral nation that is home to every nation''s embassy, headquarters to several giant corporations and organizations, a young man was traveling on the road in his hundred million credits sports car.

    Its eye-catching appearance attracted the attention of several people. With Arcana Masters traveling on their flying cards everywhere, it''s rare for someone to buy this pricey vehicle.

    Inside the vehicle, three hot models, one on the front and the two on the back were also seated.

    The models in the backseat were kissing each other while the model in the front was also doing some indecent thing. The young man had a look of enjoyment on his face and yet, he was managing to drive at 150 km/hr without losing any concentration on the road.

    Without any warning, an item card suddenly appears before him, making the rest of the girls stop their activities and look at this playboy.

    He stopped the car on the side of the road. "When will these guys update in technology? Aren''t these cellular phones more comfortable?"

    He grumbled while crushing it with his soul energy.

    Immediately, an image of a middle-aged man appeared in his mind and a message followed by it. "Come to the Headquarters, at this instant."

    "Oh boy, not again." Shaking his head with a sigh, he looked at the three of them and said, "Sorry ladies, hotel canceled. I need to go for important work."

    "How about we have our fun here then¡­" The model in the front whispered in his ears and immediately sat on him without prior warning.

    "Sure," he grinned planting a kiss on her lips.

    With his vision blocked, he reached out to some buttons and pressed them.

    "Flight mode, Activated."

    "Invisible mode, Activated."

    All of a sudden, the car speed up and flew into the air up to a thousand hundred meters while becoming invisible.

    WAMO Headquarters, Silver city;

    Reaching the Headquarters, he summoned a platinum grade storage card and stores the car inside it as there''s no parking space in the building. After all, it''s the association for Arcana Masters which was built back when the vehicles aren''t even invented.

    And as upper echelons of the organization that are thousands of years old looked down on man-made inventions, which the commoners use for daily purpose, the management didn''t bother to create one too.

    Even the electricity inside the building was created by the skill cards, not the wires.

    After a while, the young man reached the President''s office.

    He saluted, "Your orders, Sir?"

    Unlike his earlier playboy demeanor, he now had the look of a soldier.

    "Neal, You are being deployed to the Aclein Academy for an inspection." The President ordered him without wasting any time.

    "Eh? Aclein Academy?" He was taken aback.

    "Yes." The President nodded, "Any problem?"

    "Nothing, Sir. Please continue."

    The President continued with his orders, "I don''t care what you do. Either make sure that the Academy lacked qualifications to host the Champions League or bring me a solid report that can make the Heavenly Academy not challenge our decision, again."

    "Understood." The young man saluted once again before turning around to walk away.

    As he left the building, he took out his supercar from the storage card once again and sat inside it. However, the car didn''t move for a while.

    Neal just sat silent as he took out a photo from his wallet. It contains the image of a small boy and an old man.

    The old man was none other than Barton. His eyes flickered, "Master¡­"

 Chapter 90: The inspector from WAMO Headquarters part-2

    Day 1 of the annual tournament;

    The next day morning, as if there''s a festival going on, the streets nearby the Academy were filled with people.

    Parents who live all over the nation are arriving one by one to watch the tournament. The civilians living in the city were also welcomed.

    Meanwhile, Local media got busy at the gate, recording everything.

    Along with them, several Arcana Masters also joined the queue.

    Most of them are scouts of various special Arcana Academies that provide advanced education.

    A few of them were scouts of various organizations from good to evil.

    The rest were interested in the students of other Arcana Academies that arrived for the Champion League.

    Even though several people eyeing talents from these strong Academies, the main highlight of the tournament is still Leonard Light, the national champion and fifth prince of their Northern Qudour nation. Almost every scout from top academies intends to scout him.

    Local Police officers were also stationed there for security purposes. With such a huge crowd, some people are bound to cause trouble. So, they intend to make sure no such thing occurs, especially with the presence of esteemed guests in the academy.

    Under the orders of the Principal, the teachers were also patrolling the academy to make sure no one causes trouble.

    Principal Barton thought the Heavenly Academy might purposely cause trouble to revoke their qualifications to host the tournament. Upon hearing his worry, the rest of the teachers thought he was just being skeptical but still, followed his orders.

    Amid all of this, Neal entered the gates while suppressing his aura to rank-4 to not attract the attention of anyone.

    Instead of going straight to the Arena, he was touring around the Academy like a curious tourist.

    No one knows that he wasn''t curious but was reminiscing his past.

    This Academy is where he studied for ten long years. "Sigh¡­ Sixty two years passed by but nothing changed. The Academy looks exactly the same when I left."

    If any student or civilian would have heard it, they would be incredibly shocked to see that this young man who looks like he''s in his twenties was actually 78-years-old.

    The expert will also be shocked as the aging will slow down tremendously when one reaches rank-7. It is the stop where the mediocre experts and true experts will be divided.

    Neal continued to roam.

    No one also found it is suspicious as there were people like him who are looking around.

    After reminiscing enough, Neal proceeds to the Arena. He thought he would meet the Principal in the evening when the day is over. Until then, he can enjoy watching the battles.

    Although he''s a guy who will fool around even on official missions, the main reason is because of reluctance to meet his old master.

    The Academy has a total of four Arenas. Three smaller Arenas, each one with just ten-fifteen thousand seat capacity, and one large Arena that can hold a hundred thousand members of the audience.

    Due to the upcoming Champions League, the Principal decided to only hold the finals in the bigger arena.

    Neal chose the smaller arena where usually battle challenges between fellow students take place. It was located in the training grounds-2.

    There are boards placed everywhere to show what battles will take place at this Arena. This particular Arena is allotted for Advanced division which is grade 8, grade 9, and grade 10.

    After all, it would be unfair if a grade-10 will face a student from grade-3 or grade-4.

    To maintain fairness, they divided it into three divisions. Grade 3 and 4 is called the Beginner division. Grade 5, 6, and, 7 are allotted to the Intermediate division. And Grade 8, 9, and 10 are allotted to the Advanced division.

    Just like their names, it clearly states their soul ranks too.

    For example, all the students in the beginner division are either rank-2 or rank-3. The students in the intermediate division are either rank-3 or rank-4 and the students in the Advanced division are of rank-4 and rank-5.

    "I guess many people are eager to choose this Arena," Neal mumbled as he saw the huge line.

    He peacefully entered the Arena and chose a random seat in the middle row that appeared empty.

    In no time, the rest of the audience filled in.

    As the event hasn''t started yet, Neal closed his eyes and started to scan the people in the arena to see if there are any fellow rank-7 experts. He also wanted to play a little game with himself by counting the number of rank-6 experts.

    "Azrael, there are seats available here." He was momentarily distracted by a loud excited tone belong to a girl nearby.

    Neal sensed two rank-5 experts sat beside him. Since they are just rank -5, he ignored the two of them and busy with his calculation.

    Meanwhile, the participants were waiting in their waiting rooms, arranged according to their grades.

    By 9 o''clock, the stadium is completely filled except for the VIP section which was reserved for the high officials of the nation and the royal family.

    Then, Exea entered the stadium with a mic. Standing on the platform, she started speaking.

    While speaking, she unleashed her unique ability and all the lower rank people who heard her voice immediately got attracted towards her.

    A lot of civilian males started to cheer her name while the ladies looked at her in disdain.

    Amid all of this, Exea continued with her introductory speech. After finishing with explaining the rules, she widely smiled as she announced, "Now, let''s invite the participants who you all are waiting to see."

    As the students of grade-8 to grade-10 entered the Arena along with their classmates, the audience started to cheer around. Some with children''s names, some with their favorite contestant names, and some for Exea.

    However, amid all cheers, Neal found out that cheering for Leonard light stood out.

    He wondered who this guy is.

    Just then, he heard the excited voice of the girl that sat beside him. "Wow, this Leonard really has a lot of popularity, huh!"

    In response to her, he heard a male voice with a plain tone replied, "He won the national tournament. So, it''s obvious."

    "National Tournament?" Neal''s ears perked up as he heard it. He''s someone who is busy with Wars and doing Covet Operations to ensure peace at a particular location.

    So, he knows nothing about the rules of the Champion League. However, he did know that winning the national tournament is a big thing. After all, he was also once a national champion, twice in a row.

    Unless one has a capability of peak-rank-5, it is very difficult for one to win, not to mention, competing with the students of Egrein Academy from the capital city.

    Neal became curious to see this Leonard Light.

    Just then, he heard her complaining, "You should have participated in this annual tournament and get select for the Champions League. Your Master is too ruthless¡­"

    "Barbara¡­" As the guy raised his voice, the girl apologized for her loose tongue.

    Meanwhile, Neal''s eyes widened in surprise as he immediately opened his eyes and turned his head.

    "Kids?" He didn''t expect this rank-5 couple were only little kids. "They don''t even look like tenth graders either."

    "Excuse me¡­" He called out to them.

    Barbara and Azzy looked at him.

    "I don''t mean to eavesdrop but I accidentally heard that you are the students of this Academy. Are you?" He asked her while observing the both of them.

    Strangely, for some reason, he found the two of them familiar as if he had seen them somewhere, although he wasn''t able to put his finger on it.

    Upon hearing his question, Barbara answered, "I''m not. My friend is¡­ I''m actually from the Moon Academy."

    Azzy immediately nudged her, implying whether it is necessary for her to reveal it to a stranger.

    However, Neal looked clueless. He doesn''t know the name of the Moon Academy. However, he does know Moon city, which is located in the level-3 region.

    Neal didn''t place much importance on it and smiled, "You two must be a genius to achieve rank-5 in this young age." As an alumnus, he was pleased that his Academy got a talented kid.

    "Aren''t we?" Barbara grinned in return. "But, you can''t place the both of us in one place. Azrael is far better than me."

    Meanwhile, Azzy was stunned as he earlier sensed this guy''s rank is only 4. Then, how come he sensed his rank.

    "Cuz this man is a mid-rank-7, Azrael." The Reaper said to him in his head.

    "Mid-rank-7?" Azzy blurted out in shock as he stared at Neal.

    "Hmm?" A frown appeared on Neal upon hearing Azzy.

 Chapter 91: Annual tournament Preliminaries part-1

    As soon as Azzy blurted out Neal''s rank, he immediately shut his mouth tightly and scolded inwardly, "Staying with this troublesome cousin even influenced me to the extent of getting my tongue loose. Anyway, it doesn''t matter if I just ignore it."

    "Mid-rank-7? What are you talking about?" Barbara asked him curiously.

    "Not important, Just remembered something." Azzy shook his head and looked away.

    Meanwhile, Neal, upon realizing that his soul rank was revealed to a person of lower ranks, frowned while staring at Azzy.

    Since Azzy refused to speak further, Neal too stayed silent on the matter.

    Just then, Exea announced the start of the 254th Annual Tournament as Leonard finished with the pledging ceremony.

    After Leo went back to his place, she then took out a card and activated it before placing it on the ground.

    All of a sudden, a 30meter*30meter*1meter platform rose from the ground, startling the students who are standing right above it.

    And it isn''t just a simple platform made with stone. There''s also some kind of barrier placed around it.

    It is something they have specially created just for this tournament to attract the attention of the talents.

    Usually, the teachers will unleash a barrier together on the day of the tournament. However, from now onwards, with this unique battleground card, they wouldn''t need to do it, anymore.

    Looking at the students, Exea spoke in a serious tone, "A new rule has been added to the tournament, which is the battleground restriction. If any of you land outside of the barrier, even if you don''t touch the ground, it will be declared as your defeat.

    Just in case, let me remind all of you that all the item cards except for storage cards are prohibited to use during the battle. You also cannot use any kind of treasure. Break the rules and you will be disqualified."

    She then moved her eyes from the students to the audience and instantly changed her expression. With a smile on her face, she announced, "Let''s start with single matches.

    The first match, Gideon of Grade -8, Elite division and Silvester Stripes of Grade-9, Soul plant division¡­ aside from these two, the rest of the participants, clear the space."

    As the rest of the participants left the barrier, Uphiar and another rank-6 expert entered the stadium. While the hired expert stayed with the students, Uphiar climbed the platform.

    Exea left the place saying goodbye to the audience and Uphiar took the mic from her.

    Many of her fans screamed in unison, "Goddess Exea, please don''t leave..." However, she just smiled and waved her hands while leaving.

    Meanwhile, Uphiar introduced himself as the proctor for the tournament. Well, he received many boos from the audience because of his appearance and Exea''s absence but he didn''t care about it and raised the ruby-eyed cobra-headed staff.

    Looking at Gideon on the stage, Barbara asked, "Azrael, is this the guy?" This time, she was able to hold her tongue.

    Azzy nodded in response. A day earlier, while returning to the academy, he told her about a guy from her clan who is his classmate.

    Upon hearing it, at first, she was tempted to meet him to get back home but then, upon Azzy''s reminder of her promise that she made to him, Barbara didn''t meet him.

    Not to mention, he''s just some insignificant branch family member to her. However, he didn''t expect this guy turned out to be a peak-rank-4.

    She wondered why she hasn''t heard of him, then. If Gideon is a genius who was able to reach peak-rank-4 by the age of 13 or 14, after 27 years, shouldn''t he be atleast rank-6?

    If that''s the case, he would have been known within the clan. Azzy had seen him in the clan. That would mean he wasn''t expelled from the clan either.

    Then, how come he was unknown. Questions appeared in her head.

    She didn''t know that he was originally fated to breaking through to rank-4 by killing a weaker Galarian beast, which in turn make his Arcana spirit stay at gold grade.

    However, with Azzy''s intervention, Leo was forced to choose a mutated beast for him before trying to ambush Azzy.

    After his Arcana spirit mutated once, his progress really became fast.

    Combining with Azzy''s help as a shield, he was able to hunt down the beasts in Arcana world at a faster pace and rose to peak-rank-4 within just 8 months.

    As Barbara got confused with Gideon''s current soul rank, Azzy mumbled, "Good luck, Gideon."

    His words brought her to reality and her entire attention was placed on the platform in the middle of the arena.

    As Uphiar raised the staff, the eyes of the cobra turned red while he muttered, pointing it towards the both of them, "Seal of Equality."

    Within a second, Gideon felt some kind of chain on his soul orb, restricting a part of his soul energy.

    "Get ready," Uphiar spoke. "Remember, the time limit is 15 minutes."

    The both of them summoned the soul cards. Gideon found out that his soul power is reduced from 96227 to 71981.

    This is the Seal of Fairness which will equalize the amount of soul power of two people.

    "Come out, Raiga." Gideon summoned his mutated gold-grade lightning sword while his opponent summoned a tree monster.

    *zzz*zzz*

    A sword appeared in his hands with lightning sparks all over its blade.

    Without even wasting any time, he took out a four-star skill card. However, the stars aren''t in black but in silver color, which indicates that it is an intermediate level.

    He activated it. "Activate Skill card, Thunder steps."

    As soon as the card disappears, in the next second, everyone saw lightning sparks on his legs.

    Silvester''s face turned serious and ordered his tree monster to get ready for battle.

    Right then, he saw Gideon suddenly disappeared and reappeared just a foot away from his Arcana spirit.

    Before he was able to react, the tree monster was slashed several times in different directions.

    "Holly¡­" Silvester screamed as he saw his Arcana spirit ended up killed.

    Meanwhile, the entire audience was shocked to see his performance. Except for those who are of rank- and above, no one even saw Gideon until his reappearance.

    Even Rank-5 experts only saw a blurry figure of him, except for Azzy who was used to that kind of speed.

    The guests from the other academies noted his name in their minds. As for the scouts, they still didn''t think much of him as Gideon used a skill card. It''s not his power. Not to mention, his opponent is also a weakling.

    In their eyes, only rank-5 students are worthy to pay attention to.

    On other hand, Barbara exclaimed, "He''s really fast. I barely saw him slashing at him, three times."

    "Five." Azzy and Neal said at the same time. "Hmm?" Both of them looked at each other before Azzy looked away.

    Meanwhile, Barbara turned her head towards Neal in surprise, "five times? Were you also able to see it, Mister?"

    Neal shrugged his shoulders, "Once you have enough battle experience, you will be accustomed to such things."

    He wasn''t bothered by his tongue slip as he was saying the truth. It''s not because of his level he was able to see the attacks. Neal was confident that he would still be able to see it even if he were a rank-4.

    This was the reason he was surprised when Azzy pointed out the same. Recalling Barbara''s statement about Azzy''s participation, Neal wondered whether it is because of sufficient battle experience, this kid''s master isn''t letting him participating in the tournament.

    Meanwhile, Uphiar announced Gideon''s victory. The audience erupted in cheers.

    Gideon waved his hands to the audience with a grin on his face as he got down from the platform.

    One after another, single matches proceeded. There aren''t that many participants in singles due to the presence of Leonard and other tenth grades with 5-star soul rank. Even if they get to finals, they knew it would be useless. So, most of them seemed to choose the duo battles category.

    The rest of the nine single battles were completed within 2 hours, and Uphiar announced a 15-min break. "The battles ended up quicker than I expected," Uphiar mumbled to himself.

    Barbara took out some snacks from the storage card and shared them with Azzy. Out of consideration, she also gave a couple of them to Neal, which he didn''t refuse.

    After the break is over, duo battles were started.

 Chapter 92: Annual Tournament Preliminaries part-2

    The very first duo battle turned out to be an unexpected surprise to Azzy and the other students that are standing below the platform.

    "Lark Sandrou of grade-8 Elite division, Zona of grade-10 Elite division, Mia Leveret of grade-9 Elite division, and Snivy of grade-9 Soul weapon division. The four of you, please step onto the platform."

    Several students were surprised to this daughter of the Ex-president teamed up with a rival of hers from the soul weapon division.

    Just a week ago, they even battled against each other in a team battle, although it was stopped in the middle.

    As for Zona and Lark, they weren''t that surprised now that they are dating. Even though they were disappointed that this goddess has been taken, the younger male students still cheered for Zona, the student council vice-president.

    Lark summoned his Orange furred dog beast and lovely Zona summoned a slime monster, which suddenly transformed into that of Lark''s Arcana.

    Meanwhile, Mia summoned her Oaktree and Snivy summoned the giant hammer that''s twice her size. It appeared so heavy that it even made a small dent on the platform as she casually put it down.

    The scouts as well as the students from other academies were stunned to see so many gold-grade Arcanas, one after another.

    After all, in their view, Aclein city is a place for talentless people.

    The city was constructed in the eighth Epoch. For the past 20 thousand years, and to date, there isn''t a rank-9 Arcana Master emerged from the Aclein city.

    Even the sole rank-8 Arcana Master from the last Epoch passed away.

    As for the academy, everyone just considered it as a mediocre academy despite possessing a few talents that shined in national and international tournaments.

    It''s because none of them were able to grow stronger and ended up being mediocre after admitting into special academies for advanced education.

    So, naturally, the scouts, as well as the guests, look down on the academy and its students.

    However, they didn''t expect the academy is hiding so many talents.

    For example, the four people who are standing on the platform¡­ all of them possessed gold-grade Arcana spirits. Not to mention, one of them being a mid-rank-5 expert who was restricted to peak-rank-4.

    It isn''t rare for students to possess gold grade Arcana if they belong to top academies but the fact that this small academy in a mediocre city possessing such talents is indeed rare.

    Some academies even felt ashamed for thinking that they are superior to these students.

    The crowd cheered in excitement as the battle started with Lark and Zona''s offense.

    "Is this classmate of yours strong?" asked Barbara upon hearing the announcement that he''s from the Elite division of grade-8.

    "Compared to an average person, Lark is indeed not only stronger but also smarter, although he''s a terrible leader. I don''t know much about Zona but both of them will be helpless against the girl with the oak tree spirit. Snivy wouldn''t even need to make a move." Azzy made a statement in a plain tone as if he already saw the outcome.

    "The girl is that strong?" Barbara was surprised as she focused on the contestants. She wondered how that is possible with a rank-5 on the field.

    But, when she saw the battle, the scenery appeared different from Azzy''s claim. It was just going how she thought it would go.

    Both of the dog beasts were fiercely attacking the tree. It was trying to defending itself with its branches. However, with their bite force being quite high, the oak tree''s branches are getting snapped.

    As for the two girls, they aren''t even standing on the platform. Both of them were spotted sitting on the branches.

    While most of the audience wondered what kind of cowardly tactic is this, the experts saw through their strategy immediately. Most of them have mixed opinions on that.

    "Are you sure you are talking about the right person?" Barbara looked at Azzy in suspicion. She wondered whether he was just kidding. No matter how she saw it, Mia and Snivy were at a disadvantage with the tree getting damaged.

    "Yep." Azzy nodded in confidence. He saw both of their potentials, a week ago. In his view, their combat ability is quite high. "They have a sure-win plan."

    "I wonder what kind of plan is this," Barbara mumbled. "Are they trying to exhaust the two dog beasts or something?"

    "No, they are setting up an ambush," Neal said to her to clear the doubts. "This girl Mia indeed knows how to lead a battle. Very soon, the roots will ambush both of the summoners."

    "Ambush?" Barbara and Azzy looked at him. Azzy had seen her ability in a person. So, he had an inkling about her secret attack.

    But, this guy was watching her for the first time. How was he able to recognize the strategy? Is rank-7 that powerful? Or this guy has some special eye ability? Azzy wondered.

    Meanwhile, Neal continued, "However, I think they should worry about this girl, Zona. Higher rank doesn''t just mean they have higher soul power. It also means they have more battle experiences.

    In my view, her beast is the one with the most potential on the field. If the girls won''t be careful, they might even lose before their plan even gets succeeded," Neal voiced his opinion, standing on Lark and Zona''s side.

    "Hmm?" Barbara frowned as she looked at the scene. The dogs were still snapping the branches and the girls aren''t making any movements. "Mister, do you think Lark and Zona will win?" She asked.

    Neal shook his head with a smile, "there''s no certainty in battle. Every single decision and every moment of hesitation will change the outcome drastically. However, statistically, just based on the Arcana spirits, this Zona''s Arcana must have the properties of imitation.

    The key to this battle depends on how strong is its ability. Is it just limited to appearance? Can it also imitate soul skills? How fast can it change its appearance frequently?

    The answers to these questions determine its potential in the battlefield."

    Just as his words ended, suddenly, one of the two identical dog beasts transformed into a python. It started to crawl up the tree in a spiral motion.

    Not only Mia and Snivy but even the audience was also taken aback in surprise. The scouts noted her name in their minds.

    "Should I make my move?" Snivy asked Mia upon seeing the python already reached halfway.

    "Let''s hold on for a while. Saphira''s roots have almost spread enough. All we need a perfect moment to ambush." Mia''s face turned serious.

    "Just like I said earlier, to get into the Champions League, we will have to conserve our skills as much as we can. When the time comes, people will underestimate you and will target you for sure. Unless we do that, we have no chance against these rank-5 seniors."

    Meanwhile, Zona, who was watching both of the girls, felt something wrong with their stillness.

    As the python reached her opponents, she ordered it to attack them. She was also prepared to use soul skill to paralyze them with its poison.

    Just as she opened her mouth, all of a sudden, several thick roots erupted from the ground and captured both of their legs.

    Before they realized what''s going on, they were already hanging upside down, twenty feet in the air.

    A few moments later;

    "We admit defeat." Zona hurriedly shouted as their Arcana spirits were also being captured by the tree roots and their life force being sucked away.

    When the both of them were captured by the roots, the python and the dog quickly abandoned their intention to attack the enemy and turned around to save their masters.

    However, no one expected the attack of the roots all over the field. Before they even reach their masters, they were captured tightly. Saphira''s roots then started to suck the life force of the Arcana spirits.

    The beasts became thin in no amount of time.

    Before they get killed, Zona admitted defeat while dismissing her beast. After all, if their beasts were killed, it would take a while for them to revive and the couple would be forced to give up the tournament.

    "Wow" Barbara exclaimed as the proctor announced the winner. "She was really too strong."

    "Told you so." Azzy let out a comment and glanced at Neal to check his expression.

 Chapter 93: Annual Tournament Preliminaries part-3

    Unlike what Azzy expected, Neal doesn''t appear to be embarrassed about his earlier statement on watching out for the couple. Instead, he let out a sigh, "A pity. The tree girl is faster."

    After the battle is finished, the scouts became excited about the upcoming battles but what they got in return is nothing but disappointment.

    While the general audience was satisfied with flashy techniques and longer battles, the scouts were still disappointed with not being able to find any more geniuses with gold-grade Arcana or 5-star soul ranks.

    Their first impression of the Academy once again returned. However, they still kept their eye on some candidates with purple grade Arcana spirits too. After all, Purple grade is still the next best thing after gold-grade. Their maximum potential is still rank-8...

    With a few more duo battles to spare, Uphiar announced a one-hour lunch break.

    As Azzy and Barbara about to leave their seats to go for lunch, Barbara asked Neal whether he wanted to join them.

    As a rank-7 Master, even though Neal can stay without food for his whole life, he still followed both of them.

    He appeared to be extremely interested in Azzy. The most intriguing part of him is that he wasn''t able to figure out Azzy''s attribute even though he pretty much sensed Barbara''s.

    He felt like some mysterious force is blocking him from prying into Azzy''s soul.

    If Azzy was of a similar rank, Neal would have understood but they have two-ranks apart and he was someone who possessed a platinum-grade beast. So, unless Azzy''s Arcana is far more powerful than his, it wouldn''t be possible.

    And is there any beast above platinum grade? Sadly, except for the Reaper and the hidden clans, no one knew about the existence of Celestial grades.

    Meanwhile, Azzy was wondering why this rank-7 following them without minding his business. Was he a scout of some top organization? Does he want to recruit them or something? Or was he just a pedophile who was after his cousin? Whatever the reason, Azzy felt it would be better to stay from this guy.

    The three of them made their way towards the food stalls as they can''t eat together either at the male dorm or female dorm. As for the cafeteria at the Elite division building, it was closed for the day.

    Like them, thousands of people also intended to check out the food stalls within this break.

    Due to that, it appeared to be too crowded.

    Finding the chance, Azzy said, "Barbara, let''s eat outside. It will take too much time if we eat here¡­"

    Barbara nodded, "fine." It doesn''t matter for her where the place is, as long as the food is good.

    As soon as Barbara agreed, Azzy then looked at Neal and said, "Sorry that we weren''t able to accompany you. But, we need to leave, right away."

    Barbara also realized that it would be too inconvenient for this neighbor seat guy to eat with them in the city. As she was the one who invited him, she immediately apologized.

    Neal waved his hands with a smile, "It''s alright."

    Azzy and Barbara parted their ways with him. Neal, on the other hand, misunderstood that they are a couple and gave them the privacy, the guy probably wanted.

    Looking at their backs, he mumbled, "No need to be anxious. We will meet some other time, anyway."

    Two hours later, Azzy and Barbara returned. They had trouble with the waiting time.

    By the time they reached the Arena, it was already full. Barbara almost threw a fit at Azzy for taking her outside.

    So, Azzy used his access card for the back entrance and made his way inside. Barbara followed him.

    On the way, he met a couple of guards. As both of them aren''t in school uniforms, they were questioned.

    Azzy simply showed his unlimited access card that allows him anywhere at any time within the campus except for female dormitories.

    After they find its authenticity, they contacted the Vice-Principal through walkie-talkies and further, verified his identity.

    As they backed away, he took her to the second floor where she was able to watch the battles through the glass.

    Within the past 8 months, Azzy visited every place on the campus and remembered the routes. So, it didn''t pose a problem for him to find an empty chamber on the third floor which is usually allotted for VIP guests who wished to watch from indoors.

    They took the seats and continued to watch the last duo battle. Azzy didn''t think too much about not able to watch Claire''s battle as he knew she would win.

    After the duo battles are finally over, a 30-minute break has been announced and after that, the second round of the single battles has been commenced with enough time left.

    For the second round, once again, Gideon ended up being the first contestant to battle.

    His opponent is an eighth-grader of soul weapon division.

    "Get ready to face defeat, Gid," Rowan spoke as he pointed the sword at him.

    Gideon grinned, "Sorry but I will win, this time, and widen the gap further."

    Rowan and Gideon used to be rivals when both of them used to be in the Soul weapon division.

    With both of them being equally skilled sword users, they constantly sparred every day for four years until Gideon was promoted to the Elite division after placing second place in the intermediate category (Grade 5-7).

    While Gideon continued to grow stronger at a rapid pace in the Elite division, Rowan wasn''t able to keep up with him in terms of soul power. However, he still believed that he would win the match, thinking that he was superior in terms of technique.

    As soon as the whistle is blown, both of them dashed towards each other. Unlike the first round, Gideon didn''t use the skill card to enhance his speed.

    So, most of them were able to see him, this time.

    Like Gideon, Rowan also neither used skill cards nor soul skills. Both of them are just relying purely on their techniques.

    In the end, Gideon won just a minute before the time limit with him breaking the opponent''s sword. The finishing move where he slicked the sword in crescent motion was the highlight of the match.

    Everyone applauded for both of them.

    Rowan was dejected upon realizing the difference. He can''t help but let out a sigh while taking out a healing card to recover. The cuts on his body disappeared very quickly.

    Meanwhile, a seemingly ordinary middle-aged man who watching the battle from the corner, smiled, "looks like Gideon is doing well. I guess it''s time for him to return to the village. Clan Leader will be delightful to find a gem in the midst of a branch clan."

    *Clap* *Clap* *Clap* Barbara clapped in excitement as she cheered for Gideon. "He really mastered the sword techniques of the clan."

    With only two of being alone, she didn''t feel the need to hold back herself. Azzy was however is still on alert. Upon confirming that no one is eavesdropping, he resumed the conversation.

    "Were you taught sword techniques?" He stared at her. If not, how would she know whether Gideon mastered it¡­

 Chapter 94: The Principal is a Rank-8 Arcana Master?

    It looks like Barbara was able to catch on to Azzy''s thoughts. She shook her head, "no but I heard that the final move of crescent clan sword techniques will emit a blue aura. The darker the blue, the higher the mastery.

    When it reaches Navy blue, one can say they mastered the technique. Dad said that its power is even superior to soul skills. However, to execute it, there are certain conditions that need to be fulfilled. I don''t know what they are though."

    "I see¡­" Azzy nodded and then looked at Gideon who joined the other students below the battle platform.

    With the completion of single battles, Uphiar announced that the Day 1 of the tournament is over.

    Everyone started to leave.

    Azzy and Barbara also parted their ways. She returned to her teammates while he returned to the dorm.

    Sitting on top of his bed, he closed his eyes to meditate.

    However, what he saw were the matches that occurred throughout the day. The battles, the cheering of the audience, teamwork between people in duo battles¡­ all of them induced a desire to battle, in his heart.

    He imagined himself on the stage.

    However, he quickly suppressed the thoughts and slowly, went into a deep meditation.

    Meanwhile, at the principal''s office, Barton was attending to his guests.

    Both of them appeared to be of peak-rank-7 and also of the same age as him. In fact, they were his friends who graduated along with him at the Central Academy, more than eight hundred years ago.

    "Barton, I heard that you have taken in a genius disciple." One of his friends named Ryland suddenly brought Azzy into the topic while they were casually having a discussion regarding the Champions League.

    He was an Elder at Crusaders, a private organization set up by a peak-rank-8 expert.

    Barton frowned in response. He wondered whether this guy was eyeing for his disciple or something.

    It appeared that Ryland realized Barton''s thoughts upon seeing his expression. He quickly said, "I''m just curious what made you changed your mind after that incident."

    "Oh! You are talking about that brat? What was his name again?" The other old man expressed his displeasure as soon as he was reminded of the kid who didn''t even hesitate to betray his Master for the sake of power.

    "Neal¡­" replied Ryland. Barton slowly said, "It''s already been 60 years. Why bother talking about him.

    *Knock* *Knock*

    Just then, the door has been knocked twice before Emelia put her head inside upon receiving the permission.

    "Yes, Ms. Light?"

    "Sir, there''s a man waiting outside. He said he''s from WAMO Headquarters." She informed.

    "Oh! Please let him in." Barton replied.

    She nodded and walked away. Barton stood up on his feet. He turned anxious about how this representative is gonna be.

    However, a few seconds later, his facial expression changed as Neal entered the room.

    "You¡­ Why is it you?" Barton almost growled in anger upon seeing this traitorous disciple of his.

    Neal greeted him with a bow, "Greetings, Master."

    "Who the hell is your Master?" Barton erupted in anger and released his aura.  Just his aura alone pushed away all the furniture in the room.

    Meanwhile, the three rank-7s felt a huge pressure dawned on them.

    While Neal managed to stand steady, the other two old men staggered their feet and almost bent their knees under the pressure.

    Their eyes were widened in surprise. Right now, they were no longer able to sense his soul rank despite being at peak levels, which tells that Barton has already broken through to the next rank.

    Not only the three of them, but the aura also affected everyone else on the campus.

    Thankfully, aside from few staff members, no one is in the administration building, so, the people below rank-5, including the guests from top academies, felt slight suffocation.

    Rank-6 experts, who were far away from the building didn''t feel much and only felt the air around them became heavier.

    The hidden rank-7 experts immediately became alert. They realized it is the aura of a strong peak-rank-7 expert or a rank-8 expert.

    As one usually releases their aura when angered or to pressure someone, they wondered what might be the reason.

    "Barton, stop it. Students are in the school." Upon hearing Ryland''s shout, Barton forced himself to calm down and dismissed his aura. However, his anger hasn''t completely disappeared yet.

    "So you quitted Special Forces and joined WAMO?" Barton glared at Neal.

    Neal nodded with a smile, "Yes, I was recruited after a rescue operation."

    "Sit." Taking a deep breath, Barton pointed to the sofa that was pushed away to the wall.

    Neal dragged it and comfortably sat in it while thanking him.

    "So, what are the qualifications that WAMO is expecting from us?" Barton asked him calmly. He decided to put up with him for now. Hosting the league is more important.

    Without minding the other two old elders, Neal got to the point directly, "One, facilities; Two, Quality of teachers; Three, Quality of students; Four, Security of the Academy; Five, Recognition.

    These five categories will be evaluated. As long as the Academy proves that it is first-rate in all of them, Aclein Academy will not only host the tournament but also get a star rating from the organization.

    It will be listed in the recommended first-rate academies after AEE''s results are out.

    And to host the league, the Academy should be qualified as the first rate in at least three of them.

    If not, then, the hosting rights will be given to Egrein Academy. Even if I''m an Alumnus of this Academy, my evaluation will not be biased."

    "As if we need your support," Barton snorted while folding his hands to the chest. "And please don''t call yourself our Academy''s Alumnus. You never graduated from the Academy and I have already removed your name from the register."

    Neal sighed inwardly as he heard Barton.

    ***

    The next day started with duo battles. After they are over, the third round of single battles started. By the end of the day, single and duo category matches are finished.

    Gideon won all of his matches and went to the knockouts. Claire, who teamed up with her classmate, only won 1 out of 3 matches and got eliminated.

    It''s so happened that her friend, Iris'' Arcana spirit was killed in the first round, which made her depressed, and eventually, she forfeited from the tournament.

    With no partner to fight with, Claire was also eliminated directly. When Azzy met her, she doesn''t seem that bothered and in return, she said that she will go to the League through group matches.

    Neal continued to observe everything in secret for his evaluation. Barton relayed the news to the other staff members but didn''t disclose his identity as he doesn''t want a rumor that his ex-disciple did him a favor when the Academy will pass through the evaluation.

    Day 3 of the tournament started with group matches. The stadium is packed with people. After all, it is the first time there are group battles in the annual tournament.

    However, a big problem had arisen.

    Unlike with single and duo battles, most of the group battles were rather messier with imperfect teamwork.

    Not only the students weren''t able to perfect their teamwork but a lot of them also unintentionally attacked their own teammates.

 Chapter 95: Annual Tournament Preliminaries part-4

    "Now the next battle is between Team breakers and Team Hercules," Exea announced in the mic.

    "Whoo¡­." *Clap* *Clap* "Goddess Exea, I love you¡­" "Exea¡­"

    Cheers erupted from here and there, and that too for Exea. The rest of the audience barely clapped as if they lost interest.

    As the ten students stepped onto the platform, Exea sighed, "Even my mermaid tone is no longer working."

    The battle between the two teams started. However, there are no cheers from the audience. Even though some people are cheering for the kids, it appeared as if the entire Arena has been deserted.

    Meanwhile, looked at Uphiar and said, "There''s no point for me to stay here. I''m going back."

    "No, don''t." Uphiar suddenly stopped her in panic. "Team Unicorn''s match is next. I''m sure they will be revitalized once again."

    Exea shook her head, "we can''t depend on these 2-3 teams. It won''t change the opinion of the scouts and guests. I guess Principal Barton became overly ambitious and made a huge mistake of even implementing group battles into the tournament."

    "Sigh! Yeah, I guess you are right¡­" Uphiar can''t help but agree with her as he took a look at the current battle. Two people from the same team released soul skills at the same time.

    Instead of attacking the enemy, due to the attribute relationship, they only canceled each other.

    "Everything was going well until yesterday. Just what happened today¡­"

    The teachers thought the students would do a better job in teamwork as they have been working together in a group during the trips to Arcana world.

    However, they miscalculated about something.

    Instead of pairing up with the students, they are comfortable and compatible with, most of the students paired with the students that can improve their chances of winning as they weren''t given enough time to practice.

    In an academy like Aclein with only a few talents, as geniuses paired up with geniuses and formed teams, the weaker guys had no choice but to team up between themselves.

    It only widened the gap between the teams further.

    Naturally, the teams filled with dropouts and other less talented students will cause huge trouble.

    Meanwhile, a few of them teamed up with weaklings to get attention from scouts. Some of their plans are backfired because of pig-like teammates while others managed to grab the attention of the scouts, although they are from second-rate academies.

    Uphiar and the other teachers who are watching from the audience section can''t help but shook their heads and let out a sigh¡­ They finally realized the difference between Aclein Academy and other first-rated academies.

    The locals who came to watch the tournament also felt disappointed and a few of them stood up and decided to leave as they had enough of it.

    They went to the other Arenas where the lower grade students are good at teamwork as they teamed up with friends, unlike these ambitious seniors.

    The addition of group battles itself is the highlight of the tournament. All of their expectations turned worse after watching this messier teamwork.

    So, to make sure the audience stay in the arena, Exea had to step in. With her sweet voice augmented by her mermaid tone ability, she was able to attract most of the audience.

    However, everything has a limit. Eventually, her magical voice also lost its effect. If not for a couple of teams that showed splendid techniques and teamwork, probably, even scouts would have gotten disappointed.

    And one shouldn''t even mention the guests. They have long looked down on the academy.

    Due to a few spectacular performances, just as they about to slowly changed their opinion, the group battles caused a huge disappointment.

    Most of them got bored and wanted to return to the dormitories. They felt that their initial impression about Aclein Academy being nothing special is right.

    However, at the same time, they aren''t also underestimating Aclein Academy and still saw them as worthy opponents because of a few teams with excellent teamwork.

    With everyone performing poorly, these three teams shined brightly like a full moon in the night. The differences were evident and can be seen even from the response of the locals.

    Whenever Team Twilight, Unicorn, and Swordmasters appear, the crowd goes wild and the remaining time, they look as if they don''t exist. Between these bipolar situations, the tournament continued.

    Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Top 8, and finally, it''s the time of Semifinals.

    "The first semi-finals, Team Unicorn and Team Swordmasters¡­" Even Exea appeared cheerful as she announced these teams.

    "Whoo¡­."

    As if there''s a hungry man who saw a feast before him, the audience roared like crazy. Their claps were also becoming a lot louder, completely opposite to that of the previous match.

    Even the guests from top academies became attentive.

    "Prince Light" "Prince Light" "Unicorn" "Prince Light" "Prince Light" "Unicorn" "Unicorn"

    As the civilians cheering for their fifth prince, Leo, and his team members stepped onto the platform.

    Team Unicorn which was led by Leonard Light was a team full of rank-5s and is being formed a long time ago. All of them are friends for seven-eight years and they usually co-operate with each other even on Arcana world trips too.

    Leonard Light, Bay Passel, Zona, Dale Stripes, and Katherine. Too bad that Zona wasn''t able to bring in Lark to the team due to his insufficient soul power or what would people call being a weakling.

    So, Lark formed his own team with weaklings to get attention from the scouts of top academies. While he was able to enter the top 8 and later got eliminated by Swordmasters, the scouts didn''t give a thought about his recruit.

    Unless one shows tremendous potential, scouts rarely look at people outside of tenth graders.

    After all, only the special academies from Arcana world allow a kid to be admitted even if they are under 15 years old.

    So, scouting a kid below that age is a waste of time for these scouts from other nations.

    *Whistle*

    As the whistle being blown, Team Unicorn stood in formation with Bay Passel and Katherine on the front. Leonard and Dale on the back while Zona stood in the middle.

    Bay summoned his beast, the Armored Gorilla, which is known for its defense. Katherine summoned a giant steel Armadillo, which is not only known for its sturdy shell but also sharp claws.

    Zona summoned the slime which then changed to that of an Oak Tree. As for Leo and Dale, they climbed the tree and stood on a branch.

    Below the platform, Mia''s face turned dark as she looked at the tree that Zona copied her Arcana spirit.

    Since she knew that Zona''s slime can even copy the beasts of other soul skills, Mia wondered about the conditions to achieve that. She also wanted to see the slime''s limitations. After all, they will have to battle each other in the finals.

    Meanwhile, Swordmasters which is a team made of sword users also stood in two groups as they summoned the swords with different attributes.

    Two of them have a fire attribute, one is of water attribute, one is wind and the last one is lightning.

    The most notable of this team is Rowan. Despite being a rank-4, his mastery over the sword techniques was praised by many.

    The one with the wind attribute stood with the fire users. Meanwhile, Rowan stood with the lightning attribute.

    As wind will assist fire, and water will assist lightning, they decided to go with combo attacks for maximum damage.

    Team Swordmasters is the first one to launch an attack. And it isn''t a small one either.

    They directly decided to go with a bigger attack of using soul skills.

    Three soul skills are launched at the same time. With the gale winds supporting the fire salamander and fire slash, their peak-rank-4 attacks increased by a next step and reach a low-rank-5 attack.

    With their opponents'' ability restricted, Rowan and the others thought the combo attack will secure them a win, if not, would at least cause massive damage.

    However, little did they know they have vastly underestimated Unicorn''s teamwork.

    "Bay, Katherine. Use shield. Zona, use copy skill card." Leo ordered them while standing on the branch.

    The Armored Gorilla and Steel Armadillo used their soul skills together to conjure a double-layered energy shield before them.

    Right after that, Zona used her unique skill card, the copy, which can copy any skill that she sees. Of course, there are limitations to the grade and attribute too¡­

    In no time, a triple layered wide energy shield formed before the members of Team Unicorn.

 Chapter 96: Annual Tournament Preliminaries part-5

    The slash burning with flame energy was the first to strike the first shield created by Zona''s copy card.

    The shield broke like glass as soon as it was hit. However, at the same time, it almost absorbed the attack too. As a result, the 5 meters large Arc reduced to 1-meter before it hit the second shield.

    Due to the reduced power, it wasn''t able to do any damage to the second shield as its attack power wasn''t enough. Right then, the flame Salamander strikes it.

    As a result, while both of Swordmasters'' attacks were blocked, Team Unicorn still has a shield left before them.

    To break it, this time, Rowan took out a skill card and activate it while throwing it.

    As the card hit the ground, an enormous amount of water started to gush out of the glowing card. Soon, the entire platform was covered with water. Bay and others saw their legs were sunk by at least half a meter.

    Due to the magical barrier around the platform, the water that was formed by sou energy never got out of it and helped Swordmasters.

    Team Swordmaster didn''t stop there. Everyone took out a two-star skill card and activate it at the same time.

    They started to float in the air, one meter above the ground.

    Members of Team Unicorn''s face turned serious. Upon seeing the water and their floating, they had an inkling of a soul skill attack by the lightning user.

    Only the expressions of Leo and Zona are unchanged as if they don''t care about it.

    "Soul skill: Rising water serpent." Rowan raised his sword and unleashed the soul skill, first.

    His sword turned into a flexible water sword in the shape of a serpent. He spun around and thrust the sword into the air. The water serpent sword suddenly extends as it made its way towards the shield.

    Upon seeing the attack, all the members of Team Unicorn realized that the next attack would be from the lightning user once the shield disappears.

    Looking at the expressions of Bay and Katherine, Zona smiled, "don''t worry. I will take care of it."

    Upon her reassurance, they calmed down.

    As soon as the water serpent attack collided with the shield, both of them burst into pieces and disappeared.

    Following the plan, Rowan''s teammate Macon, who was a lightning user, unleashed his soul skill while pointing his sword to the surface of the water. "Soul skill: Ten thousand volt shock."

    Lightning energy was discharged from the sword and was supposed to conduct electricity through the water body and paralyze the opponents.

    However, just as the tip of the sword was about to touch the surface of the water, Zona raised her hand, "Soul skill: Underground Roots."

    All of a sudden, dozens of roots erupted from the ground and tightly captured everyone''s legs.

    At the same time, the roots greedily absorbed the water and they thickened. However, the members of the Swordmasters team didn''t have the time to care about it as they are too busy slashing at the never-ending attack of roots.

    At first, they managed to get free from them. But, after they got strengthened because of water, they felt more difficult to get out of the situation.

    Rowan was taken aback as he realized that his plan only backfired onto him. Instead of helping out his teammate, he helped out the enemy.

    Taking advantage of the chaos, Leo made the move.

    "Argh!" A heavy punch was landed on the lightning user, first. He was knocked out instantly. The next one to be hit was Rowan who was startled by the sudden attack by Leo.

    "When did he come here..." Just as such a thought passed through his mind, a kick was landed in his stomach. He flew back and passed through the barrier before landing on the ground. He lost his consciousness, right away.

    Leo was originally a peak-rank-4 Galarian beast with peak-rank-6 strength. So, the spell of Fairness that restricts one''s soul did nothing to him.

    So, as long as the spell is activated, he was actually invincible on the field. Naturally, the outcome is obvious. All he needed is one hit to take down each of them.

    Looking at his swift attacks, the students of even top academies became serious. For the past three rounds, they saw Leo exchanged a few blows before defeating them.

    But now that they saw his skill, they realized he was just playing until now and only took them seriously at the last second, considering Team Swordmasters worthy.

    "Prince Light" "Prince Light" "Unicorn" "Prince Light"

    Amid the crowd cheers, Leo and the others step down from the ruined battle platform.

    Meanwhile, Mia Leveret''s eyes lit up, "I never thought of using this combo. Indeed water skill cards can strengthen the roots. Not just the roots, water itself is a supporter of the wood element."

    Now, she no longer felt displeased for her skill to be copied. She felt that she would have realized it sooner.

    "Congratulations Team Unicorn for reaching the finals," Exea announced loudly. The battle indeed brought back the excitement of the audience.

    After the battle platform is replaced by a new one, Exea announced the second semi-finals, which is between Team Twilight and Team Rampage.

    "Go Twilight¡­" Barbara was cheering loudly along with the surrounding audience as soon as the members of Twilight stepped onto the stage.

    Azzy didn''t know what happened but ever since Barbara found out Claire and Gideon are a part of a team, she became their supporter. Is it because Gideon is her family, or is it because she became close to Claire? Or maybe it''s because both of them are his friends? He wondered.

    Meanwhile, Team Twilight, which is made up of Mia, Snivy, Claire, Gideon, and a tenth grader named Calder, moved into their positions for the battle.

    Unlike the earlier teams from the first semi-finals, there weren''t any complicated tricks or combos or anything. The five of them separated the enemy and went into five vs five single battles.

    Snivy was the first one to finish the battle. It only happened in 5 seconds. She just hit the opponent with her giant hammer. While it didn''t do any life-threatening damage, he still flew away and landed outside of the barrier.

    After finishing her battle, she joined Mia. While both of them were overpowering their opponent, Gideon killed the opponent team member''s beast with his super-speed and joined Calder who was defending from the attacks.

    Meanwhile, Claire finished her battle with the Rampage team''s leader.

    The match was pretty much over within a minute. The crowd erupted in cheers but didn''t appear as excited as when Team Unicorn won the match and went to the finals.

    By ending up at the top 2, alongside Team Unicorn, Team Twilight also secured their participation in the Champions League.

    ***

    Elite division Female Dormitories;

    Everyone is having dinner in the dining hall. Claire, Mia, Snivy, another classmate named Minerva, sat together at a table.

    With their popularity explosion, many girls approached them some with intentions of scouting and others, well, just to socialize and nothing more.

    There''s even a girl from Egrein Academy who was acting as a messenger of love from her teammate who seemed like he fell for Claire.

    However, as Claire was stuck with her friends, none of them have gotten the opportunity to talk to her.

    "I heard that the Sun Academy is incredibly hard to get into¡­" Snivy said as she continued to munch the food.

    Claire nodded, "Yeah. My sister said that it is easier to graduate from Dragon Academy than Sun Academy. Their graduation exam is a lot stricter than you imagine. One has to kill a rank-6 beast of purple grade by themselves. The higher its grade and stage, the greater their marks would be."

    As the girls gasped, Claire sighed, "That''s why the Academy only a few students. Even with mid-rank-7 soul power, my sister took several tests to become an instructor."

    "Well, with your strength, I don''t think it poses a problem, anyway," Minerva commented.

    "Say, Claire, how''s going with Azrael? Did he ask you out, yet?" All of a sudden, Mia drops a question out of nowhere.

    *pff*

    Claire almost spilled the food, "what are you talking about?"

    "Soon, we''ll become tenth graders. So, there''s not much time we have left in the Academy. I heard that he was sitting with some girl from Moon Academy these days. If you keep quiet, you will only regret it, later, you know." Mia suggested her to make a move if Azzy isn''t doing anything as Valentine''s Day is roughly a month away.

    "I know that. You don''t need to tell me¡­" Claire mumbled while looking down in disappointment.

 Chapter 97: Neals proposal

    Principal''s office, Administration building of Academy;

    Principal Barton and his ex-disciple sat before each other. No other staff members are present.

    "Are you trying to say that we lack qualifications to host the tournament?" Principal Barton spoke coldly as he stared at Neal. "You have judged all the five categories in mere two days when all you did is to sit in the Arena. Is that it?"

    He was really enraged inside upon hearing that their academy only met two of the requirements that needed to qualify as a host for the Champions League.

    However, unlike last time, Barton controlled his aura.

    Neal replied calmly, "I have nothing against you, Master¡­ I mean, Mr. Everglade. I received an order from Headquarters to provide a solid report that will make Heavenly Academy stay silent and not question its decisions if our academy were to host the tournament.

    However, from what I see, aside from you and Ma''am Fauns, there are only four teachers with a 6-star rank existed in this academy. The rest are of rank-5.

    Moreover, there are several teachers with even 4-star rank who teach dropouts. I even confirmed the news about teachers getting beaten by students in a fair duel.

    Teachers are supposed to guide the students. If their strength is weak, how can they train geniuses?

    No matter what, I can''t put the quality of teachers as first-rate. Once your soul rank is being known to the public, maybe, you will be able to hire some higher rank people.

    But for now, the Quality of teachers is the second rate¡­

    I researched around while lunch and dinner breaks. Most of the students said that the Academy is the safest place in the city. Even parents said that they felt at ease when they sent their child to live in the Academy.

    Aside from the usual little bullying, the security of the Academy is pretty much worthy to be considered to be first-rate. I don''t think I need to mention facilities. They are top-notch as always. I even heard that the government has gifted high-quality robots. I think you should use them for training purposes.

    Anyway, let''s talk about where the problem lies.

    I had the help of a news reporter in gathering opinions from the students of other academies that are here for the Champion League. Do you want to know what they said?"

    Neal looked at Barton seriously, "Of the thirty-five students, sixteen of them said our academy is trash.

    Ten of them said our academy is mediocre.

    Six of them said our academy is better than average.

    Only four of them said they were satisfied with their stay in the Academy. And ninety percent of the students also admitted that only Leonard Light is a threat for them in the Champions League.

    After two months, he will be graduated. Then, what will you do? You can''t depend on one or two students to gain recognition of first-rate."

    And finally, the quality of the students. After seeing the results of the worthless group battles, do you still think I should explain about it, further?"

    Barton didn''t back down. He made a counterargument. "Every Academy has its best and worst talented students. This isn''t a special Academy. Normal Academies are entitled to allow all the students to give a chance to learn.

    And your judgment of recognition itself is flawed, Neal.

    Normal Academies don''t only teach how to fight. The majority of our focus lies in normal education. Finis Silvester, the scientist who receive the National Award for his contribution to robotics was this Academy''s alumnus.

    Finis Grace, the CEO of Global Architects was an alumnus of this academy. Winter, the top leading actress; Electra, the bestselling author; Julius, Peridott, Mervin, there are several successful people who emerged from this Academy.

    Just because they don''t know how to fight, doesn''t mean they are worthless. Do you think my Academy needs recognition from other Arcana academies that only know nothing but fighting?

    It has long been recognized by the government. Receiving the best Academy award three times is already enough to prove that my academy has recognition. "

    Barton''s explanation caused Neal to feel a bit ashamed. Honestly, he is a guy who only knows how to fights and was oblivious to many things except for technology.

    Suddenly, something clicked in his mind and he instantly thought what kind of bullsh*t his Master is spouting.

    Neal reminded him, "But, we are hosting a battle tournament that involves an Arcana spirit, not a science exhibition or some film festival.

    Even though I saw a few talents, there should be more than one genius that won''t be defeated in battle by the above rank even without any restrictions.

    By tomorrow, the decision will be made by the committee. So, please bring three such students to me once the tournament is finished. Only that way, I can help you out."

    Silence enveloped the room for a whole minute. Barton seemed to fell into deep thoughts.

    Meanwhile, Neal patiently waited for his choice.

    Neal genuinely wanted to help out his Master in any way he can but he was, after all, bound by the duty.

    Even if he provides a false report going against his ethics and lets the academy host the league, the truth will still be found out sooner or later, and then, WAMO will lose its reputation. That''s why he urged Barton to do something about it.

    At the same time, he also had another objective.

    The moment he sensed unusualness from Azzy, he didn''t waste time researching him.

    From his research, he found that Azzy was rumored to be the disciple of the Principal. His interest grew further upon finding out Azzy''s fighting prowess.

    It didn''t take much time for Neal to realize why the boy isn''t participating in the tournament even though he has a 5-star soul rank and a platinum-grade beast. He concluded that it has something to do with the insecurity of his Master, not because of some nonsense lack of control.

    After all, in his view, Azzy is a summoner. Why does his personal strength matter in a duel¡­

    Neal felt like he saw himself in Azzy. It was the same for him. Even back when he was a student of the academy, Neal saw how his Master tried to control his life when he won the National tournament for the first time.

    Because of the constant appearance of the scouts, he was banned from participating in the monthly tournaments, an annual tournament. The invitations from other intercity and international competitions were also rejected.

    With his tenth grade always spend in isolation, Neal decided to secretly attend the national tournament without his Master''s permission and later, won the National tournament for the second time, which led him to meet a high-rank-8 expert of military background.

    Being in the rebellious phase, Neal accepted his offer and later, became his disciple without consulting Barton. In the end, the relationship was broken between them.

    Now, when he returned to the academy after sixty long years, Neal saw his master hasn''t changed a bit even though he made a breakthrough. In his view, he was just replaced by Azzy.

    He felt bad for Azzy. So, he purposely pointed out many flaws in the academy to see what his Master will do, now. Will he choose to keep the prestige of the academy that he dearly loved or will he continue to hide the disciple that will eventually leave after a couple of years?

    After what seemed to be a millennium of silence, Principal Barton opened his mouth, "Tomorrow morning, in Arena 2, three of our students will challenge you to a battle."

    "Fine, then." Neal stood up on his feet while buttoning his suit. "Then, tell them that their opponent is a mid-rank-7 warrior who will not hold back at all. I don''t need them to win."

    Neal then raised his five fingers, "Five minutes. As long as every one of them will stay conscious for five minutes, Aclein Academy will host the tournament. If not, then, a notice will be given to all the academies about the change of venue."

    He then left the room leaving behind a furious old man.

    Barton slammed the table and turned it into dust, "It wasn''t enough to betray me for your own hunger for power? Must you go this far? Damn you, brat¡­"

    He was really angered at Neal, thinking that he was trying to tarnish the reputation of the Academy. "No matter what, my academy will host the tournament."

 Chapter 98: Annual Tournament Finals part-1

    With Team Twilight entering the finals and secured a spot in the Champions League, Gideon, Mia, and Snivy withdrew from their single and duo matches respectively.

    On the other hand, Leonard also quit his team Unicorn to participate in the single duel tournament finals.

    At first, Zona recommended Azzy for the position and told them that she will request the Principal but it was rejected by Bay and Dale right away, although for different reasons.

    While Bay just hates Azzy because of Claire, Dale just doesn''t want to depend on someone he''s not comfortable with.

    So, they chose to ask the only remaining rank-5 student that is available to recruit.

    However, very soon they realized that this ninth-grader withdrew from the tournament after his plant beast is being killed in a duo match, on the very first day and it still takes three days for his Arcana spirit to be revived.

    Taking advantage of the dire situation, Zona recommended her two years younger boyfriend, Lark, who was eliminated from the tournament.

    According to the tournament rules, as long as one was eliminated before the top 8, they can be used as a substitution in case if something happens to semi-finalists or finalists'' teammates.

    Using such a rule, she brought him into the team. As Lark was Zona''s duo partner in the tournament and also knows how to blend into a team, the rest of the team members also reluctantly agreed with her choice.

    The day-4 of the tournament started with knock-out rounds of the singles matches in respective stadiums.

    Originally, out of twenty people that participated in the single matches, only four participants who won all the matches entered the knockout rounds.

    Now, with the withdrawal of Gideon and non-participation of other rank-5s who chose to battle in group finals except for Leo, the knockout rounds became semi-finals with everyone getting grabbing the spot in the League.

    Leo''s opponent forfeited the match as he knew there''s no way he would win against him. The audience was disappointed as they weren''t able to see Leo fighting.

    After that, the second match was between Rowan and Reid Stripes, a close friend of Bay.

    With no time limit, both of them fought for a long time with giving everything they got. Both of them aimed at only one thing. To acquire the runner-up''s rewards.

    After an hour-long battle, Rowan managed to win. Upon confirming his win, he fell to the ground and fainted. Gideon picked him up and took him to the waiting room to rest.

    On the other hand, the heavily injured Reid was also picked up by Bay and was brought to the infirmary where he was healed.

    Both of their tenacious spirits brought huge applause from the public as well as the guests.

    After a break, duo battles'' knockout round began. In the end, a team from grade-10 and a team from grade-9 ended up for the finals.

    By lunch break, all the knockout rounds seemed to be finished and the staff announced everyone to go to Arena-1, the biggest stadium with a capacity of a hundred thousand.

    Unlike the one at the smaller arenas, the battle platform in the middle of this stadium stretched to as long as a hundred meters long and wide. Principal Barton personally created a rank-8 golden barrier around the platform.

    ***

    "C''mon, cousin. It''s getting late¡­" Barbara picked up her eating speed after looking at the wall clock.

    "There''s still half an hour," Azzy replied in his usual plain tone as he calmly lifted the spoon and drank the soup.

    But, Barbara isn''t in a mood to listen. "No way. I listen to you last time and we missed a lot of battles. Today is finals." She quickly finished her lunch.

    Azzy didn''t even get to fill his stomach properly before she dragged him out of the restaurant after paying the bill. "You are a rank-5. You can stay on empty stomach for a week. We can''t miss the battles."

    "I can just use the hourglass and rewind the time," Azzy grumbled inwardly while continue to follow her.

    Within ten minutes, they returned to the school. Upon arriving at the stadium, they saw a long line.

    "Can we go through the back entrance like last time?" Barbara asked him. She appeared too impatient.

    "No, it''s better if we don''t," Azzy suggested to quietly line up here. Unlike last time, higher rank government officials and true experts will be watching from the VIP rooms.

    So, he felt it would be better if he doesn''t bring any kind of attention to himself. He still hasn''t forgotten that mid-rank-7 expert who sat beside him two times.

    The first time might be a coincidence but the second one, Azzy thinks it isn''t. That''s why he even applied seals on his soul orb and suppressed his soul rank to 3-star.

    Now, with Azzy refusing to go through the back door and Barbara wanted to tag with him instead of her teammates, both of them ended up staying in the line for more than 20 minutes.

    Both of them took empty seats on the second row of the south wing as the first row is reserved for the guests. A while later, a team of eight girls wearing school uniforms instead of civilian clothes entered the stadium and took their seats, right before Azzy and Barbara.

    "Hmm¡­" The youngest girl of the team frowned as she spotted Azzy while she was walking towards her seat.

    Azzy didn''t pay any attention to them and focused on the golden energy barrier. "Chronos, is this barrier different from the usual one?" He asked the Reaper.

    "It''s performed by a rank-8 Arcana Master. And the only one with such rank is your Master. I guess he created it to impress the guests but when you reach rank-7, you can destroy this barrier with a mere finger." The Reaper replied casually, implying that there''s nothing exceptional about it.

    Just then, Exea and a handsome-looking teacher entered the stadium. Azzy was distracted.

    The crowd cheered in excitement while looking at both of them, be it whether they are male or female.

    Even Azzy can''t help but stare at the teacher who teaches the subject of Runes.

    With her hair dyed to blonde and styled into a thick side braid, somehow, in that light blue long gown, she looked a lot beautiful today like a princess from fairytales.

    Azzy remembered a character from an animated movie while falling into a daze.

    However, his expression on the outside still appeared indifferent.

    "Hello, I''m your host, Exea." "And I''m Falcon." "Welcome to the Aclein Academy''s Annual Tournament Finals-1994."

    "Whoo¡­" The crowd screamed in excitement.

    "First, let us welcome our Academy''s founder who was also currently serving as the Principal, Mr. Barton Everglade."

    Principal Barton made his appearance in front of everyone. Amid the gazes of everyone, he folds his hands to the back and steps forward.

    At the instant, he appeared a few meters away, he stepped once again, disappearing and appearing elsewhere. With the third step, he appeared beside the two hosts.

    Except for the rank-7 experts, none of the audience was able to see his movements. All they saw is a blurry figure that made it to the center of the stage.

    Some foreign students thought that the old man was just showing off.

    Meanwhile, the only peak-rank-7 in the audience except for Barton''s friends, realized that the principal is a rank-8 Arcana Master, not a peak-rank-7 like they thought.

    He was actually deployed by the Central Academy to investigate secretly so that they will make WAMO change the venue to a worthy academy.

    From Day 1, he was indeed watching the battles in patience and also noting down a couple of worthy talents to recruit. While all of the scouts'' eyes were on Leo, he was watching Zona, instead. He was extremely intrigued by her mimic ability.

    Looking at the Principal, he narrowed his eyes, "Now, this changes everything. The academy wouldn''t want to offend a rank-8 over such a petty issue. Maybe, I should try to recruit him."

    After Principal Barton''s opening speech is over, he left for the VIP section in the east wing where it is reserved for the Academy teachers and the instructors of the teams that came here to participate in the league.

    "Now, without further ado, let''s start the finals with the grade battles. The first battle is between Cedar Stripes and Elvera of grade-3."

 Chapter 99: Annual Tournament Finals part-2

    A week prior to the Annual Tournament, grade battles were conducted for all classes under the supervision of their respective homeroom teachers and Sahara Fauns.

    The Vice-Principal acted as a final judge in case the homeroom teachers will show partiality to their students.

    The tournament finals started with the finals of the grade battles starting from grade-3.

    The scouts from other normal academies were the ones who paid attention to these earlier battles as these kids just started their journey. So, it will be easier for them to steal talented ones from Aclein.

    "And now, the last match of the grade battles. From the Tenth grade, give it up for Leonard Light and Zona¡­"

    Amid cheers, both of them made it to the Arena and stood before each other with the fairness spell applied on them.

    Strangely, even though both of them are of rank-5, Zona found her soul power was restricted to 100K for some reason.

    Almost no one knows about the fact that Zona was the one with the highest soul power in the academy. Originally, she and Leo used to be low-rank-5 at the beginning of the year.

    Even though there used to be a hundred and fifty thousand of difference between them with Leo at 260 thousand and hers at 410 thousand, because of her status as commoner and Leo being a royal prince, she always stayed low key, afraid of being bullying.

    She slowly improved herself.

    But, now that their academy is about to end, she decided to stop being low-key. At first, she showed how strong her slime''s imitations can be, and then, she showed how well she''s good at teamwork.

    Now, with the grade battle finals, she intended to show her full potential by defeating this fifth prince once in for all.

    However, she didn''t expect that her soul power will drop by that much?

    When complained to Uphiar, Leo quickly intervened and explained that it was because of his seal that sealed a part of his soul power.

    After him, Uphiar also said that it is the weakness of the Fairness spell cuz it doesn''t judge the real rank of a person. He explained that if someone suppresses their soul rank, then, the Spell of Fairness will just treat it as their real soul rank.

    Only then, she realized that she had underestimated Leo and overestimated herself.

    If he''s been suppressing her soul rank for a whole year, then, she would lose the battle without question. Once, she realized the reality, Zona decided to save her face.

    As soon as the battle started, she forfeited right away, surprising everyone even including Leo.

    "I thought you were looking forward to this battle. Then, why?" Leo asked her.

    Zona who had long prepared the excuse, answered, "To win against you, I will have to show all of my trump cards. And who knows, you might also have to fight with everything you got. It isn''t worth the risk."

    Naturally, everyone above rank-6 heard was able to hear her words. Prince Vann can''t help but sigh, "I was expecting to see Prince Leonard''s skills. A pity¡­"

    After declaring Leo as the winner, Exea then announced the finals of the singles matches.

    The people, who were disappointed earlier, now once again cheered loudly as it''s going to be Leo''s turn once again. Now, they only hoped that this new guy will not forfeit like a coward.

    Thankfully, Rowan didn''t, or else, the crowd really might have booed¡­

    "Get ready. 3, 2, 1¡­" *Whistle*

    "Well, let''s not waste much time and finish this quickly. I still have an important battle, tomorrow." Leo mumbled while looking at Rowan, who summoned his water sword.

    "Aren''t you going to summon your Arcana Spirit?" Rowan asked him.

    "Not necessary." Leo shook his head with a smile on his face.

    Rowan frowned, "I won''t be careless as last time."

    "Well, I respect your opinion. However¡­" Leo stopped talking and suddenly dashed towards Rowan.

    "Soul skill: Water Barrier."

    Almost instantly, a barrier appeared around Rowan as Leo threw out a punch.

    Surprisingly, his punch went through the barrier. However, the speed and the strength decreased by a lot.

    Raising his sword, Rowan smiled, "Senior, you forgot that pure physical strength cannot destroy water."

    Just as he was about to counterattack him with a slash at his hand, Leo suddenly caught the blade and grinned, "That''s right. Thank you for reminding me. However, the battle has to end, right away."

    Gripping on the blade tightly while bleeding, Leo pulled it towards him. Along with the sword, Rowan was also dragged out of the water barrier and fell onto the ground.

    Before he stood on his feet, Leo dashed towards him once again and kicked him in the abdomen.

    Like a football was kicked by a soccer player, Rowan flew upwards and crossed the barrier. With the lower part of the ribcage completely destroyed, he coughed out blood and fainted in the air while a rank-6 expert who was hired as a protector, caught him, and then, sent him to the infirmary.

    From the moment the whistle being blown to Rowan crossed the golden barrier, only 8 seconds have been passed.

    "Prince Light" "Prince Light" "Prince Light"

    Thousands of audience stood up and cheered his name on the top of their lungs.

    Looking at it, Zona sighed in relief as she felt she did the right thing to abandon the match.

    As for Azzy, whose eyes captured every moment of his, asked the Reaper about when he should be exposed.

    "Now it isn''t the right time. It will be when he will be forced to show reveal lightning element." The Reaper gave him the answer that he needed as always.

    Meanwhile, a rank-6 expert who suppressed his rank was watching Leo very intently. His gaze doesn''t seem friendly at the moment. "The fifth prince seemed to be a lot stronger than the rumors. I need to report it to the Crown Prince about it."

    ***

    "Now, there''s only one final battle left in the tournament. Give it up for Team Twilight and Team Unicorn."

    The crowd erupted in applause for a while as both of the teams entered the stadium.

    However, all of a sudden, the audience quieted down upon finding Lark instead of their favorite fifth prince.

    Understanding the situation, the male host Falcon explained, "due to the tournament rules, Leonard Light had participated in the single battles and gave up the spot for Lark Sandrou of grade-8, Elite division."

    Even though it isn''t as loud as the battle between Rowan and Leo, the audience still cheered up for both teams.

    After all, other than Leo, there are a considerable number of fans for Claire, Zona, and Mia.

    Both of the teams stand apart from each other by 30 meters in their own formations.

    Team Twilight summoned their Arcanas and stood in a straight line without any formation. Meanwhile, Team Unicorn stood in their usual 2-1-2 formation with Zona in the middle.

    As soon as Falcon blew the whistle, Zona made her first move. "Vivi, transform."

    All of a sudden, Zona''s slime was transformed into a giant three-headed serpent. Many of the scouts gasped in surprise.

    All this while, they thought Zona''s slime can only imitate other Arcana spirits but didn''t expect that little slime was able to transform into even a wild creature like Hydra.

    It implied that either her slime creature can imitate all the beings under gold grade or she knows someone that has the legendary Hydra as their Arcana spirit.

    Most of them felt it was former as no one in history had awakened a Hydra, mainly because of its multiple elements.

    After all, it was a beast possessing ten elements. And if some 1-in-a-billion genius was able to awaken it, he would likely be the owner of a top-tier platinum grade beast, which is impossible to be imitated by a gold grade beast like the slime.

    Either way, they felt immense potential in Zona. Even Vann can''t help but sent a message to his instructor to recruit her.

    Meanwhile, Azzy remembered his battle against the three-headed Serpent in the illusion world. It was one of the beasts that troubled him back then. Since he personally experienced its abilities, Azzy felt that Gideon and Claire might face trouble.

    "Vivi, go¡­" While the rest of the four backed away, the three-headed serpent made its way towards the enemies.

    Claire raised her sword. "I got this¡­"

    Soon, Hydra reached halfway when it was blocked by Claire.

    Just then, a smile appeared on Zona, "Excellent, Claire was the one that walked into the trap."

    "Vivi, activate Soul Skill: Tornado" Zona gave an order.

 Chapter 100: Annual Tournament Finals part-3

    As the three-head hydra unleashed the soul skill, the green head''s eyes changed from white to glowing red before the surrounding air started to revolve around it.

    Almost instantly, Claire got trapped in it and moved in a spiral path towards the sky while a powerful tornado was generated before everyone''s eyes.

    She was trying to move but to no avail. Despite not doing any damage, the wind was completely controlling her movements. With her eyes spinning, Claire closed her eyes and concentrated on the sword she tightly gripped.

    She poured soul energy towards her hand and then, the sword. Slowly, the sword started to glow in a divine aura.

    Meanwhile, powerful winds obstructed everyone''s vision. Neither from the team Twilight nor the team Unicorn was able to see their opponents.

    Even Zona, who unleashed the skill, was in the same condition. Just then, the glowing sword grabbed her attention. She decided to make the next move and gave the finishing blow.

    Looking at the tornado, Azzy remembered the memory of being trapped inside the tornado. He remembered how his skin was roasted by the fire tornado combo.

    Even though he experienced it in the illusion world, the pain was still fresh in his mind. It was so fresh that a month ago, when the Elite division made the trip to the level-2 region of Artemis mountain range, Azzy went on a massacre upon spotting the multi-headed beasts.

    "Claire was trapped," Barbara spoke in a worried tone.

    "Before Senior Zona unleashes the lethal combo attack, Claire needs to use the soul energy eruption to get out of there. Or else, her life will be in danger." Although Azzy replied without any emotion, he was still serious inside.

    "Lethal combo attack?" Iphi, who was kinda paying attention to him, once in a while, wondered about the trump card that Zona holds, which is so powerful that it can threaten an opponent''s life who is of a light attribute.

    While she kept the doubt to herself, Barbara, on the other hand, asked him about it.

    Azzy pointed his finger at the three-headed serpent that was sitting at the eye of the tornado, "See the heads of the Hydra. They are red, green, and yellow. That means it possesses fire, wind, and lightning attributes.

    If the redhead uses the next soul skill, Fire Breath, and adds it to the tornado, it will become the fire tornado. The attack will reach low-rank-5.

    And then, if the yellow head adds the third soul skill to the combo, Lightning-fire-tornado or whatever it will be called, not only the attack power will reach high-rank-5 but Claire will feel the effects of the elements.

    Tornado will keep her helpless; the fire will roast her skin while the lightning element will paralyze her body so that she won''t even get the chance to resist.

    This is why the authorities put a restriction to enter certain areas like Swann Lake and snake valley in the Artemis Mountain Range. Unless one is peak-rank-4, one cannot enter those places."

    "Look at the guy behind us. How he''s posing to be a knowledgeable person even though he''s only a mere rank-3. Must be trying to woo the girl. What a fool¡­" A student of Phoenix Academy whispered to Iphi who sat next to her.

    "He''s the guy that my sister recommended for the Royal knight. He''s rank-5 and owns a platinum grade beast, by the way..." Iphi replied to her while concentrating on the match.

    "Eh?" The girl was taken aback and she immediately turned her head to look at Azzy and Barbara who weren''t paying attention to them. Because of the loud cheers around, her whisper didn''t reach Azzy''s ears either.

    "I remember him. He''s the blank-faced guy that ignored you and disrespected us, right?" She recalled the memory when they just reached this Academy.

    Back then, Iphi greeted him but didn''t get any response which displeased the other teammates too. At that time, this same girl from the Moon Academy also accompanied him.

    As she tried to confirm with Iphi about the same matter, the latter didn''t reply and looked straight. It was another bad memory of her. She wasn''t willing to recall it.

    Back to the stage, as the rest of the team members of Twilight hurried forward to save Claire, Zona quickly ordered the team to move out to stop the other four from interrupting.

    Following her order, Bay Passel''s Armored Gorilla and Katherine''s Steel Armadillo rushed to the front to defend the vulnerable Hydra that still has one trump card left.

    At the same time, she made her second move. "Vivi, Activate Soul Skill: Lightning strike."

    *Hisssss*

    The yellow head''s eyes turned red as it was trying to unleash a lightning strike from the clouds, aiming at Claire.

    Unlike the tornado, it didn''t happen instantly. The clouds are gathering above the stadium, covering the sun.

    Everyone saw the sparks being generated in the clouds.

    Looking at how the sword''s aura thickened, Zona didn''t waste the time and ordered it to strike her down in a hurry.

    A flash of lightning strikes down from the clouds onto Claire.

    "I didn''t expect that this girl Zona would act foolish at this point¡­" A Phoenix Academy student shook her head as she let out a sigh. She''s a peak-rank-5 Expert.

    "Captain Luci?" The rest of the girls turned their heads towards her. "It''s obvious if you look at it." She didn''t explain and fold her hands to the chest.

    "What does she mean?" Barbara asked Azzy upon hearing her statement. The girl was sitting right in front of her and spoke in a normal tone. It''s not hard for Barbara to hear it even with surrounding cheers.

    "The problem lies with the aim." Azzy pointed at the tornado.

    The lightning strike ripped through the tornado and hit a couple of meters away from the hydra, making a hole through the battle platform.

    Meanwhile, Gideon used the Thunder steps skill card to enhance his speed and dashed towards his enemy while raising his sword to cut it down.

    Just as the lightning strike missed its mark, Gideon was able to reach Hydra. "Soul skill: Fall of Lightning."

    Infused with soul energy, sparks on the lightning sword formed an extra layer around the sword.

    Just as he was aiming at the beast, suddenly, a glowing object dropped from the sky and pierced its body.

    Gideon was startled at first and jumped back but then, as he saw the familiar-looking heavy sword that pinned it down, followed by the disappearance of the wind, a smile appeared on Gideon and he dashed towards the Armored Gorilla that almost reached the Hydra.

    Like an Angel descending onto the earth, Claire, with the holy aura around her body and white wings on her back, slowly landed before the Hydra that returned to being a slime on its own for some reason.

    "Vivi¡­" Zona screamed as she ran towards the beast. Meanwhile, the rest of her teammates were stunned by the sudden turn of events.

    Lark who was just standing around with their Arcana Beast, made his move to help his girlfriend.

    Dale also dashed towards the Hydra while carrying his turtle beast. He had no choice because of its slow speed.

    "Everyone, attack." Claire gave an order while grabbing the handle of her sword. As she poured the soul energy into the sword, the aura thickened further. The slime was blown up, right away.

    Zona halted her steps as she saw her Arcana spirit returned to her soul card. "It''s not over, yet." Looking at Claire seriously, she took out a card with four gold stars.

    "Activate, Revival¡­"

    All of a sudden, the soul card that was hovering around her glowed for a second before the familiar-looking slime returned.

    "Vivi, copy¡­" Zona didn''t waste any time and immediately turned it into a sword this time. It looks identical to that of Claire''s. She then took out a recovery card and filled her soul power to the max.

    "I only have two soul skills left to spare. I should use them carefully," Zona muttered under her breath before dashing towards Zona for close combat.

    Meanwhile, Gideon attacked the Armored Gorilla with the soul skill that''s already activated.

    Due to its high defense, only a massive cut appeared on its chest and it started to bleed.

    "Dale¡­" Bay shouted.

    "I got it." With the turtle in his arms, as he reached halfway, he then ordered the turtle to help the Gorilla.

 Chapter 101: Annual Tournament Finals part-4

    Under Dale''s order, the turtle''s eyes glowed and at the instant, an aura of light surrounded the armored Gorilla. The turtle then healed its injuries.

    "Eh? He''s a healer?" Gideon was taken aback to see the Gorilla was back in full health while he was defending himself from the Armadillo''s claws.

    After healing Bay''s Arcana, Dale backed off right away to save himself from potential danger.

    Meanwhile, Claire didn''t move from the spot. She just stood where she landed. In the meantime, her wings also disappeared.

    "Snivy, go and help out Gideon. Mia, you are still on standby." Passing out an order, Claire gripped her sword tightly and looked at Zona who arrived before her with a divine sword imitation in her hands.

    "Looks like you are waiting for me." Zona let out a comment as she brandished the sword. "Let''s see how my sword fares against yours."

    "An imitation cannot defeat an original," Claire replied, pointing the blade at her opponent.

    "Well, that depends on the wielder, don''t you think?" Zona wasn''t offended and instead, she smiled while not taking her seriously at all.

    "There''s only one way to find out, then¡­" Pouring the soul energy into the divine sword, Claire charged forward and swung at Zona.

    Zona parried her attacks, although was getting pushed back.

    Claire, on the other hand, continued to attack aggressively giving her opponent, no room to attack.

    *Cling* *Cling* *Cling*

    Zona was smiling all along the way as she was successfully parrying Claire''s attacks. "For a light attribute user, you are too fierce. It''s really a surprise how you managed to break through to rank-5 with such personality."

    "You are talking too much¡­" Claire swung the sword with all of her strength. Suddenly, Zona sidestepped and then, kicked into her right waist with her left leg.

    An unexpected attack surprised Claire. As she was unable to defend it, she flew away for a couple of meters before she regained control over her body and landed on the ground while sliding a couple of meters.

    "Captain¡­" Mia who was standing in the back with her Oaktree shouted.

    Claire raised her hand, "don''t move. Stick to the plan."

    Zona glanced at Mia and then, at the oak tree. She wondered whether this girl was preparing for an ambush. "Well, it doesn''t matter. The counter to that has long been ready."

    She once again put her attention on Claire who once again charged towards her.

    This time, she didn''t give her the chance to attack. Zona also charged forward towards Claire. As their swords collided, both of them slide a couple of meters back.

    Having no other choice, she decided to use her trump card. After recovering her soul power, Zona took out another skill card with four gold stars, which means it is another high/peak level skill card.

    If Azzy would have seen it, he would have been shocked as he had never created a skill card with four gold stars to date. Only the rank-7s and high and peak-rank-6 experts with the best vision were able to capture the moment. A trace of surprise can be seen on the faces of the instructors from the other top academies.

    As Zona poured the soul energy and activated the skill card, more than 95% of her soul power was absorbed by the skill card before it was unleashed.

    "Behold my unique skill." The smile on Zona widened, "Activate, skill card: Clone."

    Almost instantly, an exact identical copy of Zona and the heavy sword appeared beside her. Even the clone''s soul rank is peak-four-star. After replenishing her soul power with a recovery card once again, Zona and her clone started their offense.

    Looking at it, Azzy remembered his battle against the rank-6 assassin. Back then, his enemy also used a similar one.

    However, that''s a soul skill that can only be used again after a certain time passed. On other hand, this is a normal skill card that can be used many times as long as one has enough soul power.

    What surprised Azzy the most is the fact that he wasn''t able to figure out which one''s the real and which''s one the clone.

    And it seemed like Claire was in the same position as she fell into disadvantage while fighting with both of them at the same time.

    *Cling*

    As Claire blocked Zona''s attack, the clone slashed at Claire and a cut appeared on her arm. However, it was healed right away.

    Zona''s eyes were widened in surprise after watching a similar scene a few times. Her opponent''s recovery rate was so powerful that any amount of injuries was being healed as if they didn''t even happen in the first place.

    She looked at Claire seriously and stated, "Your attribute seems to be very pure. You aren''t just a simple descendant of the Royal family, aren''t you? Are you perhaps a direct descendant? However, it irks me, even more, when I see people like you who get everything so easily¡­"

    As a commoner who hailed from a lower-middle-class family, from childhood, Zona felt envious of those high-born nobles and Princes who can acquire their talent and Arcana spirits from their ancestors. They will have Imperial tutors from a young age. If they can''t create a skill card, they can just buy it in the stores.

    Even if they don''t have the talent, they have too much money to spend their lives in luxury.

    On the other hand, even with heaven-defying luck, a commoner like her with mediocre talent parents had no chance had to work hard day and night to get respect from others.

    At a very young age, she understood that even if she has the strength to survive on her own, unless she doesn''t possess authority, a person like her can''t offend nobles or royalty.

    So, she worked hard in both academics as well as in combat training.

    Along with constantly winning the monthly tournaments and Annual tournaments for two consecutive years, she managed to keep a perfect score in academics.

    By the end of grade-7, Zona finally managed to become Vice-President for the student council.

    She felt proud that she managed to achieve it not by connections but through her own effort.

    However, in the next year, when she saw Leo being directly nominated to the position of President without her approval, she realized that her current strength and authority aren''t enough to subdue others.

    Zona didn''t give up. She swore to herself that one day, she will gain recognition from everyone.

    From then, Zona started to become low-key, mainly focusing on academics on the outside while secretly attending lessons for Archery, sword, spear, etc¡­

    To ward off others from approaching her, she started to date Lark in her final year. She knew that if it was someone else with a common background, these nobles that have a crush on her will resort to threats and bullying.

    Even though the Sandrou family is a low ranking in nobility, they have a certain degree of influence in government. For example, Lark''s paternal uncle is the Secretary of Defense.

    So, for her, Lark, who is two years younger and weaker in strength, is a safe bet. Upon making him qualify for Champions League, she thought that she paid him back and no longer owes him.

 Chapter 102: Annual Tournament Finals part-5

    After suppressing herself for so long, now, Zona felt like she got the chance to explode.

    Currently, she only has two goals to fulfill. One is to get to Champions League and the second is to be scouted by a top academy from Arcana world where the nobles and the commoners are treated the same except for royalty.

    As she can''t defeat Leo, she felt like she should go all out against Claire and defeat her while not bothering to save her trump cards.

    Zona and her clone continued to push back. Meanwhile, Gideon was fighting the Armored Gorilla; Tenth grader Calder was locked in a tight battle against Lark''s tiger-striped Orange Dog and Katherine''s Steel Armadillo; Snivy was swinging her hammer around while chasing Dale who was carrying his turtle and dodging the attacks. And Mia, she stayed still as planned.

    With no orders coming from Zona who was completely focused on defeating Claire, Team Unicorn felt a little bit of a disadvantage. In such a situation, Bay who was free tried to step up as a leader. "Dale, Katherine, here¡­"

    He called out to Dale and Katherine and gestured them to come to his side so that the three of them stick together to face off any attacks.

    This is the advantage of being a summoner.

    Despite not possessing any soul skills for themselves, they can still act independently while their Arcana face the opponent.

    With their Arcana beasts have enough experience to act on their own, Bay and Katherine didn''t have any worries in giving them orders only once in a while.

    However, Calder realized their plan as soon as Katherine backed away leaving her Armadillo.

    He shouted, "Snivy, don''t let them regroup."

    Only then, Snivy realized that while Dale seemed like he was just dodging her attacks, his distance to Bay was decreasing with each move.

    "No, I won''t give you that opportunity." Snivy mumbled to herself as she raised the hammer above her head.

    Ignoring Dale, she looked at Bay who seemed like he was paying attention to somewhere else, and strikes down the platform with the hammer using all her strength, unleashing the soul skill.

    Just as Katherine about to reach Bay, suddenly, a massive fist made out of iron erupted from the battle platform, right below Bay Passel.

    "Careful," Katherine shouted as she halted her steps for a moment but it was already late as he wasn''t able to dodge it.

    He flew into the sky for more than a hundred meters crossing the barrier. By the time the protector caught him, Bay was already unconscious.

    The Armored Gorilla suddenly stopped its fight with Gideon and rushed towards its unconscious master who was placed on the ground.

    It touched his face for a couple of seconds before it turned its head and looked at Snivy.

    *Roar*

    The Armored Gorilla roared while beating its chest in anger. However, before it goes out of control in rage, the rank-6 expert knocked it out, thereby, sending it back to Bay''s soul card.

    With Bay out, the battle suddenly turned into Team Twilight''s favor. Having no other choice, Katherine dashed towards Snivy and asked for the assistance of Dale. She intended to finish her as soon as possible.

    Meanwhile, Gideon joined Calder and attacked the Armadillo to decrease the load on him.

    Soon, Snivy was eliminated after being thrown out of the barrier with the combined efforts of Katherine and Dale. No one was surprised at the result as these rank-5 Arcana Masters are good at teamwork.

    However, in the next minute, Katherine''s Armadillo was also killed by Gideon. While Calder distracted Lark by slamming his shield on his face, Gideon aggressively attacked the tiger-striped dog.

    At the same time, Claire was getting pushed back by Zona and her clone.

    Claire felt like this is her hardest battle. She was hesitating to show her trump cards as she knew that Zona will copy her skill.

    After fighting for a while, she managed to theorize some of the restrictions of Zona''s copy skill.

    First, the soul skills are limited in number and cannot be used frequently even if the slime changed its form. Second, she cannot imitate the skill that she hadn''t seen with her own eyes.

    Claire felt that these two are probably the reasons why Zona isn''t using the soul skills.

    As she wasn''t sure whether her theory is right or not, she bided her time to confirm it while focusing on defending.

    The match went on for half an hour. Mia is still standing alone in patience. Gideon was chasing Dale who was focused on dodging once again. Calder, Lark, and Katherine were eliminated.

    As for Zona, she still wasn''t able to eliminate Claire who was recovering her injuries at an unimaginable speed.

    "Well, I guess it''s time to end the match," Claire muttered under breath while panting heavily.

    "Mia, now¡­" She gave an order.

    "Yes," Mia exclaimed as her eyes lit up in happiness. She was waiting for her turn for the past 40 minutes, and finally, she was joining the battle.

    While the clone continued to slash at Claire, the original Zona took out a card and gripped it tightly. She was ready to use this card that was given by Leo to counter the ambush of Mia''s underground roots.

    However, to her surprise, instead of the ambush, a number of flowers bloomed on the tree and released pollen into the air.

    It didn''t take a long time for the pollen to spread all over the space inside the barrier, affecting allies and opponents.

    *Cough* *Cough* *Cough*

    Everyone except Mia started to cough and felt their body temperature rose sharply.

    The most affected was Zona''s clone that didn''t seem like its soul power is resisting the pollen attack.

    "*Cough* this is your grand plan" *Cough* A suicide attack¡­" Zona spoke while she was barely supporting herself with the sword pierced into the platform.

    As she looked at Claire, the latter wasn''t fairing any better. She was kneeling on one leg while trying to resist it. Meanwhile, Gideon and Dale became unconscious.

    "No¡­" Claire gritted her teeth and forced herself to stand. "Soul skill: Descent of the Heavenly Guardian." She unleashed her trump card which she was keeping secret until now.

    Glowing wings appeared behind her back while an enormous amount of natural energy in the surroundings was absorbed into her body. The pollen no longer affected her.

    Looking at it, Zona mumbled, "So, you had this trick up this sleeve, huh! But you underestimated¡­"

    Before her words even finished, suddenly, the sword in her hand was broken into two by the heavy sword.

    Zona didn''t even get enough time to revive it further as the underground roots still returned at the end to capture her.

    After Zona fainted while standing on the platform, Mia threw her out of the barrier. Later, Dale was also thrown away, thereby winning the match.

    "Whoo¡­." "Twilight" "Twilight" "Claire" "Claire" "Mia" "Snivy" "Zona" "Zona"

    After several hours, Zona woke up and found herself in the infirmary. Through the glass, she saw the sky was dark.

    Tears started to fall from her eyes as she looked down. "So, I lost huh! Why?"

    After crying for a while, suddenly, her eyes fell on a message card that was lying on the table beside the bed. "Hmm?"

    As soon as she took the card and poured soul energy, instantly, a video message appeared in her head. "Hello, my name is Marcus Serpen. Are you interested to join the Abel Tower?"

    "Abel Tower?" Zona gasped in shock.

 Chapter 103: Neal vs Bartons top three students

    Gravity Room, Training grounds-1;

    "Hah!" Barbara threw a punch towards Azzy''s chest. However, Azzy dodged with ease and grabbed her arm before throwing her to the ground over his shoulder.

    Just then, the Sabertooth tiger leaped towards him from behind. But, the ambush was also failed as Azzy quickly side-stepped and then, gave a roundhouse kick to its belly.

    It crashed onto the wall, although not injured much.

    Shaking off its dizziness, the sabertooth looked at Azzy and growled. It became angry after failing over and over again.

    "Stop." Barbara ordered it to stand down and looked at Azzy, "you win." She then just lies on the floor while panting heavily.

    "You have a long way to go, Barbara." He commented, giving her a hand.

    As she stood up on her feet, she puffed her cheeks and complained, "You are too fast even in this 3x gravity. On other hand, my movements are too slow. Not fair¡­"

    "Not that I was born with this speed. I trained for 3 years at the stairs of the Violet Pavilion to improve my physical constitution to limit. And the next year, I spent at the Pavilion where the gravity is 44 times that of normal. It''s obvious that this gravity can''t restrict my speed." Azzy shrugged his shoulders as if it isn''t a big deal. He then proceeded to walk to the corner to reset the gravity to normal.

    Barbara snorted, "I already know that. You don''t need to brag about it. Once I return, I''ll also train at the Violet Pavilion. Now that I''m rank-5, I''m qualified to step in, either way¡­"

    "I already told you that your soul power and the Arcana spirit might revert to their previous state, right?" Azzy reminded her about the consequences of time travel once again.

    "So what¡­ I can just force my grandpa to send me there. It isn''t a big deal, anyway. The battle experience I gain here will be a lot helpful, later."

    Listening to their conversation, The Reaper can''t help but only sigh for an unknown reason.

    ***

    Meanwhile at Arena-2, Claire, Leo, and Zona arrived together.

    An hour ago, their peaceful sleep was disturbed by the warden of their respective dormitories.

    All of them were informed that the Principal summoned them to his office. Complying with the orders, they left their dorms by 5 A.M. and went to the administration building.

    They weren''t told any additional details except that they will battle a rank-7 expert, right away. He even gave a revival card to Zona to revive her slime even though she has one.

    Along with that, he presented a few rank-5 skill cards for them to use in the upcoming duel. In return, he asked them to conscious in the battle for five minutes.

    The three of them assumed that this expert might be a scout from some powerful organization and was intending to scout them.

    However, none of them are willing to be scouted.

    Leo intended to go far away and settle somewhere in the countryside.

    Claire had already decided to finish her schooling and enter Sun Academy where her sister is working.

    Meanwhile, Zona earlier received the invitation from Abel Tower. After checking its authenticity, she decided to join this top faction from Arcana world.

    And yet, the three of them still agreed to the duel for the sake of Principal. Zona felt it''s also a kind of opportunity for her to experience the power of rank-7. After all, it''s not every day she would able to duel against such a higher rank expert.

    Moreover, who knows what kind of background he will have. If it is someone from a top faction, she might get an additional option to choose her future path.

    The three of them waited for a while until, all of a sudden, the stadium lights were switched on and they found a handsome young Neal standing before them.

    "Hello, my name is Neal. Nice to meet you¡­ I''m also alumnus of this academy, by the way. " Neal introduced himself while feeling bitter inside. He didn''t expect the old man would still cover Azzy even when the school''s prestige is at risk.

    However, at the same time, he wasn''t that much dissatisfied about his ex-master''s selection.

    One seems to have extraordinary physical strength, reflexes, and speed. The second one seems like a powerful light user with extraordinary healing ability and the third one is the owner of the slime with mimic ability.

    They were already the best ones in the academy if one excludes Azzy who was feared by even upperclassmen, according to his investigations.

    "Hello, senior." As the three of them returned the greetings, they heard the principal''s voice from their behind, "Stop wasting time¡­"

    The three of them turned their heads and found the Principal was standing, a few meters behind them.

    Principal Barton continued, "As I said before, the time limit will be 5 minutes. If even one of you fell unconscious, then you lose. If not, then, you win. Understand?"

    The three of them nodded and Barton raised the watch, "Make your preparations."

    "Zona, you had any wind or Earth attribute beasts in your collection?" Leo asked her, all of a sudden.

    "Eh?" She was taken aback. Initially, she thought of going with Claire''s Divine sword as it left a heavy impression on her, especially the last soul skill she used.

    But, upon hearing Leo''s question, she immediately realized what he implied. The opponent is a rank-7. It''s useless to attack. As the time limit is only 5 minutes, all she needs is either speed or sturdy defense.

    Zona immediately thought of a beast and thanked Leo for the reminder. Meanwhile, Claire immediately took out an exquisite armor with runes carved on it and wore it over the upper body.

    It appeared big at first but upon wearing it, the armor somehow adjusted itself to her size.

    This was the armor that she had chosen from the prize of the winner of the group battles.

    As for the other items from the prize, the five million credits were split evenly between Calder and Snivy. The gold-grade flying card was taken by Gideon and the gold-grade storage card was taken by Mia.

    On the other hand, Zona, who was in the hospital until midnight, missed the reward ceremony and didn''t get the time to choose from the runner-up prize.

    She can''t help but look at Claire''s armor enviously as she was only a runner up where the Armor wasn''t rewarded.

    Looking at Zona, Leo, who won all the above items from the single battle category, took out the Armor from the storage card and handed it to her as he thinks it is useless.

    Zona thought he was only lending it to her temporarily and didn''t hesitate to take it and equip it.

    Claire summoned the divine sword and Zona summoned the blue slime. Leo just stood straight.

    "Student Leonard," Barton called out his name.

    "Yes, Mr. Principal?" Leo turned his head.

    "Your opponent is a rank-7. Summon your Arcana spirit and remove the suppression." Barton frowned as he reminded him.

    "It''s alright, Mr. Principal. I assure you that I won''t be unconscious for five minutes." Leo appeared confident. However, in the eyes of others, he appeared rather careless and overconfident.

    "Are you ready?" Neal stood straight with his hands on the back.

    The three of them nodded.

    "Go¡­" Barton started the timer.

    As usual, Claire charged forward to attack this rank-7 expert despite knowing she doesn''t have the slightest chance to defeat him.

    Meanwhile, Zona''s slime transformed into a green Drake, which isn''t that powerful but has the high dodging capability and speed-related soul skills.

    As for Leo, he took out a couple of skill cards that he received from the Principal and applied one of them to boost his speed temporarily so that he can match Neal''s speed.

    ***

    Barbara and Azzy were returning after finishing their early morning practice. As everyone else is sleeping, the whole compound looked peaceful and silent.

    Suddenly, they saw a huge amount of flames in the sky above the Arena-2. As its floodlights are switched on, both of them wondered whether someone is in a battle and a beast has gone wild.

    Both of them looked at each other and nodded, "Let''s go¡­"

    Not wasting any time, Azzy and Barbara rushed towards the second training grounds.

    A couple of minutes later, they reached the entrance of the Arena and entered the field.

    Azzy saw a ten-meter big red salamander with flames dancing on its tail. And a familiar man is sitting on it. He can''t help but stare at this powerful platinum grade beast.

    Just then, Barbara tapped his shoulder. As he looked at her, she pointed at the three unconscious students and the old man who was checking at their vitals.

    Neal then spoke, "your students have lost."

 Chapter 104: Aclein Academy to lose its hosting rights

    A couple of minutes ago;

    As soon as the timer started and Claire charged forward, Neal didn''t waste his time and immediately summoned his giant fire salamander.

    Looking at them from the top of the Salamander, Neal spoke, "I''m going to change my terms. Forget about all. If even one of you remains standing for 3 minutes, I''ll admit defeat."

    As soon as his platinum-grade beast is out, Claire and Zona''s Arcana spirits started to shake in fear. The only one that''s completely calm is Leo as he is also a fellow platinum grade beast, although the opponent is a mid-rank-7.

    "This damn brat¡­" Barton gritted his teeth in anger while staring at the beast.

    He thought Neal would test their speed, reflexes, strength, and defense. However, the reality struck him hard. Instead of checking them whether they are worthy or not, Neal decided to go all out. He was angered at this traitorous disciple of his who was trying to crash his dreams once again.

    In reality, at first, Neal wanted to help out his master. That''s why he proposed such a duel where he can report that the academy trained three such students who were capable of going against even a rank-7.

    However, the fact that his ex-master left out Azzy when the prestige of school is on the line, made him go into a bad mood. But, since he knew his master''s personality very well, Neal tried to be understanding.

    However, Leonard''s overconfidence displeased him so much that he decided to crush them. If he doesn''t, how can he show his face and tell them that he wasn''t able to even handle a rank-5 who was even suppressing his strength to peak-rank-4 and hiding his Arcana... If it wasn''t humiliation, then, what is it¡­

    Even if the old man is once his master and the Aclein Academy is once the place he studied, Neal doesn''t want to let this arrogant prince think there''s no one above him.

    Very soon, the salamander started its attacks.

    Forget about three minutes, the battle didn''t even last for even a minute before Claire and Zona were out of the battle. Leo was able to hold on for a couple of minutes and dodge the attacks very effectively.

    It forced Neal to use a soul skill of his and knocked him out before the time runs out.

    After defeating them, Neal looked at his former Master and said, "Your students have lost. As per our deal, the venue for the Champions League will be shifted to¡­ Hmm?"

    He suddenly stopped talking, feeling the presence of two people. Both of them seem low-rank-5 at that. He looked in the direction of the source and was taken aback to find the familiar couple. "Mr. Azrael, Ms. Crescent?"

    It was only upon hearing Azzy''s name did Barton''s thoughts were disrupted and he turned his head. "Azrael, what are you doing here?" He asked.

    "We just finished morning practice and were on our way to the dorms." Azzy didn''t hide the fact that he was training with Barbara at a place like Gravity room that was restricted to outsiders.

    "Are they alright?" Azzy asked while his eyes were fixed on the unconscious Claire. Although he appeared calm on the outside, Azzy was inwardly worried for some reason.

    "They were just knocked out and only have light injuries. Don''t worry about it." Instead of Barton, Neal replied to Azzy.

    Before anyone reacts to his statement, he further said, "It''s good that the two of you are here. Now that I finished my job, there''s no need to hide my identity any longer. Let me formally introduce myself. I''m Neal, an inspection officer deployed by WAMO.

    I''m here to judge whether your academy is worthy of hosting the Champions League. Turned out that it is not. These so-called top geniuses of the academy weren''t even able to stay conscious for even a minute when they faced a rank-7."

    He then turned towards the Principal and continued, "The venue will be changed to Egrein Academy. However, you might want to discuss with Egrein Academy regarding the slot distribution. There''s a high chance that all of the slots reserved for your academy will be taken away."

    "Alright, I get it. You said too much. Just get lost¡­" Barton took out a card and applied it to the three unconscious students. The three of them started to float in the air. He then looked at Azzy and Barbara, "I''m taking them to the infirmary. You two can leave for your dorms."

    Just then, Neal chuckled, "it seemed like you are giving up too soon, Master."

    Suddenly, Barton''s rank-8 aura exploded and he glared at Neal, "I already warned you not to call me that. Your business is finished here and so is your immunity. Now, before I lose control over my anger, get lost from my sight¡­" He growled.

    Neal didn''t take it to the heart and resisted the pressure from the rank-8 aura.

    On the other hand, Barbara started to feel suffocation. As she fell on her knees, Azrael caught her, and shouted, "Master, retract your aura. You''ll kill Barbara¡­"

    "Hmm?" Neal looked at Azzy in surprise as they found he appeared completely normal. He didn''t know that the Reaper completely nullified the effects on Azzy.

    Meanwhile, Barton was taken aback as the secret that he keeping from Neal is finally out because of his carelessness.

    "I knew it from the first glance. You are an interesting fellow, Azrael." Neal commented with a smile. Barton''s heart skipped for a moment upon hearing it.

    "Master¡­ I mean, Mr. Everglade, I understand why you intent on hiding a person with such potential. Still, I know how much you are looking forward to this tournament.

    So, I''ll give you one more chance. However, I have a condition. Instead of this arrogant and overconfident Prince, I want to battle Azrael and these two girls.

    This time, I won''t even attack. I''ll give you five minutes. Before the time limit is over, if even one of them were able to land a hit on me, I''ll consider this as my loss. What do you think?"

    Before Barton reacts to it, Azzy suddenly asked, "If I managed to land a hit on you, then, will our academy host the tournament?"

    Neal looked at him and nodded. However, Barton didn''t let it happen.

    "Azrael, what are still doing here? Return to the dorm." The old man turned deaf to what Azzy said earlier and ordered him to leave.

    He then, looked at Neal in seriousness, "I don''t have time to play with you. If you want to remove our academy''s hosting rights, then, dream on. I''ll not let that happen.

    As I said before, now that you are finished your business, leave from here. As the Principal of this academy, I''m officially banning your entry. You have one minute. After that, I will take action considering you are an intruder."

    "Do you want to be stubborn until the end?" Neal''s voice suddenly turned cold.

    From the start, he talked with Barton in patience and maintained respect given their past relationship. But after his good intentions were kept turned down over and over again, he realized that his master didn''t have nothing but hatred towards him. Meanwhile, he also realized that Barton''s obsession over his replacement even increased.

    Neal''s turned cold. He no longer cared what his former master feels. "You also wanted to hide him from the world as you did it with me? I can''t believe that I have felt guilt for the past sixty-two years. But now, I''m saying it to you. I don''t regret choosing someone else as my master."

    "Are you finished?" Barton''s voice also turned cold. "There are 12 seconds left."

    "Fine, then¡­" Neal dismissed the salamander and left the academy, right away.

    ***

    Claire slowly opened her eyes and found herself on the bed. As she turned her head, she found Leo was missing while Zona was still unconscious. Apart from her, she saw Barbara was sitting nearby her bed.

    "You are finally awake." Barbara smiled as she stood up. "Azrael was busy with practice. So, I came in place of him."

    Claire sighed, "Rank-7 Experts are really strong. I didn''t even last a minute."

    "Anyway, you should get prepared for the departure to Egrein Academy now that you three lost the challenge."

    "Eh?" Claire was taken aback. "What does our battle has to do with me going to Egrein Academy?"

    "Hmm? You don''t know?" Barbara was even more surprised than her.

 Chapter 105: Calling for a favor

    Principal''s office;

    "Sit down." Taking his seat, Principal Barton told Azzy to sit down too. "I guess several questions might have appeared in your mind because of the earlier situation."

    Azzy stayed silent to hear what his Master has to say. In reality, he wasn''t a bit bothered by either the allegations posed by Neal or the shifting of the Champions League. After all, they had nothing to with him.

    However, he was still slightly disappointed for not being able to battle Neal. Like others, he was also tempted to have a spar against rank-7.

    Azzy thought his Master rejected it because there''s bad blood between his master and this supposed ex-senior brother of his.

    As for the allegation of how Barton''s trying to hide him, Azzy himself wanted to do the same. He just wanted to train quietly without exposing his abilities, then, travel to the timeline to save his parents.

    Barton continued, "In my life, I have taken a total of six disciples, excluding you. Of them, there are three people that were close to me. My first disciple, Miranda Light; my fourth disciple, Arvilla; my sixth disciple, Neal; those three aren''t just normal geniuses. You can say, they are once-in-a-century children of heaven."

    Azzy wondered why his Master was saying all of this nonsense to him. Does he have that much free time when a crisis is befalling his academy? He continued to listen patiently.

    "To all my disciples, I gave my all. Yet, my first disciple had to break ties with me because of her marriage with the neighboring country''s royal family.

    After finishing her graduation, my fourth disciple ran away to Abel Tower where one would have to cut all of their ties.

    And my traitorous sixth disciple, the one you met earlier, Neal; he even acknowledged someone else as his Prime Master without consulting me just because that guy is a rank-8¡­

    All of their situations have a common point, you know. They abandoned their Master for the sake of power.

    If they can abandon their Master, then, how can one expect them to look after the innocent weak people who are in need of help? Ultimately, their hunger for power will take away their character.

    In my view, it''s worthless even if you acquire all the power in the world when you lose yourself in the process."

    As Barton talked about his disciples, Azzy felt that this old man wasn''t unhappy that they choose their own paths but was disappointed that his disciples choose the wrong way.

    A little bit of respect rose in Azzy''s heart towards his Master.

    Barton then looked into his eyes and said, "I can sense the enormous potential you hold within you. I never wanted to bring this topic but Neal''s reminder brought to my senses.

    I''ll be honest with you. Azrael, I know that I''m not good enough to teach you. That''s why I never taught you to combat training personally and only helped you by providing materials and the training facilities that are restricted to others.

    From today onward, and until you graduate, I''ll be your sparring partner. I won''t let you self-learn anymore. I''ll teach you to the utmost of my ability. All I ask in return is two things.

    The first is to not participate in any tournament until you go into tenth grade. The second is to not ever acknowledge a person as your Prime Master just because they have high soul power.

    You are still too young and can be influenced by various things. If you were from a clan or a noble family, I wouldn''t worry about your future. But, you were an orphan and your foster parents are still missing.

    You are free to take your own decision after you became an adult. However, until then, let me make decisions for you so that your journey will be safe and smooth without any hurdles."

    Azzy didn''t say Yes or No. He just stared at Barton for a while. Even though he had no plans to defy his orders or participate in a tournament, Azzy still doesn''t want to give control of his life over to someone else.

    "This man is sincere, Azrael." The Reaper then suddenly said in his head.

    "I know but I think you understand what the source of my hesitation is," Azzy replied to him.

    "Say that you will not participate in the tournaments as your Master wished. That way, both of you will be happy." The Reaper quickly suggested a solution.

    Following the Reaper''s suggestion, Azzy replied the same words to his Master while not saying anything about how he will give permission to his Master about making decisions.

    As for the consequences, when Azzy leaves for his timeline, his master won''t even remember his existence. So, Azzy wasn''t worried about it either.

    Meanwhile, Barton was happy that Azzy agreed to his request. He then stood up, "You can leave. I have something important to do."

    Without waiting for Azzy to leave, Barton took out a teleportation card and disappeared.

    In the next second, he reappeared in a bedroom. It wasn''t that big. Except for a double cot bed, a table, and a mirror, there was nothing else inside the room.

    He walked to the table that was placed in the corner and searched the drawers.

    "Where is it? I remember keeping it here, somewhere¡­"

    After searching for a couple of minutes, he finally took out a seemingly normal-looking business card.

    "Found it." He smiled upon looking at it.

    Barton then took out a basic cellular phone from the storage card, "Hmm, how to operate this, again? Ellie said to press this button, right?"

    After unlocking it by holding down the middle button, Barton slowly dialed the numbers that were written on the business card.

    A few seconds later, the call went through.

    *Ring* *Ring*

    "Hello?" A young and sweet voice was heard from the other side.

    "Am I speaking to Miss Angie Silverthorn?" He asked politely.

    "No, I''m her assistant. Ma''am is busy, right now. May I know who are you and what do you need?" She asked about his identity and the purpose so that she can fix the appointment.

    "My name is Barton Everglade. I''m calling from Aclein Academy of Arcana, which is based in Aclein city of Northern Qudour nation. A while ago, a guy named Clement gave me a business card. I wonder if she can spare me a few minutes." Even though he was talking to an assistant, Barton''s tone was completely polite as if he was talking to a superior.

    Upon hearing the details, the assistant was surprised as she knew that Clement was one of the directors of their organization and is also a close aide to the President. Getting a business card from him is the same as telling that the receiver is an important client.

    "Okay, I''ll report the matter to Ms. President and get back to you, later."

    An hour later;

    Barton was sitting on his bed for the past hour while staring at the cell phone. He appeared very anxious.

    *Ring*

    Finally, the cell phone rang. He picked it up just after one ring. "Hello."

    "Hello." This time, the voice is different. Although it''s loud and clear, Barton can sense that this person is aged. "This is Angie Silverthorn speaking. I heard that you wanted to talk to me."

    "Hello Ma''am. My name is¡­"

    As he was about to reintroduce himself, the person from the other cut off his words, "I know who you are, Mr. Everglade. Please don''t waste the time and tell me the reason what do you want to talk about. I have many other important things to do." She appeared rather impatient.

    Still, Barton wasn''t offended in the least. After all, she''s a mid-rank-9 expert. He doesn''t dare to show any kind of displeasure from his tone.

    He respectfully replied, "Last year, I received a proposal from Mr. Clement about the grand merger."

    "You want your academy to the part of Eternal Educational Institutions? But, I heard that your Academy is hosting the Champions League. The popularity will naturally soar during the next admission though. Do you want to take such a risk?" She was baffled by his decision.

    After she was informed by her assistant, Angie investigated the academy, right away. She also talked with Clement. She heard that the training facilities of the academy are top-notch for a normal academy.

    In addition to that, she heard that the principal is a peak-rank-7 Arcana Master who was an expert in sealing and barrier techniques. It''s a talent that every organization would welcome.

    "Yes, but in return, I need a small favor from you."

 Chapter 106: Leah Pendragon

    Heavenly Academy of Arcana, Central City, Arcana world;

    There are a group of students similar in ages and soul power was having an afternoon tea session at a secluded place in the academy.

    It was a wooden house purposely built for the tea ceremonies that was located at a 3000ft altitude.

    The tea house wasn''t that big either. Barely enough for ten-fifteen people to sit inside. If anymore, they would feel it is overcrowded. And yet, it was so popular that people would have to book it in advance by atleast two weeks before they get the chance to even enter the place.

    So, what was so special about it?

    Well, aside from the fact that this normal-looking tea house is actually more than a hundred thousand years old, it was a place where once, nine rank-10 Arcana masters used to gather for tea ceremony.

    No one knows who they or whether it is even true or not, but the fact that this simple structure standing for that much period in time without getting damaged from any beast attacks tells its specialty.

    On the left, one can have the breathtaking view of a group of waterfalls of the twin peaks falling from more than ten thousand feet above. Even though people would often have tea ceremonies elsewhere, here, the morning time is considered the best spot.

    From the tea house, one would be able to see the sun rising between the two peaks. Maybe, this is the reason the rank-10 experts of the past came here? Who knows¡­

    Outside of the tea house, there was an outer garden with a gate and covered arbor where guests wait for the invitation to enter. They then pass through a gate to the inner garden, before going into the teahouse itself.

    The path is always kept moist and green, so it will look like a remote mountain path, and there are no bright flowers that might distract the visitor from his meditation.

    Right now, the tea house was occupied by a group in which all of them are the direct descendants of their respective royal families, and are in a line of succession to become the next King/Queen¡­

    While the four princes sat cross-legged on the floor, their eyes were glued to the princess who was serving as the tea master.

    She was beautiful with fair skin and bright eyes. She was dressed in snow-white robes with an aqua-blue transparent vest. Her silk-like hair was let down and allowed to hand free behind her.

    After serving the tea to everyone, she took a sip from her cup and watched the rising sun and the beautiful waterfalls.

    However, the Princes don''t seem interested in the scenery. Although they seemed like they are watching the view, each of them is glancing at this beautiful princess of Camelot from the corner of their eyes.

    After a while, she started the conversation, "Prince Light, I heard that you applied for Champions League."

    "Ah, Yes." Coming back to his senses, Theodore replied, "After all, our country is hosting it. As the crown prince, it is my duty to represent our academy. So, I applied for it."

    The other princes rolled their eyes. Everyone knew that this Prince is a scared cat who never dares to battle the same level person or the beast unless a person is helping him out. He was probably forced by his father to attend the League.

    "Then, I guess we would become teammates," Leah smiled as she looked at him.

    "Eh?" The four princes were taken aback. "You were attending the League, Princess?" Almost all of them reacted at the same time.

    Leah giggled while covering it with her hand in response, "of course. Didn''t you know that I''m the team captain?"

    "Oh!" The exclaimed at the same time once again. Then, one of the princes spoke, "if Princess Leah will go to the Champions League, then, I will also apply for it."

    "Me too..." "Me too¡­"

    Princess Leah once again giggled finding their reactions amusing. Just then, a deep voice commented in her head, "These worthless fools want to accompany my host? Dream on¡­ Leah, you should never take them. They are nothing but an embarrassment.

    "C''mon, don''t be a grumpy old man. Didn''t you tell me that we aren''t going for competition but to meet someone?" Maintaining her usual smile on the outside, she took a sip and replied in her head.

    "Well, to get that person to our side, shouldn''t we need to impress him by showing our strength or else, how else, we would achieve it?" The Arcana spirit, which is in the form of a golden sword, argued that she should take his words seriously.

    However, Leah also didn''t back down from the argument, "We only need to get that person to my side. Doesn''t matter as long as I can win. You are a celestial grade spirit and I''m a peak-rank-5. Don''t you have the confidence to win against weaker Arcana spirits when you are the called the sword of victory? Or maybe, the effect has been diminished because your age has been caught up. Well, that''s understandable¡­"

    "I''m not old¡­" The bow spirit roared in her head. Leah can''t help but giggle, looking at the reaction of this ancient sword, which was once wielded by the legendary King Arthur that ruled the Empire of Arcana, more than a hundred thousand years ago.

    ***

    In the skies of Northern Qudour, a supercar is flying towards the border.

    Looking at the Arcana masters that are traveling on the flying cards, Neal shook his head, "Look at this people. Why don''t they just buy cars like these? There are affordable flying cards available in the market too¡­

    As long as they can spend 10 million credits on this, instead of spending it on gold grade flying cards, they can comfortably sit and drive without soaking in sunlight while listening to music and at the same time, turning on the AC.

    How cool is this technology made by the mortals¡­ Speaking of it, I wonder whether my order for the custom-made soul-energy FAL gun has been ready yet. After finishing my business at the Headquarters, I need to drop by the store¡­

    Once it is ready, I can just sit back and shoot down the opponents with soul energy bullets. Man, just thinking about makes my blood rush¡­" A grin appeared on his face he was imagining the scenario of sitting on the Salamander while killing his opponents before they even close their distance.

    His daydream was suddenly interrupted by the appearance of another message card.

    As he poured the soul power, it disappeared and a video message from the president played in his head.

    "Neal, you are ordered to return to the base. Whatever report you are preparing, scrap it away. We no longer need to change our decision. The Heavenly Academy and the Central Academy withdrew their complaints. Aclein will host the tournament as it was originally decided."

    "Eh?" Neal was taken aback to hear that the two top academies withdrew their complaints at the same time. He remembered Barton. When he left the academy, he heard Barton say that he will never let the academy lose its hosting rights. "Did Master do something?" He wondered for a second.

    "No way. Master is only a low-rank-8. His strength wasn''t enough for those both academies to back down. Hmm, is it Leonard maybe? Surely, his father can do something about it¡­ Anyway, it doesn''t matter¡­"

    Shrugging his shoulders, Neal accelerated and the car zoomed past the Arcana Masters like a flash.

    ***

    Grade-8 classroom, Elite division;

    While everyone else doing things like celebrating because of the Annual tournament, get prepared for Champions League, or just having fun, Azzy, on the other hand, sat inside the classroom all alone and is working on the problems from trigonometry.

    "To think I was called the smartest kid in my elementary school¡­ Sigh¡­"

    It was the most difficult topic for him. When asked for the Reaper''s assistance, the latter simply reminded him that he''s only a personification of Death and Time, not an omniscient God.

    Azzy was delighted to know that this deity who keeps on pouring knowledge to him is also helpless with mathematics formulas. But at the same time, he wondered how come the Reaper is knowledgeable in things like atomic science, chemistry, and even robotics but not good at mere algebraic equations and trigonometric formulae...

    Putting away the useless thoughts, he began to concentrate on the subject. However, just then, he was disturbed by the forceful opening of the door.

    "Thank goodness, you are here¡­" He saw Lark was breathing heavily.

    "Hmm, what is it?" Azzy asked him.

    Lark answered, "Gideon is in trouble."

    "What did you say?" Azzy immediately stood up from the seat.

 Chapter 107: Azzy intervenes

    In the morning, as soon as Barton got confirmation about the hosting rights, he immediately put a restriction on all four training grounds and Arena until the league is finished.

    Except for the participants of the Champions League and Azzy, no one else is even allowed to enter even if they accompany the Champions.

    As the gates were finally opened to the champions from other academies, to make sure no one else sneaks in, Barton hired rank-6 experts to guard at the entrance of each training ground.

    It was done so that the guests will get enough space to practice by themselves.

    The students from top academies like Maple Academy, Phoenix Academy,  Moon Academy, were indeed impressed with the artificial habitats of various attributes.

    It is something that even their Academies never had one, especially the Ice habitat which continued to maintain its state even under 30 C outside temperature.

    They weren''t much impressed with the gravity room as they too have such facility, although the students from other first-rate academies were excited to try this feature.

    As for other things like the library, private training rooms, and robot storage room, they were located on the 2nd floor and above where a barrier has been placed by Barton. So, until the league is finished, even Azzy can no longer train here. That''s why he decided to utilize this time on studying.

    Training grounds-1;

    In a lightning habitat planted with lightning crystals here and there, Gideon and Rowan are sparring. As both of them grabbed the spot in the Champions League, they decided to train together.

    At first, Gideon wanted to train with Azzy too. However, lately, he observed that Azzy is spending most of his time with Barbara.

    So, he decided to them some privacy. He was also happy that  Azzy opened up to someone other than him.

    Not to mention, upon hearing that Barbara is from the same clan as himself, he decided to stay away from her as far as possible even though there''s a little chance that she would recognize him.

    *Cling* *Cling*

    The two lightning swords continued to clash, generating sparks each time.

    Both of them intended to spar for 2 hours without the use of soul skills. However, not even half an hour has been passed, and their training battle was interrupted by a sneer from the neighbor''s rocky habitat.

    "You southerners are really weak."

    Supporting him, another voice rose, "I still didn''t know why your backward country even had the face to participate in such a prestigious tournament. Now, get lost from here¡­"

    Rowan and Gideon halted their battle for a few seconds and turned their heads to see some five unfamiliar people kneeling on the ground with heavy injuries. Before them, stood two people from the Moon Academy. They were looking down at them and outright insulting their nation.

    "You bas¡­" *Cough* *Cough*

    As one of them about to curse in rage, a kick was planted in his face and he was crashed into a rock. "You lot of trash should only listen. You don''t have the right to speak against us¡­"

    "Hey, you¡­" Gideon shouted as he dashed towards those bullies.

    One of the two representatives from Moon Academy, frowned as he turned his head, looking at Gideon.

    Since they watched the finals, they were familiar with Gideon''s face.

    Stopping before them, Gideon pointed the sword at them and spoke, "I believe my friend Azrael has already told you guys before. Behave yourself. This isn''t Moon Academy."

    Upon hearing similar words, the guy remembered the incident with Azzy on the first day they arrived. After being taught a lesson by Leo, Rufus was staying low these days.

    However,  this guy named Floyd Lyre and his friend Gold Lyre weren''t weak as Rufus. Both of them are mid-rank-5. Naturally, except for Leo, they don''t fear anyone from Aclein.

    "Actions speak louder than words." Floyd snorted while folding his hands to the back. "Are you a dog that only knows how to bark or do you know how to bite too?"

    Angered by his words, Gideon challenged him to an official duel.

    Ten minutes later, at the Grand Arena;

    Gideon was bleeding from several parts of his body. With the help of his sword, he was barely standing.

    Many people gathered around. Some are from Aclein and some of them are from other academies, and yet, no one is coming forward. Not even Barbara as she was held by Vann.

    Even his teammates Claire, Mia, and Snivy were watching it in silence.

    Not because they don''t want to help or something but since it is an official challenge, no one has the right to interfere unless one of them gives up.

    However, Gideon remained stubborn no matter how much he was beaten up.

    Meanwhile, Floyd was continuing to taunt him with his words. "What happened, Mr. warrior? Where is your arrogance from earlier go? Didn''t you say that you can defeat me? Don''t boast when you don''t have the strength to do so. Well, it''s not your fault for being weak. You are a commoner, after all. It''s your parents'' fault for being talentless."

    "Ra¡­" Roaring on the top of his lungs, the enraged Gideon dashed forward as his sparks generated on his legs.

    "You already tried it before." Floyd scoffed as he ordered his Arcana, a bull to stop him.

    Just as the bull and Gideon''s lightning sword about to clash, Vann was distracted by a blurring figure that entered the arena and making way towards the people.

    He wondered whether it was one of the teachers. As for the remaining, they weren''t even able to see it until a figure stopped in the middle, holding Gideon''s sword in one hand and one of the horns of the bull in the other hand.

    "Azzy?" Gideon''s eyes were widened in surprise. Even Vann was surprised to find that it was Azrael, not a higher rank teacher.

    As the onlookers were stunned by the sudden appearance,  pouring soul energy into his hand, Azzy flung away the bull. It flew a dozen meters before it crashed onto the ground.

    "How dare you to intervene in a formal duel?" Floyd roared in anger.

    "Azzy¡­" Gideon slowly whispered to Azzy. Before he continued, Azzy opened his mouth as he looked at Floyd. "I believe I already told you and your teammates. This is Aclein Academy. Whether you are a student of this academy or a visitor, you have to follow our rules.

    In a formal duel, the rules say one will always restrict their soul power to match the opponent. In an official duel with no soul power restrictions, the rule says, the proctor should be present except for a deathmatch.

    Neither I see a proctor nor I see you have suppressed your soul power. This duel is void the moment it started."

    As the whole stadium went silent, Floyd looked at Gideon and taunted him once again. "so, this is how you Aclein students do it? When you don''t have the courage to duel, you will give reasons like taking permission from your principal. When you are losing, you will spout out the rules. No wonder your academy is full of trashes¡­"

    Azzy was already angered while looking at Gideon''s state. His taunt only angered him further. He decided to teach him a lesson.

    "You want a fair duel, right. Fine then. This duel will resume but with duo battles. Bring a partner for yourself. I''ll be Gideon''s partner." Azzy then looked at the spectators and said, "Anyone is willing to volunteer to be a proctor?"

    The rank-5 experts looked at Azzy in surprise as they know nothing about him. Meanwhile, Vann''s eyes lit up as he mumbled, "now, this is getting interesting."

    He immediately ordered Gold Lyre to help out his brother while Luciana Hearth, the captain of the Phoenix academy volunteered as the proctor.

    As for Iphi, she was staring at Azzy with an unfriendly look. She didn''t approve of Azzy''s intervention. As for the rules he spouted out, Iphi thinks he was just using them as an excuse to save his friend.

    "Since you wanted a proctor, you should know that I have the right to intervene in the match if I think one''s life is in danger." Luci looked at Azzy and reminded him, implying that she can stop the match at any time.

    "Then, please put the entire focus on those two people. They might die if you aren''t careful." Azzy nonchalantly replied as he took out a four-star healing card and placed it on Gideon''s chest.

    Luci frowned at his statement.

 Chapter 108: Azzy is a necromancer?

    "Thanks." Even though Gideon''s injuries recovered by the healing card, Azzy still saw exhaustion all over his face.

    Patting his friend''s shoulder, Azzy then said, "Stand back and relax for a while."

    "But, Azzy¡­" If it is anyone, Gideon would have surely told them to not interfere in his personal matters, but since it is his best buddy out here who is rather stubborn once he decided about something.

    So, he gave up on convincing him a long time ago. All he wanted to fight with him, instead of sitting on the sidelines.

    "Did you forget why you challenged him in the first place? I know that this isn''t about you Gideon. You wanted to show that our Academy isn''t a playground for these foreign students, aren''t you?" Azzy spoke to him while staring into his eyes. The bull also returned to its owner and was waiting for the orders.

    Gideon was taken aback, at first. It''s true that he was irked by these bullies as it reminded him of the main family members of the Crescent Clan. He wanted to show that they aren''t pushovers. However, as he continued to battle him, his insults wounded his pride and it became personal.

    After getting back to his senses, Gideon let out a deep breath, "I understand that I''m not strong enough to face a mid-rank-5 expert from a top-level academy but now that I already challenged, I also can''t back down from it and be labeled as a coward who depended on his friend."

    Azzy nodded in understanding. "Fine, I accept your wishes. I''ll take care of these soul beasts and his partner. You finish off your duel with that guy."

    "Now, if you stop wasting time, then, let''s get started." Floyd appeared rather impatient now. Unlike Gideon, he was serious about the duel with Azzy.

    Since he was someone their captain wanted to test around, Floyd didn''t intend to toy around and be careless. He wanted to finish it as quickly as possible and show that Barbara was just bragging about him for nothing.

    Upon hearing his opponent''s words, Azzy turned his head towards him and said, "I never said that the battle has been paused. You are free to attack whenever you want to."

    Azzy''s indifferent tone and expression made Floyd only anger as he thought he was being looked down on. Even, in reality, Azzy never thought of him as an opponent.

    For someone who trains with a peak-rank-6 robot every day, both of them are just troublemakers who needed beating. It''s also the reason, he allowed Gideon to join the battle.

    Meanwhile, the onlookers that belong to Aclein Academy weren''t shocked a bit, especially the tenth graders. It is pretty well known that Azzy always talks like that without a shred of emotion as if he disregards the person before him.

    But, at the same time, most of them never saw Azzy''s combat skills too. So, they had mixed reactions.

    Some of them hoped Azzy to be taught a lesson while some students who were angry at Floyd''s actions openly cheered for Azzy. People like Vann were looking forward to this battle to check whether he can be scouted or not.

    Luci, who was patiently listening to their conversation in silence, spoke, "Now that I''m the proctor until I say start, fighting is prohibited. And since you are so intent on following the rules, let''s do it properly, then. First, introductions."

    Looking at everyone, Luci introduced herself, "Hello, I''m Luciana Hearth, grade-10 of the Phoenix Academy."

    She then looked at Floyd and Gold.

    They understood the gesture and spoke, "Floyd Lyre, grade-10, Moon Academy." "Gold Lyre, grade-10, Moon Academy."

    As she turned her head towards the other side, Gideon spoke first, "Gideon, grade-8 of the Aclein Academy."

    Most of the people who watched the finals knew the fact. So, they didn''t react much except for a few. However, Azzy''s introduction surprised them. They didn''t expect a grade-8 student of a mediocre Academy with no last name (common background) is a rank-5.

    "The duel will start on the count of five. Everyone get ready with your Arcana." Luci announced it. She glanced at Azzy who still stood calmly without taking out his Arcana. Thinking that it is not her problem, she started the countdown.

    "One, two, three, four, five¡­ Go"

    The Bison and the Bull charged forward together. Azrael raised his hand towards them. Gideon raised the sword in reflex.

    "Azrael, you know that you what you are doing, right?" The Reaper suddenly questioned him in his head.

    "Yes." Azrael was very firm on this decision. "If I beat them up by regular means, then, I will just be branded as some genius with a platinum grade beast.

    And tomorrow, someone else with higher soul power will cause trouble too. These two should be an example to everyone. That''s why it is necessary for me to reveal this skill."

    "Well, since you already decided, then, go for it." Reaper gave him permission to use the soul skill.

    After cutting off the connection, Reaper then mumbled to himself, "Well, it would also bring unnecessary attention from hidden organizations but I guess it''s better than revealing a celestial grade Arcana. Hmm, maybe, I should teach him the sealing technique to let him mask or diminish this wolf''s aura."

    *Wow* Vajra barked in response, indicating that it doesn''t like to be looked at by others. After all, it was once the weapon of the King of the Heavens. It has its own pride.

    The Reaper then, stared at it with his pupil-less eyes, "Do you like to go into the soul jar, instead?"

    What else Vajra can do other than whimpering on the side. It cannot defy its master, a Supreme God that can erase its existence at any time.

    Back to the real world, The Bison and the Bull, which are charging towards Azzy and Gideon, reduced the distance to almost 5 meters away.

    Since Azzy isn''t doing anything, Gideon decided to unleash the soul skill.

    Just then, Azzy opened his mouth, "Soul Skill: Rise of the Undead."

    As two hundred thousand of soul power has been depleted from his soul orb, making his soul energy almost empty, deathly dark energy formed a layer around his body. His eyes turned pitch black with no visible pupils.

    At the same time, a giant skeleton rose from the ground, making the two beasts halted their movements. It appeared to a rank-5 and was releasing a terrific dark aura and shook everyone''s hearts.

    The skeleton was quickly recognized by everyone. Its four snakeheads gave away its identity. It''s none other than Hydra. But, it isn''t a simple four-headed snake either. Every expert was able to sense the intensity from Hydra''s aura. It is far stronger than a mere gold grade, suggesting it is of the next level.

    While Gideon was stunned on the spot upon realizing that Azzy possesses two Arcana spirits, he then saw his lightning sword Raiga was almost shaking in fear due to its presence.

    Once again, he remembered the incident during his first team-up with Azzy in the illusion world.

    Meanwhile, collective gasps can be heard in the audience section.

 Chapter 109: Central Academy

    With the presence of a rank-5 platinum-grade-beast, and that too in the form of a skeleton, all of the spectators stood up from their seats upon realizing that Azzy is a necromancer.

    Even Vann was in the same condition. Like Gideon, he too concluded that Azzy is a twin Arcana user.

    According to his investigations, Azzy''s Arcana is supposed to be a black wolf with dark/lightning attributes. As for him being a necromancer, he doesn''t care about it much. Even in his kingdom''s Army, there are necromancers, although the citizens hate them like elsewhere.

    On other hand, Claire finally realized why her sword spirit hates Azzy. She misunderstood that it is because he''s a necromancer who can summon the dead. As a light attribute arcana, they were indeed mortal enemies. However, it didn''t change her feelings even a little bit.

    Only Barbara is in a calm state as necromancy is common in the Death clan. With Azzy''s beast being a top-tier platinum-grade beast, it is no wonder he can summon the beasts of the same level.

    *Roar**Roar* *Roar* *Roar*

    As the four heads of hydra gave a powerful roar at once, the mighty bison and bull suddenly became pitiful as their legs started to shake. They were hesitating to go forward anymore.

    Meanwhile, Floyd, who forced himself to calm down, shouted, "Wake up Minos. It is only one low-rank-5 beast and is nothing but an empty shell. You are stronger." "Use Soul skill: Fire Rush"

    *Moo*

    Heeding it to its master''s order, the bull mustered its courage and unleashed its soul skill. Flames started to dance around its horns as well as the legs.

    At the same time, Gold also ordered the same. The bison also unleashed its soul skill. It turned into a steel bison as it rushed towards the four-headed giant snake.

    Looking coldly at the beasts that were about to attack the skeleton Hydra, Azzy gave an order, "Use soul skill: Tornado."

    Almost instantly, a familiar tornado that the audience has seen in the tournament finals reappeared. However, this seemed more powerful than the last one due to its higher grade and higher rank.

    Both of the beasts that tried to attack the beasts, now are helplessly floating in the air and going along with the sharp winds.

    Gideon who stood beside Azzy was also affected by it. Just as his feet about to rise in the air, Azzy caught him and quickly backed away before they too get swallowed by the wind.

    "Use soul skill: Fire breath" Azzy didn''t stop there. He immediately used the combo attack.

    Upon receiving Azzy''s order, one of the heads released a tremendous amount of flames into the tornado. In no time, a simple harmless tornado had transformed into a lethal fire tornado.

    ***

    At the Arena-3, Vice Principal Sahara, Leo, and Zona were waiting for the special guests that were about to arrive. Both of them are standing on a platform that was prepared beforehand for the guests to land.

    It made them wonder whether they coming by aircraft or something.

    Soon, a large helicopter appeared in their view. Unlike a traditional one, this one is different, unlike anything they have seen.

    It was big with four sets of tires and has two sets of large rotor blades, one on the front and one at the other end to balance the weight.

    As the helicopter is landing, it attracted the attention of nearby students who were training around.

    More than eight students wearing military-style uniforms exited one by one. Along with them, a burly middle-aged bald man also stepped down from the vehicle.

    He was at least 8ft big and 4ft wide. His black skin color and built made it apparent that he was someone that hailed from the mysterious western continent or at least where his ancestry belongs to.

    Their physique was strong that most nations fear to go war against them. In a physical brawl, even a normal civilian will be able to defeat a four-star Arcana master.

    Zona can''t help but feel amazed and a little bit of fear while watching the eight-foot giant human walking towards them.

    "The Air around the Central Academy is really different," Zona commented while staring at the students who are following him in a uniform manner. Their pace and steps were so synchronized that Zona remembered a military parade she saw when she''s a child.

    "Well, they are the number one academy for a good reason." On the other hand, Leo was a lot calmer. He only felt threatened by the old woman beside him and the monster in human skin. In his eyes, the rest of them weren''t that strong.

    "Welcome to Aclein Academy." The old woman greeted them with a smile. "I''m Sahara Fauns, the Vice Principal of this Academy."

    Taking the handshake, the burly man replied, "I didn''t expect your headmaster has the connections to force our management in withdrawing our complaint."

    His face was serious and he doesn''t seem pleased either.

    "Well, my husband has his own secrets." She maintained the smile, feeling proud of the Principal.

    Although he was surprised that this rank-7 expert is Barton''s wife, he still managed to keep his face straight and shrugged his shoulders, "It all the same whether the venue is Egrein Academy or the Aclein Academy. Anyway, please lead the way¡­"

    "Mr. Jordon, this is Leonard Light and this Zona. They will take you to the respective dorms." Sahara then introduced the both of them, implying that she will part her ways right away as she had more important things to do.

    It brought a frown to the instructor as well as these students who think themselves too high. But then, as Jordon heard both of their names, he looked at Zona and said, "I heard of you from our management. You are the girl with mimic abilities, right." He completely disregarded Leo''s existence as he hates people with strong backgrounds.

    Leo also didn''t feel offended a bit as he was just a monster from the wild that only looks for survival.

    After handing the responsibility to the two students, Sahara left in swift steps.

    "First, take us to the place where the Championship will be held. I want to see for myself whether it is good enough." Jordon gave the instruction right away.

    A few minutes later, they entered the training grounds-1. While leading to the Arena, she started to explain about the habitats.

    However, unlike the students from the other academies that were impressed with it, no one from the Central Academy is interested to listen to it as they too have similar habitats in their Academy.

    In fact, they felt like this training ground is a complete copy of theirs, although on a small scale. Instead of being impressed, it only made everything think the Academy is nothing but trash.

    But, as they weren''t allowed to comment when the instructor is there, everyone stayed silent.

    Zona didn''t realize their thoughts and continued to explain until they reached the path that leads to the Grand Arena.

    "It was acceptable." After a long time, finally, Zona heard Jordon open his mouth and it turned out to be a compliment. "Let''s get inside. I want to check the VIP rooms, waiting rooms, and the battle ground."

    Just then, everyone witnessed a huge tornado formed in the middle of the Grand Arena. Soon, it turned into a fire tornado¡­

    "What is this energy?" Jordon frowned upon sensing high rank-5 power from the fire tornado.

 Chapter 110: Secret of Azzys special Necromancy part-1

    Six weeks ago, Artemis mountain range;

    Upon reaching the portal point, 31 Elite division students from grade-8 to grade-10 were divided into several teams with five per team.

    In the end, Azzy was left alone, not just because the teams are full, but also due to his lack of control that can endanger his teammates.

    No one was surprised about it as they were seeing a similar situation for the past 6 months. Under the orders of the Principal, the teachers always leave him alone, so that, he can hunt by himself.

    *Clap* *Clap* After getting the attention from everyone,  Rubin, grade-8''s homeroom teacher, warned the students.

    "Alright, listen carefully¡­ Unlike the other regions, this region contained deadly multi-headed snakes and various poisonous creatures.

    So, team leaders should make sure to not step inside restricted places like Swann Lake and Snake Valley.

    If you see any board with a restricted or a Danger sign, then, change your direction. Usually, there will be guardians who will try to stop you in case if your soul power is below that of a peak-rank-4. Even if they aren''t present, you should never step inside the territory. It is filled with danger.

    That goes to you too, Azrael. Even if you are a rank-5, it is riskier for you too to face those beasts."

    However, Azzy never intended to listen to his warning. As soon as he heard about the place from Gideon, from the moment he sat on the bus, he decided to massacre them.

    Even though eight months have been passed, the memory of being roasted to a crisp by the fire tornado is being fresh in his mind.

    After parting his ways with others, Azzy went to a store and bought a map with the credit card given by Barton. Sometimes, he feels weird about these credit card transactions.

    The machines aren''t allowed inside the Arcana world. There are no computers present in any store and neither there is a cell phone tower is built in this world and yet, the shop owners carry POS machines with them to swipe the credit card.

    And strangely, cash was also not accepted here. Azzy didn''t know that debit cards aren''t also accepted either. If he had known, he would have realized the mechanism.

    With him being confused regarding the payments and everybody behaving as if it is normal, Azzy also felt embarrassed to ask others. The only one he can ask is the Reaper, who simply told him to not worry about things that he had nothing to do with¡­

    "Okay, I''m here¡­ This is the nearest restricted place but the multi-headed snake beasts are often found nearby this Swann Lake. I can go to the snake valley, later."

    Following the directions from the map, eventually, Azzy exited the forest reached the plain grassland with a huge lake in the middle. Just like the lava lake from the whale island, there are small islands located in the middle of this lake too.

    As Rubin warned, there are boards with a skull and two crossed bones here and there. However, there are no guardians. Azzy looked far at the lake.

    A rank-5 expert presumably with higher soul power than himself is battling on a small with a giant four-headed serpent.

    Aside from the two of them, three more injured people appeared unconscious on the island with another guardian standing as a protector.

    The three people looked like a family. A couple and their child.

    Azzy then looked at the snake in confusion. "How come there''s a rank-5 platinum grade beast in a level-2 region?"

    "In a region, there can''t be two kings or two platinum grade beasts. It seems to have eaten a platinum grade monster and broke through its limits. Hydra is different from the other beasts." The Reaper quickly cleared his doubt and then, urged him to get out of the place telling that everything is under control.

    Although there is no aura of death on any of them, Azzy still went against the Reaper''s suggestion and hurried towards the lake to save them. After all, that is a platinum-grade beast. Azzy felt that the situation might be reversed at any time.

    In no time, he reached the shores of the lake. Hydra sensed his presence but ignored it after finding he was just a low-rank-5 Arcana Master.

    On the other hand, the guardians were delighted. Thinking that a student of some top academy is here to help, the guardian that was protecting the three unconscious people waved his hands and asked for his help to evacuate them.

    With his partner holding down the Hydra, this guardian felt that he can take the three visitors out of here safely, now that there''s one more person with high soul power.

    However, who could have expected that Azzy will summon Vajra to cross off the waters and reach the island instead of using a simple flying card.

    As soon as the Vajra got out, the Hydra King immediately shifted its attention towards the black wolf that was running on the water.

    Due to its arrogant nature, The Hydra king didn''t feel any fear to a beast like Vajra. Instead, it was excited to see a high quality prey.

    As a top-tier platinum-grade beast, the Hydra King knew of the relationship between an Arcana spirit and a human. So, the beast assumed that eating Azzy will benefit it tremendously and will further improve its soul power.

    Ignoring the rank-5 guardian, it started to swim towards Azzy and Vajra, stunning both of the guardians by the sudden development.

    "Renzy, luckily, that beast no longer focused on us. Take the three of them by the flying card and get out of here. I''ll go and help out the kid." One of the guardians told the other while feeling luck is on their side.

    Seeming like a good plan, the other one nodded and followed it.

    Little did they know they vastly underestimated the boss of the region¡­

    Summoning the flying card, the guardian named Renzy placed the three of them on it and started to fly away from there.

    Just then, the Hydra King that almost reached Azzy let out a powerful hiss before a tornado has been unleashed in the middle of the lake.

    Due to the presence of a heavy body of water, a hundred-meter huge water tornado formed right below the flying card, swallowing all of them. The guardian that was chasing after the Hydra, now, turned around to rush towards the tornado and save his comrade.

    The appearance of the huge water tornado made Azzy shift his attention. He realized that it was too late as he no longer sensed the three lives. Only one person seemed to be alive, the guardian that was supposed to protect them.

    Azzy trembled on the sight. "They¡­ they died?" his voice shook as he stared at the water tornado that was still active.

    It was the first time for Azzy to watch someone die, right before his eyes. So, he was shocked a bit. "Did my interference cause it? No, I need to reverse the time..."

    Azzy hurriedly summoned the hourglass to use it for the first time since he entered this timeline.

    Just then, the hourglass disappeared from its hand and the Reaper''s voice echoed in his head.

    "They were fated to die, Azrael. If not for the Hydra, then, some killer who was currently in the wild will kill them. If not the killer, then, it would an Arcana beast of someone that goes wild. You can''t change the fate of some people. So, don''t blame yourself.

    And even if you wanted to reverse the time by locking the five seals and restrict your soul power to rank-1, you will still reverse the time by six hours."

    "Fine by me¡­" Azzy once again summoned his hourglass. Applying the seals on his soul orb, he restricted his soul power to 10 and unleashed the time reverse to find himself, sitting on the bed.

    Five hours later;

    After parting ways with others, Azzy rushed towards Swann Lake. Upon reaching it, he found neither the guards nor the family. Instead, the Hydra king was swimming with other three-headed snakes.

    "Where are they?" He wondered.

    "Well, the three of them were swallowed by that snake." The Reaper calmly replied.

    "No way¡­  How?" He was stunned by the reply.

    "I told you, didn''t I? The people who are fated to die will die no matter what." The Reaper''s calm words echoed in his head, once again.

 Chapter 111: Secret of Azzys special Necromancy part-2

    "It''s time for you to understand that no matter how many times you try it, some outcomes can''t be changed. That is why it is called fate. If you still can''t accept it, then, go on.

    Wait for another 30 minutes until the six-hour timer ends and try reversing the time, once again. Once in five tries, you might be able to save them from the Hydra. However, they will still die, today. If not, then, tomorrow.

    Unless you plan on keep protecting them personally all your life, these people will face life threats every single day. They will die regardless in one way or the other. If you want to save such people, you will have to force my daughter Moira, the Goddess of Fate, to change the rules."

    The Reaper urged him to do it again and again so that he will either resign to fate and accept it or get motivated to become stronger.

    Either of the choices will work for him. So, he wasn''t worried about his choice. Moreover, he can already predict what his host will choose too.

    However, to his surprise, Azzy asked, "Chronos, tell me one thing. Are my parents fated to die?"

    The Reaper was taken aback by Azzy''s sudden question. Earlier, he saw countless futures of the next moment. There were several futures where Azzy chose to not give up and try again and again before accepting the truth. The other futures showed him take an oath to change the rules even if it''s by force.

    But, surprisingly, Azzy chose the option where only 1% of the futures that he foresaw.

    In reality, Azzy never doubted Reaper''s words. It''s just that he felt pity for that family. So, he tried to save them by reversing the time.

    Now that he realized the inevitable truth, Azzy worried whether it is the same for his parents or there is any hope.

    In response to his question, The Reaper chuckled, "It looks like I underestimated you. Fine then, I''ll tell you. No, they aren''t. However, reaching rank-7 isn''t enough. Unless you reach peak-rank-7 within the time, the possibility is low."

    "I''m confident that I''ll be able to reach it. But¡­" Azzy shrugged his shoulders and then, suddenly, his eyes were fixed on the swimming Hydra. "But, first, I need to take care of this¡­"

    Despite not showing an expression on his face, he was clear enraged inside and decided to kill it.

    Summoning his Death Scythe, he quickly dashed towards the beast.

    The battle went on for 20 minutes before Azzy killed it with the Death slash. After killing it, he walked past the corpse and reached out his hand to grab the monster''s soul orb/spirit core.

    Just then, The Reaper stopped him and told him not to absorb it.

    Azzy was surprised. He asked why.

    "I''ll explain everything but let me take over your body for a minute." The Reaper then took over Azzy''s body and drew some mystical runes with the soul energy around the monster''s core.

    It disappeared within a moment.

    After returning to the mindscape, The Reaper explained. "I sealed its soul orb within your universe, so that, if you ever decided to summon the undead, you can summon the hydra. This soul orb will help you unleash its soul skills too¡­"

    ***

    Present-day;

    The fire tornado lasted for a whole minute, burning the two rank-5 beasts to ash.

    After killing the two beasts, the tornado stopped. The shocked Floyd and Gold brothers found Azzy was staring at them.

    "No way¡­ even if this guy is a necromancer, his summoned beasts cannot unleash the soul skills. What kind of trickery is this?"  Not only Floyd, but everyone was also confused including Barbara and Vann.

    As far as they know, a necromancer usually summons the undead beings from the underworld. Rare ones can summon the undead that he actually killed it before.

    However, there was never a case that an undead summoned by an Arcana Master able to use its soul skills.

    If not for the fact that everyone knew about Hydra''s soul skills, they would have even believed that it might be Azzy''s own soul skills that he was using through the four-headed snake.

    Like everyone, Floyd also thought it isn''t possible. In fact, he even believed Azzy must have used some kind of trickery like using skill cards with Hydra as a medium to fool everyone. Nevertheless, his Arcana spirit was killed and he can''t do anything about it as he didn''t have any revival cards with him.

    His half-brother Gold Lyre, on the other hand, already lost the will to fight. Unlike his brother, Gold wasn''t a fool. The moment he saw his soul beast got killed without ever able to resist, he knew that Azzy wasn''t an opponent he can face.

    Still, he was here only to support Floyd. So, the decision was left to Floyd.

    However, Floyd wasn''t keen on accepting the defeat. After all, a few days ago, Rufus was defeated by Leo. Now, if both of them will also suffer defeat in the hands of this mediocre Academy''s student, he felt like it would tarnish their Academy''s reputation.

    Moreover, Floyd wanted to prove that students of Moon Academy can still win even after losing their Arcana spirit. Sensing Azzy''s low soul power only boosted his confidence.

    He decided to act and end the match before his opponent recovers soul energy.

    "Gold, can you distract that skeleton for a while?" Floyd took out chest armor from his storage card and handed it to him.

    Several mysterious runes have been carved on it to augment this armor made of iron and some other elements. Floyd believed that it will protect his brother from even a peak-rank-5 attack.

    Believing in him, Gold took it and wore it over his shirt. It adjusted to his size in the next second. He didn''t even feel the shame to use in a normal duel like this as both of them felt Azzy is strong enough for them to do so.

    With the protection armor covering his torso, Gold dashed towards the skeleton Hydra to face it head-on. On the way, he took out a couple of skill cards to distract the beast.

    Just then, Azzy made his second move. "Soul skill: Quicksand"

    As soon as the undead hydra received the order from its master, one of the heads immediately responded by turning the soil, nearly twenty meters around it, into quicksand.

    Gold, who was dashing speedily towards the beast, felt the sand suddenly turned too soft. In the instant, he lost his footing, and his feet sank inside the mud.

    While his body was sinking into the soil, Gold felt that his soul energy was slowly seeping away from his body.

    As a representative from the top academy, he was experienced in situations like these.

    He distributed the remaining soul energy to all of his body parts before trying to use Energy eruption, which is a technique one would release the soul energy from the body without any medium and destroy the shackles that were suppressing him.

    However, Azzy was also experienced in that area. He already knew that his opponent will try to use it. That''s why, he didn''t waste any time ordering the undead hydra to unleash its fourth soul skill, the Hydro Blast.

    The final head blasted huge volumes of water, targeting its quicksand while Gold Lyre used the energy eruption technique.

    Alas, Azzy''s opponent turned out to be faster.

    With energy eruption, the sand was blasted off away, making a five feet deep and a five-meter wide pit.

    He reached the bottom, which is only a couple of meters from the ground. As soon as his feet touched the ground, Gold pushed his feet against it and jumped high to escape.

    However, right then, the water blast hit the remaining sand, forcing it to flow into the pit at a rapid pace.

    With no more soul power left, Gold Llyne fell into a disadvantage and ended up getting his who body submerged under the soil except for his head and neck. Thankfully, one of his hands was also out.

    With the left hand, he tried to free himself, but as the soil hardened, the suppression increased further.

    "Gold¡­" Looking at his brother''s dire situation, Floyd immediately took out a three-star skill card and threw it towards the skeleton Hydra.

    With no more soul skills left, Azzy felt Hydra has served its purpose and turned his attention away.

 Chapter 112: The might of the Laughing skull

    Even though he spotted the skill card that was thrown towards the skeleton Hydra, Azzy didn''t give any orders to it and turned his head away, now that he had no use of it. After all, he summoned his low-rank-5 monster for its soul skills.

    Now, he put his entire focus on Gold Lyre who was struggling in quicksand.

    Meanwhile, looking at the card that was coming towards it, the couple of the heads of the undead hydra attacked it in return by biting it.

    However, as the skill activated, a blinding flash appeared and blocked its vision for a while. Azzy didn''t make a move and calmly watched it as the five skeleton heads are shaking their heads and colliding with each other.

    "Yes¡­ Now, for the next step." After dealing with Hydra with a simple trick, Floyd took out a flying card. He intended to fly there and grab Gold''s arm to pull him out.

    As Floyd started to fly, Azzy then, turned his head towards Gideon, "As I promised, he''s yours. Go and settle your debt."

    Gideon nodded seriously as he stared at Floyd who was on his way to save his partner.

    He doesn''t intend to let him do that. he too summoned the gold-grade flying card that he received as tournament rewards before flying towards Floyd to intercept him.

    To make sure the battle stays between Gideon and Floyd, and to show off his more necromancy abilities, Azzy took out a stack of cards from his pocket. All of them are four-star cards with the same picture on them.

    As Gold Lyre is a mid-rank-5 expert, Azzy assumed one might not be enough. So, he kept five in his hands while keeping the rest in his back pocket.

    Looking at Gold, Azzy mumbled, "well, let''s see what this card does to a human."

    Pouring soul energy into it, Azzy activated one of the skill cards.

    *He he he he*

    Followed by the appearance of a purple skull in his palm, a burst of eerie laughter was resounded in the surroundings.

    Floyd, Gold, Gideon, and even Luci flinched for a second upon hearing the laughter of the skull. Good thing it was a bright morning. The effect diminished by a lot. Nevertheless, it was still a little bit spooky.

    Motioning his hand back, Azzy aimed at Gold Lyre and threw it towards him like a baseball.

    "Gold, careful¡­" Floyd shouted while he was intercepted by Gideon at the same time.

    Meanwhile, Gold Lyre gritted his teeth in frustration. As he can''t recover his soul energy due to quicksand''s absorption, he felt that he had no choice but to face it head-on.

    Luciana, on the other hand, quickly became calm and paid her attention to the laughing skill that almost reached Azzy''s opponent.

    She didn''t intervene in the situation after finding it was only a low-rank-4, which isn''t a life threat for a mid-rank-5 Arcana Master like Gold Lyre even after he emptied his soul energy.

    However, in the next second, her eyes widened in surprise.

    Gold Lyre closed one of his ears tightly with his one hand and the other ear was attempted to be closed taking the support of the shoulder the skull''s laughter continued to ring in his ears.

    When the eerie laughter didn''t disappear, he started to madly shake his head while gritting his teeth.

    Looking at Gold''s behavior, many of the onlookers gasped in surprise. Even the students of the Central Academy that just arrived. Their instructor, Jordon, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes and observed Azzy.

    Even Azzy was taken aback by its effect. "No wonder it didn''t work on the Robot properly. I thought it was just an energy attack. Looks like there''s more to it. I wonder what kind of trauma he is experiencing¡­ Hmm¡­"

    Then, suddenly, he heard a loud explosion in the sky. He turned his attention to Gideon. Floyd seemed to ambushed with some kind of explosion card. However, Gideon dodged it at the nick of the time and once again, blocked his way to resume the battle.

    After five minutes of suffering, the mid-rank-5 Arcana Master finally spoke up with an exhausted face, "I give up. Please release me from this hell¡­"

    Getting the call of help, Luci immediately dashed towards the quicksand. With soul energy protecting her feet, she ran on the quicksand without getting her feet sunk in it.

    Reaching Gold Lyre, she placed her hand on his head to dispel the attack.

    In the instant the purple energy skull hit its target and saw its effect, she realized it is some kind of mental attack.

    And she knows how to deal with this type of attack too¡­

    As Luci raised her hand, soul energy was gathered into her palm like an energy wisp. She let the wisp of her energy enter Gold''s body through his head to remove the effects of the laughing skull.

    However, in the next second, her eyes widened in shock. "What the hell is going on¡­"

    She felt a type of dark energy swallowed hers while infecting his body at the same time. The pace of infection is very slow as Gold''s own immunity system is fighting against it.

    If the attack is of a higher rank or a soul skill attack that is filled with a dense amount of protos energy, surely, it would have completely broken down its target immunity system.

    However, due to the high difference in soul power, the death energy was unable to break down the molecules at a rapid pace.

    At such a perfect moment, it felt the presence of foreign soul energy that''s been injected into the body. The death energy was quick to swallow it and increased its strength a little bit, although it wasn''t enough.

    Meanwhile, on the outside, as Luci felt her soul energy has been absorbed right away, she didn''t try it again and turned her head to look at Azzy who was staring at the sky where Gideon is having a serious battle against Floyd. Even after losing his beast, Floyd appeared stronger and Gideon seemed to be at a disadvantage.

    Although Azzy became worried, remembering his promise to Gideon, he kept silent and continued to observe the battle.

    Just then, Luci called out to him, "Student Azrael¡­"

    Azzy''s concentration was disrupted by her shout.

    As he looked at her, she said, "He gave up the match. Dispel your energy from his body¡­"

    Just as Azzy was about to step forward, the Reaper''s voice once again echoed in his head, "let him suffer more, Azrael. He had to receive the punishment for the pain he inflicted onto others."

    "But¡­" Azzy tried to argue. However, the Reaper interrupted with a reminder, "Did you forget he was also the one that was with that kid Floyd when they have mercilessly beaten up the kids from the other academies just because they are stronger and wanted their training habitat?

    And you were also too reckless for letting your friend fighting that kid. His opponent isn''t either an Arcana Master who self-trained or someone with a weak potential.

    When you pass a judgment, a personal feud has no place in it."

    "Why do you keep mentioning judgment. It''s not my place to pass judgment on someone''s actions¡­" Azzy felt even more confused. He only acted like this is because his friend fell into trouble.

    Of course, he was also irked by their overbearing behavior and wanted to teach them a lesson so that others will not act recklessly but he never wanted to punish them for what they did.

    He rejected the Reaper''s suggestion and proceeded to walk towards Gold and Luci.

    Looking at his behavior, the Reaper mumbled, "As this kid is growing older, he started to defy my words more frequently. But then again, it doesn''t matter. He will learn sooner or later about the wickedness and greediness of the humans'' hearts.

    Once he experienced it, he will get back on the right track. Until then, I can only try my best to support him."

    After dismissing the quicksand, Azzy placed his hand on Gold''s head and took back his death energy. Rubbing the ears, a huge smile appeared on Gold Lyre, "finally, I can no longer hear it." He then looked at Azzy and thanked him before falling unconscious due to extreme exhaustion.

    *Boom*

    Suddenly, a powerful explosion was heard in the sky, startling Azzy and Luci.

    *Thud*

    Followed by the explosion, Gideon''s body was crashed onto the ground like a flash.

    "Gideon¡­" Azzy screamed as he quickly dashed towards his friend. His body was bleeding a lot, this time as he was got hit by a mid-rank-5 skill card.

    As Azzy hurried took out all the healing cards that he had in his storage and started to heal Gideon, another grand explosion occurred, this time, on the ground, blasting away the skeleton Hydra, destroy it instantly.

    Looking down from atop of the flying card, Floyd sneered, "A trash of a mediocre academy thinking that he can match me? Dream on¡­"

    Azzy didn''t pay attention to him and focused on the unconscious Gideon. He continued to apply for the healing cards one after another. It was only after his injuries are healed did Azzy sigh in relief.

    "You showed mercy to his partner but your opponent went all out against your partner, injuring him to the extent that you had to deplete all of your healing cards you got from Oakley Night."

    As the Reaper''s words echoed in his head once again, this time, Azzy didn''t refute him. Instead, he stood up on his feet silently. Meanwhile, a thick dark aura enveloped him.

    Azzy turned around, Floyd saw his eyes turned into pitch-black once again.

    "Soul skill: Spear of Death."

    Instantly, a dark energy spear formed in his left hand.

    "Die¡­" Azzy roared in anger as he released the spear.

 Chapter 113: Protos energy to act up, once again

    "What kind of energy is this?" Jordon mumbled as he was intently staring at the dark aura around Azzy.

    Due to the long distance between Jordon and Azzy, and a considerable difference in soul power between the two, Jordon''s Arcana spirit wasn''t affected. However, as a rank-7, he was able to sense a terrifying power within it.

    In his view, the power energy appeared divine, at the same time, sinister too. The fact that the aura belongs to Azzy and not his Arcana spirit, shocked him even more.

    Jordon''s face turned serious. Clenching his fist, he mumbled, "This kind of power will not even leave a peak-rank-5 alive. I have to do something or else, that mid-rank-5 kid will die. Hmm¡­"

    He suddenly raised his head and looked into the skies, "Is that¡­"

    Due to the distance, there is a minimal effect on the other spectators, yet, some of them who had Purple grade beasts had this expression of fear on their faces.

    Meanwhile, Luci, who was only a few meters away from him, felt like the air around her became heavier. In her mindscape, her Arcana spirit was shaking in fear as if it was afraid of its death. She put all of her concentration on resisting the invisible pressure she was experiencing.

    Even Floyd wasn''t faring any better. He''s been hit worse than Luci as he''s only a mid-rank-5 Arcana Master.

    Looking at the aura around Azzy, Floyd''s legs started to shiver and he was barely holding himself not to kneel on the flying card.

    Amid everyone''s gazes, enraged Azzy then unleashed his fourth soul skill of the Reaper. "Spear of Death"

    The Protos energy that was highly susceptible to the emotions of its host, once again ran wild, spreading all over Azzy''s body, thickening the dark aura as well as the dark spear further.

    "Azrael, calm down yourself." The Reaper''s voice echoed in his head. However, Azzy turned a deaf ear to it.

    "Damn¡­ I should have foreseen it." The Reaper scolded himself for becoming careless and even helped the energy by adding fuel to Azzy''s anger with his comment.

    "Should I take control over his body?" The Reaper wondered whether he should just possess him and control the Protos mixed soul energy in his body.

    But then, after seeing the countless futures of the next moment, he decided not to intervene. Moreover, even if the incident with the lowest probability will happen, there''s always an option of turning back the time and set things right.

    Back to Azzy, his killing intent rose as he raised the double-edged Spear. Motioning his arm back, he threw it towards Floyd.

    "Die"

    Floyd hurriedly threw a rank-5 explosion skill card to counter it.

    *Boom*

    Another enormous explosion occurred in the sky before the energy spear passed through the explosion as if nothing happened.

    By the time Floyd came back to his senses, he found the spear just a couple of meters in front of him. He was frozen on the spot while seeing the illusion of a death reaper that was coming to take his life away.

    In such a split second, all of a sudden, a 50-meter giant golden energy shield appeared in between Floyd and the spear to block the attack.

    The Spear of Death struck it but wasn''t able to do any damage except for leaving behind a black mark on the point of impact before disappearing away.

    Everyone was shocked as they looked at the golden shield that was oozing with a tremendous amount of life force.

    Obviously, they knew that it doesn''t belong to Floyd cuz the power that was emitting from it can''t be gauged by any of them, which means it is of a higher rank. They wondered who it belongs to and just continued to stare at the shield.

    Soon, their doubts were cleared as a lady with beautiful white wings appeared before the golden shield.

    "Who is that?" Everyone wondered who this Angelic woman is¡­

    "Sister?" Claire, on the other hand, was taken aback as she saw her sister at such a moment. She instantly left the stands and started to walk to reach the battleground.

    Meanwhile, Azzy who had lost himself in anger raised his right hand. He intended to destroy anyone that blocked his path.

    Just as he was about to summon the death scythe, the Reaper took over his body.

    Now that the most possible scenario appeared, the Reaper felt this is the right time to calm him down.

    Azzy found himself in the mindscape. Vajra cheerfully greeted him with a bark.

    Finding the Reaper before him, he asked in surprise, "Chronos, what am I doing here? My fight hasn''t fini¡­shed¡­"

    Suddenly, the latest memory appeared in his mind and he sighed in relief, "thank goodness. I didn''t kill that guy¡­"

    Looking at the Reaper, he asked, "What happened?"

    Before the Reaper answered, Azzy seemed to found the answer already, "Was I affected by the Protos energy?"

    "Yes." The Reaper nodded.

    "But, How?" Azzy was confused, "You said the Protos energy is already merged with my own when I accidentally end up in this timeline. How come I lost my control just because I released my aura? Last time, when I released it, I was fine too¡­"

    "It''s true that it was merged into your soul energy but it wasn''t a natural process. I was the one that forcefully suppressed it and merged it with your soul energy.

    Unless you submit it by your will, it will always rebel whenever it gets an opportunity. Did you forget how your ancestor Aelius Crescent ended up dead?

    The Protos energy will always use our emotions as a weapon to take control of the body. I already warned you about it."

    Upon hearing the Reaper''s warning, Azzy felt silent. He clenched his fist while thinking of the scene that he held Gideon''s bloody figure. "Emotions, huh!"

    Azzy felt like he was being slapped by reality. From the moment he entered the Academy, he decided not to form any bond with any person so that it will get easier for him when he go back to his timeline.

    Due to Gideon''s efforts, Azzy thought that maybe, the friendship with him can compensate for all of the loneliness he will have to experience for the next decade.

    However, right now, he was shown that his very friendship with Gideon might turn him into a second Aelius. What should he do? Should he just become an emotionless being even inside too?

    When he thought of his past, Azzy felt that he was really happy before he was awakened. He had a grandpa that loved him unconditionally. He had friends to play with.

    Now, aside from having a deity spirit and a celestial grade spirit with him, there''s nothing worth except for Gideon and to some extent, Claire. And the Reaper wanted him to throw them away so that he can control the Protos energy?

    As Azzy felt extremely depressed, the Protos energy that was just suppressed the Reaper, started to act up.

    The Reaper immediately put a seal on his soul orb, and then, said, "Azrael, you are thinking in a wrong way. Aelius Crescent was killed not because of his emotional bond to his wife but it''s because he wasn''t strong enough to control the Protos energy.

    At that time, no one is there to guide him. He didn''t even know what energy that is. That''s why, when he lost his wife, the Protos energy took over him.

    But you, on the other hand, have me. If you lose control, I''ll knock you out and suppress that rebellious energy. So, what''s there to worry about? You can live your life as you wanted to¡­"

    Upon getting assured by Reaper, Azzy''s spirits were lifted up. "That''s right. When I have you, why should I worry about losing control¡­"

    Bowing to him, Azzy said, "Thank you for always looking after me¡­"

    The Reaper just waved his hand, "No worries. I''m your Arcana spirit. I ought to look after you. Well, at least, until you grew your wings. All I hope that you don''t reject my suggestions readily and think about it for twice before acting on your own.

    Azrael, you are free to take your own decisions. However, please have faith in me. Just remember that every action of mine is only for your well-being."

    Azzy immediately apologized to the Reaper, although he still felt he did the right thing to show mercy on Gold Lyre.

 Chapter 114: A human skeleton?

    Flapping her wings, Sylvia stared at Azzy with a frown on her face. Clearly, her Arcana spirit hates Azzy and the aura that was around him.

    Meanwhile, Floyd wiped off his sweat, "That was a close call." Looking at the Giant golden shield and the winged lady before him, he bowed slightly and cupped his fists, "Thank you, Elder."

    Not paying attention to the person behind her, Sylvia paid attention to the audience.

    Her voice reverberated in the surroundings, "I apologize for intervening in the match. I don''t know what kind of duel is this but having the death of a student at the venue when Champions League is around the corner isn''t good."

    After stating her opinion, Sylvia glanced to the side and spotted Luci standing aside in the middle. She immediately guessed her role. "Are you the proctor for this match?" She asked.

    Luci nodded vigorously. She doesn''t dare to be careless in front of this person who seemed to possess a similar amount of soul power as their team''s instructor.

    Sylvia''s face once again turned seriously, "For a proctor, you seemed careless. If I hadn''t step in, that kid would have died. Then, you would have been the one responsible for his death."

    Luci then hanged her head down as she was being reprimanded by this stranger. Right then, another voice reverberated in the surroundings. "You are as harsh as ever, Sylvia¡­"

    A lady suddenly appeared beside Luci, surprising the onlookers.

    "Carmella¡­" Sylvia called out her name.

    "Eh? When did you arrive, Aunt?" Luci also seemed surprised like everyone else.

    It''s the Phoenix Academy team''s instructor, high-rank-7 Arcana master, Carmella Hearth, paternal aunt of Luciana.

    "You do realize the power behind that spear, didn''t you? Do you think she can stop it?" Carmella appeared displeased.

    Landing on the ground, Sylvia shrugged her shoulders, "Well, it''s the job of the Proctor''s to intervene in the match and one shouldn''t try to be a proctor if they don''t have the ability to stop the contestants¡­"

    "Hmpf, for a light user who was hungry of battles, and had the blood of hundreds of humans on your hands, you shouldn''t talk about saving lives¡­" Carmella didn''t want this girl of all the people to lecture her niece.

    "There''s a difference between guilty and an innocent, Carmella." Sylvia narrowed her eyes.

    Carmella no longer wished to argue with this woman and called out her niece. "Luci¡­"

    "Yes, Aunt?"

    "Announce the winner. Since Sylvia has intervened in the battle while saving the kid from Moon Academy, he lost." Carmella then raised her head and looked at Floyd who was still standing on the flying card. "Considering your life has been saved by the third party, the match will be declared as your loss. Do you accept the verdict?"

    "Yes¡­" Floyd didn''t waste even a fraction of a second to give the response. Right now, he was scared to even look at Azzy.

    Upon getting approval from Floyd, Luci immediately announced, "The winner is Azrael of the Aclein Academy."

    "Azrael?" Sylvia quickly turned her head to look at Azzy as soon as she heard his name.

    Looking carefully at Azzy, she asked, "Azrael of grade-8? Claire''s friend?"

    Although his aura was also retracted quickly, as Azzy was still in mindscape and busy conversing with the Reaper, Vajra took control over his body to stand still.

    As the battle is halted, it didn''t know what to do without receiving any orders from either Azzy or the Reaper and just stood around until Sylvia asked him the question.

    Under the control of Vajra, Azzy''s head was nodded plainly.

    Upon getting the confirmation, Sylvia''s sour expression turned soft, and then, suddenly, a smile appeared on her face, "Handsome looks, emotionless expression, powerful dark attribute, and above rank combat ability. Seems like Claire was telling the truth.

    Anyway, nice to meet you¡­ I''m Sylvia Lefeuvre, Claire''s elder sister."

    Claire, who left the stands and was walking towards her sister, stopped in her tracks and mumbled, "You don''t need to mention his looks¡­"

    Meanwhile, Sylvia continued, "I was watching your battle from the skies for a while. As a necromancer, I think you are best suited in our Sun Academy where we can guide you to the right path. Want to join us?"

    "Huh!" Everyone was stumped by her words. They didn''t expect this woman would this bold, trying to recruit him in front of everyone.

    Even if she is a rank-7 expert from the elite Sun Academy, there are also the representatives of the Moon Academy, Maple Academy Phoenix Academy, and even a Central Academy here.

    How bold is she to announce publicly that she intended to steal him before their eyes. Isn''t it a blatant provocation to the top academies here? Every onlooker from the top academy wondered.

    Azzy being a necromancer might stop first-rate and below academies to approach him but these top academies are different.

    These top academies from the Arcana world nurtured various heroes and villains in the past. It doesn''t matter for them how an alumnus will turn out after they graduated.

    And just like they thought, her words provoked the rank-7 instructors from the other three top academies.

    In no time, Jordon, who was standing like a spectator, started to float

    A few of them who just noticed his appearance gulped in fear as they stared at Jordon''s enormous size. They even wondered whether this scary guy is from the family of mythical Giants or something.

    Soon, he landed before her. "Ms. Lefeuvre. It''s been a while."

    Followed by him, a short old man appeared before her. He seemed even more powerful than her. "Little girl, you aren''t giving any face to us, are you?"

    "Do I have to?" Sylvia glared at him in return. "And what do my actions do have anything to do with you?"

    ***

    Meanwhile, inside Azzy''s mindscape, Azzy was sitting on the edge of a familiar cliff, staring at the endless barren land.  "It''s been a while since I stood at this place. It seems like the place is livelier now¡­" He mumbled.

    Unlike last time, there were hundreds of skeletons roaming around.

    However, they aren''t just normal skeletons. All of them are beasts and ranged from low-rank-3 to peak-rank-4. "Are they the ones I killed?"

    "Yes, all of them is your undead army. Too bad that none of them were able to use soul skills except for Hydra." The Reaper wanted to seal the soul energy of the Volcanus king too. However, at that time, Azzy was only rank-4 and needed its soul orb to break through.

    Now that he''s rank-5, the Reaper stressed him to focus on killing as many as lower-ranked beasts to increase his skeleton army so that he can unleash them without the worry of soul power.

    The Reaper further informed him that not only he can intimidate the opponent, he can also use them as a shield to block the attack.

    While silently listening to the Reaper, Azzy continued to stare at the beasts while recognize them by their shapes. Because of the absence of the flesh, every quadrupedal monster looks almost the same to him.

    As he was observing the differences, suddenly, his eyes captured a strange skeleton walking back and forth.

    What strange is that it is a human skeleton, not some wild beast that he killed. Due to the absence of the soul power, Azzy also wasn''t able to sense anything from it either.

    He only wondered what it was doing in his mindscape. As far as he knew, he never killed anyone. Or maybe, he unknowingly killed someone while traveling to the past?

    Azzy confronted the Reaper.

    The Reaper clearly knew of that skeleton''s identity as he was the one that erased the existence of that the mid-rank-6 Assassin.

    But, taking Azzy''s current situation into account, the Reaper snapped his finger and then, feigned ignorance, "what skeleton are you talking about? You are probably hallucinating."

    "Eh?" Azzy was taken aback by the Reaper''s response. He didn''t expect to hear that it''s an illusion of all things.

    "What do you mean by a hallucination? It was just here¡­" As he turned his head towards the barren land once again and pointed in the place where he saw it last time, but the skeleton disappeared from his view.

    For a while, he intently searched for it but wasn''t able to find the human skeleton as the Reaper buried it into the ground.

    Azzy tilted his head into confusion. "Strange. Why is that illusion of all the things?"

    To clear his confusion, the Reaper then explained, "when you visit this place for the first time, you saw the countless bodies on the barren land, didn''t you? It''s the lingering effect of that incident that is deeply ingrained in your mind. Don''t worry. It''s a common side-effect that every Arcana Master had to face from to time to remind themselves what their power is."

    The Reaper was actually saying the truth about every Arcana Master would have to face such illusion in their mindscape from time to time.

    However, he just wanted to use the truth to cover another truth as he knew that Azzy would just become angry if he knew that Reaper took control of his body and killed someone even if it is to save his life. And then the Protos energy would act up once again.

    Why bother all of this when he just solve this matter with a snap of his finger.

    Having trust in the Reaper, Azzy believed his words and then, continued to stare at the barren lands while moving his legs back and forth.

 Chapter 115: Barton saves the day

    "Little Girl, don''t think highly of yourself. When you were still drinking milk, I have roamed the wildlands and killed various rank-7 beasts with these hands¡­" The old man was really displeased with Sylvia''s actions.

    Even if she''s born in the royalty of the kingdom of Triastal; even if she''s the daughter of heaven, reaching high-rank-7 in just 50 years, he don''t care.

    The short old man named Epicydes who was just a step away from rank-8 was one of the Elders at Maple Academy. He was specially deployed by the Academy to deal with situations like these where instructors from other Academies run amok.

    Now that Sylvia, who is the representative of a rival academy from theirs, is trying to provoke them, the old man decided to teach a lesson to her.

    Upon hearing his words, Sylvia raised her hand. As her soul card continued to hover around her, a shining heavy sword that looks a bit similar to that of Claire''s appeared in her hands.

    However, there are only two differences between the two of them. One is a gold grade spirit and the other is a platinum grade. The other difference is that Claire''s sword is of pure light attribute and this one has lightning sparks dancing all over the blade.

    Pointing the blade at the old man, almost touching his nose, Sylvia challenged him, "Anyone with a mouth can speak, old man. If you have the guts, c''mon, then. Prove it to me."

    "You brat dare to challenge me¡­" Epicydes instantly became furious, excluding his aura. Carmella immediately stood before her niece to shield her while the remaining rank-7s were trying to resist the pressure.

    The spectators just stared at the scene, not intending to move away as two rank-7s were arguing. Some are worried that a battle is about to take place while some are excited to witness the full prowess of a rank-7.

    Almost everyone forgot about Azzy who was calmly standing like a statue. There was a faint dark aura around him that was shielding him from the pressure of an external aura.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Claire who was watching it from far away became worried for her sister. She knew that Sylvia has these mood swings. No one ever knows when she gets angry and when she''s excited.

    Now that she''s angry, she hoped someone to stop her sister from starting the battle, or else, she was sure that this Arena would be destroyed.

    As if someone heard her prayers, suddenly, a giant seal appeared in the sky.

    "Hmm?" The rank-7s raised their heads. A few spectators also did the same.

    All of a sudden, two beams of light descended from the seal. Before Sylvia and Epicydes even make a move, they were struck at the same time like lightning, leaving behind two energy chains around their bodies to restrict their movements.

    The four of them fell silent as they stared at the sky. Sylvia and Vermin

    Followed by the disappearance of the seal, Barton slowly descended with his hands back.

    The spectators were awed to see this old man that managed to calm the situation.

    As for the students of Aclein Academy, they felt proud to see how their principal stopped these overbearing foreigners with just one move.

    Landing on the ground, he said, "I won''t let anyone make a mess in my academy. So, please refrain yourselves and maintain the dignity of being a guest, as long as you are here. I request the two of you to stand down."

    Even though he managed to restrict them, Barton knew that at least Epicydes can break the seal if he really tries hard enough.

    He doesn''t want to fight with him and make the authorities change the venue. So, he asked them politely while removing the chains.

    "In respect to Mr. Everglade, I''ll forgive her." Epicydes shrugged his shoulders and turned around to walk away.

    Sylvia doesn''t fear a low-rank-8 Arcana master. A while ago, she even killed a mid-rank-8 expert of a dark organization in a one-on-one duel.

    However, remembering that this old man is Azzy''s master, Sylvia dismissed her sword and the soul card before forcing herself to calm down. "Greetings, Mr. Everglade.

    She placed her right palm on her chest while crossing her right leg behind the left, and gave a graceful bow. "I''m Sylvia Lefeuvre, the representative instructor from the Sun Academy."

    As Barton returned the greetings, and then, further greeted Jordon and Carmella one by one.

    He glanced briefly at Azzy before focusing on Sylvia, "You have the same surname as Claire. By chance, are you two related to each other?"

    The moment Azzy released his aura, Barton has sensed it from his office. He already realized that there''s going to be trouble. By the time he reached the place, the battle was already over but another argument took place between the Elites of the top academies.

    To make sure there''s no trouble, he decided to intervene and exposed his soul power so that these top academies will take him seriously.

    Just like he thought, Jordon no longer put on airs like before, with the presence of a rank-8 expert in the academy. It doesn''t matter whether Barton used connections or not. In the current situation, Jordon felt like he can only keep quiet like a tamed lion.

    Barton and Sylvia continued to chat.

    "Yeah, it''s true." Nodding to Barton''s question, Sylvia explained, "Now that I have seen his necromancy skills with my own eyes, I''m strongly recommending him to join our academy.

    Unlike other academies, our Sun Academy has the necromancy division where they can be trained on how to use dark power for the sake of good. You know that we only recruit 15 students each year. So, each spot is very precious¡­ The rest is your wish."

    Before Barton gives his reply, with a surprised look on her face, Carmella opened her mouth while pointing a finger towards the shield behind Sylvia, "Sylvia, dispel that shield before you embarrass yourself¡­"

    "Huh!" Sylvia first looked at Carmella with a frown, then, turned around to look what is this rival of hers is pointing at.

    She was bewildered to see the golden shield that was shining brightly had lost its luster and was filled with cracks.

    She spotted strands of dark energy are moving like a snake in every direction. Their pace is extremely slow.

    However, wherever they passed, not only did the place lose the shine but also seemed to slowly get corrupted by the foreign energy while developing cracks.

    Sylvia understood what Carmella was hinting at. She quickly dismissed the shield and then, looked at Azzy who was standing in a daze.

    The frown was replaced by an exciting look as she turned towards Barton, "I promise that your disciple will get the best terms he can get. And the Sun Academy will be also regarded as an ally to your Academy. What do you say?"

    Carmella scoffed inside, "look at this bi**h trying to poach him away without showing any sincerity. Do you think the other academies will sit by and do nothing after your earlier display of arrogance?"

    ***

    After a while, the aura around Azzy was dismissed by the Reaper and the boy returned to reality.

    "Huh!" Azzy was taken aback to see himself standing on a flying card with his Master as it is slowly ascending into the sky.

    Floyd and the proctor were nowhere to be seen. The spectators were starting to leave one after another.

    He then saw the back of Jordon that was flying towards the stands. Azzy was indeed surprised to see such a giant human of a different race.

    "Azrael, you are back." A familiar cheerful sound from behind made him turn around to see Claire and another lady that have similar features as Claire''s.

    "What happened to the battle?" He asked Claire.

    "Eh?" Claire was surprised. "You don''t know?"

    "So, you were possessed by your Arcana Spirit before you unleashed that dark spear?" Sylvia chipped in. She remembered how Azzy simply nodded when she introduced herself.

    Azzy nodded. Well, even though it isn''t the truth, it isn''t also a lie according to Azzy. After all, he was possessed by the Protos energy, rather than his Arcana spirit.

    Meanwhile, at the stands, Vann was staring at the flying card, "Twin Arcana spirits, Huh!"

    "Third Senior brother, now that you have seen it with your own eyes, do you think he''s qualified to join our academy?"

 Chapter 116: Claires preparations for the League

    In the office of the Principal, Azzy was standing before his Master while the latter grabbed his head in frustration, "My fears finally became true. Your ability attracted the top academies. See this¡­"

    He pushed three recommendation letters. One from the Maple Academy, the second from the Sun Academy, and the third from Moon Academy.

    Looking at Azzy, Barton continued, "I don''t blame you for hiding your second Arcana spirit. It is your right, but why do you have to reveal it in front of everyone''s eyes¡­ If you want to get scouted in a certain Academy, you should have at least told me.

    Even in reluctance, I would have done something about it. You don''t know the greediness of these special academies.

    Good thing that you have only shown Necromancy or else, in front of you, there will be a stack of recommendation letters from all the academies and all kinds of organizations."

    Azzy patiently listened to his babbling until the end, and then, he opened his mouth, "I don''t want these foreign students to run amok with their overbearing attitude, displaying superiority.

    If either the student council or the disciplinary committee has handled the situation properly, I wouldn''t have stepped up.

    And as for getting scouted in other academies, I don''t wish to join any other academy until graduation provided that the academy would allow me to train in a level-3 region. Level-2 regions can no longer support my growth."

    Azzy never thought of attracting the top academies. In fact, he never even planned to enter an Academy. After graduation, he wished to venture into the wild for self-training to increase his level as soon as possible.

    After getting to rank-7, he will go and visit Moon Academy to pick up Barbara before returning to the timeline. This was how Azzy planned his future.

    Thinking about how necromancers are hated throughout the continent, Azzy thought that revealing his necromancy will also make the academies avoid him.

    However, he didn''t expect the top academies wouldn''t back down when all he displayed is just summoning an undead hydra, a skull, and a spear. His combat abilities weren''t even displayed a bit.

    Azzy was more unhappy with the Reaper who didn''t warn him when he was about to summon the undead. With acceptance from the Reaper, Azzy thought he was doing the right thing.

    The reality struck him hard. But, it wouldn''t matter since he doesn''t plan to leave the academy. The only issue is that Claire''s sister turned out to be the combat instructor at the Sun Academy.

    Even though he never admitted through his mouth, in Azzy''s heart, Claire is his close friend just like Gideon. So, he can''t reject Sylvia''s offer without providing a sufficient explanation.

    With their academy located in a level-3 region, it would be tremendously helpful to him in reaching the goal. On the other hand, Aclein Academy will not allow its students to venture into the level-3 region.

    That''s why he sneakily put forth a condition to his Master while explaining his desire of graduating from Aclein Academy.

    And his bait turned out to be successful as Barton replied, "A while ago, I told you that I will teach you personally, right?"

    Azzy nodded while wondering what he was implying.

    Barton smiled as he continued, "I already decided to take you to level-3 region, once a month, starting from the next semester. So, you don''t need to worry about it."

    "Eh?" Azzy was taken aback by his unexpected reply. He thought this old man would give him a lecture about the importance of stability and not be hungry for soul power or something. However, contrary to his thoughts, Barton allowed him.

    Is it on a whim? Is it because his Master was afraid that Azzy''s going to leave? Or did his master decided it a few days ago as he claimed it to be?

    Whatever the reason, upon hearing that he was able to battle the rank-5 and rank-6 beasts, Azzy felt excited inside. He immediately thanked his Master and further asked him to reject all of the recommendations even in the near future except for Sun Academy.

    When Barton asked for the reason, Azzy confessed that is because of Sylvia''s relationship with Claire. Azzy further told him that he will be the one that will inform Sylvia regarding his decision.

    Azzy''s answer made Barton satisfied. He was happy to get an understanding student and cursed the traitorous Neal once again.

    ***

    Meanwhile, at training grounds-1, team Twilight is training at an ice habitat while Gideon is still resting at the infirmary.

    "Captain, this habitat is too difficult for me," Mia complained while her Oak tree''s branches are shivering in a cold environment.

    "If we come out top in our allotted group, we will have to face such habitats for the Quarterfinals. That''s why it''s better to get familiar with all kinds of environments.

    Mia, dismiss your Arcana and try to focus on support if your Arcana spirit can''t manage in this type of environment. Unlike the Annual tournament, there won''t be a fairness spell to restrict our opponents'' soul power. So, just letting your Arcana spirit won''t do the job." Claire appeared very serious now that her sister arrived at the academy.

    More than the Champions League, for Claire, getting an acknowledgment from her elder sister is the most important.

    Not wanting to show a disappointing performance to her, Claire increased the training time to five times now that there are only three days of time.

    "Mia, everyone watched our performance in the finals. I''m sure that you will be targeted, first. So, you should also get prepared for close combat. Senior Calder And Snivy, both of you are a set.

    Senior Calder will act as her shield while she attacks the opponents. So, both of your movements should be in sync. It''s better to work on that."

    Calder and Snivy nodded.

    After passing out instructions, Claire continued to spar against the two of them. Her target is Snivy. Snivy''s target is Mia. Calder''s job is to defend Snivy from Claire while Mia''s job is to focus on dodging Snivy''s attacks.

    At the same time, in the forest habitat, Team Unicorn was having a joint training session with Team Crusaders from the Egrein Academy as both of them belong to the same country.

    Whoever wins, the nation of Northern Qudour will claim the honor, well, at least, that''s what Zona told them as she put her proposal.

    With almost everyone being a rank-5 Arcana Master in the team Unicorn, the representative instructor from Egrein Academy didn''t think there''s any harm in it.

    Moreover, by having joint training sessions for the next three days, he thought that he might have the chance to poach these tenth graders to Egrein University.

    Although his primary target is Zona, still, he didn''t leave the others. Anyone from the team can become an asset to the University of Egrein. Of course, that includes even a rank-4 Arcana Master like Lark as he possessed a gold grade Arcana.

    ***

    Night Clan Compound, Death Clan Village;

    Oakley was standing with Avia in the entrance hall. While the former had the look of nervousness on his face, the latter was looking around curiously.

    There are several people in black outfits and masks, standing behind them in silence.

    Soon, a young-looking woman teleported directly in front of them, startling Avia for a second. She quickly hid behind Oakley.

    "Oakley Night greets honorable Matriarch¡­" As Oakley kneeled on his one leg and bowed, Avia peeked from behind and looked at the woman.

    The woman stands tall with sharp features. She looks younger than her mother and father despite being more than 4000 years old.

    "Rise, Oakley." Despite her outlook, her voice appeared very frail as if she doesn''t have the strength to speak much.

    As Oakley stood on his feet, the woman said, "I was the one who banished you from the clan, Oakley. I don''t have the power to take back my decision and neither would Lord Qridus make an exception for you.

    However, I can promise you that King Ragron will not bother you and your family and even if you have children in the future, all of them will be allowed to the clan regardless of their potential."

    Oakley once again kneeled, this time on both knees, "Thank you, Honorable Matriarch."

    "Okay, you can leave." Upon finishing the business, she coldheartedly asked him to leave right away and turned around. She didn''t look back as she slowly disappeared.

    Turning to Avia, Oakley grabbed her shoulders while tears welled up in his eyes, "Avia, from now onwards, this is your home."

 Chapter 117: Azzy as the Disciplinary committees President

    With the Annual tournament finished, the classes resumed as usual from the next day.

    Just like how the three of the Maple Academy students joined the grade-8 classroom, several students from other Academies who have nothing else to do also join the respective grades of the Elite division for fun upon learning Aclein Academy''s considerable achievements in science and other things.

    Since the founding of the academy, for the first time, the grade-10 classroom became completely full with most of the candidates belongs to grade-10.

    As for the grade-8 classroom, it was filled with students from the top academies. Only such academies will be bold enough to bring the students of grade-8 to experience the competition.

    "Azrael, answer this question." The mathematics teacher started the class by writing the question on the whiteboard before pointing at Azzy.

    "Which of the following is a perfect square?"

    "1057" "3025" "7928" "64000"

    Azzy looked at the options and fell into deep thoughts. At the same time, more than half of the class was also trying to figure out the solution.

    After all, those from special academies like Barbara focus more on how to become stronger. So, their mathematics level is even lesser than a fifth grade.

    If Gideon would have been present, he would have whispered to Azzy about the answer like always, but alas, as soon as he woke up, he immediately became busy with training alongside his team.

    Barbara who sat next to him is even wondering what the meaning of perfect square is¡­

    As Azzy trying to divide the number to look for a solution, the Reaper came to the rescue, "It''s 3025."

    "Eh? Do you how to calculate it?" Azzy was taken aback in surprise. He didn''t expect the Reaper would be able to calculate as he is terrible at mathematics.

    In response, the Reaper chuckled, "No, but I remember you reading that a natural number cannot be a perfect square if it ends with 2,3,7,8, or have an odd number of zeroes."

    Upon remembering it, Azzy thanked the Reaper and explained the same to the teacher. The latter seemed surprised to see Azzy answered it quicker than he thought. After all, it was no secret that Azzy never got more than 40 in a test for the past eight months.

    Thinking that it''s just a coincidence, he decided to test him further.

    "Answer me. If 5278 is squared, then, which of the following will be at its unit place?"

    "8, 7, 6, or 4"

    Just as Azzy about to put his pen on the paper, the Reaper answered it instantly, "it''s 4. The last digit of the number is 8. 8 multiply by 8 gives 64."

    Azzy was once again surprised to hear it, although he was about to do the same thing. He answered it right away, surprising the teacher once again.

    For the next twenty minutes, the teacher continued to ask the questions while forgetting about the rest.

    He started with a square and square roots, then, it went to cube and cube roots, then, after that, linear equations, factorization, and finally ended with trigonometric equations.

    The teacher was delighted to know that Azzy wasn''t the same as he was at the beginning of the semester. He wondered what happened in this past week that enhanced his mathematics skills.

    The teacher assumed it might be because Azzy was focusing on studies while everyone is preparing for the Annual tournament back then.

    Either way, somehow, he felt like Azzy would be able to score higher marks in the final exams.

    He didn''t know that Azzy was even more in surprise.

    He realized that although the Reaper isn''t good at finding the solutions to the mathematical problem, he still has an eidetic memory. Everything he had read and forgotten in time was easily memorized by the Reaper.

    Azzy almost felt like slapping himself for not recognizing such a simple thing. The Reaper is a deity after all. It is obvious that his memorization power is the best.

    At that moment, he felt like a new door opened in front of him. Azzy decided to use Reaper''s memorization ability to the maximum.

    Looking at his thoughts, the Reaper shook his head with a smile. Vajra shuddered as it glanced at the smile on the skeleton for a second. Feelings its thoughts, the Reaper once again became blank-faced.

    Soon, the morning classes are over. Barbara tagged along with Azzy until they had lunch together.

    After that, she returned to her team for afternoon practice while Azzy returned to the peaceful classroom with several books from the library in order to feed the knowledge to the Reaper.

    With everyone busy with their training for the league or enjoying their free time except for dropouts, no one disturbed Azzy''s studies until, in the evening, he received a message card from the Principal stating that he is summoned to the administration building.

    Upon entering the office, he found Leo was standing before Barton. Aside from those two, there''s also an unfamiliar girl, who he might have seen somewhere in the school.

    Does this has something to do with this disguised Galarian beast or maybe, the Principal is thinking of letting him participate in the Champions League or something? Azzy can''t help but wonder.

    "Mr. Principal." Azzy greeted formally, now that there are two more people in the room.

    "Azrael, come in¡­" Principal Barton smiled as he gestured him to come and stand beside them.

    "Junior Azrael, it''s been a while." As Azzy walked towards them, Leo greeted him cheerfully.

    Azzy plainly nodded in return. He stood beside the girl while ignoring her presence entirely. "May I know why I have been summoned?" He asked the Principal.

    "I''ll tell you but first, let me introduce them." Barton pointed to the two of them, "You know Leonard Light. This student is Matilda of grade-9, soul plant division, the Vice-president of the Disciplinary Committee."

    "Hello¡­" She put forth her hand with a smile. However, Azzy didn''t take it and simply nodded in response. It brought a frown on her face but she managed to force herself to be normal.

    After introducing her, the Principal continued, "You know that student Leonard Light is the current student council president and the president of the disciplinary committee.

    Even though there are still two months left till his graduation, because of the Champions League and the upcoming international competitions, he requested to take off some of the burdens from his shoulders.

    Both of them nominated your name for the position of Disciplinary committee''s president.

    And I believe you are suited for this position too. What do you think?"

    Azzy glanced at Leo, wondering what this guy might be playing. He then looked at the girl and asked, "Did you take into account that I can''t control all of my strength? The disciplinary committee forces punishments on rule breakers. Did you consider where I might kill a low-rank Arcana Master by mistake?"

    It''s not like Azzy wasn''t tempted but he wanted to know whether they are giving him the position just because he defeated mid-rank-5 Experts in front of everyone.

    If it''s that way, then, he wanted to remind them that Aclein Academy students aren''t as strong as the elites from the top academies. If someone turned to be a fool and went on challenge him, they might face life-threatening danger or worse face death. Azzy doesn''t want to be held accountable by the victim''s parents.

    In response to his reminder, Leo replied with a smile, "I''m aware of that. However, as the president, you don''t need to make a move for every little thing. There are other members in the committee to deal with it.

    Moreover, you can summon the undead. Can''t you just summon lower-ranked ones to deal with weaklings if you are worried about your lack of control?"

    Leo''s explanation made Azzy suspect him further. It seemed as if Leo is adamant about making Azzy, the president of the disciplinary committee, but why? Azzy didn''t have the answer. At the same time, he also wanted to accept the offer. If he''s in such a position, he would be able to stop bullying in the academy.

    "You are the heir to the Death Clan, Azrael. Sooner or later, you will have to ascend to the throne. You might as well experience the authority in which you can give out the proper punishments." Just then, the Reaper''s voice echoed in his head.

 Chapter 118: Azzys location is exposed?

    The Reaper who had his own plans for Azzy wanted him to learn the meaning of delivering true justice instead of just acting on emotions. And being the president of the disciplinary committee can be the first step to achieve that.

    Getting convinced by the Reaper, Azzy threw away all the thoughts of Leo''s whatever schemes and put forth his hand towards the girl. "Let''s work together."

    Matilda shook his hand, "pleasant to be working together."

    In reality, after serving as the Vice-president for two years in a row, Matilda wanted to serve as the president once Leo and the other tenth graders graduate.

    She knew that she had to be at least rank-5 to achieve that or at least have a rank-5 above combat level to control the students.

    With her soul power just above 92000, she thought she would be able to break through to the next rank before the next semester. However, she didn''t expect Leo to resign and then, propose Azzy''s name as his successor.

    Azzy''s earlier display of his strength and Leo''s identity as the fifth prince made her accept it without any complaints. But, she didn''t let go of her ambition either. Now, her aim shifted to the student council.

    Rather than the vice president of the disciplinary committee, she felt that being a vice president of the student council will seem better in the resume. As for whether she can become or not, well, at least, she had a better chance compared to others.

    With their business finished in the principal''s office, the three of them excused themselves and left the building.

    "Tomorrow morning, before the homeroom period, please make sure to be present at Disciplinary hall. It''s on the first floor of the Student Council building. I need you to be there during the announcement." Leo reminded Azzy about it before parting his ways.

    Leo and Matilda went to the Student Council building while Azzy returned to the classroom to spend more time studying.

    Azzy became was so engrossed in feeding the theoretical knowledge of mathematics to the Reaper that he even forgot the time.

    The next day morning, after having breakfast, just like he was told, Azzy went to the location. Maybe, he was too early or there''s a holiday. For whatever reason, there was no one in the building.

    Azzy thought for a while and decided to wait at the disciplinary hall now that he was already there.

    He took the stairs and just as he entered the first floor, he witnessed a huge door before him. "Hmm¡­ this is one strange door," Azzy mumbled as he looked at it.

    The door looked a bit ancient carved with unfamiliar symbols. Azzy didn''t pay any attention to it and pushed the door. It revealed a huge hall.

    "What the hell is this place?" Azzy was taken aback to see an enormous hall with large pillars around. He felt very familiar as if he was in this place before.

    As Azzy started to walk straight, he then saw a familiar-looking throne on the end with a familiar frail-looking old man sitting on it. He was none other than Qridus Garcia, the clan head that was closed to become an immortal.

    Both of their eyes meet.

    The old man seems to be surprised as he looked at the blurred figure of Azzy. "He was powerful enough to block my vision? That means he must be at least peak-eight grade or must have possessed a top-tier celestial grade spirit.

    It is okay if it is the latter but if it''s the former, then, I would have no choice but to deploy the clan leaders."

    Qridus stood up and slowly walked towards Azzy.

    Meanwhile, Azzy''s eyes widened in shock, and looked around. "No, this place isn''t the disciplinary hall."

    In a panic, he called for the Reaper, "Chronos, what''s happening here?"

    He doesn''t even understand what''s going on. Just a while ago, he was before the student council building and now, suddenly, he was in the Throne room of Garcia palace?

    However, he wasn''t afraid of the old man either as he wasn''t some stranger but his ancestor.

    "Looks like your ancestor managed to track your existence, Azrael." The Reaper''s voice echoed in his head.

    "Eh? What does that mean?" Azzy was even more surprised by the Reaper''s words.

    "Don''t worry. Your identity won''t be exposed in this dream. Go forward." The Reaper convinced him that nothing can happen as this is just a dream he was dreaming while sleeping in the classroom.

    Taking a deep breath, Azzy moved forward towards the old man.

    Soon, both of them are standing a meter away from each other.

    Not intending to waste time, Azzy directly came to the point, "Who are you and what are you doing in my dream?"

    "Huh! A kid?" Qridus was once again surprised as soon as he heard Azzy''s voice. Since Azzy''s voice hasn''t changed yet, Qridus instantly realized that the person before him wasn''t an adult.

    That revelation made him assume that the kid before him indeed possessed a celestial grade spirit that can control time.

    He wondered whether it was really the mythical time beast Znuvo that can travel through time.

    If it was a platinum grade beast, then, he would have understood that it might be some unknown time beast but celestial grade spirits can be counted on one hand.

    As far as he knew, only one celestial grade spirit exists for every one attribute. From fire to dark, so far only seven such beasts have been discovered in the millennium history of Arcana. Along with those seven, there''s also another celestial grade beast Znuvo which was spotted by the Arcana masters in the past.

    *Ahem* Qridus cleared his throat and then, asked, "I already know the truth but just for formality I''m asking you. Answer me. Are you the time traveler?"

    The Reaper advised Azzy to answer it truthfully because lying is of no use before a peak-rank-9 Expert. Of course, he can stay silent but Azzy answered with a nod since it doesn''t matter.

    Qridus then asked his second question, "Are you from the future or the past?"

    This time, the Reaper told Azzy to be silent and Azzy complied with it and refused to answer.

    "So, I guess it''s difficult to answer, huh!" Qridus mumbled to himself before asking, "One final question. Did you intentionally time-traveled to this timeline or it is by mistake?"

    Azzy once again stayed silent, listening to the Reaper''s suggestion.

    Upon facing another rejection, Qridus narrowed his eyes as he stared at Azzy for a few seconds before he spoke, "It doesn''t matter who you are, where you are from, or how you ended up here. Let me give you a warning.

    My job is to maintain the balance of the world. As soon as I sensed the drastic shift in the world''s timeline, I will make sure to wipe your existence. So, don''t do something that will affect the future of the world.

    And just like me, some other old bag of bones also sensed your presence. So, as far as possible, try not to expose your ability to affect time and live quietly.

    If you want protection, you can always seek me through the dreams. All you have to close your eyes for at least 5 minutes. Emptying your thoughts, imagine my appearance and recite my name ten times. My name is Qridus Garcia."

    Azzy simply nodded in response before the dream was cut off and he returned to the reality where he found his head resting on the opened book.

    Meanwhile, at the Death clan village, once again, Vesryn Garcia was summoned to the throne room.

    Vesryn wondered what might be so urgent that he was being summoned in the midnight.

    "How is the searching for the time traveler is going on?" He inquired about the task he had given to this clan heir, more than a year ago.

    Vesryn was taken aback by the question. He didn''t expect the clan head would ask of it at this time.

    Still, he maintained his usual composure and replied, "so far, we have found no one with the ability to control time."

    Stroking his beard, Qridus then said, "Then, search the nation of Northern Qudour. Just a while ago, I managed to contact the time traveled through the dreams. I wasn''t able to trace the exact location but he was living somewhere in the Northern Qudour. I need you to investigate it personally but you aren''t allowed to make a move. You just need to keep an eye on the kid."

    "Kid?" Vesryn eyes widened in surprise.

 Chapter 119: Disciplinary committees punishments

    Disciplinary hall, Student Council HQ;

    More than fifty members gathered in the hall in which forty of them belong to the disciplinary committee and the other ten from the student council. Azzy even saw eight-year-old kids in the crowd, silently standing in the line while Leo is giving a speech.

    Along with the students, two more teachers are present at the meeting.

    One is Exea, a grade-9 homeroom teacher who teaches the subject of Runes. She is the head of the student council. The other is the history teacher, Bishop Klaus who is head of the disciplinary committee.

    Azzy wondered why this old man is the head of the disciplinary committee where the students will be punished for their actions when all he preaches for peace in the church.

    "Now, with that said, let''s welcome the new president for the disciplinary committee with a huge applause."

    *Clap* *Clap* *Clap*

    As everyone clapped, Azzy stepped forward and gave a brief introduction, "Hello, I''m Azrael of grade-8''s Elite division."

    As everyone clapped one more time, Bishop Klaus interrupted, "Child Azrael, you forgot to mention your soul power."

    "Eh?" He was taken aback and looked at him. He didn''t understand why this old man wanted him to reveal his soul power.

    As the Bishop read his mind, Klaus proceeded to explain, "It is necessary for everyone to know how powerful the president of the disciplinary committee is. You can''t show your combat strength to every student in the academy, right? So, your soul power will be recorded in the data every six months."

    ''Then, how come this Galarian King''s data hasn''t been changed for the past year. After all, it''s only a peak-rank-4. Is it because Leo''s a prince?'' Azzy can''t help but complain in his heart. However, he still revealed it as he never planned to conceal the number either. "264,331"

    Bishop Klaus nodded and took a note in his mind. Azzy and the others didn''t know that the old man had other intentions when he asked earlier.

    Even though he can sense the range of Azzy''s soul power, still, he can''t find the exact number. He wanted to know whether Azzy''s soul power is near to mid-rank-5 or not, so that, he can prepare a plan to take him out.

    From the moment Azzy showed his necromancy abilities, Bishop Klaus had already decided to kill him as Necromancers are the enemies to the Church which is the symbol of the light attribute.

    As a Bishop of the Church, he can tolerate dark attribute Arcana masters to some extent but not the necromancers, much less a person with huge potential like Azzy.

    In fact, he was the one that suggested resigning to Leo with an excuse of how Leo must concentrate on more important things.

    Luckily for him, Leo suggested Azzy''s name.

    The old man readily accepted it and gave the permission to put the proposal at the Principal''s office.

    And he felt like he was being blessed by heaven as soon as he heard from Matilda that Azzy accepted the position. Now that Azzy is the president, Klaus can be near to him all the time and carefully planned out.

    After receiving the data, he decided to send it to the Church while requesting the help of an expert with soul power of at least 3 million. Klaus felt like only such a person will be able to eliminate this future threat to the Church.

    Soon, the assembly is dispersed. Matilda took Azzy to their office which is located adjacent to the hall. It is a medium-sized room with a long table in the middle and chairs around it. Several monitors are wall-mounted.

    Most of them are displaying corridors of the Dropout division building while five of them are showing the empty rooms.

    "Most of the cases happen in the dropout division. So, we keep our eyes on them all the time." Matilda explained as soon as Azzy glanced at the monitors.

    She continued, "As you can see, this is where we mostly operate from. All the other five rooms on the floor are like a prison. They are solitary rooms with only a single exit/entrance. We can keep troublemakers from nine in the morning to five in the evening.

    If they don''t reflect themselves and hand us the handwritten letter within a day after their release, we can punish them again for their indiscipline."

    "What kind of punishments we carry out usually?" Azzy wanted to know whether solitary punishment is the only thing that the disciplinary committee will do or whether there are other punishments.

    In response to the question, Matilda immediately answered, "It depends on their level of indiscipline. We normally divide the cases from one-star to five-star.

    One-star cases are the ones that are considered light indiscipline like for example, getting late to the class, not completing homework, not wearing a school uniform, etc...

    The first-timers will receive a warning. However, if a person does a mistake three times within a week, then, we will elevate them into two-star.

    Two-star cases are the ones like skipping the classes, exams, sports activities, or festivals without permission from the teacher. Making noise in the corridor and disturb others, or argue with someone is also considered two-star. Such people needed to write a self-reflection letter of atleast 1000 words and hand it to us.

    In case if they refuse to do that, they will be warned. Three warnings will elevate them to three-star. And if a student''s name has been recorded in two-star for three times within a week, then, their name will be elevated to three-star.

    Fighting with a student without permission from the committee, using verbal insults, interfering with teaching activities, making negative remarks about the school management in public, and challenging teachers'' authority in an impolite manner, are some of the cases of three-star.

    While the above two are considered light, from this level, the offenders are considered guilty and they will be given punishments like cleaning the toilets, floor, windows, etc¡­

    Refusing the punishment from the disciplinary committee or getting caught in a similar act three times within two weeks will elevate their level to four-star.

    Those who are branded with Four-star indiscipline are no doubt troublemakers.  Some of the acts include bullying the other students, smoking, and kissing your partner in public, or doing indecent things within the campus.

    The punishments for such cases are solitary punishment with a self-reflection letter, helping the cleaning staff on the respective weekends, and some of the above three-star punishments.

    Failure to comply with the punishment or repeating it three times within a month will elevate the situation into five-star.

    And finally, the five-star case¡­ Those who reach five-star are no longer simply troublemakers. They have the potential to become a criminal in the future.

    Some of the acts include extreme bullying; sexual harassment; displaying repeated violence openly against the student council members, disciplinary committee members, teachers, or staff members, etc¡­

    For such people, the punishment is within the hands of the committee''s President and Vice-president. You can hand out punishment for anything that you think is right.

    Failure to comply with our punishments or repeating them three times within 3 months of times will only have one end. Expulsion.

    However, the students who think these punishments are unfair can lodge a complaint at the Student council. The Student Council has the authority to pardon the guilty.

    In such a case, you can put those pardoned students in a bi-annual trial where people often raise complaints against the student council, disciplinary committee, teachers, and staff members.

    The case will be opened to everyone. After hearing the arguments of everyone, the Principal will pass the final judgment.

    And with that said, it is also normal that these high-born nobles often get away with their mistakes.

    As a fellow common-born, I want to make a suggestion. It''s better not to mess with people like Leonard Light."

    Azzy was listening to every word she had explained and committed to his memory so that he could hand out the punishments accordingly. However, her last sentence made him frown on the inside.

    "Do you want me to look away from their punishable acts because of their birth? Seeing how these monitors are focused on drop-out division, I guess our law is only for the weak and with common born?" Azzy''s cold tone made Matilda flinch for a second. He was indeed displeased by her suggestion.

 Chapter 120: Azzys resolution

    Matilda had long expected Azzy''s reaction for he was being famous for subduing the arrogant fifth prince. Well, she doesn''t know that it was the disguised Galarian King.

    Like everyone else, she also thought Leo decided not to make an enemy out of Azzy.

    Coming to the present, looking at how Azzy reacted to her suggestion, she forced herself to smile, "No, I don''t mean that. You are free to punish them as you wish but I''m just reminding you that there will be no use.

    Due to the difference in their background, neither the victim would complain nor will any witness step forward. Even if we recorded their name in our database, the student council will pardon them."

    In case Azzy argues again, Matilda further added, "And honesty, for the past year, even you had broken a dozen rules but senior Leonard always pardoned it. That''s why you never got any notifications until now."

    She implied that Azzy received the same treatment as the nobles at the behest of the grace of the fifth prince.

    Of course, Azzy didn''t get what she implied completely. In his view, she was telling that he was being pardoned because of his relationship with the principal, which is almost the same as attaining the status of royalty until graduation.

    Her reminder made him further remember his days at the Death clan village and his early childhood days at the town of Sliya where everyone above his age used to greet him with respect, where he would be able to get anything he wished whether it was the toy he wanted to play, the dish he wanted to eat, or the place he would like to visit.

    Of course, he never harmed anyone but Azzy still remembered that pool girl he met during the second awakening. When he saw the aura of death of this employee at the Red Pavilion, he warned her. However, she took it as if he was threatening her and kneeled before him, and begged him for forgiveness.

    Azzy wondered how much the lower born and the common folk fear people like him and Leo.

    Maybe, it''s the effect of the chair he is sitting on. Azzy felt that it was unfair that people like him get away just because of the relations

    "Fine, then. If that''s the case, then, as the president of the disciplinary committee, this is my order." Taking the seat at the edge of the table where the president was supposed to sit, Azzy passed out the order. "From now onwards until I resign, whether they are common-born or noble-born, associated with student council or disciplinary committee, everyone will be judged fairly.

    If the student council will pardon the punishment that we judged it on, then, we will have to gather the evidence. If it''s strong, then, under the act of protecting the guilty, the members of the student council will also have to be disciplined with proper punishment."

    Reading Azzy''s thoughts, the Reaper seemed satisfied with how everything is going as he wished. Instead of just blindly looking into the future, the Reaper looked forward to seeing how Azzy would fare as the president of the disciplinary committee.

    Meanwhile, Azzy''s resolution made Matilda stupefied like a statue. As far as she knew, until now, even teachers never hand out punishments on the members of the student council as those ten members are usually the model students of the academy. One can say they are the face of the academy, excelling in different fields.

    Just for a moment, she felt like this blank-faced guy will sure to bring a change in the academy before she gathered her thoughts of aiming for the position of student council''s Vice president during the next semester.

    She then proceeded to explain his other duties like patrolling in the break times, reading the documents that contained the data on the students, resolving the pending investigations, etc¡­

    Before he completely processed the information, there was already a huge stack of documents placed on the table and a floppy disk. "Once we get all the data, it is my job to get these copies from the computer lab. These copies contain all the information of the students of the past year recorded in our database. For now, please read them so that it''ll get easier to figure out the repeat offenders or you can visit the computer lab and look at it on PC with his floppy disk.

    Due to the annual tournament and the Champions League, we weren''t able to work properly for the past two weeks. So, there are a lot of pending cases. I''ll give you the copies by the end of the League."

    Azzy looked at it in a daze. He wondered whether he did the right thing or not.

    "You can use the undead beasts for that." As usual, the Reaper came to the rescue, dispelling Azzy''s trouble. "When you completely master the soul skill, all the undead beasts that you summon can act as your eyes, ears, and limbs.

    Of course, only platinum-grade and above undead beasts and undead humans can read or write. So, for now, you can control the Hydra to read them for you and I''ll store everything in your memory. With its four heads, it will be faster too, although it won''t fit in this small space¡­"

    Upon listening to the Reaper''s amazing suggestion, he felt a lot better, now.

    "Okay, I''ll look at it after the morning classes." With the time getting closer, he cannot afford to miss the homeroom class, or else, he must give a warning to himself for being late for the class.

    For the next three days, while everyone is either preparing for the champions league or enjoying their free time in the afternoon, Azzy, on the other hand, was busy working in his office.

    Instead of reading the documents, Azzy just spread the books on the table and became busy feeding the theoretical knowledge to the Reaper while a black wolf was sitting in the corner with a heap of documents before it.

    One by one, it started to read the details of all the students and their past recorded indiscipline activities.

    ***

    The night before the Champions League;

    Zona and Leo are waiting at the entrance of the academy, putting aside their practice. Soon, they caught a glowing object in the sky. Most of the civilians in the city thought it was a shooting star and began to wish for things.

    However, only high-level Arcana Masters were able to recognize that it was a giant flying card with a golden barrier around it.

    Zona was also one of the people who managed to see it. As for Leo, he sensed the presence of a bunch of people with high soul power after they got into his 5 miles range.

    "Get ready. When they land on the ground, just greeted them and stay silent. Only answer the questions they asked." Leo warned her. Zona nodded in response. She knew that all of these upcoming guests are of high born nobility or royalty.

    Soon, the flying card landed on the ground and all of them stepped down.

    As the barrier was removed, Zona and Leo saw the group of students and their instructor from the Heavenly Academy.

    While Zona stayed calm on the surface, her heart started to beat rapidly due to nervousness for she was nothing but only a low birth commoner.

    On the other hand, a trace of surprise appeared on Leo as his eyes fell on a person who looked identical to himself.

    Looking at Leo''s expression, the representatives of the Heavenly Academy sighed inwardly thinking that this younger twin brother of the idiot also seemed to fell for their goddess.

    However, in the next second, they realized how wrong their thoughts are¡­

    "I didn''t expect your presence, fourth brother¡­ No, Crown prince, Theodore Light¡­" His tone appeared rather sarcastic while he greeted his brother.

    Leo always looked down on his twin brother from the moment they were born due to the latter''s cowardly nature.

    When the other elder brothers chose the path of freedom and refused the position of Crown Prince, the current King had no choice but to pass it to Theodore, which only made Leo angry and attend the Aclein Academy as a result.

    The Galarian King has nothing to with their relationship. However, to make sure not to raise the suspicions, it tried to maintain Leo''s behavior.

    Leo''s voice made Theodore flinch a bit.

 Chapter 121: Leahs destined knight

    "This guy isn''t a human but a disguised beast? Are you sure about that, old man?" Upon first glance, Leah''s Celestial grade Arcana spirit recognized that Leo isn''t Leo.

    Leah was shocked to find that the person below waiting for them is a platinum-grade beast.

    "It looks like your friend''s twin brother has already been killed and got replaced." Excalibur further revealed to her that a platinum-grade beast from the wild can take the shape of a human once it consumes its flesh.

    Although the truth stunned her, Leah managed to keep her face as calm as possible upon realizing that Leo is nothing but a peak-rank-4 beast. She thought that as long as Leo''s true combat ability is not greater than high-rank-6, she would be able to deal with it easily.

    As for why she wasn''t willing to mention to the instructor, it was because her Arcana spirit being a celestial grade is a secret known to no one. And only a peak-rank-8 Arcana master or a child of heaven with the eyes of truth would be able to distinguish any disguise.

    Now that she can''t claim to possess eyes of truth just to expose this beast, Leah kept quiet as the flying card slowly landed on the ground.

    As soon as she entered the academy, the first thing she saw is Leo''s greeting towards his twin. Although she didn''t know what kind of relationship these twins have, from Leo''s tone, Leah felt like the relationship doesn''t seem good.

    A part of her tells her to take advantage of it somehow and the other part of her tells her to just go and swung the sword to cut off its head.

    As for leaving the matter alone, she never thought of it. After all, she''s the only descendant of Legendary Arthur Pendragon, who once ruled this Eastern continent.

    Even if the Empire of Arcana vanished a hundred thousand years and only left with the tiny kingdom of Camelot, which used to be the capital region of the empire, Leah still takes pride in her ancestry and felt like she would tarnish the reputation of her ancestors if she let the beast getaway.

    No matter what, she decided to see Leo''s end before the tournament is over.

    But, since Leo''s identity is that of a royal prince, she felt like she had to be careful in dealing with this matter, or else, an international incident would arise because of her.

    Moreover, she also had her own mission to participate in this competition.

    "Welcome to the Aclein Academy." Meanwhile, Leo greeted the rest of the guests with a smile after greeting his twin brother.

    As Theodore was also looked down on by the instructor as well as the other representatives, they paid no attention to Leo''s earlier actions to their teammate. Instead, they returned the greetings, maintaining their etiquette.

    Leah also maintained her usual bright expression as she greeted the two of them. "You must be Leonard Light and Zona, nice meeting you two¡­"

    Zona was taken aback as she was suddenly greeted by this princess. "You know me?" She asked in disbelief.

    "Of course, one should always know the names of their worthy opponents. Your unique mimic ability is something desired by every academy. Too bad that we weren''t able to become fellow classmates. Our academy rules are strict after all."

    If it was someone else standing before them, they would have frowned as they would feel that Leah was mocking Zona because of her birth. However, Leo is a Galarian King and Zona felt happy instead after being acknowledged by someone from the royalty.

    The representatives from the Heavenly Academy were also happy thinking that their captain was reminding the girl that no matter what kind of potential Zona has, she lost the qualifications to enter their academy from the moment she was born to commoners.

    As for the person in question, Leah, she just said it without thinking much.

    With everyone having their own thoughts, the group set out towards the dorms as it is already too late for the tour.

    ***

    Meanwhile, after having dinner outside due to Claire''s request, Azzy, Gideon, and Claire returned to the academy.

    Feeling like a third wheel, as soon as they reached the entrance, Gideon left the two of them alone.

    In the end, Azzy ended up walking Claire to the female dormitory. Having no important topic to discuss, Azzy simply stayed silent as he continued to walk. Meanwhile, Claire was hesitating to talk about something.

    Taking a deep breath, she finally opened her mouth, "Azrael¡­ actually, I wanted to ask you about something."

    "Yes?" He looked at her.

    "Are you considering the offer from Sun Academy?" Even though it''s her sister who urged her to ask him about his decision as he has yet to give his answer after the academy rejected the offers from the other top academies, Claire herself was curious about it. After all, she decided on her future path to get into this Elite Academy.

    In response, Azzy shook his head, "No, I don''t have any interest in joining any academy for higher studies."

    "Eh?" Claire was taken aback and she halted her steps. "That means, you are joining an organization?" She didn''t expect even organizations had their eye on Azzy.

    Turning around, Azzy once again shook his head, "No. I don''t have an interest in joining the organization either. Once I graduate from the academy, I will roam the world of Arcana and train along the way."

    His response made Claire go in shock. For a while, she just stood there like a statue, not expecting Azzy to choose such a path. She felt all of her future plans with Azzy seemed to be broken like glassware.

    "Claire? Claire?" Azzy was even more puzzled to see her unexpected reaction. As he waved his hands, she returned to reality and apologized before forcing herself to smile, "I guess you must have taken that decision after thinking thoroughly. Good luck¡­"

    Although she was smiling on the surface, Azzy saw a trace of disappointment on her face. He wondered whether she was sad because he rejected her sister''s offer.

    Both of them continued to walk slowly. Claire didn''t open her mouth until they reach the dormitory before he said bye to her.

    Meanwhile, inside the dormitory, the warden was escorting Leah and her teammate to the third floor where there''s a room available for them. Although they disliked the fact that they have to share a small room with another person, the girls put up with it.

    After Zona left while informing a few people about their identities on her way, soon, Leah''s room was swarmed with the neighbors.

    Not willing to show themselves as arrogant princesses, both of them socialized with them for a while before the spirit of Excalibur spoke in her head, "He''s very near, Leah. The aura wasn''t exactly the same as a hundred thousand years ago, nevertheless, it was him, the one we are looking for and your destined knight."

    Trusting her Arcana''s words, Leah excused herself from the crowd and left the room to go downstairs and meet the person who was destined to be her knight and help her reviving the ancient Empire of Arcana.

    As she exited the dormitory, Leah saw a few people walking by. She wondered who it was. "There are too many people here. Who is it, old man¡­" She asked the sword spirit.

    Excalibur let out a sigh, "I can no longer sense him. Perhaps, he already left¡­"

    "Ugh¡­ You are seriously too weak, old man¡­" Leah didn''t waste any opportunity to tease her sword spirit. "Why does a celestial spirit like you have the worst sensing capabilities¡­ Even I can sense a person from ten kilometers away. Maybe, you should have stayed in retirement in the spirit world instead of reincarnating¡­"

    "I already told you that I represent the authority, you annoying brat¡­ not the power. You should be happy that a celestial grade spirit like me chose you." The old man snorted in response.

    "Yeah, yeah. I heard those words, a million times already. Try something new¡­" Leah didn''t take his words seriously either as it was just their everyday quarrel.

    Putting aside the matter, He then said in a serious tone, "I think he must be passing by when I sensed his presence. How about you follow this road? When we get near, I would be able to sense him."

    "Doesn''t matter¡­" She shrugged her shoulders, "If he''s as powerful as you claimed him to be, then, he will be in the tournament. We will eventually meet sooner or later."

 Chapter 122: Another challenge?

    "Guys, I think I left my watch at the restaurant." Gideon quickly thought of an excuse intending to give Azzy and Claire, some privacy.

    Azzy offered to tag along with him but Gideon rejected his help saying that he''ll back soon and urged them to go on before he left from their sight.

    Hitting the streets, Gideon grinned, "Azzy is so dense. It''s amazing that he still hasn''t figured out that Senior Claire likes him. Well, if Azzy had feelings for that girl from the Moon Academy, then, I can only wish for their happiness but until then, I gotta try to support Senior Claire¡­

    Who knows¡­ if they become a couple, he might change his decision of becoming a rogue warrior and follow her to the Sun Academy..." "Hmm?"

    Suddenly, the grin on his face was wiped off and replaced by a puzzled expression as he halted his steps. A familiar middle-aged man was standing in the way. "It''s been a while, Gideon¡­"

    "Uncle Ryland?" Gideon didn''t expect to meet his eldest uncle of all the people here. "Are you on a mission?" He asked.

    The rank-6 expert shook his head with a smile, "No, I''m here to inform you that you can return to the clan village, right away."

    "Eh?" Gideon was taken aback in surprise. He wondered why.

    Looking at his nephew''s expression, Ryland Crescent explained, "I''ve watched your recent performance in your school tournament. I reported the same to the clan. The Violet Pavilion is willing to offer you a spot if you return with me and prove that you mastered our clan''s Crescent swordplay."

    "Violet Pavilion?" Quickly, a frown appeared on his face. Gideon then bowed and apologized, "Sorry uncle, but I think I need to pass this opportunity. I still haven''t graduated from the academy."

    "Graduation?" His uncle also seemed to be displeased with Gideon''s statement. "You are rejecting the opportunity to train in Violet Pavilion over that mediocre academy of yours? Are you crazy?"

    "Don''t misunderstand me, Uncle. I have my reasons, not one but four of them¡­" Gideon adjusted his glasses and raised four fingers. "One, I don''t intend to serve the main branch.

    Two, if I have a graduation certificate, even if something happens and I''m forced to move out of the clan like my parents, I would have a place in this world regardless of my combat abilities. After all, I''m confident to score high CGPA in the graduation exam.

    Three, I''m happy with normal life. I don''t want to go there and spend my teenage life away in training.

    And four, I''m content with my current progress. I''m not in a rush to raise my combat capabilities."

    After Gideon finished explaining his reasons, Ryland just stared at him for a while in silence.

    At first, he got angry at Gideon''s first reason as Ryland is someone who was loyal to the main branch. But, then, after listening to everything, Ryland tried to think from the perspective of this genius nephew of his and can''t help but remember his deceased younger brother and sister-in-law.

    After Gideon''s parents died when he was only 3, Ryland''s younger sister and Gideon''s paternal aunt Isabella was the one that took him to the clan.

    However, just after three years, after convincing Isabella, Gideon''s grandparents sent him more than 8000 miles away from the home in the name of education so that he will not have the life of a slave to those people from the main branch¡­

    In fact, Isabella is the one that taught him the Crescent clan techniques every summer where Gideon goes to Egrein to spend time with her.

    If not for the fact that Ryland requested the clan leader, the Crescent clan didn''t even know the existence of Gideon who even awakened a gold grade Arcana and now, even mastered their clan sword technique at such a young age. This puts him at the level of a genius.

    Now that he reported to the clan about Gideon, Ryland was sure that the clan won''t let him get Gideon to do what he wanted to unless he forsakes the clan and cut ties with his family forever.

    Thinking deeply for a while, Ryland opened his mouth, "Gideon, you are fourteen now. Since you will be an adult in a few years, I''ll give you the time. On your 18th birthday, if you don''t return to the clan with me, then, I guess, you will have to cut off your ties with the clan and well as your family."

    After Ryland left Gideon alone, the latter stood there while clenching his fists. "Main branch¡­ Some day¡­ Some day¡­"

    ***

    Elite division male dormitory;

    "Hello there¡­" As Azzy returned to the dorm and climbing upstairs to go to his room, on the way, he was stopped by Prince Vann who was followed by his two new followers from the Aclein Academy. "I was waiting for you for a while. Good thing that you aren''t too late." Vann maintained a smile on his face.

    Azzy first glanced at the two tenth graders from the dropout division. ''Winter: 4 one-stars, 11 two-stars, and 4 three-stars. Joel: 21 two-stars, and 2 three-stars.'' He said to himself in his mind.

    Although never met, Azzy recognized the two of them from the list Vajra read, which was transferred to his mind by the Reaper.

    "Need anything?" Turning the attention to Vann, Azzy asked him.

    In response, Vann raised a paper. "Just like you asked, I got permission from your Vice-principal. Now, you are willing to spar with me?"

    "You want to spar me, right now?" Azzy raised his eyebrows. He couldn''t understand what''s going on within this guy''s mind. The Champions League will start the next morning, and this Prince of Hildegard wanted to get beaten up badly?

    As if Vann read Azzy''s mind, he spoke, "You aren''t participating in the league, anyway and I will graduate this year. Since I''m already at rank-6, I won''t pursue higher studies either. So, it''s unlikely that we might be able to spar against each other after today. I wish to have a serious battle with you.

    Your Vice Principal Ms. Fauns will be overseeing this battle. So, you don''t need to worry about get losing control or getting killed¡­"

    Prince Vann purposely added the last sentence to protect his own pride and also provoke Azzy into accepting his challenge or else, it wouldn''t look good for his image.

    "Fine then, I accept, however, just on one condition." Azzy raised his index finger and provoked him in return. "I want two proctors. One that is ready to save you at any time."

    "Fine." Prince Vann shrugged his shoulders while agreeing to Azzy''s condition almost immediately. Azzy''s provocation failed as Prince Vann already expected those words after understanding his personality. "With our instructor present, I won''t need to use my trump cards.

    Soon, as the two of them set out to the Arena-3 together, the two followers of Vann spread the matter to everyone.

    Before they even get to the Arena which was booked by Prince Vann, the matter was even spread to the girl dormitories.

    ***

    Elite division female dormitory;

    Leah and her roommate sat together with some girls from other academies at the rooftop garden.

    They were having a little girl talk among themselves while basking under the moonlight.

    "C''mon, Leah¡­ It''s impossible that no one has yet to proposed you." Like others, Luciana dropped all the formalities in this little girl talk, showing her disbelief after hearing from Leah that she didn''t get proposed for once much less dating a guy. She further commented, "Are those princes and nobles in your academy blind or something¡­"

    As Leah bitterly smiled at her direct words, her roommate said, "Well, it''s not their fault. Leah has her Royal knights with her all the time except during the classes, or tea ceremony.

    If not for the rules, her knights would have tagged along to even this place. Passing those four rank-7 knights, no one is daring enough to propose to her."

    "Oh!" The other girls exclaimed in unison. Luci shrugged her shoulders in response, "That can''t stop her from liking someone else."

    Looking at Leah, Luciana further questioned, "Surely, with so many handsome princes in the academy, you must have liked someone, right?"

    "No, it''s not about whether¡­" Just as Leah hurriedly waved her hands and tried to explain, suddenly, a girl stood up on her feet, "girls, it seems there''s a battle going on between Prince Vann and the Necromancer Prince. C''mon, let''s hurry up."

    "Necromancer Prince?" Leah tilted her head in confusion to hear such a strange nickname. Is he some royal prince with necromancy abilities? She wondered.

 Chapter 123: Azzy vs Prince Vann

    In the end, Leah followed the others while learning about Azzy''s recent battle on the way.

    By the time Leah arrived at the stadium, the battle is already started. Meanwhile, the stadium was filled with students, regardless of what academy they belong to.

    She saw a guy with more soul power than her, presumably, rank-6, is on the defensive while there''s a blurry figure with mere low-rank-5 soul power, constantly attacking him from different sides.

    Neither of them is using soul power nor the Arcana spirits. It appeared to be a physical brawl.

    Along with those two, two strong people are standing on the field while everyone else is seated in the audience section.

    She assumed they were of rank-7 after comparing the feeling she was getting from the two of them to her Royal knights.

    However, right then, the deep old-aged voice resounded in her head. "Hahaha¡­ how long has it been¡­ a hundred thousand years... You look exactly the same, old friend¡­" Excalibur seemed to be in excitement.

    "What is going on, old man? You seem too happy." She wondered whether this old man had truly gone senile.

    Excalibur answered, "We found your destined knight, Leah. The one in a black t-shirt and blue pants."

    "Who?" Leah looked around.

    "Not around you. Look at the person who was fighting. The one in offense¡­"

    Leah turned her head to the front. "That blurry figure?"

    Meanwhile, Azzy was at his peak speed as he continued to throw punches and kicks at Vann, who seems to be facing trouble due to his slow reaction.

    However, at the same time, he still managed to block four out of every five attacks aimed at his body.

    The battle goes on one-sided for a whole ten minutes before Vann released a soul energy shield over his hand which made Azzy retreat a few steps.

    Looking at Vann whose soul energy is removing the bruises from the surface of his skin, Azzy opened his mouth, "I guess your warming up time is over?"

    Before the battle started, Vann suggested they should at least warm-up before getting into actual battle, instead of going all out from the start.

    Since his opponent is intending to use neither soul power nor the Arcana spirit, Azzy followed the suit.

    Now that Vann used soul energy shield, Azzy wanted to know whether the warm is finally over or his opponent is just trying to defend himself. Azzy wanted to finish this battle as soon as possible. So, he hoped Vann would say that warm-up is over.

    And just like he hoped, Vann nodded in response and commented, "In terms of pure speed, you might be a match for even a peak-rank-6. I heard that one of your Arcana spirits is a top tier platinum-grade beast with lightning attribute. That might explain your abnormal speed."

    Azzy kept silent. How could he say that Vann is being misunderstood?

    He gained this speed, not because of his lightning attribute Arcana, but because he trained his body to the limits at a place where gravity is essentially 44 times that of the original.

    So, under normal circumstances, Azzy or anyone that trained in the Violet Pavilion will have abnormal speeds. The speed of the higher rank experts from the Violet Pavilion will even look like teleportation¡­

    Meanwhile, Leah finally saw Azzy''s appearance as he was just standing still without an ounce of expression on his face while being praised by his opponent.

    "So, my destined knight is this Necromancer Prince?" After getting a clear look at Azzy''s face, Leah thought he was too young. She felt like the girls weren''t exaggerating regarding his potential and well, his appearance to some extent.

    Even though she also possessed a celestial grade spirit, Leah wasn''t able to recognize the grade of the wolf. After all, it''s very tough for a human to distinguish the grade of a platinum grade beast and a celestial grade beast.

    Only fellow celestial grade spirits like Excalibur or rank-10 demi-gods can distinguish the difference.

    Leah assumed the wolf was a platinum grade beast as she knew that celestial grade spirits usually only exist one per attribute and evidently pure in nature. Not to mention, she knew that the black lightning ball of Aelius Crescent is the one that represents the lightning attribute.

    "Just look at the coincidence, Leah. This boy not only shares an identical appearance with the Arcana Empire''s strongest general but also his name. Even his stoic expression is the same." Meanwhile, the spirit of Excalibur seems to be in high spirits as it was watching Azzy through Leah''s eyes.

    "It doesn''t explain how a person with twin Arcana spirits like him ended up at a place like this." Leah voiced her suspicion. "It can''t be possible unless he doesn''t have any relations to the Death clan. In that case, wouldn''t be useless?"

    Even if Azzy is really the one that she was looking for, unless he''s from the Garcia family of the Death Clan, she can''t revive the ancient Empire of Arcana. So, he must be the descendant of Azrael Garcia at all costs.

    Excalibur appeared to be chill regarding her doubt.  She can almost imagine the old man shrugging his shoulders as if he has the form of a human. "Well, it''s been a hundred thousand years. That''s more than a thousand generations.

    It might be possible that somewhere in the line, this boy''s ancestors left the clan. Or it might even be possible that the clan might have been destroyed as time passed by. Who knows¡­"

    "Fine then, I''ll trust you, old man. But, before that, let me see how much potential this destined knight of mine has." Leah no longer conversed with her sword spirit and put her attention on the battle.

    As the Hydra hasn''t been revived yet, Azzy summoned the black lightning wolf in the Arena. At the same time, Vann summoned his gold dragon.

    With the presence of two platinum grade beasts in the arena, along with the teachers and instructors, even the Principal and other hidden experts arrived at the location to watch the battle.

    Looking at how his wife was acting as the proctor, Principal Barton''s face doesn''t look good. Although he was happy on the inside that Azzy rejected all the invitation, he was still worried about the greediness of the dark/hidden organizations.

    He felt like he should arrange protection for Azzy from now onwards to protect him from possible abduction.

    Meanwhile, in the Arena, the battle was going on between Vajra and the gold dragon while their respective masters were staying still, although for different reasons.

    Vann didn''t make a move as he was waiting for Azzy while the latter was staying still because Vajra requested him that it will battle the dragon alone.

    As a result, Vann and Azzy became spectators like everyone else.

    *Roar*

    Letting out a mighty roar, the gold dragon then, breathes out a sea of flames, covering a wide area.

    Azzy retreated a few more steps back to stay away from the flames while Vajra dodged to the side and continued to run with sparks dancing all over its body.

    As the Gold dragon continued to breathe out fire, nonstop, aiming at Vajra, the latter was barely able to keep up with its speed, dodging the flames while circling around the dragon.

    Vajra being very tiny compared to the dragon, helped out in this situation. With the gold dragon kept on breathing out flames, the latter continued to run around it as fast as it can to create a mirage of clones to confuse its opponent.

    Moving the head left and right, again and again, made the gold dragon go dizzy. Looking at its situation, Vann''s face turned serious. Despite a whole rank difference, Vann wasn''t able to see the chances of a solid win.

    "Delphina, fly." He gave an order to his Arcana so it gets easier for it to tackle the black wolf''s tricks.

    Understanding what its host is trying to tell, the gold dragon stopped breathing out the flames and then, flapped its wings to fly higher.

    As the black lightning wolf stopped running in circles and raised its head, Prince Vann gave an order. "Delphina, use Soul skill: Flames of Sun"

    *Roar*

    Letting out a mighty roar, the dragon raised its head and opened its mouth. Soon, a tiny fireball formed. However, as a few seconds passed, the tiny ball of fire became gigantic. It''s as if a mini sun has been formed in the sky.

    Right then, Azzy gave an order. "Vajra, unleash the soul skill: lightning prison"

 Chapter 124: Seal of Faery

    Looking at the gigantic blazing fireball in the sky that illuminated the entire academy like a miniature sun, most of the students who are watching from the stands couldn''t help but gulp in fear. Even the peak-rank-5 experts like Luciana and Leah thought that they won''t be able to handle the attack.

    Meanwhile, the rank-6 and above experts wondered whether Vann is intending to kill Azzy or something.

    But, they weren''t worried about his life because of the presence of so many rank-7s and a rank-8.

    Vann also thought the same. That''s why he never held back in unleashing this powerful soul skill of his while reducing more than a million soul power worth of soul energy.

    Despite being a platinum grade beast, as Vajra is only low-rank-5, he was confident that the black wolf won''t be able to stay alive once it was successfully hit.

    As for its dodging skill, Prince Vann already had a skill card within his pocket that can immobilize it for a few seconds. With perfect timing, he thought he can gain an edge in the battle.

    However, he didn''t expect Azzy to unleash a soul move in return instead of trying to evade the attack. "Soul skill: Lightning prison."

    *Wow*

    Letting out a powerful bark, Vajra unleashed its fifth soul skill. Dark clouds gathered above in the sky, covering the moon.

    Due to the stadium lights and the miniature sun, most of the spectators never realized the disappearance of the moon, or rather they didn''t pay attention to it. Only rank-7 experts realized how the soul skill is going to be unleashed.

    Meanwhile, the giant ball of flames has been completed. The gold dragon was ready to throw it at its enemy. It was waiting for orders on which it should target, the human or the wolf.

    Before it received a reply from its host, suddenly, a net of lightning dropped on the fireball along with the dragon, forcing it to crash on the floor without any resistance.

    The move surprised the spectators. However, Vann appeared calm. Looking at Azzy, he said, "You know that it can''t trap my Delphina for long, right?"

    Azzy stayed silent, not because he doesn''t want to answer but it''s because he''s currently busy getting lectured by the Reaper.

    "Made a wrong decision. Instead of unleashing the soul skill towards the dragon, you should have let Vajra trap its master. He''s a human. It''s obvious that his resistance will be lesser than the dragon.

    While he tries to resist and escape from the prison, Vajra and you can coordinate your attacks and kill the dragon with the spear of death and laughing skull of darkness combo attack followed by Vajra''s any other soul skill. As for that fireball, you can just defend it with the undead summonings¡­"

    Azzy wanted to refute by stating that it was Vajra''s wish to duel the dragon. So, he can''t give such an order. However, he didn''t get any time to argue with the Reaper as the dragon is already destroying the net made of lightning just by touching it with the giant fireball.

    Azzy immediately ordered the black wolf to unleash another soul skill.

    *Grrrr¡­*

    Upon receiving the orders, Vajra growled and bared its teeth at the gold dragon that almost freed its upper body.

    The miniature sparks that are dancing around its body, now became big and dense that now it appeared as if Vajra was coated in lightning armor.

    It dashed towards the dragon in a zig-zag manner like a flash at a speed neither the dragon nor its master was able to see its position.

    And by the time the gold dragon became free from the lightning net while feeling a little bit numb over its body due to lightning''s paralyzing effect, something''s just struck it on its front right limb.

    *Grraaaa*

    The gold dragon let out a loud, harsh, piercing cry as its right foreleg turned into ash as if it was struck by lightning. However, before it gets the time to process the pain, another powerful flash of lightning struck its left forelimb and turns it into ash.

    The giant ball of miniature sun that was hovering above its mouth was launched in a random direction due to the loss of control.

    "Delphina¡­" Prince Vann shouted in worry.

    By luck or bad luck, the ball of flames that was launched in the air found its way towards Azzy.

    Looking at it, Vice Principal Sahara thought of saving Azzy as he seemed rooted on the spot while staring at the incoming attack. She wondered whether he was frozen in fear or something.

    However, right then, she received instruction from the Principal to stand down and not interfere. He had seen Azzy battle the robot when he was only high-rank-4.

    More than nine months ago, Barton saw that his physique is equal to that of a peak-rank-5 Arcana master. Now that Azzy has low-rank-5 soul power, Barton was confident that even if he was hit head-on, Azzy will, at the very least, won''t die, and at most, he will suffer heavy injuries.

    Just as the miniature sun almost reached him, Azzy made his move.

    He made a fist and motioned his right arm and leg backward. Pouring more than half of the soul energy into it, he punched towards it.

    *Boom*

    An enormous explosion occurred, just two meters away from Azzy, blasting him off a dozen meters away before he managed to land on the ground. Aside from little bruises on the face and arms, almost no damage occurred to Azzy.

    In the meantime, as the black wolf momentarily got distracted because of the explosion, the gold dragon hurriedly flapped its wings to fly into the sky. As soon it escaped from Vajra''s range, Prince Vann pushed his leg against the ground and jumped high, and landed on its back.

    Standing on its back, Prince Vann caressed its back, trying to soothe its pain, "I''m here. Everything will be alright, Delphina."

    Taking out a healing card, he proceeds to heal.

    "As I said earlier, your opponent has a huge advantage. Vajra cannot harm that gold dragon but the latter can harm Vajra. As long as they are in the sky, you cannot defeat them. Too bad that you cannot summon the death scythe¡­" The Reaper then suggested letting him take over the control of the body for a short to apply a sealing technique that Azzy has learned from the advanced runes book but didn''t master yet.

    At first, Azzy was reluctant to depend on the Reaper as he felt it was cheating but then, the latter, who understood his thoughts, explained that despite being an immortal cosmic entity, he was still an Arcana spirit just like Vajra or the gold dragon. So, whether Azzy fights or he fights, it''s the same unless there''s a personal vendetta.

    Only did then, Azzy allowed the Reaper to possess him. After all, he has no intention to battle Vann in the first place.

    "Vajra, return this instant," Azzy''s voice suddenly deepened while sending a chill to everyone in the surroundings. Upon hearing the Reaper''s voice, Vajra obediently returned to the mindscape, disappearing from everyone''s eyes.

    Prince Vann frowned because of the change in Azzy''s voice coupled with his eyes turning pitch black with no visible pupils. The other higher rankers stunned upon discovering that it''s a possession.

    It''s because Vajra is still outside when Azzy was possessed. That would only mean, the other Arcana spirit is also a platinum grade beast. Well, most of them expected it would be a platinum grade but still, watching it personally is entirely another thing.

    Under the control of the Reaper, Azzy raised his hand. Soul energy started to pour out of his body. Various runic symbols appeared and were arranged in the shape of a seven-pointed star.

    "Seal of Faery" Barton gasped in shock as he watched the seal successfully form.

    Meanwhile, Vann, who also discovered that Azzy was possessed by his second Arcana spirit, ordered the gold dragon to unleash its soul skill.

    "Soul skill: Eternal Firebeam."

    As a million soul power worth of soul energy transferred from Vann to the gold dragon which then added fire element to it and then condensed it into a ball inside its mouth to shoot at Azzy, the latter pushed the seal onto the ground while pouring all of his soul power in this attack.

    All of a sudden, the seal expanded to more than fifty meters long and wide, almost covering the field inside the Arena. The rank-7 proctors jumped away from the seal as they sensed the suppression effect from it.

    The gold dragon didn''t even get enough time to prepare to attack Azzy as the seal was activated, bringing the dragon and its rider onto the ground, almost instantly.

    Both of them weren''t even able to resist the seal before they crashed on the ground. Vann and the gold dragon trying to get up but they felt as if someone pulling their legs down from below and at the same time, someone pushing their heads down from above.

    Adding on top of that, just like the quicksand soul skill of Hydra, the seal started to absorb all the soul power from Vann and the dragon while strengthening itself.

    Soon, the dragon disappeared and Vann lost his consciousness. The last thing he saw was Azzy, who just stood there in silence while staring at him with his pitch-black eyes.

    As the rest of the audience was amazed, one person was looking intently at the unconscious Vann and licked his lips.

    Ten minutes later;

    The door opened and a person entered the room while supporting the unconscious prince of Hildegard. The person put Vann on the bed. Suddenly, Vann''s chest was pierced by his helper''s hand.

 Chapter 125: The Galarian King evolves into Celestial grade

    From the moment Prince Vann summoned his gold dragon, Leo felt like he will be able to tear down those limits of his soul orb once he consumes the gold dragon''s core, which means, eating Prince Vann.

    He also felt the same towards the black wolf but he knew that he will die the moment he tries to kill the boy. So, Leo targeted Vann, instead.

    However, there''s also a huge issue with this prince of Hildegard.

    One is that he''s a mid-rank-6. So, he won''t go down without a fight.

    The second is that his Arcana spirit is a giant dragon. So, it''s easy to cause a commotion.

    And finally, he''s the crown prince of his kingdom. Meaning, it''s hard for Leo to battle Vann alone without any audience.

    For him to reach his goal without getting caught, Leo needs to solve the above three issues.

    Luckily for him, the first two issues were solved on their own. Neither Vann is conscious to put up a fight against him nor the dragon''s physical body is alive to cause a commotion. The only thing that he needed is to isolate Vann from everyone.

    And he immediately acted without wasting time. He immediately volunteered to take him to the infirmary giving an excuse that it is his duty as the student council president of the academy and the fifth prince of the nation.

    Leah was the only one who frowned at his statement. She clearly didn''t want any human in this platinum-grade beast''s hands. However, she can''t anything about it because the representative instructor gave his permission.

    She neither belongs to the host nor she belongs to Moon Academy. Moreover, she didn''t even know Vann personally. So, she was forced to keep silent and then, turned her attention to Azzy.

    Now that she saw Azzy''s prowess with her own eyes, Leah wanted to recruit him even if he had nothing to do with her destiny.

    Meanwhile, with his plan successful, Leo brought Vann to the infirmary. As the timings are over, only one nurse is present at the infirmary and Leo simply informed her that Vann needs to rest for a while.

    With his reputation in the academy, Leo fooled the nurse and finally, attacked Vann who is in a vulnerable state.

    "You¡­" The blood trickled from Vann''s mouth as he opened his eyes. His eyes widened in shock, finding the most unexpected person ambushing him at such a moment. It turned out to be Leonard Light¡­

    "Why¡­" It was all Vann could speak from his mouth before Leo pulls out his heart by force. "Sorry but, I need to live too¡­"

    After killing Vann, Leo wiped the blood from his hands, and then, stored his body into the storage card.

    While the whole academy started to talk about Azzy and at the same time, fellow competitors diss Prince Vann for overestimating himself and losing his prestige in the process, Leo casually left the academy in front of everyone''s eyes.

    After an hour of walking, he stopped and looked around.

    Making sure no one is spying on him, Leo started to run at his maximum speed. Within no time, he reached the outskirts of the city where there''s no rank-7 and above Arcana masters in the surrounding three-mile radius.

    Leo then proceeded to go into a dark alley with no people around and finally took out the dead body of Prince Vann before he assumed his original form.

    As soon as he appeared in his original form of Galarian beast, it immediately triggered the senses of rank-7 and above experts in the city.

    They were able to sense the presence of a beast somewhere nearby the city.

    Thousands of miles away, a frail-looking old woman is wobbling in the streets with a gourd in her hand, dressed like a commoner. She seemed very drunk.

    However, right then, she suddenly stopped in her steps and looked in the direction where Aclein city is located. A frown appeared on her face, "A wild beast snuck into the human world?"

    At the same time, inside the Principal''s office of Aclein academy, Principal Barton was rejecting the offers from the instructors. "Sorry but, I will only think about it after he graduated from the academy. So, all of you must wait at least 2 years. This is also the decision of my student. Now if you¡­"

    Suddenly, all of them felt the presence of a beast outskirts of the city. Barton immediately stood up on his feet, "gentlemen, I think you already sensed it. I don''t know how it happened but I''m leaving, right now."

    Meanwhile, in the city outskirts, the Galarian King opened its mouth widely and swallowed Prince Vann''s entire body in one bite as it was intelligent enough to figure out that humans will be able to spot him if it wastes any time.

    So, it didn''t bother to taste such a fine delicacy in front of him.

    As soon as it swallowed him, Vann''s body was rapidly digested. Meanwhile, the gold dragon''s core dissolved in the stomach of Galarian King.

    Suddenly, the Galarian King felt a surge of power inside it. the core/soul orb within its body began to expand and become denser.

    At the same time, it also felt an abundant amount of knowledge passed down to his brain. it not only contains the memories of Vann but also the soul skills knowledge of the gold dragon. An imprint of the gold dragon also appeared on its soul orb.

    The Galarian King grew gold dragon wings and horns. Gold dragon scales also appeared on its skin.

    "Yes..." The Galarian King clenched its fist in excitement. At the moment, it not only knew that it mutated once again to become a Celestial grade beast but it also broke through the limits of rank-4. It was now a high-rank-5 beast capable enough to wipe out rank-7 experts.

    Just then, it sensed a rank-8 human is approaching and just two miles away and a couple of rank-7s is a mile away.

    The Galarian King then transformed into the deceased Prince Vann and stayed there until the arrival of Barton who reached there first.

    "Prince Vann, what are you doing here?" He asked in surprise. Just a minute ago, he felt the presence of the beast disappeared.

    Vann replied with a serious tone, "I was strolling around and sensed the presence of a beast. When I arrive here while suppressing my aura, I saw a beast was eating a human. It transformed into Prince Leonard Light before teleporting away. Mr. Everglade, what''s going on?"

    The Galarian King acted as if it was the victim and in return, put the blame on the Principal instead. It even intentionally revealed that Leo was a disguise of the beast all along to remove any amount of suspicions towards it.

    And now that it''s a celestial grade beast, with the memories acquired from Vann, it realized that only a peak-rank-9 Arcana master can detect him.

    So, it intended not to return to Hildegard where a peak-rank-9 is staying.

    "Leonard Light?" Just like Vann expected, Barton''s face frowned in realization. He connected all the dots of how Leo never used his Arcana spirit and is always rank-4.

    Suddenly, something clicked in his mind and Barton immediately grabbed Vann, "Your soul power should be at mid-rank-6. Why is it now peak-rank-5? Prince Vann, I apologize for my actions but prove your Identity."

    The Galarian King who longed prepared for such question, let out a smile and said, "relax, Mr. Everglade, I''m indeed Vann Hildegard. That was just a technique to let me improve my soul power by two levels for a certain time. Let me show you something."

    Raising his hand, he spoke, "come out, Delphina."

    Instantly, the familiar-looking Gold dragon was summoned in front of Barton.

    It was actually a part of its soul that was transformed into a fake Arcana spirit due to the gold dragon''s imprint.

    "Now, will you remove your hands?" He once again turned serious, indicating his stature as a royal prince.

    Barton apologized and moved away. In the meantime, a few rank-7s arrived at the location. Vann explained the same to others.

    Everyone was alerted upon hearing that the Prince of the nation has been dead and was replaced by a platinum grade Galarian beast.

    Meanwhile, at the kingdom of Hildegard;

    An old man was in a deep meditation while floating in the air at some remote temple.

    Suddenly, he opened his eyes, "My imprint on Vann is gone?" As he traced down the location, he narrowed his eyes, "Aclein city?"

 Chapter 126: Altered timeline

    Imperial Palace, Egrein city;

    King Brian was soundly sleeping in his chamber. Suddenly, the door was knocked continuously.

    *Bang* Bang* bang* bang*

    "Argh¡­ who is that b*****d making noise." Brian wakes up in anger and found out someone is knocking on the door. Followed by the knock, he heard the voice of his father. "Brian, what are you sleeping sound like a pig? Open the door, this instant, or I will break it now¡­"

    "Eh? Father? At this time? Looks like he is in a bad mood. I wonder what happened." Brian slowly stepped down from the bed and walked to the door before opening it lazily.

    As soon as he opened the door while rubbing his eyes, suddenly, the old man before him grabbed his collar and almost lifted him up in anger, "I told you to send knights to Leo and keep eyes on him at all times."

    At first, King Brian Light was taken aback by his father''s actions, but then, as soon as he heard the words, his expression immediately changed. Freeing himself, he asked in a worried tone, "What happened, father?" He felt like something bad happened to Leo. Was he kidnapped by the enemies or was he harmed by someone?

    Brian''s father Timothy Light replied, "Our Leo was no more. The future king of the nation of Northern Qudour was killed by a platinum-grade beast. The person who we thought Leo was a disguised platinum grade beast, all along. Tell me, Brian, where did it go wrong?"

    Timothy had fought wars in the past and seen a lot of deaths, including his brothers and children. So, he wasn''t saddened by Leo''s death. However, the fact that he wanted Leo to become the next king made him feel more depressed.

    Timothy had watched all of his grandsons from their birth.

    Comparing to other brothers, Leo wasn''t great in any way. He was born with a gold-grade Arcana spirit like his other brothers.

    His intelligence wasn''t that great compared to even other students, much less his genius brothers. His behavior isn''t good as well. He was full of arrogance and always looks down on others, especially his own identical twin.

    Despite all of it, Timothy still wanted him to become the next king because of a prophecy.

    When he was born, a seer told him that if Leo becomes the king, then, he will bring down the Southern Qudour and merge both of the nations to form one Qudour nation like before.

    To make this possible, Timothy had to encourage the crown prince, the eldest of the brothers to not get trapped within this tiny nation as he had better prospects.

    As the Northern Qudour nation was no longer ruled by the royal family but the government, the remaining two princes also followed the suit.

    Then, he had a talk with his son, the current king, and let Brian announce Theodore as the crown prince first to follow the royal traditions, and wait until both of them reach rank-6 before conducting a fair test for the Kingship.

    With Theodore''s personality, Timothy was confident that Leo would claim the kingship. Even if the former''s personality changes, he still has plan-B with him that will ensure the victory of his youngest grandson.

    However, now, all those schemes and plans turned out to be a failure. His long dream of honoring his ancestors to bring back the land they lost has been disappeared with just a piece of news of Leo''s death.

    Upon hearing his father''s explanation, The King lost his balance and almost fell on the door before he was grabbed by his father. "You¡­ you aren''t lying, right? Leo was killed?"

    "Yes." Timothy let out a sigh as he nodded. "I confirmed the news." Although he wanted to beat this fatty son of his for refusing to provide the protection to his rebellious son that in resulted in his death, upon looking at his son''s face, Timothy''s expression turned soft.

    "Did you say that the Leo we saw last time might be a platinum grade beast?" He slowly raised his head and looked at his father.

    Timothy nodded in response, "We don''t know exactly when it happened but I think it is in this year because the Leo had met the ancestor, last February."

    Looking at the two knights standing behind his father in silence, Brian ordered, "Call Michal and Henry. I need them to investigate¡­"

    "Don''t bother." Timothy cut him off and explained, "I already done that as soon as I received the news.

    "Father, that Everglade is the Principal. Leo is his responsibility. However, he is a rank-8 well versed with barrier techniques. Neither you nor I can deal with him if he refused to atone for his mistakes.

    I need the help of the ancestor to make him pay for letting my son die¡­" He growled in anger.

    At the same time, from the kingdom Hildegard, their two strongest generals who are at peak-rank-8 were being dispatched by Vann''s master upon sensing the abnormality in the timeline of Hildegard, meaning the time traveler has made a significant change to the future.

    The disappearance of his imprint on Vann, implying his death, and the shifting of the timeline of Hildegard at the same time, the old man felt the two of them are connected.

    He also concluded that the time traveler is someone from the future that has a possible connection with the death of his disciple.

    Not only him, but all the publicly known and hidden rank-9 Arcana masters have also sensed the shifting of the timeline. Most of them didn''t care about it as they have lived for thousands of years. Shifting of the future means nothing to them.

    Not to mention, the timeline of the whole world isn''t changed. The timeline shifted significantly only for few nations like Northern and Southern Qudour, Hildegard kingdom, etc... As for the others, it can be considered negligible.

    The ones who wanted to find Azzy but couldn''t sense where he was hiding, immediately sent a message to their search parties to go into these seven nations that were affected.

    However, those who were just a step away from the immortal realm like Qridus Garcia also sensed Azzy''s presence within the Northern Qudour nation, although they weren''t able to connect to Azzy''s dream like the Death clan''s head.

    As the Champions League is going to start the next day, some of them suspected that the time traveler might be hiding in the Aclein city. If not, he might at least come to see the event.

    In any case, they felt like they couldn''t miss this chance. So, they sent their teams to the Aclein city while sending the searching parties to other nations.

    As for the hidden clans that existed to protect the world, they only have one order. Kill the time traveler that changed the future of a few nations with his act.

    They don''t know whether the change is good or bad, but they are bound by the duty to exterminate such a variable.

    Garcia Palace, Death Clan village;

    Qridus frowned as he too sensed it. Sitting on this throne, he mumbled, "Since the whole world hasn''t been affected, and I guess it is okay. After all, he is just a kid, but some of the other hidden clans won''t give him a second chance.

    I think I need to protect him from them and preferably, sent him back to the future. The owner of a celestial grade spirit can do wonders if he were to bloom at the right place¡­"

    Thinking for a while, he summoned two elders of peak-rank-7 and then, ordered them to go to Aclein city upon getting to a conclusion that Azzy might be a participant in the Champions League.

    Principal''s office, Aclein Academy;

    Azzy, Gideon, and ninth grade Ranier were summoned early in the morning to the principal''s office.

    Azzy and Gideon met Ranier on the way before going together to the location. All the way, the three of them wondered why they have been summoned so early.

    *Knock* *knock*

    "Come in." upon getting permission from the principal, Azzy opened the door to find two middle-aged men sitting on the sofa while everyone had this grim-looking expression on their faces.

    "Just a while ago, I have confirmed the news that Leonard light is actually dead and was being possessed by a platinum grade beast. He stopped using his Arcana spirit after the trip to Nlethemar region. The three of you were his teammates." Pointing to the two guests, Barton further said, "These two gentlemen from the royal palace would like to enquire you the details¡­"

 Chapter 127: Will Azzy participates in the Champion League?

    "So, you are saying that his highness left you alone between the beasts and ran away like a coward and might have coincidentally run into the Galarian King?" One of the royal inspectors glared at Azzy after listening to the story. Clearly, he didn''t believe it.

    The other royal inspector then voiced his suspicion, "And you defeated all of them alone?"

    Leaving the part where Leo tried to ambush him, Azzy told them what happened. In his version, the number of beasts the two of them lured has become too many. So, Leo used a teleportation card, leaving behind Azzy as food to the beasts.

    After finishing them, he then, he later met Leo on the way to his return.

    However, the only issue in their eyes here is that they couldn''t accept the fact that despite being a high-rank-4 back then, Azzy managed to defeat the horde of beasts when even a rank-5 like their fifth prince can''t manage it.

    If the principal hadn''t told them that Azzy was a rank-4 back then, they would have thought it was completely possible, but now that they know of the truth, they wondered of a foul play and couldn''t help but suspect Azzy.

    After all, they knew their fifth prince''s personality very well. A talented guy like Azzy would either become his lackey or his enemy.

    As both of them looked at him suspiciously, Principal Barton chipped in, "My disciple possesses platinum grade beast. Of course, no amount of rank-4 beasts will be a match for him."

    It wasn''t a secret that Azzy was the holder of a platinum-grade beast. However, Azzy being the disciple of the Principal? Ranier thought it was nothing but a rumor.

    Now that he heard directly from the Principal, he was indeed surprised.

    It wasn''t only him. Even the two royal inspectors were also surprised by Barton''s revelations and couldn''t help but take a look at Azzy with their widened eyes.

    The royal palace didn''t know that there is a platinum-grade beast''s holder existed in their nation. And what''s more, it turned out to be the disciple of the Principal.

    While one of them who used to work in the military thought this matter needs to reach the higher authorities, on the other hand, the other royal inspector who was completely loyal to the royal family was sure that there is foul play now.

    The existence of a platinum-grade beast holder, the disappearance of Leo and possessed by another platinum-grade beast from the Arcana world, Barton''s feigning of ignorance to this matter for the past ten months, he wondered everything was connected somehow.

    "Perhaps, this student was telling the truth. But, it isn''t complete. After finishing the horde of beasts, this Azrael must be extremely mad at his highness.

    After successfully killing his highness, this boy might have ventured deep into the caves to find the platinum grade beast, or just using his Arcana''s aura he can provoke the wild platinum grade beasts and lure them towards him.

    In any case, the Galarian King must have met Azrael. To cover up his crime, he might have made a deal with the beast and let it swallow the body to disguise itself as a human. After all, a platinum-grade beast is an intelligent one.

    And this Everglade, to help his student, he must have feigned ignorance until now. Now, everything is connected but speculations won''t do anything. I need just one solid proof that can say Leo had either enmity with Azrael or the principal. I need to stay here and investigate it until I find the truth."

    The royal inspector formed his own crazy theory in his mind.

    With each to their own hidden agenda, the two royal inspectors stood up from the seat, "Okay, that will be all. We are leaving."

    Saying goodbye to the Principal, both of them left from there.

    "Student Ranier, Gideon, both of you return to your dorms. Azrael, stay here." Principal Barton sent them away to talk with Azzy alone about an important matter.

    After they left, Barton looked at Azzy and asked, "Tell me truthfully. Leonard didn''t run away because he was out of soul power but it is because he tried to kill you, right?" He appeared serious now, unlike his calm expression from earlier.

    The principal knew the clash between Leo and Azzy during the first week of the semester. Knowing Leo''s personality, Barton was sure that he will try to bully Azzy.

    However, to his surprise, after the trip to Nlethemar, Leo suddenly changed his attitude towards Azzy.

    Back then, Barton thought Leo must have seen Azzy''s ability and decided to be his friend, but now he realized it is because the fifth prince was already killed by then and was replaced by the Galarian King.

    Azzy responded to his question with a nod. "Yes. Not only but twice. However, if I said it, they would put the blame on me, instead."

    "They will still put the blame on you, Azrael. You don''t know about the royal family. Most of the royal families are the same. They would rather kill a thousand innocents than letting one culprit go away whenever their family member becomes a victim."

    "Huh!" Azzy raised his eyebrows. He didn''t expect that they would be this devious.

    Meanwhile, the Reaper stayed silent as he wanted to see where this goes. He even wished for the royal family to try assassinating him so that Azzy understand how wicked the nature of the human is¡­

    Barton continued, "Those two seemed like they have gone but the troubles aren''t gone yet. Remember the attitude the Galarian King maintained towards you. You even became the president of the disciplinary committee because of that beast.

    Now, it is nowhere to be found. So, you are the perfect target for the royal family to take revenge.

    As your master, naturally, I will protect you, but the royal family has a peak-rank-8 expert. If that old ancestor comes here, even I won''t be able to do anything.

    The only ones who can help you out are the government of Northern Qudour.

    That''s why I decided to take back my decision of letting you develop secretly. I want you to participate in the Champions League in the empty position allotted to Leonard and expose your talent to the world."

    A platinum grade beast holder is in the category of a protected species of the nation as they. Harming them, even the royal family won''t get away with it. Of course, the prerequisite is that they had to join the public service of any governmental body.

    Barton didn''t want Azzy to get tangled with the government either. He just wanted to use it to tackle the royal family for a few months. Once the Aclein Academy merges into Eternal Educational institutions after this semester, neither Azzy nor Barton wouldn''t have to worry about anyone else.

    As Barton asked Azzy to participate in the League in place of Leo, Azzy asked the Reaper for advice.

    The Reaper responded with a chuckle, "It looks like you wanted to participate in the tournament?"

    As expected, there''s nothing that Azzy can hide from the Reaper. Originally, he planned to keep quiet and leave for his timeline, but he is also a kid who can be influenced by certain situations. This time, it''s the battle itself.

    Azzy didn''t feel good for taking the help of the Reaper to defeat him. He wanted to defeat him without taking any help.

    So, when his master proposed the idea, the first thing Azzy thought is whether he gets to battle Vann once again. However, at the same time, he knew that his mission is far more important than his wishes.

    That''s why he wanted to know whether it''s okay to participate or not. He had full trust that this specter would never ever suggest a thing that is bad for his future.

    When questioned by the Reaper, Azzy indeed revealed his intentions of battling against Vann, this time, on his own.

    "Due to the restrictions in this place, I''m not exactly sure what happened but somehow, one of your actions caused the shift in the timeline, Azrael. Now, the hidden clans will send the people to either capture you or kill you. Well, it doesn''t matter as long as you never reveal the hourglass.

    Let me take over your body for a moment. I need to check the reason behind the timeline shift."

 Chapter 128: Who is at fault?

    The Reaper had detected the timeline shift the moment Leo ambushed Vann and successfully killed him.

    Since it happened just within 15 minutes after the Azzy''s battle with Vann and timeline shift can only be done by both of the time travelers, the Reaper wondered whether it is due to Barbara or Azzy.

    If it''s the latter, then, the reason for the timeline shift is the duel that''s just happened. Thinking that it''s unlikely, the Reaper concluded that Barbara might be the reason.

    However, he didn''t know the reason. Too bad that he had already given the control back to Azzy.

    Back then, Azzy was a little displeased with how the Reaper spoiled the match with one move. Respecting his host''s feelings, the Reaper never tried to take control of Azzy''s body even while he''s sleeping.

    But, now that Leo''s secret is out and the worse that he tried to prevent is going to happen, the Reaper left the choice to Azzy.

    To his surprise, suppressing his own wishes, Azzy asked him for the opinion.

    The Reaper felt happy and immediately allowed the boy to do whatever he wants, despite knowing the risks.

    At the same time, he also wished to know even more regarding the timeline shift. If he knows the reason, the Reaper thought he would be able to help out Azzy from the crisis.

    Thankfully for him, Azzy gave the permission.

    While returning to the dorm, Azzy took over his body and connected with the time. Almost instantly, he realized what event triggered it and let out a sigh, "So, Azrael''s duel was the reason, huh!"

    When he returned the control to Azzy once again, the latter asked him about it.

    "Looks like the Galarian king turned out to be smart. It took advantage of the situation and killed the Prince of Hildegard during his vulnerable state. Now, it abandoned its previous form and transformed into Vann Hildegard.

    Not only that, the Galarian King now evolved to celestial grade and removed the limits the heavens put on the wild beasts."

    "Eh? Prince Vann was assassinated?" Azzy went into a daze. "Because of me?"

    As soon as he heard the news, in depression he didn''t even listen to the rest of the explanation. "I was  the one who sent him to afterlife. I killed a person..."It''s all my fault."

    He blamed himself for his opponent''s death. Azzy thought if he hadn''t accepted the challenge, Vann would have been alive.

    Slowly, the Protos energy that was being suppressed once again started to act.

    The Reaper quickly suppressed it before he said, "No, it isn''t your fault, Azrael. Think about it for a second.

    Vann was the one who challenged you which result in the battle.

    Your Vice-Principal Sahara is the one that approved of the challenge which resulted in the battle.

    Claire is the one who hurried you to eat fast and finish the dinner early which resulted in you meeting him at the stairs.

    Barbara is the one who recommended you to the prince of Hildegard that made him want to spar against you.

    Gideon is the one who challenged the student of Moon Academy, which made you battle him and attracted the attention of Vann.

    Lark is the one that reported to you about Gideon''s battle.

    The two students of Moon Academy bullied the students from other distant academies which made Gideon challenge them that triggered the battle between you and them.

    Princess Snieca is the one that suggested you attend this academy.

    Your grandfather Oakley is the one that sent you to the death clan which made you time travel to this timeline.

    Like these, several incidents triggered a chain of events that led to Vann''s death. Then, are all of them responsible for his death? Or is the Galarian King that committed the deed?

    If you still think that you are the culprit, then, every one of the above is also the culprit even including me, your parents, and your ancestors because you are born because of them.

    If not, then, there''s only one person responsible for it."

    "Galarian King¡­" Azzy clenched his fist as he growled the beast''s name. All of his depression turned into hatred when he realized the truth. He felt an enormous amount of hatred towards the beast that not only killed a person but it even dragged him into the mess with the royal family. "I''m going to kill it, right away¡­"

    Thankfully, the Reaper was completely suppressing the Protos energy and the aura, or else, a commotion would have risen in the academy due to his aura eruption.

    "Calm down, Azrael. In your current state, you aren''t a match for that beast even if you go all out."

    "Then, I will turn back the time¡­." Azzy immediately summoned the hourglass.

    "Don''t be an idiot, Azrael." The Reaper almost roared in return to make him get back to his senses. "Why do you think we let him live until now. It''s because you can''t prove that he''s a beast. No one here is a peak-rank-8 that can vouch for your statement. Even if there is one, will the royal family believe it?"

    "Sorry¡­" Azzy quickly apologized to the Reaper upon learning his mistake. "I guess I''m acting too much on my emotions and didn''t think clearly."

    The Reaper commented, "Emotions will always cloud one''s judgment, Azrael. That''s why it''s important to control them as much as you can while making a decision."

    Azzy stayed silent for a while. He glanced at the hourglass in his hand and remembered something.

    Gripping the hourglass tightly, Azzy then asked, "Then, can I reverse the time and return Vann to life? You said there''s a timeline shift, which means, Vann isn''t fated to die. So, if I just reject his challenge, he will live. I can do that, right?"

    "No, it will only make things worse." The Reaper let out a deep sigh. "I told you that the Galarian King is now a celestial grade beast. It can resist the effect of time rewind. So, if you turn back the time, Vann will sure return to life.

    However, his soul power will not return. He will have to live as a mortal and die within a few decades. He''s the crown prince of Hildegard. Suddenly losing soul power will only make his situation worst.

    The only way to save him is to travel through the time and rewrite history, or in this case, restore history."

    "Then, what should I do now? Should I continue to ignore the presence of the beast while it goes after another victim just because I can always rewrite history?" Even though the Reaper convinced him to not use the time reverse, Azzy still can''t forgive Galarian King beast for its actions.

    From the start, he always thought of exposing its true colors during a spar or some tournament so that he can kill it and save himself trouble.

    But, when he really wants to exterminate it, the Reaper said that he wasn''t even a match for it anymore. Azzy didn''t know what he should do¡­

    The Reaper responded that although the current Galarian King can''t be sensed by anyone except for peak-rank-9 Expert, they can still be sensed by a fellow celestial grade Arcana spirit.

    He further explained how he sensed the presence of a celestial grade inside a girl when he applied the Seal of Faery to defeat Vann. The Reaper didn''t explain to Azzy about the Excalibur and its relation with him as it would complicate things further, but he did advise to be patient for now as the problem no longer belongs to him alone, at least not anymore.

    ***

    Several flying cards can be seen in the skies of Northern Qudour nation. Everyone''s destination is the same. The travelers are indeed going towards Aclein city to watch the Champions League.

    Meanwhile, more than a thousand meters above the ground which is allotted for the flying summons, a lightning dragon was gliding through the skies like lightning while leaving behind a streak of sparks.

    Those who were on the ground or traveling on the Flying Cards couldn''t help but raise their heads to see the streak of lightning traveling above them.

    Eventually, it reached the skies of Aclein city and started to slowly descend onto the ground.

    It landed in the grassland which is located on the outskirts of the city before a young and attractive woman with fierce-looking eyes stepped down before entering the city.

    "That damn prick¡­" Izora gritted her teeth in frustration. "How dare he use his clan heir authority to make me travel to all the way here for assistance¡­ When I see him, I''ll electrocute him to death¡­"

 Chapter 129: Unrest in the Northern Qudour

    Administration building, Aclein Academy;

    The staffroom was completely filled with silence as Barton revealed the truth to the instructors from other academies as well as the representatives of the organizing committee.

    "So are you implying that a Galarian beast has been staying in your academy for the past ten months and no one even suspected it? Now, it''s on the loose?" One of the members of the organizing committee questioned Barton.

    Prince Vann who was also presented in the meeting as the prime witness felt amusing inside thinking how these foolish humans were discussing such a topic right in front of himself.

    "It''s a platinum grade beast and our academy didn''t have an exalt Arcana Master with peak-rank-8 soul power to identify the beast and the victim is also a direct member of a royal family.

    It''s harder for any teacher or student to suspect Leonard just because he wanted to suppress his soul rank to 4-star and refuse to let out the Arcana spirit.

    And I bet, all of you must have already noticed its strength. Even without summoning the Arcana spirit, he''s perfectly capable of defeating the same-level opponents. On what basis, we can suspect him¡­" Barton argued in return that they couldn''t even if they wanted to.

    He purposely told them that they didn''t have a peak-rank-8 expert so that they wouldn''t mock him or his academy for being weak. Those kinds of experts are even rare in the academies these instructors are from.

    "So, how do you plan on resolving this issue? The fact that a monster from the Arcana world is on the loose makes this city a dangerous place." The organizing committee member suggested shifting the venue to somewhere else, taking the security of the participants into consideration.

    In response, Sylvia snorted, "Aren''t you from WAMO? Isn''t this your job to take care of? Moreover, your people were the ones that let a wild beast enter the portal and escape to this world in the first place. And who knows, how many platinum grade beasts escaped the Arcana world, until now. I think you two are the last persons on the planet that should complain about the situation."

    In the eyes of Sylvia, Azzy is now like hundred-thousand-year-old ginseng. To acquire such a rare treasure, Sylvia felt like she should stand on Barton''s side in all kinds of troubling situations.

    She didn''t know that Barton has already found himself a backing while Azzy, on the other hand, decided to become a wandering Arcana Master after graduation.

    As her offer wasn''t rejected yet, Sylvia felt like she had a chance. Now, she wanted to use this situation to improve the chances of scouting Azzy.

    In response to Sylvia''s lash out, as the organizing committee members felt silent not being able to argue, Central Academy''s representative instructor Jordon said, "Mr. Everglade, we understand the situation, and changing the venue suddenly is nothing but a waste of time. However, the security concerns need to be resolved too. So, I hope you will increase more security, especially inside the academy¡­"

    "It is just a rank-4 platinum grade beast." Hayes of the Smoke clan who is representing the Emerald Academy scoffed while leaning to the back. "What are you all afraid for? Do you people think your students won''t be able to survive or something?"

    "We are more concern about the guests who will arrive to watch the matches." As someone who detests nobles, especially the arrogant ones, Jordon naturally didn''t like Hayes'' attitude when he''s just a low-rank-7.

    "Mr. Jordon, Hayes was only trying to tell that this is a problem of the hosts, not ours to worry about. All we need to do is to protect our own students.

    If WAMO has let the Aclein academy host the tournament, that would mean that they would trust that Mr. Everglade to make enough arrangements." Freyles academy representative instructor Gale Ash supported Hayes considering they belonged to the same clan.

    After a long discussion, the committee postponed the League for three days while deciding that a peak-rank-8 expert will be dispatched from the Headquarters to keep an eye on everyone. At the same time, to get enough time for Barton to increase the security by five times within the academy.

    The matter regarding the Galarian King was also suppressed within the walls of the academy to not bring panic to the public. However, they knew that they won''t be able to suppress for a long time either as for one, it is known to the Royal family. They will sure to cause a mess to fish out the beast.

    Two, the truth was now revealed to the other academies. Barton cannot trust these foreigners to keep their words. Who knows when or who will expose it to the public and cause unrest. Not to mention, several higher rank experts who are residing within the city also sensed the presence of the beast, the previous night.

    And just like Barton feared, no matter how much he wanted to suppress the news, the truth already spread like a wildfire in the public on the very day itself.

    The citizens panicked. Some people try to flee away from the country while some others locked themselves in their homes. A few people started to protest. The next morning, the government was forced to impose section 73 all over the nation, which basically meant that all the portal points in he country and the borders were closed.

    From the moment rule came into action, no one is allowed to go out of the country unless they are rank-7 or above. Along with the full police force, a few battalions of the military, and Special Forces were sent to every corner of the nation to fish out the beast.

    In the meantime, a peak-rank-8 from the military was also sent to the academy to first scan every student and make sure that the beast isn''t disguising itself as a student.

    At first, Vann panicked thinking that he will be getting caught. However, after sensing that that the general is only rank-8, he sighed in relief. As long as a peak-rank-9 Arcana master like Vann''s master will not arrive, Vann felt like he will be safe.

    After confirming that there''s no one, the rank-8 expert left right away. Vann''s troubles aren''t over yet. Right after the person from the military, Vann''s own kingdom''s two mighty generals arrived in the academy.

    The appearance of those two surprised Barton and the other instructors a lot. And the students of the hosting academy were completely overwhelmed by how peak-rank-8s were visiting their academy one after the other.

    However, no one knows that how much of those two generals were shocked to see being Vann alive. They immediately suspected that Vann is the wild beast that everyone in this country is talking about.

    After all, the imprint of a peak-rank-9 being cannot be erased unless it''s another peak-rank-9 who did it for Vann. And the fact that Vann''s current soul power is being only at peak-rank-5, increases their suspicions.

    The only thing that they were confused is how they weren''t able to sense the presence of the beast inside him. Not having any other choice, both of them sent a message to the retired Supreme General of Hildegard. Soon, they received a response in which they had to stay hiding while keeping an eye on Vann until the tournament.

    ***

    Meanwhile, in the skies of one of the borders of Northern Qudour, two people who look like teenagers were traveling on a flying card.

    "Don''t you think the elders are quite absurd?" The girl complained while licking a lollipop.

    "C''mon, Sia. You said this a dozen times already." The boy appeared to be annoyed by her statement. "Is it too hard to believe that a time traveler came from the future?"

    The girl nodded confidently, "Of course, it is unbelievable. I think those old geezers just wanted to toy with us. From history, there''s only one beast that can travel throughout time. The mythical time beast Znuvo¡­

    I think it''s better for us to go somewhere more entertaining. I heard that there are these things called Arcade games in these human towns¡­"

    "Okay, I understand your point." The boy nodded upon hearing everything and agreed with her views. However, he was adamant about his decision. "Still, upon reaching the destination, you have to scan every person with your eyes of truth. Not to mention, Elder Ma told me to meet someone named Zona our Abel Tower is interested to recruit."

 Chapter 130: Royal inspectors conspiracy theory

    Imperial Palace, Northern Qudour nation;

    Even though monarchism has long been abolished in the country and the king no longer possess authority over the citizens, this king of Northern Qudour still calls for an assembly from time to time, not for discussing the problems of the people but to just stay in touch with other high born nobles while issuing orders to do the things for the royal family.

    Right now, as the royal inspectors returned to the palace, the King called for an emergency assembly.

    The heads of the high noble families of the nation attended the assembly without fail as they can guess the reason. The platinum-grade beast which was supposed to be in the wild now snuck into the human territory.

    With the government imposing section 73 in the country unless they are living under the rock, they would have known about it. However, the only thing they didn''t know is that the victim was the fifth prince.

    Noble families like Leveret, Stripes, and Passel who had kids in the Aclein Academy thought the fifth prince returned to the palace, not that he was dead. That was how the Principal tried to cover up Leo''s disappearance from the academy as well as from the league before proposing Azzy''s name.

    Now, along with the others, they too finally realized the truth. Everyone expressed their condolences to the king but in truth, it was just for formality. None of them even felt pity for the king who lost his son.

    The hearts of the nobles are indeed cruel. Some of the immediate families even wished for the death of the remaining princes so that they could seize the throne so that they could gain the wealth of the royal family.

    This is but an ugly truth of the royal family in every nation. It is that the royal family cannot transfer or sell the ancestral properties for their personal gain. They can only put them up for mortgage in the government banks.

    Upon declaring his son''s death, the King continued, "The Galarian King isn''t the only culprit in my Leonard''s death. There is one more person. His name is Azrael, a disciple of rank-8 who seems to have mysterious origins. My trusted royal inspector went to the Aclein Academy and investigated the situation. He will explain the details."

    A person stepped forward and walked towards the king until he reached half before halting his steps. This is the same person who believed Azzy was the one who might be behind Leo''s death.

    After introducing himself, Michal proceeds to tell the details of the investigation. "Based on my investigations, this student Azrael is a necromancer and the holder of a platinum grade beast. He hailed from Southern Qudour and is claimed to be an orphan and was being homeschooled until now.

    No one knows with what intentions he entered our country and admitted into the academy ten months ago. However, just in a couple of weeks, he was being adopted by a rich family and sometime later, became the student of Aclein Academy''s principal, Barton of the Everglade family.

    The strange this is that, just after two days into the academy, he fell in odds with the fifth prince Leonard Light, Bay Passel, and a few other noble-born of our nation. He almost tried to kill his seniors Bay Passel and Reid Stripes for speaking against him.

    Aside from the first day, the boy never attended the afternoon classes and spent his time in luxury.

    His highness tried to oppose him for his lack of discipline but Azrael never cared. Why? Because he was the student of the principal.

    Soon, when everyone went to the Nlethemar region, coincidentally, the fifth prince and Azrael were found in the same group. Along with them, there''s another person important in this story.

    His name is Gideon, who is the only friend of Azrael in the academy. The group of four entered the caves of the Sandara to help Gideon breakthrough to rank-4.

    However, as you know, the necromancers who had taken a life before attracts the wild beasts. They attracted so many beasts that a rank-5 like the fifth prince who was known to have high combat strength had to volunteer to steer them away. Think about how many people Azrael would have killed for that to happen.

    Soon, Azrael also followed him deep into the cave. When they return to the other two, the fifth prince was already replaced by the Galarian King.

    Now, we were told a story of how high highness ran away with a teleportation scroll and ended up at Galarian King''s hideout, but after investigating his background and everything, I wouldn''t think so.

    What''s more strange is that the Galarian King who is in the disguise of the fifth prince constantly tried to be friendly with Azrael. Several witnesses can attest to that. On top of it, just a day before it escaped from the academy, possibly due to the fear of high skilled Arcana masters, it made Azrael, the President of the Disciplinary Committee.

    Thus, I''m sure that Azrael is the culprit who lured the fifth prince into the Galarian king''s hideout and made a deal with it to escape it into the human world. We can further speculate that he might be a spy of Southern Qudour who was sent here to endanger the people of our nation.

    This is all I have to say¡­"

    Finishing his report, he took a bow and left the courtroom amid the stunned expressions of the nobles.

    As Michal cooked up a half-truth, a half-imaginary story in a way that his king wanted to hear, the rest of the nobles were stunned as they felt it very difficult to process all the information.

    However, the more they listened to his report, the more they believed it, except for a few who thinks there''s some conspiracy in it.

    While everyone lost in the thoughts, processing everything, King Brian Light opened his mouth, "What we have is nothing but speculations without a solid proof because there are no witnesses in the first place. However, everything Michal told is also completely true.

    With being the possessor of platinum grade beast, the federal court will not persecute Azrael without solid evidence. In return, they will even support him to undermine the authority of the royal family.

    That''s why I wish to bring Azrael to our trial. However, Barton wouldn''t let it happen. Along with being a rank-8 Arcana master, he has a few friends who are at peak-rank-7 too¡­

    I''m quite ashamed to say this but currently, we don''t have the power to bring him down if he were to stand in the way. That''s why we need to confront his matter by uniting together."

    "Isn''t the royal ancestor still alive? Why are you worrying about low-rank-8 and rank-7 experts when you have the royal ancestor who is at the apex of rank-8?" The head of the Leveret family, who is Mia Leveret''s grandfather and father-in-law of the King, voiced his suspicion.

    His question made everyone wonder whether that old monster is dead or something. After all, he is said to have been alive for nearly 4000 years. Even though 5000 years is the limit of rank-8, still, one can never be confident when an old fossil like him can die.

    Such a thought excited some of the nobles who are vying for power. Once they confirmed the death of that old monster, surely, they will rebel and cease the throne. Until then, they should sit silent as their entire family would be wiped out for sure and the government will turn a blind eye until its majority of taxes paying civilians are harmed in the process.

    The King shook his head in response, "no, that''s not the case. According to the message sent by my father who had gone to the secluded temple, Ancestor is currently at a critical state in his breakthrough to the next level."

    Some nobles stiffened in surprise while some of them prayed in their hearts that the royal ancestor would lose control over his soul energy while breaking through.

    "Then, why not wait until then?" the King''s father-in-law once again voiced his opinion. The others also nodded in agreement. Truthfully, despite being the maternal grandfather of Leo, he still doesn''t want to send sacrificial lambs just because the King can''t deal with the head of the Everglade family. The others were also thinking the same as him.

    The King got triggered upon hearing those words, "Are you refusing to assist the royal family?"

 Chapter 131: Trouble brewing for Azzy

    "Are you refusing to assist the Royal family?" The King was triggered by his father-in-law''s simple words that practically stated that if your ancestor is powerful, then, just wait until he makes a breakthrough to finish your personal vendetta, not bother us to sacrifice our warriors.

    Jewell Leveret hurriedly explained himself, "what I mean is that whether it''s worth to send all of our experts just because of mere speculation. The Royal ancestor can solve the issue with just a snap of his finger. There''s really no need to sacrifice our army."

    "You¡­"

    The King, who was looking forward to taking revenge on Azzy and Barton, got further enraged as soon as he heard the words of his own father-in-law.

    If it was anybody, he would have atleast try to knock the sense of reality into them. However, since it''s his wife''s father, he couldn''t help but feel saddened further.

    Indeed, it is some kind of personal vendetta but it was for Leo, not for his own greed or something. And the victim was also his grandchild. Shouldn''t he be angry? Why was he trying to oppose me instead?

    Thoughts like these instantly turned his feelings into anger. If his own family member is against his decision, then, what about the others? Surely, they would follow the suit.

    Brian Light doesn''t intend to give everyone a chance.

    Looking at everyone, he raised his voice, "The Royal family had taken its decision. All of you had but two choices. One is to stand with the royal family and the other is to cut off the ties with the Imperial Palace.

    By tomorrow morning, I need at least one rank-7 from each of your family. If there''s no one is alive, then, at least peak-rank-6 expert.

    If you don''t send one, then, I will only assume that you are revolting against the throne. Consider this as the moment to prove your loyalty."

    For a few moments, the air became heavy as the courtroom ensued in silence. Everyone went into deep thinking. They don''t know what step they should take.

    A rank-7 Arcana master is precious to any organization or a noble family. How could they send them to death? At the same time, they had their roots in this country for several millennia.

    Going against the royal family is the same as making their life difficult living here? Moreover, what would happen if the royal ancestor returns with rank-9 soul power? They will be doomed.

    Every noble sitting in the courtroom fell into a dilemma, unable to choose the option.

    Meanwhile, the head of the Leveret family didn''t give up. He thought for a long time to look for the reasons to stop the decision of the King.

    The King was looking at the expressions of the others. His anger was increasing further as time passed but no one is coming forward to express their loyalty.

    After what seemed like an eternity, once again, his father-in-law, the brave one finally opened his mouth, but this time, he didn''t bother to be polite and talked to him as if he was lecturing. "Your Majesty, once again, I emphasize that it''s not about refusing to assist the royal family or not. But, it''s about whether it''s worth doing it or not at this time.

    The Aclein Academy is currently hosting the Champions League. Interrupting it will also bring the wrath of WAMO and a dozen other top academies.

    And just earlier, you mentioned this student Azrael is the holder of a platinum grade beast. Do you think those top academies that had an eye on Azrael will let you harm them?

    Even if we go against them, what would happen if Azrael joins Dragon Academy? As a platinum-grade beast holder, as long as there are no hindrances to his path, he will surely become a rank-9 expert in the future.

    Then, his majesty thought what might happen if comes for revenge in the future?

    If you are angry about Leo''s death, then, we should look for the main culprit, The Galarian King, not a poor 13-year-old commoner with who Leo might have enmity ¡­

    Only after it admits the truth, we can make a move on this Azrael.

    Moreover, our prince Theo is also staying in the academy at the moment. What if he would be harmed in the process?

    As for defeating a rank-8 Arcana Master and others, surely, with a few sacrifices, we will bring everyone down and drag Azrael into the trial. Then, what? Do you think about the consequences of making an enmity of the government?

    Is it worth all this trouble over speculation of a royal inspector which has no solid pieces of evidence? Put your emotions a bit aside and think for a bit.

    An all-out war will do nothing but harm to us. This is why either we have to wait until the league is over or the emergence of the royal ancestor from his isolation. The rest is his majesty''s wish¡­"

    Finishing his lecture, the old man sat down amid everyone''s gazes filled with gratefulness.

    As the head of the opposition party, Jewell was indeed eloquent in his speech, swaying the opinions of the listeners to his favor. Even the King fell into thoughts for a while, considering his father-in-law''s advice.

    After thinking for a while, the King stood up on his feet, "since all of you are so afraid of the consequences, so, be it. Those who don''t want to have any part in this are exempted. The royal family will not blame them.

    However, for those who wish to volunteer, the royal family will shield them from the consequences Lord Leveret had pointed out. I also remind everyone, one more thing.

    Despite Azrael being the holder of a platinum-grade beast, he is a necromancer. The church will not accept the existence that can threaten its bible. If that Everglade will stand its way, then, he will too face the wrath of them.

    So, think about it and choose wisely. I can wait for one week." The King then, walked away from the court, leaving everyone in thoughts once again.

    ***

    Training grounds-1, Aclein Academy;

    The moon was shining peacefully in the clear sky. The students of Aclein were peacefully sleeping in their dorms. Most of the contestants of the Champions league were chatting in the gardens, under the moonlight.

    On the other hand, in the rocky habitat of the training grounds, one team was training vigorously.

    "Don''t attack straight, Snivy. Try to incorporate feign attacks in your moves." Azzy spoke in a straightforward after throwing her away with his left hand and then, dodged the shivering tree branch that tries to ambush him while he was giving a bit of advice to Snivy.

    That''s right. Azzy was now in team Twilight, instead of participating in the solo category in the League.

    At first, he was indeed selected for solo. But then, a couple of teachers complained regarding favoritism. Even if Azzy proved his strength by defeating Vann, as he still didn''t participate in the tournament, they felt it was unfair for other candidates.

    When being reminded that he was also the principal of the academy, Barton decided to be fair and took out Azzy''s participation in the League. Azzy sure was disappointed back then, but still, he accepted it as there''s no Vann anymore for him to complete the unfinished battle between them.

    The principal then gave the spot to the one who came in fifth

    During such a moment, Calder stepped forward to give his spot to Azzy and requested the principal to accept it. He felt like if Azzy participates in the league, he will surely bring fame to the academy.

    With Calder''s sacrifice, Azzy ended up on the team filled with his friends.

    Back to the present, the vigorous training continued.

    After defeating Snivy, Azzy dashed forward towards a certain shivering oak tree and jumped onto the tallest branch in a single leap, where Mia was standing with a bow in her hand, before landing a fist in the stomach.

    Since he didn''t use any soul power in it, she didn''t suffer many injuries except for a few bruises as she crashed onto a rock before falling on the ground.

    "Ouch¡­" Mia rubbed her elbows, groaning in pain. "That hurt."

    Landing before her, Azzy then said, "You should be attentive at all times. Never let your guard down. And that¡­"

    Pointing at the shivering oak tree, he further commented, "By now, it needs to get used to my Vajra."

 Chapter 132: Champions league part-1

    Even though the black wolf was quietly lying in the corner, due to the difference between their grades, all the other Arcana spirits felt pressure by its presence and started to shake in fear.

    To make sure their performance, not be affected during the actual fight, Claire asked Azzy to let out his Arcana spirit so that they might get used to it.

    After two days with over 15 hours of training time, Claire and Snivy were alright. Gideon''s sword spirit was almost got used to its presence. However, the cowardly oak tree of Mia was still afraid of the black wolf along with Azzy.

    Azzy then walked towards the tree and picked up the bow before returning to its owner. "Here..."

    This recurve bow isn''t an Arcana weapon. It''s a specially designed six-star weapon that her family bought from the market for an exorbitant price upon her request.

    Like its grade, it can help the holder to automatically generate an energy arrow upon consuming their soul power. Since the limit of this weapon is peak-rank-6, Mia felt like she can use this bow for a long time.

    It was actually Claire''s idea to create another trump card for Mia upon finding her close-combat capabilities are too bad and won''t be able to improve too much in such less time.

    So, she advised her to buy a special bow from the market so that she can shoot the enemies from the top of the branch rather than just standing on it and letting the tree do all the work.

    At first, Azzy thought that this might be Mia''s trump card. However, in the first minute of their training, he found out that she was terrible at aiming at the target.

    Now after relentless practice, Mia barely reached the standards of a good archer.

    Grabbing her hand to help her stand up, Azzy commented, "You need more practice on shooting those soul energy arrows."

    "I know¡­" Mia spoke in a disheartened tone while looking down. "But, there''s no time. I wonder if I able to perfect it."

    Looking at them from the distance, Gideon almost broke out into a laugh. Azzy was only 13 while the ninth-grader Mia is 15 years old. Yet, due to the difference in their heights and their temperament, it felt like she was being lectured by a senior, instead.

    Upon hearing her words, Azzy replied a bit softly, reminding himself that she''s a teammate and also a stranger, unlike Gideon and Claire, "The Champions League will go for several weeks. So, you will have enough time to perfect the soul energy arrow technique. You are indeed talented. So, all you need more practice."

    "Really?" She raised her head and looked at him in hope.

    From childhood, her family members and her friends, everyone called her a step-daughter of heaven, which is a title given to a person who has the potential to become a rank-9 expert despite not awakening a platinum grade beast.

    Mia thought of herself as the genius, all along, until the finals of the annual tournament, where she lost her confidence for the first time upon witnessing the power of Claire and Zona.

    And the nail was further struck with the hammer when she witnessed the prowess of the true children of heaven in the battle between Azzy and Vann.

    After Azzy replaced Calder and joined the training sessions, at first, she only felt nervous.

    However, watching Azzy defeating her and Snivy easily many times in a row, made her confidence hit the rock bottom.

    But, now upon hearing praise from the strongest person she had ever met in the age group, she felt a little bit touched. Azzy''s stoic expression made her think he wasn''t joking either. So, she believed him a bit and her confidence gradually rose for the moment.

    "Ahem, how long the two of you will hold your hands. Now, get back to work." Both of them suddenly heard Claire''s voice from the side. "Azrael, go and train with Gideon."

    For some reason, Azzy felt she looks scary for a moment and immediately released the hand before he dashed towards Gideon who seemed to be groaning in pain on the ground.

    Glancing at Claire and then, at Azzy''s back, a mischievous smile appeared on Mia as she walked towards her friend and put her arms around Claire''s neck. "My, my¡­ Aren''t you a jealous one¡­ First, propose to him and then, claim the right, will ya¡­" Mia whispered in her ear.

    "Shush¡­" Claire immediately covered Mia''s mouth, fearing that Azzy might hear it.

    Thankfully for her, he didn''t as he was far away.

    ***

    Meanwhile, at the Elite division dormitory, Vann was in deep meditation in his room.

    The Galarian King which just recently became a celestial grade is currently in the process of connecting with Gaia and extracting the information of major events that left a strong impact on the history of this planet.

    "Hmm? It seemed like something disturbed the flow of time?" As its consciousness further dived into the time flow, the Galarian King was surprised to realize that Vann''s assassination was the trigger. It wasn''t able to understand the reason.

    After thinking for a while, it put the thoughts away and continued to explore the time flow to understand everything about the human world.

    Along with it, it also received information regarding the other celestial grade beasts

    After several hours, the sunlight passed through the glass and illuminated the room, making Vann open his eyes and smile, "Well, it looked like there''s a possibility of another evolution which gives me the path to live for eternity. For that, I need to hunt down the other celestial grades and absorb them."

    Looking left and right, he mumbled, "but first, I need to eliminate that threat to conquer my fears. I''m no longer a rank-4 and certainly more powerful than before. Well, there''s only one way to find out."

    ***

    By morning 8, every seat in the Grand Arena was sold out. The rest of the people who couldn''t buy the ticket returned to their homes or hotels in disappointment.

    Too bad for them that there''s no live telecast as it was a tradition of the Champions League. However, since the tournament is happening in the human world, the recording was still allowed as usual, which can only be telecasted after the tournament.

    At the same time, the audience was also allowed to record as long as it won''t be telecasted. Violators will receive a lawsuit from the organization.

    Most of the audience who are adults knew of it. So, the authorities didn''t feel the need to worry.

    Two huge screens were also placed on northern and southern ends for everyone from the top sections to watch the battle clearly in case they weren''t able to see the battle from far away.

    Ten minutes before 9 o''clock, Barton Everglade, President of the country, organizing committee''s head, and finally, a global singer, who hailed from the country, stood together on a stage that was erected temporarily in the middle of the Arena.

    Despite the unrest in the Northern Qudour where the streets were filled with the soldiers and police while the skies were being monitored by special forces and air forces, right now, hundred thousand spectators were filled with enthusiasm as they were about to witness the spectacular performances of the Champions.

    A couple came on to the stage. It was the Aclein goddess Exea and a popular handsome host.

    "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Champions League, 1994!"

    As soon as the beautiful host Exea greeted the audience, a huge collective cheer erupted from a hundred thousand spectators.

    The other male host, a peak-rank-6 expert who is a popular host from the entertainment world, then took from there, explaining the four guests standing on the stage with them.

    "And finally, I present you, Eclipse¡­" The host ended the introduction with the global pop star that had massive popularity across the whole continent.

    She was so popular that the cheering of the crowd even surprised the president, and especially the spectators from the Arcana world. It was several times louder than when Exea greeted everyone.

    Still, it goes without saying that many people ridiculed her in their hearts as Margery Collars alias Eclipse was a rank-7 expert. They couldn''t accept such a person who chooses to work in the music industry.

    After the three guests'' boring speech is finished, Eclipse performed a couple of her songs, making the audience go crazy so early in the morning.

 Chapter 133: Champions league part-2

    "Now, that was some spectacular performance," Exea commented while clapping along with everyone else as both of the hosts once again stepped onto the stage while the singer left right away because of her tight schedule.

    "Now, let''s look at the group stage standings that were decided randomly. First, solo category¡­"

    The screens displayed the teams in Group-A, then, Group-B, and so on up to Group-H with five members in each group.

    As the host nation, Northern Qudour received 8 chances of choosing their own group of which four belong to Egrein Academy and the other four belongs to Aclein.

    With Leo no more, as there isn''t any powerful contender, Barton saved up his chance for the other categories and left the solo contestants to their luck.

    And the lady luck seemed like she was angry at Barton as two of them ended up at Group-B and the other two ended up together at Group-G.

    Coincidentally, the Egrein academy chose its contestants in Group-G and Group A. As the remaining two were selected randomly, they were landed in Group-A and Group-B respectively. So, the fellow countrymen might have to fight against each other to qualify for the Quarterfinals.

    Some of the contenders from the other academies couldn''t help but feel delighted, looking at Northern Qudour''s bad luck. The others didn''t care as they didn''t take them seriously.

    However, most of them were indeed surprised that Azzy wasn''t on the list. After Leo''s true identity is being exposed, they heard a rumor of Azzy is participating in the tournament as he was seen training with the Twilight.

    Now that there''s no Azzy in the solo category, the contestants assumed he might be participating either in the group category or not participating in the league, at all.

    If the latter would be the case, it would greatly disappoint a few spectators who came all the way to see Azzy''s prowess and recruit him. Most of them were from hidden dark organizations and Azzy being a necromancer and the holder of a platinum grade beast is a great piece of news for them.

    As for being a twin Arcana user, naturally, most of them thought it was just a false rumor as he never showed the second Arcana spirit to the public during the two public battles.

    Only the direct spectators of that duel with high soul power knew that he was the host to two platinum grade spirits as they witnessed the possession during the battle with Vann. The rest of the spectators only think that the wolf is the one that summoned the undead. After all, it was a dual attribute with one of them being dark.

    Back to the tournament, after announcing the list in the solo category, the authorities went to the duo, and later to the group category.

    This is where Barton had used two of his chances. He placed the Twilight group in H, where the rest of the groups were a bit weaker. Unicorn team led by Zona was placed in Group-C where there isn''t a winning favorite either.

    Thankfully, this time, the two teams from Egrein Academy were also placed in different groups. Barton and the supporters who are rooting for Northern Qudour were also satisfied with the outcome.

    Once again, disorganized cheers were filled in the stadium with everyone supporting their favorites. Of them, the cheers for Maple and Dragon Academy seemed louder than others.

    "Without further ado, let''s get to the draw for the first match."

    The screens displayed the fixtures of the solo category.

    "Solo category"

    "Group-A: Newton vs Gerard"

    "Group-B: Carl Sands vs Shelton Roots"

    .

    .

    .

    "Group G: Rowan vs Drake"

    "Group H: Leah Pendragon vs Walter"

    The appearance of the Pendragon surname caused a commotion among the audience. Whether it was a civilian or an Arcana master, everyone knew the history of the legendary Empire of Arcana.

    In fact, it was only after its downfall, the term epochs were introduced into the society in which it changes every ten thousand years. If not for Arthur Pendragon to pass away in the great battle, the kingdoms and nations would have been united under one empire to date.

    While the people started to murmur among themselves, wishing luck to contestants, the two hosts left, and very soon, the stage disappeared as if it didn''t exist.

    Then, Barton threw an eight-star card on the ground.

    Similar to the annual tournament finals, a huge platform was created in the middle of the Arena which is two hundred meters long and a hundred meters wide. The only difference is that instead of a dome-shaped golden barrier, around the platform, a cube-shaped sapphire barrier was created to contain the damage of the battle and save the audience from becoming victims.

    The height of the barrier goes was restricted to 200 meters under the instructions of the organizing committee.

    After creating the barrier, Barton landed on the platform and spoke the rules of the tournament for formality even though everyone knew them. After all, they weren''t being changed for the past ten thousand years.

    Even though it was titled rules, but there aren''t actually any rules in the Champions League.

    Other than getting outside of the barrier, there aren''t any restrictions placed on the participants like no time limit.

    They can also use any skill card or item card whether they are normal or forbidden. Of course, killing isn''t allowed as it would make the team disqualify from the tournament.

    However, if it''s an accidental killing, then, they would term as the losers of only the match. But, it is up to chief judges to decide whether it was a deliberate killing or an accidental one.

    WAMO sent a peak-rank-7 expert to be the proctor of all the matches in the tournament. So, it''s unlikely, killings would happen.

    Still, for the safety of the students, the academy''s instructors can be on standby, outside of the golden barrier to save their students at any time.

    Any intervention from the instructors will be considered as a win to the opponent team.

    A win will give 2 points. The draw will give 1 point. Losing will not earn any points. And at the end of all the matches, if the first two ranks were having equal scores, then, they will settle the match with a duel. If the top three rankers will have an equal score, then, it will be settled by a three-way-duel.

    After informing everything as the principal of the hosting academy, he announced, "As for the moment, Champions League 1994 has begun¡­"

    *Snap*

    With a snap of his finger, suddenly, the dueling platform inside the barrier turned into a plain grassland to give off the feeling of a battle in the wild. Watching it, the crowd erupted in cheers once again.

    Meanwhile, inside one of the four waiting rooms allotted to Aclein, team twilight and others were watching the screen which was installed in each room to let the contestants know what''s going on in the Arena.

    Everyone is amazed at the transformation of the habitat.

    Looking at the fixtures, Gideon turned his head and commented, "Looks like you are going to up soon¡­"

    Rowan nodded his head seriously with his gaze fixed on the screen because he knew this person very well. In fact, they even had a couple of arguments in the past week due to the latter''s bullying of his classmates.

    A couple of hours later, it''s finally his turn.

    "Good luck, Rowan" "Fighting" "Go and win the match, Rowan"

    Everyone in the room cheered for Rowan as he stood up on his feet and followed the staff member who informed him to get ready for the next match.

    Azzy too slowly wished him luck but it went unnoticed because of enthusiastic cheers from others.

    Rowan reached the battlefield where he was greeted by the sight of his opponent.

    From Aclein, the Vice-principal Sahara is acting as their representative instructor. She landed behind Rowan while the Egrein academy''s representative instructor landed on the other side.

    Taking out his lightning sword, he charged forward towards his opponent.

    20 minutes later;

    Taking heavy breaths, Rowan pointed the sword towards the heavily injured opponent, "Do you admit defeat?"

    His opponent, who looked down on Rowan because of the difference in their academic backgrounds, didn''t want to give up. However, as soon as he tried to stand on his feet, he lost consciousness and fell on the grass, making the proctor declaring Rowan''s win.

    Barton was happy about the first win of their academy.

    "Now, the next match..." The proctor then announced the names of Leah from heavenly academy and Walter, who represents the Sun academy.

 Chapter 134: Champions league part-3

    The participants and their representative instructors entered the Arena.

    As the beautiful princess of Camelot entered the arena, wearing snow-white robes, everyone appeared awestruck and just stared at the girl who looked like an embodiment of pureness.

    Even her opponent looked at her as if he fell in love at first sight.

    However, everything changed as she drew the sword.

    Mid-rank-5 expert Walter who was representing the Sun academy knew that he wasn''t a match for his opponent who is not only a peak-rank-5 expert but also the holder of a platinum grade spirit.

    All he intended to do is fight as much as he could and impress her a bit.

    But, as soon as she drew the majestic sword of Excalibur and spoke, "Kneel before the Queen," a golden aura emitted from her and around the sword.

    Walter''s fire sword left his hand willingly and fell on the ground. Strangely, as he tried to pick up, it neither wishes to be held by its master''s hand nor wishes to return to the mindscape.

    Form their connection, Walter understood that his fire sword cannot move from the spot until its King, the Excalibur orders it.

    "Admit defeat, Mr. Walter." At the moment, her voice appeared so majestic that even he thought of kneeling before her to pay his respects.

    He admitted defeat right away understanding that it''s foolish to go against Leah barehanded.

    "This is the girl I talked about, Azrael." While everyone in the waiting room was puzzled to watch a duel that barely lasted a few seconds, Azzy was conversing with the Reaper who told her that this is the person who is the holder of the celestial grade spirit.

    "Somehow, the sword feels familiar. I think I have seen in some historic records, somewhere. Chronos, what is its name?" Azzy asked the Reaper while his eyes were glued to the screen, more specifically at the sword''s handle where there''s a drawing of a dragon at the end.

    "It''s called Excalibur, the symbol of authority. It is like a king to every Arcana spirit out here. Any spirit with Gold grade and lower cannot rebel against its authority." After explaining its prowess, the Reaper further stated, "Of course, it won''t have any effect on neither me nor Vajra. So, you can be assured if you ever battle her."

    "Why would I battle her?" Azzy was puzzled instead. He was in the group category and she''s in the solo category. There''s no chance of them meeting. Little he knows that the Reaper wasn''t talking about the tournament¡­

    Meanwhile, Claire, who spotted Azzy, felt a little bit angry misunderstanding that he was staring at the image of Leah that was displayed on the screen. She felt a little bit jealous of Leah.

    At the same time, not being able to read Azzy''s expression frustrated her even more.

    After the day-1 battles in the solo category is over, Exea announced the matches in the duo category.

    The most prominent match is the one between the twins from Freyles Academy who are from the Ash clan and the duo from Dragon Academy.

    Surprisingly to everyone, the Dragon Academy lost under the aggressive attacks from the twins. Even Azzy was amazed by the match, especially regarding their perfect teamwork.

    From start to finish, neither of them spoke a word, and yet, they executed the combo attacks very precisely as if it''s natural for them.

    "Irene Ash and Albin Ash..." Azzy noted down their names in his mind.

    After that, finally, it''s the group matches turn. However, Twilight only faced disappointment as they weren''t selected in the draw. Neither Unicorn was selected too.

    Azzy immediately suggested to his teammates to leave for the training instead of wasting time.

    However, as there is a match from the Dragon Academy, Gideon rejected his suggestion and called for a vote.

    At first, the majority voted against the idea.

    However, as Mia voted in support, explaining that she needs to work on her archery skills, Azzy nonchalantly replied to her that they can just train together while everyone can just stay in the room and watch the match.

    Upon seeing that, Claire changed her word and tagged along while giving an excuse of helping out her friend.

    Feeling bad about not staying with the team, Snivy also changed her decision, which made Gideon reluctantly followed the rest of the team.

    The team of five exited the Arena and left for the other training grounds where they can train in peace without any noise pollution from the audience.

    After all the group matches of Day-1 are finished at around 7:30 in the evening, the competition was stopped in accordance with the rules, and the hosts informed everyone to return the next day.

    In the meantime, Team Twilight is working harder at the rocky habitat. Before Mia, there is a horde of skeletal beats, ranging from low-rank-3 to peak-rank-3.

    She was practicing her archery on them while shooting from the treetop. On the other hand, Azzy was trying to control them and passing instructions while standing in the back.

    It wasn''t only Mia, but he was also helping out Snivy and others to use the undead beasts as the target practice.

    And at the same time, he was also trying out different things to confirm his theories.

    During the process, Azzy learned that they were really undead and don''t actually get disappear unless they were completely destroyed without even any ashes.

    If not, then, as long as Azzy poured a little bit of soul power, the destroyed beasts will repair their body by themselves and even rise from the ashes if they turn into ash.

    Of course, there''s a disadvantage too. It was Claire. All her light attribute attacks will erase them from existence and they don''t return to his mindscape either.

    It made Azzy wonder whether it was only Claire or just any other light user will be able to harm them like it. Along with it, using the healing cards on them also produced a negative effect. They get self-destroyed even under the healing cards.

    No one knows who leaked the news but soon, the members of Twilight found themselves audience around the habitat to see the huge number of skeletons that were being used as target practices for Azzy''s team members.

    Even though the necromancers were hated everywhere on the continent, still, it didn''t stop some people from being fascinated to watch the skill that can let control several beasts at once.

    It forced Claire to put a stop to their special training and called for the day. Later, she informed her team members about changing their practice place to a forest, instead.

    In places like them, it would be hard for the spectators to watch the training from outside without interrupting.

    After having dinner, Azzy studied a bit and then, went to sleep.

    This time, he was dreaming about the Champions League. As his name has been called, Azzy and the other entered the Arena. However, once again, the surroundings changed to a familiar throne hall.

    His teammates also disappeared.

    Azzy didn''t panic a bit as he was familiar with this situation. "I was dragged into the dream by the ancestor, once again."

    Azzy saw the old man was waiting for him. Azzy walked towards him without feeling nervousness.

    Stopping a couple of feet before him, Azzy directly confronted the issue, "Why did you come into my dream, again? Is it due to the altered timeline?"

    Azzy didn''t hide it cuz he thought this is might be the reason. There''s no other reason why he wanted to meet him.

    Before the old man replies anything, Azzy explained himself, "If that the case, then, it''s not completely my fault. If anything, it is the fault of the platinum-grade beast that entered the human world. I will fix it sooner or later."

    Qridus didn''t say anything for a while and stood in silence. He then slowly opened his mouth and spoke softly, "my descendant, return to the home. This is only the safest place for you in the world."

    "What¡­ What did you say?"  Azzy''s eyes widened in shock and took a step back.

    "Although I don''t know your name, child, I confirmed that you are my descendant and a clan heir from the future, possibly trapped in this timeline. Return to the clan village. I will help you out¡­"

    Even the Reaper frowned by hearing his words as he didn''t expect it.

 Chapter 135: Heavenly messenger

    Two days ago;

    The pavilion elders and the clan leaders are gathered in the throne hall upon being summoned by Qridus Garcia for an important announcement.

    Amid everyone''s curious gazes, Qridus stood up from the throne and said, "I''m leaving the clan for a few days. It might take one day to even a month. So, until I return, I leave the safety of the clan village in your hands."

    Some of the clan leaders glanced at each other, thinking that it might be the right time to formulate a plan for the clan to take over, while the others were puzzled to hear the clan head is going somewhere.

    After all, the last time he stepped outside of the clan is more than a hundred years ago and that too, only to attend the funeral of the royal ancestor of Freyles.

    Now, upon hearing that he might even go for a month, everyone knew it wasn''t some funeral. So, they couldn''t help but wonder, "What kind of important business their clan head have outside that he didn''t give the job to his subjects?"

    After dismissing them, Qridus disappeared from the palace and reappeared at the graveyard which is located on the far edge of the clan village, hidden between two hills.

    There, an old man, who is serving as the tomb keeper, was silently sweeping around one of the tombs even though it appeared clean.

    "Great granduncle¡­" Qridus called out to him.

    Without turning his head, the old man asked while continuing to sweep, "Why are you here, Qridus?"

    That''s right. This seemingly ordinary old man who looks even younger than Qridus is none other than the younger brother of the former clan head and is also a peak-rank-9 like Qridus.

    Due to some reason, this great-granduncle of the clan head left the world of material affairs and decided to serve as a tomb keeper while suppressing his soul power.

    Everyone from the mortals to the clan leaders, those who visit the graveyard to pay their respects to the dead, will forget his face and identity as soon as they left the place.

    That''s how he managed to keep his identity hidden away for thousands of years.

    Upon being questioned by his great-granduncle, Qridus answered, "I''m leaving the clan for a few days."

    "Why?" Pierre Garcia asked him.

    "I''m going to visit that Prophet." Qridus then explained his decision to leave the clan.

    In response, the tomb keeper asked, "Is it related to the time traveler from the future?"

    Qridus didn''t hide the reason before him. "Yes, there''s something I''m failing to understand. This person possesses a celestial grade beast that is shielding him from my visions.

    It might sound absurd but this person must possess either the mythical time beast Znuvo or a hybrid celestial grade beast with time ability."

    "Hybrid celestial grade beast?" Pierre frowned as he turned around.

    Qridus shrugged his shoulders, "well, we can never rule out the possibility."

    Pierre then turned around once again, "a multiple attribute platinum grade beast can never become celestial grade unless it absorbs other platinum grade beasts, which can only be possible if the beast is a wild one."

    "I know." Qridus nodded seriously but still hasn''t given up theory. "But, we are only humans with limited knowledge. There''s no such thing as zero possibility in the universe. Who knows¡­ That''s why I need to confirm it with the prophet of the Elven clan."

    After a brief silence, Pierre nodded, "go on then. I will shield the clan in your absence if it fell into crisis."

    "Sorry for troubling you." Qridus bowed to him and excused himself.

    As he disappeared, Pierre whispered to himself, "You forgot about another possibility. The founder''s hourglass¡­"

    After leaving the clan village, Qridus traveled for a whole day before reaching the forests of Nyhbelle.

    Like the death clan village, the Elven village of Nyhbelle is also located in a pocket world. The only difference was that instead of a gate, there was an invisible barrier instead.

    It was designed in such a way that anyone except for an Elf who passed the barrier will find nothing amiss. However, it is not a hurdle for a peak-rank-9 expert.

    As soon as passed through the barrier like nothing, Qridus was greeted by two elves and was taken to the Prophet directly.

    Meeting the Elven Prophet who is in the same generation as himself, Qridus spoke of his intentions to which the latter summoned his platinum grade, crystal ball.

    He then applied some mystical runes on the ball while Qridus placed his hand on it and imagined his encounter with Azzy.

    However, to the Prophet''s surprise, the image of Azzy still blurry and he wasn''t able to find out anything about Azzy or his Arcana spirit. "Divine intervention¡­" He understood that there''s something from above that''s stopping him from prying the secrets.

    He relayed the same to Qridus.

    The death clan head became serious upon hearing it. He felt like he needs to put the matter of Azzy as of the utmost importance.

    Leaving with no other choice, Qridus was forced to request the Prophet to summon the heavenly messengers and ask them about it.

    At first, the Prophet was taken aback and refuted his absurd request. Summoning the heavenly messengers can only be used to protect the world.

    But then, his facial expression changed as Qridus reminded him how the timeline for a couple of nations has been altered a while ago. Leaving the matter unattended might cause more damage to the timeline.

    Qridus further said that the Death clan will owe a favor to the Elven clan where the latter''s clan head can come to the Death clan village and claim it from any future clan head.

    Heeding to the promise, the Prophet performed an ancient ritual. Qridus helped him out constantly pouring out his soul energy into the mystical runes drawn in a four-pointed star.

    As soon as he performed the incantation, a glowing spirit that looked like a fairy asked him the reason he summoned her.

    Qridus who had never seen a heaven messenger until now was taken aback to see a fist-sized woman with butterfly wings appeared. It was actually different from what he had imagined.

    The 33rd prophet of the Elven clan requests her Qridus wishes. The fairy glanced at the frail-looking old clan head for a second before it disappeared and then, reappeared with a message.

    Looking at the Prophet, she spoke in her usual sweet tone, "The one who traveled back to the time is the heir of the Death that possesses the power of Death and time."

    Then, she paused for a second and looked at Qridus, this time. However, unlike last time, the second part of the message was directly sent to his head. "This is a special message sent by our Lord for you.

    Let him walk in the path of light, he will become the savior of Gaia. Let him walk in the path of darkness, he will become the destroyer of Gaia."

    As soon as she gave the answer, the fairy spirit disappeared immediately, leaving the Prophet and Qridus speechless for a while until the prophet commented, "It looks like the time traveler is your descendent, Qridus."

    While returning, Qridus fell into deep thoughts. He kept on replaying the words in his mind over and over. He wasn''t thinking about the special message, but rather about the first one. He wondered whether there''s any other meaning of Azzy possessing the power of Death and Time.

    Suddenly, something clicked in his mind and realized what its meaning is. "The Reaper! It''s the founder''s Arcana spirit which possesses the hourglass that is said to possess the power to rewind the time of the whole universe and let the user travel into any point of time in the history."

    Upon connecting the dots and realize the truth, Qridus returned to his clan village in hurry and to pass the orders to the clan leaders in protecting his future clan head.

    The clan leaders who are trying to plot against Qridus were depressed upon finding that the Clan head returned so quickly.

    Then, they were even more surprised to get an order from Qridus that one of them need to volunteer for a mission, which is just to go to Northern Qudour and help out Vesryn Garcia in case he fell into trouble.

    The matriarch of the Night clan, Pandora Night volunteered to do the job.

    Back to the present;

    Qridus was in Azzy''s dream and broke out the truth that he found that even surprised the almighty Reaper.

    For the second time in his life, Azzy stuttered, facing the reality. "How¡­ How did you know?"

    Qridus smiled in response, "I have my ways child..."

 Chapter 136: Reuniting with the family

    "It''s not safe for you to stay there without any protection, my descendant. Return to the clan village. I''ll make sure to send you back to your timeline." Unlike their previous meet, Qridus'' voice appeared soft as looked at the blurry figure with affection.

    The fact that the person before him is the clan heir, not a clan member, tells that he''s most likely his descendant. After all, the boy possesses the founder''s unique Arcana spirit, the Reaper, which is the only humanoid Arcana spirit ever existed to date.

    The second warning from the heavenly messenger also implies that he was meant to guide Azzy.

    With so many others probably going towards Northern Qudour where the timeline shift had happened, Qridus was now worried about Azzy''s well-being, more than ever.

    However, before Azzy gave his reply, his body was taken over by the Reaper. "Child of the Death clan, I don''t know how you managed to locate this child and found out the truth, but, I think you and your clan should stay away from the boy."

    Suddenly, as the voice deepened, Qridus realized that it''s possession. Despite not being able to see the person, he still bowed in respect. "You must be the Reaper. Accept my greetings, Oh Servant of the Death."

    The Grim Reaper knew that Qridus was probably misunderstood that he was like any other Reaper, who is a servant of death as depicted in the historical books.

    Only he knows that they weren''t spirits as everyone thought. They were actually the avatars of the Death God who will descend onto earth and claim the souls that are wandering on the planet instead of going to the spirit world.

    Not intending to clarify the matter, the Reaper further warned in response to his greetings, "This boy is destined to do great things. Don''t try to trap him in that little clan village of yours."

    It made Qridus remember the words from the fairy once again. It clearly said Azzy''s path affects Gaia, not just the Death clan. He wondered whether this is what the Elven deity Sashelas was trying to say to him.

    Putting away the distracting thoughts, Qridus told the Reaper about incoming doom if Azzy were to stay there, to which, the Reaper suggested that Qridus can deploy a few people to protect him from danger.

    Even though the Reaper agrees that Azzy''s journey will be smooth will be protected if he returned to the clan, still, he was against it as it wouldn''t help out Azzy in becoming the way he wanted him to be.

    After showing his stance on this matter, the Reaper snapped his fingers and forcefully kicked out Qridus from the dream.

    Even though the Reaper cut off the connection, Azzy didn''t wake up right away. He continued to sleep peacefully until the next day morning where he woke up abruptly while remembering the dream.

    "Chronos, tell me. Is that a real dream or did my identity just got exposed to the ancestor?" He immediately asked the Reaper as he had this fear for a while.

    "It''s indeed true. Your ancestor seemed to be found it somehow." The Reaper didn''t try to hide this matter either.

    "What now?" Azzy asked his advice while wondering whether he should return to the clan village or just escape. He had no one but to rely on the Reaper.

    Feeling his thoughts, the Reaper suggested continuing his life as usual and not to worry about the matter.

    Azzy was really surprised to hear it. "So, it''s nothing to worry about?"

    To ease Azzy''s nervousness, the Reaper reminded him that they can always rewind the time at any time and run away to Arcana world and train there.

    Before Azzy comment on it, the Reaper further said, "And also, you have a family here. So, there''s no need to go anywhere else."

    "Family?" Azzy was once again taken aback. "You mean Barbara?"

    Instead of telling him the answer, the Reaper suddenly started to count.  "30, 29, 28¡­ 15¡­ 10¡­ 5¡­ 4, 3, 2, 1¡­"

    At first, Azzy wondered what''s going on with this deity. But, then, as soon as his countdown ended, a bell rang inside the room, followed by knocking on the room''s door.

    "There you go¡­"

    "Hmm?" Feeling suspicious, Azzy step down from the bed and walked towards the door. Meanwhile, Gideon was still sleeping soundly without being disturbed by the bell.

    When he opened it, he saw the dormitory''s warden was standing outside. "Student Azrael, you have guests outside."

    "Guests?" Azzy looked at the window. It was still a bit dark on the outside. He wondered who it might be.

    Then, suddenly, he remembered the Reaper''s last words before he started to count. "Family?" A picture of three appeared in his mind.

    "Where are they?" He asked the warden, to which the latter replied that they are waiting downstairs.

    Azzy immediately hurried without changing from his pajamas. The warden was taken aback to see such a strange reaction from this blank-faced boy.

    Even though he knew that he shouldn''t develop an attachment with those two once again, Azzy couldn''t help himself anymore. He wanted to see the first two persons who treated him kindly and gave him the warmth of a family.

    In his eyes, those two are the only ones who never expected anything from him and always let him be himself.

    So, he could care about things like attachments or leaving. All he wanted to see his family once again.

    As he reached the downstairs entrance hall filled with expectations, he saw a couple was standing at the entrance of the door facing their back towards him while watching the snow.

    They were indeed the persons who he thinks they are. It''s Oakley Night and Princess Affea Snieca.

    "Grand¡­" Azzy quickly swallowed the word as he about to call Oakley his grandpa before readjusting his tone and called out to them calmly, "Aunt Snieca, Uncle Oakley¡­"

    Upon hearing a familiar plain tone from behind, they turned around at the same time.

    "Hey, Azzy." Snieca smiled as tears welled up in her eyes. They have only been together for a few months, yet, Snieca always considered Azzy as her child. She doesn''t know why but she always felt that way.

    Oakley, although smiling on the surface, his heart wasn''t present here. He was constantly thinking about Avia whom he left there at the Death clan.

    Of course, Azzy didn''t know that. So, he wondered whether his master was left at the house.

    As he reached them, Snieca, who was also missing Avia, became even more emotional as she hugged Azzy and caressed his hair. "I''m sorry for leaving you behind like that¡­"

    Backing away, she looked at his face, "look at you. You have grown up¡­"

    Azzy who never had the love of his parents felt warmth and felt like he was going to cry too but alas, no tears came out due to the lack of his emotions in the current state. He slowly spoke, "I miss you¡­"

    Ruffling his hair, Oakley also showed a bit of affection and commented, "it looks like you became stronger, Azzy."

    Azzy nodded in response, "I worked hard."

    After a while, as they walked together outside, Snieca explained briefly that they had a bit of enmity with a certain kingdom. So, they had to hide until now. She then further said that everything has been taken care of and they will be moving back to Aclein.

    When asked about Avia, Princess Snieca''s face turned dull all of a sudden and Oakley covered it up by explaining, as she''s awakened, they sent her to her grandparents'' house to get her admitted into Freyles academy.

    Azzy immediately understood that she''s probably sent away to the Death clan against her wish just like how he was sent away when he was eight years. He felt that no wonder the grownup talked to his grandpa rudely like that, back then...

    As a thought developed in his mind, the Reaper''s voice echoed in his head, "No, it''s better if you don''t do that, Azrael."

    "Hmm, why? Does it cause a huge timeline shift?" Azzy asked him. If it is bad, then, he won''t do the thing that he had in mind.

    To his surprise, the Reaper replied with a NO. However, just as Azzy about to ask the reason why the Reaper is against his idea, suddenly, the Reaper changed his words and told him to proceed with it. As for the reason, only this specter knew it.

 Chapter 137: Champions League part-4

    "Welcome to Day-2 of the Champions League, 1994." The League started with Exea''s announcement followed by the wild cheers from the audience.

    "Now, without further ado, let''s see the battles today. First, solo category."

    Group A: Vann Hildegard vs Newton

    Group B: Carlton Wells vs Blaze

    .

    .

    Group E: Laurence vs Alva Marble

    .

    Group H: Willis Leon vs Pepper

    As soon as the second-day fixtures for the solo battles were announced, the crowd erupted in cheers.

    After all, a few of the names were very famous for those who follow the competitions.

    Vann won fourth place in the previous year''s World League, solo category, junior division.

    On the other hand, Blaze, the rank-6 expert who was the captain of the Central Academy''s representative time, ended up as the runner-up of the World League after defeating Vann in the semi-finals.

    Laurence, the captain of Maple Academy, led a team and grabbed the title of world champions consecutively two times in a row at the world league group category and also the winner of the previous year''s Champions League in the group category.

    The maple Academy''s original team was also known for being a champion in many international championships.

    However, for some reason, three of the original members were replaced by eighth-graders who were actually first-timers in an international competition like the Champions League.

    And the captain was participating solo, which kinda disappointed their supporters at first, but they still cheered in support for Laurence.

    Last but not least, Willis Leon is also a captain of the team that is representing Freyles academy.

    So, Day-2 turned out to be captain special for the audience.

    And the surprises didn''t end there.

    Unlike Day-1 where the fixtures were displayed after the battles in each category is over, on Day-2, after they have shown the list of matches of solo category, they proceeded to show the fixtures of Duo category and then, group- category.

    It was actually a mistake on hosting academy''s fault for doing like that. Several teams waited in those waiting rooms only to get disappointed later.

    Following the original protocol, for the next day, they showed all the battles that were going to be conducted on the day. It was so that the unrelated teams could leave the arena and go for training.

    And the audience who isn''t interested can also leave the place.

    However, the organizing committee earns 27 million credits per day just based on their 50% share in the ticket price. So, they couldn''t let the audience disappoint.

    In order for them to coming back, they have to do something interest. While allotting the teams into groups was completely random and they can do nothing about it, still, the organizing committee can arrange the matches within the group in any order they want to.

    On the first day, aside from Leah in solo, Ash clan siblings match in duo, they didn''t schedule any other match from the top 10 academies as they didn''t need to.

    However, from Day-2, if they kept on showing boring matches, the audience might lose interest. It clearly showed that Day-2 only started with the stadium only being around 70-75% full.

    To increase enthusiasm among the audience, the organizing committee announced the matches with not only just top academies but also the people who are publicly known.

    As the audience was cheering wildly, they announced the list of Duo-category. While there are no duo champions in these matches, still, of those eight matches, there was a battle between Dragon Academy and Heavenly Academy.

    And there was a battle between Phoenix Academy and Egrein Academy. Finally, there was a battle between Aclein Academy and Sun Academy.

    Of course, in everyone''s eyes, Egrein Academy is barely a first-rate and Aclein is well, aside from a few exceptional students like Azzy, the others are the third rate. Everyone''s eyes are on the representative of these Elite Academies.

    And the final nail was hit when the group match was announced in which Aclein Academy is going to battle Neo Academy, which is considered the second rate with the best fighter having low-rank-5 soul power.

    Even though the Twilight team is the champion of Aclein Academy, still, in the eyes of experts, they weren''t good compared to Team Unicorn.

    After all, it wasn''t a secret that only the captain of the team is rank-5 and the rest of them are rank-4.

    So, they didn''t take the match seriously.

    The matches started with the battlefield turned into a forest habitat.

    With great one-sided battles in the solo category and exciting tough battles in the duo category proceeded, the stadium was filled with non-stop cheer.

    The scouts of top academies and organizations were also analyzing the moves of everyone that caught their eye. Along with them, there were also analyzers from a few top academies who are recording the data of their opponents to help out the representative instructor in drawing out the plan.

    However, their expression changed as the team battle in C-group ended with the easy victory of Moon Academy, and the names of the participants from the next battle of each team were displayed on the screens.

    "Azrael?" In place of Calder, Azrael was added to the list. This name was no strange to the scouts.

    In fact, every scout knew this name by now. They became excited to see Azrael was participating in the tournament as they can see his prowess with their own eyes¡­

    Meanwhile, the students who saw them practice together had mixed results. Some of them were surprised a little bit that he''s a participant, not training Twilight team members. And the others felt like it doesn''t matter.

    However, for the instructors, it was completely different.

    If they would have known, they felt like they would have prepared a strategy to tackle him by now.

    All this while, most of the instructors were only expecting Azzy to participate solo as he was strong enough to defeat a tournament favorite like Prince Vann.

    When they didn''t saw his name in the list, where Leo''s name was replaced by someone else, everyone assumed that he will not be participating.

    Who could have expected that Azzy''s name would be popped up in a group match¡­ They felt that Barton was a sly fellow to sneakily enter Azzy into this category.

    Meanwhile, after announcing the names, supporting her own academy, Exea cheered loudly as she further announced the arrival of both of the teams. "Next, give it up for Aclein Academy''s champion, team Twilight, and Neo Academy''s champion, Team harmony.

    Team Harmony has been competing in several competitions for the past year. On the other hand, the Twilight group was formed only a couple of weeks ago. And their second tournament turned out to be an international tournament. For some reason, their team member is also changed to Azrael."

    Clearly, everyone realized her favoritism in her words as she didn''t give such a long introduction for even top academies.

    But then again, for the male audience, this beauty''s smile and words were also kind of a blessing. So, none of them complained. Instead of watching the battle, some of her hardcore fans would rather listen to her speech, all day.

    Just as her words ended, the first to arrive into the field was team Twilight. They walked into the arena in an inverted V shape with Claire leading, Azzy and Gideon are in the second row, Mia and Snivy are at the back.

    They entered the barrier and stepped onto the desert. Walking a step forward, Azzy and others saw their legs were sunk by half a foot deep into the sand.

    This is another change from Day-1. With not having enough space to accommodate everyone if they were to choose to train in the same habitat, Barton was forced to implement a change in the battlefield, which is changed for every different category.

    The Day-2 group battles were conducted in a desert habitat.

    Because of two earlier battles, the desert also became quite uneven, especially in the middle. So, it was indeed a tough challenge for Azzy and others who never participated in such a surface.

    In fact, it was Azzy''s first time to even see a desert full of sand. Still, it didn''t take long for him to maintain balance on it.

    A minute later, their opponents also arrived and entered the barrier from the other end.

    As the whistle being blown, indicating the start of the match, all of a sudden, to everyone''s surprise, the rest of Twilight''s team members backed off and Azzy stepped forward.

 Chapter 138: Champions league part-5

    A few hours earlier;

    Rowan and two more participants have arrived at their allotted waiting room inside the stadium.

    Team members of Twilight, on the other hand, were busy practicing in the forest habitat, thinking that the group match fixtures will be announced like the previous day.

    So, they thought of training until the afternoon. Claire is training with Gideon and his new frontline partner Snivy who just broken through to rank-5, a couple of days ago.

    Meanwhile, Mia was practicing her archery against Azzy''s skeletons while standing on one of the branches on its Oak Tree Arcana.

    Due to the abundance of wood attributes around her, Mia felt a boost up in her concentration, feeling connected to the surrounding trees. Still, it doesn''t help her accuracy as the skeletons started to hide behind trees to evade the energy arrows.

    The Oaktree was still not used to the presence of Vajra. However, despite that, it wasn''t afraid like before because of the forest habitat which is like a home to it. An imaginary effect of the place soothed its fears.

    "Mia, don''t just shoot from one spot. Try to jump from one branch to another while shooting the energy arrows." Azzy shouted from far away while keeping an eye on her movements and the position of skeletons.

    Following his suggestion, as Mia tried to change the location, she slipped from the branch. "Kya¡­"

    The Oaktree tried to grab it. However, due to the lack of concentration, its focus isn''t on the spot and it failed to grab it. Her scream made the others stop training and looked in her direction.

    Just as Azzy about to dash towards her to catch her before she falls on the ground, suddenly, she stopped in mid-air as a bubble appeared around her.

    Slowly, the bubble descended onto the ground and disappeared as she landed.

    Azzy felt a strong presence in the forest aside from his teammates. As he activated the aura sensing, he saw a person floating in the air and is descending towards the ground.

    As he turned his head, he found it was the Vice-principal. Everyone also found her as she landed on the ground. "You are battling Neo Academy, today. You should get ready for the match."

    Gathering them around her, Sahara proceeded to explain her strategy. Then she explained the information she had found about Neo Academy''s Team Harmony.

    As the opponents were average except for the captain, Sahara informed them that Azzy and Claire will sit out from this battle and let the three of them battle the five opponents.

    According to her, it will not only establish the Aclein academy Champion team''s strength in the League but Snivy would also get used to the five-star realm quicker.

    At first, Azzy agreed with it along with everyone.

    However, in the next minute, upon remembering Oakley and Affea, he suddenly asked everyone whether he could battle solo for this match.

    Does he want to impress the couple or does he wanted to show that he''s strong so that they wouldn''t have to worry about him?

    For whatever reason he doesn''t know yet, Azzy wanted to be selfish by taking down his opponents all by himself, at least for the present day.

    The team members didn''t know what''s going on in Azzy''s head. They are wondering why Azzy is doing this.

    "Does he want to show off?" "Does he want to test himself?" "Is it because this is his first tournament?" "Is it because he wanted to save his team members'' abilities?"

    Several thoughts emerged in everyone''s heads.

    Only Gideon who was closest to Azzy felt like there was something off about his request.

    Although he doesn''t know what''s going on, Gideon knew that Azzy isn''t the type to volunteer to battle, especially against weaker people than himself unless there''s a personal business as he would constantly worry about killing them instead.

    After a brief silence, Sahara looked at Azzy and asked, "Are you confident? Even if they aren''t from the top academy, they aren''t still pushovers."

    Azzy immediately nodded confidently.

    Before anyone confronted him about the reason, Sahara spoke, "this plan will also work. A strong start will not only improve the image of our academy and also might put pressure on the other opponents within in the same group."

    Azzy then nodded in response.

    After hearing her explanation and then, looking at Azzy''s response to that, the team members misunderstood that Azzy was probably doing it for the image of the academy.

    *Clap* "Okay, it''s decided. Azrael will battle first and the others will sit out from the match unless he fell into trouble." As the team captain, Claire finalized the plan before continuing the training until lunchtime.

    Back to the present, members of Team Harmony, as well as the audience, were surprised by Team Twilight''s actions.

    While some thought Aclein Academy representatives are full of themselves, others thought the Necromancer Prince was confident in taking them alone.

    The students of the Aclein Academy, supported their team, with collective cheers.

    "Twilight, Twilight, Twilight, Azrael, Azrael."

    Neo Academy students were angered as they felt they were being mocked. Even if their opponent is someone who defeated Prince Vann, still this isn''t a singles match. It is a team match. And they too have a rank-5 expert in their team.

    Moreover, Azzy not summoning his beast irked them even more.

    *Whistle*

    As soon as the proctor blew the whistle, Team Harmony who was ready with their Arcana, get into action.

    Three of them, who was a healer and two summoners respectively, hopped on a flying card together.

    On the other hand, the remaining two who were soul weapon users started to run towards Azzy along with the two beasts.

    The captain of the team harmony, Cobalt Twigs, was leading the team in the front with a steel bat in his hands, which largely resemble a baseball bat.

    With his huge stature and bulging muscles, he kinda looked like a delinquent while he was running towards his enemy.

    Azzy glanced at the audience left and right. Obviously, in the horde of thousands of people, he wasn''t able to find Oakley and Affea. Still, he believed they were sitting somewhere.

    Looking ahead, Azzy charged forward.

    "What the hell¡­" It was all Cobalt was able to sound out as he saw Azzy suddenly turned into a blur, spilling an enormous amount of sand particles into the air.

    However, to his surprise, Azzy reappeared in the middle of the desert, hundred meters away from his team while the opposing team only covered one-fifth of the distance.

    It wasn''t the high speed that surprised Cobalt. Azzy didn''t attack them or started to prepare for some attack. He just stood in the middle of the desert and folds his hands to the back.

    He stood there in silence as if he was provoking them to come and get him.

    Cobalt was the first to attack. He swung his bat vertically at the head.

    However, just as it was about to hit its target, Azzy sidestepped while sweeping his foot at the same time.

    Azzy''s leg hit his opponent''s foot and stretched his leg wide until Cobalt''s legs split horizontally.

    "Argh¡­" He moaned in pain as his body doesn''t turn out to be flexible. Meanwhile, the other team member who is a swordsman, and the two beasts that are right behind him arrived at the same time.

    The two summoners on the flying card ordered the beasts to attack Azzy, leaving the assistance to the captain to the swordsman.

    But, what they faced in the cruel reality.

    As soon as the peak-rank-4 tiger and the lioness beasts lunged at Azzy at the same time, the latter first empowered his body with the soul energy, depleting nearly 20% of his soul power.

    A thin outline of soul energy covered outside of his body as a result.

    Then, he dodged the tiger with another side-step and then, made a fist to give a powerful uppercut at its chin.

    As the tiger landed on the ground, the lioness that was supposed to bite him was hit by his punch and got blew up in the air, spilling the blood all over Azzy who was right below it.

    "No¡­" Its summoner shrieked in response while the headless lioness fell on the ground before slowly disappearing.

    With half of the face covered in blood, Azzy turned his head towards the tiger and set his eyes on it.

    When their eyes met, the mutated gold-grade tiger took a step back in fear as it saw the illusion of a death reaper behind Azzy.

 Chapter 139: Champions League part-6

    In fear of its death, the tiger beasts chose to retreat to its summoner''s mindscape. However, before it even attempted to disappear, Azzy was already before the beast and planted a powerful kick on its face, causing it to burst into a bloody pulp.

    "Auburn" The tiger beast''s summoner screamed before going into disbelief. The summoner of the lioness is also in the same state. Both of them didn''t expect their beasts will die without even fighting back.

    Wiping the blood on his face, Azzy turned his head and focused on the captain who was slowly standing up.

    It looked like he was the only one in the team that was prepared for this kind of scenario as he seemed calm on the surface.

    "Vernie, we are changing our strategy." Cobalt said to his swordsman partner who was standing behind him upon developing a fear of Azzy. If those beasts with tough skin couldn''t handle his punch, how would a skinny human like him be able to stay alive?

    So, He was hesitating to go and attack the opponent alone as it is akin to suicide.

    With the two of their Arcana spirits were killed, the summoners on the flying card were in a stupefied state. As for the healer, she was hoping that their captain would just forfeit this pointless match and save their strength for other battles.

    After all, they don''t have any ambitions to win the tournament since everyone on the team knew that they weren''t a match for the top academies. All they want to give a nice performance to get scouted in first-rate academies for advanced studies.

    However, to their disappointment, the captain didn''t lose the will to admit defeat. He was prepared to use his trump card, instead of getting humiliated.

    "Everyone, we are going with plan-C." Cobalt passed the orders to everyone while summoning his storage before taking out a blood-red colored pill.

    Observing the situation, Neo Academy''s representative instructor frowned. He shouted to the team members, "Seven minutes, everyone."

    Long before the match, this peak-rank-6 representative instructor strictly warned the students while providing a set of red and blue pills to them that they need to take the blue pills within seven minutes of taking red pills so that they don''t lose control over their soul energy.

    The academy provided those pills to the representative team so that they could use them during a crucial match. However, their representative instructor didn''t expect the team would be forced to use this.

    He knew that Azzy isn''t someone that can be lightly taken off. The peak-rank-4 beasts getting blown up like a balloon with just his punch is the perfect example for it.

    Back to the match, while Azzy is wiping the blood from his face, Cobalt swallowed the pill. The rest followed the suit.

    Suddenly, Azzy stopped his movements and raised his head. Everyone from the Neo Academy was releasing a red aura while their soul power was increased to the next level while they rapidly absorb the natural energy from the surroundings.

    Now, they are no longer rank-4. Except for their captain, not only the rest of the teammates made a breakthrough to rank-5, but their soul power even reached mid-rank-5, although temporarily.

    At the same time, they used revival cards on their Arcana spirits and brought them back to the real world. Like their masters, their strength too increased tremendously. However, the two big cats appeared to be afraid of going forward.

    On the other hand, Cobalt''s soul power increased from 230 thousand to 900 thousand, making him a temporary peak-rank-5 expert.

    Looking at the opponents brimming with a huge amount of soul power, Mia and Snivy got worried for a moment and wondered whether it will be too much for Azzy to death with them even with the help of his platinum grade beast.

    Just as they stepped forward, Claire stopped them. "Don''t. Azrael is strong enough to deal with the group. Did you forget that he hadn''t summoned any of his Arcana yet?"

    Hearing her words made the two girls stop and hoped Azzy would fend off their attacks.

    But, what they saw was that not only Azzy didn''t summon his Arcana but he even restricted himself to peak-rank-4.

    Even his opponents were surprised to see that instead of raising his strength, Azzy suppressed his strength instead. They couldn''t help but think that he was still looking down on them. Meanwhile, a part of the audience too thought that the kid is getting too full of himself.

    "Charge¡­"

    Cobalt dashed forward while his teammates followed him from behind.

    Except for the healer, all the team members charged forward, spilling an enormous amount of sand in the air. The summoners mounted on their beasts to assure that they were with them.

    Right then, Azzy got into a strange stance.

    His body faced to the side, with front foot facing forward, front leg bent. The back leg is bent slightly, and the foot is turned outwards perpendicular to the front foot.

    Apart from a few spectators, only Claire who regularly sparred with Azzy knew of this stance. She knew what kind of moves he would be using.

    After applying two seals on his soul orb, restricting his soul power to 99999, Azzy emptied his soul orb while strengthening his physical body.

    In such a state, he doesn''t lack control anymore. The beasts turning into bloody pulp despite him trying to control his strength made him decided to go with this.

    After all, they were beasts. He could afford to kill them. On the other hand, these were humans who have no personal enmity. Why must he kill them when he could defeat them using a different approach?

    To defeat the opponents, Azzy opted for a different strategy, taught by his temporary combat instructor back at the Death clan.

    As he was ready with his stance, his opponents arrived before him. Cobalt was the first to strike once again.

    To not make the same mistake as before, he jumped up in the air and swung the steel bat at Azzy, to which the latter retreated his front foot, making the sword miss him, then, he threw out a punch towards Cobalt''s torso as he was landing on the ground.

    The punch with the strength of a peak-rank-5 hit the chest of Cobalt very hard and he was blown away and crashed onto his swordsman teammate as he wasn''t able to dodge in time.

    Both of them fell a dozen meters away, making the other two summoners halt their movements and turn to look at their captain.

    After forcing himself to stand on his feet, Cobalt spits out the blood placing a hand on his chest. He felt like a couple of ribs have been broken. Thankfully, the healer is nearby because of the flying card''s slow speed.

    She raised the staff and performed basic healing on him. Due to the effect of the berserk pill, Cobalt''s external and internal injuries quickly healed.

    Meanwhile, the captain who was covered by the light aura looked at Azzy with his eyes shaking in fear. Just like the tiger, he too saw an illusion of a reaper standing behind Azzy. "What if he hadn''t suppressed himself? Would I have died just now? It''s just his normal punch filled with soul energy. He isn''t a guy who we can contend against. Still, we cannot give up without giving a fight."

    His fear was replaced by seriousness upon reminding himself of the precious berserk pill they have taken for this match.

    Brandishing his sword, he shouted, "Everyone, we''re going all out. Howell, Jerry, use merge. Shea, apply a shield on me. Vernie, use your strongest combo."

    Listening to their captain, everyone unleashed their soul skills. The healer applied a rank-5 shield to Cobalt to reduce the damage.

    The two summoners stepped down from the beasts before one of them took out a skill card and unleashed it.

    The beasts glow like a ball of light for a few seconds before merging into a peak-rank-5 platinum grade Tigon.

    *roar*

    With the temporary newly found extraordinary power, the merged beast roared at Azzy as it no longer fears him.

    The audience was surprised to see such a skill from a second-rated academy like Neo.

    Meanwhile, the summoners were picked up by the healer on her flying card.

    In the meantime, the swordsman Vernie applied a couple of skill cards, first, a speed card that makes his legs run faster, then, unleashing a soul skill, which made his sword as big as twenty meters with fire dancing all over the blade. After that, he further kept a skill card in his hand to use at the perfect time.

    As for cobalt, he used a heaviness card, which is a variant of gravity card on his Arcana that lets the steel bat becomes 100 times heavier for a couple of minutes.

    Not wasting the time any longer, team harmony charged forward once again.

    This time, the Tigon beast was the first to launch the attack, unleashing one of its eight soul skills, gaining four from the lioness and four from the tiger.

    Upon unleashing the soul skill, its size increased to two-meter big and four meters long while increasing the raw power to the next level.

    As for Azzy, he reverted to the original L stance and just waited for the enemy to reach him.

    As the Tigon beast reached its enemy, it raised its giant paw to smash Azzy to death.

    Just then, rotating his body a bit, he countered with a high kick and struck its cheek, throwing its entire body up to a few meters into the air before crashing onto the sand.

 Chapter 140: Champions League part-7

    Due to the beast''s merge and Azzy''s self-suppression, the Tigon wasn''t harmed like before. Still, it wasn''t able to withstand the attack completely either.

    As it slowly stood up while shaking its head, recovering from dizziness, members of the Team harmony found its jaw was dislocated or perhaps might be broken because its lower mouth seemed like it was fixed to the left. The Tigon wasn''t even able to roar properly.

    Thankfully, there is a healer on the way. One of the summoners also ordered it to stand down until their arrival.

    As for the others, they even sighed in relief that it didn''t die.

    Instead of getting surprised that Azzy managed to deal with the platinum grade beast, the members of Team Harmony became confident that they could stand against this opponent as long as he doesn''t revert to his original state. So, they decided to finish him before that happens.

    Cobalt and Vernie continued to charge forward.

    Upon reaching the range, Vernie, the one with the giant firesword in his hand and a skill card with an image of chains in his other hand, unleashed his trump card.

    Vernie threw the skill card towards after pouring soul power into it. This was a precious trump card the academy bestowed onto him to use at knockout rounds, but due to the captain''s orders, he had to use it right away.

    However, he made one blunder. Such skill cards are meant to sneak attack at a close range, not throw it head-on from far away. What''s more, the person before them is faster.

    The experts shook their heads even before watching the result. And just as they expected, Azzy pushed his leg against the sand ground and jumped a dozen meters above in the sky, and easily dodged the skill card.

    Eventually, it fell on the sand after flying for another ten meters and energy chains were materialized on the sand.

    "Vernie, attack while he is in the mid-air. He can''t dodge it." Cobalt quickly passed the orders as the first attack was failed.

    Heeding his captain''s orders, Vernie gave a loud cry as he swung down his twenty-meter giant firesword onto Azzy with every ounce of his strength. "Oraa¡­"

    "Oh! Good." Cobalt and his other team member''s eyes lit up as the giant sword reached Azzy while he was in mid-air, to which Azzy raised his hands and grabbed the blade as he was descending.

    "Dammit¡­" Vernie gritted his teeth as Azzy wasn''t crushed into the sand as he visioned. Instead, he was finely standing on the top of the sand while grabbing part of the blade with his two hands.

    Vernie burned his soul energy even more to increase the heat of the flames as well as the force to push Azzy downwards.

    However, not only the latter didn''t get pushed down by the sword, but the energy armor around Azzy also completely shielded him from the heat, making the attack harmless.

    Just then, Cobalt managed to reach Azzy. Taking the advantage of the situation, he swung his 300kgs steel bat at Azzy''s chest.

    Still, to their dismay, Azzy managed to defend himself by removing his left hand from the firesword and caught the steel bat.

    Both of them tried to use force but to no avail. Azzy''s grip appeared studier.

    "Aurora, go and assist the captain." One of the summoners ordered the recovered Tigon to attack Azzy whose hands are busy at the moment. They couldn''t order it to use the soul skill as the teammates would be caught in the middle.

    Seeing the platinum-grade beast running towards him, Azzy glanced at left and then, right. He then glanced at the struggling opponents who are trying to push him back.

    A plan formed in his mind.

    He suddenly lifted the seals on his soul orb and raised his soul power to more than two hundred thousand once again, alarming Cobalt.

    Before Cobalt back away, Azzy tightly grabbed the steel ball before swinging his arm towards the left with all of his strength.

    While the heavy bat fell only a few meters away, Cobalt, who lost his grip, was flung away like a ball that was hit homerun.

    Due to the huge force, he wasn''t able to control his body and flew nonstop until his body crossed the barrier where their representative instructor caught him quickly, saving him from crashing onto the wall.

    While everyone is concentrating on the flying Cobalt, Azzy pushed away from the fire sword upwards at the same time and then, motioned his arm and leg backward before throwing a solid punch to the sword.

    *Bam*

    A loud sound like explosion erupted in the arena as a portion in the middle of the sword was destroyed completely making the remaining upper part fall on the sand.

    A few seconds later, the blade and the remaining broken sword disappeared into thin air.

    "Eirin¡­" The swordsman fell pained upon watching his Arcana die and its spirit to the mindscape. Even though he had a revival card with him, swordsman Vernie didn''t bother to revive it as he knew the match is over the moment their captain is out. He just stood there like a statue, waiting for the announcement from the proctor.

    In the meantime, the two summoners and the healer who were watching it from the skies also thought the same as their teammate, losing their confidence completely.

    Still, the summoners didn''t recall their beasts as it was pointless now. With their beasts merged, they could neither dismiss the transformation until the time limit nor could they make them return to their respective mindscapes.

    All they could do is to watch, hoping for a miracle after ordering to unleash another soul skill, which made the Tigon revert to its original size and turns into a flaming beast with flames covering all over its body.

    But, a miracle is called a miracle because of its extremely low possibility.

    Unfortunately for them, Azzy decided on his next move as soon as he saw the changes in the beast.

    To make sure not to damage his clothes with all the blood once again, he decided to kill it from far away.

    With a thought in mind, instantly, the soul armor around him disappeared, and the soul energy that was spread to all the body parts is now retracted back into the soul orb.

    Azzy then raised his hand and mumbled, "Soul skill: Death Spear."

    His eyes turned pitch black while a dark spear filled with death energy appeared in his hands. Motioning his arm backward for a bit, he threw it towards the Tigon that halted his steps upon sensing powerful energy within the spear.

    Before it decided whether to continue or to return, the spear already struck its neck.

    Upon getting pierced by the dark spear, the flames over its body died out while its body became petrified into charcoal, almost instantly.

    A part of the audience was cheering loudly in excitement while another part of the audience went numb as they watched the five opponents of a higher grade with temporary mid-rank-5 and a peak-rank-5 soul power were soundly defeated by a low-rank-5 without even need the help of his Arcana spirit.

    Moreover, from the start to finish, only a little more than 2 minutes have been passed.

    On Team Twilight''s side, there were no losses except for Azzy''s soul power almost in triple digits. On team Harmony''s side, the merged beast was killed; the captain was thrown out of the barrier; Vernie''s sword was also extinguished.

    With the last ray of hope was easily obliterated, Captain Cobalt threw away the match.

    "Team Twilight wins the match." The Proctor announced the win.

    Watching from the stands, Vesryn asked Izora who sat beside him, "Are you sure he isn''t your long-lost relative? No matter how I look at him, this boy kinda looks like you, especially his aquamarine eyes and nose. Well, his complexion is a bit light compared to you though¡­ Still, people who don''t know you might even think you are siblings."

    "Don''t joke around, Vesryn." The ill-tempered Izora clenched her fist and slowly spoke, "Members of our crescent clan don''t have that kind of darkness."

    "Hmm, now that I think about it, your clan members are also too expressive." Vesryn let out a comment, not knowing that Izora is in a bad mood, which made her respond with a solid punch on his thigh. "Ugh¡­"

    As he was rubbed his thigh, Izora replied in a cold tone, "You are right. We are too expressive. So, don''t test my patience and work on the thing we came here for."

 Chapter 141: Monitoring Azzy

    Ten days later;

    "Azzy, need a little help here..." Gideon called out for help as he was successfully captured by a giant cobra''s tail and was about to get bitten on his neck. He was struggling against it.

    Azzy, who was finished with his three battles, dashed forward towards Gideon to free him.

    The Captain of the opposing team Ace charged forward to intercept Azzy and ordered his Arcana to hurry up and take Gideon out.

    In this battle against Ace Academy, Team Twilight decided to go with Gideon and Azzy to care for the opponents with the rest of the team members sitting out from the battle.

    Like many other tournament favorites, team Twilight went with a strategy of another 2 vs 5 after winning the second match.

    Back to the battle, with everyone else got defeated, the captain wished to take out at least one of them to save from getting humiliated.

    With an exquisite Armor on him that can defend against even peak-rank-5 attacks, he was confident in halting Azzy for a  while.

    However, Azzy wasn''t interested in sparring with the opponent team''s captain. It was Gideon''s role to defeat him, not his.

    Moreover, he already took out three opponents while Gideon was dealing with the remaining three. To protect Gideon''s image, instead of confronting the opponent, Azzy simply made a sharp cut and passed through him, reaching his friend.

    After successfully catching the cobra''s neck, Azzy poured all of his soul energy into his right hand and then, crushed it immediately.

    As the snake disappeared, Gideon proceeded to battle the opponent.

    Eventually, Gideon injured this low-rank-5 heavily and let the proctor intervene and declare team Twilight as the winner.

    "Team Twilight wins the match."

    *Whoo*

    Amid the cheers of the crowd, Azrael and his team members left the Arena.

    "This is our third consecutive win. One more win, we are going to the quarterfinals." Claire was in high spirits after her strategy worked so far.

    "The last match is against Cosmic Academy. None of them have rank-5 in the team. We don''t need to worry about it either." As Mia commented casually, Gideon excitedly said, "Let''s skip training for today and go outside to enjoy. We can go to Arcade, have fun there, then, after dinner, we can go to karaoke and return by 11."

    "Oh! That sounds like a good plan." As Snivy and Mia were also seemed to be looking forward to it, Azzy looked at them and asked, "What is karaoke?"

    "Eh?" Almost instantly, everyone turned their heads and stared at Azzy in silence. Gideon commented whether he''s living under a rock or something. After all, it is a popular hangout place in almost every nation.

    Claire then explained to the clueless Azzy about it to which he nodded in response, indicating that he understood.

    "So, is everyone in?" When Gideon asked for everyone''s opinion, the girls agreed right away. Despite wanting to get back to training, he too agreed to it.

    "Okay then, let''s meet at the entrance gate at 6 o''clock." After setting the time, the girls parted.

    Azzy and Gideon also parted their ways as the former no longer residing in the dormitory. He shifted back to the Mansion where he lives with his foster parents.

    After leaving the academy, Azzy gets onto the bus stop to go home.

    Meanwhile, unknown to him, a teenage girl in tank top and shorts was observing him from the rooftop of a nearby building through the binoculars. She had a sniper rifle leaning to her waist and a pink lollipop in her mouth.

    As soon as Azzy got onto the next bus, she raised the walkie-talkie and said, "This is Alpha One. The target got on the public transport, over."

    After a while, Azzy left the bus at the next bus stop and entered the streets.

    The same girl is now sitting on another building nearby the bus stop, watching Azzy through the binoculars like before. Except that the lollipop in her mouth is now it was of peach flavor. Along with it, instead of a sniper rifle, there was an exquisite bow.

    "This is Alpha two. The target stepped down from the public transport and is walking towards his home, over."

    After a while, once again, the same girl was watching Azzy from the rooftop of a nearby apartment, this time the lollipop in her mouth was lime flavored and the weapon was some sort of machine gun.

    "This is Alpha three. The target reached the home safely."

    "Okay, good job, Alpha." After listening to the three reports from the girl, a deep voice was heard from the other side. "Continue to monitor the target and his friends. The Church and the Royal palace might launch an attack at any moment. We have to seize the opportunity at the perfect time."

    "Yes." All three of them replied at the same time.

    ***

    "Eh? You had a match, today?" Princess Snieca was taken aback upon hearing Azzy''s good news about winning the match. "You should have sent me a message card. At least, I would have come to the academy to watch it."

    Since Azzy and his team already had a match, three days ago, she thought that the next match will be at least another couple of days away.

    Affea couldn''t help but be disheartened to know that Azzy kept such an important thing away from her.

    "The battle isn''t worth watching. So, I didn''t send you a message." Even though Azzy competed in the first match and defeated the opponents all by himself, he still didn''t feel an ounce of excitement in his heart.

    Maybe, the battle with Vann stirred something in his heart. Whether it is training his comrades or battling with his opponents, none of them made him feel excited.

    He wanted to battle stronger opponents. That''s why, despite wanting to inform her, upon seeing the opponents were weak, Azzy didn''t use the message card to inform the princess.

    A message card is a type of item card that carries writing, audio, or a video message to the recipient whose soul energy imprint is recorded on it.

    With the inventions of radio transceivers and mobile phones, which don''t need soul power, these days, people rarely use this type of message unless it is either a confidential matter or if they refuse to use the modern technology invented by weak mortal humans.

    Azzy''s explanation made her calm down a little bit and instead of dragging the matter further, she decided to be happy for Azzy''s win.

    After congratulating him, she said they should be celebrating their victory. However, Azzy said that they can celebrate after his team goes to the quarter-finals.

    At first, he wanted to say about his celebration with his friends but now, he was worried that she might be sad to hear that he choose to celebrate with friends rather than them. So, he kept it away from her and just told her that he will be leaving for the academy for the training until late at night.

    However, his reply once again caused her disappointment. She wondered whether Azzy was keeping them away a bit or something. After all, they left for almost a year without telling him.

    As the fault lies with them, she couldn''t do anything except for respecting Azzy''s wishes and do the best she can to mend the relationship.

    A few hours later;

    At the appointed time, Azzy left the house and met his teammates at the school entrance.

    After everyone arrived, they left for downtown.

    "hahaha¡­ Azzy, you are really bad at this, aren''t you." Gideon laughed out as he saw Azzy was struggling with the claw crane.

    "Again," Azzy entered the cash and grabbed the control. Completely concentrating on it, he pressed the button. His target has been only the one thing, a bipedal cute turquoise cat with a huge head.

    The claw descended and caught its head before slowly moved towards the exit and dropped in the box.

    "You did it¡­" Claire clapped in excitement.

    "After 31 tries, finally¡­" Azzy sighed in relief and looked at the ceiling. He felt a strange sense of accomplishment.

    However, in the next few seconds, the trouble brewed for him in a different way.

    As Azzy took out the blue cat in his hands, he turned towards the girls. Claire seems to be looking at the toy in his hands with fascination.

    "Here¡­" Just as he raised his hand to give it to her, suddenly, a sweet voice was heard from the left. "Excuse me, can I have it?"

    He turned towards the source and found Leah was standing there alone.

 Chapter 142: Trap on the road

    "It''s that girl, right? The one with Celestial grade spirit." Azzy asked the Reaper to confirm his suspicions as soon as his eyes fell on the princess of Camelot.

    The only thing that surprised him is that she looked like a mortal with no soul power. As Azzy instantly tapped into Aura sensing to sense her real amount of soul power, it turned out to be useless for some reason.

    It happened once for him when the assassins from the night clan raided his home. However, back then, he was only a four-star Arcana master and they were two realms higher than him. But now, it is different.

    So, either the person before him is a rank-7 who was deliberating suppressing her aura or it might be the work of the celestial grade beast.

    Azzy couldn''t help but fell into deep thoughts.

    As usual, the Reaper resolved his confusion, "It looked like the girl mastered the Decarune seal. Once the person succeeds in creating ten seals, only a person in demi-god realm can detect their aura."

    "But, you said it was strictly restricted to the heavenly guardians." Azzy voiced his suspicion. He wondered whether the girl has any relations with those people.

    "Yes, it is, but, she is the descendant of Arthur Pendragon. It wasn''t difficult for her to acquire the knowledge of seals from their ancient records."

    "I see¡­"

    Meanwhile, seeing how Azzy staring at Leah with his hands were frozen like a statue, Claire''s face turned dark.

    She didn''t know that Azzy was now busy in talks with the Reaper.

    Just as she raised her hand to grab the plush toy from Azzy''s hand, the latter handed to Leah, "Here, you can have it."

    "Really?" Leah''s eyes glowed as she took the plush toy from Azzy. "Thank you so much. I tried for the past two hours but failed to get it." Leah then put forth her hand, "Oh! I forgot to introduce myself. I''m Leah Pendragon from the heavenly academy."

    "Azrael." Azzy shook her hands and commented, "Your sword spirit has one of the most impressive abilities."

    While Azzy''s face appeared blank as usual, Leah was smiling brightly, "And your abilities are the most mysterious."

    Her smile attracted the attention of others, especially Gideon, who seemed like he fell in love as his eyes were glued to her.

    Believing that she was mortal, a couple of guys have wicked thoughts. Poor guys didn''t know what''s going to happen to them, soon.

    Meanwhile, the jealous Claire was completely mad at Leah for taking away the cute plush toy that belongs to her. She was also mad at Azzy for giving it to her.

    "Princess Leah, are you alone, now? Want to join us?" Gideon joined in the conversation suddenly and wanted to flirt with her.

    Leah who already grasped his intentions by the look on his face shook her head, "no, my royal knights are outside."

    "Anyway, I spent too much time here. I gotta go. Perhaps, we can continue our conversation sometime later, Azrael." She quickly left from there now that she got what she wanted.

    As Gideon had this idiotic look on his face while he was staring at her back, suddenly something struck on his head.

    "Ouch" Rubbing his head, he turned around to see Snivy was standing around with a toy hammer that she bought earlier for fun. "What was that for?" The big-breasted loli appeared angry, "will you stop acting like a dog in heat."

    At the same time, Claire dragged Mia with her to play the basketball arcade without saying anything. Snivy also joined them, leaving Gideon and Azzy speechless.

    While Azzy understood that Snivy might have been embarrassed because of Gideon''s earlier behavior, he didn''t understand why Claire appeared to be mad.

    Throughout the dinner, she ignored Azzy. When he asked anything, she replied with an answer and ended the conversation. Not only it confused him, but it also disturbed him a bit, although he doesn''t know why.

    The Reaper who decided not to involve in this matter stayed silent.

    It was only after the dinner finished and everyone started to walk towards the karaoke place, he understood the reason when Gideon whispered to him about making Claire angry by giving the gift to Leah when she expected it was for her.

    Realizing the issue, he left the group with an excuse of stomach upset because of spicy food and told them to continue while he will return quickly.

    Claire felt strange as they knew Azzy likes spicy food and as a five-star Arcana master, his spice tolerance is also absurdly high. But, being angry at him, she didn''t reply anything.

    The other girls thought Azzy was too embarrassed to sing and probably trying to escape.

    On the other hand, Gideon exactly guessed the reason whether Azzy intends to return to the Arcade. Well, at least, he hoped it would be like this.

    As it was already 10, most of the commercial shops were getting closed one by one. The civilians, who don''t have the means to protect themselves, were returning to their homes.

    The police were no longer patrolling the streets like before as the peak-rank-8 expert from WAMO declared the beast is no longer resides within the city.

    If not for the presence of so many rank-7 experts within the Aclein Academy, even the Arcana master would have been feared roaming once the sunsets.

    Azzy was fearlessly walking on the road with a few passersby. Soon, he reached the Arcade center. After spending nearly an hour, he clenched his fist in happiness. "Finally¡­"

    With the bipedal big-headed turquoise cat-like plush toy in his hands, Azzy proceeded to return to the karaoke place. Now, the road is almost empty with most of the stores closed except for the 24-hour shops like bars, hotels, medical shops, arcades, net caf¨¦, karaoke, etc¡­

    "Careful, Azrael. There''s a trap planted ahead on the road." All of a sudden, Azzy received a warning from the Reaper, making him halt his steps.

    "A trap?"

    "Yes, there''s a hidden double-layered trap was laid by someone, hundred meters away. Both of the energy seems to be filled with light attribute." Upon hearing the Reaper''s explanation, Azzy frowned inside. "The target is me?"

    "Well, I already said that you are technically an enemy to those who worship Thea. But, it''s really ironic that they chose to attack in darkness when they are believers in the goddess of light. Let''s hope, it''s not them."

    Azzy felt the Reaper was casual about it when he said about their possible identities. But then, his last sentence was filled with coldness. He felt like the Reaper seemed to be angry at such a thought.

    To confront the enemy, he immediately unleashed the Aura sensing, scanning the half-mile radius.

    Dozens of the physical outlines of the humans appeared in his vision but all of them appeared to be moving. No one seems to be suspicious.

    Not knowing what to do, Azzy walked forward. When he neared the place where the double-layered seal was placed, he summoned a rank-3 Galarian and ordered it to walk into the trap, instead of destroying it because he suspected some expert who suppressed their aura might also be watching him at the moment.

    The skeletal Galarian walked into the trap and activate it. A blinding flash of light appeared before Azzy''s eyes followed by powerful energy chains of light that captured the beast.

    Azzy sensed the power behind it might be atleast at rank-6 and strangely, he wasn''t able to dismiss it too as if the connection between them was broken.

    Since he couldn''t destroy his own beast, Azzy passed through the place and continued to run towards the karaoke place to bring one of his friends and destroy it as soon as they can.

    Unknown to him, from the rooftops of the commercial buildings, five identical-looking teenage girls were monitoring him for the past week, are observing in silence.

    Five of them had two dead bodies each nearby their feet. Everyone that ended up dead was wearing a white baptismal robe over which they have pastoral stole, cuffs, and belt. There is a chasuble worn over the other vestments, indicating that they were priests from the church.

    One of them raised her sniper rifle and shot a couple of energy bullets. The first one destroyed the skeleton. The second one destroyed the second seal.

    Everyone raised their walkie-talkies at the same time. "Alpha One, mission clear" "Alpha Two, mission clear" "Alpha three, mission clear" "Alpha four, mission clear" "Alpha five, mission clear."

    Somewhere in a dim-lit room, a well-built man in a suit was before a computer. He received consecutive messages from the other side.

    "Good job."

 Chapter 143: The royal ancestor

    "Claire, it''s your song." "Claire" "Claire?"

    "Ah! Yes?"

    As the group of three was busy singing the songs, on the other hand, Claire kept on glancing at the door for a while.

    "You are getting distracted for a while," Gideon asked her to concentrate on the song before her.

    "It''s been an hour since Azrael had gone." She appeared worried. "Shouldn''t he return by now?"

    "I already told you long ago. He ditched us and escaped from here." Snivy commented in a disapproving tone.

    "Maybe, he had another appointment." Glancing at Claire, Mia let out a mischievous smile and tried to tease her a bit. "Like maybe that girl from the Moon Academy or this princess of Heavenly Academy. Who knows, Azrael is popular among the girls from foreign academies."

    To her disappointment, Claire didn''t fall for it as she was worried for his life. "Our academy is getting attention these days. You never know who might go for our life for the sake of eliminating us from the tournament."

    "C''mon, you think of us too much. There are a lot of prodigies in the tournament. There''s no reason someone targets us." while Snivy didn''t take it seriously, Gideon''s face turned serious. "Not us, but Azzy. He defeated prince Vann in front of everyone and he also displayed powerful Necromancy abilities. There are a number of reasons to target him."

    Everyone''s face changed immediately upon listening to Gideon. They couldn''t help but think of the worse possibilities now.

    "I''m leaving¡­" Claire immediately put the mic away and walked towards the door.

    Just as she was about to push it, the door was pulled from the other side and Azzy walked in to halt his steps before her in surprise.

    With both of them staying just a few inches apart from each other, Claire appeared stunned for a second to see Azzy at the close range. Her cheeks turned rosy and she quickly backed away before shouting at him. "Why are you late?"

    "Um¡­" While Azzy didn''t expect such a reaction from her, he slowly raised the plush toy, "On the way, I saw this Arcade place. So, I lost in time¡­ Sorry¡­"

    As for his intention of taking them back to the road and erase his captured skeleton beast, he didn''t talk about it after realizing that it was dead and returned to his mindscape.

    Azzy thought it was probably the function of that seal that aimed at him or whoever the target is.

    "Here¡­" As he handed the plush toy that she wanted and apologized to her, Mia and Gideon let out a stifle of laughter, looking at the situation.

    Meanwhile, Claire was touched realizing Azzy''s efforts. Not knowing what else to do, she slowly replied with a thank you and shyly took the plush toy.

    They stayed for another hour before returning to the academy. Meanwhile, Azzy returned home while being followed by that mysterious girl and her clones from far away without alerting him.

    Upon reaching the home, he sneaked into his bedroom without waking up his foster parents from sleep and only greeted them in the morning only to leave for the academy to train once again.

    ***

    Somewhere in the borders of the nation, there is a large area comprised of hills.

    Until half a year ago, this place was comprised of a forest that was home to some indigenous tribes, a variety of species of animals, birds, and one of the largest rivers in the country.

    But, everything changed upon the arrival of a peak-rank-8 expert of the royal ancestor of the Light family.

    With a technique that he acquired from someone, he started to absorb the natural energy in the surroundings to aid his breakthrough to the next realm, instead of going to the Arcana world and face a rank-9 platinum grade beast.

    Soon, it turned into a barren land with a lack of vegetation. The forest disappeared and turned into dried trees. The river dried up. The animals and birds migrated to another region.

    The tribal people, who thought that their god is punishing them for their sins, also left the forest in search of another home.

    After six months, aside from the man meditating in the temple and the predecessor of the current King, there was no presence of any human, animal, or even an insect in the region.

    ***

    A few mysterious Arcana masters are flying towards the temple.

    They were the Royal legion Elites from the Southern Qudour who came here only for one purpose.

    "Are you sure we are doing the right thing?" One of them spoke out his worries. "We are going into the lion''s den to kill the lion itself. What will we fail?"

    The leader of the unit, Sebastos, scolded him, "Don''t be a spineless coward. The enemy is nothing but a peak-rank-8 whose age limit is near and is only surviving because of some treasure that is providing him life force. His battle capabilities must have deteriorated a long time ago. If we work together, we can easily take him down."

    He is the General of the Southern Qudour''s royal family, which shares the same surname of Light as the nations were divided between the two brothers so that they don''t kill each other.

    Unlike the Northern Qudour, the Southern nation''s government heavily depends on the royal family with every member working in the government and high nobles serving as ministers.

    Although the King doesn''t have any direct power, he still dictates the prime minister and the parliament from behind the scenes. So, it''s indirect monarchism over there. With the presence of a couple of rank-8 and several rank-7 experts, neither the military nor the citizens dare to revolt.

    Back to the present, after confirming the Royal ancestor''s location, a team of elite warriors was sent by the king to assassinate him before he makes a breakthrough to rank-9.

    Upon hearing his words, the youngest of them all, Argeia Light, a 500-year-old seven-star summoner, and the disciple of Sebastos, licked her lips in excitement, "if he lived for more than four thousand years, he must have several treasures in his soul card right?"

    "That goes without saying, but don''t forget our main objective." Sebastos reminded me not to focus on such material things.

    After all, their ultimate goal is to bring Northern Qudour to its knees. Since colonialism is being abolished by the Union of Xynnar, they can only go to war and forcefully occupy the territory.

    And the only one that is standing in the way is the Royal ancestor top both of the royal families. As long as he is alive, neither the nations can go to war nor can Southern Qudour accomplish its ambitions.

    Intending to kill him when he''s the most vulnerable, the team of six members continued to fly through the barren hills until they reached the temple.

    On the way, they also sensed another presence outside of the temple. However, upon sensing the other party was only a high-rank-7, they didn''t feel any threat and continued their flight.

    To their surprise, as soon as they reached the temple, this seemingly rank-7 was none other than Timothy Light, who is no doubt their mortal enemy.

    Timothy also sensed their presence, but he was completely calm even after they landed a few meters away from him.

    "Well, well¡­ Look who is here. Timothy Light¡­" Argeia Light snickered as he stepped forward. Being at the peak level at the seven-star realm, she wasn''t a bit afraid of the old man before him.

    "Who are you?" In response to Kreon, Timothy calmly asked about their identities.

    "Why bother when you are going to die, anyway." An old man who was silent throughout their journey commented in a cold tone. "General, please give me the order. I wish to take his head to our family graveyard¡­" Anyone with a little brain could realize that he seems to have a personal vendetta against Timothy.

    Kreon Bay bore a deep resentment for the royal family of the Northern nation who sentenced their entire family to death, more than two thousand years ago because one of their ancestors had an affair with the Queen. Not even babies were spared alive.

    The survivors took asylum at Southern Qudour and settled there.

    Sebastos knew how much hatred his teammate had for the northern royal family members. So, he gave permission.

    "I''m Kreon Bay. This is the name of the person who will kill you and your descendants." Kreon summoned a staff soul weapon to signal the start of the battle.

    However, just then, quite an unexpected thing happened before them.          `

    *pfft* "hahaha¡­" To their surprise, Timothy broke out into laughter instead. "I see¡­ you are from the south. With your meager strengths, you are hoping to kill our royal ancestor? Forget about killing me and my descendants, none of you would even live alive from here."

    His mocking made Kreon angrier and he unleashed a soul skill, right away.

    A giant magic seal appeared between Timothy and Kreon. However, to his surprise, nothing happened.

    "Huh!" Kreon was taken aback.

    Timothy folds his hands to the chest, "C''mon, go on¡­"

    Kreon tried once again. His staff glowed and the magic seal appeared once again but before it gets to complete, it disappeared once again.

    "What did you do?" Kreon asked in disbelief.

    "You lot really came here too late. Did you really forget what beast the royal ancestor commands?" As Timothy smirked, everyone''s eyes widened in realization.

    All of a sudden, a giant stingray jumped from beneath them. Before they get to move, it swallowed them in one swoop as it jumped a hundred meters in the air before diving back into the soil. What strange is that it passed through the soil rather than forcefully digging through.

    After a couple of hours, a tall and well-built old man that seemed to be brimming with life force emerged from the temple.

    "Congratulations, your grace," Timothy spoke politely while keeping his eyes down as he was afraid to look at his ancestor''s eyes.

    "Timothy, how long have been waiting here?" The royal ancestor Aethon Light asked him. "I sensed you after my breakthrough three days ago. It looked like you are waiting here long before that."

    "Not for long, your grace. It''s only been 12 days."

    Right then, the giant stingray that was hiding in the earth jumped up once again and greeted the old man.

    Rubbing his head, he asked, "So, what''s the matter."

    Timothy explained everything from how Leo was killed to how an Elite team from the south tried to disturb his breakthrough and kill the both of them.

    Obviously, upon listening to everyone, the royal ancestor was misled into thinking that Azzy is indeed a spy from the south who came to the north to disrupt his plans for the unification. Leo''s death made him angrier as the chance to unify without bloodshed is now gone.

    Jumping on top of the stingray, Aethon spoke, "we are returning to the royal palace."

 Chapter 144: Absorbing Solar energy

    "Royal Ancestor, welcome back." The King welcomed Aethon with a huge smile on his face. The heads of the noble families were also standing behind him. Some are pleasant while some are tense.

    He was originally prepared to attack the Aclein Academy three days ago just like he planned.

    Several nobles who decided to stick with him also sent their Elites to help the royal family after they heard the Church sent two peak-rank-7 experts from the headquarters.

    However, to their surprise, the King suddenly announced that they will wait for a few more days and dismissed them. Back then, everyone thought he wasn''t being confident and probably looking for more support.

    Now, after seeing the old man on the flying giant stingray, they realized why he did that. It''s because the royal ancestor has broken through to the nine-star realm and is in the state of stabilizing his soul energy. So, he wanted to wait.

    The ones who lent support back then were pleased to know that they did the right thing. However, the ones who didn''t send the support were now sweating bullets inside.

    As everyone except for the king greeted the old man with a deep bow, the latter glanced at everyone and frowned, "Where is Aegis?"

    "I guess he''s a bit busy at the moment." Brian slowly replied to him. Both of the brothers don''t see eye to eye. So, he didn''t invite him to the palace.

    "Alright." After asking about the Grand Prince, Aethon proceeded to walk through the entrance of the palace.

    Everyone followed him to the courtroom.

    "Brian, I heard everything from Timothy and I intend to punish those who obstructed my dreams of reviving the Qudour kingdom."

    When the King heard those words, he was elated to know that his son''s death will be avenged.

    But, then, his next sentence surprised him.

    "However, I don''t intend to go against WAMO when there''s no enmity. We''ll wait until the tournament."

    Brian remembered his father-in-law said the same.

    He didn''t understand why a rank-9 expert like his ancestor would fear that organization. Sure, it is a global organization with a few rank-9 experts and probably stronger ones. But, they will only make move when it an international incident.

    Why would they confront Aethon over such a simple matter¡­ Brian didn''t understand what''s going on in the old man''s mind but he can''t wait for several weeks without any proper sleep.

    He fell into deep thoughts to think of a solution to convince this old man sitting beside him.

    After a brief silence, the King spoke, "If Royal Ancestor orders to wait, then, we''ll wait. But, we don''t need to clash with WAMO. There''s a simple way of doing that.

    If Royal Ancestor gives permission, I wish to send an envoy to the academy with a letter stating that the royal ancestor wishes to meet Azrael and Barton Everglade over the matter with Leo''s death.

    If they surrender silently, then, our job is done. If they refuse, then, we have every right to attack. I wonder what the Royal Ancestor thinks of this."

    Despite being sitting on the throne, the King behaved so politely that even the nobles present in the courtroom had a hard time believing that this was the same short-tempered fatty they have known all along.

    But then again, the old man before them isn''t a normal person either. Even the king''s father-in-law was afraid to speak in his presence.

    After the King received Aethon''s permission, he sent a letter to the church for the need of an envoy.

    He wanted to let Barton and the others know that the church is supporting them in this matter. With their assassination failed, the Church was also furious and deployed more experts from the headquarters. So, they too agreed to ally with the royal family.

    ***

    Training grounds, Aclein Academy;

    Within the forest habitat, Mia was practicing her Archery against Claire while Snivy and Gideon were training together. As for Azzy, he was sitting in one corner and meditating. No skeletons, no Vajra, just him alone.

    His teammates didn''t understand what he was doing but they made sure not to disturb him.

    In the meantime, Azzy was concentrating on creating runes around his soul orb and successfully combine the seven of them to form the seal.

    Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius¡­

    Eight symbols were formed around the soul orb, one after another, making a seal before latching on the soul orb.

    They dissolved without any resistance. Energy chains appeared over the soul orb.

    "Hmm? That was fast¡­ Chronos, what''s going on? I thought it was luck that I happen to perform the seventh seal in one try. Now, the eighth seal too?"

    An unexpected result happening is luck and coincidence but happening twice in a row isn''t a coincidence. He wondered whether there is something that he didn''t know.

    The Reaper chuckled, "it''s because you don''t have a sixth planet and higher planets in your soul to resist the effect. That''s why the seal is successful. Now, continue with the next two and finish the seal."

    "Oh!" Upon understanding the truth, Azzy almost felt like slapping himself for not realizing such a simple issue. He continued with the ninth and then, the tenth.

    Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius, and Capricornus¡­

    As the tenth seal successfully formed, suddenly, solar energy started to absorb into Azzy''s body. His soul energy refined the absorbed solar energy and increased its capacity by a small amount while his bones also got strengthened further.

    When Azzy realized it, he continued to absorb the soul energy for a few hours until the Reaper warned to stop it as absorbing solar energy during the noon is dangerous for the body unless one is rank-7.

    He also warned to only absorb the solar energy at a forest or a place where there is a shade or physical protection from the sun rays.

    Listening to his warning, Azzy stopped absorbing the solar energy and opened his eyes before summoning his soul card to see the improvement.

    After hours of absorbing the solar energy, his soul power increased from 264331 to 266875, roughly 2500 has been increased, which is of course not worthy to mention but still, something is better than nothing.

    Azzy''s next goal is to passively absorb the soul energy all morning while being busy with other duties.

    If he were able to do that, even if he doesn''t go hunting, Azzy believed that he might be able to break through to the next realm by next January.

    By the time, he reunited with the team, they were busy in training and none of them seemed to notice his presence.

    Not intending to disturb their concentration, he quietly returned to the edge of the forest to train on his own.

    "Okay, let''s focus on the current problems.

    First: My control isn''t perfect and my physical attacks imbued in soul energy are still life-threatening to my opponents.

    Second: My control over the skeletons is perfect as long as their numbers are less than 30.

    Third: Except for the Decarune seal, I only mastered basic two trap seals in the past few months. One is an energy-draining seal and the other is a binding seal that can only be activated when the target walks into the hidden trap and that too, only work on those who are 3-star realm and below. Both of them are basic seals and are useless.

    Fourth and final: I haven''t progressed much with the Death Scythe and Hourglass because of very few opportunities."

    He thought for a while regarding these four problems that are bothering him.

    After comparing every option with pros and cons in the current situation, Azzy decided to go with improving his sealing capabilities rather than waste his time on the other three.

    When he decided on it, he suddenly remembered the advanced seal that the Reaper used on Vann to end the match.

    He asked the Reaper to teach him the move.

    "No, you aren''t ready for it." However, the latter rejected to teach him that move telling him that he needs to strengthen his foundations before learning higher-level techniques.

    It made him go back into memory lane where he was forced to climb the gravity stairs to refine his physical body. Maybe, it''s because of her absence from the home. Azzy suddenly missed Avia. He decided to talk to the clan head in his dream.

 Chapter 145: Azzy asks for a favor

    After the lunch, Azzy practiced on his own, perfecting all kinds of basic seals to build a strong foundation just like the Reaper suggested to him.

    Slowly, the sunset and he parted his ways with the team to return home under the watchful eyes of a mysterious sniper and her clones.

    After spending a couple of hours with the family, he went to his room and locked the door to sleep.

    Lying on the bed, he fell into thoughts regarding his life on where he started, and where he ended up with twists and turns.

    "Sigh¡­" Letting out a deep sigh, Azzy put those thoughts away and closed his eyes.

    Imagining the appearance of his great grandfather, he recited his name five times as advised.

    Soon, he drifted into sleep.

    After an unknown amount of time, Azzy found himself at the familiar throne hall where the old man was sitting on his throne. "I didn''t expect that you would contact me on your own, kid." Qridus appeared to be pleased to talk with his future heir.

    Remembering the Reaper''s warning from the last time, Qridus doubted Azzy would want to come to the clan village. So, he wondered whether there is something that''s troubling him.

    "Greetings." Azzy slightly bowed as a courtesy now that the other party knew his identity.

    "So, tell me. What kind of help that you need from me?" Qridus directly came to the point.

    "I need a small favor. It involves the Night clan." Azzy replied to him.

    "Favor regarding the Night clan?" Qridus didn''t expect Azzy to talk about the Night clan all of a sudden.

    Azzy nodded and explained starting with a small lie that he had prepared beforehand, "Months ago, during one of my trips to the Arcana World with my classmates, I fell in danger as a Hydra run rampant. A person named Azrael saved my life back then.

    By sheer coincidence, I got to meet him because of the Champions League. It seemed like he was adopted by Oakley Night and Affea Snieca. I''m not sure whether you know their names or not, but they were expelled because of the clan rules.

    And I know that the Clan head has the authority to override the decision of the Night clan''s Patriarch and let them return to the clan. My debts with him can be paid off if you do this favor to me."

    After placing the request, Azzy then bowed to him until he got the reply from the old man.

    "It''s a small matter." Qridus waved his hand calmly. "Not only I will let them return to the clan, I will even provide your savior with vast resources for his development."

    Azzy was taken aback by his response. He immediately rejected the kind offer as he doesn''t want to be contacted with any more clan members. "No, it''s alright. My debt isn''t that big that you need to do that. Just helping out his family members would be enough. Moreover, I heard that he''s the disciple of a rank-8 expert. I don''t think he would need any resources from the clan."

    "Well, if you say so¡­" Qridus wondered whether his descendant doesn''t want his savior to become stronger. Since that person has no blood relation with the clan, Qridus wasn''t also keen on focusing on the matter.

    Putting the matter away, the old man talked about other issues, "come to think of it, we haven''t had a proper conversation until now. The first time, I didn''t know about you, and the second time, it was interrupted by the Reaper. Anyway, I want to know how long you intend to stay in¡­"

    Before he finished the question, the connection was cut off by the Reaper and Azzy disappeared from his view.

    Now that the matter is already finished, the Reaper didn''t think there''s a need for any conversation to prolong further as it can potentially give an important piece of information to Qridus.

    He still didn''t know how the clan head found his existence within Azzy as it is impossible unless there''s an intervention of demi-gods. If that the case, then, it is even more important to keep him away from the Death clan in this timeline, at least, until Azzy can defend himself from the strong powers.

    After the dream has been cut off, Azzy slept peacefully until the morning.

    ***

    Aclein Academy, Principal''s office;

    *Slam*

    "The royal family really thinks everyone is a pushover, isn''t it?" Barton was angered upon receiving a letter from the King.

    Although it stated that the royal ancestor wished to meet Azzy, he knew that the King was using the royal ancestor''s name to pressure him.

    His anger rose even more with the church to side with the royal family regarding this matter. He knew that being a necromancer and the owner of twin platinum grade beasts, Azzy was an indefinite threat to the church.

    So, in his view, sending Azzy or even accompanying him to the royal palace is the same as committing suicide. Barton isn''t willing to do that.

    The Envoy, who is the Arch Bishop that oversees all the churches present in the Northern Qudour, smiled in response, "Aethon Light entered the realm of nine-star. So, I don''t think you have a choice. Accept it and come for a trial. If your disciple is innocent, then, naturally, he won''t be harmed. If guilty, I don''t think either you will be left unscathed too.

    You have guests from various academies. The royal family doesn''t want to disturb this joyful atmosphere.

    So, either Azrael comes for the questioning within a week of time and proves himself to be innocent or looks for a place to hide. Because rejecting this invitation is the same as insulting a rank-9 Arcana master. And one has to face the consequences for doing that."

    After threatening him directly, the envoy left the place.

    Originally, this kind of job is humiliating for a person with such status as him.

    However, after hearing that the matter from the headquarters, he volunteered himself to be the envoy.

    After all, he was the one that sent the team of priests to assassinate Azzy without making a fuss.

    The team consisted of five peak-rank-5 priests, two peak-rank-6 Bishops, and even a low-rank-7 Bishop.

    Such a powerful team was assembled only to kill a mere low-rank-5 expert and yet, not only their mission failed but in return, all of them ended up missing.

    Every Bishop has an imprint of a cardinal on their soul so that the latter know when the former dies, although the Cardinals couldn''t track the location of the death of a Bishop.

    Only the Supreme Pontiff has the power to track down the location of the ones with his/her imprint.

    Since the Archbishop knew that Azzy couldn''t kill such a powerful team, whose light attribute itself is the nemesis of the necromancer (according to their beliefs), he speculated that everyone might have been killed by this rank-8 before him.

    That''s why he wasn''t able to act nice before Barton.

    Leaving the building, he turned his head and glanced at the window on the third floor, "The saints are watching from the above. Goddess Thea will sure bring justice to her believers. And the incarnations of demons will surely be punished."

    ***

    Five days passed away in a blink of an eye. Within this time, team twilight won the match and advanced to the knockouts. On the other hand, team Unicorn ended up in second place in the group rounds and wasn''t able to advance.

    With the Night clan''s matriarch present in the Aclein city, Qridus sent a message to her, ordering to cancel the expulsion of the couple.

    While Oakley and Affea were happy to hear that, they still didn''t return to the clan as the princess doesn''t want to abandon Azzy once again when she just reunited with her.

    At the same time, she also missed Avia. After thinking for a long time, she requested the matriarch to give two years when Azzy graduates and enrolls in the special academy for advanced studies.

    She saw Azzy''s skills in person. So, she wasn''t worried about him getting an admission even in Dragon Academy. At that time, she felt it would be the right time to return to her daughter.

    Pandora Night didn''t have much thought on it. So, she was like whatever and just left the place after reporting their decision to Qridus.

    In the meantime, Barton decided not to send Azzy to the trial. Before the tournament is over, he intended to send him away to one of the top academies putting aside his own feelings.

 Chapter 146: Champions League Quarterfinals part-1

    "Welcome to the Quarterfinals of Champions League, 1994."

    *Whoo* *oooh*

    The hosts were standing on the stage in the stadium filled with hundred thousand spectators who are cheering on top of their lungs.

    "Let us welcome our champions with a huge round of applause. First, Solo category¡­"

    "I present you, Melissa, from the Central Academy of Arcana."

    Amid the loud cheers of the audience, a tall and slim girl with a boyish look, wearing a military-style uniform entered the arena. Her footsteps were steady and her gaze was cold.

    Upon reaching the place where she was supposed to stand, she stopped and saluted to the audience before standing upright with her chin up, chest out, shoulders back, and stomach in.

    The first-timers were amazed to see how a 15-year-old girl like her is standing like a perfect soldier. On the other hand, the experienced spectators knew that all students at Central Academy are like that. So, they weren''t that surprised.

    Exea continued to announce the names one by one.

    "Ice Pertinger from Maple Academy" "Olivia Prott from Phoenix Academy" "Reed from Freyles Academy" "Vann Hildegard from Moon Academy" "Mason from Dragon Academy" "Sterling Owlet from Star Academy"

    As their names were called, one after another, the solo category quarterfinalists made their appearance.

    "Last but not least, I present you Leah Pendragon from the Heavenly Academy of Arcana."

    Due to ending all the battles by unleashing only one soul skill, Leah became the most favorite to win the tournament. Adding her extraordinary beauty and background, the cheers for her are far louder than the rest of the contestants.

    After the solo contestants were grouped to the left, Exea continued to announce the teams from the duo category and finally, the group category.

    "Last but not least from the group category, ladies and gentleman, I present you Team Twilight from the Aclein Academy of Arcana." Being a teacher at the hosting academy, she naturally introduced them better than the others.

    Slowly, the team entered the stadium filled with cheers. As a captain, Claire was in the middle and a step forward, leading the team. However, most of the scouts'' eyes were on the person in the back with a stoic expression.

    Meanwhile, Exea continued to speak, "This is a historic moment for Aclein city as it was the first time a team from Aclein Academy entered the Champions League and in their debut tournament, they even advanced to top 8. Like other teams from the elite academies, Team Twilight never showed its full strength."

    While her introduction drew criticism from the supporters of other academies and made her co-host, a little bit embarrassed, still, she couldn''t help but be happy and continued to say a couple of more things until they stopped walking.

    "Ladies and gentleman, once again, let''s give up a huge round of applause for the champions who have the potential to become the pillars of humanity in the future."

    Standing in the back, Azzy glanced around to take a close look at every one.

    Just like the solo category, the other two categories were also filled with teams from well-known academies.

    Of them, the Dragon Academy, Central Academy, Maple Academy, and Phoenix Academy outperformed others. All of their representatives were advanced to the next round.

    The other elite academies like Sun Academy, Moon Academy, Freyles Academy, and Heavenly Academies only advanced in two categories.

    Luckily Egrein Academy advanced in the duo category and Aclein Academy advanced in the group category. So, it''s also like Northern Qudour''s share is 8.3%.

    It brought excitement to the citizens of the nation. Those who weren''t able to get a ticket cheered for Azzy''s team and others in their hearts.

    ***

    Soon, the matches were displayed on the screen.

    Group:

    Merciless Executioners vs Commandos

    Rebirth vs Twilight

    Solar vs Maple

    Millennials vs Crescent

    Team Twilight was matched with the representative team from the Phoenix Academy.

    Claire and others became serious as they are about to face a strong opponent. The only one that doesn''t care is Azzy as he didn''t take their abilities seriously. In his eyes, only Dragon Academy was worthy.

    However, they didn''t know that everyone from phoenix academy became nervous as hell as soon as they saw the fixtures.

    They cursed their bad luck as they met one of the two teams they are hoping to avoid.

    On the other hand, a few other teams sighed in relief as they didn''t face Twilight right away. Rather than the whole team, many contestants were rather nervous about facing Azzy head-on.

    Only those with peak-rank-5 and above soul power were very calm.

    In the meantime, Iphi clenched her fist. She''s the only one that was looking forward to battle Azzy.

    This 10-year-old didn''t know whether she can defeat Azzy or not, still, she was prepared to give her all and at least inflict a heavy injury on Azzy and embarrass him in public.

    The mighty Azrael who could defeat even a mid-rank-6 was badly injured by a ten-year-old girl. What could be more satisfying headlines than this?

    Only this way, she felt like she would be able to return all the humiliation she faced by Azzy who disregarded her existence like air.

    Unlike the group matches, the knockouts were between elites. So, the battles went longer than everyone thought they would be.

    By the time the group category matches started, it was already 10 in the evening.

    The first quarterfinal was between Central Academy and Dragon Academy of which none of them were willing to give up until everyone gets knocked out. The group category''s battlefield was selected as a water habitat.

    Throwing a skill card, Barton replaced the barren field with a fresh 20,000 sq. meters artificial lake that has three islands. One big island was located in the center of the field and two small islands, one on either end.

    With a depth of three feet, the water can indeed restrict the movements of both of the teams unless they know how to run on the water, which will further consume the soul power.

    As the battle started outside, meanwhile, inside one of the waiting rooms, Vice Principal Sahara was asking the team whether they remembered the strategy they have discussed in the morning.

    "Now, Gideon. Quick, tell me. What''s your role?" Sahara pointed at Gideon.

    Raising his round glasses a bit, he replied, "First, use an area-wide soul skill to disperse the other team and then, drag Dewy away from the rest of the team."

    "Next, you¡­" Sahara pointed at Mia.

    The girl answered, "My role is to plant an ambush with my Arcana while shooting down the arrows from the top branch. My target is to help out anyone within my reach."

    "Good. Next, Snivy."

    "I will stay nearby Mia and defend her."

    "Next, Claire."

    "After the opponents'' formation was disrupted, I will take out Ardella, first of all before taking on Iphi."

    "Azrael?"

    Azzy plainly replied, "Luciana Hearth."

    "Okay." Sahara nodded in satisfaction as no one is objecting to her strategy. Once again, she warned, "Claire, you have the most important mission. Remember at that all costs, you have to knock out the healer. Here, take these binding skill cards."

    Handing the five-star skill cards with a binding spell on them to the rank-5s in the team, Sahara further said, "make sure you have sufficient soul power before using it, and also, only when the opponents don''t have enough strength to resist the binding chains.

    Once you have successfully captured the opponent, stay there unless your teammate calls for help."

    It went for more than 2 hours before Dragon Academy emerged as the winner.

    It was now midnight, and one-fourth seats were already empty. Still, the organizers didn''t intend to halt the matches as there are only three matches left.

    However, the spectators were worried that the next set of matches will go for several hours like earlier.

    Several people started to leave in hurry fearing that they might stay and continue to watch once the match starts.

    It happened so fast that by the time Azzy and the others entered the arena, there were roughly sixty thousand spectators in the arena that doesn''t seem tired even after cheering for hours and hours¡­

    Among them were his foster parents.

    Azzy didn''t know whether they stayed or not but he believed that Princess Snieca would definitely stay to watch his match. Even though he knew it will be another boring fight, still, he decided to give his all and crush his opponents.

 Chapter 147: Champions League Quarterfinals part-2

    "Now, the next battle is the one the citizens of the hosting nation are all been waiting for," Exea screamed on top of her lungs. She appeared more than ever active.

    "Team Rebirth from the Phoenix Academy versus Team Twilight from Aclein Academy."

    Both of the teams walked into the arena from either end amid the cheers of sixty thousand spectators. Their representative instructors also walked behind them.

    "Twilight" "Twilight" "Twilight" "Rebirth" "Rebirth" "Twilight"

    Those who are rooting for Aclein Academy, none of them left the arena because of sleep. So, the cheers for Team Twilight appeared rather higher.

    While the co-host briefly described team Rebirth, once again Exea was giving a detailed explanation on describing the members of team Twilight until they stopped before the cubical barrier.

    "This is it." Iphi''s eyes were fixed on Azzy.

    On the other hand, Azzy was as blank as ever. No one knows what''s going on in his mind.

    "You have 5 minutes to prepare yourselves." The Proctor informed them that if anyone stays outside of the barrier after five minutes, they will be declared as out.

    And they couldn''t attack the other team in the meantime. Breaking the rules will cause elimination.

    Of course, no one is that dumb to break the rules after coming this far.

    The first to enter the battlefield was team Rebirth.

    Captain Luci summoned a large flying card. Displaying their elegance, everyone mounted on it and landed on the island that was located ten meters from the edge of the barrier.

    None of them wasted any time in bringing out their Arcana.

    Like the earlier match between Dragon Academy and Central Academy, this was the first time team Rebirth deployed their entire team for this battle.

    Five beasts appeared before everyone, making them an all summoner team. Of the five, the most distinguished of them all is a giant fire Eagle that was summoned by the ten-year-old Iphi.

    Despite being a peak-rank-4, the intensity generated by this eagle is of platinum grade, which made it the strongest of the five.

    This was the fifth platinum-grade beast that appeared in this tournament, filling the audience in amazement.

    And the surprise for the audience didn''t stop there.

    After summoning their beasts, everyone from the Phoenix Academy took out weapons with each of them equipping different ones like sword, spear, bow, Bo staff, and saber.

    With a bow in her hand, Iphi mounted on her giant eagle with the flames dancing all over its body.

    It isn''t a secret that the students of the top-tier Academy were well versed in using other types of weapons so as to not completely depend on their Arcana or skill cards.

    Even in the earlier match, all of them used different weapons. If the battlefield is of a forest, perhaps, with the presence of a sniper, Central Academy might have even won the match. Too bad that open battlefield caused the loss of them.

    So, this move of theirs didn''t come as a surprise to the members of team Twilight as they are prepared for every worst-case scenario.

    However, this wasn''t the same case for their representative instructor. Sahara''s eyes were specially fixed on the little girl in the sky.

    "I didn''t expect this girl not only knows the swordsmanship but even archery." Looking at the eagle beast and a bow, a frown appeared on her.

    Before the team enters the barrier, she quickly clapped her hands to gather their attention, "everyone, listen."

    As they turned around, she walked a couple of steps to reach them and handed out the instruction, "Change of plans. Mia, that little girl Iphi should be your priority.

    Snivy, you''ll pair with Gideon in the frontlines as before."

    Azrael, while you are in a battle with their captain, you also need to summon the skeletons to distract the beasts and at the same time, defend the attacks. At the same time, summon your Arcana and place it in defending position.

    Its presence might pressure those beasts a little bit. So, it''s the perfect protector for Mia. Gideon, as usual, co-ordinate attacks with Snivy.

    As for Claire, you just focus on eliminating the beasts after taking out their healer. She was using a Bo staff. So, her range is higher. Be careful."

    Everyone nodded indicating that they got it.

    As planned earlier, Mia summoned her Oaktree Arcana inside the barrier, which extended its branches towards its five allies.

    Azzy and others stepped on the respective branches.

    Except for Mia, everyone was gently placed on the island. She rooted herself ten meters above the surface of the water. She too summoned her bow with her eyes were fixed at Iphi whose eyes in turn were fixed at Azzy.

    One by one, the members of team Twilight also summoned their Arcana.

    At first, everything was fine on their side. However, once Azzy summoned his soul card, a look of shock appeared on the competitors.

    *Wow*

    With a powerful bark, the black wolf made its appearance, causing unrest in the five opponent beasts that aren''t familiar with its presence.

    If not for their extensive training against platinum grade beasts, they would have long prostrated on the ground in fear.

    Meanwhile, the Arcana spirits on Azzy''s side were completely fine, except for the cowardly Oaktree that is barely holding on.

    *Whistle*

    As the five-minute timer is over, the proctor gave the signal.

    "Charge." Pointing the saber at the opponents, Luciana gave the order. The beasts jumped onto the lake and rushed towards their enemies. They were followed by the rest of the team.

    The giant eagle dashed towards the tree under Iphi''s order as she intended to take her out before going for Azzy. It''s this very reason she had chosen a bow in this battle.

    Fearing the outcome the beasts killed by Azzy if they were to tail them from behind, the sword user Dewy and spear user Misty Queen mounted on their beasts.

    The giant Armored Rhino beast of Captain Luci charged forward alone with its summoner follow it from behind.

    With soul energy covering her legs, she was practically running over the water. Beside her, the healer Ardella also charged forward like a warrior with her cute little pig flying above her head.

    Team Rebirth''s goal was clear. The first to take over the middle island before the other team.

    With Iphi in the skies to disrupt the other team, they were confident in making their strategy successful.

    However, little did they know that the Vice-principal Sahara already anticipated that move and planned the first move to counter their strategy...

    With their plan going successfully, no one from team twilight moved from their spot and the other team took over the middle ground.

    Except for Luci and Iphi, a smile appeared on the other team members. Only those two find something amiss. They wondered why none of their enemies were moving.

    Did they already give up on taking over the middle island or something? Or were they confident in defeating them in any situation? Their eyes were fixed on Azzy to check out his move.

    However, to their surprise, Azzy wasn''t the one that made his first move. It was Gideon.

    Gideon waited until they reached the middle ground and raised his sword towards the sky. A smile appeared on his face as he unleashed his fourth soul skill that was hidden until now.

    "Soul skill: Wrath of the Lightning Dragon"

    Suddenly, something clicked in Iphi''s mind.

    "F**k. It''s a trap." At the same time, Luciana, their team''s captain, let out a curse and shouted, "Everyone, get away from here¡­"

    "Eh?" They were taken aback for a moment.

    With thickened sparks dancing around the lightning sword that, soul energy was poured onto the sword which shot up to the skies like a beam of light.

    Just a second later, a lightning dragon descended from the clouds and struck at the center of the island.

    *Boom*

    A huge explosion occurred.

    "Damn, I was a step late." Gideon cursed himself as he saw the opponents managed to dodge it at the perfect time because of their captain''s warning. Thankfully, a couple of beasts are in the water. Gideon thought of electrocuting them.

    Just as he walked to the edge of the island and about to put his lightning sword in the water, suddenly, he felt a surge of familiar soul energy nearby. He turned his head to see Azzy opened his palm.

    A dark spear started to form in his hand while his eyes are fixed on the giant rhino.

 Chapter 148: Champions League Quarterfinals part-3

    According to Team Twilight''s strategy, as soon as the opponents stepped on the middle island, Gideon needs to unleash the soul skill.

    Once the lightning dragon from the skies makes contact, it will cause a huge explosion with residual power.

    While the damage of the explosion is quite weak, the explosion itself could potentially throw everyone a dozen meters away.

    Once everyone is in the waters, Gideon''s role is to use another soul skill and paralyze most of them to give enough time for the team members to get to their targets.

    However, with everyone from the Rebirth dodging the attack, the impact of the explosion was quite less on them. So, their plan of dividing them has been failed right away.

    Still, it wasn''t all for naught either.

    The sword user Dewy and the spear user Misty Queen along with their beasts successfully entered the waters in a hurry to minimize the impact of the explosion.

    Gideon now at least wanted to paralyze them to amend his mistake of unleashing the soul skill a second late.

    However, Azzy, who was supposed to wait until the opponent team''s dispersion, made his move.

    From the start, he doesn''t want to depend on a strategy that depends on the actions of others. That''s why he already decided on his next move the moment their strategy fails.

    "Soul skill: Eyes of God"

    "Soul Skill: Spear of Death"

    With his eyes turning pitch black with no visible pupils, his soul energy gathered in his palm before taking the shape of a spear shrouded in deathly darkness.

    All the Arcana, including their own allies, screamed in fright for a moment.

    With his eyes fixed on Luci''s giant Rhino, Azzy spoke, "Guys, I''m going ahead to disrupt their formation personally. Gideon, wait a bit to use your ten thousand volt attack. Captain¡­"

    If it was a battle, he wouldn''t have wait for her permission but as it is a tournament where he was representing the country, Azzy felt like he shouldn''t show his recklessness to the public.

    Not to mention, he is the president of the disciplinary committee. If he would show undisciplined actions, what could he persecute others for?

    Thankfully, for him, Claire had full confidence in Azzy. She supported him to charge ahead.

    Unlike the Phoenix Academy students, he didn''t know how to walk on the surface of the water. So, he forcefully dashed towards them, splashing all the water around him.

    Meanwhile, Captain Luci who saw the blurry figure that was charging towards them gave quick orders. "Azrael is making his move. Get ready with your life-saving cards. That Dark spear is dangerous."

    "Stomper, use Shield."

    She didn''t waste any time unleashing the soul skill to protect everyone. Almost instantly, a large shield appeared before everyone.

    Iphi, who was observing the situation from the sky, drew the bow and shot an energy arrow towards the blurry figure.

    However, Azzy was too fast for her. She couldn''t even distract his attention for a moment.

    Within just three seconds, Azzy reached the island with an energy spear in his hand. Unlike previous instances, he didn''t throw it as everyone stood together. He couldn''t risk killing a human.

    Looking at it, Azzy poured soul energy into his legs and leaped towards the shield before kicking it with all of his strength.

    The shield broke like glass and Azzy was now standing in front of his target, the five-meter giant armored rhino. It was almost three times his size and yet, its legs were trembling in fear with its eyes locked on the death spear.

    "Now¡­" Just as Azzy about to thrust his spear towards its chin, Captain Luci who was crouching beside the rhino unleashed the skill card.

    The Rhino beast hurriedly backed off and vines erupted from the ground below Azzy and captured his body until the neck as fast as lightning.

    Even Azzy who was fast enough to chase a rank-7 couldn''t manage to dodge the trap. His legs and hands were tied up by the vines, which slowly started to absorb his soul energy and strengthening their grip further.

    "Azzy" "Azrael¡­" Claire and the others shouted in worry.

    "What a perfect trap by Captain Luci." "They aren''t a top-level academy for nothing" "Hmpf, that kid is too reckless and arrogant" "This is why one shouldn''t look down on female power"

    "The great mighty Phoenix Academy is using trap skill against a mediocre Aclein Academy." "There are five of them and still can''t face head-on against a 13-year-old boy"

    The moment Azzy was captured and stayed still, all kinds of murmurings were heard everywhere in the stadiums.

    Meanwhile, on Twilight''s side, Claire told everyone to not move from their spots to save Azzy after she spotted the black lightning wolf stayed there instead of rushing to save his master.

    This simple incident made her realize that Azzy wasn''t in any kind of danger.

    "Azrael, you are powerful, but not smart." With Azzy staying still while not leaving the death spear yet even though his soul energy was constantly seeping away from his body, Luci broke out into a smile.

    She raised her head and gave her next orders to Iphi, "It''s your turn. Take out that tree girl."

    Receiving the orders, Iphi ordered the Griffin to fly towards the enemies while drawing the bow.

    Upon reaching 70-meter range, she shot the energy arrow towards Mia who was standing on the top branch and waiting for the timing.

    "This little¡­" Mia was taken aback as she saw Iphi shot the arrow at her while she expected her to aim at the team. Thankfully, the distance is quite far and she had enough time to jump onto another branch.

    As her range isn''t as far as Iphi''s, she could only focus on defending.

    Meanwhile, the arrow destroyed a branch of Oaktree, but with water nourishing its roots, the tree Arcana slowly started to recover the branch.

    With her first attack failed, Iphi conjured another arrow before shooting at her once again.

    This time, Mia was ready to face it. She too launched a similar energy arrow against the incoming attack.

    Both of them collided in the middle and nullified each other attack due to their equal strength. However, it did impress the audience, especially the scouts as they watched the youngest contestant in the tournament is proving herself.

    In the meantime, on the middle island, with her eyes fixed on Azzy, Captain Luci passed out orders for the other three teammates of hers, "We''ll stay here and guard until he''s out from the battle. Get ready to use the Vine trap in case he breaks out."

    Since the trap can be destroyed by the soul eruption, she wanted to apply for the trap cards continuously until all of his soul energy becomes empty. Once Azzy is out, she felt the victory will fall in her hands.

    However, just then, Azzy opened his mouth, "I''m not the one who''s foolish, Miss Hearth."

    After that, he became silent again while allowing his soul energy to be absorbed.

    In fact, he was even willingly giving the soul energy to the thickened vines that increased its strangling further.

    Azzy''s veins from arms to the legs are popped up due to the pressure and yet, he appeared calm on the surface while his pitch-black eyes were still active.

    "Hmm?" The smile on her face was replaced by a frown. The other three ladies were also looked at him. They wondered what''s going on in his mind.

    After more than a minute passed, Luci looked at Azzy and said, "Stop bluffing around. I can sense your soul energy has been decreased by at least three-fourths. Now, the power of these vines around you surpassed even peak-rank-5 realm and might have developed a certain degree of resistance. Even if you use the soul eruption, you cannot completely free yourself. You have no choice but to admit defeat."

    A few seconds later, Azzy once again opened his mouth, "It''s about time." His eyes were on the vines. With the Eyes of God, everything within the vines is visible to Azzy.

    As Luci frowned once again, she saw the vines around Azzy started to become dark.

    "What!" The four girls were taken aback by surprise.

    Slowly, the entire vines became dark vines before slowly disappearing on their own.

    "Quickly, Dewy, use another¡­"

    The sword user Dewy activated the same trap card to hold Azzy down. Just within that fraction of a second, Azzy pushed his leg against the ground and jumped high in the air, narrowly escaping the trap.

    While in the air, he took out a skill card from the pocket and used his remaining soul energy worth 100 thousand soul power.

    "Hehe hehe¡­" A peal of infamous hysterical laughter resounded across the stadium as a purple skull formed in his left hand.

 Chapter 149: Champions League Quarterfinals part-4

    Azzy never planned to use Skull of Darkness from the start.

    Even after being trapped, he only planned to use the Death spear to take out the rhino.

    However, he didn''t like the way they wanted to use trap skill cards to drain out his soul energy and defeat him, instead of attacking him together,

    He was offended and thoroughly pissed at such a cowardly method.

    Azzy decided to teach them a lesson.

    Depleting most of his remaining soul energy, he unleashed the five-star Skull of Darkness.

    "Hehe he he hehe" As the eerie laughter resounded across the stadium, even his allies couldn''t help but flinch, feeling spooky. The only ones who are unaffected are the owners of platinum and above-grade beasts.

    Due to the flaming eagle''s intervention, Iphi couldn''t hear anything and she continued to attack Mia.

    Meanwhile, Luci frowned as she raised her head.

    She realized Azzy almost reached the peak and will start coming at any moment.

    Looking at the laughing skull, Luci remembered how Azzy used it to battle a beast that belonged to a representative of Moon Academy.

    Even though more than two weeks passed, the scene of the bull losing control and became wild was still etched in her mind.

    "Everyone, don''t let that skull hit¡­" Before she finished her sentence, Azzy threw the skull.

    However, to her surprise, the skull''s target wasn''t them but the flaming eagle that was flapping its wings in the air while its owner was busy in her own battle.

    "Iphi, an ambush from your behind, careful¡­" While Luci quickly changed her words and warned Iphi instead, as a platinum grade beast, Griffin had already sensed it and let out a screech to notify Iphi.

    Iphi momentarily halted her attack and turned her head to see Azzy in the sky while a purple skull was coming her way while laughing.

    It was only then she realized that Azzy freed himself. "What a despicable fellow. Attacking a person from behind. Hmpf¡­"

    Her impression on Azzy had further fallen. Like Luci, she too remembered about the skull. In fact, their representative instructor specially instructed to better dodge Azzy''s attacks rather than blocking them as they are mysterious to analyze and dangerous to face.

    So, Iphi opted for the only way that she can face it head-on.

    Conjuring the energy arrow between the fingertips, she shot the arrow towards the skull to destroy it.

    To her surprise, as the energy arrow met the laughing skull, a tiny black hole emerged within the skull''s mouth that swallowed the arrow.

    For the onlookers, it appeared like the arrow traveled into the skull''s mouth and disappeared. Except for advanced realm experts and Azzy, only Iphi saw what happened exactly.

    In fact, even Azzy was surprised that the skull of darkness had this sort of function. At first, he only thought the skull wasn''t that special except for the ability to corrupt others'' soul energy due to the presence of Death Energy that was empowered by Protos Energy.

    Then, after his battle with Gold Lyre from the Moon Academy, he realized that this laughter can induce a mental attack. That is the reason he decided to test in on Eagle to see if it can affect a platinum-grade beast''s mind.

    He didn''t expect that this unique skill of his is far more powerful than he thought it would be. Swallowing an energy attack? Now, that''s anything but normal.

    Little did he know that the surprises didn''t end there¡­

    With expectations in his heart, Azzy stared at the eagle and Iphi while descending from the sky.

    "hehe he he hehe he¡­" the Skull of darkness continued to laugh as it made its way towards the Eagle.

    Having no other choice, Iphi ordered her Arcana to dodge. She couldn''t be reckless in an important match like this even though it kinda hurts her pride to evade the attack, especially when the attacker is someone she hates.

    Flapping its wings hard, the flaming eagle flew a few meters higher so that the skull goes on its way.

    But, she didn''t expect the skull to suddenly tilt its head and changed its direction on the way, which is something that is unlike any other skill cards that she had ever seen in her life.

    "Fly, Hyde¡­" Iphi no longer stayed there.

    The students from the Central Academy were reminded of the guided missiles they have learned in their school textbooks.

    Although the laughing skull''s speed was nowhere near the flaming eagle''s, still, as the target has been locked, it continued to follow wherever the Eagle is flying.

    Meanwhile, Azzy, who was descending, took out a five-star recovery card and applied it on himself to recover his soul power.

    Just as he was about to land, Captain Luci whose eyes are on Azzy from the start attacked him while he was still in the air.

    With the eyes of God, Azzy saw her moments clearly. However, his body is still in mid-air. So, there are only two things he could do.

    One is to embrace the attack and the other is to block it with the spear.

    He wanted to choose the first option but his instinctive reflexes kicked in and made his hand block the incoming saber with the spear in his hand before his brain passes the order.

    As a result, the five-star saber petrified into charcoal almost instantly before disintegrating into ashes.

    Luckily, Captain Luci left the sword as soon as it touched just as she had planned earlier. Even though she lost an expensive weapon, Luci felt it was worth it as Azzy''s death spear was also disappeared.

    "Ardella¡­" As Luci gave the signal, her team ally uses the trap vine skill card to try and capture Azzy once again.

    But, Ardella and the others were distracted a bit because of the skull that was chasing Iphi. So, they weren''t able to react right away which gave Azzy enough time to land and dash towards the healer.

    As he planted a kick in her stomach without any soul power, the mid-rank-5 healer only received mild pain in her stomach while she flew a dozen meters away before falling onto the water. Her flying pig oinked and flew towards her.

    "Everyone, attack¡­" With the trap cards failing one after another, Luci didn''t want to waste them anymore and gave the order for a combined attack against Azzy.

    "graa¡­"

    The beasts roared as they rushed towards him.

    At 10''o clock, there''s the sword user Dewy and her giant Pangolin. On his front, there''s spear user Misty Queen and her Zebra. And on his 4 o''clock, Lucian Hearth took out another saber from her storage card before rushing towards him.

    The Armored giant Rhino was kept at the shore to defend against a possible ambush from Azzy''s allies.

    However, Azzy''s teammates still aren''t moving from their spot because of Claire who was watching them seriously.

    As for Azzy, he simply closed his eyes and gathered soul energy, empowering his whole body.

    More than a hundred thousand soul power worth of soul energy has been reduced from the soul orb.

    An outline of soul energy covered Azzy all over his body on the outside.

    Luci and the others thought Azzy was probably empowering his physical strength.

    It was only after they neared him, they realized they were wrong.

    Before the opponents get to him, Azzy used the energy that erupted from his body on all the sides, blasting away everyone off the island.

    While Luci was fast enough to defend herself and successfully landed on the water, the Zebra and the giant pangolin were heavily injured before they fell into the water while throwing off the hosts of their backs at the same time.

    Azzy then raised his hand and made a fist.

    Looking at it, Claire ordered, "Gideon, now."

    Despite being amazed, Gideon wasn''t in a mood to waste the opportunity his best friend gave for him.

    "Soul skill: Ten thousand volt shock."

    Putting his sword under the water, Gideon unleashed the soul skill, electrocuting everyone that was in contact with water.

    With the water as his support, Gideon''s soul skill damage reached the next realm, thereby injuring heavily. Only Luci felt a mild shock while the armored felt nothing due to its thick defense and high level.

    As the girls screamed for a couple of seconds and went into a paralysis state for the next five seconds, Claire, Gideon, and Snivy dashed towards their opponents leaving behind Vajra at the island to safeguard the Oaktree and its owner.

 Chapter 150: Champions League Quarterfinals part-5

    "Stomper, defend." As soon as Luci got out of the 1-second paralysis state, looking at how the opponents are on their way, she passed out quick orders without panicking. "Iphi, a little help here."

    Giving the protection of Dewy to the Rhino, she dashed towards Misty Queen to protect her until she gets back to normal.

    In the meantime, she asked Iphi to go and assist Ardella for the moment as this healer was a little bit far away and Azzy was standing between them.

    In her view, only Iphi who was in the sky could bypass Azzy''s defense and help out her teammate.

    Watching the battle, the experts were impressed by how she was calm and collected even in such a crisis. At the same time, they felt like Aclein Academy was unworthy to hold a gifted child like Azzy and several schemes began to run in their minds. Everyone''s eyes are on Azzy, especially the ones from the hidden organizations.

    Stealing even an average student from a top academy is more difficult than a genius from a mediocre academy.

    Meanwhile, Iphi was relentlessly getting chased by the purple skull ordered the Flaming eagle to fly towards the opponents.

    After hearing her captain''s orders, she didn''t hesitate to order her flaming eagle to go towards Ardella.

    While on her way, she drew her bow and shot an energy arrow towards Claire, who was leading the group.

    They weren''t as quick as Azzy. So, the arrow eventually meets Claire. However, the captain of Twilight isn''t a simple girl either. She was the type to face the attacks head-on rather than dodging.

    Raising her heavy sword, she cut down the energy arrow into two before continuing to make her way towards Ardella and her flying pig.

    On the middle island, Azzy, who was waiting for his teammates, saw Luci and her beast wasn''t that affected by Gideon''s soul skill. They are currently on their way to protect their teammates.

    He then glanced at Iphi who went past him through the sky.

    Glancing at Ardella and then, the rhino, he chose his target.

    Pouring soul energy into his legs, he dashed towards the rhino and caught up with it before it even reached its ally.

    With him standing a couple of meters before Dewy, the Rhino halted his movements and looked at him.

    "Stomper, Soul skill: Rush."

    Luci, who watched it from far away, once again, didn''t hesitate to give orders.

    "Graaa¡­"

    Letting out a powerful roar, this gold-grade beast in the realm of peak-rank-5, charged like a bull with its glowing horn.

    While its movements appeared blurred for lower realm experts, for Azzy who had the eyes of god soul skill activated for a whole hour, its movements were very clear.

    Standing straight, he poured 20% of his soul energy into his hands, leaving a little more than a hundred thousand worth of soul power for one more skill.

    Soon, the Rhino reached him and attacked him with the horn.

    In response, Azzy jumped a bit and caught the tip of the horn with both of his hands before trying to swing it over his shoulder with all of his strength.

    However, due to its enormous weight, the consumption of soul energy was also too fast.

    It was so fast that by the time the rhino''s position was at his overhead, the 20% soul energy that he originally used to empower his hands was consumed completely.

    So, Azzy was left with no choice to use the remaining hundred thousand soul power, thereby almost emptying his soul orb to empower his hands so that there won''t be any issue in slamming it on the water.

    Everyone just opened their mouths in amazement as they saw a four-meter giant Rhino was lifted by a 1.6m kid and even flung it over his shoulder.

    Whether it''s Luci or Claire, every contestant in the match also halted their movements for a second and raised their heads to see the Rhino which was lifted by Azzy with its horn.

    At the moment, the screens that were focusing on Azzy showed the veins in his biceps as he lifted a 7000-pound Rhino into the air before smashing it onto the water with heavy force.

    "This wasn''t the power of a rank-5. Heck, even a normal 6-star realm expert couldn''t do such feat." Many experts that commented about Azzy''s recklessness a minute ago, now stood up in awe.

    Azzy doesn''t look buffed and neither does he seemed like he''s from the Negro race where they were born with inherent physical strength like Jordon. So, these higher realm experts couldn''t help but wonder how dense his soul energy is.

    Meanwhile, Azzy who smashed the Rhino onto the lake water felt a little bit of strain in his shoulders.

    "Oh boy, that was damn heavy. Phew¡­" Taking a heavy breath, he took out another recovery card to recover his soul power.

    At the same time, due to the rhino''s huge size, his shirt and pants were also drenched in water from top to bottom as all the water splashed on him.

    If it was either the Zebra or the giant pangolin, they would be able to receive less damaged because of the water but because of the rhino''s huge size where only one-fourth of its body was inside the water, the received damage was high enough for it to lie there without getting up anytime soon.

    With her telepathic connection, Luci knew her Rhino needed a healing skill on it to get back to the battle once again.

    However, Azzy was standing right there and the opponents already crossed more than half of the distance. And so far, only five seconds have been passed. She didn''t know how many more seconds does it take for her teammates to get free.

    For the first time, Luci didn''t have a quick strategy to get out of this situation. So, all she could do is to hope these next crucial few seconds will not do much harm to their team so that they can bounce back later.

    Right then, she saw Azzy put it inside his back pocket and took out a couple of cards.

    Her heart skipped a beat for a second. She felt as if something bad is going to happen.

    Unlike last time, these cards with a familiar skull image are only of the four-star realm and at a low level. So, not much of soul power has been consumed as he activated them.

    "Laughing skull of darkness, activate."

    "Laughing skull of darkness, activate."

    "hehe he he he" "he he hehe he" A second, followed by a peal of third eerie laughter was now heard through the stadium, making the lesser realm experts shiver in fear.

    With a purple skull in each hand, he glanced at the paralyzed pangolin, then, at the Zebra that was protected by Luci, then, at the fallen armored Rhino, then, at the flying pig that was hovering around Ardella, and finally at the flaming eagle that was constantly flying in small circles with a laughing behind it.

    After thinking for a second, not intending to take a risk, he threw one at the pangolin and the other at the flying pig.

    In fact, Azzy could kill the pangolin and the Armored Rhino right away by using force but he felt that it was necessary to instill a little bit of fear in the future opponents so that they could be pressured and use their strongest techniques to try and defeat him.

    Azzy thought that this will lessen the burden on his teammates and they could fight to the best of their abilities. Moreover, he doesn''t want others to think of Twilight as a one-man team either.

    With the giant Pangolin located only a few meters away, the laughing skull of darkness successfully hit it.

    However, the second one that was thrown at the flying pig was met with an energy arrow from Iphi who had her eyes on Azzy.

    Seeing how it got destroyed, Azzy nodded to himself, "Yes, my conjecture is right. It doesn''t work on higher realm opponents. To deal with a peak-rank-4, only five-star cards are recommended."

    Just like how one cannot swallow the food more than what their stomach can offer to store, the laughing skull of darkness also couldn''t swallow any attacks higher than its level.

    Too bad for him, Iphi and Luci also realized that. Now, they knew how to counter this irritating purple skull.

    But, would they get such a chance to counter? Only time will tell.

 Chapter 151: Champions League Quarterfinals part-6

    While Iphi was a bit satisfied to defend against one of Azzy''s despicable attacks that aimed at her teammates who aren''t in a position to move, Luci, on the other hand, could only watch in silence while she was protecting Misty queen and her Zebra.

    Just then, Azzy started to step towards the fallen Rhino. Luci clenched her fist tightly, controlling herself not to hurry forward as she knows that there won''t be any use.

    At the same time, Claire almost reached her. Not intending to pay attention to something she didn''t have any control over, stepping a couple of steps forward, she slashed at Claire with her saber.

    *Cling*

    As both of the captains finally confronted, their weapons collided, resulting in Claire retreat a few steps back.

    Brandishing her saber, Luci looked at Claire and said, "You will have to go through me before you touch my teammates."

    "Well, you aren''t my opponent." Claire shrugged her shoulders and turned her head to look at Azzy, who was now standing before the fallen rhino. "Azrael, how much longer?"

    "Well, a few seconds¡­" Azzy replied while grabbing the Rhino''s horn.

    Using his entire force, he started to spin while constantly supplying the soul energy from the soul orb as it was getting consumed at a rapid rate.

    Earlier, the giant rhino was just swung over his head. But now, with Azzy in the center, the Rhino wasn''t able to resist and was forced to spin around four times before it flew towards paralyzed Ardella.

    Luci who successfully held Claire and Snivy at bay was distracted a little bit. To save her teammate, she was forced to dismiss her Arcana giving five minutes for team Twilight before Luci can summon it again.

    In the meantime, Claire took advantage of the situation and went past Luci while Snivy followed her from behind.

    "No, you won''t." Thinking that Claire was going to attack Misty, Luci hurriedly pushed the hammer away with the saber before chasing after her.

    With a single step, she caught up and thrust the saber in Claire''s back. However, right then, suddenly, a bare hand appeared in her view and caught the blade. "Your opponent is me."

    Grabbing tightly onto the blade of the saber, Azzy stopped her movements, allowing Snivy and Gideon to go after their respective targets.

    "You really wasted too much time on my Arcana and lost a golden opportunity to win," Luci commented calmly as she glanced at the others.

    She was no longer worried about her teammates as she saw they became free from the paralyzing effect.

    Since her strategy failed, Luci decided to make sure to drag the battle longer to give enough time for her teammates to win their one on one battle.

    Currently, Iphi and Ardella are engaged in a battle against Claire.

    Snivy was facing Misty and her Zebra while Gideon focused on Dewy. As for the pangolin, the moment it was hit by the skull, in her frozen state, Dewy felt that her Arcana had long its control.

    So, the moment she became free, she dismissed the giant pangolin back to the mindscape.

    Since her opponent is Gideon, she wasn''t that tensed anymore. Both of the sword users were engaged in an intense battle. Following the plan, Gideon managed to drag Dewy away from the rest of her teammates.

    Meanwhile, Luci and Azzy were standing there with the latter tightly holding the blade to give enough time for his teammates to get to their targets.

    Having no other choice, Luci left the saber''s handle to increase the distance. Neither of them knows that they were thinking the same thing. That is to make sure to stay away from other battles.

    While Azzy was thinking about whether to finish his opponent with strength or use Vajra, Luci quickly formulated a plan.

    To his surprise, Luci then took out another five-star saber from the storage card. He wondered how rich this girl''s background is¡­

    Pointing the blade towards Azzy, she spoke, "Do you dare to have a one-on-one duel with me?"

    Luci knew that she was being shameless for challenging a summoner like him to a saber battle but she had no choice if she wanted to drag purposely.

    Looking at the thin blade in his hands, a memory triggered in his head.

    One year ago, Violet Pavilion, Death Clan;

    Azzy was following the older Avia while she was explaining to him about a legendary battle between Vestro Night and Myrtle Night that occurred more than thirty thousand years ago that resulted in letting her becoming the first Matriarch of the Night clan.

    "Then, why don''t you become the next head instead of rooting for your brother, Aspen?" As Azzy asked innocently, Avia shook her head, "No, I can''t. I promised someone in the past that I will not fight for the position against my brother.

    Even though his face as well as the memories was all blurry, the promise was still in my mind. Whenever I see your face, I remember that person. Maybe, it''s your father¡­ Hmm¡­"

    As she turns her head, she found that she was talking to herself while the person in question stopped walking. He appeared to be looking at something.

    In one of the training rooms, two people are thrusting the flexible blades at each other''s chest or stomach.

    "Master, what''s that?" As Avia reached him, he pointed at a strange battle where either of them is just going backward and forward and yet, sweating from top to bottom.

    "It''s called fencing, a sport that was invented in the pre-apocalypse era. Usually, we use flexible blunt blades but with fine sabers, you can even kill your opponent. Anyway, your weapon is a death scythe. So, it won''t be of any use to you. It should be better for you to learn two-handed swordsmanship. Let''s go¡­"

    "I would like to watch it for a while." As Azzy was seeing the strange sword techniques for the first time, he was fascinated with it and continued to watch the sparring until the end.

    PRESENT-DAY;

    As Azzy went down into a memory lane, Luci waited for his reply.

    After a while, thinking that Azzy was hesitating, she provoked him further, "I guess you are unsure whether you can fight with a saber or not. How about this? I''ll admit defeat as long as you manage to strike me once with the saber. Now, you dare to accept the challenge?"

    Her provocation brought Azzy to reality and raised his head, "No, I was thinking about something else. As for your challenge, I accept it but I don''t wish to participate in an unfair challenge.

    So, let''s make it this way.

    Under any circumstances, both of us will neither use soul energy during the battle nor leave to help out the others.

    The first one who draws the other''s blood will be the winner. The loser will have to voluntarily walk out of the barrier. And also, since you are the one that proposed this challenge, if you lose, I will get to keep this saber. Are these terms okay for you?"

    "Is he looking down on me?" Luci didn''t like how Azzy gave her a huge advantage as if he was a master and she was a beginner. In saber battle, she was unrivaled in her academy and had absolute faith in her abilities.

    However, right now, she couldn''t care less about it as the situation is highly favorable for her.

    Brandishing the saber, she replied, "are you ready?"

    In response, Azzy pointed the saber at her while his front foot is pointing straight forward with the back foot 90-degree angle to it. His knees were also slightly bent.

    Due to his lower body submerged under the water, no one saw his stance has been changed to ''En Garde''.

    At the same time, following the agreed rule, Luci dismissed the soul energy below her feet and let her feet reach the base just like how Azzy is standing.

    The audience was intrigued by this new development. The screens are now displaying both of them stood two meters away from each other with sabers in their hands, pointing at each other.

    "On the count of 5," Luci started the countdown. "4, 3, 2, 1."

    As soon as it ended, the Rebirth team''s captain dashed forward and thrust the blade towards Azzy''s chest.

    Just then, Azzy extended his front foot and thrust the saber at his maximum speed. The water didn''t even resist his movement.

    "Argh¡­" By the time she realized, the saber in Azzy''s hand had pierced her shoulder.

    "You lose, Miss Hearth."

    The saber fell off Luci''s hand as a look of disbelief appeared on her face, "I was defeated in just one second, one move?"

 Chapter 152: Champions League Quarterfinals part-7

    Luci still couldn''t believe that she was defeated like that.

    Once she calmed down and saw Azzy didn''t even move from the spot, she realized what kind of attack it was. "Lunge?"

    Her combat instructor said a lot of times to learn fencing to improve her saber arts but she looked down on the sport as it was created by normal people and that too, for a sport.

    Not to mention, those moves won''t be of any use in a real battle in the wild.

    "I didn''t know that you are a fencing expert," Luci commented as she let out a huge sigh.

    To her comment, Azzy shrugged his shoulders, "No, I never practiced it. I just remembered watching a fencing battle and thought of trying it now that I have a saber in my hands."

    "I was defeated by a beginner?" Luci was stupefied on the spot. She felt like all the hard work she had done for so many years wasn''t worth it in front of this genius before her.

    "Anyway, I won and you lost, Miss Heart. Time to honor your promise. I''ll get to keep this saber and you will walk out of the barrier." Azzy no longer paid any attention to her and turned around to leave.

    He believed that a representative captain of a prestigious academy like Luci wouldn''t go back on her words, especially when higher realm experts were watching the match.

    Well, even if she become shameless and not admits defeat, Azzy was confident about defeating her again.

    Thankfully, she kept her words and started to walk away in disappointment.

    "Sigh, I was too arrogant." It was the only thought she had as she voluntarily stepped outside the barrier.

    She was so ashamed of herself losing in such a manner that she forgot to about her shoulder injury. It was only after her aunt Carmella came to her and applied a healing-skill-card on her that she realized about the injury.

    Looking at their captain voluntarily walked away, a look of surprise appeared on her teammates as they didn''t expect she would lose right away.

    At the same time, a large part of the audience was also confused at the same time as they didn''t know why the Rebirth team captain admitted defeat.

    A part of them realized that it might have something to do with their conversation before their one-second battle with the blades.

    The only one that didn''t notice yet is the healer Ardella, who was busy battling with Claire.

    With Luci out, the rest of the match completely turned in Twilight''s favor.

    After defeating Luci, with the saber in his hands, Azzy went on to provide assist Snivy in cleaving Misty Queen''s Zebra into two.

    However, he didn''t disturb the battle between the spear-wielder and hammer wielder and rush towards Claire to help her as she was facing two opponents of which one of them has a platinum grade beast.

    From far away, he could see that Claire was in a deadlock situation.

    She was being attacked by Ardella with the Bo staff, the flaming eagle was attacking with its claws and beak from time to time, and Iphi was looking for every opportunity to energy arrows from the sky.

    Thankfully, as the laughing skull constantly following Iphi, the little girl wasn''t getting enough opportunities as the eagle need to constantly dodge it. After Luci''s defeat, she couldn''t risk it.

    Seeing how Claire couldn''t get an advantage, Azzy decided to help her out. Just as he stepped on the middle island, he saw Claire took out a five-star skill card and unleashed the skill.

    The water surface in the surroundings immediately turned into golden color.

    "Holy ground?" Azzy immediately stopped moving.

    He was really surprised at the scene. The whole blue lake now turned into a golden lake. "The last time she used it, it was only 50 meter range. It seems the range of the five-star card is at least three times than a four-star."

    Azzy couldn''t help but imagine how high the range of this skill would be if this girl ever enters the nine-star realm.

    At the same time, he also felt heavy as if some invisible weights are tied to his legs. He also felt like some kind of soul energy invaded his body.

    But, with the Reaper''s support, he resisted the effect. Not intending to show weakness in front of everyone, especially regarding his speed, Azzy just stood on the island and watched the battles like a spectator.

    Like him, many higher realm experts were surprised as they felt that the golden water is like oozing with life.

    It was so powerful that wood attribute Arcana like Oaktree became stronger. The thickness of its trunk, roots, and branches was increased by half a fold. The pace of its roots that were slowly spreading underground was also increased.

    Some people thought she was foolish as the skill essentially helpful to Ardella as she''s also a light attribute user.

    While Claire also considered this as she unleashed the skill, she didn''t know that Ardella felt nothing despite being standing in the golden water.

    Seeing the changes around, Iphi made her big move.

    "Soul skill: Flames of Fury."

    Letting out a powerful screech, the flaming eagle spread its fire wings wide and flew vertically for hundred meters before making an arc and dived towards the target at a blazing speed.

    The spectators including Azzy raised their heads towards the endless dark sky where Iphi was riding a firebird-shaped flame.

    This time, Claire didn''t bother to either evade the attack or block it. She didn''t even look at it. Even her teammates don''t look worried about it. Gideon and Snivy continued their battles while Mia was waiting for the perfect time.

    Ignoring the incoming attack from the sky, Claire whose eyes were fixed on Ardella raised her heavy sword and swung at her.

    In her defense, Ardella managed to block the attack with the Bo staff but flew a few meters away as a result.

    Meanwhile, the flaming eagle almost reached her. However, Claire just raised her head and stood on the spot with a smile on her face.

    *Boom*

    An enormous explosion occurred in the middle of the lake.

    "Captain!" For a moment, Gideon and Snivy halted their attacks and looked at the front. While they were injured because of that, still, both of them sighed in relief upon watching how Claire was completely fine.

    Apart from Azzy who had activated the eyes of god, advanced realm experts (rank-7 and above), and Iphi who was at the close range saw that Claire was indeed injured very badly but was completely recovered almost instantly.

    "What the hell!" Iphi was stunned to see there was another threat at the same level as Azzy.

    "It was my turn." Claire''s pupils suddenly turned golden and started to glow while a pair of golden energy wings sprouted from her back.

    ***

    Thirty minutes later, with half-meter thick roots around them, Ardella, Misty Queen, and Dewy were seen standing on the lake. None of them are trying to struggle to get free and their eyes were fixed on the sky where Iphi and her flaming giant eagle are battling against golden-winged Claire.

    The laughing skull was nowhere to be seen as Iphi somehow managed to let it touch the barrier and destroy it.

    "Admit defeat, Ms. Magnolis. There''s no use of prolonging this battle anymore." Claire said to her in a serious tone after slashing at the Eagle.

    As the blood started to drip from its head, Iphi took out a four-star healing card and healed its injury. Then, she looked at Claire and replied, "If you have any more strength left, use it to defeat me."

    The battle is going on between them for the past 30 minutes and neither of them is falling into a disadvantage.

    Even without Holy ground, Claire''s rate of recovery is still high enough to self-heal quickly while Iphi possessed an abundant amount of healing and recovery cards to prolong the battle.

    Watching the battle from below, along with the audience, while the rest of the Twilight team members were amazed at Iphi''s persistence, Claire started to get annoyed.

    Taking a deep breath, she said, "very well. So be it¡­"

    "Soul skill: Descent of the Heavenly Guardian."

    As she was covered by an armor of thick holy aura, her golden wings grew bigger. The sword disappeared and a halo appeared over her head.

    "Wow" "Is she an angel?" "She''s very pure" "What a tremendous amount of life force" "What kind of skill is this?"

    Many of the spectators were amazed to see Claire''s transformation. Of them, the one that was surprised the most is her sister Syllia. A look of disbelief appeared on her face, "Life? Ancestors blessing?"

    Meanwhile, Azzy sighed in relief, "thankfully, I dismissed Vajra long ago¡­"

    His black wolf was constantly barking in his mindscape after feeling the presence of its most hated enemy.

    Looking at her, Claire raised her hand, "I wanted to save this technique until the finals but I guess I will have to use it now. Brace yourself, Ms. Magnolis."

    Slowly, her soul energy gathered in her palm and then, transform into a golden whip.

    "C''mon." She had used all soul skills, and yet, there''s no trace of fear on Iphi''s face.

    Flapping her wings, she dashed towards Iphi.

    As the eagle managed to dodge it, Iphi drew her bow.

    However, before she could conjure an arrow, Claire made a sharp turn and attacked her with the whip.

    As the rope of the golden whip captured her waist, Claire dragged her from the back of the platinum grade beast and flew towards the barrier.

    Letting out a powerful screech, the flaming eagle chased after its master. After flying for ten seconds, just as it was about to catch up with Claire, the latter spun around and threw Iphi towards the barrier. "Kyaa¡­."

    The flaming eagle shot passed Claire and dashed towards flying Iphi. But, Claire wasn''t finished yet.

    Before the flaming eagle even gets away more than 3 meters, this time, its leg was captured by the whip.

    "Gra¡­" The flaming eagle screeched once again and forcefully escaped from Claire''s grip. But, it was already too late. Iphi was already out of bounds.

    "Team Twilight wins." The proctor declared the winner after Luci admitted the defeat.

    *Clap* *Clap* *Clap*

    The crowd erupted with cheers and huge applause for both of the teams. Because of the showdown between Claire and Iphi, the two girls entered the most wanted list in the minds of scouts.

    Meanwhile, in one of the seats at a corner, a nine-year-old little girl enthusiastically clapped along with others. "She''s really amazing, grandpa."

    Beside her sat a young man who was wearing black robes and a hood. As the surroundings are dark, it''s very hard for anyone to have a glimpse at his face.

    In response, the young man sighed, "too bad that she is a step-daughter of the heavens and not the true daughter. If only she..." *sigh*

    "Stepdaughter? True daughter?" The little girl was confused.

    Putting aside his thoughts, her grandfather explained, "Extraordinary individuals like you and me who awakened a platinum grade beast and above Arcana are called true children of heavens.

    However, certain people weren''t blessed by the heavens and hence awaken a gold-grade Arcana.

    Still, their extraordinary talent and potential to enter the 9-star realm make the heavens watch over them and help them out in mutating their Arcana spirits. That''s why they are called adopted children of heaven.

    In this sense, Iphi is the true daughter and Claire is the step-daughter of the heavens."

    "Oh! So, I was also considered as a true daughter of the heavens?" The little girl''s eyes it up in excitement.

    In response, her grandpa caressed her head with affection and smiled, "Of course, Izora."

    "Anyway, we have been here for too long. Let''s get back home." The young man in a hood then grabbed her hand and both of them disappeared from the spot.

    All this while, no one in the stadium either spotted their existence or heard their conversation.

 Chapter 153: Inviting friends for lunch

    By the time it was 2 a.m., the rest of the matches were also finished.

    There weren''t any surprises in the rest of the quarterfinal matches. Everything went as the experts expected.

    Team Solar from the Sun Academy won against Team Maple from the Maple Academy and advanced to the semi-finals.

    Because the three of the representatives from the Maple Academy are only grade-8 of which everyone just broke through to the 5-star realm, no one expected they would win either.

    From the start, the Sun Academy students completely dominated the battle and finished it in a mere 4 minutes. It was the shortest quarterfinal match with the first one considering all the categories.

    After them, a long battle occurred between Moon Academy and Heavenly Academy, almost as intensive as the first group match took place.

    Finally, after little more than 90 minutes, Barbara and her sabertooth tiger gave the finishing blow to the captain and ended the match.

    Maybe, it''s because the tournament is an international one or maybe, it''s because of Leon''s death.

    For whatever reason, the cowardly prince Theodore Light showed his new side for the first time, displaying tenacity as he battled his enemies.

    Even though he lost in the end, as Leah praised him, Theodore couldn''t help but grin from ear to ear for the rest of the night, making the legendary sword spirit Excalibur fume in anger.

    After all the battles are ended, the hosts once again took the stage to announce that the following day will be a break for all the participants.

    "Ladies and gentlemen, now, it''s time to see who is going to battle who in the semifinals. Look at the screens."

    A few moments later, the fixtures were displayed on the two giant screens.

    Solo Category:

    Leah Pendragon (Heavenly Academy) vs Skylark Flame (Central Academy)

    Vann Hildegard (Moon Academy) vs Mason (Maple Academy)

    Duo Category:

    Irene Ash and Albin Ash (Freyles Academy) vs Lucius Hornette and Cedar (Dragon Academy)

    Essie and Delta (Central Academy) vs Laura Drake and Izetta Smoke (Phoenix Academy)

    Group Category:

    Team Solar (Sun Academy) vs Team Merciless Executioners (Dragon Academy)

    Team Twilight (Aclein Academy) vs Team Crescent (Moon Academy)

    ***

    "Moon Academy?" In one of the waiting rooms where the members of team Twilight are watching the matches, everyone glanced at Azzy for a moment as soon as they saw the fixtures.

    Of them, Gideon was the most worried for Azzy that he couldn''t display his full strength against her.

    He thought facing Barbara in a real match might be the toughest for him, considering his relationship with her.

    Despite how Azzy look on the surface, Gideon knew that his friend was kind inside.

    On the other hand, he doubted the girl would go easy on her friend either¡­

    Even with more than a hundred cuts and heavily injured, she didn''t back out in battle against her opponent who was in the realm of peak-rank-5. It is her tenacious nature that secured team Crescent''s victory.

    In their next strategic meeting, he decided to express his desire to battle against her.

    As Gideon found Azzy staring at the screen, his suspicions only became solid further.

    He didn''t know that Azzy was thinking about the message he received a while ago.

    Meanwhile, Claire had this smile of joy on her face. She was actually looking forward to defeating her fair and square in a real battle for a while now.

    Now that the opportunity is before her, she too thought of the same thing as Gideon.

    "Let''s go..." Claire stood up and started to walk towards the door.

    The rest of the team also followed her to the outside.

    As they continued to walk in a corridor that leads to the exit, on the way, by coincidence, a door was opened and a team of six exited the waiting room and crossed paths with Azzy and others.

    "Oh! Hello¡­" Claire was the first to greet them, followed by Gideon and others. Azzy stayed silent. His eyes were fixed on Vann.

    "Azzy¡­" Barbara then greeted with a cheerful smile.

    However, just as she stepped forward a bit, her arm was caught by Vann, who had this serious look on his face. As he shook her head slightly, her expression dimmed and she stepped backward and became silent.

    "Greetings, we meet again." Vann returned Claire''s greetings. After taking a look at everyone, he spoke to his teammates, "let''s go."

    The team members of Crescent quietly followed him. Barbara turned her head back for once and looked at Azzy for once before continuing to follow her teammates.

    "Fuu¡­ now, that was some unwelcoming atmosphere. It was quite different from three weeks ago." Gideon commented as he let out a sigh of relief.

    "Indeed." Snivy and Mia nodded in agreement.

    "That''s because they have finally taken us as serious opponents." Claire shrugged her shoulders as if it was normal. She didn''t expect friendliness from them either. "Anyway, let''s go."

    After leaving the training grounds, she said to everyone, "We''ll meet after lunch at our usual spot. Don''t be late. Now, get going."

    Just as Gideon about to part his ways to go towards the dormitory, Azzy opened his mouth, "Umm¡­ guys¡­"

    Everyone abruptly halted their steps and turned towards him.

    "My guardians, I mean, my foster parents wanted to invite all of you to lunch. I wonder if anyone will be free¡­" After hesitating for a couple of seconds, Azzy spoke of the message he received from Affea.

    Upon receiving a positive reply from all of them, Azzy inwardly sighed in relief and thanked them.

    Before parting his ways, he also stopped Gideon for a moment and further asked him whether he could follow him until the entrance.

    Azzy doesn''t want to treat Gideon like the other four. So, he intended to introduce him first to Affea before others.

    Gideon didn''t know what''s going on in Azzy''s mind.

    He just wondered whether Azzy wanted to talk about something important or whether it is because of the fear of attention from the people who are leaving the academy at the moment.

    Still, he accepted the request and followed him quietly without asking the reason.

    Both of them walked towards the entrance of the academy.

    Thankfully, no one recognized their faces because of dim lights.

    After exiting the academy without any issues, Azzy waited beside the gatekeepers until a woman called out his name, "Azzy."

    "Aunt Affea, this is Gideon." After greeting her, he introduced them to each other. "Gideon, this is Affea Snieca."

    "Snieca!" Gideon was taken aback by surprise. It is no secret that Azzy was taken in by the Divine Physician Oakley who is considered the best healer in Aclein. However, he didn''t expect that Azzy''s foster mother belongs to the royal family of Snieca.

    The next morning at Affea mansion;

    *Whistle* "Now, this is one big mansion." Gideon let out a whistle as he was standing at the front of the gate.

    Looking at Azzy, he grinned, "I didn''t expect that your family is very rich, Azzy."

    "It''s as big as ours." Mia let out another comment, not expecting him to live in such a huge house.

    "Let''s go¡­" Ignoring their comments, Azzy lead everyone inside the compound.

    And as usual, from the rooftop of a nearby building, a familiar teenage girl was watching them through binoculars and then, reported the news to someone.

    ***

    Meanwhile, at a secluded place in the outskirts of the city, an intense battle was going on between a teenage-looking girl and Zona.

    "Vivi, use Thunderball"

    Heeding the order, Zona''s slime that is now disguised as a Galarian beast, opened its mouth to shoot a ball with sparks dancing all over it towards the opponent.

    Her opponent, who was barehanded without any Arcana, raised her slender right hand.

    Just as the ball of thunder was about to hit the girl''s palm, her hand was transformed into the head of some kind of dark attributed monster.

    It opened its mouth and swallowed it before spitting it towards Zona into a Thunderball except that it is a level stronger with dark attribute adding to it.

    Looking at the incoming attack, Zona used her skill card and summoned her clone.

    It fearlessly took it head-on and tried to block the attack. However, the attack was over high-rank-5 level and she suffered heavy injuries because of it.

    *Clap* *Clap*

    A teenage looking boy suddenly descended from the sky and started to clap as he walked towards Zona.

    Reaching her, he put forth his hand, "You passed the test. Welcome to Abel Tower."

 Chapter 154: Champions League Semifinals part-1

    "Welcome to the Semifinals of the Champions League, 1994."

    *Whoo**ooooh*

    The stadium is packed with the audience who were cheering on top of their lungs.

    "Let''s welcome the first semifinalist from the solo category. Leah Pendragon."

    Then, her opponent entered the stadium from the northern pavilion. Both of them stood on the edge of the barrier on opposite sides, waiting for the match to start.

    Neither of them could see each other because of a 150-meter uneven rock on grassland standing between them.

    After the five-minute countdown for preparations has been started on the screen, Skylark Flame from the Central Academy and Leah from the Heavenly Academy stepped inside the barrier.

    Leah summoned her celestial grade Excalibur.

    Meanwhile, Skylark took an assault rifle out of his storage card.

    He didn''t summon his metal golem as he knew that it will be useless against his opponent.

    After all, his Arcana spirit is of gold grade. If he summoned it, just like previous matches, his opponent would just use her skill and turned it into her temporary slave to use it against her.

    So, he thought the best course of action is to use the famed assault rifle that was temporarily loaned to him until the tournament is over.

    With this gun that can even hold the power of peak-rank-7, he can shoot the targets up to 400 meters with ease.

    The most distinctive of this rifle is that the user can shoot a maximum of 1000 soul energy bullets per minute.

    The academy promised to reward this 100-million-credits worth weapon to him permanently on the condition that he wins the gold medal.

    Until now, Skylark kept it a secret and used his personal machine gun so that he can surprise his opponent in the finals.

    However, now that his opponent turned to be Leah, he was forced to use his trump card.

    *Whistle*

    As the countdown ended to zero, Skylark dashed towards rock to gain a foot on top of it and gain an advantage.

    However, Leah, on the other hand, didn''t move from the spot. She raised her sword instead.

    A smile appeared on her face as she mumbled, "the rock is on the way. Let''s remove it."

    Excalibur started to glow in purple energy around it. Even a mortal was able to see that how dense the energy is.

    Looking at it, the higher realm experts thought of Azzy''s and couldn''t help but compare each other.

    While most of those experts realized that it was weaker when compared to his, still, they concluded that Leah''s Arcana might be superior compared to Azzy''s.

    It is because the difference between their soul energies doesn''t seem that great despite the fact that Azzy was a twin Arcana user.

    Only advanced realm Arcana masters (rank-7 and above) knew that wasn''t the case at all. In their eyes, Leah is still considered a top-tier genius but Azzy was a level above, a monster that shouldn''t be categorized in the genius section.

    Back to the battle, as Skylark was rushing towards the summit of the free-standing rock in the middle, Leah raised the sword and swung the sword horizontally.

    A huge arc made of purple energy cut through the air and made its way towards the rock.

    After unleashing the attack, she then mumbled. "Reflection seal"

    Slowly, five mystical runes made out of soul energy formed around her left palm, creating a transparent shield.

    Leah then pushed her against the ground and followed from behind.

    At first, the arc was as small as one meter in length over its circumference but as it proceeds further, the natural energy in the surroundings was rapidly absorbed into it and increased its size.

    By the time it reached the rock, it was already more than 50 times the size of the original.

    Just as Skylark reached the foot of the rock, the soul energy attack collided with the rock and proceeds to cut through it.

    Skylark jumped back in reflex as soon as he felt the attack.

    "What the¡­" his pupils constricted in shock as he watched the rock was cut off at 5 meters spot and the remaining 145-meter big rock titled towards him and started to fall on him.

    As he knew that he couldn''t destroy the rock by firing the bullets, he attempted to dodge it by rushing towards the left edge of the grassland.

    The only thing he needed to worry about is the debris from the collision of the rock and the ground.

    Gripping the gun tightly, he waited until the giant rock fell on the grassland and several pieces of stones flew in random directions.

    Pouring soul energy into the gun, he then clicked and held the trigger to fire the energy bullets continuously.

    However, those bullets didn''t have the power of rank-5.

    Since the target is just rocks, he didn''t bother wasting soul power too much and continuously created energy bullets using only 101-110 soul power but with the power of peak-rank-2.

    With its help, in just ten seconds, he reduced almost all the flying stones to dust and then, aimed at Leah who stepped onto the flat rock.

    *bang*

    An energy bullet was fired at her. Even though it looked the same as others, this bullet is a lot more powerful as it consumed more than ten percent of his soul energy.

    Looking at the incoming attack, Leah halted for a moment and raised her left hand.

    A smirk appeared on Skylark, "fool, it has penetrating properties. No shield could block the bullets fired by this weapon."

    However, in the next second, he was frozen like a statue. "The hell..."

    When the bullet was just a centimeter away from her palm, suddenly, it stopped for a moment.

    Its blue color changed to purple and bounced off towards him in return at the same speed.

    Skylark immediately ducked in reflex.

    While he successfully dodged the attack, Leah took advantage of it and thrusts the sword into the ground, "Soul skill: Amalgamation of Ice and Fire."

    "Ice." She raised her hand towards Skylark.

    The soul energy from her soul orb gushed out of her body to freeze her entire surroundings.

    Now that she stands at the center of the field, whether it is the fallen rock or where it is a tiny grass, the whole grassland turned into a frozen land.

    Skylark protected his body with soul energy as he felt the ice below him is trying to freeze him too.

    "Good." A smile appeared on Leah watching him looking fine. "Now, Fire."

    All of a sudden, a beam of fire erupted from beneath her opponent''s feet, hitting him dead on.

    Because of the soul energy protection, parts of his skin only charred from the flames, and at the same time, he flew out of the barrier and fainted.

    The proctor caught him at the perfect time and declared Leah as the winner.

    Waving her hands to the cheering audience with a bright smile on her face, she walked away, leaving the experts in a daze.

    No one expected that her soul skill would be this powerful. They felt like the power was beyond that of even a top-tier platinum grade Arcana.

    "No wonder she''s the favorite to win." "Excalibur, the sword of legends indeed lives up to its name" "Wah! The princess is so beautiful" "She really deserves to be the true daughter of heaven" "Is there a possibility of stealing her from the Heavenly Academy?" "Should we abduct her?" "This Pendragon is the perfect bride for his majesty" "I should inform young master about her and quickly send an envoy to Camelot"

    Several spectators were enamored by her beauty and her strength. Even before this match, most of the audience believed that she''ll become a top-tier expert in the future.

    But now, after watching how she defeated a strong semi-finalist within 30 seconds, they firmly believed that she will become a rank-9 powerhouse.

    Some even thought that she''s destined to become a demi-god.

    While the scouts of advanced academies have no intentions of recruiting her since it is impossible, the hidden organizations, on the other hand, have intentions of acquiring her.

    Some scouts from evil organizations even have plans to abduct her.

    Meanwhile, the servants of kings, princes, heirs of giant companies, and sects thought of match pairing with their respective masters even though she''s only a 15-year-old girl.

    There are only two persons within the stadium who were calm. One is the Draco-Galarian disguised as Vann. And the other is Azzy who thought it is normal as he knew that Excalibur is a celestial grade Arcana.

 Chapter 155: Champions League Semifinals part-2

    The semi-finals continued.

    As everyone expected, Vann alias Draco-Galarian beast won the second semifinals with ease and advanced to the finals.

    In the Duo category, the twins from the Ash clan and the team from Central Academy advanced to finals.

    As for the group category, even though Team Solar tried hard, they still suffered defeat under the aggressive attacks of the Dragon Academy.

    Now, everyone''s eyes are glued to the grassland with team Twilight on one side of the giant rock and team Crescent on another side.

    Team Crescent consist of a sword user like Gideon, two summoners out of which one summoned a platinum grade Sabertooth tiger and the other summoned a black jaguar, the healer owns a staff, and the last one has a bow as her Arcana.

    "Barbara, be careful. No matter what, you can''t engage in a battle against Claire and Azrael, alright?" Crescent team''s captain-Eugene warned her seriously to which she nodded. "I know."

    "Everyone, remember their targets. Unless you finish those, don''t bother leaving and help out your teammates. And under any circumstances, we couldn''t lose this match. Understand?"

    "Yes, captain." As the team members collectively replied, the captain nodded with a satisfactory smile, "good."

    *Whistle*

    As soon as the countdown timer is finished, the team''s healer-Ellis raised her staff, "Soul skill: Divine Protection."

    Light particles flew from her staff towards all of her allies except for Barbara, forming a light armor over their physical body.

    This skill will increase their recovery rate from wounds and injuries as well as soul power for the next 15 minutes.

    While it will not make them invincible like Claire''s Holy ground, still, it is better than nothing.

    All of them rushed towards the middle rock, not intending to waste any time.

    On the other side of the rock;

    "Guys, just two matches away from the championship. Let''s do this¡­" Azzy and others gathered in a circle and put forth their hands on top of each other. "Team Twilight, let''s go¡­"

    *Whistle*

    As soon as the countdown timer is over, Azzy dashed towards the rock like a flash.

    Within a few seconds, he reached the base of the rock and pushed his leg against the ground.

    However, instead of jumping upwards, he leaped towards climbing the free-standing rock, clenching his fist.

    The spectators watched his hand was covered in dense dark energy before a powerful punch landed on the rock.

    *Boom*

    Suddenly, the rock explodes and an enormous amount of dust fills the air, covering Azzy like a thick fog.

    After a couple of seconds, as the dust was cleared, members of team Crescent halted their movements as they were surprised about the sudden explosion.

    Meanwhile, the rest of the team members of team twilight who were left behind because of the difference in speed between them and Azzy were on their way.

    "Vajra, come out."

    He summoned the black wolf right away and then, folds his hands behind the back, staring at his opponents with an indifferent look.

    His opponents felt as if he was challenging all of them to come together and face him if they dare.

    "As expected, it''s Azrael," Eugene mumbled as he saw the boy behind the explosion.

    Looking at others, he then gave a signal to which Barbara, Ellis-the team''s healer, and Elvera, the Archer slowed down while the remaining two sped up towards Azzy with their Arcana.

    In the meantime, Claire successfully caught up with Azzy and stood beside him after watching the opponent''s strategy.

    "Claire, do your job," Azzy said to her not to waste the time by waiting for them. Since she wanted to face Barbara, he wanted to let her do it by all means.

    It would let him spare injuring her with his own hands.

    However, before she could reply, two energy arrows were launched towards both of them at the same time by Elvera.

    Claire raised her sword and cut down the arrow while the other one was blocked by Vajra''s paw.

    In the next second, Captain Eugene and sword user Malcolm reached them and took an initiative to launch an attack.

    Claire blocked Malcolm''s sword with her own while Azzy blocked Eugene''s punch with his hand.

    The fact that neither Claire nor Azzy even moved a step back while blocking the attack says a lot about their combat strength.

    Eugene expected that Azzy would stop his attack. So, he wasn''t surprised in the least. Raising his left hand, he launched a palm strike towards Azzy''s chest.

    Continuing to tightly grab Eugene''s right fist, the latter hit his left wrist with a left palm, redirecting the incoming attack towards empty air.

    Gideon who was only a couple of meters away from Azzy was suddenly flown back as if some invisible force hit him.

    Mia and Snivy halted their movements for a second in surprise.

    Azzy narrowed his eyes, "so, this wasn''t a simple palm strike."

    "Surprised, aren''t you?" A mysterious smile appeared on Eugene before he generated wind between his fist and Azzy''s palm and got freed quickly.

    "It isn''t his attack but his passive ability," the Reaper''s voice echoed in Azzy''s head, clearing his doubts. "Just like you can see the death of a dying person, he could minutely control the wind within his range."

    After receiving the information from the Reaper Azzy commented in a plain tone, "You are born with it."

    Eugene nodded with a smile, "You are indeed just like how Prince Vann has told me. Ever since I watched your battle with Vann, I wanted to spar with you but right now, the victory is important. Farewell¡­"

    Putting forth his palms towards Azzy and his teammates in his back, he unleashed the soul skill that he hadn''t shown until now.

    "Soul skill: Tornado Blast"

    In the meantime, Eugene''s jaguar and Azzy''s black wolf lunged at each other.  As the latter is stronger because of the vast difference between their grades, Vajra overpowered the black Jaguar.

    Jaguar which was pinned down by Vajra''s paws suddenly disappeared as all of his soul power is consumed in the process.

    A mini vortex appeared before his palms and generated a powerful tornado, which engulfed Claire, Azzy, Eugene''s teammate, Vajra, and the other members of Twilight.

    In just a couple of seconds, Gideon, Malcolm, Snivy, and Mia were seen blasted out from the barrier together.

    The proctor and Sahara quickly managed to catch Malcolm and Mia while the other two crashed onto the ground and fainted with their ribs being fractured.

    As the dust cleared, Azzy was seen standing at the same spot with dark energy covering him like a shield.

    On the other hand, Claire''s golden wings were sprouted from her back and shielded her while she crouched on the ground.

    Vajra was seen almost at the edge of the barrier, blocking it with its sheer force.

    *Wow*

    Letting out a powerful bark, it started to rush towards its master.

    In the meantime, a shock appeared on Eugene''s face. His voice shook in disbelief, "How is this possible? It was my full power. Even if it can''t heavily injure you, it should have been enough to throw you out."

    "Well, seems like my resistance power is stronger¡­" Azzy shrugged his shoulders in response.

    Glancing at Claire, he spoke, "Captain, it''s us now. Leave them to me. I''ll join after this."

    Claire flapped her wings and flew into the sky.

    *Swoosh*

    Elvera quickly shot an arrow at Claire. The latter dodged it with ease and flew towards him.

    Back to Eugene and Azzy, the former quickly took out a recovery card to recover his soul energy.

    Azzy, on the other hand, was busy quarreling with the Reaper.

    "In a real battle, your allies would die if you act with such carelessness." The Reaper scolded him.

    "I just didn''t expect that the attack would be like this." Azzy defended himself.

    "You have a saber in your storage card. You could have just go and chop off his hands before he unleashed the soul skill. Why haven''t been you using it? Is it for decoration?" The Reaper countered his statement with a logical statement.

    "But, this isn''t a real battle. How could you tell me to chop off a fellow human''s hands to disrupt a soul skill? Do you want me to despise myself or something?" In Azzy''s view, it''s a despicable act to do even if his opponents can recover their limbs with a powerful healing card.

    He didn''t care about what the rest of the world will think but if he does such a thing, Azzy will fall into his own view.

    "Suit yourself." The Reaper no longer cared about giving him advice. He felt its best if Azzy faces the reality.

 Chapter 156: Champions League Semifinals part-3

    Recovering his soul energy to the brim, Captain Eugene of team Crescent then proceeded to control the wind below his feet and slowly float in the sky.

    The distance between him and the ground was slowly started to increase.

    After flying for a few meters, he stopped and slowly floated forward. "Nevermatter, taking out three for one is still good."

    Now that two of the strongest opponents were still on the field, he felt that it''s time to follow plan B.

    His teammates who were left behind immediately got the signal. Ellis-the healer and Elvera-the Archer rushed diagonally in different directions, leaving Barbara on her own.

    Luckily for them, Claire''s target is Barbara.

    She let the other two leave and then, landed on the ground before her opponent.

    Meanwhile, Azzy who just finished his quarrel with the reaper glanced at the two incoming opponents and then, at the sky. "Well, I hope this battle be worthwhile."

    He stood still and waited for the two of the two girls to take their positions. In the meantime, Vajra returned to Azzy and waited for further orders.

    Elvera was on the right side, Ellis on the left side, and Eugene was right on top of his head.

    He wondered what their tactic might be.

    Is it a formation? Is it some kind of sealing technique? Is it some combo skill?

    Several theories popped into his head. He expected the Reaper would give him the answer, but as there''s no answer from the deity, Azzy stopped paying attention to him and focused on the three of his opponents.

    As if they prepared it beforehand, the three of them took out a five-star skill card where the stars are gold in color, which indicates it has the power of a peak-rank-5.

    Azzy''s eyes captured the golden stars on the back of the skill cards that were in the hands of both of the girls. He assumed that Eugene must also have a similar card.

    However, only Captain Eugene was at the peak-rank-5 realm. The other two aren''t at that stage.

    Azzy wondered whether all of them have perfect control over their soul energy or whether they hold the activated skill card.

    According to the knowledge that he gained from the teachings of Avia, if one attempts to unleash an attack that usually requires more soul energy than their maximum limit, their entire soul energy will become empty and the skill will be failed unless it is already an activated skill card.

    An activated skill card is a type of skill card where the Arcana masters can seal their soul energy into the skill card and then present it to others where it can be used just by unlocking the seal by pouring a minute amount of soul energy.

    "Hmm¡­ It seemed like the latter." Azzy mumbled as he glanced in both directions.

    As one couldn''t use an activated skill card in the tournament unless it was created by the participants, Azzy assumed that there''s a high chance that it might have been created by Eugene.

    Azzy''s action of staying still like a statue made Eugene furious. He snorted, "Hmpf, let''s see how long this guy will continue to look down on us."

    "Combo Skill: Four-eyes Prism, activate."

    The three skill cards glowed at the same time and released a blinding light beam connecting each other.

    In no time Azzy found himself trapped in the middle of an energy prism. Vajra was also got caught in it.

    On each side of a prism, there was a symbol that largely resembles an eye. Strangely, it was constantly opening and closing as if it was alive.

    "Now, that''s an amazing combo technique" "Moon Academy lives up to its name" "Let''s see if Azrael can break through this trap"

    The experts curiously looked at the prism. It was unlike anything they have seen before.

    The higher realm experts could also sense its power is in the peak level of the rank-6 realm, something which a low-rank-5 like Azzy couldn''t break it off even with energy eruption, well, at least theoretically.

    Meanwhile, Azzy looked around his surroundings.

    He couldn''t hear the cheering of the audience and neither could he see anything that''s past the glassy prism walls.

    Despite getting trapped along with him, the black lightning wolf was neither with him on the outside nor could he sense its spirit in the mindscape.

    "There''s no suppression or soul energy absorption but my hearing has been cut off and my vision was confined to these walls. I couldn''t sense where Vajra is located either. And those eyes. There''s something about them that''s strange."

    Just like the eyes were blinking on the outside, there was also a set of four eyes, one on each side.

    He glanced at the blinking eye right below him, "Strange, indeed."

    Azzy walked forward a few steps to touch one of the glassy walls to check its durability. However, to his surprise, the wall appeared to move back as he moved forward.

    The distance between him and the wall hasn''t decreased in the least.

    "Chronos, a little help here," Azzy asked the Reaper to give him some insight about the trap he was fallen in.

    However, there was no response from the Reaper.

    "Chronos?" He called him once again.

    "Hmm?" At first, Azzy wondered whether this prism could cut off his connection with the Reaper temporarily. After all, the connection with the black wolf has been cut off.

    But then, as he reminded himself that Chronos is a deity who is death and time itself, he assumed it wasn''t possible. Not to mention, he could feel soul energy in his soul orb too.

    It led him to think that it might because of the quarrel they had earlier on. "Chronos is becoming more like a kid these days. What kind of a deity would sulk over such petty quarrel¡­"

    Taking a deep breath, he spoke in his head, "fine, I don''t need your help. I will resolve this on my own."

    Collecting soul energy in his right hand, he shot an energy blast towards the wall.

    It traveled for a second before vanishing into thin air.

    Suddenly, a ten-month-old memory appeared in his head. It was the time when he was being ambushed by the original Leonard Light. "That''s right. I almost forgot about it."

    Pouring his soul energy towards his eyes, he unleashed the first soul skill of the Reaper. Azzy''s eyes turned pitch black and his pupils disappeared.

    "Soul skill: Eyes of God."

    "These energies¡­" As soon as he activated the eyes of God, all the secrets of this strange prism were revealed before him.

    The four eyes on each side were connected by soul energies, creating a giant invisible eye in the middle of the prism and granted an illusion over him.

    Vajra was right beside him. He could see it was barking but he couldn''t hear it nor he was able to touch it. It was as if there was an infinite distance between them despite standing together so close.

    He was surprised that such a combo skill managed to suppress even a celestial grade beast like Vajra.

    "Okay, I found the problem. Now, let''s find the solution." Azzy once again shot an energy blast towards the glass.

    This time, as he was observing it with his magical eyes, Azzy watched that the energy was absorbed by the giant energy eye that was floating above him.

    "Released energy is being absorbed. Now that''s a good thing." Azzy nodded in satisfaction.

    Standing straight, he closed his eyes. He remembered his fight against Hydra in the illusion world.

    Emptying his soul orb, Azzy gathered all of his soul energy into his bones and forced all of it outside, "Energy Eruption."

    It released Vajra and return to the mindscape to find itself staring at the Reaper.

    Meanwhile, on the outside, Claire was being bombarded by attacks from Elvera and Eugene.

    After imprisoning Azzy, all the three of them rushed towards Barbara and Sabertooth tiger pair that was facing Claire in an even match.

    With the addition of three helpers, Claire found herself at a disadvantage.

    So, she flew into the sky, abandoning her battle with Barbara.

    While she wanted to release Azzy by destroying the prism from the outside, Eugene blocked her path, and Elvera continued to shoot arrows at her from the ground.

    Under the relentless attacks of Eugene, Claire didn''t even get the chance to get near to the prism. As she was flying in the sky, she wasn''t able to block the passive wind attacks of Captain Eugene with her wings.

    She wasn''t able to land on the ground as there will be Barbara that will stop him even she blocks Eugene''s attack that constantly pushes her back.

    However, at the same time, Eugene found her recovery rate is remarkable and annoying. No matter how much they injured her, Claire''s body would recover almost instantly.

    To send her out of the barrier, Eugene decided to use the skill card that he was saving for the finals.

    Just as he took it out from his pocket, Barbara shouted from below. "Captain, the prism¡­"

    He turned his head around to see cracks emerged on the prism as the eyes turned pitch black. They are no longer blinking.

    *Crash*

    As the prism shattered like a glass, they saw Azzy was standing still with a saber in his hand. His opponents also saw the changes in the appearance of his eyes.

    According to their data, Azzy''s eyes turn that way whenever he uses soul skill. Eugene wondered what kind of soul skill he unleashed that destroyed his precious combo prison which can hold even a high-rank-6 like a prisoner.

    Brandishing the saber, Azzy mumbled, "Chronos was right.  I was foolish to let the attacks trap me. But, now, I won''t give such opportunities to the opponents anymore."

    He pushes his leg against the ground and dashes towards the healer.

 Chapter 157: Champions League Semifinals part-4

    Pouring soul energy into the saber, Azzy dashed towards the healer and slashed at her.

    His speed was so fast that she wasn''t able to react to it and her body just moved on instinct.

    The staff she was holding in her hand blocked Azzy''s attack. However, the attack was too heavy for her to block it completely.

    *Crack*

    Along with a slight crack appeared on her staff, Ellis was blasted away a few meters by the force and crashed onto the ground.

    "Ellis¡­" Eugene screamed in worry and controlled the wind to go to her rescue but this time, Claire intercepted him in the middle, swinging at him with her sword.

    As their captain was blocked, Barbara who wasn''t engaging in any battle dashed forward with her sabertooth tiger.

    In the meantime, the saber in Azzy''s hand turned into charcoal and got destroyed.

    Azzy went into a daze as he looked at the charcoal power that remained in his hand. "What just happened?"

    "Man-made weapons couldn''t handle your soul energy unless you master it. You have only gained near-perfect control over your soul energy. Mastering and controlling it is different.

    When you master it, you can do wonders. It will act according to your will." The Reaper who pretended to be deaf until now once again gave an explanation to clear Azzy''s confusion.

    His reply brought criticism from Azzy, who replied with sarcasm, "And someone advised me to use the saber and chop off the hands of my opponents."

    "You are not training hard in gaining perfect control much less mastering soul energy. That''s your first mistake, Azrael." The Reaper wasn''t the one that admits that his statement is wrong. He countered Azzy''s criticism with a harsh lecture.

    "You are no longer a beginner. After experiencing so many battles, you should have already realized the prowess of death energy which was further supported by the Protos energy.

    It is common sense that the saber isn''t tied to your soul. Even if it is in your hands, it is just a stranger for either you or me. Not realizing such a simple thing is your second mistake, Azrael.

    From the start, you never had the desire to do that. I know that you are fast enough to change the direction of your weapon at the last second and attack her limbs. You didn''t even use soul energy to power up your legs. And this is your third and final mistake, Azrael.

    Had you change the direction of your swing and gone for the arms, right now, that healer would have been out of this match. Even if the saber gets destroyed, you would have still ousted one of the opponents whose attribute itself is an enemy of you."

    After hearing the lecture that was pointing his repeated mistakes, for a moment, even Azzy thought he was the careless one.

    Realizing that he couldn''t win against the Reaper in argument, he didn''t give any reply to him and focused on the Archer that just successfully hit the arrow at Claire''s back.

    "Vajra, she''s your opponent," Azzy passed the orders to Vajra and he dashed towards Barbara and Ellis.

    Looking at the blurring figure, Barbara stepped in front of Ellis to shield and then, gave a quick order in a serious tone, "We''ll halt him for some time. You stay behind."

    "Neko, use soul skill: Roar of the Overlord"

    *Roar*

    Just as Azzy almost reached her, he saw the sabertooth let out a powerful roar.

    All of a sudden, Azzy suddenly stopped against his will. He was just two meters away from Barbara.

    The same was the case for Vajra that was on its way towards the Archer.

    At the same time, Claire was also frozen in the air and fell onto the ground.

    A bright smile appeared on the members of team Crescent as they were fine and weren''t affected by the roar that can paralyze anyone but Barbara for atleast 10 seconds as long as they aren''t of a higher realm.

    Looking at Claire and Azzy''s state, Eugene raised his hand and showed the gesture of thumbs up. Ellis and Elvera let out a sigh of relief at the same time.

    If one would carefully observe their ears, they could see tiny earplugs in the ears of Ellis and Elvera that block the sound.

    As for Eugene, he just controlled the wind around his ears to block the sound. So, he was completely alright.

    He descended onto the ground quickly and reached paralyzed Claire.

    Meanwhile, ignoring Vajra that was helplessly paralyzed on the ground, Elvera raised her bow and unleashed a soul skill as they planned before.

    As Elvera aimed the bow at the sky, a normal energy arrow was conjured between her fingertips. She released the arrow towards the sky, which traveled for like a couple of seconds before it disappeared and rained down ten arrows that were dancing in lightning.

    In the meantime, Barbara didn''t sit straight either. According to Plan-C where Eugene fails to eliminate Azzy, she will have to use it on this cousin of hers instead of Claire who was her original target.

    And once she paralyzes Azzy, the others available should use their soul skills without wasting time as they weren''t sure how long the skill will affect someone like Azzy. They planned to go all out against Azzy.

    According to their data, Azzy''s defense is comparable to that of atleast a mid-rank-6 Arcana master. So, Barbara wasn''t worried about accidentally killing him.

    Jumping back to dodge the incoming arrows from the sky, she threw out a five-star skill card towards Azzy while ordering her Arcana to unleash the soul skill as it was still in mid-air while jumping back with her.

    "Activate, skill card: Explosion" "Neko, use Soul skill: Fireblast"

    The black fireball and the lightning arrows from the sky almost reached Azzy at the same time, followed by a card that will explode the moment it touched something.

    Right then, deathly dark energy suddenly erupted from Azzy as he mumbled, "Energy Eruption."

    All of his soul energy was forced out of his body. Vajra disappeared as a result.

    The dark energy collided with the incoming projectiles and not only the latter were destroyed without a trace as a result, but the explosive force also impacted Barbara and Ellis who were standing little more than five meters away from him.

    Both of them were thrown away a couple of meters but they managed to withstand the counterattack despite being shocked by the development.

    No one expected that the effect of the Roar wouldn''t even last for three seconds.

    Meanwhile, Elvera, Eugene, and Claire were unaffected as they were far from the range.

    The former was about to use the binding skill card to trap his opponent but because of the sudden development behind him, he could only turn his head and take a look at Azzy in shock.

    This time, Azzy didn''t wait for his opponents to make their move.

    He opened his mouth while staying at the same place. "Soul skill: Soul absorption."

    Simultaneously, with a thought in his mind, seals were locked and his soul power was suppressed to the realm of four-star.

    All of a sudden, Barbara, Ellis, Elvera, and Eugene were forced to kneel down and then got fainted on the ground at the same time as all of their soul energy seeped away from their body within the following three seconds.

    Every one of them had a look of disbelief on their faces, not expecting the match would turn around this quickly with just one soul skill.

    Even the higher realm experts were shocked to see a soul skill that can essentially absorb the soul energy of others to fulfill theirs.

    Meanwhile, his soul energy was slowly refining the absorbed soul energies as they were of different attributes. Azzy also lifted the seals to become rank-5 experts once again.

    The Reaper''s words echoed in his head, "Carefully, focus on the soul energies and control their refining process. Your cousin has also Protos energy mixed in her soul energy. Your entire attention should be focusing on that."

    While he was guiding Azzy on the process of refining multiple soul energies, he sneakily destroyed the soul energy of Claire before it gets even refined. Azzy who was focused on the wild Protos energy of Barbara didn''t notice it.

    After finishing with the refining, more than two-thirds of his soul orb was filled with soul energy and Azzy thanked the Reaper for his simple yet wonderful suggestion of suppressing his soul orb when using the Soul absorption so that it won''t damage the soul orbs of others.

    "Chronos, why can''t I use Soul absorption to deal with the Celestial grade beast?" A thought emerged in Azzy''s mind.

 Chapter 158: Champions League Semifinals part-5

    On the grassy field within the Arena, as Azzy stood alone, a hundred thousand spectators collectively gasped in shock as the match was over within a minute.

    Even a rank-8 Arcana Master like Barton couldn''t help but stand up with a look of astonishment.

    The priests and other members of the church were frowning deeply as they saw their potential nemesis seemed to be a lot stronger than they imagined.

    The scouts from various top academies, organizations, and governments were the same too.

    There are seals and skill cards that exist in the world that can absorb the target''s soul energy but in the history of Arcana, there has never been an instance where a person could directly absorb not just one opponent''s soul energy but in multiple numbers.

    Several scouts became too busy to send messages to their respective upper echelons and requested the presence of Rank-8s and Rank-9s to scout Azzy.

    Meanwhile, somewhere in the middle row, Neal was sitting at the edge of the seat with his elbows rests on the knees.

    His eyes were completely fixed on Azzy and a smile appeared on his face, "now, this is interesting. This eighth-grade little kid seems to be a lot stronger than I was at my peak when I won the nationals.

    No wonder Master wanted to hide him from the rest of the world. If he''s my student, even I would do the same.

    Hmm, before these predators lay their hands on this boy, I need to take him away."

    Meanwhile, the countdown of 100 seconds is almost finished while Azzy was busy refining the soul energy.

    There was a hundred-second rule in the knockout rounds of the tournament.

    According to the rule, once no one from a team is in a state to continue to battle like they are being trapped because of a seal, trap skill, or in a state of unconscious, the proctor will give a signal to the authorities and a countdown of hundred seconds will be started on the screen.

    Within time, if the situation won''t change a bit, then, the match will be decided in the favor of a team that was in advantage.

    The same situation has been occurred at this stage, although not even the Proctor expected the situation would occur so soon.

    *Ting¡­*

    The countdown has been over and the Proctor announced, "Team Crescent is in no stage in continuing the battle. Team Twilight wins the match and advance to the finals."

    *Whoooo¡­*

    "Twi¡­light" "Twilight" *Clap* Clap* *Clap* "Azrael" *Clap* Clap* "Azrael"

    Amid the intensive cheering of the audience, Azzy finally finished the refining.

    Dismissing the Eyes of God, he then stared at Barbara for a couple of seconds while Vice Principal Sahara, the Proctor, and the Crescent team''s instructor entered the barrier.

    Surprising the spectators, Azzy walked towards his cousin instead of turning around to walk away.

    "What are you doing?" A frown appeared on the Moon Academy''s instructor upon seeing Azzy crouched beside her.

    He grabbed her arm and closed his eyes. A minute amount of his soul energy invaded her body.

    "Okay, she''s fine. She needs to rest." As the Reaper''s voice echoed in his head, Azzy sighed in relief and picked her up.

    Carrying in his arms, he looked at the opponent team''s instructor who was staring at him, "I''ll take her to the infirmary."

    Some wondered whether he''s taken a liking to her and taking an advantage of the situation while others wondered whether there''s a relationship between the two of them.

    Most of the rank-7 and higher realm experts thought of the latter as they found the feeling they were getting from the unique soul energies of Azzy and Barbara''s were incredibly similar to each other.

    It could only happen in the case of family or close relatives.

    On the other hand, students of Aclein who knew that Barbara was a childhood friend of Azzy assumed that they must be in a relationship.

    Then, there were a couple who were watching the battle in interest.

    The man spoke, "The girl with the last name Crescent. Is she a lost child of your uncle or an illegitimate daughter of Evelyn or something? They kinda look similar to each other."

    This time, Izora didn''t refute his claim as even she found her similar to the Elder of the Violet Pavilion who thrashed her every time she challenged for the spot.

    Right then, they heard a voice from beside them. "Both of you are now in the advanced realm and entered the stage of Exalt (rank-7). You could differentiate the soul energies based on the energy particles. Can''t you see that a part of their soul energy is surprisingly identical?"

    "Eh?" "Eh?" Izora and Vesryn turned their heads and glanced at the young girl that was actually thousands of years old, "Elder Night?"

    Glancing at Azzy''s back, Pandora spoke, maintaining her aloof expression, "If this girl is really a descendant of Crescent clan, it would only mean the boy must be either her fraternal twin or her close relative as it is impossible for strangers to have identical soul particles. And did you see the boy''s Arcana?"

    "The black wolf?" Both of them replied at the same time to which Pandora shook her head, "no, a small correction. It''s a Black lightning wolf.

    If you had carefully observed the wolf, you could have realized that the lightning sparks aren''t dark in nature but they themselves have been evolved to black lightning.

    It is the same with the girl, who uses black flames, rather than dark-natured flames. Now, remember any person similar to their description?"

    "Aelius Crescent," Both of them screamed in surprise. Thankfully, the sound around them has been blocked. So, their neighbors couldn''t hear what they were talking about.

    Recollecting herself, Izora spoke, "surely, it can be a coincidence. Moreover, we didn''t experience how the soul particles of my ancestor look like. So, there''s no way of knowing whether they are similar or not."

    Izora doesn''t want to admit that someone like Azzy who was filled with the power of darkness was related to her. It doesn''t matter if he was strong or talented.

    She could accept Barbara to some extent but not Azzy at all costs.

    Pandora shrugged her shoulders, "whether you admit it or not, it doesn''t matter. I believe both of them are the descendants of your ancestor, Aelius Crescent.

    Since she was claiming to be a member of the Crescent clan, at the very least, we have to investigate her while we search for that time traveler."

    While so many discussions and schemes were going in several parts of the audience section, in a corner, just like in the quarterfinals, the hooded black-robed young man and his 9-year-old granddaughter were back.

    Unlike the last time, the little girl has a look of disappointment on her face. "So, this is the start, grandpa?"

    Her grandpa nodded, "Yes, Izora. This is where everything will begin. No one would escape their fate."

    "Can''t you change her fate?" Her eyes were fixed on Barbara who was being carried by Azzy.

    The young man let out a sigh, "Fate is called fate because it can''t be changed unless one defeats the Goddess of Fate and create new rules."

    The little girl became silent upon hearing it.

    As the matches for the top-10 places were started, the black-robed young man stood up on his feet while grabbing her arm. "Let''s go. I''ll take you to a fun place, this time."

    Soon, they disappeared from the spot without leaving any trace.

    ***

    Azzy and others brought the unconscious people to the infirmary. There he saw Gideon and others were also unconscious.

    After placing the girl on the bed, Azzy then walked towards Gideon to check his condition.

    He then took a seat beside Claire''s bed while the rest of the elders left after congratulating him for entering the finals.

    After sitting quietly for half an hour, Azzy''s thoughts went elsewhere. He thought of the match of how he could do better, a sudden thought emerged in his mind.

    "Chronos, why can''t I use Soul Absorption to deal with the Celestial grade beast?" Azzy quickly consulted the Reaper. "Are celestial grade beasts immune to this soul skill?"

    The Reaper chuckled in response, thinking that these kinds of questions constantly remind him that his host is still a kid. "It''s because it is a peak-rank-5 Celestial grade wild beast. It''s too wasteful to damage the disguised beast''s core. If you were able to absorb it, you could be a step away from the rank-6 realm."

    "Ah! That''s right." Azzy almost slapped his forehead for his stupidity. He then proceeded to say, "if I need to eliminate it, I can''t expose it to the public, and I..."

    Just then, his conversation was interrupted by a sweet voice nearby. "Azrael, I like you. Let''s stay together. Don''t leave me, okay?..."

    Azzy was stupefied on the spot as his eyes fell on Claire who was sleep talking.

 Chapter 159: Claires sleep talking?

    Affea Mansion, Ember Street;

    It was two hours past midnight. Usually, the roads and streets should be empty.

    However, due to the ongoing matches in the stadium at the Aclein Academy, areas like downtown, and the roads where the hotels were located, they were busy with the tired people returning to their rooms.

    On the other hand, the residential districts were peaceful as none of the local citizens bothered to stay in the stadium to watch the remaining matches.

    After all, they were only rooting for the local team, Twilight. While the other matches are also pretty much important, still, in their view, they aren''t that important that they need to sacrifice their sleep.

    So, almost every resident returned to their homes by midnight to sleep.

    Ember Street is also one of the streets in the residential district where everyone switched off their lights in their respective houses and slept without any disturbance.

    Yet, in the biggest house of the street, on the first floor, Azzy was rolling left and right, not being able to sleep.

    As he closed his eyes, a memory appeared for the fifteenth time in the past few hours.

    Azzy was in the infirmary sitting before Claire.

    As he was about to discuss something with the Reaper to pass off the time, suddenly, he hears Claire sleep talks with a smile on her face.

    She confesses that she likes him and tells him to stay with her forever.

    Azzy gets surprised.

    He wonders whether she was unwell. According to what he heard from his grandpa when he was a child, one would often talk nonsense in sleep if they are unwell and have a habit of sleep talking.

    He goes near her and checks her temperature by placing his hand on her forehead.

    He finds it is normal and wonders what''s wrong with her.

    Just then, Claire briefly opens her eyes. "huh! Azzy?"

    Maybe, she thinks it''s a dream or she was in a kind of hallucination. For whatever reason, she suddenly grabs his arms and pulls him closer.

    Azzy finds his face just a few centimeters away from Claire, who once again closes her eyes with a smile and tightly cuddles his arm. "You are mine, Azrael. I won''t let you run away."

    Azzy''s face turns beet red as he was looking at her face from very close.

    After struggling for a while, he manages to free himself and leave the place quickly.

    Back to the present, the dream ends and Azzy opened his eyes. He rolled to the right once again. "No way. No way. No way¡­"

    He once again tries to sleep.

    However, the memory of Claire who confesses her feelings in sleep talk with a smile on her face was deeply ingrained in his mind.

    "No, you are getting ahead of yourself for nothing. Most of the time sleep talking doesn''t make sense." Even after reminding himself so many times, Azzy''s heartbeat hadn''t slowed down a bit.

    Adding on top of it, he started to remember some good memories they have within the past few days.

    He blushed for a second before he shook his head vigorously right and left to calm down. "What you heard was nonsense, Azzy. Remember your mission. You don''t belong to this timeline. Moreover, by the time you return, she will be practically over forty years old when you will be only 12."

    He kept on trying to convince himself over and over for the next full hour before he finally slept at 3 o''clock in the morning.

    The Reaper was chuckling to himself and quietly watching his host who was going through puberty.

    The next morning, Azzy started to hear a familiar sweet voice in his ear. "Azrael, wake up."

    "Hmm?" As he slowly opens his eyes slightly, he saw a blurry figure of Claire. "I must be going crazy." He spoke to himself, thinking he was dreaming of Claire because of the previous day''s incident, and tried to go back to sleep once again.

    Just then, his t-shirt was caught by a hand. "Azrael, it''s almost 8. The train leaves at 9:10. Did you already forget that we are going on a trip? Mia and Snivy are waiting downstairs. Get up."

    As soon as he heard another familiar voice that belongs to his bestie, Azzy opened his eyes abruptly and saw Gideon was the one that caught his t-shirt to stop him from going back to sleep while Claire was sitting at the edge of the bed nearby him.

    He quickly looked away from Claire and sprung up from the bed from the other side. "Oh, Right! I almost forgot about it. Ten minutes."

    Azzy quickly scurried to the bathroom.

    After a while, he came downstairs and saw Affea was busy talking with Claire and Mia while Snivy and Gideon''s eyes were glued to the color television before them.

    Oakley was nowhere to be found. Thinking that he went to the clinic, Azzy thought of sending a message while on the way.

    "Azrael, you are here. Took you forty-five minutes to come down." Claire was the first to notice his presence even though she was busy in conversation.

    Affea glanced at the girl curiously as she observed the changes on her face. For others, she might look the same but for a rank-7 expert like Affea, it was clear as day.

    "Told you so, Claire. Azzy will take atleast half an hour if he showers." Gideon commented in a casual tone.

    In the meantime, his eyes were fixed on the television placed on the stand. An episode of some TV show based on superheroes is airing now. And it seemed like both of them fell in love with the show.

    "Good morning, Auntie." After greeting her, he looked at Claire and their eyes met.

    Suddenly, a flash of memory appeared in his head, making him quickly avoid her gaze by turning his head towards the pair who were bickering amongst each other on which superhero is stronger. "Gideon, Snivy, let''s go. We''re getting late."

    "Eat breakfast before you leave, Azzy."Affea reminded Azzy who seems to be in hurry. She thought that he was really looking forward to visiting the capital city with his friends.

    "Auntie, the train leaves in 30 minutes. I''ll eat something on the way." Replying to Affea, he walked towards the sofa and tapped Gideon''s shoulder.

    Affea walked towards the gate to send them off.

    "Bye, Auntie." As Azzy and others about to walk away, Affea glanced at the rooftop of the opposite Apartment.

    The teenage looking girl with a sniper disappeared and appeared on the next rooftop and then, next.

    Looking at the Azzy''s back, Affea mumbled, "I hope that girl who is claiming to be from the government will keep you safe from those organizations that have malicious intentions."

    ***

    Instead of traveling on a flying card like the other Arcana Masters, these five friends booked seats in a train like the other civilian mortals.

    After all, the train journey was faster and was more comfortable, although the path is quite restricted.

    The five of them stepped inside the coach.

    "Our tickets are from 283 to 287," Mia spoke as she led them. They found their seats in the middle.

    With their odd number, Azzy ended up sitting alone while the remaining four sat together with a pair facing each other.

    Azzy felt this is also the best as he still hasn''t settled his mind to look Claire in the eyes directly.

    As he didn''t have enough sleep, Azzy thought of taking a nap, at least for the next couple of hours. After all, it takes four hours to reach the city of Egrein.

    However, his plans were disturbed by the Reaper''s comment. "Look, who is here, Azrael."

    "Hmm?" Azzy raised his head and looked at the door at the end of the coach. Three familiar people entered the coach followed by a group of people wearing suits and shades.

    Gideon exclaimed in surprise as he too spotted them, "Oh! My god¡­ Goddess Leah¡­"

    Along with Leah, Azzy also spotted Leo''s twin brother Theodore, and surprisingly, they were accompanied by a teacher of the academy, Emelia Light.

    Gideon and Mia immediately stood up from their seats. While the former stood up because of his excitement to look at the beauty, the latter stood up to greet them.

    "Cousin Theo?" Mia waved her hands with a smile. She appeared to be cheerful, unlike her usual coolness.

    It seemed like Theo was also taken aback by the appearance of Mia and her teammates.

    Leah''s eyes fell on Azzy who was simply staring at them while wondering why royals like them are boarding a train that was filled with commoners.

 Chapter 160: Leahs objective

    A train was moving at a speed of 150 km per hour, traveling from Aclein to the capital city of the country.

    In most of the compartments, the passengers were sleeping, enjoying the view of the outside, talking with each other, or reading a book to pass off the time.

    However, one compartment was filled with dead silence.

    It was so silent that the passengers sitting inside it could only hear the noise made by the train.

    The compartment which was actually packed with people at Aclein station now appeared to be deserted.

    Only a total of twelve people are sitting in the coach.

    Five members belonged to team Twilight. There''s Camelot''s crown princess Leah, Northern Qudour''s crown prince Theodore light and princess Emelia Light, and four men in suits. Three of them are of peak-rank-6 and the other is in the realm of seven-star.

    However, right now, everyone is silent with their eyes fixed on Azzy and Leah whose palms were joined together while their eyes were kept shut for the past 30 minutes.

    They couldn''t help but wonder what''s going on with the two of them.

    ***

    An hour ago, at Aclein station;

    Feeling sleepy, Azzy was about to take a nap but was disturbed by the unexpected appearance of Leah and others.

    They appeared to be very intimidating, at least for the lower rank Arcana masters who sat in their seats.

    On the other hand, just like Azzy and his friends, it appeared these royals were also surprised to find Azzy and his team in the same train, that too in the same coach.

    "Hey, Azrael." Leah waved her hands with a look of delight on her face as if she was meeting long lost friend. "What a coincidence. We meet once again."

    As soon as she spotted Azzy, Leah''s face brightly glowed and her walking pace increased.

    "Once, it is a coincidence. Twice, it is not. It looks like you both are destined to meet. As for the exact nature of the relationship, who knows how it will turn out?" As the Reaper''s voice echoed in his head, Azzy felt like there''s something wrong with his words, although he couldn''t put his finger on it.

    Assuming that the Reaper was talking about collaboration in taking down their common enemy, the Draco-Galarian, Azzy returned her greetings, "It''s been a while, Ms. Pendragon."

    The knights frowned at his addressing and as just as the captain was about to summon his sword, not caring about the public around him, Leah nodded, maintaining her smile. "It is."

    Gideon, who was excited like a fool thinking that he was traveling with a beauty in the same compartment by pure coincidence, opened his mouth as she reached them. "Princess Leah, are you also going to Egrein city?"

    She merely glanced at him for a fraction of a second and gave a plain nod before she turned to Azzy. "You too?"

    "Yes." Pointing his finger at Mia, Azzy further said, "Her father invited us."

    "I see." She nodded and then said, "I wasn''t that much interested to go to Egrein but Prince Light invited me to the palace. I heard that the Royal ancestor of this nation had made a breakthrough to rank-9. So, I thought it might be a good opportunity to meet him."

    Her actions of focusing only on Azzy while giving unnecessary explanations to him gave others an impression that she''s interested in him and was trying to clear a possible misunderstanding of something is going on between her and Theo.

    Of course, that''s only limited to Azzy''s friends and Leah''s companions.

    As for others, no one cares as both of them look quite young but still, they were focused on the couple, mainly because of Leah''s luxurious clothes accompanied by her beauty that attracted the attention of every male passenger present in the compartment.

    Meanwhile, looking at Leah and Azzy, Theo felt jealous but he quickly managed to control his expression after taking a look at Azzy''s indifferent expression.

    It reminded him that this was the same person who lifted a 7000-pound Rhino like some cat and threw it away. This was the same person who even destroyed a 200 meters large rock with just a single punch and this was the same person who finished a strong team like Crescent within one single minute.

    In Theo''s eyes, regardless of his social status, Azzy was the number one person whom he couldn''t offend unless he has the support of the Royal Ancestor.

    For now, he swallowed his jealousy and stayed still, letting the princess continue her conversation.

    However, in the compartment, he wasn''t the only one who was angered by this situation.

    There was another girl, sitting nearby the window while biting her nails in frustration.

    It was Claire.

    Watching their conversation, she cursed her inside, "first that Barbara and now, this b***h. Is the world lacking men or something? Did they only find my Azrael of all people? No, I should do something about this¡­"

    Not intending to stay as a spectator anymore, Claire interrupted their conversation and reminded her that they were blocking the way of the people behind them.

    "We''ll talk another time." Soon, she took her seat that was far in the back. Theo also felt thankful for her interruption for it is unbearable for him to see his goddess behave this way.

    Soon, the doors closed and the train started to move.

    For a while, nothing strange happened. Azzy took a nap. Despite being ignored, Gideon was happy because of Leah''s presence.

    Snivy was scolding Gideon to not embarrass them by acting like an idiot.

    In the meantime, Mia went ahead and sat with the group by exchanging the seats with Emelia. She wanted to catch up with her favorite cousin who she used to play with during childhood.

    But, Mia didn''t know that Theo was annoyed that his quality time with Leah was being disturbed by his cousin who was in a mood to recount their childhood days.

    As for Claire, she was satisfied that this alleged love rival was finally left and happily chatted with this expert, who was working as the homeroom/all-subject teacher for grade-3 of Elite division.

    Everything was fine until the train stopped at the next station of Crepus.

    "Huh! What''s going on?" Claire and others were bewildered to watch every passenger except stood up from their seats and stepped out of the train with their luggage.

    Looking at the look on their faces that looked blank, everyone on team twilight realized that their minds were controlled by someone. The main character also woke up from his nap as his adjacent passenger did walk out like others, slightly colliding with his leg on the way.

    It was only after everyone evacuated that he realized that it was the work of Leah as he saw the latter patted the knight captain beside her and said, "Good job."

    As the doors closed, amid everyone''s gazes, Leah suddenly stood up from her seat and walked towards Azzy.

    "The compartment feels stuffy and too noisy with chattering of those civilians." She spoke to him while taking a seat opposite him.

    "Why do you bother to even board this train when you don''t want to travel with commoners?" Claire didn''t hold back at all, feeling that this princess went overboard with her actions.

    Turning her head, Leah replied that it was her first time to travel in this type of train.

    She further said that those passengers were reimbursed with triple the amount of the ticket price, and the others were arranged special vehicles.

    After giving an explanation to Claire, not caring about other people''s opinions any longer, Leah stood up from her seat and sat beside Azzy on the window seat while inviting Theo and Mia to sit with her.

    Mia and Theo also joined them.

    Claire''s face once again darkened while Emelia looked at them curiously.

    She was wondering whether the girl had taken a liking of Azzy or she was intending to scout him as her knight.

    As for scouting for the Heavenly Academy, Emelia didn''t even think of it as it is impossible for a commoner to study at the place that was reserved for the aristocrats.

    On the other hand, jealous Theo couldn''t help but look at Azzy in an unfriendly way as he looked at how his crush sat beside another boy voluntarily. His blood boiled in anger.

    For a while, Leah kept silent. She was bickering with her Arcana.

    On the other hand, Azzy decided to spend the time reading a book on the history of the war between Northern and Southern Qudour.

    Finally, after her bickering is over, Leah took a deep breath and opened her mouth, "Um, Azrael?"

    "Yes?"

    "There''s someone that wishes to talk to you."

 Chapter 161: The Nine Generals

    "Where am I?" Azzy looked around curiously.

    He found himself in the middle of a dark tunnel with the exit appearing very far away at either end.

    "Which way should I go?" Azzy wondered, looking at the front and then, back.

    Right then, a familiar deep voice echoed in his head, "Azrael, this is called the Hollow Tunnel. As you can see there''s nothing inside it. This is a passage that connects two mindscapes.

    Only those who had truly mastered their soul energy would be able to do this. And more than 95% of Arcana Masters would achieve it after entering the seven-star realm and become an Exalt Arcana Master.

    Managing to create a hollow tunnel between the two souls at such a young age is indeed impressive." The Reaper has nothing but praises for Leah.

    Azzy felt a little bit jealous whenever he does that as most of the time, the Reaper would only criticize him or point out his mistakes.

    And during the time of praise, either Vajra or the so-called Protos energy will be praised, not him.

    "So, which is Ms. Pendragon''s?" Azzy asked him, feeling annoyed about it.

    "The one behind you is your mindscape and the one in front is Leah''s but¡­" All of a sudden, the entrance behind him was closed. "You can''t let anyone right now or in the future into your mindscape. I mean anyone¡­ Understood?"

    This time, the Reaper''s tone appeared serious. Azzy didn''t know why it is a big deal but as it wasn''t important right now, quickly, he put those thoughts away and proceeded to walk.

    After a fifteen-minute walk, Azzy reached the end of the tunnel and found Leah was waiting for him at the entrance. "You are finally here, Azrael. Follow me."

    Azzy looked at the world before him. It was completely different from his mindscape.

    He found himself on the grassland with a river flowing through it.

    Just like the barren land in his mindscape, Azzy couldn''t also see the starting point of either river or the grassland.

    The sky was also clear and blue. As his face was hit by a cool breeze, Azzy felt it was pleasant.

    Azzy followed Leah as they started to walk.

    Both of them are walking towards the river where there''s a rock slightly bigger than Azzy in which a sword was embedded.

    "You know, you are the first person in the world who entered my mindscape. I didn''t allow my friends, relatives, or even my parents." Leah commented while she was looking ahead. "After all, one couldn''t let someone enter your mindscape especially a stronger one. After all, all the Arcana spirits and the souls of their masters are quite vulnerable here. I hope you understand how much trust I had in you."

    "So, this is why Chronos sealed the entrance? Did he suspect that she might be having other thoughts?" Azzy wondered. He was also confused about her statement of trusting him. They weren''t even friends.

    At best, they can be considered acquaintances after meeting two times. So, he wondered where this trust comes from.

    As if she had read his mind, Leah further said with a giggle, "Don''t misunderstand. It''s because of my Excalibur. He trusts you. So, I trust you. You will know everything once you talk with him."

    After a while, they reached the shore of the river.

    All of a sudden, a deep yet loud voice echoed in the surroundings. "Welcome to my abode. I''m Excalibur, popularly known as the sword in the stone, and the symbol of authority."

    Of course, Azzy knows the source of the voice. So, he directly looked at the sword in the stone and replied, "The only surviving Arcana spirit of all the Arcana spirits that were created by a man. The only Arcana that managed to defy fate. I heard a lot about you. Nice to meet you, I''m Azrael."

    Azzy slightly bowed, returning the greetings. When he was in the first grade, his grandpa read the storybooks of which one of his favorite ones was Merlin''s adventures.

    So, he knew about the tale, very well. Moreover, the Reaper also told him a few interesting things while he was walking in the tunnel, a while ago.

    "Defying the fate, huh," A chuckle escaped from the sword spirit. "Well, let''s just say I resisted the fate or else, Goddess Moira will be offended."

    Azzy didn''t comment on it and said, "Ms. Pendragon told me that you had something important to talk to me."

    "Doesn''t waste time with strangers and goes directly to the matter. You haven''t changed a bit, Rael." Once again, a chuckle escaped from the sword as he commented.

    Azzy was taken aback by how he was addressing as if they were familiar with each other.

    Even Leah was surprised to see the old man is calling Azzy affectionately. She knew the story of the history between the sword and the boy but still, she felt a little bit jealous watching her Arcana spirit is showing such importance to a stranger.

    Excalibur continued, "Before we get into the topic, let me ask you something. How much do you know about the Camelot and Arthur Pendragon?"

    Azzy shrugged his shoulders, "I know as much as it recorded in the history books available for the general public. From its formation during the post-apocalypse era, over a million years ago to its downfall in the war with demons, a hundred thousand years ago, ending the Dark Age of Arcana and starting the new era.

    The most famous of them is Arthur Pendragon, who managed to unite all the kingdoms on the earth and formed the Empire of Arcana to face off against the demons, which lasted for a thousand years.

    However, he couldn''t manage to protect his legacy or the peace of the world. Upon his death, the Empire was crumbled and the world was embroiled in a war. It''s laughable that the hearts of men were more greedy and wicked than the demons. He shouldn''t have ¡­"

    Suddenly, Azzy stopped speaking and went into a daze. He couldn''t believe he uttered those words of all the people.

    Listening to him, the Reaper chuckled to himself, "meeting this little blade is really a blessing to Azzy. Now that he unknowingly acknowledged the truth, I''m looking forward to the day when both his heart and mind also accept the reality."

    Meanwhile, Excalibur, who realized that the kid uttered the words unknowingly, and spoke, "it''s alright. The truth is truth. We can''t run away from it, forever. Anyway, as you would know, there are always important details in the legends that will be hidden from the general public. One of them is the story of Arthur''s nine generals, who are called as God killers as they killed a God with their excellent teamwork."

    "Killing a God?" Azzy''s heart stirred as he listened to his words. According to the Reaper, a true God is supposed to be at rank-11, who is strong enough to destroy all the life on earth.

    Of course, Gaia, being the mother goddess, wouldn''t let any person from the realms of heaven and hell do that but still, it explains how powerful they are.

    And these nine generals killed such a person? Azzy wondered who that God might be.

    He''s now interested in this conversation.

    Excalibur continued, "In those days, the natural energy was abundant in nature and so were the wild beasts in the Arcana world. So, back then, living for thousand years isn''t a big deal for those who manage to awaken their Arcana. The platinum-grade spirits aren''t also that rare as now.

    However, these nine generals were cut above the rest. Each of them possessed a Celestial grade spirit.

    General Qin possesses the Phoenix, the symbol of Fire.

    General Moon possesses the Leviathan, the symbol of Water.

    General Ravillon possesses the Bahamut, the symbol of Earth.

    General Odinson possesses the Mjolnir, the symbol of Lightning.

    General Arjuna possesses the Gandiva, the symbol of wind.

    General Nuada possesses the Claidheamh Soluis, the symbol of light.

    General Himiko possesses the Enenras, the symbol of darkness.

    General Triastal possesses the Yggdrasill, the symbol of Life.

    And General Garcia possesses the Death scythe, the symbol of Death.

    Although Arthur had only awakened a gold-grade Arcana, he had found me, Excalibur, the Symbol of Authority.

    He released me from the seal that my hateful creator put on me for hundreds of thousands of years just because his job is done with sealing the beasts in another world. That damn wandering god."

    "Wandering god?" Azzy remembered the story Exea told about the history of runes, He wondered whether both are the same. At the same time, he felt some of these names are quite weird like Claire''s surname and his black wolf.

 Chapter 162: Arthur and Excalibur

    Excalibur''s description of the nine generals made Azzy ponder about them for a while.

    The first thing that surprised him the names of the generals of which some of them appeared to be different. Of them, the surname of the general named Triastal reminded him of Claire''s home which shares the same name.

    At first, he wondered whether he is the ancestor of Claire but then remembering the information from the book of death, he cut off the possibility as only Angel race people can have Life attribute.

    The Book of Death also depicts the existence of Angels in the story of the Death clan''s founder.

    When such a thought occurred in his mind, suddenly, Azzy remembered the uniqueness of Claire''s soul energy.

    Until now, he assumed that it was because her light element is too powerful that makes her healing recovery very fast and at the same time, was also probably affecting the dark attribute within him. And that is why Vajra dislikes her.

    Now he felt like she might have a life attribute which is the nemesis of Death attribute.

    In between these important thoughts, a memory of Claire''s sleep talking once again surfaced in his head, which made him quickly out away the matter and ponders on the next matter about the nine generals, which was forcing him to question the teachings of Avia.

    More than the matter of a God was killed by the nine generals of Arthur, Azzy was shocked to hear that all of them were in the realm of demi-god, which couldn''t be possible.

    According to what Avia had taught him and what was recorded on the books is that once an Arcana Master crosses the threshold of rank-9 and increases his lifespan up to ten times, i.e. a hundred thousand years, they will be scouted by the kingdoms from the immortal realm.

    And if they don''t leave the earth voluntarily within 1 year, Gaia, the mother goddess who was the personification of the earth will no longer allow them to stay in its atmosphere, considering them as a threat to humanity.

    The reason behind this is mainly because of their rapid absorption of natural energy from their surroundings, which causes the unbalance.

    Avia told him that this is the reason Qridus is suppressing himself to not attempt for the next stage until he either reaches the limit of his life or his successor reaches the nine-star realm.

    Back then, Azzy didn''t feel anything amiss but now that Excalibur''s statement goes opposite to what he was taught, he couldn''t understand who is saying the truth.

    "Which one is true?" Azzy asked the only person who he unconditionally trusts.

    The Reaper who was listening to the conversation replied, "Both are true, Azrael. You will learn those complicated things when you enter into the advanced realm. For now, just listen to what he has to say."

    Following the Reaper''s suggestion, Azzy continued to listen.

    "It was during the time Arthur was very little, I guess, around your age. Back then, he was studying hard under demi-god Merlin. At that time, the continent was still busy fighting with the invasion of demons that came from the far south.

    One day, Uther Pendragon, Arthur''s father was assassinated and Camelot''s throne was captured by Arthur''s half-sister.

    Merlin then sent Arthur on a mission where he successfully managed to not only find me but also unsealed me from the boulder. As repayment of gratitude, I offered my allegiance to that teenager for a period of twenty years.

    With my assistance, he roamed the Arcana world, slew beasts for several years, and even entered the realm of seven-star before he was twenty years old and eight-star just before his thirtieth birthday.

    And my deal with him is about to end. At such a time, he returned to the earth and went on challenging the nobles, kings, and tribes across the world.

    His condition was simple. Defeat him and they get to have the Excalibur and get defeat by him, they will send a part of their army with him in his conquest of taking back his throne.

    The result was twenty-five thousand soldiers and five hundred Elite warriors above rank-7 following Arthur back to his homeland.

    After he took back his throne, the soldiers stayed at Camelot and started their own families. Nobles and the Royal family members that followed him were added to the list of nobles of Camelot.

    Within two years, Arthur managed to occupy the surrounding four kingdoms and allied with a few powerful kingdoms for peace to focus on the onslaught of the demons.

    Now, two years passed and my debt with Arthur has been written off. It''s time for me to part my ways.

    After fighting several battles, I was a bit reluctant to part with Arthur but at the end of the day, I knew that I wasn''t his Arcana spirit. The only one who could free me is either death or my creator.

    Obviously, I chose the second option. Who in the right mind would choose the first option anyway¡­

    Arthur also kept his side of the deal and decided to free me at the same place we met.

    Maybe, he was also reluctant to part with me. That''s why he was probably walking slowly through the streets even though he could just fly on his own. Well, it''s obvious. After all, I''m the symbol of authority, a celestial grade Arcana. Hahaha¡­

    *Cough* Anyway, as we are on our way towards the exit, a strange phenomenon occurred.

    A small kid, just around eight or nine, was walking with his father. He had no sort of expression on his face and was just blankly staring at the people around him.

    His father, who was of high noble status, greeted Arthur. The King stopped and started to converse with him while the kid was continuously staring at me while I was hanging around Arthur''s waist.

    He asked Arthur whether he could touch the sword. Arthur gave the permission too.

    However, the moment I was touched by the kid, my consciousness was drifted away into his mindscape against my own will.

    That endless barren land and the roaming countless skeletons scared me to death even though I was of Celestial grade.

    Then, I heard a deep voice that probably belonged to the spirit of the Death scythe. It said that my destiny is linked with Arthur. Should I stay with him, one day, its host will unite the souls of Arthur and mine.

    I took a chance and stayed with Arthur. And just ten years later, it happened. He managed to send my spirit into his soul card. Later, I consumed the existing gold grade spirit but that wasn''t important, anyway."

    Azzy was stunned as he remembered the scene of the Reaper turning Vajra into a black wolf, thereby, changing him from twin Arcana user to set Arcana user.

    He muttered under his breath in shock, "So that kid was¡­"

    The sword replied, "Yes. It was none other than General Garcia who possesses the Death Scythe. Fun fact that not only do both of you shares the same name, but also the same appearance.

    The only difference is that you don''t have a surname of Garcia but even possess the lightning wolf as an extra. During your battle with Vann of Hildegard before his demise, I saw your spirit possessed you. Even though it''s been a hundred thousand years, I still remember its voice.

    I''m convinced that you possess the celestial grade Death scythe and Hourglass but you don''t need to worry. Your secret always stays secret with me and Leah. After all¡­ Eh, Azrael? Hmm? Those black eyes¡­"

    Excalibur and Leah found Azzy was no longer listening to his words and was just staring ahead like a statue.

    Meanwhile, his eyes were now appeared to be pitch-black, covering his pupils. Excalibur realized that the kid was possessed by his Arcana. "Hello, little blade. How are you?"

    "Eh? Little blade?" Leah was surprised by the voice change as well as how her Arcana spirit was being addressed. For her, it was indeed rude even if it is uttered by God. She knew that the short-tempered old sword might also throw the fit.

    "Lord¡­ Lord Tezca? It''s you, right?" However, contrary to her expectations, Excalibur stuttered, displaying nervousness.

    Leah was even more shocked to see this old man wasn''t only the least a bit offended but even showed respect to Azzy''s Arcana in return.

    She glanced at Azzy, who then spoke, "That was something Rael called me, fool. Along with his death, that name has lost its meaning. Address me as Chronos just like how this child addresses me."

 Chapter 163: Common enemy

    After giving a tight warning to Leah and the sword, the Reaper returned and Azzy found himself at the same spot as he was standing before.

    "Did you once again possess my body without asking me?" Azzy was annoyed at the Reaper.

    Maybe, it''s because of the increase of closeness during the past year, Azzy was no longer as polite as before. Unlike with others, Azzy won''t keep it in his heart and often complains directly whenever the Reaper does something that displeases him.

    Right now, the same thing happened.

    He was listening to an interesting story and suddenly, his body was taken over without his permission.

    The Reaper simply replied that it''s for the sake of protecting his host''s innocence.

    Azzy didn''t understand what he was implying but at the very least, he realized that whatever Reaper did, it was for his sake.

    So, he put the matter away and said to the Excalibur who was silent, "I bet you were going to say something about General Garcia that I wasn''t supposed to know. I understand that. So, let''s forget about the history and come to the matter directly."

    Leah was taken aback to see how Azzy appeared to be calm and collected even after all this.

    Arcana possession at normal times is something that is heavily criticized by almost every Arcana Master. In her view, no one would want to do that unless they were being controlled by their Arcana.

    So, she wondered whether the Arcana possession is common to him or whether it''s just his emotionless face¡­

    At the same time, she was also surprised to realize that Azzy was the host of not just one celestial grade beast but two of them.

    As soon as she saw the black wolf, Leah had already found out that he''s the possessor of a celestial grade spirit like her, which led her to think that Azzy might not be the one that she wanted as her knight.

    That''s why she hesitated to meet him even after being pushed by the Excalibur every single day.

    A few days ago, she got the chance to talk to him by pure coincidence but as they formally met for the first time, she left the matter alone.

    And right now, as she met him for the second time by coincidence, Excalibur told her that they were destined to meet again and again because Azzy is one of her destined knights.

    So, she took the chance and successfully managed to let him meet her Arcana. However, she didn''t expect that not only Excalibur''s words are right but it appeared to be as if Azzy was the favorite child of the heavens.

    Although her self-esteem was a little bit hurt realizing that there exists a person with far more potential than her, when she thought about the future of Camelot, she calmed down.

    In fact, another intention has also emerged in her mind as she threw a glance at Azzy. After all, the fate of the kingdom is at stake. But, considering their ages, she thought it was too soon and only encouraged herself to be kept in touch with Azzy.

    Meanwhile, the sword spirit thought it is better that way and spoke about the reason Azzy was invited to its mindscape.

    It revealed that Vann was in fact a disguise of the Galarian beast that was evolved to Draco-Galarian after consuming the original prince of Hildegard.

    Azzy was unsurprised about this as he already knows that they knew of it.

    The sword further said that even Leah might not be strong enough to face the Celestial grade beast unless she had some help with Azzy.

    "Only by working together could the two of you defeat the beast."

    He proposed an alliance to face against Vann after the tournament is over. In return, he promised that Azzy will get a fifty percent share of the monster''s core to absorb.

    Azzy was perplexed to find that the monster''s core can also be shared as he never heard of it.

    In response, the Reaper chuckled and explained to him about a seal that can let do that. There are also advanced seals that can practically store the energy of the monster''s soul core and absorb it, later.

    A moment later, Excalibur also told him the same thing Azzy heard in its head.

    Azzy was surprised to know that Leah mastered those advanced seals and at the same time, he felt annoyed when the Reaper praised her for her mastery over runes.

    It instilled a seed of competitiveness in his heart. Azzy decided to work harder once the tournament is over.

    Just then, another doubt emerged in his mind.

    Azzy quickly asked that why couldn''t they just tell it to the so-called Royal Ancestor now that they are visiting him? After all, Leo is a member of the Royal family.

    In response, Excalibur said that their words have a little bit of credibility in serious matters like this. After all, Vann was currently a witness.

    Now, if she says that Vann was a beast, not just the royal ancestor, anyone with a right mind would think that she was resorting to using underhanded methods to eliminate his opponent.

    Moreover, the Kingdom of Hildegard and Camelot aren''t what would you call allies. If anything else, they can even be termed as enemies because Camelot is the largest trading partner of Prailon while the latter is bitter enemies with Hildegard because of border issues.

    The nation of Prailon and the kingdom of Hildegard were fighting for an uninhabitable 1873 sq. km of land for the past seven hundred years with both of them have historic claims.

    With neither of them intends to share the land with the other, WAMO took the control of region Noxaris until the dispute solves.

    So, that''s why unless Leah claims to possess the eyes of truth and proves it to the world, she couldn''t accuse Vann. Anything goes wrong; the prestige of Camelot will be also hit.

    So, she couldn''t risk putting the matter before the rank-9 expert.

    Upon listening to the possible issues, Azzy agreed with the cooperation.

    "Thank you." Leah smiled as she put forth her hand.

    Azzy shook her hand, "no problem."

    Once the matter is finished, Azzy left her mindscape by returning to the tunnel and then, disconnects the connection of their souls.

    Both of them opened their eyes simultaneously and their palms separated.

    "It''s over. They are back."

    As soon as Gideon''s voice was heard in the silent compartment, everyone abruptly turned their heads towards Azzy and Leah.

    Feeling several gazes on him, Azzy turned his head and gave a surprising statement to them, "It appears that both of our Arcana spirits are friends in their past lives. Her Arcana spirit seems to be remembered in its past life and wanted to meet my Arcana after discovering me. There''s nothing important to go into the details."

    Azzy didn''t know why but he didn''t want to give such a long explanation and yet, he gave one to clear misunderstandings. Even though he was telling everyone in general, most of the time, Azzy glanced at Claire.

    Suddenly, something clicked in his mind upon realization.

    "Wait a second. Why should I bother about what Claire thinks of the situation?" Azzy quickly turned his head and looked straight ahead while taking out the book he was previously reading before Leah disturbed him.

    Meanwhile, for a moment, Leah also looked at Azzy in surprise not expecting Azzy to be frank to his friends for something this important. After all, she didn''t even feel the need to explain it to either Theodore or Emelia that were glancing curiously at her.

    However, as Azzy didn''t reveal any important matter to them, she thought it was fine. and stayed silent. After all, the existence of Celestial grade spirits is a secret for a reason.

    And if the world knows about it, the assassinations couldn''t be count on hands anymore. Many rank-8 and Rank-9 experts would come out of their seclusion to kill or capture people like Azzy and Leah.

    For the rest of the train journey, Leah and Azzy didn''t talk to each other at all as if they are ignoring each other.

    Azzy was busy reading the book while Leah conversed with Emelia, Theodore, and sometimes, Gideon or Mia.

    Claire who was keeping an eye on her from the start felt relieved that there''s no development between them. She was satisfied with just that.

    A couple of hours later, the train arrived at the destination.

 Chapter 164: Skinship

    "I guess this is where we part, Azrael. Let''s catch up another time." After shaking his hands once more, Leah left with her fellow companions.

    While Snivy and Gideon felt a little bit bad as they were ignored by Prince Theo as well as Princess Leah, Claire on the other hand thought it was good riddance.

    She hurriedly spoke to Mia that they must also leave. After all, it''s time for lunch and Azzy didn''t have anything from the morning.

    Meanwhile, Azzy glanced at Leah''s back and thought, "I feel like there''s something important the legendary sword spirit hasn''t told me yet or I failed to understand."

    Azzy didn''t know that his guess was spot on.

    There''s one thing that Excalibur told neither Leah nor Azzy is that he already figured out that Azzy is the time traveler for he knew that General Garcia also possessed such ability to control the time.

    He still remembered how every celestial grade beast shiver in fear whenever Arthur''s favorite general takes out the Hour Glass.

    As for what reason he kept it from Leah for all this time, it is something only he knows.

    ***

    "Oh, c''mon. You are not kidding, Walter." Mia scolded the driver as her eyes fell on the vehicle that her father sent to pick them up.

    "Didn''t I say that I''m bringing four of my friends? This is a five-seater car, you fool. Including you, we are six. You should have brought a seven-seater. It''s not like we don''t have one." After thoroughly scolding the driver, Mia apologized to her friends.

    As she further told that they can take a taxi to her home, Claire stopped her and said that they could adjust in the back.

    It resulted in Mia comfortably sitting in the front with the other four tightly adjusted in the back.

    With two girls in the middle and Snivy leaning towards the front, Azzy and Gideon sat at either end.

    Azzy and Claire''s shoulders were tightly stuck to each other.

    Sitting so close to Claire, the fragrance of lavender hit his nose and made Azzy involuntarily sniff it once more with a look of delight on his face before he realized it was from the person sitting once more.

    Azzy quickly looked away in embarrassment.

    In the meantime, Claire was giggling from time to time and gave a thumbs up to Mia in her head.

    However, not everyone is happy like Claire.

    After sitting in such a state for a minute, Snivy asked Mia about how long it will take to reach her house.

    As Mia replied that it might take more than half an hour and probably an hour if there''s traffic, Snivy felt like she had enough and proposed that one of them have to sit on another.

    Gideon quickly rejected as he refused to let Snivy sit on his lap and it won''t be good for a boy to sit on a girl''s lap either.

    As Claire volunteered to let Snivy sit on her lap, suddenly, Mia and Gideon turned their heads and spoke at the same time, "how about Azrael and Claire?" "How about Azzy?"

    "Eh?" "Eh?" Azzy and Claire looked at them in surprise.

    Mia further backed her suggestion stating that Azzy even lifted a seven thousand pound Rhino and threw it like a shot-put. Claire shouldn''t be a big deal.

    If they were adults, surely, everyone will be embarrassed to even suggest it. However, as sitting on each other is quite common among teenagers in situations like these, even the driver didn''t think much of it.

    The only thing that shocked him is Mia''s statement. He couldn''t believe that a little boy like Azzy could lift more than 3000 kg.

    Meanwhile, as Snivy also agreed with the suggestion, Claire was forced to stand a little and sat on Azzy while apologizing. After all, they couldn''t sit in such a state for an hour.

    Maybe, it''s because of puberty, or maybe, it''s because of Claire, or maybe, it''s because it''s his first time getting into a situation like this. Or, maybe, it''s something else. For whatever reason, Azzy''s felt his blood was rushing and the pace of his heartbeat rose abruptly. Something is stirring up inside.

    He was familiar with this feeling. During his stay at Violet Pavilion at the Death clan, whenever Evelyn used to tease him with flirting, it happens like this.

    So, all the way, Azzy focused on composing himself. Slowly, he drifted into sleep.

    Meanwhile, Claire looked away with her face beet red in blushing.

    Looking at how Azzy and Claire were embarrassed to face each other, Mia turned her head to the front and giggled, "Plan worked, hehe."

    As for the traffic rules that say that there can only be as many people within the vehicle as the number of seatbelts, this daughter of the ex-president wouldn''t care. She was willing to pay a fine. It isn''t a big deal compared to the progression of her friend''s love.

    Following her plan, she made the driver go through the areas with heavy traffic and extended the journey to 90 minutes before they reached the destination.

    By the time they reached the Leveret''s Mansion, Azzy''s hands were already around Claire''s waist, tightly grabbing her subconsciously so that she doesn''t fall or hit the front seat because of the sudden breaks.

    At the same time, Claire felt like she was unable to free herself unless she uses force.

    So, she turns to look at him and wakes him up, "Azrael. We are here."

    Azzy quickly wakes up from his nap and finds Claire''s face a few inches from his face.

    Suddenly, he remembers her sleep talking scene once again and he blushes, freeing her. Claire also finds herself in a similar state as Azzy and quickly gets out of the car and fans herself while looking away. "Ah, the temperature is high in this city."

    Mia giggled once again.

    After everyone got out of the vehicle, they saw a mansion which is as big as Azzy''s house. The only difference is that Azzy''s home has a bigger courtyard.

    The prices in Egrein are like five to ten times higher than in Aclein city. So, owning such a mansion just tells how rich Mia is.

    While the driver left to park the vehicle, Mia led the four of them into the house.

    As Azzy entered the house, he found a couple of people in the entrance hall, having tea probably.

    One was a thin old man, reading a newspaper while the other is a buffed middle-aged man in a suit, shaking one of his legs as if he was impatient about something. His expression looked like he was in a hurry.

    A butler was standing straight behind the old man with a kettle in his hand.

    Both of them turn their heads, sensing a group of people entering their home.

    "Mia!" The middle-aged fellow''s expression suddenly changed. He now appeared to be excited as he screamed his daughter''s name loudly.

    The old man also stood up from his seat.

    "Dad, Grandpa." Mia quickly dashed towards them to give them a hug one after another as it''s been nearly half a year since she saw last them.

    Looking at how happy Mia is, Snivy and Claire inwardly sighed, remembering their family. Gideon and Azzy appeared to be rather indifferent about it.

    Dragging her dad towards them, Mia introduced everyone.

    When she introduced Azzy, the ex-president''s eyes lingered on Azzy a bit longer than the rest. After all, Azzy''s face was quite familiar to him.

    In the end, he commented, "Three of your friends are well known in the government. The president is interested to recruit them into National Special Forces (NSF) after their graduation."

    After that, he looked at Claire and spoke in a respectful manner, "Welcome to Leveret''s Mansion, Princess Lefeuvre. Please forgive me for the lack of hospitality. I hope this place will not displease you."

    While his sudden change of attitude from Azzy and others to Claire surprised Mia a little bit, Claire hurriedly waved her hands, "Please don''t be formal with me, Uncle, and treat me as Mia''s friend."

    "Well, if that''s your wish, then." Wesley cleared his throat and then called, "Ferd." The butler who was standing behind him bowed. "Yes, Milord?"

    "Take them to the guest rooms." After ordering him, he looked at the kids and smiled, "Go and fresh up. I''ll send the servant when the lunch is ready."

    As the kids were led upstairs, Wesley stared at Azzy''s back and spoke to himself, "Okay, now that Azrael is here, I should call Lord Aegis. As for Alpha, let''s send her back for now."

 Chapter 165: Threat to Azzy

    Everyone sat at the dining table.

    Mia somehow tricked everyone and managed to make Azzy and Claire sit beside each other.

    Wesley Leveret then started to ask Azzy and others about their parents, just for formality.

    While Snivy replied that her father is a prosecutor while her mother runs a clinic, Azzy and Gideon stayed silent.

    "What about you, Gideon?" As Wesley asked him, Gideon took a deep breath and replied, "My parents died when I was a child. I was brought by my aunt. I''m not sure what she does though. All I know is that she''s part of some organization."

    For a while, silence filled in the room. Snivy stared at him in pity for a moment before Wesley nodded and commented, "You grew up to be a fine young man. I''m sure your parents will also be happy if they were to see your performance in the tournament."

    "I''ve done nothing though. Azzy was the one who brought us to the finals." Gideon mumbled to himself in disappointment.

    Although everyone heard his words, no one commented.

    Wesley then spoke to Azzy as if he heard nothing, "Azrael, what about you?"

    "I''m not sure. I never met my birth parents." Azzy plainly replied while cutting the steak.

    As a person who served the country as the President for two terms, naturally, Wesley won''t show displeasure on his face even if someone swears at him, much less talk with an indifferent tone.

    Moreover, he also researched Azzy while providing a hidden guard for him. So, keeping a calm face, he further commented, "I heard that you are adopted by the Princess of Snieca and the Divine Physician."

    Since it wasn''t any secret and his foster parents were also public figures, Azzy corrected him, "They are my foster parents."

    He didn''t give any explanation after that and left it to everyone''s imagination.

    Wesley smiled as he thought, "Just as I have expected."

    After receiving a piece of crucial information, he proceeded to ask, "Mia told that you transferred to Aclein academy this year. Then, what about before?"

    Since those two people were someone that he couldn''t dare to offend, Wesley wasn''t able to find out about Azzy''s past.

    According to the records of the school, he was from Angels Orphanage that is located in the town of Sliya.

    However, according to his spies, there''s no record of Azzy over there. Even the Orphanage director said that he never saw Azzy when he was shown a photograph.

    It made him doubt whether he''s really an orphan.

    And the chance of him being a spy from Southern Qudour is impossible. After all, according to the data he received, Azzy was sure to reach the 9-star realm if nothing unfortunate happens and he even has the potential to reach a demi-god rank.

    Only fools would send people like that as a spy.

    With his foster parents ended up to be high-level figures, Wesley was almost convinced that Azzy''s background wasn''t ordinary.

    He was ninety percent confident that Azzy was a high-born noble and was probably left with Oakley and Affea because of some reason.

    Upon hearing his words, Snivy and Gideon thought Wesley was focusing more on Azzy than others.

    Insecure Claire once again started to worry that this politician might be trying to scout him.

    As for Mia, she frowned, thinking, "Why does it seem like father is trying to interrogate Azrael?"

    Meanwhile, Azzy answered with two simple words. "Self-taught."

    "I see¡­" Wesley nodded while thinking that this boy is indeed tough to crack.

    However, he didn''t give up and continued to try to extract the information, "That means, both of your foster parents were the ones that sent you to the school, right? Then, I guess you met them only a year ago?"

    As Azzy nodded, Wesley continued, "How does that happen? I mean, after all, they don''t have normal identities. So, I''m kind of interested in it. Do you know them from before or it just happened coincidentally?"

    Even though Azzy got annoyed with his continuous questions, Azzy tried to be calm, reminding himself that he''s Mia''s father.

    If it was a stranger, by now, Azzy would have already answered him like "why does he care about his family?"

    But, right now, he''s also a guest to this house and he shouldn''t be extremely rude towards the host unless his bottom line was crossed.

    Along with him, even Mia also got irritated by her father''s words.

    Before Azzy replied, she opened her mouth, "Dad? Why are you asking him so many questions? Why does that matter anyway? The present is more important than the past. And presently, he''s my friend, my junior and we study in the same academy. That''s all you need to know."

    "Hey, Mia¡­" Her mother, who was silent until now, tried to reprimand her for talking with Wesley like that.

    Right then, an aged masculine voice was heard from the door. "Just like how the future depends on the actions of the present, the present depends on the actions of the past, Mia."

    Everyone turned their heads towards the source and saw it is Mia''s grandfather, the King''s father-in-law, and the head of the leveret family, Jewell Leveret who was having a book in his hands.

    "Father?" Wesley appeared to be surprised. "You returned, so quickly? Didn''t you tell that you have an important lunch meeting with Lord Nigellus?"

    "It looked like the royal ancestor and your brother-in-law has some important guests. Just as we started eating, Nigellus was also summoned by the King. That brat left for the palace, leaving me alone to continue lunch."

    With a look of frustration, he continued, "What''s the meaning of having lunch alone in his mansion. Do I look like I went there for food or something?"

    Jewell then joined the others for lunch.

    "Oh, I forgot that you aren''t properly introduced to each other." As Wesley introduced his father and Mia''s friends to each other, Jewell looked at Azzy and commented, "So, you are Azrael, huh."

    He then turned his head towards his granddaughter and further said, "You shouldn''t have brought him to this city where there are enemies."

    "Enemies?" Everyone looked at the old man.

    Azzy had the inkling of who it is going to be. Looking at Jewell, Azzy asked, "Is it the Church or the royal family?"

    Staring back into Azzy''s eyes, Jewell asked in return, "What if I say both?"

    Azzy''s friends had a look of shock on their faces.

    "Father¡­" Wesley called his father to tell him to stay quiet.

    However, before that, Azzy put his head down and spoke once again in an indifferent tone, "It doesn''t matter."

    His friends abruptly turn their heads from Jewell to Azzy.

    "What if your enemy will be the royal ancestor, who is a rank-9?" Thinking that Azzy was taking the matter lightly because of the school principal, Jewell told him that who is going to be his real enemy.

    "Father, we can discuss this matter later. Let the kids finish their lunch peacefully." With Wesley''s request, Jewell stayed silent but his eyes were fixed at Azzy as if he was waiting for an answer.

    However, there''s no change of expression or action in Azzy. He continued to munch the meat for a few seconds. After calmly swallowing it, Azzy then replied once again that it doesn''t matter to him.

    His reply stumped everyone from his friends to Mia''s grandfather.

    "We have to leave, right now." Claire voiced her opinion in worry.

    "It''s alright." Wesley waved his hands with a smile. "No one knows you are here anyway."

    Right then, Mia told him about how they met Theodore on the train.

    While Wesley''s expression changed into seriousness as he was worried about how he hadn''t got a reply from Aegis yet, he still assured them that nothing will happen until the tournament is over.

    He further explained to them that even a rank-9 like Royal Ancestor can''t offend WAMO.

    Since they are finalists, neither the church nor the royal family could make the move directly.

    However, he still warned them to be careful particularly Azzy that he couldn''t leave out of sight from their appointed guards.

    After lunch is over, everyone returned to their rooms. Gideon and Azzy were sharing a room. Snivy and Claire were sharing another guest room. Of course, Mia had her own room.

    Half an hour later, Azzy was seen sleeping on the bed.

    Looking at him, Gideon let out a sigh, "how fearless this guy. Does he even know how powerful a rank-9 expert is?"

 Chapter 166: Azzy and Claires escape

    Because of Jewell''s warning about the enemy, Mia and others weren''t able to enjoy it when they went out for a city tour during the evening.

    All of them except for Azzy were cautious about their surroundings even though two peak-rank-6 bodyguards were with them, all the time.

    Claire couldn''t help but glance left and right from time to time to see anyone is following them to ambush.

    She doesn''t know why she got the feeling that someone is following them but no matter how she tries to find them, Claire found the passersby were busy with their own business.

    Even during the dinner, their hearts weren''t at peace. Only Azzy enjoyed the delicacies and ate his full.

    They returned to Mia''s home by 10 o''clock.

    Although they said to Wesley that everything is alright, the latter realized the situation as he saw everyone had this look of nervousness on their faces.

    Only Azzy seemed to be as emotionless as ever.

    "For now, go and sleep tight. There''s going to be an important guest tomorrow. You need to meet him." Wesley said with a smile.

    Everyone glanced at each other and left for the upstairs.

    After having a nice shower, Azzy slept peacefully.

    It was around 3 o''clock. Everyone in the city is sleeping except for night security guards. They too aren''t that active right now.

    Azzy was also having a pleasant sleep even though it''s a new place. However, Claire and Gideon weren''t able to sleep properly, albeit for different reasons.

    While Gideon couldn''t sleep because it is a new place, Claire, on the other hand, was worrying about the situation.

    After mulling over the matter for several hours, she finally woke up.

    Ignoring the big-breasted loli who was peacefully sleeping, Claire slowly got out of the bed and left the room to visit the guest room where the boys were sleeping.

    *Click*

    Gideon, who was rolling on the bed from left to right, heard the sound of the doorknob and quickly got up to see the door was opened.

    He found someone entered the room.

    In the darkness, he didn''t see the person. So, he quickly switched on the bed lamp.

    "Claire, you?" Gideon was taken aback.

    As his voice was a bit too loud, Claire, who was also surprised that Gideon is still awake, put her finger on the lips. "Shh~"

    "What''s going on? Why are you here?" Gideon asked in a hushed tone. Even though he knew that she likes Azzy, he doesn''t think this is appropriate behavior.

    Claire slowly closed the door and switched on the light, "Gideon, we are leaving the city, right away."

    "Eh? We are¡­"

    "Why are you shouting? Do you want to announce it publicly or something?" After scolding Claire, she slowly walked towards Azzy to wake him up.

    As she was only two feet away from sleeping Azzy, she stared at Azzy''s sleeping face and went into a trance for a moment, "Azrael is so cute when he''s sleeping."

    A sudden naughty thought appeared in her head and she covered her blushed cheeks and shook her head.

    "Hey, stop daydreaming and wake him up." Gideon''s voice brought her to reality and she woke him up.

    At first, Azzy thought he was dreaming of her but then, as she shook him vigorously for a few seconds, he woke up abruptly and asked her what''s going on.

    Claire then expressed her worries and requested that they will return to the academy by the first train at 4 o''clock.

    It greatly surprised Azzy that she planned to leave Snivy and Mia here without telling them.

    "Then, what about Mia and Snivy? Surely, they will be shocked to see us disappeared. And it might also disappoint her parents."

    When Azzy asked about them, Claire simply told him that she can inform them later and she also expressed that she didn''t feel even this house is safe for him because of the relations between the Leveret family and the royal family.

    "C''mon. Mia''s grandfather is the one who informed us about the threat. If they have such thoughts, why would they bother to tell us?" Gideon tried to clear her misunderstandings. After all, it''s her best friend''s family. He felt it is wrong for her to accuse them like that.

    Claire paid no heed to Gideon''s explanation. She was just worried that the Leveret family might hand over Azzy after gaining his trust. She could trust her friend with her life but she couldn''t trust her friend''s family where there''s a politician and guy who is the father-in-law of the king.

    Looking at Azzy whose expression is hard to read, Claire pulled out her final trump card.

    She said that she won''t be able to face Affea if anything happens to Azzy as she took the responsibility.

    "But Claire¡­" Gideon doesn''t seem convinced. He wondered whether Claire''s IQ became lower because of love.

    As he was about to convince her how she was thinking too much, Azzy stopped him and looked at Claire, "pack your bags. The two of us are leaving and Gideon will stay here."

    "Eh? I will stay here?" Gideon was now even more surprised by Azzy''s decision.

    Azzy explained to him that if there''s really an ambush on the outside, then, it will be hard for him to protect the two of them.

    Moreover, Claire could fly and a mere flying card won''t be able to catch her if she decides to escape. He also suspects that she was of life attribute with extraordinary healing power. So, Azzy was the least worried about her safety. Worst comes to worst, he will stop the time and then, reverse it.

    Gideon got a little bit disappointed that he was indirectly told that he was too weak and will only get in the way. However, since he was also aware of the fact, Gideon could only agree in reluctance.

    Both of them then escaped the building through the window in the guest room.

    After jumping over the wall, both of them were out of the mansion without alerting anyone or so they thought.

    However, a girl with a sniper who was sitting on the rooftop found them and mumbled, "They looked like a couple who are eloping together. But, where are they going secretly without any guards? Anyway, I must do my job¡­"

    Stretching her legs, she leaped over the fence from the top of the roof and landed on the ground without making any noise.

    Soon as the couple hit the streets, the girl followed from behind. Like a chameleon, she blended herself in the darkness. Even if one stands before her, one wouldn''t be able to find her with visible eye unless they were of an advanced ream (rank-7 and above).

    Azzy appeared to be calm with his Aura sensing activated within a 3 km radius. However, there were no suspicious activities. He also couldn''t find the presence of the hidden guardian.

    "Shh~" Claire suddenly pulled Azzy''s hand as she found a police car on a patrol.

    "Are we thieves or what?" Azzy couldn''t help but comment in a normal voice. As the street is silent, his voice could be said that it was loud.

    "Shh~" His mouth was suddenly closed by her hand. She then whispered, "You don''t know the influence of the royal family. We can''t trust the police."

    Azzy and Claire''s eyes met and the latter stared at him for a few seconds until he takes out her hand from the top of his mouth, "now, let''s go?"

    "Ah, yes¡­" Claire cleared her throat and proceeded to walk. She was embarrassed about her behavior even during a serious situation like this. Azzy followed from behind.

    By successfully evading the patrolling police while forgetting about surveillance cameras, both of them managed to reach the railway station with several civilians who were probably waiting for the arrival of the first train.

    Upon seeing the two of them, the booking clerk seemed to be surprised at first, but then, controlling her expression, she asked their destination.

    "Aclein city, two tickets please." Claire handed her a transportation card.

    Handing them the tickets and the card, the booking clerk spoke, "the train will arrive at the ninth platform."

    "Thank you."

    Claire and Azzy made their way to the designated platform.

    As they disappeared from her view, the clerk hurriedly took out her mobile phone and dialed a number.

    "Hello?"

    On the other side, a person with an aged voice picked up the call.

    "Hello Ma''am, this is Sarah."

    "Sarah? Do you even know what time it is?" Her supervisor seemed to be irritated that her sleep has been disturbed. "I hope that it is an emergency or else¡­"

    Before her words finished, the booking clerk spoke, "earlier in the afternoon, you gave us a photo. I saw him with a girl here."

    "What!"

    Meanwhile, Azzy and Claire reached the platform. There was still half an hour till the train arrives. So, they waited in silence.

    They didn''t talk for like 10-15 minutes before Azzy opened his mouth after hesitating for so long. "Say, Claire. I want to ask about something."

    "What is it?" She looked at him.

    Taking a deep breath, he spoke, "do you li¡­"

    *Honk*

    The sound of the train disturbed their conversation. "Oh! It''s here. I guess we''re lucky."

    Claire stood on her feet with a smile on her face as they will finally leave the place.

    Azzy was a little bit taken aback to see the train. It appeared to be a steam locomotive from the tenth epoch.

    Ten minutes later;

    Claire and Azzy looked around.  There were priests on the front and some mysterious experts on the back. Gulping her saliva, Claire solely spoke, "I messed it up, right?"

    Azzy nodded in response.

 Chapter 167: The Reaper rejects to help

    Ten minutes earlier;

    A steam locomotive arrived on the seventh platform, fifteen minutes earlier than it was supposed to arrive.

    At first, Azzy was surprised that a train was arriving too early. If it was a few minutes early, he would understand but twenty minutes, that smells suspicious indeed.

    However, Claire, who was happy that they were finally going to leave this city where there is a life threat to her Azzy, hurriedly grabbed his hand, "Let''s go."

    Both of them entered the compartment where their seats were allotted. It was empty.

    With only two of them present in the compartment, the train started moving.

    Azzy unleashed Aura sensing once again, scanning the whole train.

    "Coincidence or a trap?" Azzy could sense seven people in the front compartment and another six in the back compartment. The strangest thing is that all of them are at least of the six-star realm.

    While Azzy couldn''t sense their exact soul power, he could still guess their level based on comparisons between them and his past opponents or acquaintances.

    A few are similar to that assassin from the night clan. A few appeared to be in the same level as the knights of Leah.

    All of them were sitting, just facing the front.

    This is a kind of train where all the compartments are linked to one another. So, one could go from the first to last, except for the foremost one.

    Azzy turned his head to the back. He didn''t see anyone. According to his aura sensing, every one of them sat beside the windows. So, Azzy couldn''t see them through the narrow path that linked the two compartments.

    Strangely, even the situation in the front compartment is also the same. On top of that, there was no other passenger in other compartments. Azzy realized that it was indeed a trap.

    "How this is possible?" Azzy couldn''t understand it. After all, no one followed both of them. And there''s no way the enemies could have known their plan.

    The plan was implemented within five minutes after discussing it. Then, how could there be enemies here before they even board the train?

    Moreover, when they reached the seventh platform, there was no one else apart from the two of them either.

    That would only mean either those people from adjacent compartments must have aboard after them or they were waiting in this train right from the start.

    The former seemed like a low possibility as the train stayed only for two minutes on the platform. As for the latter possibility, for them to be waiting in either of the compartment, it means that the enemies must have known that Azzy and Claire would aboard in compartment-G.

    All of a sudden, something clicked in his mind. "That Booking clerk."

    As only she has the possibility of allotting the ticket seats, Azzy immediately suspected her. When he assumed that, everything fell into one place.

    Azzy closed his eyes and started to converse with the Reaper to ask whether he has the possibility of getting out of this situation safely. He has confidence in himself but he was still worried about Claire as right now, they were in a train, not outside where she could escape with her wings.

    To his surprise, the Reaper didn''t give him any clues or any guidance. He plainly replied, "You were unsatisfied with the opponents so far. Now, there''s an exciting real life and death battle ahead of you. Enjoy it while you can."

    "Fine," Azzy didn''t know why the Reaper rejected to help but at the very least, he knew for sure that that this deity won''t let him die. So, he thought that he only needs to focus on protecting Claire.

    Meanwhile, Claire was glancing at Azzy from the corner of her eyes. As there was no one present around them and they sat next to each other, her heart started to beat rapidly.

    She tightly grabbed the edge of the seat to calm herself.

    After a couple of minutes, as she calmed down, she opened her mouth, "Um, Azrael."

    "Yes?" Azzy, who was looking outside of the window, trying to look as natural as possible, turned his head towards her.

    "Earlier, on the platform, you were going to ask something. What is it?" She asked him, to start something to talk about.

    "Nothing important," Azzy quickly averted his eyes away.

    "C''mon, tell me. What is it?" Claire urged him. "We have at least three hours. I don''t want to pretend that I''m mute and deaf. What do you want to ask me?"

    Under Claire''s insistence, Azzy couldn''t hold it any longer.

    Taking a deep breath, he spoke while through the window once again, "Just wondered whether you like me or something. I mean you worry too much about me.

    You don''t say anything when the rumors in our academy say that we are a couple. You got angry when I gave that plush toy to Ms. Pendragon. You sleep talk how you want me to stay with you. Now, you are dragging me to the Aclein city just because there''s a possibility of a threat to my life if I continue to stay in the city.

    After taking a seat, I began to think you might do the same thing even if Gideon or Mia is in my place.

    I guess your sleep talking might be referring to how you wanted to make our Twilight group a permanent one. You said that we can try to make it if we win the tournament. As for the rumors, you probably don''t want to bother with things like those just like me.

    When I realized that, I thought there''s no need to consider this topic. Anyway, it''s not something you need to pay attention to¡­"

    While Azzy seemed like he was asking the question as well as answering it himself, Claire stayed silent.

    She was disappointed by Azzy''s thoughts. She was worried that if she expressed her feelings, right now, there''s a high possibility of rejection. So, she couldn''t speak anything.

    At the same time, she was also embarrassed about her sleep talk. It was something she had for the past few years. She also sighed in relief that she didn''t reveal much of her feelings, not knowing that Azzy actually heard more of it but was too embarrassed to say those words.

    With Claire staying silent, Azzy also thought he was succeeded. Whether she had any feelings or not it''s alright for him if she didn''t say it. He could take that as she was agreeing with this analysis.

    Azzy felt like from now onwards, he could also look at her in the face just like before the incident of sleep talk.

    With the problem with Claire solved, Azzy then, continued to focus on the people behind him.

    Had he studied more about aura, he would probably realized that aura exists in different forms, not just the one that colored emanation of internal aura or the external aura that was released in the form of spirit energy to pressure the opponents.

    Had he dwelled inside the subject and mastered Aura sensing of all types of Aura, he would perceive the emotions of the target.

    Azzy would have realized that Claire was extremely sad and how wrong his analysis was.

    But, he didn''t have knowledge in that and neither is his focus, which was currently on the Arcana Experts sitting in the adjacent compartments.

    For the next few minutes, nothing happened. Azzy began to feel tensed a bit as he never battled so many people at once. He was also wondering whether they are going to ambush when the train enters the tunnel. At any rate, he was well prepared for it. As for Claire, she too managed herself to revert to a normal state.

    Slowly, the train continued to pick up its speed. It crossed 150 km/hr and is still increasing.

    As soon the train picked up its fastest speed of around 192 km/hr as if they got the signal, all the 13 of them stood up from their seats at the same time.

    Clearly, this was no coincidence.

    Azzy then slowly spoke, "Claire, get ready."

    "Hmm, ready for what?" She was a little bit confused at first but just after a few seconds, her pupils dilated in shock. Six people wearing priest robes entered the compartment from the front one.

    At the same time, seven more in black robes with masks entered from the other one, sealing the way to escape.

    Azzy and Claire stood up on their feet.

    Naturally, Claire realized that they have fallen into a trap. Looking at them, she slowly spoke to Azzy, "I messed it up, right?"

    Azzy nodded in response.

    One of the priests then stepped forward and spoke, "Child of the Lefeuvre family, our target is only the devil. Step aside and you will not be harmed."

 Chapter 168: Claire confesses her love

    As soon as one of the Bishops gave an offer to Claire, Azzy spoke, "Go, Claire. I''ll take care of this situation on my own."

    He thought it was for the best as he doesn''t want Claire to get involved in this mess.

    The girl became silent for a few moments while clenching her fist. She knew that it might be impossible to get away with life with so many rank-6 enemies. Claire regretted not listening to Gideon.

    Watching her silence, the leader of the mercenary group got annoyed how they are only wasting the time. He asked in an impatient tone that why bother convincing the little girl. He suggested killing both of them.

    As the mercenaries stepped forward, Angelica, who was appointed as the acting leader in absence of the Arch Bishop, raised her hand. "We will decide what to do with the both of them."

    They stopped in their tracks and the female Bishop looked at Claire. She thought the girl might be in a dilemma.

    "Ms. Lefeuvre, as a person who was blessed by Goddess Thea, you can''t side with her enemies." The Bishop once again tried to convince her. After all, it is against the ideals of the church to harm a fellow light attribute user.

    Moreover, in their eyes, Claire was a stepdaughter of the heavens. So, she was destined to reach the realm of nine-star. If they play their cards right, who knows, she could become their cardinal.

    So, the female Bishop tried to press her further, "All of us combined can even take the life of a peak-rank-7 expert. So, his death is already decided. Because you are one of us, I''m giving you one last chance to repent your sins. Move away from the devil''s incarnate."

    "Claire¡­" Azzy once again called her.

    She turned her head and looked at him. Tears started to well up in her eyes. "I''m sorry. It''s my fault. I shouldn''t have brought you here."

    Patting her shoulder, he replied, "It''s alright. I won''t blame you. So, leave when you have the chance. It''s my mess. I will resolve it somehow. Go to the other compartment and wait for me."

    "Ms. Lefeuvre, I''m waiting for your answer." The Bishop calmly asked her.

    Claire wiped her tears away and then, suddenly, she caught Azzy''s t-shirt and pulled him towards her.

    As Azzy was involuntarily moved towards her, she then, grabbed his face and planted her lips on his lips.

    Azzy was stunned by her actions and at the same time, for some reason, he didn''t feel like moving away even though it''s not what you call even a proper kiss.

    Only his lower lip was in contact with her upper lip.

    For a few seconds, both of them closed their eyes before she backed away.

    Azzy didn''t know what he should say. His mind is completely in a mess.

    Meanwhile, a smile appeared on Claire''s face. "Earlier, you asked me whether I like you. Well, here''s your answer, and¡­"

    She then turned her face towards the Bishops who had the looks of seriousness. Her expression also turned hard. "The same answer to you too. And since you want to kill him¡­"

    Suddenly, the holy sword appeared in her hands. She raised it and pointed the blade at the Bishop who gave the offer to her. "Then, I guess you are an enemy that I must kill."

    The sword in her hand was brimming with holy aura and yet, for some reason, Azzy didn''t feel any kind of suppression on him.

    Meanwhile, watching the sword in Claire''s hand, the female Bishop got enraged, "Girl, you are a gifted child blessed by Goddess Thea, yet, you betrayed her by siding with this spawn of the devil. For this sin, there''s no forgiveness." "Everyone, send them to the afterlife."

    "Now, this is what I told you before." The mercenary captain mumbled to himself as he gestured one of his subordinates to go forward.

    Three of the Bishops summoned their Arcana. However, only one of them came forward. Like Claire, this Bishop also had a weapon in his hand.

    After all, they are an entire realm above Azzy and Claire. They have their own pride.

    Claire''s eyes were fixed on the enemy with a spear in his hand. She glanced at Azzy and spoke in a serious tone, "Rael, the only way to escape this situation is through the sky. Can you blow up the roof?"

    Azzy wasn''t in a situation that he wonders about how she was addressing with a different nickname. Somehow, he also it also felt a bit natural, although it''s the first time someone calling him like that.

    Putting the matter of earlier incident aside, he glanced at the roof.

    Meanwhile, one of the Bishops burst out into laughter, "Do you think we didn''t consider it? A hidden barrier was placed on this compartment by His Excellency Caleb. It''s impossible to break it. Moreover, the engine driver is also our man. The train will not stop no matter what kind of commotion you make and with all of us here, you can''t step outside of this compartment."

    As Claire''s expression darkened, suddenly, something clicked in her mind. At the same time, Azzy finally gave a response, "It is possible but it might take some time."

    "Eh?" Even including Claire, everyone was taken aback to hear that Azzy was confident in breaking a barrier that was created by a peak-rank-7.

    Claire believed him, "How much longer?"

    "Not sure. Might take a few minutes." Azzy replied as he thought of a plan.

    While others thought he might be bluffing, Claire believed that Azzy but she isn''t someone who wants to depend on Azzy and put a burden on him.

    "I guess I have to use it." Claire took out a skill card.

    It was only a four-star card. This was the mysterious card that she showed to Azzy back when she revealed the Holy ground skill to Azzy.

    She intended to use it in the Annual tournament finals but because of Mia''s soul skill, she didn''t get the chance.

    After that, she wanted to use it in the Champions League and so far, she hadn''t got a chance.

    Now, she felt like it was the time to use it.

    Looking at the card in her hand, Azzy wondered what''s she intended to do. However, he didn''t focus on her actions and proceeded with raising his hand above his head with his palm facing towards the roof. His entire soul energy from the soul orb was now gathered inside his hand, waiting to erupt out.

    Feeling the changes in Azzy''s body, the mercenary who was given the opportunity to kill Azzy now halted his steps. He wanted to act after Azzy was out of soul power.

    With his speed, he was confident to tackle interrupt him before he recovers with the recovery card.

    However, just then, something unexpected happened.

    "Activate Skill card: Rainbow Drive," Claire spoke while pouring the soul energy into the card.

    Upon activation, the skill card brimmed with seven colors before they were absorbed by her holy sword.

    The golden aura around the sword now appeared in seven different colors.

    She then raised her sword, pointing horizontally, and poured 50% of her soul energy into it.

    Her eyes were fixed on the narrow path that leads to the next compartment and the other narrow path that leads to the other, and so on.

    As she thrusts the sword into the air, a beam of light comprising of seven colors shot out of it.

    The Bishop who stepped forward found that it only contains the power of mid-rank-5. As a person of the higher realm, he didn''t think much of it and raised his hand to block it head-on.

    However, to his surprise, even as it hit his palm, the beam didn''t stop. Rather, it was the Bishop who had been pushed away, crashing onto the other Bishops.

    While a few Bishops dodged him, the beam continued its way through the path.

    As all the compartments are connected to each other through the gangway, it went straight through the narrow passage until it hit the foremost passenger compartment''s end causing an explosion, blowing up the coal car as well as the engine.

    With the train moving at a blazing speed, it jerked vigorously before several compartments of the train fell off the tracks, along with the one where the battle is supposed to happen.

    Azzy''s energy eruption was also disrupted and everyone fell on the floor, although none of them harmed.

    "Claire, you alright?" Azzy hurriedly stood up on his feet and helped out the girl.

    "Yeah," Claire let out a laugh, "It''s only been ten minutes, so, I bet we aren''t that away from the city. Surely, this explosion will notify everyone."

 Chapter 169: Aria, the Super Android

    On what seemed like an empty street, three people are walking together in silence.

    Two were Azzy and Claire. The last one was a teenage girl in a tank top and shorts with a machine gun in her hand.

    While Azzy was curious about the weapon in her hand, Claire, on the other hand, was glancing at him from time to time while feeling embarrassed about her abrupt confession.

    Maintaining her distance, she continued to follow the supposed hidden guard planted by Mia''s dad for their safety.

    Soon, they reached the Leveret Mansion.

    The guard then gestured them to get inside and she leaped from outside of the wall and landed on the rooftop, which is more than 100 meters away.

    Instead of entering from the main entrance, Claire and Azzy climbed the wall from the left that leads to the opened window on the first floor.

    Claire was the first to get inside. She found the lights were off and Gideon was asleep.

    Claire couldn''t help but comment, "Somehow, it irks me to see this fellow is sleeping soundly when we went through such a thing in the past hour."

    "Shh~" Azzy, who just entered the room through the window, told her not to disturb his sleep in a hushed tone.

    Feeling Azzy''s breath on her neck, Claire''s cheeks turned red. Without turning back, she quickly scurried towards the door, "I''m going back to bed. Good night."

    "Ah, Yes." Azzy was dumbfounded for a second before he closed the windows.

    Claire who returned to her room without disturbing Snivy lies on her bed but she couldn''t sleep as the scene of her confessing to him and even going ahead with her first kiss replayed in her head over and over.

    "idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot¡­ why do you have to go and do something like that in the heat of the moment. If only I knew that there was a hidden guard all along, I wouldn''t have dared. He didn''t say anything else about it, until now. But, what if brings the topic later? How should I face him tomorrow?" While Claire was busy scolding herself in embarrassment, at the same, Azzy, who also closed his eyes, was replaying the battle instead.

    As soon as the explosion occurred, the news quickly reached the police and media.

    With only a couple of minutes in hand, the female Bishop ordered everyone to go all out and finish them right away.

    To not harm Claire in the process, Azzy felt like he could only use energy eruption on his side where mercenaries are rushing towards him.

    He braced himself to summon the Hourglass but suddenly, a thought emerged in his mind.

    Should he use Rewind to reverse the flow of time itself and go through the events all over again or should he use Chrono Rewind where only the target''s time will be reversed instead of affecting the whole world?

    Azzy was more leaned to the former even though this soul skill can also be used on multiple targets at the same time.

    The reason is because of his lack of mastery over it. It could potentially affect even Claire too. He was worried that Claire will end up god knows where.

    Just as he was about to make a decision, all of a sudden, without any warning, the priests on one side and the mercenaries on the other side got wrapped in electrical current.

    "What the¡­" Claire took a step back. Even Azzy was in the same state of confusion.

    All of them screamed in pain for a few seconds until they became charr black before turning into ash, revealing the figure of identical teenage girls on either side.

    Both of them have a heavy machine gun in their hands, strangely installed with three triggers lined up for some reason.

    Both of the girls removed the lollipops from their mouths and spoke at the same time, "Alpha-2, target secured." "Alpha-3, target secured."

    While Claire was still stupefied at the scene, Azzy observed one of them. Neither could he sense her aura nor even soul energy. As her scarlet eyes suddenly changed to deep ocean blue, Azzy felt like it was very familiar to him.

    It reminded him of the Robot that he frequently spars. However, he threw such thought away as there''s an expression of a smile on her as she spoke, "Relax, I''m not an enemy. Lord Wesley appointed me to guard you. Let''s leave before anyone arrives."

    She then raised her machine gun and pulled the first trigger.

    *Boom*

    Both of them didn''t even catch the sight of the fire energy bullet that was shot through its barrel. They only saw a huge entrance was made.

    "Follow me." As she walked outside, they kept their mouth shut and followed her. The identical alleged clone also followed them from behind.

    After stepping outside of the train, they saw another identical clone, who introduced herself as the original by dismissing the other two. She introduced herself, putting forth her hand towards Azzy. "Hello, I''m Aria, first-generation super Android created by Dr. Mac and was currently appointed as your secret guard."

    Azzy neither knows what is a super Android nor does he know who this Dr. Mac is but he was a bit thankful to her for saving Claire. Of course, he still believes that he doesn''t need saving though.

    As he thanked her, she put her arms on both of their shoulders and teleported to the outside of the Railway station, right before another clone of hers.

    Since she didn''t teleport the both of them to the mansion but to the place where the so-called Alpha-1 is waiting, Azzy assumed two things. First, she could teleport to where her clone is. Second, that teleportation also must have a certain distance limitation.

    The only thing he didn''t get is that how could she appear like a human when she''s a robot? Is this what the term Android means? Azzy didn''t ask her and just continued to follow her while returning to the Mansion.

    Present;

    After replaying the scene of how her mere clones could destroy all of those enemies, Azzy mumbled as he closed his eyes, "she''s strong."

    The determination to grow stronger was just a seedling in his heart until now, it suddenly grew into a tree.

    Slowly, he drifted into sleep.

    After an unknown amount of time, Azzy found himself standing in the throne hall of the Garcia palace.

    The strange thing here is that in place of Qridus, there was someone else, someone young, who sat on the throne.

    And three people were standing beside Azzy. One of them seems to be an adult, the second one was a little boy, and surprisingly, the final one was the secret guard Aria.

    However, Azzy couldn''t see their appearances. They appeared rather blurry. In the hall, the elders and clan leaders were standing on the side. Even Avia was there, only in her adult form.

    Still, Azzy didn''t have any sort of confusion on his face. He looks calm and collected while constantly glancing at the front as he if was waiting for someone.

    After a while, accompanied by a blurry face, Claire was walking towards him.

    Azzy was stunned as he stared at her. She looks dead gorgeous to him in her wedding dress.

    The strange thing is that while he looks like a teenager, although taller than now, Claire looks a little bit matured, like an adult in her twenties.

    He couldn''t see anything else aside from her. Soon, the marriage ceremony commenced and they seal the marriage with a kiss. Claire smiled and even Azzy seemed to be smiling in happiness. Everyone else is also cheering around.

    Looking at her, Azzy spoke, "can I tell a strange thing, Claire?"

    "Hmm?" She looked at him.

    "I''m happy." Azzy smile became bigger. Claire too laughed along with him. Just then, all of a sudden, Boom¡­

    Azzy''s vision was blacked out. All heard was the sound of an explosion.

    "No," Azzy screamed as he woke up from his sleep, startling Gideon and make him roll from his bed and fall on the floor.

    "Azzy?" Gideon called out Azzy who was looking around with so much sweat on his face. "What happened?"

    "Gideon¡­" Azzy sighed in relief and shook his head, "nothing. Just a nightmare."

    "Again? The same one?" Gideon asked him.

    As Azzy nodded in response, Gideon further asked the details as Azzy would never share with him.

    Once again, as Azzy decided to be silent about it, Gideon took it easy and left for a shower

    As soon as Gideon entered the bathroom, Azzy grabbed his head in frustration, "Why do I have this nightmare, once every week or two? Until now, I was only standing alone and now, the nightmare even continued the scene with adding Claire before the explosion."

    Suddenly, he imagined Claire in her wedding dress and unknowingly mumbled, "She''s beautiful."

    "Eh?" As he realized what he just mumbled, Azzy shook his head vigorously and wiped her image from his memory only to remember his kiss with her.

    Azzy quickly collapsed on the bed and hid his head under the pillow, "damn¡­ It''s all her fault. Why did she go and kiss me without my permission and I didn''t even push her away? Argh¡­ Azzy, forget everything, Nothing happened. Remove it from your brain, right now¡­"

    "Hmm, what do you want to remove from your brain?" Suddenly, a familiar voice was heard behind him.

    Azzy was stunned for a second before he slowly removed the pillow and asked why he isn''t in the shower, to which Gideon replied that he suddenly remembered that they were supposed to leave for Aclein.

    As Gideon asked him why they returned, Azzy shook his head vigorously before he lies on his front. "Nothing, wake me up when you are finished."

 Chapter 170: Aegis Light

    Mia''s family, Azzy, and his friends sat together for a breakfast.

    Unlike last time, Claire and Azzy were separated by Snivy and Gideon with both of them coincidentally asking their respective roommates to sit beside them.

    Looking at how Azzy and Claire are avoiding each other, Gideon wondered whether they fought or something.

    After all, both of them are supposed to leave for the first train but they returned before woke up.

    And since Azzy wasn''t willing to tell him about the reason for their return, Gideon suspected that he probably changed his mind on the way and both of them might have argued about it.

    Thankfully, only he knows about it. So, no one found anything amiss.

    "So, are you all confident about winning against the Dragon Academy?" Wesley casually asked them.

    Mia and Snivy just glanced at Claire as she''s the captain.

    Claire answered, "Honestly, uncle, if their performance against Central Academy during the quarterfinals is their best, then, I believe we have a fair amount of chance to win."

    "Moreover, we have Azrael here," Gideon added her statement with a smile. Of all of them, he was probably the one who believes in Azzy''s capabilities the most.

    "There''s an old saying. You can depend on a person to win a battle but not a war. To win a war, you need skilled soldiers." Wesley''s face suddenly turned serious. "According to our research, Azrael was indeed far stronger than his peers but your opponent is the strongest Academy in the world.

    More than one-sixth of all those rank-8s and above realm Arcana Masters in our continent are the graduates of Dragon Academy.

    Such Academy cannot let a no-name academy like Aclein win the Championship that easily.

    So, all of you can expect Azrael will be their target. Once he''s out, then, victory will become easier for them. Other academies tried the same and failed but you never know when it concerned the Dragon Academy.

    Honestly, I won''t be surprised if their instructor even orders them to secretly violate the rules of the tournament and try to kill Azrael and maybe, including Claire for the sake of eliminating the future competitions."

    At first, as Wesley try to explain how they couldn''t underestimate their opponents, Azzy and his friends didn''t pay much attention to him, but then, his last sentence made everyone become serious.

    Due to the intervention of the instructors as well as the Proctor, until now, no deliberate or accidental killing had ever happened. However, when it involves the life of their friends, they couldn''t just ignore it.

    Amid serious gazes from the teenagers, Wesley then said, "It''s necessary for the rest of you to become stronger. This is the reason I wanted you to stay at my house for three days."

    "Hmm?" Everyone was a little bit surprised at his statement including even Mia.

    When their Vice Principal ordered them to take a rest until the finals to not build up stress, Mia suggested to everyone that they could go to Egrein city for a one-day tour.

    After she talked to her father, the latter said he would be happy to meet her friends and even asked her to stay for two more days.

    Mia only thought her father was probably missing her.

    She expected to tour around the city for a couple of days while spending time with her family and then, returns to Aclein for finals.

    However, contrary to her expectations, it seemed like her father intends to train them. Mia couldn''t help but feel sad upon realizing that he lied to her.

    On the other hand, her friends were elated to hear that they get to train.

    The only one who wasn''t uninterested is Azzy as the person before he is only a peak-rank-6 expert.

    After watching how that bunch of higher realm experts was killed too easily, Azzy no longer believes the six-star realm is as great as people claimed it to be.

    It made him think that all realms under rank-7 are nothing but worthless. So, he wasn''t that optimistic that this last-minute training from a rank-6 like him helps.

    What he wishes is to have a peaceful time to absorb the solar energy and refine it to increase his soul power.

    Right then, something clicked in his mind. He blurted out what he was thinking in his mind, "Are we training with Aria?"

    "Aria?" Everyone suddenly turned their heads towards him. Wesley also seemed to be surprised. "You met her?"

    Realizing the mistake, Azzy slowly nodded, "by coincidence."

    Claire also stayed silent since Azzy was keeping the matter a secret.

    A smile appeared on Wesley as he nodded, "Good then. I was actually hoping to introduce Alpha to you but since you are acquainted with her, then, it makes it easier."

    Looking at everyone, he further said that he had actually prepared two days training regime for everyone but due to some reason, it was delayed.

    "Well, I don''t think this one-day training would help you win the tournament but at the very least, your skills will be sharpened a bit. If everything goes well¡­"

    *Ring* Ring*

    The phone call disturbed the conversation. However, Wesley couldn''t be happier as soon as he saw the name on it. He quickly left without finishing his breakfast, picking up the call in hurry.

    After a while, he returned and informed them to hurry up so that they could meet a special guest.

    When Azzy arrived at the living room, he was surprised to see Uphiar, the sorcerer who teaches theoretical combat classes in the academy.

    However, what stole everyone''s attention was the middle-aged man sitting beside him and having tea.

    He was tall and thin. Combined with big spectacles that have no lens, a colorful t-shirt on top of shorts, a thick beard, and shoulder-length hair, for Azzy, he appeared to be a weird person at one glance.

    Adding the wicked-looking sorcerer, the pair indeed wasn''t pleasing for the eyes.

    "Oh, you are here. Come here and meet him." Wesley introduced the middle-aged man. "This person sitting before you is none other than Grand Prince Aegis Light."

    "Huh!" Everyone was taken aback by surprise. Meanwhile, the expressions of Claire and Gideon quickly changed. They glanced at Azzy, who was plainly staring at him trying to gauge his strength.

    When he found his soul power seemed to be a lot higher compared to his master, the Reaper cleared his doubts.

    Meanwhile, oblivious to everyone''s feelings, Wesley continued, "Remember the reward you got by winning the annual tournament? He''s the one that is supposed to give you a special lecture. But, that''s for another day. Right now, Mia, Gideon, and Snivy, his highness will give a special lesson you three."

    Mia and Snivy were ecstatic to hear that they will be able to learn under a peak-rank-8 expert like Aegis. One could even tell how much they are excited by the look on their faces.

    On the other hand, Gideon doesn''t seem to be that thrilled as the other two girls. The reason was that Aegis is the brother of the King. He couldn''t help but remember Claire''s words that stated that Mia''s family might hand over Azzy to the royal family.

    "Does he come to apprehend Azzy in secret?" Gideon smelled a conspiracy

    Wesley didn''t bother to ask what''s wrong with Gideon and continued to tell them that Azzy will train with the sorcerer to improve his control over the soul energy while Claire will have a solo training session with Alpha to improve her overall combat ability.

    "Thank you." As everyone thanked him in unison, the middle-aged man chuckled in response with his eyes fixed on troubled Gideon. "Don''t worry, kid. I''m not on the side of the Royal family. So, your friend will be safe under my protection. In fact, Alpha is protecting him for a while."

    When Azzy first heard that that Super Android was his hidden bodyguard, he realized that the trap on the road that he saw back then was probably destroyed by her. He even assumed that the people who placed the trap must have been chased away or killed by her.

    However, he didn''t expect the brother of the King is the one that deployed Aria for a mission to protect him.

    "Thank you." Azzy expressed his thanks for his actions.

    In the meantime, Claire also sighed in relief. Like Gideon, she was also a bit worried upon seeing the Grand Prince here. Since he was the one who sent Aria, Claire felt like she could trust him a bit.

    *Clap* "Okay, kids, let''s not waste time anymore. It''s time for all of you to pack your things."

 Chapter 171: Underground secret facility

    Mount Animus, an extinct volcano that lasted erupted more than ten million years ago.

    Reaching 3347 meters toward the heavens, it is the tallest mountain and the only volcano that existed in the nation of Northern Qudour.

    With the area deeply rich in minerals, one can see the restriction boards and Wire fencing all around with soldiers staying as guards everywhere.

    Two vehicles stopped at the entrance gate. It didn''t take a few seconds for them to pass the security and enter the region.

    They drove for another half an hour and stopped at a facility that was built at the foot of the volcano. Miners were going in and out.

    From one vehicle, Azzy, Gideon, Claire, and Snivy stepped down. From the other vehicle, Mia, her father, the sorcerer, the grand prince, and finally Aria who was acting as their driver stepped down.

    Azzy doesn''t know whether it''s just her hobby or she was designed that way but he saw the teenage girl who was sucking a lollipop suddenly took a machine gun out of nowhere while following her employer.

    "Why are we here?" The same thought occurred in everyone''s mind as they set their eyes on the Mountain standing before them.

    Remembering the confidential contract they signed before coming here, Azzy wondered where there''s a secret research facility built here.

    "Greetings, Commander." A person wearing a soldier uniform greeted with a military salute. While he looks like a higher-ranking officer considering he''s in the 6-star realm, azzy found his outfit a bit unfamiliar.

    They were completely black from top to bottom. If there weren''t a row of badges on his shirt and stars on the shoulder with an insignia, he wouldn''t think this guy is a soldier.

    In the meantime, Azzy''s friends on the other hand were a little bit surprised as they didn''t expect this man who was considered the second strongest person in the country to be also a military man.

    The soldier led them into the facility. They walked until they reached an old elevator one would usually use in mines.

    Outside, there was a restriction board and warning that stated non-authorized people will face strict punishments.

    Inside the elevator, a female soldier is waiting. She was also a rank-6 expert.

    Everyone got inside silently.

    Azzy saw there was only one lever on it.

    "Kids, in situations like this, it''s better to sit on the floor or grab a person next to you." Wesley gave a brief warning as he grabbed his daughter''s arm. "So that you don''t lose the balance."

    Gideon, Snivy, and Azzy stood still without heeding the warning. Meanwhile, Claire grabbed Mia''s arm as she was too shy to grab Azzy.

    Aegis didn''t care about his behavior and gave the signal to the soldier.

    As soon as the soldier pulled the lever, the elevator started to go down at a blazing speed as if it was free falling.

    "Kya¡­" Snivy screamed at the start and tightly hugged Gideon for a few seconds until she realized that there''s nothing to worry about as her body could cope up with the speed.

    Blushing a bit, she quickly left Gideon''s embrace and looked away.

    With everyone seeming fine despite the elevator is going at a speed of 50 m/sec, Wesley appeared to be surprised. On the other hand, Aegis was studying Azzy''s reaction which remained unchanged.

    "The rumors are true, indeed. This boy seemed like he''s not controlling his expression. He was just devoid of all kinds of expressions. I wonder what kind of mysterious soul energy is that."

    For the next couple of minutes, Azzy felt like he was traveling through a tunnel, except that it was dug vertically.

    As the elevator stopped after reaching its destination, Azzy saw a long corridor enclosed by walls before him.

    Everyone walked straight. On the way, he saw there are several doors installed on either side.

    "Do people live here or something?" Azzy felt something strange about this place.

    After walking for like an hour, finally, the exit was revealed. After crossing it, they stumbled upon a huge hollow space where he could see dozens of robots and people with lab coats roaming around here and there.

    There were also soldiers moving here and there.

    "What kind of a place we arrived at?" Gideon''s jaws dropped in amazement.

    "I guess this is where those sparring robots come from." Azzy''s attention was stolen by the roaming robots before his eyes fell on Aria. "What about this girl?"

    "Welcome to Animus." Wesley gave a proud smile and explained briefly about this secret facility of the government.

    "We don''t have much time. Follow me." Aegis then took everyone towards another corridor which leads to a large chamber where a few people are sparring with each other.

    Strangely, even though those twelve of them are of the six-star realm, their movements appeared to be quite sluggish.

    The adults walked in and as these five teenagers walked into the chamber, all of a sudden, everyone except for Azzy was down on their knees and then, stuck on to the ground.

    "Gravity chamber?" Azzy mumbled as he watched around. He too was facing pressure on top of him but as he was familiar with this setting, he was completely fine.

    "Oh! Now that''s surprising." Aegis''s eyes lit up as he looked at Azzy. Wesley and Uphiar on the other hand were taken aback to see Azzy was completely fine despite standing in a field with twenty times the gravity.

    Meanwhile, Azzy''s friends'' faces became deep redder as they were struggling to get up. With great struggle, Claire was the only one who successfully managed to stand on her feet.

    As she tried to walk a step forward, she wasn''t able to handle the pressure and slipped her balance.

    "Careful." Azzy quickly caught her arm.

    As their eyes met for a moment, Azzy''s eyes wandered around her lips and he hurriedly looks away in embarrassment. Meanwhile, Claire felt her heartbeat rose rapidly.

    "At this rate, my heart would explode. I need to move¡­" Feeling extremely embarrassed as she couldn''t face Azzy directly, Claire gritted her teeth and tried to step away.

    However, Azzy''s grip was tight, and didn''t let her become free from his grip even as he was trying to pay attention to others. He then said to everyone, "Use energy armor to lessen the pressure."

    The first to act was Claire who was in a hurry to distance herself from him. She quickly closed her eyes for a second and concentrated on her soul orb.

    At a single thought, the soul energy inside her soul orb rapidly gushed out of her, forming energy armor around her, thereby decreasing the pressure by a lot.

    Azzy released Claire''s arm and then, proceeded to help out Gideon who could only lift his upper body despite using energy armor.

    A few moments later, the chamber was cleared for the rest of the day and the gravitation field was reduced from 20 to 5 times the original.

    Aegis was nowhere to be seen.

    Wesley was looking after Gideon, Mia, and Snivy who were in stage-1 of basic level, which is to walk comfortably.

    Claire was promoted to stage 3 of basic level, which is to spar against Aria with the gravitational force being around 5 times the original.

    Azzy, who was already in the highest level as he could even combat in 20 times the gravity without facing any pressure, was sitting in a corner along with Uphiar and directly entered the training.

    With the sorcerer dragged him into the illusion world, Azzy found himself in a place where there''s no speck of light. All he could feel is the presence of soft ground below his feet.

    As the beasts in this world aren''t real, his aura sensing yielded no results.

    "Azrael, you are now in the heart of a place known as the Caverns of Humrath. This is the home to the race of Mermen and a few other monsters. This place is divided into two parts.

    The outer half belongs to region-3 and the deeper half of the region belongs to region-4. Usually, there would be a seal separating them but here, I didn''t put it.

    Three rank-7 realm monsters are present here and the strongest of them all is of gold grade. So, you need to avoid them or run away as soon as you spot them. They aren''t your targets.

    There''s a Zealot, one of a kind of merman which will roam with a trident in its hands. It''s of platinum grade. Your training is to try not to kill monsters other than Zealot. As for how you go without vision, you could only depend on your senses."

    "Got it," Azzy replied as he stepped forward.

 Chapter 172: Champions League Finals part-1

    The day of the finals has arrived.

    Even though it would officially start at 9 o''clock, tens of thousands of people barged into the academy at early 4 o''clock to acquire the tickets.

    By the time it was 6, a huge line could be seen at the stadium that stretched all the way to more than five kilometers. The entire police department and military of Northern Qudour had to work together to keep the line in check.

    Adding on top of that, WAMO also deployed two peak-rank-8 experts to keep an eye on the city to prevent possible terror activities.

    More than three thousand seats were reserved for hosting academy students (thousand), other participating academies (twenty-five per one academy), relatives of the finalists (ten per one finalist), higher officials of the government, VIPS, and so on¡­

    Of course, they plan to sell 135000 seats overall. So, reserved seats don''t matter. The only problem is that the capacity of the Grand Arena is only a hundred thousand. So, the last 38 thousand people could only watch the matter through the screens while sitting in other Arenas.

    With tickets heavy in demand, some people started reselling them to the people who were at the back of the line.

    Since it isn''t considered illegal, the police could only try to maintain the order, watching several people cashing the money right in front of their eyes.

    And once all the tickets were sold, private auctions were conducted everywhere with a VIP ticket selling for an astronomical price of 15 million Northern Qudour Krocs (120 million Credits).

    It''s 8 a.m. now and more than 90% of the seats were filled in all the stadiums. THE VIPs were yet to arrive but almost all the officials of the Northern Qudour''s government and secret services of other nations were seated.

    Currently, the screens are playing the highlights of the previous matches of the finalists.

    The first-timers who were mostly from other nations, couldn''t help but scream in excitement as they watched several astonishing movements like Leah cleanly cutting down the Arcana that dared to rebel against her, Vann''s overpowered Golden Dragon, Amazing synchronized attacks of the twins from Freyles Academy, and Azzy''s feat of the lifting of a 7000 pound Rhino and throwing it away.

    Of course, there are thousands of people who hated Azzy though. Not just because he belongs to the hosting nation but also because of his dark abilities like absorbing the soul energies from the opponents and allies alike, killing the Arcana of opponents with a  punch, and bathing in their blood, throwing those irritating laughing skulls.

    Unlike last time, as the local citizens were less in number in the audience section, one could say that team Twilight has far fewer supporters.

    An hour passed away and two beautiful hosts, Exea, the teacher of hosting academy, and Laverne Sparks who is a popular actress and former miss world arrived on the stage.

    The Cheers grew wilder as both of them addressed everyone. "Welcome to the Finals of Champions League, 1994."

    This time, under the orders of Barton, Exea let the Global star Laverne be the main host. "Let us welcome our Champions to the Arena with a huge round of applause."

    "First, Solo category¡­"

    "I present you, Leah Pendragon from the Heavenly Academy of Arcana."

    As the beautiful princess of Camelot entered the stadium while waving at the audience with a smile, the stadium was completely submerged under noise pollution.

    Exea didn''t even get the chance to explain her achievements as she felt it was no use.

    As Leah joined the stage, the actress continued to introduce.

    "I present you, Vann Hildegard from the Moon Academy of Arcana."

    "Duo category¡­"

    "I present you, Irene Ash and Albin Ash from the Freyles Academy of Arcana."

    "I present you, Laura Drake and Izetta Smoke from the Phoenix Academy of Arcana."

    "And finally, group category¡­"

    "I present you, Team Merciless Executioners from the Dragon Academy of Arcana. Captain: Alan Tauris, Webster, Arthur Corals, Dove, and Hazel Hemlock."

    "Last but not least, I present you, Team Twilight from the Aclein Academy of Arcana. Captain: Claire Lefeuvre, Azrael, Snivy, Mia Leveret, and Gideon."

    Meanwhile, the screens displayed their basic information like their name, age, grade, academy, nationality, realm, etc¡­

    Man students and teachers of the Aclein Academy were greatly surprised as they found Azzy''s nationality was described as Northern Qudour when everyone knows that he was from the south.

    Azzy was already told about it before. So, he didn''t mind about it and just straightly walked towards the stage.

    Everyone arrived on the platform and stood in an order where Leah, Vann, Irene Ash, Laura Drake, Captain Alan, and Captain Claire stood in the front as representatives while everyone else stood behind in their respective teams.

    As the spectators were calmed a bit, Exea finally got the chance to speak. Handing over the mic to Leah, she asked her what she does think of this movement and how confident is she in winning the tournament.

    Everyone expected her to be modest but contrary to their expectations, Leah didn''t give any sort of lengthy speech.

    Her reply shocked many people. "There''s no option of defeat. Either I win or die trying."

    Seeing a serious look on her face which usually has a bright smile, her fans were stunned for a moment.

    Even Vann was taken aback by her statement.

    Meanwhile, Azzy was glancing at a girl named Dove from the Dragon Academy. Of all the people, only she has the aura of death surrounding her.

    That would only mean that she would die within the match. He doesn''t know what fate holds for her but Azzy decided to change his strategy from targeting the captain to throwing her out of the barrier.

    Just at the moment, he heard Leah''s statement and quickly glanced at her from behind.

    He doesn''t understand the reason behind her proclamation when she''s the one who offered an alliance against the beast all because she couldn''t defeat him alone.

    As he couldn''t see any aura of death on her, Azzy could only let her do whatever she wants.

    As Exea was a little bit stumped by her reply, her co-host, actress Lavern quickly came to the rescue by handing her mic to Vann. "Do you want to say anything to her?"

    With a smile on his face, Vann looked straight and replied, "Let''s hope that you go back home in one piece."

    As his provocation only added fuel to the fire, the actress quickly managed the situation by snatching the mics from them, "Okay, let''s give a round of applause for these two heated rivals and let them cool down while we move on to the next finalist."

    She then nudged the flustered Exea, who calmed herself and interview the others.

    At last, it was Claire''s turn to speak. Maybe, it''s because Exea was rooting for the team, all of her stress was gone the moment her eyes fell on her students.

    Claire gave a prepared modest answer to which the Dragon Academy captain simply replied that they intend to give their all in the finals and become a winner.

    However, Azzy''s teammates were never more composed even under sheer pressure.

    Looking at their expressions, Exea further continued her interview, "which member of the opponent''s team is the most threatening for your team?"

    She first asked Claire to which she replied by giving another textbook answer like all of them are equally strong to keep their strategy safe.

    On the other hand, Captain Alan outrightly spoke that Claire is the one he feels the most threatening to their strategy.

    His reply surprised a lot of spectators as it is well known that Azzy was the strongest in the team.

    Of course, some higher realm experts realized the hidden meaning in his words. It means that they have a counter for Azzy.

    "What do you think of that?" As Exea asked her, Claire simply smiled and said thank you. No one knows the meaning behind her thanks nor do they know what she was feeling inside.

    With the short interviews finished, everyone returned to the waiting rooms.

    For the next hour, the audience was entertained with several performances from national and Global artists, and dance groups arranged by the organizing committee.

    In the meantime, the VIPs arrived. The Current President of Northern Qudour, Vice-President of WAMO, a few Revered Arcana Masters (rank-8s) who are the heads of various organizations. Finally, the last one to arrive is none other than the Northern Qudour''s King, who was accompanied by Principal Barton, a mysterious white-robed priest, and the Royal Ancestor.

    After the performances are over, another hour was wasted by boring speeches from the Vice-President of WAMO, Barton, the hosting nation''s president, etc...

    Actress Lavern and Exea then announced that the first finals is about to start and lifted the spirits of the crowd once again.

 Chapter 173: Champions League Finals part-2

    Leah and Vann were standing apart a couple of hundred meters away from each other with the former being serious while the latter being relaxed.

    The Proctor who was standing in the middle reminded the finalists and the audience of a few rules that are exclusive to the finals of every Champions League.

    The first one is regarding the habitat. For every 12 minutes, the habitat within the barrier will be randomly changed. So, the finalists must also focus on the timer.

    The second one is the temporary gravitational field. The gravity within the barrier will be doubled that of the original.

    The third one is the role of instructors. The respective instructors of the finalists cannot interfere in the match. Only the Proctor has the right to stop the match. However, they retain the power to give up the match regardless of the decision of the finalists.

    The fourth and final one is the killing. Unlike before matches, the proctor couldn''t interfere in the match based on his judgment at any time. He could interfere and stop the match only when one of them or their instructor calls for withdrawing.

    That means if a finalist and his instructor are too stubborn to admit defeat, then, the proctor couldn''t step in even if he/she were to be killed. In this case, deliberate killing is allowed.

    Of course, in case the finalist isn''t in a position to move his/her body like being unconscious and the Proctor feels that he/she is about to die, he could still interfere in the match without considering the opinions of their respective instructors.

    This is why Wesley was worried about the tactics of Dragon Academy.

    Now, upon listening to the rules, some of the audience became worried for their support, remembering the provocations between Leah and Vann, an hour ago.

    Meanwhile, Leah''s eyes were fixed on Vann who was standing amid hundred thousand people without any fear of getting caught.

    "This is a good chance to bring out its real personality. Don''t waste it." The Excalibur spoke in her head to which she nodded in agreement.

    After informing the rules, the Proctor took out an eight-star activated skill card unleashed it.

    A huge silver-colored barrier appeared before everyone''s eyes.

    Like the blue barrier from earlier, this cuboidal-shaped one also covered 200 meters length, 100 meters width, and 200 meters height.

    However, there are also a couple of differences apart from their color. One is that this barrier is provided directly by WAMO and the other is its property.

    Unlike the blue barrier of Barton, which automatically absorbs any energy that touches it, this one just blocks it like a wall whether it''s made up of energy or a physical object.

    So, the concept of out of bounds doesn''t exist here unless one is powerful enough to destroy a peak-rank-8 barrier.

    The explanation about the barrier brought mixed reactions from the audience. Some thought it was amazing while others thought it was too wasteful as the barrier need to be removed and then, cast a new one for every match.

    Meanwhile, Vann flinched a little bit. He started to feel a little bit suffocated as he hates the thought of being trapped under something. After all, his objective is only to become a free being.

    On the other hand, Leah was just staring at him in silence, waiting for the match to start.

    The Proctor then took out the item card and threw it on the ground, changing the barren field in the arena to turn into a water habitat with 3ft depth.

    Unlike during the Quarterfinals, there are no islands provided inside this artificial lake. Instead, several tiny stones are floating around. They are only big enough for one person to stand on them.

    While Leah didn''t care about them, Vann checked whether they could hold his weight or not by trying to stand on them. It turned out not only they could withstand the weight, but they could also still float around.

    *Whistle*

    The Proctor gave the signal to start the match without giving any preparation time like before as the organizers believed that those who reach such a stage don''t need such things as preparations.

    "Come out, Excalibur," Just as the timer started, Leah summoned the sword from her soul card.

    Meanwhile, Vann summoned a ten-meter Gold Dragon, which appeared like an Arcana but in fact, it was just the materialization of his soul energy based on the tiny speck of soul of the Gold dragon that was trapped within it.

    "Let''s see how long you will continue to pretend." Leah let out a snort and poured her soul energy into the sword, pointing towards the dragon. The dense purple energy not only covered the sword but also became bigger.

    She then pushed her leg against the ground and dashed towards him, making the water splash around and the islands float away from her.

    Looking at her, Vann smirked as he raised his hand, "I''m not like those weaklings that you can bully around."

    Under his control, the Gold Dragon let out a powerful roar before flapping its wings.

    It flew towards Leah.

    By the time they almost neared each other, for the spectators, it felt as if Leah was handling a three-meter large purple sword in her hand.

    As the Gold reached its target, it started to spew out flames. Leah raised her sword and blocked the flames.

    The flames hit the sword energy and got split into two directions, although it stopped Leah''s advancement.

    As the force generated by the flames turned out to be quite stronger, Leah was pushed back quickly, making her grit her teeth and pour more soul energy to power up her physical body strength.

    She managed to stop getting pushed away after being pushed back nearly ten meters away. Leah then started to advance once again, step by step.

    Vann narrowed his eyes and then, snapped his finger. "Let''s see how you handle this."

    All of a sudden, the red flames turned blue, heating up the temperature to nearly more than 2000 degrees centigrade.

    With the temperature same level as lava, the temperature in the barrier increases abruptly while the water started to boil and turns into vapor.

    Meanwhile, Leah was once again getting pushed back. Along with that, the purple energy around her sword started to get diminished as it was constantly trying to block the blue flames.

    The spectators were shocked to see the princess who always defeated her opponents with overwhelming power now found herself in a disadvantageous position.

    In the meantime, they also realized that they have been underestimating Vann''s strength all this time. It made them wonder whether Azzy was really too strong or whether he was just going easy on that 13-year old kid.

    The people who were the most shocked were the two Generals from Hildegard who are keeping an eye on him for a few weeks by now.

    As far as they were concerned, Vann was genuinely a mid-rank-6 Arcana Master, and yet, they keep seeing him suppressing his soul power to the 5-star realm even including the finals.

    Until now, they felt strange about it. But, now they felt like their prince is indeed suppressing his strength because he was probably too strong for the tournament.

    Several higher realm experts and scouts also thought that his participation in the tournament is indeed unfair for others.

    Many VIPs are now looking forward to seeing his full strength as they knew that the Princess of Camelot will not be defeated so easily.

    As the Dragon was flying forward while breathing out the seal of blue flames, Leah continued to get pushed back.

    Her face started to become redder with each second as the rage slowly built up inside her.

    With just 20 meters away from the barrier, Leah roared on top of her lungs, "Izarok, wake up."

    Suddenly, a soul card was summoned before her and a tremendous volume of water started to flow out of it like a beam, passing through the Excalibur and colliding with the blue flames.

    Looking at the water beam pushes all the flames in its path away, Vann was taken aback and hurriedly ordered the dragon to move away.

    Since it was just made up of his soul energy, it actually doesn''t matter. He could even return it again but he was cautious of raising suspicions in the spectators, especially those VIPs of the eight-star realm.

    Following his order, the Dragon stopped spewing flames and flapped its wings to fly higher.

    It managed to successfully dodge the water beam.

    However, right then, the water beam that just was traveling straight suddenly turned its direction as soon as it missed the dragon.

 Chapter 174: Champions League Finals part-3

    "A second Arcana spirit?" Azzy was stunned as he was watching the match from the waiting room.

    He couldn''t believe his eyes for a moment. After all, he was even invited to her mindscape but there was only one thing, the sword in the stone.

    Then from where this second Arcana came from? Did she purposely hide it?

    Just then, a familiar chuckle was heard inside his head. "In the search for extraordinary things that are far away, humans often ignore the things that are right in front of them just because they appeared to be normal."

    "What do you mean, Chronos?" Azzy didn''t understand what the Reaper''s statement has to do anything with him not being able to sense the presence of second Arcana in her mindscape.

    Instead of explaining further, the Reaper then simply said, "then, watch carefully. What do you see?"

    Azzy narrowed his eyes and watched carefully where the beam of compressed water that generated from the soul card suddenly changed its direction as soon as it missed its target.

    "Nothing, Just water¡­" As Azzy replied to him, something clicked in his mind and he tried to remember the exact scenery of Leah''s mindscape. "It''s that river, isn''t it?"

    "Now, you realized." The Reaper confirmed it and then explained to him that he didn''t pay attention to the endless water that was flowing through the grassland.

    While Azzy understood that he needs to be careful in the future, at the same time, he got a little bit confused about its form.

    After all, according to what he learned from Avia, Arcana spirits will always stay in their true form in the mindscape. They could only change their shape or size when they were materialized outside.

    On top of that, only the spirits that escaped the spirit world and merged with things like mountains, forests, rivers, or lakes will be in such form.

    "Did she have an entire river as Arcana?" Azzy could only ask the Reaper for further clarification.

    As the Reaper confirmed him, Azzy remembered about that unique five-star skill card that was in the possession of Leah which was supposed to be very useful in this battle. "I can see how she will use that card against this Draco-Galarian. Let''s hope it will be a success."

    Back to the Arena, the appearance of platinum grade beast greatly surprised thousands of spectators even including the people from Heavenly Academy. They didn''t know that Leah was a twin card user at all.

    Of course, their representative instructor looked calm as if she knew about it. With her fixed on Vann, he mumbled, "Vann Hildegard, huh. He forced the princess to reveal her trump card that she was hiding so many years."

    Meanwhile, the gold dragon was hit by the water beam in the chest and was pushed back.

    It was the dragon''s turn to face the pressure where it was not even able to block or dodge from the attack.

    With the never-ending volume of water continuously blasted outside from the soul card at high pressure, the water beam hit the barrier and held it at the wall of the barrier like a prisoner.

    When Vann realized that he couldn''t get his gold dragon free out of that water spirit''s grasp, he dismissed it without wasting any time on it.

    He could actually resummon it right away but in order to not to raise anyone''s suspicions, he decided to bring back the Gold dragon a few minutes later.

    Of course, Vann wasn''t worried about it. His greatest strength lies in his fists, not in some fake Gold dragon.

    "Good, I got a couple of minutes. Need to use it wisely."

    Once the Gold dragon disappeared from the view, Leah nodded in satisfaction and then, gave another order to her Arcana. "Izarok, dive and merge¡­"

    The Compressed water beam then changed its direction once again and dove into the water lake, strangely without causing any waves despite the heavy force.

    While Vann could see its tail was fixed to the soul card, due to its large length and submergence underwater, he sensed its presence all over the lake as Izarok took control of the lake and merged into it, raising the water level by one whole foot.

    However, Vann stopped caring about it after sensing that it was only a platinum-grade spirit. His eyes were fixed on the celestial grade Arcana in the hands of his opponent.

    As a fellow Celestial grade beast, he wouldn''t underestimate the power of the sword whose wielder once ruled the entire world.

    Meanwhile, Leah charged forward. After covering half of the distance, she gave a command, "Rise up, Izarok."

    Upon her order, below Vann''s feet, a small volume of water rose, transforming into the shape of slender human hands. If one closely observes it, they could see that it''s almost identical to that of Leah''s.

    The water hands caught his legs successfully. Vann felt like he was paralyzed for a second. When he couldn''t move a single inch, he closed his eyes for a moment. Soul energy gushed out from his legs and destroyed them.

    However, Izarok hasn''t given up yet. As its first attempt failed, this time, a huge volume of water rose from all sides like pillars.

    Vann looked at them calmly, "futile effort."

    As the beams of compressed water attack him from all the sides, a part of soul energy gathered around his hand.

    With his right leg as the pivot, he spun around and motioned his arm like he was slashing the empty air before him.

    The spectators saw a ring of dense energy around Vann, which slowly expanded its size while becoming thinner and sharper.

    Soon, the water beams collided with it but were sliced cleanly into two. They collapsed and rejoined the water lake.

    "What the¡­" Leah''s eyes widened in surprise and stopped her movements as her strategy failed. She didn''t expect Vann would not only attain the stability but increase his mastery over the soul energy this fast.

    After all, he was originally a wild beast that doesn''t even have the ability to master the soul energy.

    She glanced at the spectators in the surroundings and then, at her opponent. "Do I really have no choice?"

    Leah immediately shook her head, "No, unless I''m sure to kill him, it''s better to keep it a secret or else, he will be careful against me. Moreover, I will be subjected to more assassinations, later. Better keep it hidden."

    Taking a deep breath, she gave another order to the water body. "Izarok, materialize."

    Once again, a small volume of water rose gently before Vann''s eyes and this time, transformed into the shape of a girl, largely resembled Leah.

    "Restrict him, Izarok." Leah gave an order and proceeds to dash towards her opponent, once again.

    As the aqua girl raised her hands, Vann felt a tremendous force beneath his feet. Before he moved away, the water rose abruptly, making him fly upwards against his will.

    Vann experienced such force through the Dragon just a while ago.

    It greatly surprised me that even with physical strength that''s comparable to that of high-rank-7 soul energy empowered Arcana master, he still wasn''t able to resist the tremendous amount of force and continued to be pushed towards the ceiling of the barrier.

    "Argh¡­" His back hit the ceiling of the barrier hardly and spat out a mouthful of blood.

    In the next second, the water that was springing up suddenly retreated to the lake at a rapid pace.

 Chapter 175: Champions League Finals part-4

    Vann who was freed now started to fall. He wiped the blood and gazed at the water coldly before his attention was stolen by Leah''s actions once again.

    Using all her strength, Leah grabbed the sword vertically facing downwards and then, slashed the empty air, generating a huge arc made of purple energy.

    Before his altitude dropped by 30-40 meters, the attack already reached him.

    Looking at the incoming huge arc made of purple energy, he mumbled, "She''s really a tough nut to crack."

    As he isn''t in a state to control his body in mid-air according to his will, he tried to defend by armoring himself with soul energy.

    However, his energy armor couldn''t block the attack completely and from the lower part of the right abdomen to the upper part of the left chest was cleanly cut as a result.

    "Ugh¡­" Vann groaned in pain once again as the blood started to gush out from his chest.

    Before he takes out the healing card to close up the wound, Izarok made her move once again.

    "Soul skill: Water Golem."

    As the Aqua girl raised her hand again, huge volumes of water rose up, making the water level down by half a foot and creating a three hundred feet Golem.

    Vann''s pupils dilated as a huge fist was thrown towards him. Getting hit by a solid punch, he crashed onto the barrier and fell on the water.

    With his head smashed onto the sturdy barrier, Vann lost consciousness and just lie on the water and dyed his surroundings in blood.

    Several spectators gasped in shock and stood up on their feet watching how their smiling goddess turned into a merciless cold-blooded Queen.

    As Vann''s life force appeared to be still strong while the Moon Academy''s representative instructor didn''t raise any white flag, the proctor didn''t interfere in the battle and started the second timer.

    The second timer will be initiated when either one of the sides will be unconscious or get trapped by a skill.

    While the latter case will be given 5 minutes of time to free themselves, the former case will be given only 100 seconds to continue the battle, or else, it will be declared as their loss.

    Watching the unconscious Vann and the pool of blood around him, Leah felt like it''s a perfect time.

    Taking out a mysterious skill card, she handed it to Aqua girl. "It''s your turn."

    The Aqua girl nodded and quickly collapsed back into the water. The moment the Aqua girl returned to her original form, the Golem also collapsed and generated a huge wave, sweeping unconscious Vann for a few meters.

    Within this confusion, the card that was handed to the Aqua girl reappeared at the back of Vann and slowly merged into his body, creating a small diamond symbol on his back.

    Soon, the water settled down and Leah continued to stare at him. Now that her objective is completed, she dismissed Izarok and calmly waited until the 100-second timer is over.

    "100" "50" "20" "10" "5" "4" "3" "2" "1"

    *Ting*

    The proctor announced the winner.

    "Vann Hildegard is unable to continue. Leah Pendragon wins the finals."

    All kinds of cheers and sighs erupted in the stadium. Some people are amazed while some fans of Vann thought that Leah was given a heavy advantage of the water habitat and others just sighed that they weren''t able to see an intense battle.

    After all, several of the spectators came from far away and also paid a hefty amount. It''s obvious that they are disappointed to see such a one-sided quick battle¡­

    Meanwhile, in one of the waiting rooms, Azzy and others were amazed to see how Leah turned around the battle with one move and then, defeated her opponent without even going all out.

    Watching from the waiting room, Azzy doesn''t know what that new Arcana''s grade but still, he accepted that it was incredibly strong in the suitable environment.

    Now, he was looking forward to sparring her during the summer where they will collectively raise their skills and then, go and kill their common enemy.

    As the barrier was undone and the water habitat turned back to normal, the representative instructor carried Vann away to the infirmary and Leah exited the Arena, returning to her waiting room.

    Even with a win, there was no smile on her face. Collapsing on the chair, she raised her fist with a smile, "the Tracking skill card is successfully applied. As a beast, he can''t notice it and neither will show his bareback to others. All that''s left is to take Azrael back with me to Camelot.Two birds with one stone, hehe..."

    ***

    After a ten-minute break, the second finals started.

    The fraternal twins of the current generation of the Ash clan''s main branch entered the stadium walking at the same pace.

    They were so synchronized that even their hand movements were exactly the same.

    From the other side, Laura Drake and Izetta Smoke from Phoenix Academy stepped inside the field.

    Once again the barrier was cast but this time, instead of water habitat, the match started with Ice habitat, which is a disadvantage to either of the teams.

    Irene Ash summoned a gourd full of Ash while her brother summoned an Earth Golem beast that Aclein students were familiar with. Instructor Hermon who tests the newly joined kids also used the same.

    Meanwhile, one of her opponents, Laura of the Phoenix Academy, true to her beauty, summoned a beautiful peacock while her teammate, the heir of the Smoke clan summoned a giant mushroom with a bright red cap adorned with large white spots.

    "Wow, they look so beautiful and lovely." Several of the spectators who didn''t have any idea about their characters were worried that this match will be over soon. Some little girls even closed their eyes not intending to see them being harmed.

    However, soon, they realized that looks can be very deceiving.

    Unlike its gentle appearance, the bluish-green peacock of Laura was too aggressive in its attacks. On the other hand, the beautiful-looking mushroom was highly toxic in nature that it slowly poisoned everything that touches it.

    If the opponents were someone else with similar grade Arcana, Phoenix Academy would have won with ease but to their bad luck, it''s the freaking twin duo of the Ash clan who could anticipate each other moves at any time without even talking to each other.

    On top of that, Irene Ash''s mastery over her Arcana was very high that she could practically turn it into that a hammer for attacking, although mostly uses as a wall for defending the attacks that are directed at themselves, and other times, uses its flexibility to block the movements of her opponents.

    "Laura Drake and Izetta Smoke are unable to continue. Albin Ash and Irene Ash win the battle."

    ***

    *Clap* *Clap*

    "Okay kids, it''s our turn," Sahara told everyone to get ready to leave for the field once their name is announced by the Proctor.

    Azzy and others nodded in response.

    "Azrael, you should be careful." The Vice Principal specifically warned him just in case she was worried about the possible assassination.

    After listening to the opponent captain''s words that implied that they have a solution to take care of Azzy, Sahara couldn''t help but get worried. After all, Azzy was her husband''s disciple. She couldn''t face Barton if something happens to him in the finals.

 Chapter 176: Champions League Finals part-5

    "Team Merciless Executioners" "Team Twilight"

    As the names being called, Azzy and his team exited the room and started to walk in the corridor that leads to the field.

    However, just a few meters away from the exit, they saw a familiar girl standing against the wall. It looked as if she was waiting for someone.

    Upon spotting them, she waved her hands with a smile and started to walk towards them.

    Azzy''s friends glanced at him while Claire who doesn''t like her tried to keep her facial expression as calm as possible.

    "Congratulations, Princess Leah." Gideon was the first to speak even when she was more than five meters away.

    It forced everyone to follow the same except for Azzy who asked her instead, "did you do it?"

    He knew about her plan to plant a tracking seal on Vann but wanted to confirm it from her own mouth.

    Meanwhile, his teammates were taken aback by his weird question. Their confusion only increased when the smile on Leah became even bigger as she showed victory symbol.

    After wishing them luck, she walked away, making the others look at Azzy curiously. "What she did do?" Gideon asked Azzy.

    Azzy shrugged his shoulders, "not our problem. Anyway, let''s go."

    The team members didn''t probe it much and proceeded to walk forward. They entered the field to see the opponent team had already arrived.

    Azzy could feel several gazes locked onto him from all the sides. He glanced at the VIP section from the corner of his eyes.

    He doesn''t know why but he felt like something bad is going to happen when he first saw the Royal Ancestor''s face on the screen while he was watching the earlier matches.

    "As I told you before, they were like passing clouds. People like them will come and go into your life. Moreover, your parents are also watching¡­" The Reaper''s reminder made him put aside his useless thoughts and shifted his concentration to his opponents, although he misunderstood that the Reaper is referring to Oakley and Snieca.

    Meanwhile, at team Merciless Executioners, Dove, a high-rank-5 magician commented, "it looks like our opponents trained a bit. All of them are now in the five-star realm."

    The prince of Ugrea shrugged his shoulders, "it doesn''t matter. All of them are only at the beginner stage. We only need to focus on that regeneration girl who was out of our calculations. The rest are just¡­"

    "I told you not underestimate our opponents, Arthur." Captain Alan interrupted him and stared at Azzy who arrived on the field with his teammates. "That guy''s soul energy absorption technique is still a threat to us. On top of that, he never had shown his second Arcana spirit. We don''t know the full extent of his necromancer abilities. So, until he was down, we cannot be careless even for a single moment."

    The others also nodded in agreement. Even though they were forced by their instructor to use the trump card, as far as they have seen, they couldn''t judge Azzy''s full strength. They could only estimate his physical strength is in the mid-rank-6 realm.

    "I hope this plan works," Dove mumbled to herself while looking at a fellow support class Arcana master in worry. "Or else, along with Webster, we will all be in danger."

    ***

    After team twilight gets into the position, the Proctor threw the activated barrier skill card and then, a random habitat card.

    The field turned into simple plain mud terrain.

    Azzy could hear nothing even though the spectators were cheering wildly. He realized that the barrier also isolated the sound from the outside to make sure the participants have full concentration.

    At the same time, he could also feel the softness of the mud below his feet. He tested it by moving his leg forward and pressed it down with force. His right leg was quickly sunk up to his knees.

    His teammates also witnessed it and understood the habitat.

    Meanwhile, at the opponent''s side, Captain Alan had a serious look on his face. "Everyone, don''t hesitate to go all out. No matter what, we have to grab the trophy even if it means killing them. The upper management wouldn''t want failure when facing such an opponent from a mediocre academy. Understand?"

    His teammates nodded seriously.

    As soon as the whistle was blown, everyone from twilight summoned their Arcana. However, the opponent team members on the other hand spread around in five different directions, forming a pentagon.

    They took out skill cards and activated them at the same time. "Skill card: Descent of the Hydra."

    The five skill cards shone at the same time, unleashing a beam of light towards the center of their formation.

    Soon, a seal with mystical runes appeared on the ground before a giant beast rose from it with five snakeheads.

    Azzy was taken aback to see a Gold grade hydra appeared in flesh by skill cards. Moreover, it appeared to be in the six-star realm.

    With everyone''s soul power almost reached fell zero, all of them took out recovery cards to replenish their soul energy.

    Just like thousands of spectators, he too doesn''t know that a creature can be created like this way.

    Even Gideon, Claire, and Snivy looked like they were confused.

    Just when the Reaper was about to explain it to him, Mia opened her mouth, "My dad told me about this. Using multiple numbers of people sharing their soul power, they can summon a wild beast from Arcana world. However, it too had the risks¡­"

    Without her even explaining the whole thing, everyone got the inkling of what it might be.

    A thread of energy released from the seal and connected the five-headed Hydra and Webster.

    "Their souls are connected. If we kill Hydra, that person will also die." Mia finished her sentence in a serious tone. "It looks like the Dragon Academy is putting everything on this battle."

    Azzy glanced at the opponents. The aura of death was still on the girl named Dove, the magician.

    Mia''s explanation doesn''t match with what he was seeing. With the barrier that doesn''t allow a finalist to get outside until the match ends, Azzy realized that his plan of throwing her out is now difficult. So, the only option left for him is to knock her out.

    Just then, Claire told her best friend, "My sword has the power to through the energies as long as it doesn''t exceed gold grade. I guess I can try to disconnect their connection and send it back."

    In response, Mia shook her head, "No, there are five people that summoned it. You have to cut them down five times. I don''t think would give you such a chance."

    "Cutting the energy?" Azzy was stunned for a second as heard Claire. "Now, everything fits¡­"

    "Claire, Can you hold down Alan?" Looking at it, Azzy suddenly spoke to Claire after three days of avoiding her. "Vajra will support you."

    "Huh!" Claire was taken aback at first but then, as she saw the beast, she realized Azzy was probably aiming for it. She asked, "Do you have a plan?"

    "Leave the magician, Hydra, and its holder for me. You will go after their captain while my Vajra will hold down his beast. Gideon will go after her original target, Mia and Snivy will support each other to face the dragon and the prince.

 Chapter 177: Champions League Finals part-6

    As Azzy and others continued to move forward, meanwhile, their opponents summoned their Arcana.

    Captain Alan, who was at the front vertex of the Pentagon formation, summoned his giant Minotaur that was standing at least a hundred feet tall. Along with being a platinum grade beast, its sheer size was naturally, a treat to the audience.

    The second attacker Arthur summoned a fiery red dragon befitting to his status.

    The third attacker Hazel summoned a pair of huge, black, heavily curved scimitars with silver edges.

    The main supporter Dove summoned an ordinary-looking wooden staff. She''s a mage but only has support-type soul skills. Despite lacking offensive and defensive soul skills, she was considered a huge threat as she can increase the attack power, defense shield, and healing power of her allies.

    Lastly, the holder of the Hydra, Webster landed on its back quietly. He was an excellent close combat fighter but right now, he could only focus on controlling the five-headed Hydra.

    According to their Arcana and their fighting skills, Sahara decided a strategy where Azzy face off the Captain and his Minotaur, Gideon to face Hazel, Claire to go after Dove and then, support Mia who has to face the Ugrea''s prince and his dragon while Snivy will take care of Webster, who uses an ax.

    However, none of them expect the enemy to pull out a 6-star realm hydra. Even with 1-day harsh training that forced them to improve their skills a little, they weren''t confident enough to face such a beast.

    So, none of them objected to Azzy''s strategy.

    Team Merciless Executioners stayed still in their pentagon formation and waited for their opponents who almost reached halfway. Neither their opponents nor the spectators have any clue why an extremely aggressive team is in maintaining a defensive formation.

    Watching how Azzy didn''t go on his own and slowed down his speed to work with the team, Captain Alan gave a quick order, "Dove, get ready." "Erir, Separate them."

    Dove acted by raising her staff and pointed towards the towering beast that was almost blocking her vision.

    Pouring the soul energy into the staff, she didn''t waste any time to unleash her soul skill.

    "Soul skill: Might of Nature."

    A beam of light erupted from the staff and hit the Minotaur, upon which the natural energy in the surroundings was being absorbed into his body, creating blue energy armor around its outline.

    *Mooo*

    The Minotaur raised its fist to throw a punch down at the incoming opponents who are in its range. It aims to make everyone disperse so that its host and allies can take them out one by one.

    While the others jumped to the side in reflex, Gideon, and Snivy to the left, Claire and Mia to the right, Azzy shouted, "I''ll take care of it."

    He then raised his hands and poured soul energy into them, creating huge palms made of dark energy over his palms which then extended towards the incoming attack.

    "Hmpf, what a fool." Arthur scoffed as he was observing it from the back of his dragon. "It was a platinum grade beast powered by Dove''s soul skill. Its attack power will be comparable to that of a high-rank-6 Arcana master for the next couple of minutes. Do you think you can stop it that easily with such a trick? Dream on. Erir is enough to¡­ What!"

    His eyes became bigger in shock as he watched the fist was stopped in mid-air with ease.

    In fact, Azzy''s energy palm caught it so tightly that the Minotaur wasn''t even able to retract its arm.

    "You did it¡­" Azzy''s team members were happy with Azzy''s new technique that he developed a day ago due to new training.

    Just as they thought that Azzy successfully attained the perfect control which he always lacked, suddenly, the Minotaur cried in pain as Azzy''s energy palm firmly pressed on its fist further to reduce it into a pulp of blood.

    Azzy was taken aback by surprise as he intended to just lock it up. He just used more force as the Minotaur was trying to take back its arm from his hold.

    He mumbled to himself, "it looks like I shouldn''t use this in sparring for now."

    Gideon shook his head with a sigh. "He only improved control over his soul energy. Azzy has a long way to go to control his strength."

    Meanwhile, Captain Alan landed on its arm and started to regenerate its hand with a healing card.

    *Ahem* Clearing his throat, Azzy looked away in embarrassment, "what are you waiting for. Go¡­"

    Claire felt like this is the perfect moment to take her opponent by surprise.

    Sprouting golden energy wings from her back, she charged forward gaining an additional boost in speed.

    *Woof*

    Vajra followed her from behind in reluctance. Despite training with her for so long, it still hates her sword spirit. The feelings are also mutual as if they were natural enemies to each other.

    Meanwhile, the others are following Claire from behind under the lead of Azzy who had a three-meter large palm above his head.

    "Throw her away." Even though he was busy regenerating its hand, Captain Alan''s eyes were completely fixed on Azzy. He was waiting for Azzy to come near him, not Claire.

    As per the order, the Minotaur raised its remaining free arm and sweep at her and the wolf.

    Claire flapped her wings and flew up, dodging the attack while the latter leaped over its palm and unleashed a blast of black lightning energy from its mouth, reducing Azzy''s soul power by a hundred thousand.

    "A beast can do that?" Captain Alan, Hazel, and Arthur who were in the front were taken aback to see an energy attack from Vajra. After all, only those with high mastery levels could do that and according to their research, Azzy was possessed with very dense soul energy and high raw power but both of his control and mastery over the soul energy are pretty much weak as he couldn''t even walk on water.

    All three of them wondered whether Azzy faked it until now or whether he improved within the past three days.

    With one hand isn''t in a state of functioning and the other one is still in motion of sweeping, the Minotaur could only take the attack to its abdomen despite feeling a terrific amount of power in it.

    Alan who was healing his arm also felt the power in the energy blast. However, before he gave any order, the energy blast already hit the Minotaur.

    The latter slid back for a few meters and crashed on the mud field with a tiny external injury on its abdomen. Minotaur looked at the black wolf in surprise.

    Even Alan was surprised that there''s not much external damage as he expected. He then, wondered whether it is because of the difference between their levels. After all, in his view, both are platinum grade beasts and his Minotaur''s physical body is also very sturdy.

    In the meantime, as its arm was completely healed, Alan jumped from its arm and landed on the field.

    As the Minotaur slowly get up on its feet, Claire already reached Alan and slashed at him with her heavy sword that was bathing in the holy aura.

    As a far more experienced fighter, Alan managed to dodge to the side and planted a fast kick on her abdomen. She flew away for a few meters before she managed to gain control with the help of her wings.

    Meanwhile, Vajra went past him and rushed towards the Minotaur.

    The beast already realized the black wolf is superior in grade. After tasting its power in person, it no longer intended to underestimate its power based on its size.

    *Mooo*

    It immediately unleashed the soul skill to summon a giant ax in its hand and tried to cut it down with all its force.

    However, its speed was too slow for Vajra. It easily dodged to the side and let the ax cut into the mud.

    Due to the heavy force, the blade of the ax cut all the way to the bottom. Thankfully, the bottom was only 6ft deep. So, it is able to pull back its ax with ease.

    In the meantime, Vajra saw an opportunity and jumped on the Axe''s handle, continuing to run towards its arm.

    The Minotaur shook its arm, try to slap with the other arm like a mosquito but it wasn''t able to stop Vajra from reaching its shoulder where it leaped towards its ear while unleashing a soul skill.

    "Soul skill: Extreme Bite."

 Chapter 178: Champions League Finals part-7

    *Mooo*

    The Minotaur cried in pain as the wolf''s sharp canines tore its entire ear that was as big as its size and spit it away, resulting in massive bleeding just like when its hand was crushed by Azzy.

    "Erir!" Alan screamed in worry as he took out the healing card. He never expected that his platinum grade Minotaur which is practically an entire realm above everyone on the field was now looking like it was being bullied by Azzy and his pet wolf.

    The others also got worried but they never stepped away from their positions, waiting for the orders of their captain.

    As Alan couldn''t mess up their formation, he gave an order, "Erir, come to me. Ignore the wolf."

    Alan knew that asking it to fight against the wolf in such a state will only waste the time. So, he asked it to come towards him instead. He planned to heal it and then, take care of the wolf at the same time.

    From behind, forcing itself to ignore the blood flowing down from its ears, the Minotaur started to move forward. Since it was big, it only needs a few steps to return.

    But, Vajra didn''t sit on its shoulder to give it such a chance. Once again, it unleashed a blast of black lightning energy towards the damaged ear after Azzy replenished his soul energy to the full with a recovery card.

    Just as it moved forward by one step, the ball of energy hit at its injury spot with enormous power and forced it to crash on the mud field without being able to put up any resistance.

    "Damn it." Alana gritted his teeth. Just when he thought of abandoning his position in the formation, Claire who got kicked away earlier once again flapped her wings and charged towards the opponent team captain, reaching him.

    "You again¡­" Alan clenched his fist while ducking her attack and punched at her abdomen with his force. "Scram¡­"

    However, to his surprise, his punch passed through her, which turned out to be an after-image where the real one sidestepped at that fraction of a second.

    In the meantime, Azzy and the other three stopped as Snivy spoke, "they are in the range."

    Azzy nodded as he glanced at Claire who was busy attacking the Captain.

    Looking at dual blade wielder and Dragon summoner who were around 30 meters away from the spot, Snivy slammed her big hammer onto the mud field, unleashing her soul skill.

    "Soul skill: Iron smash"

    All of a sudden, the mud field started to shake for a bit. Suddenly, a giant iron fist erupted right below the dual blade wielder.

    "kyaa¡­" Hazel didn''t expect Snivy''s range of attack is far higher than their reports. The underestimation cost them heavy now.

    Like a cannonball, Hazel flew towards the sky without being able to control her path and crashed onto the ceiling barrier.

    "Hazel!" "Hazel" "Hazy"

    Her teammates went into a shock for a moment because of two consecutive attacks one after the other, one harmed their second strongest asset and the other just destroyed their formation.

    While Hazel was flying towards the ceiling, Claire raised her sword and gave an order, "now."

    Dismissing his energy hand, Azzy suddenly turned into a blurry figure and left the group. He instantly passed Alan who was focusing on Claire''s sudden speed attack.

    At the same time, Gideon charged towards the empty spot of the former pentagon formation and kept his eyes on the girl who crashed on the ceiling and was falling down.

    Mia and Snivy dashed towards the dragon and its summoner. Their speed appeared to be at least ten times faster than before. It didn''t take them long to reach their targets.

    "What the hell¡­" Alan was taken aback by the situation at first but then, seeing two of the swords that were stuck in the mud from the corner of his eyes, his facial expression suddenly changed.

    A sudden grin appeared on his face as he shouted as he took out a skill card, "Everyone, it''s time."

    He poured soul energy into it while taking Claire''s attack, head-on.

    All of a sudden, the two scimitars on the ground were replaced by Hazel whose head was bleeding because of the earlier crash.

    She took out an activated skill card and poured soul energy without caring about her Arcana right now.

    Followed by Hazel, the remaining three who were ready with the activated skill cards in their hands from the start poured soul energy, making them glow at the same time and create an instant red pentagonal prism. A mystical seal appeared on each side of it and started blinking.

    Azzy who almost reached Dove found a barrier that appeared before him. He halted his movements and looked around. The Minotaur was dismissed and Vajra found itself at the edge of the barrier. Because of its earlier attempt to attack its face, it was barely safe from being captured.

    "Another barrier?" Claire frowned and jumped away to the back to create some distance. The others also stopped moving and looked at it.

    Your team surprised me with a sudden ambush and an abrupt increase in speed. But, you are too na?ve." Alan said to her. "With this, Azrael is finished. All that''s left is you, Captain Lefeuvre."

    Claire refuted his statement, "This kind of barrier wasn''t new to us. Phoenix Academy also used this before to isolate Rael but it wasn''t enough to defeat him. He will easily come out."

    *Hisss*

    Just then, a powerful resounded inside the barrier as the Hydra crawled inside to the pentagonal prism.

    "Who said anything about isolation, Captain Lefeuvre?" A smirk appeared on Alan as he raised his index finger. "He has but one minute to get free from the barrier. The Hydra was summoned specifically for this purpose. I know that it might not be powerful enough to kill him but certainly powerful to keep him busy in there. Once the countdown ends, those seals will act."

    Claire felt something bad is going to happen as she once again remembered Mia''s father''s warning. Gripping the sword handle tightly, she replied, "I will not let you¡­"

    "Soul skill: Descent of the Heavenly Guardian."

    "Skill card: Holy Ground, Activate."

    Her sword disappears from her hand while she started to emit a tremendous amount of holy aura. At the same time, her entire 30-meter surroundings turned into a golden mud field.

    Alan knew that regeneration ability is very troublesome. Since he still has five minutes to resummon its Minotaur, Alan could now only depend on skill cards.

    Unlike Claire, the rest of the three didn''t know what''s going on and they too thought that it was just a barrier that was created to isolate him. Having trust in their comrade, they didn''t think much of it and proceeded to face their targets.

    As for Vajra that was separated from its master, it looked at Azzy through the translucent barrier and then, glared at its enemies.

    *Grrr*

    Letting out a low growl, it started to run towards Dove, leaving behind a streak of sparks.

    Meanwhile, Azzy found himself facing the Hydra, which was linked to Webster who was standing outside of the barrier.

    At the same time, he felt strange about the blinking seals.

    Following their agreement of not lending a hand at any moment unless Azzy''s life fell in danger, the Reaper continued to stay silent as the match started. He didn''t give any warnings or suggestions.

    As the peak-rank-6 Hydra extended one of its five heads towards Azzy and attacked him, the latter once again conjured a three-meter dark energy palm around his one hand and took out a skill card in another.

    "Skill card: Laughing Skull of darkness, activate."

    *He he hehe*

    A purple laughing skull appeared in his hand with its sound resounded all over the prism.

    He threw it towards the snakehead.

    The red-colored head of fire attribute opened its mouth. As a higher realm beast from the Arcana world, not only it has high instincts, it also mastered the soul energy from the moment it was born.

    So, the moment it saw the skull, feeling threatened by it, instead of dodging or taking it head-on, Hydra breathe out flames to destroy it.

    "That would have worked if it was me from 3 days ago but now¡­" Moving away from its range, Azzy motioned his hand upwards.

    The laughing skull suddenly changed its path and moved up, dodging the flames.

 Chapter 179: Champions League Finals part-8

    Webster, the only one who is free enough to keep an eye within the prism, was taken aback by surprise as he watched how the laughing skull suddenly dodged the flames. "What the¡­ Can he control it? He couldn''t before. Just what happened in the past three days?" He fell into a daze for a couple of moments.

    As the purple skull reached above the snake''s head, Azzy then motioned his arm downwards.

    *Hehe hehehe*

    Continuing to laugh hysterically, it dived towards the top of the snake''s head. However, the head moved to the side at the last second and dodged the attack of the skull, surprising Azzy for a second.

    "According to its sound, all Hydras under platinum grade are of snake species and have the characteristics of snakes. So, they shouldn''t have ears and couldn''t hear anything. The skull was also attacking its blind spot. It sensed its soul energy perhaps?"

    Azzy fell into deep thoughts for a moment. He spotted the four heads of the snake are observing him. It made him wonder whether they can share the vision. If that''s the case, he could try using it with his skeleton hydra too.

    "Ah!"

    Taking advantage of his moment of carelessness, the fire head breathe out the flames once again and destroyed the purple skull.

    Azzy came back to his senses after it was destroyed within a fraction of a second. He took out another skill card to summon another purple skull. But this time, it was only in the four-star realm.

    He wanted to test his theory. After throwing it towards the extended snakehead, he controlled its path once again.

    However, this time, the Hydra''s fire head tried to swallow it instead.

    "Indeed, the intelligence levels of a gold grade beast are far below a human."

    Even though Azzy wanted to test his theory, the snake trying to swallow his laughing skull is possibly the best outcome he can have. So, he allowed it.

    It opened its mouth and successfully swallowed the skull.

    Under Azzy''s control, the latter just traveled down its neck and entered the common stomach, exploding into a blast of energy.

    As it is a higher realm beast, the blast means nothing to it. But, it didn''t know that the blast of energy also contains Death energy.

    The minuscule amount of dark energy started to spread all over its body in tiny particles, slowly merging with its own soul energy in the preparations to attack its core.

    If it is a platinum or higher grade beast, it would have sensed the changes within its body and tried to resist the foreign energy, perhaps even eliminate it. However, due to its low grade, Hydra didn''t know that the seed of its destruction just now has been planted.

    In the meantime, to study the creature, once again, Azzy summoned another purple skull, dropping his soul energy to four digits.

    After throwing the skull towards the fire head, Azzy didn''t hesitate to replenish his soul energy with a recovery card and then, controlled its path.

    "Sss Haa¡­"

    It breathes out the flames once again. Keeping an eye on the other four elemental heads, he continued to control the skull. Surprisingly, it was able to breathe out flames continuously from its mouth.

    To use such an attack, one would use soul energy no matter whether they are a human or any other creature.

    However, the fact that Hydra is using such a thing with ease tells there''s something wrong here.

    After all, it is only a beginner rank-6 beast with near around 4 million soul power. Even though Hydra''s overall strength is comparable to that of a peak-rank-6 beast of the same realm due to its multiple heads, still, it doesn''t explain how it could use flames powerful enough to burn a high-rank-5 beast to death.

    With each attack consuming at least 900 thousand soul power worth of energy, in theory, it could only use the attack a few times.

    But, what Azzy was seeing was quite different from it. Although it was using continuously, Azzy couldn''t sense any drop in its soul power either.

    To understand its power completely, Azzy unleashed the soul skill.

    Soul skill: Eyes of God

    As his eyes turned pitch black, within just a fraction of a second, everything that''s happening within its body was revealed to him. "I see. It''s not that Hydra''s soul power isn''t dropping. It''s just that the core is instantly replenishing the soul energy almost instantly as the rest of its four heads were busy absorbing the natural energy."

    Then, for a while, he played with the fire head by moving his laughing skull up and down, left and right. The fire head''s eyes were obviously fixed on it and continuously breathe out the flames. In the meantime, he observed the reaction of other heads.

    "It''s just like I thought. These five heads share a vision and it seems that guy couldn''t order it either." He glanced at Webster who was observing the battle.

    Just as he was about to return his gaze back to the beast, his eyes fell on the blinking seal.

    "This¡­ what is this¡­"

    Azzy immediately looked at other seals.

    Natural energy was being absorbed by the mystic seals and was further getting compressed into a dense ball of energy.

    Just in one ball, he felt a terrifying amount of power within it. And the natural energy within those compressed energy balls seemed like they will burst at any movement.

    Realization dawned upon him. "This isn''t a simple isolation prism."

    "Sss Haaa"

    Just right then, his laughing skull was destroyed once again and its eyes fell on Azzy.

    The fire-head extended further towards him and opened its mouth to burn him down.

    Azzy sensed its presence. He hurriedly raised his hand and caught its head, tightly closing its mouth.

    It struggled to move. Azzy pressed on it further.

    Unlike last time, he didn''t intend on just catching it. He now poured more soul energy into his energy hand and pressed it further to crush it down.

    With one of its heads in danger, the remaining elemental heads no longer sit straight. All the other four heads extended towards Azzy. However, before they even crossed a few meters, the fire head was crushed to a pulp smearing his hand with its sticky blood.

    Azzy glanced at left and right at the seals on the prism. "I wish I know how long I have to escape. But, first, I had to take care of this¡­"

    *Hisss*

    The blue-red hissed in anger as it unleashed its soul skill.

    All of a sudden, huge amount of volumes of water erupted below Azzy''s feet, throwing him up in the air.

    As Azzy couldn''t resist the force, he released soul energy and made armor over him, powering up his defense.

    At the same time, he tried to rotate his body in the air, and soon, the water started to hit him on the upper part of his back while his feet collided with the barrier.

    Using the barrier as his foothold, Azzy jumped to the side to land somewhere else.

    As soon as it saw Azzy diverted his path, the Hydra''s earth head unleashed its soul skill to transform the entire mud field within the prism into Quicksand.

    At the same time, the other heads extended towards Azzy to catch him.

    "I wanted to kill you with slow poison while learning everything but you leave me with no choice."

    Falling from two hundred meters high, Azzy didn''t hesitate to unleash his soul skill.

    "Soul skill: Spear of Death"

    A dark energy spear appeared in his hand.  The Hydra heads that were extended instantly shrink back in fear. For some reason, just sensing the energy made them terrified.

    Within a few seconds, he was now a hundred meters above the multi-headed Hydra.

    Just as he was about to throw it, his eyes fell on the thread that attached the beast to its summoner. "Damn it. I forgot that he will die too."

    Azzy gritted his teeth in frustration and then, glanced at the seals of the prism that was on the mud field turned quicksand. A sudden idea emerged in his head.

    Twisting his arm, he changed the direction of the Death spear towards the seal in order to destroy it.

    However, just as it left his hand, his pitch-black eyes captured the compressed natural energy that suddenly erupted.

    "Kyaaaa¡­"

    At the same time, a piercing scream was heard from his behind. He turned his head and saw it was the opponent with staff on her hand, was thrown inside the barrier. She has heavy injuries on her body and the aura of death on her was thickest.

    The death spear was rapidly advancing towards its target. It was only a few meters away from the seal and Azzy was only fifty meters away from the mud field.

    *Booom*

 Chapter 180: Champions League Finals part-9

    *Cling* *Cling*

    While Azzy was battling with the Hydra inside the prism, the dual scimitar wielder and the swordsman were in an intense battle on the left edge of the field.

    With his newfound super speed combined with his lightning energy, Gideon was aggressively attacking her.

    However, Hazel was blocking all of his attacks perfectly. So, neither of them is gaining the upper hand.

    In the middle of the field, there was another similar battle between the two captains where Claire was aggressively attacking Alan. However, here with no support of his Minotaur, Alan was at a complete disadvantage.

    Claire wasn''t caring about any injuries and completely focusing on defeating the opponent team''s captain as soon as possible as she didn''t have much time.

    Due to her regeneration ability, all the damage that Alan inflicted on her is getting healed on its own while this peak-rank-5 expert from Dragon Academy was the only one that was getting bleed over and over again.

    Despite that, he still focuses on defending to stall the time as much as possible. Once Azzy is dead, the rest of the match is a piece of cake for their team.

    On the left, Arthur and his Red dragon are winning against the two girls. With her wood element is weak against the fire, Mia could only try defending herself under the attacks of the Red dragon. On the other hand, Arthur was in an even battle against Snivy on the ground.

    Finally, in the right corner of the field, Dove was being bullied by the raging wolf. The angered Vajra was attacking her nonstop while dodging her skill card attacks with lightning speed.

    Dove was being heavily injured and no one is in a position to help her out. So, she could only depend on healing cards while being thrown here and there.

    As soon as Azzy replenished his soul energy to full, Vajra didn''t hesitate to unleash a soul skill.

    "Soul skill: Wolf Head"

    A giant wolf head made of dark and lightning energy appeared above it.

    *Woof*

    Followed by its powerful bark, the giant wolf head charged towards her, opening its mouth and revealed its sharp canines.

    Dove hurriedly threw a skill card. "Skill card: Earth Shield, activate."

    A rocky wall rose from the ground to block the attack.

    However, as the giant wolf head collided with the wall, a heavy explosion took place and blasted her away who was hiding behind the wall that was supposed to block a full-strength attack of a high-rank-5 Arcana Master.

    "Kya¡­" With her body heavily injured, she let out a piercing cry, hitting the prism. Since she was one of the summoners of the prism, her body passed through the wall and fell on the mud field.

    With the area turned into quicksand by the Hydra, she slowly started to sink down. She was forcing herself to stand up on her feet.

    Meanwhile, outside of the prism, Claire''s energy swords pierced Alan, one in the chest and the other in the abdomen. He fell on his back as Claire created a dozen of energy swords above her.

    Stepping on his bleeding abdomen, she scowled, "now, deactivate this prism right away, or else, I won''t hesitate to make you my first kill.

    *Cough*

    Wiping out the blood, Alan laughed, "Sorry but it is already too late. Anytime now¡­"

    "Kyaaa¡­"

    As a familiar piercing cry was heard from behind, his facial expression changed instantly, and forcefully turn his head while ignoring his injuries. "No¡­ Dove¡­"

    *Boooom*

    His screaming of her name went deaf as the compressed natural energy burst from all the sides of the pentagon prism and cause a heavy explosion right in front of their eyes.

    "Azzy¡­" "Dove¡­" Hazel and Gideon stopped their battle and screamed for their respective friends in a panic.

    "Azrael¡­" Mia and Snivy screamed his name while Arthur started to laugh out loud. "hahaha, I told you. Owning a platinum grade beast or not, he is nothing in front of Dragon Academy."

    Webster who dismissed the Hydra at the last second fell on his back in shock, watching the enormous explosion so closely. Thankfully, the explosion was contained within the prism which cracked all over.

    So, he was fine. However, his heart is filled with pain as he too watched how his teammate got caught up in it. Tears started to flow from his eyes.

    Lastly, the black lightning wolf was nowhere to be seen.

    Meanwhile, in the audience section, the people stood up on their feet, expressing their shock as they saw this enormous explosion.

    "Azrael¡­" Barton also stood up, shouting his name in worry.

    Meanwhile, the King looked at the Royal ancestor and both of them nodded at each other. While this 9-star realm controlled his expression, the King couldn''t help but have a big smile.

    This set of skill cards is only supposed to create an isolation prism with the power of peak-rank-6. However, the Royal ancestor of Northern Qudour modified the mystical seals of the skill cards before handing them over to the Dragon Academy''s representative instructor.

    Even the Proctor was roped into this. Of course, all he was told was not to interfere in saving Twilight team members until there''s a formal request from either Claire or Sahara.

    To make it work, Captain Alan already activated them and put a stopper seal on them, and handed them to his teammates. This way, it appeared the cards were his own, not breaking any rules of the tournament.

    Despite the starting trouble, everything went according to his plan very soon. Within just half a minute, Azzy was already trapped inside and Alan was waiting for another minute to pass.

    However, who could have expected that Vajra was lucky enough to stand outside of the pentagon prism''s range and now, their team paid it dearly by losing a friend.

    As the cracks on the prism became bigger and broke like glass, the smoke inside of it spread around the surroundings.

    "Rael¡­ He''s alive¡­" As soon as the prism was destroyed, she immediately sensed Azzy''s presence. Flapping her wings, she charged into the smoke.

    Soon, the smoke cleared up and a bloodied figure was seen kneeling on his one leg, looking down.

    Meanwhile, black spikes were around him, not letting the girl come near him. Claire''s eyes were filled with tears as she was seeing his condition.

    She could sense Azzy''s life force is also getting dimmed by each second and so was his soul power. "Rael¡­" She cried in tears but Azzy seemed like he wasn''t able to hear her.

    With his eyes appearing pitch black, a few advanced realm experts wondered whether his Arcana is possessing him while others wondered whether he just passed out.

    Meanwhile, the proctor, who was standing at the sidelines, took a step back with a look of shock on his face. "Man, this one was really a monster for managing to stay alive even after being hit a seven-star realm attack. Even I wouldn''t escape unscathed facing such an attack. No wonder those people wanted him dead at all costs."

    Because of the barrier, only he was able to sense the difference between his usual dark energy and this one.

    As he observed the spikes intently, he felt this one was too malevolent in nature. "I guess this guy has two different types of soul energy, each for an Arcana, instead of a mixed one. Maybe, this is the one that grants him necromancy abilities?"

    "Damn it¡­" Alan punched the ground in frustration while his teammate Dove could no longer be seen anywhere while Azzy on the other hand appeared to be alive.

    The others were also mourning the loss of their teammate. Only Arthur doesn''t seem fazed much.

    Looking at the Twilight''s teammates that are rushing towards Azzy, he ordered his dragon, "Destroy them, Grandeur."

    *Roar*

    The powerful roar of the dragon turned into a wake-up call for Merciless Executioners.

    Alan stood up on his feet and chased after the enemies. He doesn''t intend to harm but go past them and kill Azzy to fulfill his revenge.

    "Soul skill: Soul Absorption." All of a sudden, a deep voice forcefully escaped from Azzy as he coughed out a mouthful of blood, making Claire involuntarily flinch.

    The Dragon that was about to breathe out flames to attack the two girls disappeared as Arthur fell on his knees and collapsed, all of a sudden. His soul orb was broken.

    Webster and Hazel also fell at the same time and got their soul orb damaged. Only Alan''s soul orb appeared to be fine, although he lost his consciousness just like others.

    Azzy then closed his eyes. The protective energy spikes disappeared and he slowly started to fall before Claire caught him quickly in a hurry and started pouring all of her soul energy into his body to heal him.

 Chapter 181: Aftermath

    In a park, four-year-old children are playing with each other.

    A boy was looking at them enviously as he was sitting on a swing bench all alone.

    Suddenly, someone tapped his shoulder from behind. The boy turned his head and saw a woman.

    She was tall, slender, wearing a long coat on top of some sort of military uniform. He couldn''t exactly see her face though. All he could see is her beautiful golden eyes.

    Looking at her, the boy''s eyes lit up in excitement, "Pretty sister, you are here."

    "I promised, didn''t I?" She let out a smile and pushed the bench.

    He continued to swing high with a huge laugh on his face.

    ***

    "Haaah!" Azzy opened his eyes and sat on the bed abruptly. He looked around.

    It was a familiar infirmary of the academy, except that the situation was different.

    Last time, he was a visitor. This time he appeared to be a patient. He first checked himself. "Phew, it looked like I was healed."

    "But, what was that dream anyway?" Azzy was a little bit confused but then, since it is another unimportant dream, he threw it in the back of his head and carefully, stepped down from the bed.

    Just as he walked a couple of steps, he saw four more familiar people on their respective beds like him. They are his opponents.

    Upon not finding the fifth opponent, Azzy remembered the moment before the explosion. *Sigh* "In the end, I failed to save her."

    "No, it''s not your fault." The Reaper''s voice echoed in his head. "She paid the price for siding with your enemies who tried to kill you. Not only her but the other four also paid a price similar to death."

    "Death?" Azzy''s eyes were widened in shock. "What are you talking about? Are they¡­"

    "No, they aren''t in a coma." Knowing the thoughts of Azzy, the Reaper explained the situation, clarifying his statement.

    It appeared even more of a piece of shocking news to Azzy. Taking a look at them, he closed his eyes and entered his mindscape.

    There, he saw the Reaper, as usual, standing straight while the black wolf that was chained seemed to be in slumber. If Azzy would have observed it closely, he would saw a black gem on its forehead.

    However, he was filled with anger. As soon as he saw the Reaper, Azzy didn''t even consider that the other party is a deity. He roared at him, "Why did you do that?"

    "This is how the Justice is done." The Reaper plainly replied to him.

    "Not like this." Azzy continued to roar at the Reaper. His anger is causing the rumbling of thunder in the sky within the mindscape. "All of them have five hundred years of life. And they have to spend such a life without any soul energy? Even death is a lighter punishment than this. I''ll reverse the time and set things right."

    "Calm down, Azrael." The Reaper shouted back at him, making Azzy flinch for a moment.

    Walking towards him, the Reaper put his skeletal hand on his shoulder, "now, listen to me carefully. One, their soul orb is only damaged, not destroyed. So, their soul orbs are already healed by a peak-eight-star realm Arcana Master. Still, it will take a few years for them to reach their peak again.

    Two, the girl paid for her actions. It''s not her fate but if you keep on changing the timeline to save every person, the importance of karma will be lost. As the holder of the Hourglass, you have a responsibility to guard the timeline, not throw it into a mess.

    Three, the kid with the Minotaur broke the rules of the tournament by letting his seals modify by someone who wanted you dead. He has the intention to kill you and I think you also know of it from the start.

    Moreover, the death of the girl is also on his head. If the one that linked his soul with the Hydra hadn''t act fast, there would have been two deaths by now.

    Sinners like him if left unpunished, there will be more victims. And you will be responsible for all the deaths Alan will kill in the future because of your mercy. Who knows, those victims will turn out to be your friends like Gideon or Claire.

    And lastly, because of my actions of saving you and at the same time, punishing your enemies, several people will want your head. The threat to your life will be increased exponentially from now onwards.

    Still, in the end, you have the right to choose your future. So, make your choice. Turn back the time or let this matter go. It''s all in your hands."

    After giving him a choice, the Reaper waited for his answer in patience. He doesn''t know what choice Azzy would pick as he could see different futures. At the very least, he was satisfied with how the rumblings of thunder stopped above.

    Even though the Reaper gave him a choice, he also manipulated his decision a bit by specifically mentioning Gideon''s name.

    As a matter of fact, more than justice, the Reaper wanted Azzy to understand the consequences of showing compassion to the sinners. At the same time, he couldn''t forgive someone who tried to kill his host.

    It was he who ordered Vajra to corrupt the Minotaur with the Protos energy but its quantity was quite small. So it faced a lot of resistance from the Platinum grade beast.

    But then, once Alan''s soul orb became empty because of Soul Absorption skill, under the control of Reaper, the Protos energy managed to weaken its defenses and corrupted its mind.

    After that, it proceeded to take over the soul orb. However, with no soul energy to merge, it tried to replace the original soul energy and got destroyed together with Alan''s soul orb as a result.

    Back to the present, Azzy was in deep thoughts, trying to process the things that the Reaper is trying to teach him.

    When he thought for a bit, he felt like this deity of his saying is correct but at the same time, he was also a bit guilty for leaving Dove just like that when he has the power to bring her life.

    While he''s in a dilemma of trying to choose, the school nurse entered the ward and saw Azzy just standing in the middle of the room like a statue.

    "Student Azrael, you woke up faster than I thought." She spoke to him with a smile. As a staff member of Aclein Academy, the nurse was also proud of Azzy for bringing glory to the academy.

    However, to her surprise, there wasn''t any reply from him.

    After trying a couple of times, she felt something was wrong.

    She quickly left and brought the Vice-principal with her. His four teammates, who are also waiting outside with her, hurriedly entered the ward.

    "Azzy." "Azrael" "Azrael" "Rael." Claire was faster than others to hug him. Her face was pale and her eyes were already dry with all the crying for the past couple of hours.

    "You don''t know how much worried I was... I''m sorry, I''m not strong enough¡­" Claire was continuing to blabber whatever came to her mind while others just smiled in happiness.

    Azzy was taken aback and returned to reality but then, looking at how his friends are worried for him, he felt a sense of blissfulness in his heart. It was at that moment, he had chosen the path.

    He closed his eyes and hugged back. "Thank you."

    Looking at his actions from the mindscape, the Reaper shook his head with a sigh, "It''s a pity that he chose not to reverse the time because he agrees with me but because he doesn''t want this moment to disappear.

    Although his intentions weren''t noble and were quite selfish, at the very least, his path was right. Well, no matter. In the end, the boy will walk in the path that he was destined to. Before that, he must understand that this world isn''t called the material world for nothing.

    He will have to become free of the illusionary material desires that are born in this world. For that to happen, I guess I have to give a little bit of push¡­"

    As an idea formed in his head, he snapped his skeletal fingers. "I''ll give you something that I have taken from you."

    Meanwhile, on the outside, as Azzy hugged her in return, feeling happy on the inside, his lips stretched involuntarily and a bright smile appeared on his face.

    "Eh?" The others were stunned.

 Chapter 182: The return of smile

    In one of the rooms of the Arena, Dragon Academy representative instructor, Ricardus is almost roaring at the organizing committee members. Along with them, Barton was also seated.

    "Are you not paying attention to my words? I will say it clearly once again. You can''t allow the devil to receive the prize. It''s the same as acknowledging his actions. Everyone saw it with your own eyes how Azrael damaged the soul orbs of our team members.

    Now, Hazel Hemlock, Arthur Corals, and Webster, all three of their futures are impacted.

    And Alan Tauris? He''s the holder of a platinum grade beast, the one with a potential to reach the pinnacle of the realms, the pillar of humanity, and now, he''s become nothing more than a mortal. Our Dragon Academy will not let this slide if we don''t get justice. You have to null the match¡­"

    "Only the lives of your people matter?" Barton could no longer put up with his arrogant behavior. He slammed the table in anger in response, "I''m staying quiet for a while because I feel pity for your loss but you are crossing the limits.

    Your Alan Tauris is the holder of a mere one platinum grade beast. My disciple is the holder of two platinum grade beasts. Whose life is more important for humanity? Ask anyone here. Your students used a trap that has the power that was in the realm of seven-star. It is clear that they tried to kill my disciple.

    And you have the audacity to blame Azrael who nearly died and null the match just because your students suffered?"

    The Dragon Academy''s representative instructor scoffed at his claims and replied that Azzy was alive while his academy lost two gems. Clearly, he was the victim. He further mentioned that a dark existence like Azrael needs to be eradicated for the good of humanity.

    Barton was enraged even more. Releasing his aura, he crushed the table into dust. "You dare¡­"

    A heavy imposing aura pressured the organizing committee members and the instructor a little bit.

    To fight it off, Ricardus also released his aura and crackled his knuckles, "Do you think I will fear you just because you are in an eight-star realm. You only made a breakthrough recently. You aren''t much stronger than me, anyway."

    "Now, please calm down, both of you." The organizing committee head shouted, gaining the attention of both of them. "Now, the tournament hasn''t ended. A lot of distinguished guests are staying nearby. Both of you retract your aura or else, we will consider that you are insulting the authority of WAMO."

    As they instantly controlled themselves, the committee head continued with a stern tone, "Mr. Ricardus, Azrael hasn''t broken any rule. Dove was indeed thrown into the prism by Azrael''s Arcana but you can''t deny that her cause of death was because of fratricide. You can''t act like a victim here.

    Moreover, your academy has a history of killing people in the World League. If the trapped one isn''t Azrael but any of his other teammates, they would have faced death. Then, will you let it go if we were to null the match?

    If this match becomes null, then, Dragon Academy would have to return many trophies it gained over the course of years as there are casualties.

    Moreover, we have suspicions about those skill cards. Surely Alan couldn''t have created such a powerful card on his own.

    Gifting Skill cards for their representatives are within the rules. So, there''s nothing if you have given it. However, its impact is still suspicious that it might be an activated card.

    You should be thankful that Mr. Everglade isn''t lodging a formal complaint. Now, Mr. Ricardus, I hope you understand what our decision is. If your students wake up by evening, then, tell them to attend the Prizing Ceremony for the runner-up.

    If they weren''t in such a state or if they aren''t willing, then, as the representative instructor, you can take the prize on behalf of your team."

    "Fine, you win but I won''t let this matter be rest." Ricardus stormed out of the place in anger.

    Soon, Barton also left the place.

    "This will cause a headache to the Headquarters." The committee head let out a long sigh as both of them disappeared from his view.

    ***

    Meanwhile, at the infirmary;

    "Azzy, you are smiling."

    "huh!" "Huh!" Claire and Azzy were taken aback upon hearing Gideon''s statement with the others also look like they were shocked.

    Claire let go of Azzy and looked at him. She saw Azzy was frowning. An expression of delight appeared on her face. "Your expression is back, again."

    "Back?" The four of them looked at each other wondering whether Claire knew something about it.

    On the other hand, Azzy appeared to be confused. "How is that possible?"

    After all, he could sense there are no seals placed on his soul orb. Then, how are his emotions are restored?

    He couldn''t help but ask the Reaper. However, the latter stayed silent as it is troublesome to explain the situation.

    "I guess student Azrael''s nervous system was probably affected because of the incident." As the nurse wondered out loud about the possibility, Azzy and others thought for a second and felt it might be true.

    Meanwhile, Claire and Gideon were on high clouds. Grabbing his shoulder, Gideon smiled, "today is indeed worth celebrating. We won the tournament, nothing happened to you, moreover, your expression also has been returned¡­"

    "Ah, Yes¡­" Azzy slowly replied to him, looking down. "It would have been if there weren''t any casualties." He looked to the side where the unconscious opponents are resting on the beds.

    When Gideon reminded him of their victory, Azzy was also reminded that a person has died and another person lost everything. At the same time, he chose not to reverse the time. It only made him feel guiltier.

    Azzy''s comment made everyone silent. Until now, his friends were worried about him. So, they didn''t care a bit about Dove. Now that they were reminded about it, they too couldn''t help but feel a little bit sad.

    At the same time, it''s an unfamiliar experience for them to see that sort of expression on a stoic-faced Azzy.

    "It wasn''t anyone''s fault." As the person with the most amount of life experience, Sahara voiced her opinion. "Sometimes, things just happen. We need to learn what we can from those incidents and then, move on with life. After all, we, Arcana Masters have a long life ahead of us."

    "Yes." Everyone nodded in understanding, although their expressions weren''t that good.

    *Clap*

    "Anyway, you have woken up at a perfect time. All of you have to get ready for the evening''s Prizing Ceremony followed by the Royal feast. Come with me¡­" The Vice-Principal then took them to the indoor training facility, which is located nearby the infirmary and is within the perimeter of training grounds-1.

    Usually, it is where card-creation class and sometimes, combat classes take place but right now, a barrier was put over the entire facility to make sure no one enters the place.

    Looking at the place, Azzy mumbled, "I can''t believe I''m back to this place again."

    Barton did that to protect a few secrets from these foreign academy students. Azzy''s private training was also halted because of this. In one way, all this mess started because Barton restricted his entry.

    If Barton would have allowed him to train in isolation, he wouldn''t have interfered in Gideon''s challenge, which gave the path to his battle to Vann, followed by his death, followed by Azzy''s participation in the Champions League. He would have minded his own business like usual.

    In the end, Azzy let out a sigh as he followed Sahara who opened a door-like entrance on the barrier.

    After everyone got inside, the barrier was closed once again. Unknown to the group, two people were spying on them while hiding behind the rocks.

    "What to do now? Should we wait? Or should we go and inform his majesty?" The younger guy asked his senior.

    The senior replied to him that the King wouldn''t like the news. So, they should stay quiet and observe. He further told him that they can just gather more information and relay it to the King after he got the news and redirect his anger on someone else.

    However, these two, who think they are good enough to hide from even a seven-star-realm expert like Sahara, didn''t know that a teenage girl was watching them from the rifle scope.

    Her finger was on the trigger, ready to shoot at any time.

 Chapter 183: Closing Ceremony part-1

    Grand Arena, Training grounds-1;

    It was 7 o''clock. The sky was dark and the stadium lights were on, focusing on the field in the stadium.

    Even though there aren''t any matches to be held, the stadium was still packed with a hundred thousand spectators.

    The only thing about the audience that''s different from the past couple of weeks is that majority of them are young people who came to Aclein from many places to watch it.

    As for higher realm experts and scouts, they weren''t interested in things like music and dance performances. So, there were very few of them. However, the duo of teenage-looking grandpa and his nine-year-old granddaughter also attended this closing ceremony. They sat somewhere in a corner.

    The barren field inside the stadium was replaced by a huge plain floor.

    Suddenly, the lights went off and fireworks were displayed all around for a whole minute.

    Slowly, as the music started playing, the lights were on again and everyone saw dozens of people wearing snow-white outfits clustered together in the middle.

    Soon, they started to move in various formations. The performance lasted for five minutes and once again the lights were off.

    Within a minute, as the lights switched on, this time, the audience saw an elevated platform in the middle of the stadium.

    Standing before them are three people. One is the beautiful host Exea, the second is the organizing committee head and the last one is the Principal of the hosting academy.

    "Ladies and Gentlemen¡­"

    After a short introduction to the closing ceremony, Exea gestured for Barton to speak up.

    He then gave a thank you speech for letting his academy host the prestigious international tournament and later, requested everyone to have a one-minute of silence for the life that was lost during the finals.

    Even the closing ceremony was supposed to be full of fun, just like other tournaments, the management followed the custom to start it by mourning for the death that occurred during the tournament.

    Thankfully, most of the audience also knew of this ancient custom that was going on for several millennia now. The hundred thousand spectators stood up together and kept silent for the talented girl who died at the age of 16.

    After a minute of silence, Barton introduced the organizing committee head, Leroy Cobris who started speaking about how the association and the public witnessed the rise of amazing talents, this year.

    Then, the actual fun began with popular singers, male bands, and dancers gave their performances one after another.

    Watching everyone around, the hooded figure let out a sigh, "it''s a pity, Dove was already forgotten by these people in a manner of few minutes. Just like how the bony always say, humans are indeed the cruelest creatures in the universe."

    "What happened, grandpa?" Nine-year-old Izora spotted that her grandpa doesn''t seem to be in a good mood.

    Her teenage-looking grandpa shook his head in response, "nothing, Izora."

    Looking at the forced smile on him, she wondered whether he doesn''t such things. But, considering his status, she thought it would be weird if he likes such things.

    Izora ignored him and put her attention back to the stage.

    An hour later, Exea appeared with the mic and announced the start of the Prizing Ceremony.

    "Now, let''s welcome our champions of the Champions with a loud cheer, everyone."

    As the screens displayed the names by their ranking, Exea called out their names one by one while they entered the stadium with their own special music playing in the background.

    Amid the cheers of a hundred thousand spectators, everyone was waving their hands with a smile on their faces until they reached the center of the stadium.

    Only the students of the Central Academy and Dragon Academy were stoic as they entered.

    Of course, the former came that way in their standard military style because of their discipline and the latter just have dead eyes as they walked like puppets without any soul.

    In fact, they entered the tournament being the favorites but by the end, they were the ones who lost the most in this tournament.

    First, their complaint about the venue was rejected by WAMO.

    Second, they lost a comrade.

    Third, the three of them temporarily lost the ability to train their soul energy. They can no longer catch up with peers at least for the next five-ten years. In an Academy where strength is everything, it will be hard for them to get into an advanced program.

    Fourth, their captain was also turned into a mortal. So, it''s clear that his life as an Arcana Master is over unless a ten-star demi god takes pity on him and offers him a new soul orb. This situation is obviously next to impossible. To get back his Minotaur, he could also participate in some forbidden ritual by Druids and pay a price in return. But, that''s another story.

    Fifth and final, their appeal to null the final match was also soundly rejected by WAMO.

    So, these four teenagers care neither about their public image nor about the prize. They just entered the stadium, following the orders of their instructor.

    "Last but not least, I present you the Champions of the Group category, Team Twilight from Aclein Academy of Arcana." Exea clearly appeared to be the most excited as she screamed on top of her lungs.

    Followed by Claire''s lead, the five winners of the tournament entered the stadium amid a hundred thousand cheers.

    "Twilight" "Twilight" "Azrael" "Claire" "Claire" "Gideon" "Mia" "Mia" "Snivy" "Twilight"

    This wasn''t the first time the overwhelming cheers made Azzy feel the excitement in his heart. However, back then, he couldn''t show any emotions on his face.

    Now that his expression has been returned, Azzy looked troubled as he was trying to suppress his smile as much as possible. In the end, the cameras captured his awkward smile.

    "Cute¡­"

    Strangely, older girls who are in college found him cute at the moment as he was facing difficulty to stay calm. When he found it isn''t possible, Azzy just put his head and walked ahead giving an impression to the first-timers that he was just a shy kid.

    Only those who watched all of his performances from the start found it hard to see that kind of troubled expression on Azzy''s face. Many female students of Aclein academy even felt disappointed as their image of him being a cold prince shattered like glass.

    Soon, the group joined others.

    Several groups stood together according to their academies. They were all the academies that made it to top-10 in different categories. Their representative instructors are also with them.

    Exea then continued, "Now that everyone is here, let''s invite our chief guest to hand out the prizes for the Champions. Everyone, give a huge round of applause for the Vice President of the World Arcana Masters Association."

    *Clap* *Clap*

    As the spectators clapped, with their eyes fixed at the entrance on either of the pavilions to see the legendary emperor of lightning and thunder, all of a sudden several bolts of lightning narrow to each other descended onto the platform, scaring the hell out of Exea including the students who stood nearby.

    A figure appeared in the midst of lightning bolts and with a snap of his finger, they disappeared.

    It was a half-naked old man with an exposed muscular upper body with short white hair and a clean shaved beard and mustache, although the wrinkles are clearly visible. With a ring over his head that resembles a crown and a fierce look in his eyes, it gave an impression of a mighty warrior.

    As Exea greeted him with a bow, the old man impatiently took the mic from her and introduced himself, "Greetings everyone. I''m Ramiel Crescent. I have only two things to say.

    First of all, congratulations to all the winners and those who also made it to the top 10.

    Secondly, most of you will soon graduate from these beginner studies and choose your path. Whatever path you might choose, just remember that the more you get stronger, the more your responsibility to society increases. So, contribute to the welfare of the society in any way you can."

    "Eh? Crescent?" Azzy was taken aback by surprise as soon as he heard of his identity. He didn''t expect a member of his clan was the Vice president of the world''s strongest organization where even Death Clan alone cannot go to a full-scale war, according to his master, Avia Night.

    Along with Azzy, two more people were also seemed surprised. Gideon and Barbara, both of them also didn''t expect such a thing. However, unlike Azzy, they felt more excited instead.

    Meanwhile, Claire who was watching Azzy from the corner of her eyes giggled to herself. "It''s fun to see this side of Rael."

 Chapter 184: Closing Ceremony part-2

    As a man of few words, after telling two important points, Ramiel quickly handed the mic back to Exea who then took out a storage card and threw it on the empty space. Several boxes appeared before everyone.

    Looking at the cue card, she announced, "First, Solo category. Congratulations, Ossie Felide from the Light Wind Academy on winning tenth place. Please come forward and accept your reward.

    A short and chubby teenager stepped forward. Exea handed the box to his Vice-President who then, shook his hand. "Congratulations."

    After congratulating him, he gave the box, which contained two cards, one was a blue colored and the other is a gold-colored one.

    The blue-colored card is a prepaid card worth 1 million credits where he can use at any place in the world that allows cashless transactions. While it doesn''t work on atm, one can go to a bank and withdraw the cash in the respective nation''s currency.

    As for the gold card, it is a flying card of gold grade, capable of transporting a maximum weight of 3000 kg from one place to another.

    She continued with announcing the names one by one. From 10th to 4th, all of them received the same prize money. The only difference is that 4th -6th place participants received a gold grade storage card instead, which is a bit more expensive than a flying card.

    After that, he announced the names of the duo challengers. Finally, it was groups.

    The boxes disappeared one after another. In the end, only nine boxes remained. They were a little bit bigger than the rest and also have medals placed on top of the boxes.

    "Now, it''s time for the 3rd place of Solo category." Unlike the others, she raised her pitch a bit in order to show the importance of the top 3 winners.

    "Congratulations, Skylark Flame from the Central Academy on winning the bronze medal. Please come forward and accept your reward."

    After putting a bronze medal over his neck, Ramiel patted his shoulder, "well done."

    "Thank you, Sir." Skylark saluted him.

    While he was getting down from the stage, Skylark took a peek inside the box.

    It contained a prepaid card with ten million credits, one unique 5-star skill card, and a gold-grade teleportation device card.

    It was an item card that summons a teleportation device and mass teleport a maximum of a hundred people to a teleportation point.

    The consumption of his soul energy depends on the distance as well as the number of people tagging along with him. This was the item he chose after thinking carefully, although it is unpopular because it can''t teleport the user and can only be used on others.

    A few hours ago, all the representative instructors of the top-3 winners have gotten the list so that the winners chose the prize and get it right away. Only the gold medalists who had to receive custom-made rewards didn''t submit the list right away.

    After Skylark had returned to his position, Exea called Vann''s name. He received a silver medal, 25 million credits, one gold-grade item card, and one unique six-star skill card of his choice.

    Vann, the disguised Celestial grade beast only has one goal, which is to live free without any worries.

    He knew that can only happen when it becomes the strongest. So, his goal is to devour other celestial grade beasts and grow stronger. At first, when he realized Azzy and Leah are the holders of Celestial grade beasts, he originally planned to kill them.

    However, after watching the finals, Vann decided to come after them after getting into the Exalt-realm (seven-star). For that to happen, he needs to devour other celestial grade beasts in the wild.

    So, in the end, he had chosen a location scanner card. A while ago, the name was changed to Satellite card after the humans progressed with sending satellites to space.

    When it was used, like its name, it scans the area and shows the clean map of the area from the top angle into the user''s head. Since it is a gold grade card, the user could also be able to see things like aura, shadows, etc¡­ The range will be depending on the user''s soul power consumption.

    Vann felt that this was the most useful of all item cards for his conquest.

    As for the one-time use six-star skill card, he chose a Lifeburn skill card where one could burn their life force in exchange for an increase in strength by an entire realm for a whole hour. He kept this as a trump card.

    Despite being defeated very badly, these two rewards satisfied him a bit. He returned to his position while keeping a smile on his face.

    After that, it was Leah''s turn to receive her rewards.

    The spectators gave a standing ovation to her and cheered for her loudly in excitement.

    Soon, the duo category awards are also finished and finally, it was the Group category''s turn.

    The third place was also bagged by the Central Academy who was defeated by Dragon Academy in the semi-finals.

    Team members of Merciless Executioners just go onto the stage with the same dead eyes as before. In front of the things they lost, neither the rewards, Ramiel''s encouragement, nor the cheers of the supporters moved their hearts.

    In the end, the spectators could only look at them in pity

    "Now, let''s welcome the winner of the tournament to lift the Trophy. Champions of the Champions, team Twilight from Aclein Academy of Arcana."

    *Whooo*

    The spectators erupted in cheers, louder than ever. The fellow participants also clapped in response. Barbara was jumping in excitement as she clapped with a huge laugh. Amid everyone''s claps, team twilight stepped forward.

    "Congratulations, Team Twilight from the Aclein Academy on winning the Champions Trophy. Please come forward and accept your reward."

    This is where the winner of the Group category excels the rest. Unlike others, not only they were presented with gold medals, but their team also got the Champions Trophy, which is completely made of gold, although it doesn''t belong to the team members and could only stay with the academy they represented.

    One by one, Ramiel put the gold medals on the champions by just saying Congratulations and good job even though he wanted to say more things. Remembering his position, Ramiel decided to talk about a few things during the feast.

    Claire was then given the final box that contains a prepaid with hundred million credits, an extremely rare platinum grade satellite card chosen by Gideon, a high-grade Earth crystal chosen by Gideon, and a key pass that can use five times to attend a private tutoring session with rank-9 expert chosen by Mia.

    As for the knowledge transfer of a unique skill card creation from a renowned card creator chosen by Azzy and the customized item forged by a renowned grandmaster chosen by Claire can only be arrived at a later date.

    After the prizing ceremony is finished, the participants started leaving the arena under the cheers of the audience.

    Now that his job is done, Ramiel also disappeared like a flash.

    "Ladies and Gentlemen, it''s time for the final event of the closing ceremony. Give it up for Eclipse and Sky¡­"

    The lights switched off for a couple of seconds and when they were on, two figures appeared on the stage.

    One is the familiar singer that sang during the opening ceremony. The other is a mysterious guy with a mask on his face.

    The audience erupted in cheers, probably more than during the prizing ceremony.

    After all, this collaboration between these top singers is the main attraction of the closing ceremony that made everyone come from afar.

    Fifteen minutes later;

    "Thank you." Eclipse and Sky slightly bowed before leaving the stage.

    "Thank you, Eclipse. Thank you, Sky." "As of now, the Champions league 1994 is closed."

    As soon as she announced those words, the lights were switched off once again, displaying fireworks.

    People started to leave and as the lights were on, everyone saw tens of figures suddenly appeared in the middle of the stadium, confusing the audience as well as the host.

    The leader of the group was a tall and well-built old man who was standing on top of a giant stingray.

    "Hmm?" Barton frowned as soon as he saw the leader of the group. He stood up from his seat and rose in the air.

 Chapter 185: Attack of a Supreme realm Expert part-1

    More than fifteen minutes ago, after the prizing ceremony is finished, except for the team members of Merciless Executioners and a few others, the remaining joined the audience section to enjoy the mini-concert of the closing ceremony.

    Now that the tournament is over, Barbara also didn''t bother to sit with her team. Rather, she requested Gideon and sat next to Azzy, much to Claire''s displeasure who sat on his other side.

    "So, cou¡­ *Cough* I mean, Azrael. Congratulations, your emotions have been returned." She let out a comment as soon as she took her seat.

    Azzy shrugged his shoulders, "not sure whether I need to celebrate or feel sad."

    Claire and others glanced at him, wondering what he meant by that. After all, it is a good thing.

    Barbara stared at him for a couple of seconds and nodded, "I understand. But then again, when we return, you can just train in it. After all¡­"

    "Barbara¡­" Azzy suddenly raised his voice and looked at her seriously.

    It was the second time she saw an expression on him. After watching him being expressionless for the past few weeks, it was an unfamiliar experience for her. Still, she managed to calm down upon understanding the meaning behind his actions.

    She slowly apologized and placed her attention on the stage where Singer Sky is singing a ballad.

    While the others didn''t understand the meaning behind her words, they didn''t want to disturb the current atmosphere and focused on the performance.

    In the meantime, inside his mindscape, the Reaper seemed to be meditating as he was concentrating on sensing the surroundings. He knew what''s going to happen next as in all the possible futures, this event is sure to happen, although the outcome varies.

    As he was trying to scan the whole stadium, he felt a mysterious aura that is quite nearby Azzy.

    "What is this aura? It is familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time. It looked like it belongs to this world and at the same time, doesn''t belong here? Is it a messenger from the Celestial kingdom or is it a person from one of those faraway worlds? Whoever it is, he/she must be at least in the demigod realm and is also powerful enough to escape my vision of timeline. Argh¡­ My abilities are too much restricted in this mortal body."

    Even in the past during his time spent with the Death clan founder, the Reaper faced situations like these. So, he was familiar with this.

    He was more frustrated about how such a presence is going to affect this upcoming event. After all, according to the Reaper, it is one of the turning points in Azzy''s life.

    Furthermore, the Grim Reaper who knows every possible future hates uncertainty in the timeline. Only Demi-gods and Gods could cause such uncertainty in the events of the timeline. So, the Reaper couldn''t help but wonder whether the beings from heaven are involved in Azzy''s life.

    With how the current head of the Death clan figured out Azzy''s identity, his suspicion only grew further.

    "I should be ready with stopping the time at any time and teleport Azrael away to a safe point. If he dies, I might have to go over this time loop once again."

    Thankfully, Azzy couldn''t hear Reaper''s thoughts, or else, several questions would pop up in his mind regarding time travel. Who knows, he might even start to suspect every little thing that Reaper advises him.

    Soon, the performances are finished and Exea declared the end of the league. Like everyone, Azzy and his friends also stood up from their seats to leave for their dormitory so that they could fresh up and get ready for the Champions feast where the top 3 medalists will get the opportunity to have dinner with the exalt ream Arcana masters, upper echelons of WAMO, and VIP guests.

    However, who could have expected that before they even moved a few feet away, the invasion takes place¡­

    Upon spotting the old man comfortably standing on the giant stingray, Dragon Academy''s representative instructor, and a few people who seemed like they were from Church, Azzy realized that they might be here because of him.

    Claire and others also realized the same except for Barbara. She was watching them curiously.

    Meanwhile, Claire quickly grabbed his arm and tried to drag away, "let''s go. It''s not safe for you here."

    Azzy was of course not stupid to go and dig his grave. He let Claire drag him away.

    ***

    Elsewhere in the Grand Arena;

    The sudden appearance of individuals in the stadium alerted several people who are on their way to exit the stadium.

    Some na?ve were curious whether this is another event while others that recognized some of these individuals wondered whether there''s going to be some trouble.

    Looking at the serious expressions of these strangers, several people started to hurry up to leave the place as soon as they can while others appeared to be curious to see this matter to the end.

    A frown appeared on Leroy Cobris, the head of the organizing committee. "Aethon Light? There''s former King Timothy Light, Dragon Academy''s Ricardus, a couple of unknown exalts, and tens of six-star realm experts? Are they planning on capturing one boy or trying to level down this entire city or something¡­"

    Leroy fell into thoughts. As the tournament ended, he doesn''t have any authority to intervene in the matters unless the situation escalates to a situation where a possibility of a mass massacre of the civilians takes place.

    Moreover, he still doesn''t have any right to stop others from using his organization name as he is someone that belongs to a different department. Only conducting tournaments is his job, although he was a rank-7 expert.

    So, unless he has permission, he can''t involve in this battle. Not to mention, he doesn''t want to ask it because the intruder is a rank-9 out there who can kill him with one strike.

    "What to do¡­ Hmm¡­" Suddenly, something clicked in his mind and his eyes lit up. "Yes, Vice President Crescent intended to rope Azrael and Claire into our special forces. But Claire is born in a royal family and that too as a direct descendant. Roping such a girl is almost an impossible task. However, Azrael is different. Maybe, this might be an opportunity to scout him."

    Leroy didn''t waste any time in taking out the message card and send one to the Vice-President who was on his way to the hotel.

    Meanwhile, Barton slowly landed on the field with his hands to the back.

    He first looked at the old man who was standing right to the giant stingray and commented in a serious tone, "It looks his Majesty is too impatient. He couldn''t even wait a day and gave an order for an attack as soon as the tournament is ended."

    Barton''s eyes then shifted to the man mounted on the giant stingray, and scoffed, "The mighty Royal ancestor who kept silent until now decided to make a move. I could understand that you are afraid of WAMO. But, I didn''t understand the reason behind these worthless lackeys behind you. I guess breaking through to even the nine-star realm didn''t give you the courage to act alone, huh."

    Naturally, Barton''s comments didn''t go well with the listeners. One could clearly see anger in Timothy and others that are loyal to Aethon.

    "Mind your words, Everglade. Remember who you are standing in front of..." As the King''s father stepped forward, summoning a giant red spider, the royal ancestor interrupted him, "Timothy, stand down."

 Chapter 186: Attack of a Supreme realm Expert part-2

    Aethon first glanced to left and right, where the instructors and the students of the other academies are watching the scene.

    "This is the internal matters of our nation. So, I''ll be within every right to kill anyone that tries to interfere. So, come forward at your own expense. And one more thing¡­"

    This time, he addressed all the spectators in the stadium. "I will also give ten minutes of time. So, better leave this place if you don''t want to catch up in the middle and face an unfortunate death. The rest is your wish."

    After giving a warning to others, he then looked at the Principal and spoke, "Barton Everglade, your disciple Azrael has been charged with infiltrating our nation, killing Leonard Light, and making a deal with a platinum grade beast of Arcana world.

    As for you, you have been charged with sheltering a spy from the enemy nation, taking part in the death of Leonard Light, and sheltering an escaped beast for ten months.

    Not only that, but you are also directly or indirectly responsible for the death of 7 Priests, 8 Bishops, one Archbishop, and 6 six-star realm mercenaries who on a couple of occasions went after Azrael to convince him and bring him to the trial."

    Barton was shocked for a moment upon hearing that this many people had attempted to assassinate his disciple until now. He regretted that he wasn''t putting enough attention on Azzy.

    The Royal Ancestor continued, "Last time, I gave you an opportunity but you didn''t treasure it. On the account that your ancestors once my loyal generals, I''m willing to give one last chance.

    You and your disciple must surrender and follow us to the Royal palace without resistance for the trial. If proven innocent, the matter will be put to rest.

    Show even a slight of resist and I will have you and your disciple eradicate from the face of this planet. Like those people, you also have ten minutes to think, Barton Everglade of the Aclein city."

    Even though he was speaking normally, it was loud enough to reverberate all over the stadium. Several onlookers gasp in surprise upon hearing the accusation followed by the warning. For a moment, silence filled the stadium until an equally powerful roar echoed in the surrounded.

    "How dare you put such blatant accusations on my son?" The female voice was filled with anger and killing intent. It was so strong that the experts standing behind the Royal Ancestor shivered for a second.

    Even Barton who was listening to his accusations with a calm expression appeared to be surprised for a second and turned his head towards the source.

    He saw a familiar woman leaped from the audience section and landed on the field, right beside him.

    Standing up on her feet, she glared at the people as she summoned a heavy sword and a shield bathing in raging flames. "I don''t care who you are but don''t you dare spout nonsense anything about my son."

    "Aunt Affea?" Azzy stops moving and watched the battlefield.

    ***

    "Son?" The Royal Ancestor was taken aback at first and looked at Timothy for an explanation as he heard Azzy was only an orphan.

    As Timothy informed about her and her relation to Azzy, the Royal Ancestor''s eyes shifted to her.

    "The princess of Snieca? I don''t know much about you but Northern Qudour doesn''t have good relations with your kingdom from a long time ago." The Royal Ancestor replied to her in a calm tone. "That explains how you are fostering a spy of the south. You are just as guilty as him."

    He then told her that she too has to follow him to attend the trial.

    Affea''s face became only redder as her anger increased by this unreasonable enemy. The flames on the shield responded to her anger and the intensity increased further.

    In front of her, there''s a person who is in the realm of the nine-star realm but one can see fearlessness in her eyes as she challenged him.

    Barton waved his hand, "you don''t need to worry, Princess Snieca. I assure you, these lots will not even harm a single strand of hair of my disciple."

    "Hmm?" Affea took a glance at him and saw a look of confidence on his face.

    Meanwhile, Timothy crossed his arms over his chest, "I really wonder where your confidence comes from."

    Just then, Barton''s expression suddenly changed. His seriousness was replaced by a smile as he spoke, "Everyone in this nation knows the policy of your royal family. To clear your suspicions, you wouldn''t even feel sorry for killing an innocent child. Do you really think I can''t even expect such an attack beforehand?"

    "Oh!" The Royal Ancestor simply glanced at the ground and commented, "You want to depend on the seal hid below this piece of the floor?"

    "Eh?" The experts around him were surprised to hear his words. They instantly tried to sense the ground below their feet. However, everyone found there was nothing strange about it.

    "This man can see the seal?" Barton''s smile was wiped off instantly, not expecting that Aethon can find out his trick.

    Watching the expression on Barton, Aethon raised his hand. A ball of energy appeared over his palm. "Breaking through to the Realm of Supreme isn''t the same as making a breakthrough from Exalt to Legendary realm. You see, it wasn''t just an improvement in strength. I can see a few things that others¡­"

    *Snap*

    Looking at the crisis, Barton hurriedly snapped his finger and activated the seal while Aethon is busy with self complementing.

    A giant black seal appeared below everyone''s feet, covering the entire field. Along with Ricardus, the rest of the experts standing behind him covered their bodies with an energy shield to ward off this unknown attack.

    On the other hand, Timothy was just looking calm as he had complete faith in his ancestor.

    The Royal Ancestor stopped praising himself and threw the ball of energy towards the seal.

    However, before it even touches the seal, the latter disappeared and the ball of energy hit the floor, causing a huge explosion, throwing off Timothy and Ricardus to the back as they were standing near to the point of impact.

    As the smoke cleared, along with Affea, every spectator saw the appearances of Robots lined up at the edge of the field, encircling the intruders as well as blocking the exits.

    While this sudden move caused a moment of confusion in everyone, a middle-aged man suddenly appeared beside Barton.

    Azzy and others instantly recognized this man in a t-shirt and shorts who looked like he came back from a vacation on a beach.

    "Aegis!" Timothy''s expression turned dark to see his youngest son of all people turning against him.

    "It''s been a while, Ancestor Light. Maybe, I should also address you as Venerable Light?" This man who has some modern fashion sense talked to the Royal Ancestor in a casual tone as always he has.

    "Mind your tone, Aegis. This is no way to talk to our royal ancestor like that." Timothy scolded his son and turned towards Aethon and bowed, "I apologize for his behavior, your grace. I didn''t raise him properly."

 Chapter 187: Attack of a Supreme realm Expert part-3

    "Oh! C''mon, father." Aegis waved his hand, "In what era are you still living? Respecting your ancestors is one thing but to behave like a servant is completely another issue. That kind of ancient tradition is long gone. Anyway¡­"

    Turning his attention back to the Royal Ancestor, Aegis spoke, "our country no longer practices monarchism, Venerable Light. Only the Judicial branch has the power to punish an individual if he/she were found to be a criminal."

    He further mentioned how the death of Leonard Light as well as the escape of a platinum grade beast is still under investigation. So, he asked the royal ancestor and others to return or else, he will be forced to take action for unlawful intruding on private grounds.

    "Aegis!" His father''s face turned red in anger. "Don''t push your¡­"

    "Timothy." The Royal Ancestor interrupted him and stared at the obstacle before him seriously. "I''ll just ask you one question and that''s it. Did you decide to stand in my way?"

    "No." Aegis shook his head and explained that he was the one that was trying to undermining the authority of the government.

    Upon hearing his answer, Aethon nodded, "very well. I guess I have to clean up my own house before worrying about the trash in the society."

    Clearing his throat, he proceeded to announce, "Using my authority as the head of the Qudour Dynasty, I, hereby expel you from the royal family. From this moment, you are no longer the Grand Prince and also not allowed to use the surname of Light. Whether you live or die is no longer our concern and will be viewed as the enemy if you side with Everglade and his disciple."

    "Your Grace, please calm down." Timothy hurriedly tried to pacify the royal ancestor as soon as he heard the verdict. "Give me a chance. I will make him acknowledge his mistakes..."

    "He already made his choice." The Royal ancestor was adamant about his decision. "Now, he was left with only two choices. My ten minutes limit hasn''t passed yet. He can go away within the time and live or stay here and die. You will also be treated as a traitor if you try to defend him any longer, Timothy."

    The former king fell silent and looked at his son in worry. He knew that his son was no match for the Royal Ancestor. With the sudden turn of events, Timothy no longer cared about justice to his dead grandson. His son''s life is more important.

    Since he knew how adamant his son was on his decisions, he could now only hope for the Royal Ancestor to show mercy after defeating him. Meanwhile, Aegis opened his mouth.

    "Well then, if that''s the case, we''ll have to start with you, Ancestor Light." Aegis also became serious as he put his arms behind.

    While the robots gave the way for the spectators to hurry up and leave, both of them just stared at each other.

    With the arrival of Aegis and his conflict with his family, all of a sudden, Barton and Affea turned from main characters into side characters.

    A few minutes passed away and both of them are just staring at each other in silence while the hired security guards and the teachers were evacuating the public from the stadium.

    In the end, a handful of people were seen remained within the audience section.

    A few representative instructors of the top academies, Heavenly Academy''s Leah who stayed after failing to convince Azzy to get out of there, Azzy''s team and the Vice Principal Sahara, and A few unknown experts.

    Strangely, WAMO''s Vice President hasn''t arrived yet. Not knowing what to do, the organizing committee head also left with the remaining staff. The robots once again blocked the exits with the stadium got cleared.

    In the meantime, the Air force General gave a signal to deploy three fighter jets from one of the bases, just a minute ago. It will take a while for them to reach the place. Of course, it is debatable whether they are of any use to face against a rank-9 unless they intend to nuke the whole city along with him and risks economic and trade sanctions onto them from the international community.

    So, that''s why they never planned to face Aethon. They only planned to provide additional help to the Army who were already deployed to the Aclein to prevent possible terrorist activities.

    Right now, a special team was guarding Ramiel who seemed like he was frozen in the air right in the middle of the city for some reason.

    Inside his mindscape, the hooded teenager was standing in front of him and his Arcana spirit, a lightning Greyhound.

    Even more strangely, his eyes were pitch-black in color with no pupils and his face was actually a skull. Along with that, his hands were also appeared to be skeletal. So, one can safely assume that his entire body is skeleton just like the Reaper.

    The old man was kneeling on the ground with his hands tied by energy chains to the ground below him. The greyhound was shivering in fear and even hid back this peak-rank-8 expert.

    "Who the hell are you?" he roared in anger as he tried to get up but failed to do so and collapsed onto his knees, once again. "Argh¡­"

    The hooded teenager opened his mouth, "I told you before. My name doesn''t matter. What matters is that you staying quiet without intervening in the battle at the Arcana Academy."

    "Why?" he questioned the hooded teenager with a real skeleton face.

    "No reason. I was just supposed to do it like I was told." The hooded teenager replied to him in a plain tone, shrugging his shoulders.

    "Who ordered you?" Ramiel asked him. He doesn''t know who this guy is but at the very least, he understood that this Supreme Realm expert wouldn''t kill him or else, he would have done it long ago.

    Since he can''t escape from the situation, he thought of at least trying to get as much information as he can.

    To his question, the hooded teenager responded by pointing his skeletal fingers to himself, "me."

    "Huh!" Ramiel went into a daze. He couldn''t understand whether this man is crazy or just mocking him. Either way, he realized that he wouldn''t get enough information if he waited for the answers like this.

    However, since he was at least answering something, Ramiel changed his approach.

    "Are you with the Church?"

    "Of course, I''m not." The Hooded figure shook his head. "Look at my appearance."

    "Are you with Aethon?"

    "No," The Hooded figure once again shook his head.

    "Did one of the hidden clans send you here?"

    "No."

    A thought suddenly appeared in Ramiel''s head, remembering the mission his clan head Qridus gave to him, a year ago.

    "Are you¡­"

    Just as he was about to ask whether he''s the time traveler, the hooded figure interrupted him. "You are done with your three questions. Now, it''s my turn to say three things that you need to listen to if you value your life."

    He raised his skeletal hand and showed three fingers, "One, recruit Azrael into your organization. I mean all of them.

    Two, take Gideon as your disciple. He is, after all, your descendant.

    And three, you never met me and this meeting never happened. Speak even a word about me and you will face the consequences. Trust me, unless you have the support of a Demi-god, no one can save you. I hope you are smart enough to understand the situation."

    Ramiel stayed silent, thinking about analyzing the meaning behind his words. He didn''t understand whether this guy is a friend or a foe. If he wanted to help Azzy and Gideon, then, why was he imprisoned like this? And the support of Demi-god? Ramiel wondered just how confident he was¡­

    While Ramiel was busy figuring out his intentions, the hooded figure continued, "now that my job is done here, I''m leaving. You will stay in this state for a while. After that, you are free to leave to clean up the mess."

    The Hooded figure disappeared into thin air in the next second, leaving behind a confused Ramiel.

    Meanwhile, at the Grand Arena, the Royal Ancestor looked at his pocket watch. "The time is up."

    He looked around while announcing loudly, "since all of you intended to stay, then, what happens next is not on my head¡­"

    With most of the stadium empty, he easily spotted Azzy. "Oh! you are also here, kid."

 Chapter 188: Attack of a Supreme realm Expert part-4

    "Timothy, bring the head of the kid while I''ll take care of these fools." As soon as he found Azzy, the royal ancestor gave out an order to the former king.

    Looking at Sahara standing nearby Azzy, he further asked the dragon Academy''s representative instructor Ricardus and General Michal, who are peak-rank-7 experts to help out Timothy in clearing the obstacles that come in the way.

    "As you wish, Your Grace." Timothy bowed and then, looked at the two of his supporters who nodded in response.

    Just as they were about to leave, Aethon called him and added another order as an afterthought, "If possible, don''t harm the Pendragon girl and the Crescent. Best, if you knock them out. Just don''t kill them. That''s all."

    Because of their high-profile backgrounds, Aethon wanted to make sure they weren''t killed in the process even if the two girls are willing to seek the death.

    As for the others, he could care less about their lives and ordered them to kill anyone that comes in your way. And the rest will take care of the Robots.

    Naturally, higher realm experts like Aegis, Barton, and Affea heard his orders and were to hear that Azzy is still here. They instantly turned their heads in the direction where Aethon was looking towards.

    "Azzy, what are you doing there? Why didn''t you escape yet?" Affea''s heart skipped for a moment before she heard Aegis pass out instructions. "Mr. Everglade, Princess Snieca, I and my toys will take care of this old man and his men. You protect Azrael and take him away. Aria will lead you to a safe place. Go¡­"

    With both of them moved instantly and dashed towards the stands, Aethon mumbled, "I won''t let you¡­"

    He instantly disappeared from the spot and reappeared before the both of them like a flash and throw out successive rapid punches, taking them by surprise.

    Before they try to block them, Aegis appeared before them, blocking the attacks with his palms. However, due to the difference between their strengths, Aegis got pushed away a couple of meters.

    He pushed his leg and leaped towards Aethon while summoning a shield that was bathing in dark energy.

    "What can you do with that shield? Hmpf¡­" Aethon clenched his energy-powered fist and throw a solid punch at the shield that was about to collide with his face.

    A huge collision took place between the shield and his fist, blasting the three rank-7s behind Aethon and two allies of Aegis away for at least a dozen meters away, suffering minor injuries in the process.

    Surprisingly, The Royal Ancestor was also got pushed back a couple of meters away while Aegis managed to land even farther away.

    As the others stood on their feet, Aegis and Aethon stared at each other. Both of them seemed surprised about the last encounter.

    "So, this is the power of the Nine-star realm, huh!" Aegis thought as he gripped the shield tightly. "Nevermatter, he will fall soon."

    "He''s stronger than I thought." Aethon looked at him seriously. "Nevermatter, he will fall soon."

    As Timothy and others slowly stood on their feet, he ordered a high-rank-7 expert named Alphonse Passel, who is the paternal great grandfather of Bay Passel, a trusted subordinate of the Royal family and the head of Stripes family to join the other three.

    Taking a deep breath, Aethon poured soul energy into his hands, forming an energy spear appeared. Slamming its handle onto the floor, he spoke, "I don''t know why you are betraying your family for the sake of that kid but the boy and his master are fated to die, if not now, then, tomorrow."

    "You have to walk over my dead body, Venerable Light." Aegis then summoned a storage card and took out a handgun from it. With an ancient-looking shield in one hand and a modern-looking gun in another, even Azzy thought this man in a flower-patterned t-shirt and shorts look damn weird.

    Aegis pointed the gun at his ancestor.

    "You plan to defeat me with that piece of junk? Dream on¡­" Aegis scoffed as he raised the energy spear, motioning his hand back and threw at him.

    Just then, Aegis pulled the trigger. A dark energy bullet escaped from the gun without any sound.

    "Argh¡­" Aethon grabbed the chest.

    Before Aethon attempted to see the trajectory of the blurry energy bullet, it already penetrated his chest, causing a massive wound with bleeding.

    "You..."

    A look of shock appeared on Aethon''s face while a smile appeared on Aegis.

    Meanwhile, Aegis blocked the spear with the shield and got pushed back for a few meters before he managed to control his footing.

    Pointing the gun at him again, Aegis spoke, "you old fossils living in ancient times and not intending to move on don''t know the capability of modern weapons."

    "A mere blood wound¡­" Aethon glared at him and he poured soul energy towards the spot of the injury to heal it.

    "Hmm, what''s going on. It''s not working properly¡­" His facial expression once again changed to that of a frown as he inspected his body.

    Due to the nature of the bullet is dark, the recovery rate was affected and the Royal ancestor found that he was being healed very slowly even though he is in the Supreme Realm.

    Having no choice Aethon decided to use the healing card but Aegis didn''t give him such a chance. "Sorry, but your time is up."

    He pulled the trigger once again. This time, Aethon tried to block it with his hand after sensing its trajectory. However, his right palm was penetrated as a result, causing another massive bleeding.

    Looking at his ancestor, Aegis smirked, "Every bullet I shoot will move at a speed of 340 miles per hour. Do you know what that means? I only need one second to hit you even if you stand far away. And within this short distance, even if you are a rank-9, it is still impossible for you to escape. As I said before, you underestimated the power of modern weapons far too much¡­"

    With the opportunity being lost, as Aethon was concentrating on using his soul energy to heal his injury for the second time, pouring his soul energy into the rank-8 prototype handgun,  Aegis pulled the trigger for the third time. Meanwhile, his soul energy was dropped by another ten percent (100 million soul power)

    This time, Aethon followed his instincts and sidestepped.

    "Arghh¡­" The bullet pierced his right shoulder, this time.

    "Damn, he''s fast." Aegis frowned inwardly. "Before I lose the advantage, I need to kill him."

    *Bang* Bang* Bang*

    He didn''t waste time in talking useless things anymore and shot six rounds non-stop. Due to the recoil, Aegis was forced to move a foot away with every shot.

    Meanwhile, Aethon felt like he didn''t have the time to care about healing his injury and focused on dodging them. He ordered his Arcana through telepathy.

    In the end, along with his right shoulder, his abdomen, right, and left knees were also wounded as a result.

    Aethon was staggering backward while feeling heavy blood loss. Eventually, he collapsed on the ground.

    "Two shots miss. Headshot was quite difficult." Letting out a sigh, Aegis proceeded to recover his soul energy with the recovery card while walking forward. "It''s time to finish this battle."

    The audience that left in the stands just stared at the battlefield in silence. All of them didn''t even know how to react, watching the mighty Supreme Realm Expert of Northern Qudour fell like that.

    "A gun is powerful enough to defeat a Supreme Realm expert?" Even Azzy went into a daze for a moment.

    At that moment, the Giant Stingray, which was staying still in the middle of a battle between the Arcana Masters and the Robots, flapped its wing-shaped fins and dived downwards.

    It passed through the floor and disappeared into the underground, surprising the onlookers.

    Of course, Aegis spotted it. Motioning his arm back, he threw the shield towards the fallen old man. Just as it was about to hit him, the Giant Stingray rose from below Aethon''s feet and swallowed him all of a sudden, getting hit by the shield.

    The shield pierced its skin and got stuck for a moment before it was thrown to the ground. The skin that was cut healed instantly.

    "No, I need to finish this quickly before the old man gets healed with the beast''s saliva." Aegis'' face turned serious and raised the gun. Almost all of his soul energy was poured into it. "Full charge."

    Just right then, a beam of light descended onto the Stingray. Aegis raised his head and saw a man with pure white wings looking at him coldly.

 Chapter 189: Attack of a Supreme realm Expert part-5

    The first collision of Aegis Light''s shield and Aethon Light''s energy attack blasted the nearby Barton and rank-7 experts.

    With Aethon realizing that their objective won''t be accomplished unless his descendant falls, he decided to stay there and take care of Aegis while ordering Bay Passel''s great grandfather, Alphonse Passel to support Timothy in taking down his enemies.

    And so, a team with two-peak-7 experts, one mid-rank-7 expert, and one high-rank-7 expert was formed with the sole task of beheading Azzy and anyone that comes in the way.

    Meanwhile, the blasted helped Barton and Affea to get closer to where Azzy is and increased the distance between them and Timothy.

    Watching the four of them making the move, Barton looked to his side and said, "You go, I''ll take care of it."

    Naturally, Affea''s concern was only on her foster son. She didn''t even hesitate to leave Barton alone and rushed towards Azzy while Barton stood there to welcome the incoming attackers.

    As there was a battle going on between powerful experts in the middle of the field, the four exalts had to rush towards their target by going around while maintaining a distance from the two freaks in the middle.

    So, Barton felt like he had enough time even though he only has a few seconds at best. After all, for seven-star realm experts, covering a mere two hundred meters won''t take much longer.

    The Principal started to rapidly making advanced rune symbols to form a seal.

    A huge circle appeared before Barton, bigger than himself. More than twenty rune symbols are successfully formed and a thread of energy in the shape of a limbless whiskered dragon is crawling around the circle.

    Whenever it passes the rune symbol, it lights them up. Within no time, half of the rune symbols are lit up.

    "He''s halfway done with the seal," Ricardus commented as they were still on their way. A couple of lower-level robots tried to block him but with a single punch, he blasted them to crash on the wall.

    Glancing at the audience section, Timothy then spoke, "let''s just not confront him and change our direction, this way. This Everglade is very good at sealing techniques."

    "Are you afraid even with three of us tagging along with you, Lord Light?" Alphonse let out a comment in response to Timothy''s cowardly tactic of going out of the stadium through a nearby exit and then, circling the stadium to ambush them from behind.

    Even the loyal General didn''t feel like following the suggestion of this former king. After all, they are seven-star realm experts. They are Exalts, widely respected in every part of the world. They have their own pride.

    In the end, the four of them rushed towards Barton, who smiled as he just managed to finish the seal in time. "Well, you are too slow."

    As the large seal successfully formed, it opened like a gate, revealing a dark space within. Barton put it inside it and took out a seemingly ordinary-looking mirror.

    However, strangely, when Barton looks at it, his face didn''t reflect on the mirror. The four experts halted for a moment, wondering what this mirror actually is¡­

    Caressing it, Barton smiled, "it''s been a long time, old friend."

    All of a sudden, the mirror started to tremble and a bald human-looking person with a tiny ponytail appeared on the mirror. He doesn''t look pleased, at the moment.

    A scoff escaped from this stranger as he replied, "I hope you don''t wake me up for a stupid chat."

    Pouring his soul energy into it, Barton said, "I need your help."

    "You know the rules." The stranger spoke with a frown.

    Barton nodded, "four weeks of longevity per one second. I know. Deal¡­"

    "Very well¡­" As a deal has been made, suddenly, his bright blue-colored energy that enveloped the mirror turned into dark.

    A thick smoke gushed out of the mirror.

    Looking at it, Timothy and others felt something wrong and they sped up. Just as they almost neared Barton, the smoke turned into a twenty feet giant muscular man with only the upper part being human and the lower part being composed of nothing but smoke. Barton summoned his storage card and put the mirror inside just in case.

    "What kind of creature is that?" Barbara exclaimed in surprise as Affea reached them and reunited with Azzy. The latter also couldn''t help but look at the half-human and half-smoke creature in surprise.

    "Didn''t this look like a live version of Genie?" Once again, it led him down to a memory lane of a cartoon, "Although it doesn''t look blue in real life and there''s a mirror instead of a lamp." He added as an afterthought.

    His mind wandered off for a moment, thinking of the possibility where the filmmakers just created the animated series based on these people. After all, he grew up in the Southern Qudour. So, in his view, it looked completely possible for an animated series developed in the northern nation and telecasted in both of the countries.

    Meanwhile, the Reaper who was watching it in silence mumbled to himself, "This kid''s master acquired a wonderful yet troublesome creature born from cosmos. I don''t know whether I should call him lucky or unlucky."

    Just then the Vice-principal opened her mouth and answered Barbara, "The Djinn."

    "Djinn?" The others looked at her, some in confusion. Even Affea never heard of such a word. While Leah is busy talking to her sword spirit to know more about the Djinn, Syllia thought, "no wonder I thought it looked familiar."

    Sahara continued with her explanation, "Djinn are the lesser cosmic entities created during the creation of the universe. However, the drawback of them is that they are too innocent like kids. They can''t tell the difference between good and evil.

    They only know one thing, which is to follow their desires. And that brought unrest within the Celestial world. It forced the King of Heavens to banish these spirits from the realm.

    His actions didn''t sit well with the Djinns. Since they aren''t powerful enough to face gods, they started to wreak havoc in different mortal worlds.

    As a punishment, the Gods sent their mortal subordinates or in our terms, the demigods, to seal them in magical objects and dispersed those objects across the universe.

    Those who found it and release the spirit from those objects will become their masters for a lifetime. However, these new masters will also become cursed as the Gods don''t want any mortal to possess them."

    "Cursed?" Everyone looked at her, hoping for more explanation but the fall of the Royal Ancestor made everyone turn their attention on the battlefield.

    In one area nearby the south pavilion, there''s an intense battle going on between thirteen Robots and forty-nine Arcana Masters. Some are losing and some appeared to be winning. There are still ten Robots on standby for some unknown reason.

    In another part of the battlefield, mainly, in the center, the Royal Ancestor was bleeding to death and the Giant Stingray gets there for the rescue.

    At the northeast corner, upon receiving the order, the Djinn dashed forward at an unimaginable speed and throw a solid punch at the four of them. They didn''t even get the chance to react before all of them flew over the wall and crash at someplace. Azzy could no longer see them.

    Aegis was also satisfied with how they completely annihilated the enemy. "Good, now it''s my turn."

    Pointing the gun at the stingray that swallowed its master to heal him with its saliva, Aegis poured all of his soul energy into the weapon, "Full charge."

    A powerful beam of dark energy blasted from his gun that contains the power to wipe them out.

    However, just then, a light beam descended from the sky even faster than his full charge beam.

    The Pillar of light that covered the giant stingray blocked the energy beam but was destroyed like glass as a result. Still, it managed to protect the person inside of it.

    Aegis raised his head. The spectators also did the same.

    Everyone saw a man, flapping his pure white wings while glaring at Aegis coldly.

    He was wearing a black plush hat and a scarlet cassock, quite different from other clergymen.

    In his hands, there was a lance brimming in golden energy.

    "A cardinal?" Aegis'' face turned ugly all of a sudden.

 Chapter 190: Attack of a Supreme realm Expert part-6

    Recovering his soul energy, Aegis glanced at the skies. Instantly, Aegis'' facial expression changed, "I know that there will be retaliation from the Church because of the death of an Arch Bishop but I didn''t expect they would send a prince of the church. It looks like they are taking Azrael very seriously. This school is no longer safe for the boy, and I can''t let Aria''s existence be exposed to the whole world. I should do something."

    He fell into thoughts to think of a strategy.

    The new entry flapped his wings and reappeared beside the Giant Stingray. Azzy felt the same feeling he saw Klaus, the Priest who teaches the history class.

    He doesn''t know whether others are seeing the same thing as him but even without using any ability, he saw some sort of light emitting from his body.

    And that light is making him uncomfortable at the moment. This was the first time he felt as if he met a natural enemy or something.

    Just then, Sahara, Syllia, Leah, and Affea collectively gasped in surprise and spoke aloud, "Cardinal of the Church."

    Gideon and the rest of the kids turned their heads towards them. Affea instantly grabbed Azzy. "We don''t have much time. Let''s leave right now."

    She started to drag him away. The others followed the two of them while Azzy continued to gaze at the new enemy curiously whose arrival on the battlefield cause such a reaction among these ladies.

    Back to the battlefield, as the Cardinal landed on the floor and retracted his wings, he glanced at Aegis, and then, at the Djinn floating before Barton.

    "The cursed creature of Cosmos will be troublesome to face. I have to go all out." He muttered under his breath before shifting his attention towards the Stingray.

    He raised his free arm towards the beast. A huge amount of energy brimming with divine power enveloped it, increasing its healing ability to another level.

    The process only lasted a mere three seconds before the beast opened its mouth.

    Aethon walked out fully healed and stared at the Cardinal. However, he doesn''t seem pleased to see this ally. "Cardinal Ophanim, I believe I told you that your organization should sit on the sidelines and not interfere in this battle."

    The Cardinal replied indifferently, "One, Church of Light isn''t an organization but an organism. And two, Venerable Light, you failed to dominate the battlefield and were heavily wounded by a man-made weapon. And you never told me that this legendary realm sealing master is the holder of Djinn. It forced me to act."

    The Cardinal''s comments hit Aethon where it hurt him the most. A mixture of anger and embarrassment could be seen on his face.

    "Alright, I accept that I underestimated my enemies'' strength," Aethon replied while looking away, not intending to meet his eyes. "Since you are already here, then, take care of the Djinn and its master. Since Timothy and others failed, right now, it doesn''t matter to me who kills the boy. You might as well go ahead and get your revenge."

    Sprouting the beautiful snow-white wings from his back, the Cardinal corrected him once again, "it''s not revenge, Venerable Light. It is the Mercy of our Goddess to save the soul of the boy before he becomes one of the greatest sinners of mankind."

    He flapped his wings and then, flew towards Barton, leaving behind Aethon who scoffed inwardly, "What a bunch of hypocrites."

    As the Cardinal went off to face the Djinn, Aethon shifted his attention towards his descendant.

    Aegis was once again pointing the gun towards him.

    Aethon''s anger increased further and gritted his teeth, "I will make sure that you regret your actions until death¡­"

    Not intending to give Aegis a chance to go on offensive any longer Aethon created energy armor around his body and pushed his leg against the ground to dash forward. At the same time, the Giant Stingray once again dived into the underground.

    He covered those thirty feet almost instantly and before Aegis got the chance to pull the trigger, Aethon was already in front of him, clenching his fist.

    The Royal Ancestor threw a punch to which Aegis block it with the shield. However, he still pushed back a couple of meters.

    Meanwhile, at the northeast corner of the stadium, the Cardinal landed before the Djinn who frowned as soon as his eyes fell on him.

    Barton''s expression also changed as soon as he saw the troublesome opponent. "Damn, the Djinn successfully halted the movements of those four but this one is very tough to beat even with the help of Djinn. But, if he comes after me, there''s a high chance that I''ll die. So, I need to be vigilant at all times."

    Barton quickly ordered the Djinn to stay close to him in case he will be ambushed. He can''t risk being careless when fighting a peak-rank-8 expert. At the same time, he was also a little bit thankful that the Cardinal is targeting and not looking for his disciple.

    As the battle started between the Djinn and the Cardinal, the higher realm experts were excited to see high-level battles going on before their very eyes. A few of them even hoped to learn something from this battle. After all, such a chance is very rare to come.

    ****

    In the meantime, a carpet was flying in the sky where Azzy was mounted on top of it along with a few higher realm experts as his security.

    Vice-Principal Sahara, Sorcerer Uphiar, Princess Snieca, a muscular man whom Azzy was unfamiliar with, and finally, Aria, standing in a circle to make sure he''s protected in all directions.

    As for Leah, Barbara, and other students, they were told to stay in the dormitories for the time being like other students because these experts couldn''t afford to protect so many people in case a strong enemy appears.

    Sahara further asked Syllia to stay behind and protect Claire and other kids in case someone tries to abduct them in her absence.

    Of course, it wasn''t the main reason. It is primarily because the place they were going is a secret hideout only known to a few people. With Syllia being an outsider, Sahara can''t trust her and gave an excuse to leave her behind.

    In the end, under the protection of Sahara and Affea, Azzy exited the training grounds-1 where they met with Aria, Uphiar, and a stranger in a military outfit who introduced himself as the head of the country''s Special Forces.

    After locking the entrance, all of them mounted on the magical carpet to fly towards their destination.

    "Were they going to be alright?" Azzy expressed his worry as he glanced at the stadium.

    Affea was taken aback a little bit but forcing herself to calm down, she assured him that everything was under the control. At the same time, she also felt weird as it is difficult for her to adjust to Azzy with expression.

    The group flew for 30 minutes straight and left the city without any issues. Everyone also relaxed a bit with no one following them.

    All of a sudden, an injured person in white robes appeared on top of the carpet with one of his knees resting on the carpet while taking heavy breaths, alerting everyone aboard.

    "Master?" "Dear?"

    Everyone looked at Barton in shock as he raised his head. Azzy saw a lot of wrinkles on his face as if he aged by a lot just within the past half an hour.

 Chapter 191: Time Traveler from the far future

    Taking heavy breaths, Barton asked the others in hurry as soon as he teleported to the top of the carpet, "how far are we from the city?"

    Even including Aria, everyone stared at Barton in surprise as they didn''t expect to teleport to them while they were still on the move. They wondered whether there''s a variant of Teleportation Skill card, where one can teleport to a specific someone like with the message cards.

    At the same time, Azzy was also shocked to see Barton''s aged quite a bit. Before he used to be a healthy-looking old man and the only defect is that he wears spectacles because of his bad vision like Gideon.

    However, now, along with the broken glasses, his face has a lot of wrinkles and his body looks a lot thinner. It made him remember the head of the Death Clan. The only difference is that Barton is thousands of years old younger.

    While there''s a brief silence from others who were in shock, Sahara asked in a worried tone, "Dear, you made the wish?"

    "Hah! Hah!..." Barton nodded slowly, "I had no choice. I almost died. Never mind that. Tell me, how long does it take for us to reach the place?"

    The head of the country''s Special Forces, Oliver patted his shoulder and replied calmly, "relax. We are far away from the city. Tell us, what''s the battle status?"

    As his wife healing him with an advanced healing skill card, Barton replied with a grim expression, "not good. In the battle, the Cardinal and the Royal Ancestor switched their places and got us good. I had to make a wish to Djinn to escape and also join you guys at the same time.

    Now, Lord Aegis is locked in a battle with the Cardinal and the Royal Ancestor will be on his way. We need to be ready."

    Uphiar who was controlling the carpet, said, "Principal Barton, we are at least a hundred kilometers away from the place. I wonder if we can make it before the Royal Ancestor catches up to us. Isn''t it better if we go to Arcana world and leave student Azrael there for the time being?"

    "No" "No" "No" Barton, Affea, and Sahara refused his suggestion at the same time in a serious tone.

    "Eh?" Azzy was taken aback a bit as he thought it is a good idea.

    Barton then explained that their strength will be limited in that other world according to the level of the regions but at the same time, a rank-9 could resist the suppression a bit and could exercise the strength of higher-realms. Moreover, only their strength will be suppressed, neither their mastery nor the skills. They all will be dead without being able to resist.

    "Well, then, let''s hope we reach the place before he finds us." Uphiar suddenly increased the speed to the maximum, consuming his soul energy at a rapid pace.

    Although he was focused on driving the carpet, one of his eyes was also eyeing the magical mirror in Barton''s hands. When he heard that the Principal had made a wish to escape a nine-star realm expert, he became intrigued about the mirror and the Djinn inside of it.

    After recovering from the injuries as well as the soul energy, he then grabbed Azzy''s shoulder, "you don''t need to worry. We will protect you at all costs."

    A look of sorrow appeared on Azzy and he looked down, "I''m sorry for putting you with all this."

    Barton was taken aback a little bit as he was not used to seeing the expression on Azzy even though he heard of it, a while ago. When he takes a look at him, now, his disciple truly looked like a normal kid.

    Unknowingly, a peal of laughter escaped on him as he was genuinely happy even though the crisis is going to fall upon them. Ruffling Azzy''s hair with affection, Barton replied, "everyone knows that you did nothing wrong, kid. It was all because of jealousy of an old man who couldn''t digest the fact that there''s a talented child born with an enormous potential out there. He was just trying to use Leonard''s death to kill you, that''s all."

    Azzy stayed silent. He knows that he isn''t wrong but at the same time, he also felt guilt for putting everyone''s lives in danger. There''s a stranger out there fighting for him.

    There are acquaintances out here who don''t intend to abandon him even though a powerful enemy they can''t beat coming for their lives. Azzy was also thankful for their actions.

    He decided to make sure to reverse the time even if one of them becomes a casualty in the process of saving him. Azzy put aside all this karma or whatever thing aside from his thoughts and prepared to summon the hourglass at any time.

    Meanwhile, Oliver exchanged messages with his superior and informed everyone about how a few unmanned combat aerial vehicles were deployed to buy them some time.

    Azzy had no idea what it is but according to the name, he thought they must be another version of a jet fighter that can be controlled just like a remote car he used to play with when he was a child.

    They have flown for at least another hour. There wasn''t any sight of the chasing rank-9 expert.

    Soon, a ghostly town appeared in their sight with ruined buildings. Only then did everyone sigh in relief. Uphiar controlled the carpet and slowly lowered the altitude while flying into the town. Meanwhile, Affea and Azzy wondered why they were landing in a place like this.

    "Everyone, follow me." With some sort of device in his hands, this director of Northern Qudour''s Special Forces took the lead and continued to walk. Since there has been no sight of the enemy in a ten-kilometer radius, they were walking at a normal pace.

    After a ten-minute walk, he stopped and turned around. "Princess Snieca and Azrael, what you are about to see must be not be revealed to anyone. It must remain confidential."

    Seeing how serious he was right now and how the surroundings being too ordinary, he had an inkling of what it''s going to be.

    Then, as the military man takes out a translucent card from his storage card, Azzy realized what they will witness. It was something he witnessed before when he was only eight years old.

    As Oliver thrust the card into an open space and then, turned counter-clockwise, all of a sudden, a massive door appeared out of nowhere, engraved with similar ancient runes and symbols that Azzy saw back then when he first entered the Death Clan village.

    However, unlike his clan village, the opened door didn''t reveal a whole new world but rather a facility similar to that of the underground secret facility where he trained for a day before the finals.

    Affea was taken aback as she saw this new place in a different dimension with dozens of robots moving here and there.

    "Welcome to the Headquarters of NQSF (Northern Qudour''s Special Forces." He announced with a big smile on his face.

    Soon, they entered the pocket world and the door was shut. The place once again looked the same as before.

    Meanwhile, in the middle of nowhere;

    The mighty Royal Ancestor froze in the air just like WAMO''s Vice President. The only differences between them are that his mouth and eyes could move freely and a hooded figure was floating before him, not in skeleton form but as a normal human form.

    "Who the hell are you?" The Royal Ancestor was growling in rage but he could neither move a bit nor could he contact his Arcana. Even his soul energy was suppressed completely.

    He doesn''t know who this guy is or why he was stopped. From the moment he was born, he never felt as helpless as now.

    The hooded figure slowly lowered his hood, revealing his face.

    Aethon''s eyes were widened in shock. "You¡­ No, it can''t be possible."

    It was Azrael, however, a few inches taller and a few years older-looking person.

    The teenager looked at him calmly as he raised his hand above. All of a sudden, the dark clouds loomed over the sky, blocking the sunlight. There was a constant rumbling in the clouds. It looked as if a heavy thunderstorm was about to occur.

    "Don''t misunderstand, Aethon Light. It''s nothing personal. I''m only trying to maintain the timeline intact as it has happened in the past."

    The Royal Ancestor shivered in fear as he saw a glimpse of a Reaper behind the boy.

    As he motioned his arm down, a bolt of black lightning descended from the clouds and hit on top of Aethon''s head, turning him into ash.

 Chapter 192: Future Azrael meets his ancestor

    After killing the Royal Ancestor, the older Azrael took out a small vase, which automatically collected all the ash. "Two more to go. I will dump ten of them together into the river of time."

    Upon tightly sealing it, he covered his face with the hood once again and stared in a certain direction. "By now, younger me must have already entered the Headquarters. Now, it''s time to take care of the problem with the Death clan. But, before that¡­"

    *Snap*

    As he snapped his fingers, in the middle of Aclein city, all of a sudden, the lightning emperor found himself free and quickly charged towards the Academy, scaring the hell out of the soldiers stationed on the way.

    The older Azrael then disappeared from the spot while the clouds also returned to normal, allowing the sunlight to fall on the grasslands.

    Meanwhile, in the Death clan Village;

    Just like every other day, Qridus dragged himself to the throne and sat on it while looking after the clan village.

    "Sigh¡­ When will Vesyrn enter the Supreme realm and when will I be able to get free from this burden.

    At the very least, it''s comfortable to know that the curse will be broken by my descendent in the future. Who knows, he might even be the reincarnation of the founder, considering both have the same Arcana spirits.

    Either way, I should start making preparations for the next couple of centuries. Once I place Vesyrn on the throne, I will venture out in the deadly region-5 wild zone and finally try to a breakthrough to the next-realm and go to the Immortal World."

    "Greetings, Lord Qridus." Suddenly, a familiar voice interrupted his thoughts and made him become alert.

    He looked around but found no one. "Who is it?" He frowned.

    Slowly, a figure materialized before him.

    "A Demi-God?" Qridus gasped in surprise as he saw the hooded figure in black robes.

    As a person who reached the peak stage of the Supreme Realm, Qridus easily identified the power of the stranger who appeared before him.

    While his heart is beating in excitement as he had only met a Demi-God once in his life, he was also nervous as to why this person appeared before him. Is he a messenger of some God from the Immortal World?

    Qridus stood up from his throne and cupped his fists with a bow in respect, "Greetings, Your Grace. May I know the reason for your visit?"

    Qridus no longer seemed arrogant, cold, and majestic as he appeared to everyone. He knew he can''t afford to offend a Demi-God who could just enter his clan, his palace, and stand before him without even alerting him a bit.

    Since he doesn''t know at what stage this Demi-God is at before forming a Galaxy within the soul, Qridus intend to be as polite as possible.

    The Hooded teenager then replied while not revealing his face, "It''s not good if Ancestor bows to a descendant, no matter the difference in the strength. The reputation of our Death clan will be tarnished. Please sit on your throne, Lord Qridus."

    "Eh?" Ancestor? Descendant" Qridus'' eyes were widened in shock. His body started to shiver at the possibility that suddenly clicked inside his head. "Are you¡­"

    The Hooded teenager nodded his head, "I''m a Time Traveler from the future, your direct descendant and the future head of the Death clan. Now, please sit on your throne. There''s something important we need to talk about."

    Qridus was shocked to the core upon his suspicions being confirmed. He couldn''t believe that it is the same teenager who he talked, a couple of times. When he thought about it, he felt their voices are also extremely similar, although this new person''s voice is a little bit deeper.

    However, what he didn''t understand is that if this person is really is his descendant and is even stronger than himself, why did the Reaper block him from reaching out to him. It doesn''t make any sense.

    The Heavenly messenger clearly said that his stranded descendant needs guidance. Why would a Demi-God need anyone''s guidance?

    Qridus fell into confusion because of a few suspicious things. He couldn''t completely believe the hooded figure''s words but still, he kept the thoughts to himself.

    Perhaps, the older Azrael had already seen through his thoughts. He said, "I want to clarify one thing. I''m not the one who got stranded in this timeline and altered a few events. I''m a Time Traveler from the far future. If you don''t believe me¡­"

    *Snap*

    As he snapped his fingers, all of a sudden, everything on the planet came to be still. The fighting between Aegis and the Cardinal was halted. Azzy and others were also stopped moving. The Reaper did sense the stopping of the time. However, for some reason, he couldn''t free Azzy.

    Meanwhile, the old man who was excluded from the Time Stop almost lost his balance upon sensing the changes around him. He collapsed on the throne.

    Now, with the evidence presented before him, all the suspicions about the stranger disappeared from his mind.

    He was now elated to know that his descendant became a Demi-God. Qridus felt as if his chest suddenly became as light as a feather. With a smile on his face, he said, "I still don''t know your name but I guess you don''t want to reveal it, considering you are also hiding your face. Never matter. So, what is the important thing that you need to talk about?"

    *Snap*

    Resuming the time, the older Azrael answered seriously, "Three things. One, you need to stop looking for the younger me who was still out there. If trouble comes his way, then, let it be.

    Two, you need to marry off Vesryn Garcia and Izora Crescent within a year. Only that way, my birth will be ensured.

    Three, there''s a war coming. All the hidden clans must be prepared to face the invasion. You still have a century to prepare yourselves."

    "Vesryn and Izora? A war?" Qridus felt like he will never forget this day where he received continuous shocks one after the other.

    The seriousness in his descendant''s tone made Qridus think this upcoming invasion is not a simple one.

    Compared to the third one, Qridus also didn''t feel the other two weren''t that important. He immediately probed further regarding this matter of invasion.

    However, the older Azrael refused to divulge any more information and just said goodbye before disappearing from the spot.

    Qridus stared at empty space for a while where the older Azrael stood until now, "A war, huh! I guess I don''t have time to think about myself. I need to train Vesryn and make him stronger than ever to face this crisis. And Izora Crescent, Hmm¡­ She only took a hundred years to reach rank-7. A good choice for my Vesryn. Now, the only question is how I should make this work¡­ He said I only have one year. I need to talk with Kylan."

    Aclein city, Northern Qudour;

    As soon as the prizing ceremony is over, team Merciless Executioners didn''t bother to go to the audience section to watch the mini-concert of the closing ceremony. All of them returned to the dormitory in disappointment.

    Their Captain, on the other hand, left the academy without informing them as he was too ashamed to stay there.

 Chapter 193: Alan gets a second chance

    Becoming a mortal, Alan no longer intended to return to the Dragon Academy and graduate.

    So, he decided to return home and ask his grandfather for help to invoke a forbidden ritual to create a new soul orb.

    Of course, he knows that all he will receive is a lesser grade Arcana spirit. So, even though his life will be over at the Dragon Academy, at the very least, he thought he could lead a stable life from now on.

    As for the revenge, Alan''s family was only a minor noble family and Azzy has a rank-8 expert as his master. And he couldn''t put hopes on the Academy either. So, he forgot about it.

    Moreover, he had developed a sense of fear against Azzy.

    He boarded a taxi to go to the portal point, instead of Airport.

    Sensing that he doesn''t have any soul energy, the guards over there warned him about the risks in the world of Arcana, assuming that he wanted to go to a region-1 for sightseeing like others.

    It angered Alan but considering his current situation, he swallowed the pride and told him that he understands before teleporting to the Arcana world.

    From there, he walked towards the section of Turlen nation''s portal points. Soon, he was teleported to his hometown.

    Alan stood in front of a big mansion for a while. There are luxurious cars lined up inside the compound.

    "Damn, of all the days, there had to be guests." Alan clearly doesn''t want to go inside right now.

    Who could have expected that he would be found out very quickly ¡­

    Just as he tries to leave the place and decide to stay in the hotel, he saw a flying card was about to descend in the mansion but suddenly, changed the direction towards him.

    Alan quickly turned around and continued to walk as if he was a commoner on the street. However, a person leaped from the flying card landed before him.

    "Hello there, cousin." A robust young adult wearing a very expensive greenish-blue robe greeted him with a mocking tone. "Aren''t you going to greet me?"

    Alan looked at this paternal cousin coldly, "What are you doing at my house, Abelard."

    The robust cousin grabbed Alan''s shoulder and replied, "I heard that you turned into a cripple. So, our families gathered to discuss regarding the new heir and wealth distribution."

    Alan frowned upon hearing his words. He didn''t expect these greedy relatives would be this quick. Not even half a day has passed since his soul orb was destroyed and these paternal relatives already swarmed to his house to talk about seizing the properties.

    He knew that his great grandfather will rather marry him off to a girl at a young age to produce the next generation heir than distribute his wealth to his sons and grandsons of the branch family.

    So, Alan brushed his cousin''s hand aside, "then, good luck." He tried to leave the place.

    But, Abelard didn''t want to give up such a chance. He once again grabbed Alan''s shoulder, this time, very tightly while using soul energy, "it looked like your arrogance didn''t wane away even after being reduced to such a state, Cripple."

    A huge pressure dawned on Alan.

    Soon, the flying card landed nearby and three more joined him.

    *Whistle* "Well, well, well¡­ look who it is here¡­ the mighty genius of the Dragon Academy, the Tauris clan''s pride, the representative of the Zeles city¡­" Another mocking tone was heard from behind as Alan is struggling to get free.

    "I never thought would come to the home, Cousin Alan." A sweet voice was heard followed by an earlier comment.

    "The Dragon Academy must have kicked him out." This time, it was the voice of a mature adult.

    Within no time, Alan was surrounded by four people. However, there was no sense of fear in his eyes. He was completely calm despite knowing his current situation.

    Compared to the helplessness he faced against Azzy when his soul energy was absorbed and his soul orb was destroyed, he felt this situation was quite laughable.

    Grabbing his collar from behind, Alan''s eldest cousin spoke, "How I wished to see this day after facing a humiliating defeat. I didn''t expect my day would come in just one year."

    Alan calmly replied, "I already lost everything, Baldwin. Whether you scold me, beat me up, or kill me, it wouldn''t matter to me, anymore."

    "See, big brother." Abelard pointed at him in anger. "This cripple''s arrogance didn''t decrease slightly a bit. We have to teach him a lesson."

    "Yes, Baldwin," The teenage girl around Alan''s age nodded in agreement. "He beat up my boyfriend in the public and humiliated him. Because of it, I was being isolated in the academy for the past two years."

    Just when the other cousin was about to speak up in support, they were interrupted by a deep voice.

    "What''s going on here?"

    It turned to be Alan''s maternal uncle who came here to visit the mansion after receiving the news of the relatives swarming at the main family. He didn''t expect to find his nephew being bullied.

    He then took Alan with him into the house. With every adult bombarded him with the same question and tried to rub salt on his own, Alan was told to go to his room and rest.

    The quarrel went on for an hour until the Tauris family''s head exploded in rage and made his decision to engage Alan with a girl and their eldest male child, if awaken an Arcana, will become the heir. Until then, Alan''s heir status will be removed.

    The twist here is that it wasn''t some random girl with potential or something.

    It was the very girl that earlier supported her cousin on the outside. Naturally, the decision didn''t go well with the listeners. Even the girl''s face looked like a hot red tomato because of the rage built inside her.

    How could she accept such an outcome? First, he was her first cousin. Second, she hates him to the core.

    However, the family head is the strongest out here, in the advanced stage of the seven-star realm.

    Adrian Tauris left his eldest daughter with only two choices. Either she accepts this outcome or a girl will be chosen from another minor noble family.

    Even though marriages of cousins aren''t prohibited within the noble families, in this current era of technology, most people even including the Royal families aren''t comfortable with it.

    So, she hesitated while her daughter looking at her pleading eyes. On one side, there was her greediness for huge wealth, and on another side, there was a moral ground. She fell into a dilemma. Her brothers are also hoping for her to reject the alliance. As for the angry cousins of Alan, a couple of them decided to kill Alan if the marriage alliance proceeded.

    With Alan''s strength reduced significantly, they were confident in doing it.

    However, they didn''t know that their target was having a shock of his life in his room as there was standing a hooded figure.

    Alan found himself in the empty mindscape where a snap of this stranger''s finger suddenly brought his Minotaur back to life, brought his soul energy back to life.

    He didn''t know what happened or how happened. As soon as he returned to reality, he just prostrated on the ground, feeling thankful to the person standing beside him.

    The hooded figure passed his instructions as he did with the earlier two. "Never forget that it was Azrael''s mercy that gave you a new life. And change for the better. You are fated to do some incredible things. So, don''t waste your life by becoming a scum.

    Start your new life by sincerely apologizing to the girl''s family. After all, her death is on your head. Most importantly, this meeting never happened. If you speak of this to anyone even including Azrael, your head will be blasted into thousand pieces."

    After giving him a fair warning, the hooded figure no longer stayed there to hear Alan''s reply and disappeared from there to finish his trip by meeting the most important person, himself.

    "Ouch," Alan pinched himself very hard as he couldn''t believe all of this happened for real.

    With a huge smile on his face, he stormed out of the room only to hear the words of his aunt. "Fine, I''ll agree to the marriage between Alan and my daughter."

    "Eh?" An expression of disbelief appeared on his face.

    His great grandfather then handed a jewelry box of Alan''s mother to his daughter as per the custom.

    "Great-grandpa, what are you doing?" Alan roared in anger. Sleeping soul energy erupted around him.

 Chapter 194: Meet Dr. Mac, the mysterious lady from faraway lands

    "This is the special training chamber where our soldiers train under 15x gravity." The head of the Special Forces, Oliver acted as a tour guide to Azzy.

    "You are familiar with these Robots. They mostly serve as Sparring bots for our trainees."

    "This is NQ-31, a prototype aircraft which was built recently within this workshop. It is not known to the public yet. This one''s speed can reach as high as mach-11.2, making it the fastest aircraft ever created.

    Theoretically, it is faster than a Demi-God at an intermediate stage. We never met one. So, we don''t know for sure and we also haven''t tested it yet as we aren''t sure whether it is safe for the pilot."

    "That locked place is the storage dump where missiles and a few other dangerous explosives were stored. Most of the time, it will not be opened unless there''s a huge threat."

    Introducing each place one after another, Oliver finally stopped before a door with a biometric lock on the side.

    After scanning his fingerprint, the door was opened and a white room was discovered with several types of machines that none of the visitors have any idea about.

    "Azrael, meet the head of our research team, Dr. Mac."

    A lady in a white coat was busy with her work. In front of her, there''s a huge screen with unfamiliar coding continuously appear and disappear. Azzy saw she was typing at a speed where even he could only see a blur.

    "Dr. Mac. We have guests here¡­" Oliver called her.

    As if she didn''t listen to him, she continued with her work.

    "Dr. Mac, Azrael is here¡­"

    The Lady suddenly stopped typing and abruptly turned around to look at the visitors.

    As her eyes fell on Azzy, she let out a smile as she stood up from her seat to walk towards them.

    "This is Dr. Mac. Everything that you see here was designed by her." Oliver introduced her with a simple sentence without going roundabout way.

    Azzy and Affea were surprised to see this person who looked like she was from a different race. Her face is pale, she has Monolid eyes, thin but sharp eyebrows, a narrow pointy nose, thin lips, and have mushroom hair cut.

    She was beautiful and weird at the same time as Azzy has never met a person who looks like her. It was just like when he first saw Jordon back when he fought Vann.

    The only difference between then and now is that, back then, Azzy couldn''t show his emotions on the face. So, it was alright but now, the look of curiosity could be clearly seen on his face.

    Even the lady seemed surprised for a second, looking at his expression before she cleared her throat and introduced herself, "Hello, I''m Kim Yu-ri or otherwise known as Mac."

    "Kim Yu-ri?" Azzy and Affea were taken aback to hear this strange name. Strange appearance and strange name, Affea wondered whether this lady was from faraway lands.

    As a Princess, she has the knowledge of the world outside of their continent. She learned that the faraway lands have distinct cultures and languages of their own because of disconnection from the mainland.

    Throwing the useless thoughts away, Azzy shook her hand with a smile on his face, "Hello, Dr. Mac. I''m Azrael."

    Dr. Mac nodded as she moved back. "I''m waiting for your arrival for a while, now."

    Looking at the military guy, she further said, "Anyway, come with me. I gotta show you something interesting."

    Everyone followed to see two ordinary-looking steel gauntlets placed on top of a table. None of them find any strange about this.

    The Reaper commented that those two have the nuclear energy compressed within the core just like the Sparring Robots.

    A frown appeared on Azzy upon hearing it.

    Meanwhile, Dr. Mac started explaining the specialty of the gauntlets. "I haven''t named them yet but anyway, that isn''t important. These two are a set. When equipped on the forearms and pour soul energy, they will form a connection with the wearer''s soul orb and replicate to form an artificial soul orb within them.

    The right gauntlet can constantly absorb the natural energy in the surroundings and store it in its core in compressed form while the left gauntlet will use that natural energy, boosting the power of skills by 20% to 50%.

    The denser the soul energy, the higher the boost.

    Not only that, when mastered, the wearer can also launch energy attacks or power up their physical strength without even worrying about his/her soul energy."

    Dr. Mac then picked them up and handed them to Azzy. "Here, try it."

    Azzy looked at others who just stayed silent. He was wondering whether he came to this facility to hide or he was here too for a tour.

    Barton nodded in response, indicating to do as she asked.

    Affea knew that these people won''t try to harm her son, at the very least, not on Barton''s watch. So, she didn''t object to it.

    "C''mon, don''t worry. It''s tested and perfectly safe. Here¡­" Azzy doesn''t know why but those words to him sounded like a stranger giving candy to a kid on a street before the kidnapping.

    "It''s useless." Right then, a comment escaped from the Reaper.

    Just that one comment made him realize the truth. He looked back at the lady and said, "My soul energy is corruptive in nature. It will destroy weapons like these."

    "I know that. I watched the footage of the semi-finals. That is why I wanted you to try them on so that I can improvise them later on." Dr. Mac revealed her intentions to basically use his soul energy as a guinea pig for her experiment.

    Since Dr. Mac was too eager to destroy her prototype¡­ who was he to stop it?

    Meanwhile, Oliver appeared to be worried as the prototype cost a hefty sum of money to build.

    Azzy wore them and poured soul energy into the gauntlets. Dark energy filled the core of the gauntlets.

    Everything was fine for just five seconds. After that, all of a sudden, the gauntlets slowly turned into charcoal before becoming powder and fall on the floor, shocking everyone around.

    Oliver felt a pain in the chest as millions of Krocs wasted away just like that.

    Dr. Mac nodded, "I guess you are right. It didn''t work, after all. It needs some modifications."

    Unlike others, she was completely calm as if she expected this outcome. Strangely, she no longer continued the conversation and returned to her seat, pretending to do her usual work.

    Believing that she was upset on the inside, Oliver informed everyone that there are other chambers they have yet to visit.

    However, once everyone left, Dr. Mac suddenly sprung up from her seat and rushed towards the black powder.

    A seal appeared over her palm as she moved it counter-clockwise. "Restore."

    Magically, the black powder slowly turned back to the two gauntlets before they suddenly turned into charcoal once again, turning into powder.

    This time, Dr. Mac was really shocked. "My power can''t fight the result affected by this soul energy. Its origins must be from Cosmos."

    "This kid is more interesting than I thought." She put her hand forward and all the black powder has been sucked into her palm.

 Chapter 195: Azzy meets future Azrael part-1

    Meanwhile, Azzy was taken to cadet sparring rooms where the walls were coated with high-level barriers to make sure nothing happens even if one''s power goes out of control.

    Because most of the soldiers were deployed to Aclein city in order to prevent terrorist activities, right now, this pocket world barely has like twelve cadets left who were still in their training phase. The rest were only researchers and robots.

    Looking at how their commander was introducing the place to Azzy, everyone became curious about Azzy''s identity. At the same time, some of them were also taken aback upon realizing this young-looking kid was also in the realm of Elite just like them.

    After a fifteen-minute tour, they took seats in a war room to wait until the battle is over on the outside.

    Everyone is in constant touch with their friends at the Aclein Academy to get updates on the battle. Meanwhile, Oliver was in talks with WAMO to use satellites and track down the Royal Ancestor.

    While they had no info on the old man, Barton and others got a piece of the good news of how the Vice-President of WAMO interfered in the battle between Aegis and Cardinal Ophanim. The other higher realm experts were also captured by the Robots.  The four injured exalts were beaten down by Ramiel and they were held captive at the Grand Arena, right now.

    "Now, that''s great." Azzy sighed in relief as everything became normal. Just when he wondered whether he will return to the Academy or not, all of a sudden, everyone froze around him.

    He sprung up from his seat in shock and looked around. "What the¡­"

    "The time has been frozen once again." The Reaper let out a comment.

    "What do you mean again?"

    Before the Reaper answered him, a hooded figure materialized before Azzy.

    "How is this possible?" The Reaper seemed to be gone into a shock for some reason before the hooded figure lowered his hood, revealing his face.

    "Hello, Azrael." The older Azrael greeted him with a smile.

    "Huh!" Azzy was taken aback by his identical appearance. He takes a look around once again. Realization dawned upon him. "Are you me from the future?"

    The Older Azrael grinned and let out a comment, "your reaction is exactly the same when I was standing at your place. I asked the same question when our future counterpart appeared before me."

    "Eh?" Azzy didn''t understand what he was talking about and fall into confusion. On the other hand, the Reaper realized the meaning behind it. Before the situation escalates, he quickly took over Azzy and spoke in a serious tone, "Azrael. Don''t know whether I should be happy that you became a Demi-God or should be angry that I couldn''t sense myself inside you. All I sense is the Protos Energy is completely integrated with your soul orb. Tell me, did you let it swallow us after mastering it?"

    The older Azrael''s expression suddenly changed to that of coldness as soon as his meeting with his younger self was interrupted, "It''s been a long time, Chronos. However, I''m not interested to chat with you. So, you can go back to the mindscape."

    He raised his hand and a few threads of terrifying dark energy erupted from his palms and hit the younger Azzy, not only forcing the Reaper back to the mindscape but also temporarily sealing the mindscape itself to make sure the Reaper won''t take over Azzy.

    Azzy found his consciousness restored after going into a blank for a second. At the same time, he also sensed the change of his mindscape. His eyes widened in shock and involuntarily took a step back.

    "Don''t worry. It''s just a temporary measure to make sure Chronos does not interrupt this meeting just like he always does in the name of protecting your innocence, soul, or whatever bullsh*t reasons he gives out."

    Azzy could sense a trace of hatred towards the Reaper in the voice of this older version of himself.

    "Anyway, we have a lot to talk about. Let''s sit¡­" The older Azrael casually took a seat at the long table. Azzy also followed the same.

    Straightening his back, the older Azrael moved to the edge of the seat, resting his arms on the table, "First, let me formally introduce myself. I''m Azrael Garcia, sixty-fourth head of the Death clan and the leader of Blood Moon."

    "I became the head of the clan in the future?" Azzy got excited a little bit and then, wondered what Blood Moon meant. "Is it some kind of organization or something?" He didn''t voice out his doubts and stayed silent, letting his future counterpart finish his introduction.

    "I''m from the Year 2124, two hundred and thirty years from now. My reason of visit this time is to meet you and do a few other things that our future version told me like killing the Royal Ancestor of Northern Qudour, warning our great grandfather, giving a second chance to Alan, giving a few instructions to Ramiel, etc... Anyway, I will tell you the things one by one. Starting with the rules of time travel, important paths you must take so that you successfully end up as a Demi-God like me and break shackles of Gods placed on this mortal realm."

    As the older Azrael continued to speak, Azzy felt his heartbeat quickened its speed like a bullet train. And the end was like a solid punch to his chest. He couldn''t believe his future self is also a Demi-God, an existence people hoped to become only in their dreams.

    With how young his older self looks, Azzy felt excited that his progress is also going to be way faster in the near future. He was imagining the situation when he could also stop the time at any time.

    "You are thinking about how you could stop the time with a snap of a finger, aren''t you?" As the older Azrael suddenly commented with a smile, Azzy''s heart skipped a beat. "Oops, Busted¡­"

    The older Azrael let out a laugh and continued, "I too thought the same, back then." *Ahem*

    Clearing his throat, he changed his expression to display seriousness, "Anyway, first and foremost. You should never believe the words of Chronos completely."

    "Eh? I shouldn''t believe Chronos?" Azzy looked at his future self in disbelief. How could he accept it? The Reaper is the person whom he trusted the most in the world. Even if it is coming from himself, Azzy didn''t accept his words.

    As if he read Azzy''s mind, the older Azrael said, "I don''t mean he''s bad or something. It''s just that he keeps a lot of secrets from you and you should never completely believe his words or actions. Listen calmly to the end and you will understand why my words make sense.

    Let''s start with the past event that occurred to you.

    Do you know that you actually have a blood of a person on you? And I don''t mean Dove."

    "Huh!" Azzy frowned in response. "Who are you talking about?"

    As far as he knew, he never killed a human with his own hands.

    The Older Azrael then explained, "When you spared the assassin from the night clan, he tried to kill you and Chronos took over your body and killed him. Till to date, he had hidden it from you. Even his skeleton is also buried within the soil of your mindscape so that you never find it out."

    Azzy suddenly remembered the skeleton that he actually saw back when he first revealed his necromancy abilities in public but the Reaper told him that it was an illusion.

    The older Azrael continued with putting allegations on the Reaper, "On top of this, he lied to you about the rules of time travel. Now, I will you recite all the rules of time travel. Commit to your memory.

    First, your original timeline is no longer 2020. As you age, your original timeline will also shift forward at the same time. And in these missing years, you will also be missing in that timeline. Of course, everyone remembers your existence but no one will be able to find you.

    In one sentence, the clan will think you had run away or being abducted or maybe, even got killed. Actually, that''s more convenient but anyway, the point is now that you had time traveled 27 years to the past, then, 27 years to the forward will always be your original timeline.

    This is why you must raise your strength as much as possible and return to your original timeline."

    "What!"

 Chapter 196: Azzy meets future Azrael part-2

    Azzy couldn''t believe his ears for a moment. He was told that time travel is a mystery and when he returns to his original timeline as a 12-year-old, he will either get to keep his earned soul power or might revert to the original state. There''s even a high chance that he will forget all this past like everyone else.

    But, now he was hearing that he can never go back to the time when he disappeared. And right now, he was missing for a year. "Wait a second¡­"

    Suddenly, something clicked in his mind and he thought of the words that stated he will be missing. Wouldn''t that mean he can just travel to that time and live there?

    He can but there''s a problem with his age. How will he explain his sudden growth to others?

    Azzy can hide his soul power through the Decarune seal but not his age.

    "Are there are any seals to temporarily reverse the age? Or maybe, it is better if I just stay away? I can return to grandpa''s house. But, what''s to say that he will stay there. I changed a lot of things here like requesting the Clan head to take off the ban from Grandpa Oakley. Then, he will be there at the Death clan, right? What about Aunt Affea? Will her death be averted perhaps? I wonder whether I saved my parents. What about Claire? Will she forget me like everyone else? Wait a second. Why should I care about that? Anyway, I think I should ask about my parents. They were the reason I''m still staying here¡­"

    Now that his contract with Reaper was effectively being shut off for a while, Azzy''s head was filled with numerous thoughts. He went from one to another without any sense of direction, heating up his brain until the older Azrael put his hands on Azzy''s head, cooling him down. "You have a lot of time to think about this. So, take a deep breath, calm down and hear me out, first."

    After a brief silence, as Azzy forced himself to calm down, clearing out his thoughts, the older Azrael continued, "Secondly, you have to understand how the timeline works. You must have already been informed about this. The timeline you are right now is called an interim timeline, which is volatile in nature. Every different action has a high probability to rapidly and unpredictably change the future.

    However, the future can only be changed by the past. The past cannot be changed by the present.

    Right now, you are in the present and your original timeline is your past. So, before your past becomes your new present and present becomes the past, the time-altering events triggered by your actions must be back to normal at all costs."

    "Wait¡­" Azzy finally shouted and interrupted his older self in hurry. His brain was heating up in confusion because of complex explanations. "What do you mean, I''m in present and my original timeline is the past? I don''t understand a thing."

    The older Azrael explained in patience, "You are 13 years old. The past twelve years you spent from your birth, i.e. June 5th, 2007 to Jan 1st, 2020 is your past, just the same as from Jan 1st, 1993 to today. Understand, this much?"

    Azzy nodded.

    The older Azrael continued, "So, the actions done within this past timeline will affect the present. How?

    For example, the improvement in your soul power. You were in the realm of upper Adept (rank-3) back then and now, you entered the Elite realm.

    Back then, you were 12. Now, you are 13. Before traveling to the past, you were barely around 5''2" but now you are 5''6".

    It''s because even though those 12 years timeline was the future to the whole world, it is still your past and the past always affects your present and just as the present affects the future.

    So, any actions you do here will not affect the timeline you came from. That would mean the timeline stays the same unless you return to the future. Because, then, your original timeline will become your present and this timeline will become your past. Then, all the events that occurred here will impact the future unless something is done about it."

    Azzy once again looked at him in a daze.

    "I remember I used to be so smart when I was a child. Looking at him, it doesn''t appear so. Fuu¡­ This must be how my future self must have felt back then," The older Azrael got frustrated by how his younger self couldn''t get such a simple point just like when he was sitting in Azzy''s place.

    But, as the older Azrael knew what''s going to happen next, he stayed silent, waiting for Azzy to analyze his words.

    It took a whole minute for Azzy to completely understand the point. Looking straight into his future self''s eyes, Azzy spoke, "Since the moment I arrived in this time until the time I will go back to the future, all of it is also my past. So, the events that triggered because of my actions here will change my new past, present, and future, right?"

    A smile appeared on the older Azrael as he felt now the conversation is going somewhere. "That''s right. Your one action of sparing the beast caused a massive time-altering event in creating a Celestial grade beast, gaining enmity against the Church, the Royal family, and so on¡­

    So, it is necessary for the beast to die before the interim timeline changes into Prime Timeline on September 6th, 2007 where your soul will be sent to your mother''s womb. After that¡­"

    Azzy finished his sentence, "All the events triggered in this timeline will change the future and my identity will be replaced by someone else forever."

    "Well, not exactly." The older Azrael firmly shook his head and corrected him. "It will not be replaced."

    "What do you mean?" Azzy had an inkling that the Reaper hid another fact from him.

    The Older Azrael explained to him. "If you don''t return to your present timeline before the interim timeline ends, your existence will be erased forever, and then, you will start with your life again.

    Just like in your past, you will awaken your Arcana, get to the Death clan village, attend the Awakening Ceremony, and travels to the past. You will go on like this until you break this time loop.

    Honestly, we have had this conversation twenty-three times already. This is the twenty-fourth."

    "Twenty-fourth?" Azzy''s facial expression changed to that of a frown. After hearing a couple of surprising things about time travel, it no longer felt that surprising anymore but it is still a disturbing statement for him.

    Even though the person sitting before him is himself, Azzy couldn''t comprehend the fact that they were one. For him, it is like they are two different people with different personalities and different consciousness. So, being erased is the same as dying. He couldn''t explain in words but it''s just what he feels right now¡­

    So, when heard the Reaper had once again lied to him, Azzy now realized why his future self told him that to not trust Reaper''s words completely.

    Azzy then analyzed his words carefully once again. He quickly understood a hidden meaning behind the sentence and asked for a confirmation, "so, all the twenty-three of me failed to get back to the present and got erased?"

 Chapter 197: Origin of the Sands of Time

    "Not exactly but some of them, yes." The older Azrael shrugged his shoulders as if it was a simple thing for him. "The others died because of other events."

    "And what are those?" Azzy directly initiated the conversation this time as he realized the importance of this meeting. At first, he only wanted to go on with the flow but now, he wanted to learn whatever he can from his future self.

    "Be patient, I will tell you about it but before that, learning the rules of time is extremely important." The older Azrael then continued to tell him about time travel. "Okay. First, you learned about the original timeline. Second, you learned about the interim timeline and its effects. Okay, now, thirdly, I will tell you about the history of how the sands of time and the River of time have been created."

    "Sands of Time." Azzy heard of it before from his grandpa Oakley and his great grandfather Qridus. He even read it in the Book of Death but he never heard of the river of time though.

    "Nearly 14 billion years ago, it was just before space, time or even universe existed, there''s said to be a single creature, no one knows why it is there or what is it even.

    Religious believers say it is a god or goddess, scientists say it is an atom, some crazy demi-gods say it might be a creature of a 13-star realm from a bigger universe, the true gods never answer about it for some reason.

    But, anyway, I will tell you the story which I heard from my future self. You will again hear this again from someone else in the future but never forget to keep quiet then."

    Azzy silently nodded.

    "Good." Future Azrael continued, "This was when the universe was just created from this Almighty Creator was exploded as it couldn''t suppress its powers anymore.

    Its body was transformed into the expanding material universe, its positive soul energy led to the creation of True Gods, Angels, Djinns, souls, and all kinds of spiritual beings, etc¡­

    Its negative soul energy led to the creation of the Protos race, deadly beings that even rank-11 Gods are wary of.

    And the remaining is its soul. It is said that its soul was divided into either four or five parts. Some think it is four and others think it is five.

    In one theory where its soul is divided into four, this creator led to the creation of four beings, except that they aren''t beings unlike the Gods because they lack the material form.

    These four are Life, Death, Space, and Time. Four are interlinked to each other.

    You must have been told by Master Avia about how Life and Death are the hidden attributes but it is a wrong conception of humans that Life and Death are opposite like Light and Darkness."

    "Hmm, why is that so?" Azzy questioned the future counterpart. "Just like how light takes away the darkness, doesn''t death take away the life? Why aren''t they opposite attributes?"

    The older Azrael smiled as he shook his head, "you forgot about the reincarnation, Azrael. Life is a path where the soul could inhabit a material body in this world and Death is a path where the soul gets free from this material body and returns to the spirit world. Both of them form a never-ending cycle.

    And just like the gods, the Soul is immortal. It won''t die on its own. In our simple terms, you can think like the spirit world is the home to our souls and Gaia is like a workplace."

    Realization dawned upon Azzy and he looked at his older self in amazement. He felt like new doors opened for him. "Life is not an enemy to death. No wonder, Healing cards work on me. I was a fool not to realize that sooner."

    Meanwhile, the older Azrael continued, "Anyway, where was I? Hmm, that''s right. The creator''s soul was divided into Time, Space, Death, and Life who are all in the 12-star realm.

    For a while, everything is good and everyone working is in harmony.

    Life gives a body to a soul to form an organism. Space gives the organism a place to live. Time gives the organism to spend it in its life and the Death returns the soul, back to the spirit world.

    However, one fine day, Time got envious of its three counterparts that are doing something worthwhile but it was doing nothing but moving forward. So, it started its own experiments.

    Time started to flow differently on each planet. At first, no one was against it as this doesn''t matter. But then, as time started more experiments, it started disrupting others'' works.

    Time could reverse the expansion of space, stops the growth of life, stops one from dying, or worse, turns an adult into a baby, and a baby suddenly speed growth into an adult.

    It could make massive stars go into black holes and vice versa or even extinguish them.

    Unlike Space which has a huge stomach and Life which was too compassionate, Death was a cold-blooded entity and never compromises.

    After giving a couple of warnings, when Time started to disrupt its work, even more, the Death decided to extinguish the time itself.

    No one knows why or how but in the end, both of them merged to give birth to a powerful consciousness¡­"

    "Chronos," Azzy finished the sentence with a look of surprise. He never expected that there''s such a background story to the birth of the Deity sitting inside his mindscape.

    Older Azrael nodded, "Yes. Now, the merger between the two cosmic entities released a massive amount of energy, giving birth to a new god.

    She''s none other than Moira, the daughter of Chronos and the goddess of fate.

    Born from time and death, she decides the fate of every living organism in all the words as long as they are bounded by time or death. Only the true gods, rank-11 Archangels and Archdevils, the pureblood of the Protos Race aren''t affected by her power.

    However, not all the energy was lead to the birth of Moira. Nearly, two-fifths of the energy was left after the birth of the Goddess of Fate.

    To make sure not to create another entity, Space confined the energy into a pocket dimension only to realize they later materialize into massive amounts of colorless liquid. It is called the River of time.

    Later, when all the gods started to govern the universe, Chronos selected God of Darkness, Erebus'' son as his successor as he felt he was quite compatible with the unique death energy.

    Thanatos, the new god of death was appointed to govern the deaths of living beings and also act as the keeper of the river of time.

    But Thanatos was the son of the God of Darkness. It''s obvious that he had darkness in his heart. With the addition of death energy, the darkness in his heart only grew and he tried to harness the power of the River of time.

    As a result, an enormous amount of white sand was extracted from the river. Just when Thanatos wanted to absorb all of it, he was stopped by the avatar of Chronos.

    As a punishment, not only Thanatos was cursed to be confined to the Abode of Death, the realm itself was detached from the Celestial Empire of Heaven and turned into an underworld.

    The Shell of the River of Time was then contained into a soul, creating the Goddess Styx.

    As for the white sand, God Hephaestus helped Chronos in creating an hourglass that can hold the sand in compressed form. This is the story of the Sands of time. Any Questions?"

    Azzy raised his hand like a student. "I read that Sands of Time can kill the people even above your ranks. If it is true, then, how to unseal it?"

    The Older Azrael shook his head, "you can''t. Only Chronos can unseal it."

    "Is that so?" Azzy''s face became dim in slight disappointment. He asked the Reaper before too and only got the reply that he isn''t qualified yet to know about the unsealing.

    Azzy expected something like he needed to reach rank-7 or something but now that he faced the reality, Azzy''s hopes of defeating all-powerful enemies ended up in vain.

    Just then, the older Azrael spoke, "well, if you master the Protos Energy and absorb the powers of Vajra and Chronos like me, you will be able to use it without any issues though¡­"

    "Wha¡­ what did you say?" Azzy''s eyes widened.

 Chapter 198: Azzy meets future Azrael part-3

    "You absorbed the powers of our Arcana?" Never in the world did Azzy expect that he will do something like that. Absorbing the powers of Arcana is like killing them.

    When he was first time-traveled to the past, the Reaper had told him about the original deal between him and the past Vajra. It was to trap the Vajra''s soul in the Soul Sealing Urn for eternity, destroy the Protos energy while transferring all the remaining energy into soul power, which would have been made him a genuine rank-7 Arcana Master with 30-40 million soul power.

    If the wolf will give him that much strength, then, what if the entire Protos energy has been absorbed along with stripping the powers of a Deity living in the mindscape?

    "This is how he became a Demi-god?" Azzy couldn''t help but wonder.

    Azzy asked him the reason for doing that, to which the older Azrael calmly answered, "It should be man''s right to determine his own future, Azrael."

    He added, "Not some deity who plans your future to fulfill his ambitions and not some goddess of fate living out there in the heavens and dictating our lives like she was the one that created us."

    Although his older self was calm as he replied, for some reason, Azzy felt like this man sitting before him, hates the daughter of the Death as if there was enmity.

    Maybe it is because they were one and the same. That is why he could feel a few things that others couldn''t. His earlier words also indicated a slight hatred for the Reaper.

    It made Azzy wonder whether there''s an unforeseen event occurs in the future that will change him.

    The thought of his parents skipped his heartbeat for a second and Azzy couldn''t hold it in his mind any longer. "Can you tell me whether I will save mother and father?"

    The older Azrael went into a daze for a second, remembering the incident of his past. His heart was saying to tell him the truth that''s going to happen but his brain was telling him to not take the risks regarding the timeline.

    When he realized his duty for keeping the timeline intact above everything and everyone else, he understood why his future self appeared to be troubled back then.

    In the end, he decided to tell the same thing about his past life that he heard from his future self.

    As the older Azrael stared at Azzy in silence with hesitation, a look of worry appeared on Azzy. He was afraid to hear that something will happen to them.

    Taking a deep breath, the older Azrael answered, "You will see them once you returned to your timeline."

    Although it isn''t exactly the answer that he wanted, Azzy was satisfied and let out a sigh of relief.

    Meanwhile, the older Azrael once again continued with explaining the time travel, "then, let''s get back to the topic, shall we. Now, as a time traveler, you must be knowledgeable about the history of the timeline that you traveled to. So, you should often read the history books whenever you get the chance¡­"

    Azzy continued to listen with great concentration. Now that he knew his parents would be saved, he felt his heart and mind as light as a feather.

    He asked the questions occasionally from time to clear his doubts and the older Azrael explained every detail in patience.

    Since the time practically has stopped, no one knows how long the meeting took place. It is about to come to an end with his older self is imparting him a seal as a present just like how he got it.

    The older Azrael''s hand is on Azzy''s forehead. Mystic black runes and symbols appeared on his forehead, connected by a thread of dark energy. After the mystical seal has been formed, it disappeared.

    "Remember this very well. You can only use this seal once. So, don''t use it unless you don''t have any way out." The Older Azrael warned him in a serious tone.

    Since Azzy already heard of what that seal can do, he pretty much decided not to use it on anyone unless the situation forces him to.

    "Okay, now that I have said everything I want, it''s time that I leave. We''ll meet again once you enter the Exalt realm (Rank-7). There are certain duties I must pass on to you then. Now, it is not the time to do that.

    Anyway, before I go, do you have any other questions you would like to ask? I know you have one that you have yet to voice out. So, you can speak it now." The older Azrael purposely asked him because this is also one of the most turning points in his life.

    Just like the older Azrael mentioned, Azzy indeed has a few questions in his mind, which are irrelevant, so, he didn''t ask them. Now that the opportunity arises, he asked him, "Is it okay to for me have a normal life in this timeline?"

    The older Azrael let out a bright smile and nodded, "Yes, and as I have told you before. This history won''t be erased just because you returned to the present. Although your appearance will be forgotten, people still remember there''s a person named Azrael that fought with them, spent time with them, loved them, or hate them.

    But, it will be your choice to make them remember the past and expose your time travel ability or leave them alone. And if you want my advice on your personal life, please do consider Claire''s feelings. After all, you are destined together just like Life and Death."

    "Eh?" Azzy was stunned upon listening to his future self''s statement. He never thought of Claire in the first place. He just wanted to know whether he should continue his friendship with the teammates that got closer within the past few weeks or he should keep his distance from them.

    He didn''t expect that his future self would drop such a nuclear bomb on him. As if it wasn''t enough, the older Azrael proceeded to take out a thin glass looking like an object and click on it.

    A holographic screen projection appeared before Azzy''s eyes. He saw the picture of an older Azzy who look like a 17-18-year-old, an adult Claire looking like she''s in her 30s, and a rather handsome looking young man standing between them. "My wife and my son¡­"

    Azzy was in complete shock that he missed the expression of sadness on the older Azrael as he stared at the picture.

    Keeping back his mobile phone into the pocket, the older Azrael sighed as he thought, "I don''t want to force the feelings on my younger self like this but my duty towards the timeline is more important."

    The image of his future family caused turmoil in Azzy''s heart. At the moment, he resented his future self a little bit for showing him the unnecessary future.  Even if he marries Claire, Azzy wanted to do that because he loves her, not because it happens in the future and not because they were destined.

    Meanwhile, Azrael finally said goodbye to his younger self with a warning, "well, I only hope that I don''t meet my younger self for the twenty-fifth time¡­ Good luck¡­"

    As the Demi-God disappeared, the time resumed and Azzy had a disturbed look on his face.

 Chapter 199: Azzy confronts the Reaper

    Inside the mindscape of Azzy, the Reaper was looking for a way to destroy the barrier around his home.

    The Reaper''s connection with the soul energy has been severed while the wolf is still in slumber.

    "Even if my powers are restricted because of Azrael''s low soul power, within his body, within his mindscape, I''m the supreme controller. Only a true god can reduce me to a state like this.

    How powerful Azrael had gotten in the future¡­" The supreme deity who is the personification of time and death itself couldn''t believe how strong Azzy had gotten.

    But then again, when he thought of the origins of the Protos energy that infected Vajra, the Reaper felt it might be possible if Azzy had complete command over it.

    In the end, he was just satisfied with the outcome where the Protos energy didn''t swallow up his host.

    Suddenly, the barrier disappeared and the Reaper got access to the soul orb without doing anything. He found the time has been resumed and the older Azrael disappeared.

    As the Reaper wanted to know what they talked about, he accessed the memory of Azzy and takes a look into it.

    He couldn''t help but get shocked. "This¡­ We are already in a time loop for the twenty-fourth time? How come I never remembered meeting him before, unless¡­"

    Realization dawned upon him. "I see. Azrael must have used the Sands of time every time to erase the kid''s existence from the universe and reset the timeline. So, along with the kid, I must also have been erased and never received those memories.

    But then again, the brat left with a huge mess for me. How do I deal with this, now?" The Reaper became troubled on facing Azzy who will now question him.

    "Azrael¡­" The Reaper called him out.

    "We will talk later, Chronos." All he received was a cold reply from Azzy. The Reaper could clearly see the impact on Azzy and also realized the origins of some of the potential futures where Azzy''s actions don''t make sense.

    Meanwhile, in the pocket world, as the time resumed, everyone continued to wait for any news on the Royal Ancestor.

    When there''s no news, Aegis told them to wait for a while.

    They waited another hour until the peak-rank-8 expert entered the pocket world and met with the bunch.

    "Well, it''s almost half-past ten. So, the feast has been postponed to tomorrow afternoon. And Barton, you also need to take care of the complaints from the participating academies. There''s also a press conference need to be held in the early morning. It''s time to dethrone the king." Aegis then mentioned how the Royal Ancestor went missing and further theorized that he might have been met with either an ambush from enemies or the old man was waiting to ambush them.

    "In any case, Azrael, I suggest you stay here for tonight. General Oliver will arrange your bedding." Aegis then turned towards Affea and told her that she''s also welcomed to stay in this place.

    Seeing how everyone is protecting her son, Affea trusted them a little and left with Barton and others as her husband will be worrying about her too¡­

    After a while, a cute robot in white appeared before him. It looks a bit different from the Sparring robot. It was more like the one could see serving in some restaurants.

    Azzy was also familiar with such type.

    "Hello, Mr. Azrael. I''m Kia, your personal assistant." As it introduced itself, the Director of the Special forces informed him that it was probably assigned by Dr. Mac."

    Azzy was taken to the sleeping chambers where the cadets and the soldiers usually rest.

    It was a bit too cramped with just one single bed and nothing else. There was no space to even walk but at least the bed was of king size and there was a temperature controlling system within the room. So, Azzy had no problem falling into sleep.

    While his body rests, his spirit made its way to the mindscape where the Reaper was waiting for him.

    Staring into his pupil''s less pitch-black eyes, Azzy asked, "So, you have any explanation, Chronos?"

    "I don''t know why your future self had decided to spill all the secrets of time travel to you but you aren''t ready to know them." The Reaper answered him calmly. He added, "I was hoping to tell you one by one."

    "I will understand about the time travel but don''t I at least deserve to know that you have killed the one that I spared?" Azzy for the first time roared at him as he no longer could control his emotion when his eyes fell on the Reaper.

    "It was self-defense. He was going to kill you, Azrael. I did what I believed was right." The Reaper was already prepared to hear this question. However, the next countless futures show various responses of Azzy. Some are filled with rage and some are filled with understanding with respective futures.

    The Reaper wanted to see what kind of possible futures will hold for Azzy.

    In the next moment, the Reaper realized that he was expecting too much from Azzy as the latter once again roared at him in rage. "And I completely understand that. But, why did you have to hide it from me? You went as far as hiding the evidence. Why?"

    Because Azzy trusts the Reaper the most in the world, he felt betrayed by his lies even though the latter says it was his own good.

    Continuing to suppress the Protos energy, the Reaper stayed silent for a few seconds as he peeked into the possible futures.

    "I see¡­" The Reaper realized something. Staring back at Azzy, he apologized, "I''m sorry but you are still a child. Some things are too complicated for your brain to process properly. Until then¡­"

    The Reaper raised the death scythe and slammed it vertically onto the ground as he released the death energy from his other hand. Azzy felt the tremor below him and suddenly, his consciousness faded out and his spirit returned to the soul orb.

    Staring into the empty space, the Reaper mumbled to himself, "I probably understand now why the future Azrael went against me. I think you will also hate me for this in the future, but I will not let anyone come into my way. No matter what, I will finish the thing that I wasn''t able to do in your first life, Azrael. Well, it''s been a long day. Sleep tight, Azrael."

    Several hours later;

    Azzy opened his eyes and woke up from his sleep, grabbing his head as if he was experiencing a hangover. "Ugh¡­"

    He remembered the scenes that happened the previous day. "That''s right. My future self came to me and told me the things¡­ What did he say? The origins of the Sands of Time, then, when I become the time traveler, I should not risk traveling to the future, then, the Royal ancestor has been killed, I should join WAMO if an opportunity presented, what else¡­ oh, that''s right, I married Claire in the future. Ever since the confession, I already have trouble facing her How would I face her, now¡­ Ugh¡­"

    Several of his memories from the previous day were locked by the Reaper so that Azzy walks in the path that he designed because in his opinion, it is the most optimal path to become his successor and he doesn''t want to wait for another reincarnation.

    As soon as he stepped out of the chamber, Azzy was greeted by the serving robot.

    "Good morning, Mr. Azrael. Dr. Mac would like to meet you."

 Chapter 200: Adamantine gloves and an assistant robot

    "Hey, you are finally here." Dr. Mac, who was walking back and forth in anxiousness, smiled big as soon as she saw Azzy entering her lab. "I was waiting for hours, wondering when you''ll wake up and come here."

    She added, "You seemed like you slept peacefully."

    "Is there something, Dr. Mac?" Azzy asked her. Since she was the creator of Aria, Azzy was patient and polite. Unfortunately, for the other party, it didn''t appear that way.

    "What!" Dr. Mac was taken aback a bit. Strangely, his tone was plain and the way he looked at her without a shred of emotion, sounded a bit rude for her.

    She wondered what happened to the kid from the previous night. However, she was smart enough to read the situation quickly. "I guess that state is only temporary."

    In the meantime, Azzy found a little bit strange in his voice. It felt like the same, nearly five years ago when he first awakened Arcana.

    That''s right. Azzy''s facial expressions were once again sealed by the Reaper.

    Now that Azzy knew of his future destiny with Claire, the Reaper didn''t feel any use of facial expressions for his host. So, along with the dangerous memories, the facial expression was also taken away.

    Azzy felt an inkling of it but he put it aside for the moment and concentrated on the lady before him who brought a pair of black leather gloves with a symbol of Hexagram on top of it.

    "Now, this is interesting. I didn''t expect this lady managed to find the material and even modified it to such an extent." The Reaper commented.

    Upon hearing the Reaper''s comment, Azzy became intrigued with the gloves.

    "Try these¡­ I pulled an all-nighter to make them." The Lady handed them to Azzy.

    As soon as Azzy took them into his hands, he almost went on his knees. Thankfully, he trained in 44 times the gravity where his own weight will be nearly 2500 kg (5500 pounds).

    So, he could manage to lift the two of them up with a little bit of difficulty. "These collectively weight 1500 pounds at the very least."

    "Try them on and pour soul energy." Dr. Mac urged him to wear the gloves.

    Azzy remembered the previous day where he destroyed the gauntlets. He looked at her meaningfully.

    Despite there''s no expression on him, the lady understood the reason behind his gaze and replied with a smile, "I won''t ask you for compensation, anyway. You have nothing to lose. Go on¡­"

    Azzy wore them and felt his hands are heavier, despite how soft it was inside. As he poured soul energy into the gloves, the Hexagram suddenly glowed in blue.

    "huh!" Azzy''s eyes are widened in surprise as it wasn''t destroyed like he thought it would.

    He suddenly felt too light right away while at the same time, feel the energy around him, which is being absorbed by the gloves.

    Around the gloves, there was a protective armor made of his usual dark energy. But, Azzy felt there''s another type of energy within the gloves, which isn''t natural energy. It was something he was familiar with. The same energy he sensed in the Sparring Robots.

    "Yes, I knew this would work." The lady seemed like she was on high clouds with her experiment being successful.

    Shaking both of his hands in excitement, she thanked him. Returning the gloves to her, Azzy asked about it. He was genuinely surprised that there''s something that resisted his Protos and Death energy mixture.

    "Adamantium, the rarest and the strongest metal in the world." However, the lady didn''t take them from his hands and started to explain. "So far, the metal alloy is only being found in the meteorites crashed on our planet, millions of years ago that wiped out the glorious human civilization of the past.

    How I wished to be reborn into those days when humans build space vehicles to travel to different galaxies. On the other hand, sigh¡­ we were only able to get to the moon and barely Ishtar, so far¡­"

    For a while, it seemed like she was talking to herself until she remembered Azzy''s presence and came back to reality.

    "Oh, Sorry. My mind was drifted a bit." She then continued to explain the features of the gloves. "As you experienced now, they are usually heavy and can be used training weights during normal times. When you pour soul energy, the seals inscribed on top of them will be activated and they became incredibly light.

    Meanwhile, the energy cores inside the gloves will absorb the natural energy and refined them into nuclear energy, where you can emit it from the gloves to attack. According to my calculations, the full nuclear blast released by both of the gloves can kill a mid-seven-star Arcana master if he was taken by surprise¡­ that is¡­

    Its usefulness will reduce as you grow stronger but then again, as the surroundings are abundant in natural energy, with the help of these gloves, in theory, even a 1-star Arcana Master can harm a seven-star realm expert.

    Anyway, think of it as one of the presents from me for winning the tournament and bringing honor to our country. But, it''s better if you keep it as a secret."

    Azzy wondered why. While it sounds awesome, considering its power was limited to rank-7, Azzy knew he wouldn''t be able to use it for many years. But then, as the lady continued with telling him the reason, Azzy was stunned for a moment.

    "According to the market price for Adamantium alloys and rank-7 items, this one costs at least a billion credits, probably even more¡­ I wasn''t authorized to give you such an expensive personal gift. The government will reduce the funds if they knew about it.

    But, Aegis wanted me to give you another present on behalf of the Government and I made those 40 million worth of gauntlets but too bad they ended up as a failure. As a formality, General Oliver decided to give this assistant to you as a present."

    Azzy glanced in the direction she was pointing at. It was the same robot that showed his sleeping chamber and brought him to this lab. "No wonder it introduced itself as a personal assistant, yesterday."

    Dr. Mac added, "It isn''t bad. It can do all the chores without any issue, help you with your studies, and analyze the battles. However, it wasn''t a sparring bot and can be destroyed easily. So, have to come here to repair it or discard it if such a case occurs."

    ***

    Aclein Academy;

    As the feast is only for the top 3 Champions from each category, except for seven top academies, the others left at dawn.

    Some didn''t even rest for the night and hurriedly left for their lives as soon as the academy invaded.

    So, by the time the Police Commissioner called for a press conference and Barton apologized to everyone who attended the Closing ceremony for endangering their lives, only the representatives of the Dragon Academy, Phoenix Academy, Moon Academy, Freyles Academy, Central Academy, Heavenly Academy, and Maple Academy stayed, although not all of them will be able to attend the feast.

    Upon receiving the orders, Syllia also said goodbye to Claire and left for the Arcana world along with her students.

    Azzy''s friends were also informed about his safety. So, they too slept without worries and get ready for the following day''s feast.

 Chapter 201: Royal Feast part-1

    It was nearing noon, and Claire and Mia were getting ready with a look of disappointment on their faces.

    After changing into her school uniform, she looked at an evening gown and let out a sigh.

    It was custom made by Mayflower, a fashion house founded in Egrein city over seventeen thousand years ago. For the past couple of thousand years, Mayflower was the most valuable and popular brand in the Northern and Southern Qudour nations.

    As soon as team Twilight got into Quarter-finals, the fashion house started to make those dresses after having a talk with the school management.

    For bringing honor to the nation, Mayflower felt the kids have earned these dresses that are made of pure materials like chiffon, satin, and silk, usually cost over 10 million credits per dress.

    Since they are so expensive, the outfits were kept at the indoor training facility until the finals were over and the Vice Principal took everyone there, later, telling them to wear them for the Royal Feast because many important people are going to attend the event.

    However, due to the attack on the school, all the preparations for the Royal feast were wasted, and so was Claire''s excitement.

    While later, they got the message that the Royal Feast will still happen on the following day''s lunch, the Vice Principal advised them to wear school uniforms instead of the custom-made ones, surprising not only them but the other champions.

    It was Barton''s idea to change the decision abruptly.

    He expected the Royal family to attack the school, long ago. So, he and Aegis made preparations beforehand. However, no one expected the Church would send a Cardinal to assist the Royal Ancestor who is already at the Supreme Realm.

    The incident once again reminded the principal of how weak he is that he needs to depend on outsiders.

    Barton then thought about his deal with a certain woman who managed to force WAMO to shut out the complaints of Dragon Academy and Heavenly Academy regarding the location.

    To make this a memorable day, Barton requested the organizing committee head to impose the dress code for this feast.

    Thankfully, the Vice President of WAMO is an ally. So, he agreed with it even though it is a sudden request.

    As it isn''t that uncommon for the academies to impose a special dress code for the royal feasts, most of them didn''t care about it either. Some of them are looking forward to meeting with scouts and those legendary realm experts while others just wanted to be done with it and return.

    Fifteen minutes before 1 o''clock in the afternoon, Mia, Snivy, and Claire left for the Elite division''s academy building where the second-floor cafeteria/dining hall is converted into a banquet hall.

    Different sizes of round tables with seats around them were arranged in the middle of a hall.

    On one side, there''s a small stage with a mic stand. On the left and the right, there were long tables for the food.

    The remaining side is where the only entrance and exit lies.

    As the girls entered the place, they found many guests already arrived before them. However, the hall is very silent.

    The twins of the Ash clan seemed nonsocial and they were just sitting at a corner table, minding their own business.

    Vann didn''t care about anyone but Leah and Azzy. So, he stood in silence.

    Meanwhile, Skylark Flame as well as Team Commandos from the Central Academy were seen sitting together at a table in their military-style uniforms. However, they were just looking at each other in silence while waiting for their instructor.

    As the girls arrived, everyone takes a glance at them and then, looked away. Because the girls from Aclein didn''t get a proper chance to show their full strength, these prideful people from the top academies still look down on them a bit.

    Adding on top of that, the Central Academy couldn''t digest how such a weak team became the winner. In their eyes, without Azzy, Team Twilight isn''t worthy to attend this banquet¡­

    So, no one bothered to come and say hi. The three of them knew it and so, they didn''t go their way to greet others either.

    The whole hall was silent until the two girls from Phoenix Academy arrived.

    The summoners of the poisonous mushroom and the fiery peacock were a bit more social birds. So, they are acquainted with everyone in the Elite division female dormitory.

    Laura and Izetta instantly greeted the girls with a look of excitement and already started talking about how they shopped all around the city to wear a new dress and matching accessories for the feast. The five girls quickly engaged in a girl talk, not bothering to think what others feel...

    A while later, the duo from the Maple Academy also arrived.

    "Mia, where are your teammates?" Laura asked Mia. "Only those two and Camelot''s princess have yet to arrive."

    "Hmm, there''s also Dragon Academy." Snivy reminded her.

    Izetta shook her head, "they must have returned to the Arcana world. Honestly, if I''m in place, I would do the same."

    Laura nodded in agreement. "Right. They lost the finals; one of their team members is dead; I heard the team captain lost his soul orb and became a mortal; even their instructor is now facing criminal charges. You can say their reputation is now damaged. It would be surprising if they still stay here."

    It was at that moment, two males arrived there. "Excuse me¡­"

    They were the duo from Maple Academy who bagged the bronze medal.

    "Hello. I''m Hawk and this is Acke." The tall guy with blue medal hair and piercings over his ear introduced himself. His eyes were fixed on Snivy.

    As he put forth his hands towards her, she blushed a little bit, shaking his hands. "Hello¡­"

    Meanwhile, the other guy with amber eyes who looked a bit short and thin was glancing at Claire. He appeared to be shy and just stayed behind his friend.

    After greetings others for formality, Hawk turned his attention back to Snivy and said, "Your soul skill, the one that punches the people towards the sky is quite amazing. You are just my type¡­"

    The rest of the girls were taken aback by his bashful proposal. The others just stared at them.

    Meanwhile, Snivy blushed even more. She appeared really shy at the moment, not being able to believe that the hammer user she admired from the beginning of the tournament is now talking with her, even more, proposing to her¡­

    Snivy doesn''t really know how to even respond at the moment.

    The guy then continued with a laugh, "By the way, I''m enrolling the Maple University after graduating this year. You still have one year, so, I''m not sure which university you will enroll in but I want to know you more. I wonder if..."

    He then handed her a message card, telling her that it contains his soul energy signature. Using it, she can send a message to him at any time.

    As she involuntarily took it, he then asked for her soul energy signature, taking out a blank message card to have a two-way conversation.

    The girls were also secretly squealing inside as a scene of youth romance was blooming right before their eyes.

    It was at that moment, one of the siblings of the Ash clan who was silent until now opened her mouth. "Azrael is here, brother."

    Her voice wasn''t loud but it was enough for everyone to turn their heads towards the entrance, including the well-disciplined students of the Central Academy.

    Azzy, Leah, and Gideon are seeing entering together with Azzy in the middle. While both of them attracted the attention, Gideon, on the other hand, was almost nonexistent in their eyes.

    "Do they know each other?" Laura whispered to Claire, to which the latter shook her head, "they only met a couple of times. Must have encountered on the way by coincidence."

    While her voice was calm, her expression doesn''t look good with how Leah and Azzy were walking too closely.

    The only thing that''s a consolation to her is how he was just indifferent as before.

    "Wait a second, Indifferent?" When such a thought occurred, Claire looked at Azzy in surprise to observe carefully.

    Like Claire, Snivy was seemed to be surprised a bit, she wondered out loud, "It''s strange. Azrael looks the same as before. Didn''t his facial expressions returned?"

    Mia and Claire immediately turned towards her in surprise and then, glance at Azzy.

    "You are right." Mia agreed with her after observing for a few seconds.

 Chapter 202: Royal Feast part-2

    "Hey, Rael." Putting aside her feelings of jealousy towards Leah, Claire greeted Azzy.

    When Azzy''s eyes fell on Claire, the image of the future family picture suddenly popped up in his head and he couldn''t help but greet her awkwardly. Thankfully, his expression was stoic. So, no one felt anything amiss.

    At the same time, Leah was a little bit taken aback upon hearing how Azzy was addressed as Rael. She knew that close aides used to call the Death clan founder with the same nickname.

    "Greetings, Ms. Smoke, Ms. Drake¡­"

    After greeting the two girls from phoenix academy, his eyes fell on the duo.

    Just when he was about to speak further, Gideon exclaimed in surprise, "Woah, Snivy. Is that a love letter? Are you finally graduating from being single?"

    Mia and others once again turned towards Snivy who was standing close to Hawk with an envelope in her hands.

    It was then Snivy realized everyone''s eyes are on her. The busty loli, who was already embarrassed, standing beside her crush, quickly rushed forward and lunged at him in anger.

    She locked her arms around his neck. "It''s a message card, you dumbass."

    "Ah, Ah, Ah¡­ Alright, forgive me¡­" As Gideon was being choked by Snivy, Hawk just looked at them in a daze. His feelings were complex, right now.

    He excused himself and returned along with this teammate.

    "Oh, it looks like nothing is going on." Gideon couldn''t help but comment on it as soon as Snivy left him.

    When Snivy saw her crush leaving away, her anger only increased further. "You damn playboy¡­"

    "Everyone is watching, Snivy." As Mia managed to drag her away, Azzy saw a satisfactory smile appeared on Gideon''s for a second before his friend turned his attention to the girls. "Sorry about that."

    "I''m Gideon, by the way."

    Laura returned the greetings with a simple nod. However, the girl with the green hair and green eyes, commented, looking at him suspiciously, "You kinda looked like someone I know from my childhood. Are you from Freyles?"

    Gideon''s expression stiffened for a fraction of a second before he hurriedly waved his hands in response with a smile, "you must be mistaken. I''m a commoner who was born and raised in Egrein city. I never visited your country."

    Izetta Smoke stared at him for a few seconds and shrugged her shoulders, "my bad. I guess I was wrong."

    Gideon laughed a bit awkwardly and stepped away a bit. Azzy assumed that they must have played together when they were young considering they were from the same clan village.

    After a while, Leah joined with Izetta and Laura at another table. It was actually such a relief for Claire. Whenever she sees Leah talking to Azzy, her insecurities just awakens all of a sudden like an instinct.

    She knew that Leah was better than her in every way whether it''s beauty, figure, academics, combat skills, or potential.

    The only thing that she matches with her is the status of being a royal princess.

    As she still doesn''t know about Azzy''s feelings yet, Claire couldn''t help but worry that he would be stolen by this girl.

    "I heard that you got a robot as a present, Azrael." As the five of them took a seat in the middle, Mia asked Azzy.

    "It''s quite cool, actually," Gideon replied in Azzy''s place. One can even see stars in his eyes as he told them. "You know that it cleaned the room and sorted out all the things neatly in just under three and a half minutes?"

    "Kia like a personal butler," Azzy added. "It can basically do everything from house chores to helping studies. According to Dr. Mac, it can help one in training by analyzing the moves and showing the optimal choices¡­"

    "Oh!" As the girls exclaimed in surprise, a male husky voice interrupted Azzy, "In the end, they are just puppets that can''t replace a human being."

    A teenage couple was seen entering the hall together, escorted by Barton.

    Everyone wondered who these strangers are. Sensing how their soul power is only at low-Elite level (rank-4) and how they were with Principal, a few just assumed they are the students of Aclein.

    Even Gideon thought the same and asked Snivy in a whisper, "Are they from ninth grade?"

    Snivy shook her head, "It''s my first time seeing those two."

    Azzy grabbed Gideon''s shirt, pulled him back, and whispered. "Both of them are in the intermediate stage of Exalt realm. They must be one of the important guests."

    The girls nearby him were surprised.

    Meanwhile, the couple also seemed to be taken aback for a moment as they too heard his words. Neither of them expected Azzy to figure out their real strength.

    Barton then introduced them. "This is Ark and Sia. They are from the Abel Tower."

    "Abel Tower?" Almost everyone in the room gasped in shock. Never in the world did they expect the representatives of this ancient organization would attend this feast. Even Azzy knows of their existence from the history books, although with another name, "The Guardians."

    Everyone felt like this is a heaven-sent opportunity for them to join. However, since Azzy was never interested to get bound to some organization, he didn''t pay attention much longer and turned to the front.

    "Hello." "Hello." Both of these investigators greeted everyone, waving their hands. Taking out the lollipop from her mouth, the girl let out a smile, "we are also of the same age as you guys, just a couple of years, not much. So, no need to be formal with the two of us."

    Her statement causes another wave of astonishment among everyone standing in the hall. Even Azzy was surprised that such young people reached a high level in such a short time.

    Ark and Sia then continued to walk forward until they reach a table where Azzy and his teammates were standing.

    Without looking at any particular person, the male representative opened his mouth, "do you know the best and the worst merit of those machines you talk about? They don''t have a will on their own, unlike humans. So, they are untrustable."

    "But, their will is the human''s will controlling them¡­" Not bothering to stand up like his friends, Azzy spoke in return without backing down from an argument as he doesn''t care about their identity like everyone else. "So, trusting those means we actually trust the human that was controlling them. So, in the end, it depends on what type of human is the controller."

    "Hmm, that''s right." Gideon couldn''t help but nod in agreement, earning a swift elbow strike from Snivy, indicating him to read the situation around.

    "And how would you find out who the true controller is?" Ark was always the type to question everything until he sees a clear outcome. So, what started as a piece of advice from Ark turned into a debate between the both of them¡­

    Sia also knew her cousin''s personality. So, she didn''t interfere and kept silent.

    "Will it be the one that gives you the robots?" "Will it be the one that creates the robot?" "Will it be yourself?" "Or, will it be someone else?" "How will you be able to find out the true controller of the robot?" "If you don''t know them, then, how will you become sure that you won''t be stabbed in the back?"

    The whole hall filled with silence as Ark questioned Azzy. Some were waiting for an answer while some were hoping for Azzy to be taught a lesson for challenging a higher realm expert from Abel Tower.

    Amid everyone''s gazes, Azzy didn''t even hesitate to give an answer, "If a robot tries to stab me in the back, then, I will destroy it without hesitation and I won''t feel remorse either. However, if it is human, I might hesitate. Even if I kill them, I might still feel guilty later on¡­"

    Ark felt silent for a second. Just when everyone thought it was over, he glanced at the people around Azzy and asked, "Then, how much amount of trust you have in these four around you? If you are going on a dangerous trip, let''s say, looking for a treasure, who will you choose?

    Will you choose the four robots with uncertainty over their loyalty or will you choose these four friends of yours whom you spend your time with? Machines or Humans?"

    Azzy suddenly went silent.

    ....

    ....

    If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you.

    Original link: https://www.webnovel.com/book/my-soul-card-is-a-reaper_18853172005298305

 Chapter 203: Royal Feast part-3

    If he chose humans, everything he said earlier will be useless and he will lose the debate.

    And if he chose the machines, Azzy will not be able to look into the eyes of his friends.

    If it was a different situation, it would have been okay to answer. But he was given a situation where he was going to look for treasure. Not choosing his friends means he is thinking that they might betray him for the treasure.

    Azzy was trapped in the dilemma which is a bit similar to choosing one between mom and wife.

    No matter what he answers, Azzy knew Ark will be the winner. So, he was looking for a solution beyond those two options. At the same time, Azzy doesn''t want to lie either.

    And the Reaper came to the rescue just as he always does.

    "It''s pretty simple, Azrael. Since when have you been a team player?"

    Azzy''s eyes widened in realization, standing up on his feet, he looked into Ark''s eyes and answered truthfully. "If I have to choose, I will choose neither. It''s not about trust or anything. I am a lone wolf. I always tend to do things myself and lack the skills to cooperate. So, if such a case arises, most likely, I would probably go alone on the dangerous trip whether it is treasure hunting or anything else¡­"

    While a few listeners thought Azzy said to escape the question, Azzy''s friends knew that Azzy was right. When they look back at the past year, all they saw is how Azzy was all alone without socializing.

    "I know. I have watched the tournament." Ark nodded in agreement and then, let out a sigh as he patted Azzy''s shoulder. "It''s a pity that your current personality makes it harder for you to become one of the keepers. If you change in the future, perhaps, we might think about it."

    As Ark got a clear outcome that he was looking for, he didn''t continue with the pointless debate and walked forward.

    While Sia also followed him silently, a few were happy that Azzy got rejected. Leah was one of those people too. Joining the Abel tower means that he can''t join her quest in the future.

    Barton stopped nearby Azzy without escorting the kids further. With how Azzy suddenly turned indifferent once again, he was actually happier that most of the organizations can be rejected easily. After all, who would try to scout a commoner that was rude towards them?

    But then again, Barton could understand why Ark must have started the debate. It wasn''t just about testing Azzy''s personality.

    In this day of age, apart from nukes, robots are indeed mankind''s biggest achievement.

    But, at the same time, it cost the livelihood of many low-level Arcana Masters.

    Every year, as hundreds of Arcana Masters lose their jobs because of the implementations of robots and machines in almost every industry, not everyone would be comfortable to hear praises of them.

    "Don''t worry about it." As Barton tried to encourage Azzy, thinking that he might be upset, the latter simply waved his hands, "I don''t care."

    Barton didn''t know whether Azzy was just faking it or not, but he just decided to trust his disciple and exited the hall to welcome the other guests outside.

    Slowly, guests arrived one by one. A few are escorted by the representative instructors who hoped to introduce them to their respective students later.

    Sahara also arrived in the meantime and joined team Twilight.

    Following the rule of the Royal Feast, the guests didn''t engage in conversation with any of the champions and just mingled among themselves.

    Still, Azzy felt a lot of gazes were on him.

    Not just him, but everyone from team twilight also could sense the gazes on them from every guest arrived at the feast since Aclein Academy is the only academy here without advanced programs. All other top academies have respective universities so that their students will be able to enroll without writing any entrance examinations.

    So, there''s a high chance to scout them.

    Most of them also gave up on Azzy and are currently eyeing the other four because they knew that they aren''t a match for top organizations.

    The only ones that don''t give up are the organizations that sent legendary realm experts to scout him.

    By half-past 1, Barton reappeared once again.

    This time, he was escorting a buffed old man in a suit, a familiar middle-aged man in a colorful shirt, goggles, and shorts, and finally, a fatty middle-aged-looking fellow in luxurious clothes.

    Two of them are familiar to Azzy. One is Ramiel Crescent, the Thunder Emperor and the other is Aegis Light. Both of them are peak-rank-8 experts, although many people placed their attention on someone else.

    Azzy and his friends'' were also taken aback by surprise. While Azzy seemed normal on the surface, his friends who weren''t stoic-faced like him couldn''t help but become uncomfortable by the mere presence of this fatty.

    The fatty is nothing but an early rank-7 expert. It means, even the weakest of the guests would beat him to death if they were to battle against each other.

    However, he earns not only a place on the guestlist but was also the Chief Guest. Why?

    All because of one accessory on his head, the Imperial Crown. According to the traditions of the international tournaments, as long as the hosting city is on the planet of Gaia, then, the land''s king will be the Chief Guest of the tournament followed by the feast.

    The previous day, King Brian refused to go on to the stage even though he attended as the Chief Guest. He was also not present at the Closing Ceremony as his side was preparing for the war.

    However, who could expect that not only their invasion fails, but his biggest support, the Royal Ancestor goes missing. His father was out on a bail but he will soon face an inquiry along with the rest of the people who participated in the invasion.

    So, when his brother reminded him about the feast, King Brian Light swallowed his humiliation, anger, and frustration, and attended the feast as he was originally supposed to.

    Barton introduced the three people with him. The matter was known to everyone too. So, along with Azzy, the others were also not comfortable with the presence of the King.

    But, since they knew it from the start, the other guests also welcomed him with a smile.

    As they were passing Azzy''s group, like everyone else, Azzy who was already stood up from his seat, bowed as a formal greeting. Of course, it isn''t for the King but in his eyes, he only greeted the other three, his Master, his older relative, and his benefactor.

    King Brian stopped as he spotted Azzy. He didn''t even bother to hide his intentions as well as his bloodlust, "You seem to be enjoying with strong backing, Azrael. I no longer have the capability to avenge my son. But, the Church of Light has lost a Cardinal. The death of the prince of a Church is on your head. The Church has now declared war.

    Anyone who befriended you will become casualties. Anyone who shelters you will have to face the wrath of the Church. Be careful..."

    King Brian has purposely spoken loud enough so that the other guests know the situation as well as the risks they will be taking for trying to scout Azzy.

    While he didn''t know that many have already given up on Azzy from the start because of the competition, King Brian''s warning now gave everyone a perfect reason to not recruit Azzy into their organization and focus on others.

    Of course, top organizations wouldn''t fear the church. So, the legendary realm experts didn''t change their decision either.

    Feeling that it''s a good opportunity, Ramiel opened his mouth, "Don''t worry, Your Majesty. WAMO is capable enough to force the Church to compromise. The boy just needs to join us. "

    King Brian frowned as he remembered the existence of this old man standing beside him. He made no comment.

    As Ramiel smiled in satisfaction, one of the legendary realm experts stood up from the seat, "please, even the President of World Arcana Masters Organization can''t take the decision alone. To deal with situations like this, more than fifty percent of the elders would have to agree. Moreover, WAMO is pretty much known to send their cadets for suicide missions. Everyone knows this, Vice President Crescent."

    Ramiel''s face darkened as he saw the baldy in red robes. "Elder Gedalya of War God Temple."

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 204: Royal Feast part-4

    Like the priests of the Church, the priests of War God Temple considered it as an organism that serves the God of War, Ares.

    However, unlike the united Church that prays and serves only one Goddess, the War God Temple was a faction split from the Temple of War and Wisdom as the latter serves Athena.

    As the Goddess of wisdom and war, Athena prefers strategies with minimum killing to win the battles. Despite being the goddess of war, Athena believed in peace. She believed in negotiations and when the fight between the two kingdoms emerged, she declared that the outcome will be decided by a death battle between the strongest warriors from each side.

    So, a section of believers rose against the beliefs of the Temple as they believed that Athena can''t represent the war. It was then, Ares'' fame started to rose.

    That made the Temple of War and Wisdom split into two. One is the Temple of War and Wisdom that still serves Goddess Athena and the other is the War God Temple that serves God Ares.

    Notably, both Ares and Athena weren''t True God born from the cosmos. So, according to hierarchy, the Church of light is considered in an upper position. With the ever-growing popularity in the masses, the Church was the target of envy of all the Temples.

    Back to the Present, Ramiel greeted the old man who was trying to undermine him. "Elder Gedalya of War God Temple, I didn''t know that your temple is interested in recruiting teenagers."

    It was only then everyone realized his background. Until now, they could only wonder which organization he is from.

    It was a surprise to others as no Temple has ever arrived at the feast except for the Fire Temple that enjoys the popularity second only to the Church mainly because of the renowned Blacksmiths.

    And the appearance of a representative from the War God Temple after more than a hundred years surprised even Ramiel who sent the invitation to them. It made him wonder whether they are also here to recruit Azzy.

    But, Gedalya''s answer not only surprised him but also everyone around.

    "Well, I would be lying if I say I''m not interested to recruit this kid who was suited for the real battlefield." He glanced at Azzy for a moment and then, continued, "But, my main reason is to acquire the relic. I heard that you are auctioning the Jewel of Life."

    "Jewel of Life?" Many scouts looked at each other in confusion while the legendary realm experts stood up from their seats together. It looked like even Ark and Sia seemed surprised.

    "An auction?" Azzy and others were more surprised about the auction rather than the item.

    Sahara gave her students a detailed explanation to clear the confusion. "It is customary at the feast of Champions League and World League, three items will be auctioned off where anyone invited to the Feast can bid for it and claim them.

    One can say it is kinda like a private auction where even the bidders know the items until they have been revealed.

    Usually, ancient relics or top-quality items will be auctioned at the hosting academy where the College division tournament is taking place. As they are too precious, they were usually in the hands of a legendary realm warrior.

    However, due to the earlier invasion, I guess Vice President Ramiel was forced to stay here and so were the items. Other items might have been auctioned at the Maple Academy."

    Azzy nodded in understanding and then, turned his attention towards the old man in crimson robes and hood. Then, as Gideon asked about this Jewel, Sahara shook her head and told him that she didn''t know of it either.

    Meanwhile, Ramiel frowned as he realized the information was leaked. "How do you know about that?"

    Once Ramiel gave confirmation, the others started to send messages to their superiors.

    Gedalya shrugged his shoulders, "Your mighty organization is too big and complex to hold the secrets, anyway."

    Previously, it was the King who shut his mouth, and now, it was Ramiel''s turn to stay silent and proceed to walk towards a random empty table at the front of the stage.

    Soon, the kitchen staff entered the hall with drinks on the platters. Some are wine, some are beer, some are liquor, and some are wine. There are also various fruit juices.

    Because all the Champions are underage, Barton specially instructed the waiters to only serve the fruit juice. While almost everyone is kinda okay with it, Laura and Izetta, who already have a habit of drinking, were uncomfortable with juice glasses before them when they wanted to drink beer instead.

    But, what can they do? They are only 16-year-olds and can''t drink alcohol in the public. They could only follow the rule.

    With a glass of wine, Barton stepped onto the stage and took the mic. After expressing his thanks for coming all the way, he congratulated the champions once again and raised the glass, "Here''s to everybody, cheers."

    Everyone raised their wine glasses slightly in response and took a sip. Azzy followed the same with pumpkin juice, his favorite.

    Meanwhile, the waiters and waitresses also started to bring in the dishes. A waiter and a waitress were assigned for each table. One that goes back and forth to bring the dishes and the other that pours the alcohol.

    "Principal Barton outdid himself in preparing this feast." Mia also couldn''t help but comment as soon as she saw the first of the nine-course meal was revealed.

    With the platter full of oysters, crabs, shrimps, and abalones, even Azzy wondered how this is an appetizer.

    Sahara inwardly sighed as she thought, "we won''t get an opportunity like this again in the future."

    With the adults just sat at their table, having drinks together while chatting sometimes, Azzy decided to fill his stomach, considering he hasn''t eaten anything from the morning.

    Almost half an hour passed and Azzy saw around upon finishing his lunch. The hall was filled with murmurings. Some of the guests were trying out the dishes while some were still on their drinks, talking among themselves. Some of them didn''t even finish a single glass yet.

    It took another hour for everyone to finish with the feast. In this period, no one bothered Azzy and the latter didn''t move from his spot either.

    *Cling*Cling*

    "Ladies and Gentleman," Barton attracted the attention of everyone as he stepped onto the stage once again. This time, the organizing committee head, Leroy Cobris followed him.

    After saying a few words, informing everyone about the rules of the auction for formality, Barton returns and Leroy grabs the mic. "For today''s auction, there are four items in total. Let me reveal the first one."

    He took out a thick worn-out book that looks old. He showed it to everyone, giving an introduction. "We don''t know its name yet and neither do we know what''s written in it. But, according to our research, this was over a million years old. It means this book belongs to the pre-apocalypse age."

    Azzy took a look at the book cover. Something has been written on it but he doesn''t understand the language.

    It has an image of a man sitting with his legs interlocked. Wearing strange clothes, His right hand held up with palm out.

    Just by looking at the picture, somehow, even Azzy felt like his mind is calm and his heart is in peace.

    "The only self-enlightened human ever existed who attained godhood with just the support of natural energy." The Reaper commented in his head. Azzy could feel the amount of respect the Reaper has for this guy drawn on the book.

    "Who is he?" Azzy asked him as he was curious about his identity.

    The Reaper answered, "Siddhartha Gautama or otherwise known as the Buddha. Acquire the book, Azrael. They must contain Sutras. It might not be much helpful back in those days where there''s no soul energy but now, one can turn some of them into battle techniques by creating skill cards and also the sealing techniques that use the natural energy.

    Sanskrit is a dead language and no one in this present world knows of it. This is where you have the advantage even if similar books appear in the future. I will translate them for you."

    "Oh!" Azzy was excited upon hearing the Reaper''s words. There were two things Azzy was extremely interested to improve drastically. One is the sealing techniques and the other is the skill card creation. Now that the opportunity has arrived before him, how could Azzy miss it¡­

    It was then Leroy started the auction, pouring all the water on Azzy''s hopes. "Our starting price, 50 million credits."

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 205: A powerful trump card in the hands of King Brian

    "50 million credits? That''s like 120 million Trielars." One of the guests who came from the tiny nation of Evelon fumed. He further complained of how an ordinary book could be that valuable.

    Another one voiced in support. "If this is before the pre-apocalypse age, where the people are only normal mortals, then, it won''t be of any use except for those who are interested in history. WAMO is really exploiting in the name of charity."

    The others were also doubtful as they observed the book. 50 million is by no means a low amount except for squanderers. Moreover, it is only a starting price. So, they ought to be careful.

    The only one that looks to be interested in the item was Aegis. The pre-apocalypse age was also the glorious period of mankind with advanced technology. He didn''t know that this was a religious text. So, he was looking forward to buying and let Dr. Mac research the language for secrets.

    Meanwhile, in response to the accusations, Leroy Cobris explained feeling helplessness, "the price was evaluated by our supercomputer. Interested buyers can bid for it. Now, everyone has one minute. If there are no bidders, then, it will be removed from the auction."

    Even he didn''t think this was of that much value.

    Nearly a minute passed and no one seemed to be interested in bidding. It was then, Aegis raised the bid. "51 million"

    Everyone instantly turned their heads in the direction where Aegis was sitting. Even the wealthy King seemed to be surprised. "Brother, I know what you are thinking but forget it. This is nothing but a loss to you."

    Aegis simply shrugged his shoulders, "if that would be the case, then, I''ll consider that I have a hefty amount of donation to the charity foundation."

    A few of them misunderstood his words and assumed he was doing it to gain fame. When they thought the same, a few of them also thought it was a good thing for publicity.

    "52 million" "53 million" "55 million" "60 million"

    Soon, the price was raised to 75 million and only two parties are still bidding. One is Aegis and the other is an exalt realm expert who belongs to a sixty-year-old rising organization named Cosmos Brotherhood. The former was coveting it for research while the latter was thinking to use it for publicity.

    Meanwhile, at one of the tables, Azzy, who was watching the auction in silence as the bidding gets higher. What could he do? In his future timeline, he might be the heir of the Death clan but now, he was nothing but an ordinary commoner.

    If Azzy wanted to spend, he could ask a couple of hundred thousand Krocs from his master and if it is really important, he could request his foster parents of 1 million Krocs at maximum, considering they are the richest couple in the Aclein city.

    However, the sum of 75 million is not something that he can afford to even ask others. The only way he could get that sum is to sell the adamantine gloves on the black market.

    So, Azzy could only hope that Aegis wins it and let him copy the contents, later. At the very least, Azzy knew his worth. The moment he got a billion credits worth of gloves as a present, he was sure that Special Forces will want him. So, he can play a card there.

    Now, the only question is whether Aegis wins the bid or not. Thankfully for him, this peak-rank-8 expert wasn''t backing down at any moment. If anything he was becoming more aggressive.

    "80 million" "85 million" "90 million" "100 million" "105 million" "120 million" "125 million"

    Taking a deep breath, Aegis raised it even higher. "150 million"

    Aegis'' abrupt raise of the bidding brought a silence to the hall for a few seconds until he said, "This is my last bid."

    Leroy glanced at others, "150 million. Anyone?"

    Perhaps, the other bidder thought it is too high. So, naturally, he hesitated.

    After a ten-second silence, Leroy spoke, "150 million once, 150 million twice, sold. Congratulations Mr. Aegis Light on obtaining the unnamed ancient book."

    *Clap* Clap* Clap*

    As everyone clapped lightly, Aegis received the book and swiped his black credit to transfer the amount to their Charity account.

    Meanwhile, Azzy was also satisfied with the outcome.

    "Okay, let''s move on to the next item." This time, it was a light blue sword made of Mithril mixed with other alloys and then, enchanted with various runes. Mithril ores are rare and are found in level-4 and level-5 regions in the Arcana World.

    Usually, they are used to make blank cards of 7-star and higher ranked. So, it''s a bit of wastage to use it in making a weapon. That''s why this double-edged sword is extremely rare.

    Since this one is only rank-8, the starting price was fixed the same as 50 million. Despite an intense bidding war between several individuals, the final price was only ended at 130 million credits, lesser than that of the ancient book.

    Of course, being a pro-gun, Aegis never bid for it as in his view, the future belongs to technology. These traditional weapons don''t interest him.

    "Congratulations Helix on acquiring the Nethersbane."

    *Clap* Clap* Clap*

    As everyone clapped, the young master of Stoneroses stood up from his seat and took the blue sword. After swinging a couple of times, he placed it in his storage card with a smile.

    "Now, it''s the third item. In fact, it was supposed to be the final item and the star of this auction but due to special circumstances, another one was added at the last minute."

    As Leroy pressed the button on the box, a light blue card made of Mithril was revealed to everyone.

    "Ladies and Gentleman, I present you, the Eye of Trias."

    It is a Nine-star card that''s already activated by its creator. So, anyone could use it.

    There was a picture of an eye on it. On the other side, the stars were golden in color.

    Leroy explained the details. "Upon using this, the user would possess a third eye, which passively absorbs the natural energy for ten minutes and then, releases a tremendous amount of energy in the form of a beam. It can basically take out a low-rank-10 Beast in one shot. The starting price is 100 million credits."

    Snivy gasped in shock, "100 million? Too expensive."

    "Nope, not at all." Sahara shook her head in response. "In fact, if I have the money, I wouldn''t hesitate to pay even a billion credits for it."

    Her statement caused waves of shock among her students, including Azzy.

    Sahara continued by explaining how just the thought of killing a rank-10 beast is unimaginable for most of the Arcana Masters.

    Claire then commented, "My sister told me once that to kill a Supreme Beast of the advanced stage, usually, it takes at least two-three Supreme realm experts and a dozen legendary realm experts. Exalt realm warriors aren''t even worth attempt fighting them as they will be killed with a single strike. I guess a beast of Earth realm (rank-10) would be even stronger and is more difficult to kill."

    And just like Sahara had told her, almost everyone fought for it. As the price crossed 500 million, only a handful of bidders remained. The interesting thing here is that every one of them is an exalt realm representative. The only legendary realm expert who was trying to bid is Aegis.

    The other legendary realm Arcana Masters gave up on it because of the next item. While this has nothing to do with Azzy, he was still a bit uncomfortable as King Brian is also in the race.

    With the enmity between them, Azzy doesn''t want this powerful card in his hands. What if it was used against him, later?

    Ten minutes later;

    "1.2 billion" "1.21 billion" "1.24 billion" "1.27 billion" "1.28 billion" "1.3 billion" "1.32 billion" "1.35 billion" "1.4 billion"

    "1.4 billion Once¡­"

    Azzy heart skipped for a moment as the bidding stopped with King Brian''s favor.

    "1.4 billion twice¡­"

    If Azzy''s facial expression is still here, one would be able to see a deep frown on his face. In the meantime, Azzy''s allies were also in the same situation. They couldn''t protect Azzy if such a weapon has been launched against him.

    At the same time, they hesitate to spend so much money just to stop a possibility either. If Azzy agrees to join the Special Forces or WAMO, either Aegis or Ramiel would have ensured his safety in every way.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 206: Cosmic Gem

    But, neither Azzy nor Barton has given any official confirmation to ally with either of them. So, they could do so much to protect Azzy.

    The only comfortable thing is that it takes a while for the card to be activated and the King was only a low-rank-7 Arcana Master. So, before the attack is even launched, they can kill him as long as there are no powerful protectors.

    In fact, a few people in the room also intended to snatch it from Brian, later.

    "Sold"

    "Congratulations, King Brian Light on acquiring the Eye of Trias."

    *Clap* Clap*

    Amid everyone''s gazes of envy, Brain stored the card and glanced at Azzy from the corner of his eyes.

    "It''s time to reveal the final item of this auction." As Leroy made an announcement, Ramiel then stood up from his seat.

    Stepping onto the stage, he summoned his storage card and took out a glossy black crown with a gem embedded in the middle. As soon as it was taken out, everyone in the room just stared at it with a look of fascination.

    It was a bright green oval-shaped 50-carat gem. Azzy could sense a tremendous amount of energy and life force within it. He could also sense some strange thing but wasn''t able to put his finger on what he was sensing.

    "Behold, the Jewel of Life." Leroy proudly announced it with a big smile on his face, looking at everyone. "We don''t know its origins or its age but according to what we have researched so far, this doesn''t belong here. It might have been crashed onto our planet from the celestial world during the meteor strikes just like a few other ancient relics."

    It was then the Reaper''s voice was once again echoed in his head. "No wonder, I couldn''t see this future in any possibility. The Cosmic Gem has the power to resist my vision."

    "Cosmic gem?" Azzy asked the Reaper curiously. Since the Reaper knows its origins and it seemed to be resisting the Reaper''s visions, Azzy believed it is no ordinary relic.

    The Reaper answered, "You have heard the history of the origin of the universe from your future counterpart. So, I won''t waste any time repeating the same thing again. However, I will tell you about an important incident that he failed to mention. Maybe, he wished for me to tell you this story. Who knows¡­ Anyway¡­"

    Meanwhile, Leroy continued, "Coming to the details, this gem constantly absorbs the natural energy from the surroundings and heals the wearer''s injuries and life force instantly. So, unless the wearer would get killed in one strike, he/she will be invincible. Along with that, the wearer could also save a person from even a near-death state."

    His explanation made everyone''s minds go frenzy. On the other hand, Claire thought it was quite similar to her ability when she activates the Holy Ground skill card and soul skill: Descent of the Heavenly Guardian.

    Every single person in the room longed to possess it. However, his next words brought a nuke to their expectations.

    "Now, let''s talk about risks. One, not any ordinary human can possess it. It needs a strong soul and top-tier Arcana spirit to handle its power. In simple terms, only a true child of the heavens has the power to bond with this jewel and draw the power from it.

    The stepchildren of heavens could also harness its power as they have strong souls despite weak Arcana spirit. However, the effects will be weaker.

    Two, it is extremely dangerous to take the gem from this crown. If you do, then, make sure not to touch it with bare hands because your life force will be consumed instantly and you die.

    Even if you want to transfer into a different object, then, that object must be either a magical object with the power of divinity or it should be made of at least 80% of Adamantium.

    Three and final, when one person managed to bond with the jewel, his/her soul will be bound to it and can only relinquish the ownership when they die. So, there''s a life risk from the people who covet it."

    Silence filled the surroundings as soon as he finished explaining the risks. There''s tremendous power but it also comes with high risks. A few of them gave up in their hearts.

    Then, as Leroy announced the starting price, half of the guests completely gave up on it.

    "The gem comes the crown too. And this crown was made of Adamantium. So, that''s why we fixed the starting price at 2 billion credits. The bidders can also offer magical treasures. However, Vice-President Crescent will decide their worth. Let the final auction begin."

    While the intense bidding for the final item was going on around, Azzy, on the other hand, was concentrating on the story behind the origins of the gem.

    "At the dawn of time, during the creation, it was stated that the creator''s soul was split into four parts that led to forming Time, Death, Life, and Space. However, contrary to the beliefs, it wasn''t four or even five. It was six."

    "Six?" Azzy wondered whether the two are these so-called cosmic gems.

    The Reaper continued, "Getting contacted with the energy, one of the other two parts of the Creator''s soul was materialized into a Gem and stranded into space.

    We gave it to Zeus to guard it. It was kept secret in the Celestial world for some time until their realm was invaded by the Protos Race to harness its power.

    Although the Protos Race was defeated and locked up in another dimension, the greater gods realized the existence of the Gem and greed took over their hearts as they learned of how they can make them True Gods.

    Having no other choice, we split the Gem forcefully into 11 different parts and spread all over the expanding universe.

    Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning, Wind, Light, Dark, Life, Death, Time, and Space. A total of 11 cosmic gems were stranded in different worlds. One of them seems to be landed on Gaia."

    "Wait¡­ wait a second." Azzy felt something wrong with the explanation. He asked the Reaper about the time and space gems as they aren''t Attributes, to which, the Reaper just chuckled and replied, "You are misinterpreting the meaning of attribute, kid. You have an hourglass, you can control the time. People use teleportation skill cards, pocket dimensions, and storage cards. Aren''t they using Space abilities? The reason why many people consider only seven attributes is because each attribute has a true god they represent and they aren''t limited to specific groups like the Life and Death attributes.

    For example, the Life attribute is only seen in the Angel race. Death attribute can only be seen in a descendant of the Death clan''s founder, although it usually appears in the main branch of the Garcia family.

    On the other hand, Time control ability is only exclusive to a handful of individuals that were chosen by me and bestowed a part of my power.

    And the Space, that entity was so generous that it gave permission to all the living creatures to harness the Space attribute as long as they can understand the laws of nature."

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 207: Bidding War for the Jewel of Life

    "Hmm¡­" Ramiel was examining a set of daggers in the shape of a serpent.

    To check its authenticity, he poured his soul energy into it and is also taking the help of his Arcana spirit.

    It took half a minute for this Vice President of WAMO to analyze it and tell the results to everyone. "They were indeed made of the bones of a dragon that has pure bloodline. Seeing how these are rank-9, our organization would be willing to buy them for 300 million credits each. So, you can trade them for 600 million in total."

    "Only 600 million?" Hazel Corporation''s representative frowned as he listened to the evaluation of the weapons that he was willing to trade along with a billion credits. "But, we bought them for 1.1 billion."

    He didn''t expect that his total bidding is even lower than the starting bid. So, he didn''t accept it.

    In response, Ramiel just shrugged his shoulders as he returned them to the exalt realm expert, "Then, I guess you made a huge loss."

    Looking at others, Ramiel further stated that the end price of any Auction often varies, depending on bidders and their motives. So, they shouldn''t expect him to evaluate them at the same price as the ones that sold those items to the bidders.

    "Damn, I will kill that guy," Hayward spoke to himself with a darkened face as he took the daggers. Taking his seat, he said, "Okay, I accept."

    "5 Billion Credits and Serpent dual daggers," Ramiel announced it, glancing at others. "Anyone else?"

    As this Vice President of WAMO himself is a popular host for World Auctions held by World Auction House every decade and was a pro in appraising the mystical items, the majority of the guests accepted his judgment.

    Of course, there are a few who had distrust with WAMO too. They believed Ramiel might be taking advantage of the situation to snatch their precious items at a low price.

    After all, everyone assumed that they will just bid with the digital currency. In such a case, they only have to pay first and later, think of how to deal with the bank later.

    With many of these esteemed individuals possessing an unlimited limit credit card, no one hesitated to increase the bid, thereby engaged in fierce competition.

    However, who could have expected Ramiel to suddenly change the terms once the bidding crossed 5 Billion credits.

    The ongoing auction was paused and Ramiel informed that everyone must offer a treasure in addition to 5 billion credits. The item will be later auctioned in the World Auction on the last day of the current millennium.

    Back to the present, almost three-fourths of the bidders are out of the race due to their treasures being outbid by the larger organizations.

    Despite that, there was huge pressure on these bidders because they didn''t bring their best treasures with them.

    How could they?

    No one expected such an item will be auctioned and that too, at this kind of place...

    Meanwhile, Gedalya of the War God Temple was laughing inside as he silently observed the auction. "They don''t know that all of their efforts to acquire the Jewel will go to waste once I reveal my treasure."

    Because everyone is busy concentrating on the item, no one realized that this old man never bid once from the beginning despite claiming that he attended the feast specifically for the Jewel.

    The auction is intense as the time passed with everyone revealing a treasure one after the other.

    Almost all the champions and their respective instructors were left in shock upon watching the intense battle between the guests. A couple of Legendary Experts even resorted to threats using the name of their organizations while bidding but no one is backing down.

    If it were only treasures, people would have backed down very quickly as no one was prepared enough but Ramiel allowed precious metals and minerals like gold, adamantine, Mithril, diamond, rubies, etc¡­

    Not only had he allowed them but he also permitted the winner, a whole week to arrange the necessary things and exchange the item at the Headquarters at any time before the limit.

    Of course, it goes without saying that they are gonna make an official contract on it regarding terms and conditions when each side didn''t hold the end of their deal.

    Because of this, people started to gamble on it and raised the bidding like crazy. Everyone thought they can just buy the deposits of gold within the week. In their eyes, it is the same as allowing the currency even after the 5 billion credits limit.

    Meanwhile, Azzy was a little bit disappointed upon finding how insignificant his adamantine gloves are when compared to the Jewel.

    He knew that comparing both of them is like comparing a pond and an ocean but still when compared to the usage, in Azzy''s view, his gloves are more useful. When he has the power of time, why would he worry about healing?

    30 minutes passed, the current highest bidding value was nearing 10 billion credits, and only four players left in this war.

    First is the representative of a food giant, Hazel Corp.

    Second is Helix, the young master of Stoneroses, a service company with over 3000 Arcana Masters as employees, spread through more than 500 branches all over the world. His family also owns a couple of high-quality gold mines. So, one can say, he''s freaking rich.

    The third is the Fire Temple''s Elder. He has several treasures in his storage card.

    The fourth and final bidder is surprisingly the Principal of Aclein Academy, Barton Everglade. Even his wife couldn''t understand how Barton could even acquire so many treasures. "Did he perhaps sell the academy for Eternal Institutions in return for those Rank-9 items?" Sahara couldn''t help but suspect it.

    But when she thought it once again, she felt absurd and threw the thought away. "Nah, the school value couldn''t possibly be in hundreds of millions of Krocs. Then, perhaps, all of those treasures belong to them?"

    The others felt that this Jewel''s worth is not that much when considering the risks the holder must take.

    Each of them was adding one treasure on top of the other in completion, pushing the current bid value to 10 Billion credits.

    Barton finally let out a sigh and announced that he was dropping out. At the same time, he took out a message card, sending it to someone.

    Sahara, King Brian, and Aegis were observing him from when the bidding value crossed 5 Billion and he started taking out Rank-9 treasures one by one.

    And now when they spotted him taking out the message card, the three of them confirmed their suspicions that Barton is indeed bidding in someone''s stead. But who can it be?

    Neither Aegis nor King Brian had an idea about it. So, they could only link it to Ramiel himself who came to the rescue and even risked the enmity with Church by killing a Cardinal when the latter refused to surrender.

    However, once Barton dropped from this fierce bidding war, they no longer paid attention to him and focused on others who are still in the race.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 208: The Chalice of Athena

    Then, it was Hazel Corporation''s turn to drop out at 15 Billion, rushing the battle into a finale between Stoneroses and Fire Temple.

    "I''ll add 5 tons of 24k gold in the form of bars." Helix abruptly raised the bidding by adding 3 billion credits worth of gold.

    "Okay, now the current highest bidding value is 18 billion 300 million credits," Ramiel announced to give clarification for everyone and turned towards the remaining alive player. "Mr. Epidicus?"

    The Fire Temple Elder stayed silent for a couple of seconds as if he was thinking about something. He took out a pair of glossy black earrings and a glossy black pendant with mystical runes on top of them. "Then, I''ll add these two sets. Please appraise them and give the price."

    It took a whole minute for Ramiel to appraise them and looked at the Fire Temple Elder in surprise. "These two accessories contain at least 92% Adamantium, 5% Mithril, along with other metals¡­  Moreover, these two are also a set, although I''m not sure what their ability though. Please explain, Mr. Epidicus."

    The Elder of Fire Temple stood on his feet and answered, "Each one boosts one''s strength by half a fold. However, when one person wears both of them, the wearer''s strength boosts by One and a half fold (150%).

    Adding on top of that, their soul energy recovery rate will be also boosted by 10 fold (1000%). Each of them separately is a rank-9 item but together, the set accessory is an Earth grade item (rank-10). It was named as Dream of Mira."

    Everyone seems impressed with the abilities as increasing strength by that much is the same as saying that a low-rank-8 becomes a peak-rank-8 expert. A peak-rank-8 will become a mid-rank-9 expert.

    "Oh!" Ramiel''s eyes lit up in excitement as he caressed them. "If what you say is true then, our offer will stand at 10 Billion credits."

    With just a single set, Fire Temple Elder pushed the maximum bid to 27 Billion. Helix who was out of treasures and only has nothing but gold bars to offer fell into thoughts. "To gather such an amount in a week, I will have to empty all of our reserves and incur father''s wrath."

    "I drop." He raised his hand.

    "Okay, the current bid is 5 Billion credits, Snowfield Scepter, Shield of Zelnaris, Ring of Aether, Sun brooch, Infernal Whip, Voltenux Armor, Spirit seal stone, and a set accessory named Dream of Mira, worth totaled to 25 billion and 630 million credits. Anyone else to bid?"

    The whole hall was filled in the silence.

    Ramiel was also satisfied with the outcome, getting far more worth than they expected. "Going once, going twice¡­"

    "You forgot me, Vice President Crescent." Just right then, a familiar voice interrupted the announcement.

    It was only then, he realized that this person has never made a move until now. "Mr. Gedalya, do you wish to bid higher?" He asked.

    Gedalya let out a chuckle, crossing his arms. "It was actually fun to see these people fighting among themselves when the result is already been decided from the start. Anyway, I will bid with a single item. You will directly give me the Jewel in exchange for it."

    His words made everyone frown as it seemed like he was insulting them by indirectly calling everyone fools. Meanwhile, Helix snorted in response, "I''m really curious what kind of relic you will take out to amaze us."

    "Exactly," Gedalya grinned as he heard the words while summoning his storage card. "You guessed it right. Too bad there''s no reward."

    A golden Chalice appeared in his hands, "The Chalice of Athena, a Celestial grade relic (rank-11)."

    Everyone sensed strange energy emitting from it. At the same time, they appeared to be as drawn towards it similarly like they felt for the Jewel.

    Gedalya explained, "This Chalice belonged to the Goddess Athena herself and was presented to the first head priest of the Temple of Wisdom and War. During our split up, to promote peace between the two factions, it was given to our ancestors.

    One just needs to pour water into it. The water turns into magical water filled with divinity. And those who drink the water will have their soul become powerful, their soul energy becomes a lot denser and their Arcana Spirit will mutate for sure. In rare cases, it will even evolve into upper grade.

    There are only two limitations. One, it only works once a lifetime per person, and Two, it won''t work on Demi-God.

    The most astonishing feature is that it can be used an unlimited number of times. If not for the rejection of Goddess Athena''s item in our Temple, I would have never brought this one out."

    Looking at the shocked Ramiel, Gedalya smiled as he raised it, "Can you appraise it, Vice President Crescent?"

    Ramiel holds the golden chalice with very care. After holding for a couple of minutes in silence, Ramiel praised it, "Absolutely stunning. I can''t appraise its true value but this one is definitely above even the top-tier Earth grade item. There''s no need to evaluate this one. You can have the Jewel of Life in exchange for this."

    Ramiel forgot to count and he forgot about the donation to the charity. Everything fell before the golden chalice in his hands.

    Stepping down from the stage, he then walked towards the table where Gedalya was sitting.

    "Told you so¡­" A haughty expression appeared on Gedalya as he glanced at Helix. The latter felt embarrassed and wanted to hide his head in shame.

    Before Ramiel handed over the crown, he gave a stern warning to Gedalya that if the effects were unproven, then, he and his Temple will pay dearly for cheating. To which, this Elder replied that Vice-President himself can drink it before everyone and feel the effects.

    It was at this moment, another voice came from the front table, interrupting the transaction once again. "Wait a second, Vice President Crescent."

    Everyone turned in the direction of the source of the sound. It was Barton who raised his voice.

    "What is it, Mr. Everglade?" Ramiel wondered whether this guy has any problem with the transaction or something.

    He was then informed of how he wasn''t following the rules of the auction by not bothering to ask anyone else.

    "Why waste the time?" Gedalya replied in place of Ramiel. "Is there anyone here who has a better relic than our Golden Chalice? Elder Epidicus? Do you have one?"

    Ramiel also turned his head towards the old man who was representing the Fire Temple. Will he also put any Celestial grade item like this? The others also wondered the same.

    Alas, Epidicus crushed everyone''s expectations by shaking his head and admitting defeat.

    "Okay, I will ask one last time. Is there anyone that can outbid this item?" Ramiel asked everyone just for one last confirmation so that he could take the chalice with him while returning.

    "I do, Vice President Crescent." Barton broke the silence as he took out a golden mirror from the storage card.

    "That is¡­" Azzy''s eyes were widened in surprise. Even Aegis and Sahara were the same.

    Everyone placed their attention on the mirror. Unlike the crown and chalice, it didn''t have any kind of radiance. If anything else, it completely appeared like a normal mirror.

    "I bid my Djinn."

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 209: Three-way Transaction

    "Djinn?" Almost all the guests have watched the invasion of Aethon Light. They saw everything until the end. So, everyone had an idea of the Prowess of Djinn even if they don''t have prior knowledge about its history.

    Looking at Ramiel, Barton explained, "Like the Jewel, the more powerful a soul is, the more ability they can draw from the Djinn sealed inside this magical object. I could only draw out high-rank-8 strength from my Djinn. Its limits are far higher than the ones displayed during the battle.

    That means if its owner is the child of heavens, then, he/she will have an immortal Supreme Realm servant."

    His words stirred everyone''s heart. A look of greediness appeared on everyone''s face.

    Then, Barton continued to state its drawbacks. "However, it has a terrible price. The cost to summon the Djinn is longevity. Four weeks per second. So, for every minute, your max life limit will be decreased by more than four and a half years.

    Along with that, a master of the Djinn can make a wish. The price will be depending on how great the wish is. I paid thousand years of longevity in exchange to escape the death from the Royal Ancestor.

    Okay, I have stated everything I know about it. Now, I''m waiting for Vice President Crescent''s judgment whether it is superior to that golden chalice or not."

    Barton stared at him seriously. He was determined to acquire the Jewel at all costs.

    Ramiel felt everyone''s eyes on him. At the same time, Gedalya''s face turned dark. He knew the true extent of the Djinn''s powers even better than Barton. The War God Temple has records of them.

    Meanwhile, Ramiel fell into a dilemma. His eyes are darting left and right. Both of them are heaven-defying items and neither is less precious than the other.

    Right then, Gedalya spoke, "Vice President Crescent, I agree that the Djinn might be tempting but the Chalice of Athena will be more useful for an organization."

    A few of them standing around nodded in agreement. However, the young couple from the Abel tower didn''t agree with it.

    Just when the girl was about to interrupt him, Gedalya continued, "How about a three-way transaction? You keep the Golden Chalice and I will give the Jewel of Life to Mr. Everglade in exchange for the Djinn."

    His suggestion brought a huge surprise to everyone including even Barton. How could a person who was just haughtily claiming that the Jewel will be his, now, suddenly giving up on it?

    None of the guests are fools either. They could clearly see that this man from War God Temple values the Djinn more than the Chalice and the Jewel. But, they are just outsiders at the moment and have no right to interfere. Only the Auction''s host has the right to decide on what to do.

    So, the guests and the Champions just looked at Ramiel to make a decision. With the Golden Chalice, the overall strength of WAMO improves. They can make it as a welcome bonus for every member that was a scout or put something else as criteria.

    On the other hand, if he takes the Djinn, it could only be used at emergency times. Moreover, the organization might not allow any individual to possess it. Just like the jewel of life, the mirror will stay in the vaults.

    After thinking deeply, weighing the pros and cons, Ramiel agreed to his suggestion and asked if Barton was okay with this deal. This Principal of Aclein Academy didn''t care who the Djinn will end up as he already relinquished his ownership on it. Moreover, War God Temple isn''t an enemy to him.

    As the three of them came to an arrangement, they exchanged the goods with each other. Barton kept away the Jewel of Life, Ramiel kept away the Golden Chalice and Gedalya kept away the ownerless mirror. The Principal also gave an envelope to the Elder of the War God Temple. It contained the ritual to become Djinn''s master.

    Even though it was unnecessary, Gedalya took it for namesake with a smile. He felt that he was the biggest winner in the auction.

    *Cling* Cling*

    "Ladies and Gentlemen," The organizing committee head then informed everyone about the end of the auction and they are free to converse with the champions.

    It was for this reason, the Auction was held specifically before the final segment is to let the champions.

    A representative''s financial strength is often considered the financial strength of an organization behind his back. If he''s weak, no matter how popular and great his backing might be, the champions should understand that they aren''t much interested in either feast or recruiting them.

    Of course, being veteran participants in international tournaments, everyone except Leah and Team twilight understood that long ago. And by now, Azzy and others also had their first impressions based on the auction.

    Soon, the adults began to converse with the teenagers in the hopes of scouting them.

    Five of the eight legendary realm experts in the room seemed uninterested and were busy checking each other out.

    The King left the hall very soon. Aegis was silent and not engaging with anyone.

    Central Academy instructor brought a few guests and was introducing his team members. It''s the same with the other instructors with everything being prearranged.

    Surprisingly, Ramiel walked out of the room, taking Gideon with him to talk about something important. Is it some clan business? Azzy wondered.

    Then, he looked at Mia, who was engaging in a conversation with Helix. Barton was with her just in case.

    Snivy, on the other hand, seemed to be popular. She was surrounded by four exalt realm experts of different organizations and companies. Those people are competing with each other in offering better terms and signing bonuses. Sahara was looking after her as the busty loli was being overwhelmed.

    As for Claire, she was silently standing beside Azzy. Because of her status as the Princess of the Triastal kingdom, no one dared to try scouting her.

    It was also the same with Leah but unlike with Claire, people are talking with this princess, not to scout her but to establish connections with Camelot and gain something. Triastal doesn''t allow foreign organizations to set up branches in the kingdom. With no possibility of gains, no one felt the need to talk with her.

    "But, what about me?" Azzy himself was confused as to why no one is approaching him. He could still feel the gazes from those powerful legendary realm experts but no one is stepping forward. It''s as if the one who makes the first move loses.

    If it was before, Azzy would careless about anyone. However, after meeting with his future self, he realized that it''s not bad to have a normal life like others. It''s not like he had many great memories in the Death clan. So, for Azzy, staying with his friends became important.

    After returning to the future, he can later revive the memories that they had with him. Right now, Azzy was in no hurry to go to the Arcana World and get stronger quickly.

    Despite not being interested to join any organization, he at least wanted to know his worth, whether someone is interested to recruit him or not. But, unlike his expectations, he was just standing there along with Claire.

    Because of the kissing incident, Claire was too shy and nervous to talk to him at the moment while Azzy couldn''t hold any conversation with her as he knew she''ll be his wife in the future.

    It was at that moment, a translucent envelope appeared suddenly popped in front of him. Since he only has very few contacts, Azzy wondered whether it was from Aegis or Barton.

    Surprisingly, it was Gideon who sent him an audio message.

    "Meet him at the rooftop?" Azzy felt a little bit suspicious. But, at the same time, he remembered that Gideon was with Ramiel who could be trusted.

    "Maybe, that bodybuilder old man left and Gideon was being held as a hostage to lay a trap?" With how the King is absent, Azzy couldn''t help but get weary of the situation.

    He immediately opened up the message card where his master''s signature was recorded, and wrote a message with his soul energy, and sent it.

    Barton, who was listening to Helix''s offer to Mia, suddenly turned his attention towards Azzy. He has a look of surprise.

    "I''ll be right back in a second." After excusing himself, Barton went to a corner and contacted Ramiel.

    After confirming that Gideon is safe and sound, he informed Azzy the same.

    Meanwhile, at the rooftop, Gideon said to Ramiel, "He''s coming. I only have one question, Vice President Crescent."

    "Gideon, you can address me as Master. Anyway, what is it?"

    "If he refuses, will I still be your disciple or is this an offer linked to his joining WAMO?" Gideon''s face was dead serious.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 210: Accepting Ramiels offer

    "So, to keep my freedom and current lifestyle, I will have to go under special training every weekend and after that, join the missions whenever I will be informed. At the same time, I will have to keep my identity as a member of Elite Forces as a secret from everyone. My public identity will be that of a normal member.

    Briefly, this was the compromise on your side?" Azzy calmly asked the buffed old man packed in a suit after hearing everything.

    Ramiel nodded in response.

    Gideon stayed silent on the side. Even he felt it was generosity from WAMO''s side. But, at the same time, it means that Azzy will not be able to go on Arcana trips with the school and he will not able to go out with friends either.

    On the other hand, Azzy was consulting the Reaper to check the advantages and disadvantages of the situation. He was actually tempted to join.

    According to Ramiel''s explanation, WAMO''s Elite Forces only do joint missions with the special forces of each nation.

    And there won''t be any issue if he also joins the Special Forces of the country. Of course, that would mean, he will have to take citizenship of Northern Qudour later when he turns 18 and is still in the Forces.

    The Reaper answered, "It would be doable if the conditions should be altered a little bit. Listen carefully¡­"

    As Azzy listened to the Reaper''s advice, his eyes lit up in satisfaction. It was the best thing he can have. But, will this old man agree?

    Azzy didn''t know but the Reaper said he can still join the Special Forces of the nation even if he rejects Ramiel''s offer now. After all, the scientist who gave him a billion credit gloves will want to join her workplace.

    He immediately spoke to Ramiel, "I have no problems with signing the confidential agreement or joining the missions but there''s nothing that I''m getting in return for serving the organization and I don''t mean money."

    Even if it was for a split second, Gideon saw a frown on his ancestor. He also doesn''t know what Azzy was expecting.

    In everyone''s eyes, even just joining the world''s biggest organization as a normal member is something that''s celebrating. But, here is his best friend who was telling that even such a compromise on Ramiel''s part when joining in their Elite Force isn''t enough.

    As for Ramiel, at first, he was indeed displeased by Azzy''s reply but then, he understood something from his words. It is that Azzy was interested to join. And that is enough for this peak stage legendary expert to calmly listen to Azzy''s demands. After all, he experienced this kind of situation many times.

    "So, here''s my condition. One, I want WAMO to give an offer to my team members to join the Elite Forces too so that they have the protection. If not, at least, a chance to prove themselves. They didn''t get such a chance in the tournament because of me."

    "So, it was just this¡­" Ramiel bursts out into laughter as soon as he heard Azzy''s condition. He expected something more serious like a treasure as a signing bonus or something. In the past, he encountered many geniuses who did ask for such things.

    "Okay done. If your friends wanted to join our Elite forces, then, I will personally test their skills. If they prove themselves, I promise that they will receive the same conditions."

    "Thank you." Azzy then, put his second condition, "Instead of weekends, I want to attend training for one week straight in a month."

    "Done." By now, Ramiel realized that the person standing before him was not only a child even in his mind but also seem to have a little bit of pure/na?ve heart contrary to his dark powers. "Anything else?"

    Azzy shook his head.

    "That''s it?" Ramiel asked him for confirmation.

    "That''s it." Azzy nodded.

    "Welcome to World Arcana Masters Organization, Mr. Azrael." Ramiel put forth his hand with a big smile. He didn''t expect that it would go this easily.

    "Pleasure to be working with you," Azzy shook the hand with an indifferent expression, feeling happy inside.

    "Come, let''s go down and meet your friends."

    Soon, they returned to the banquet hall together.

    Azzy saw the situation was quite the same as before, except that Claire appeared down while standing all by herself.

    Azzy felt bad for her. He doesn''t know why people are interested in Mia and Snivy but not Claire. Or maybe, she rejected the offers because she will be joining Sun Academy? He wondered.

    "Oh, you returned, Vice President Crescent. It looked like you have succeeded in poaching the kids." A comment escaped from Gedalya who was the first to spot them.

    Everyone immediately turned their heads only to look at a big smile on Ramiel''s face with his hands on the shoulders of two boys. "Well, let''s just say I''m sincere. Oh, and meet my seventh disciple, Gideon, and our new member, Azrael."

    The entire hall went into silence as he proudly announced Gideon as disciple and Azzy as the member of WAMO, implying that they should forget their sketches on both of them.

    Their eyes darted left and right, looking at Gideon and Azzy before everyone realized. The legendary realm experts realized how foolish they were to wait and catch the fish only to get it away before they even tried to throw bait.

    Meanwhile, Ramiel was barely managing to suppress his excitement. Right now, he just wants to scream out loud that he managed to catch a platinum Arowana. He was also thankful to the Royal Ancestor for invading the academy.

    If it wasn''t for that incident, he was sure that Barton wouldn''t have agreed to let Azzy go near Ramiel. In exchange for the help, Ramiel only asked for a chance to recruit him.

    Even Barton didn''t expect Ramiel would use such a strategy.

    Upon hearing it, Gedalya said in a mocking tone. "I underestimated you. Vice President Crescent once again reminded everyone that WAMO is not light but always grey."

    It was such a simple comment but has a deep meaning behind it. An upright organization used devious means to recruit a 13-year-old kid. In everyone''s eyes, Gideon was just a tool Ramiel used to lure Azzy.

    And their thoughts were also not baseless. First, Ramiel took Gideon with him, then, Azzy went alone, and now, they came together. It was public knowledge that Gideon and Azzy are best friends.

    None of them knew that he only took in Gideon as a disciple because of the fear of Demi-God.

    "Congratulations, Gideon, Azrael." Sahara was the first to congratulate both of them as their future is now set.

    The guests weren''t the only ones that were shocked by Ramiel''s move. The one who was most affected was Claire.

    Never in the world did she expect Azzy to make such a choice when he said he will not continue higher education after graduating. He was supposed to go training in the wild zones.

    On one side, it is good news. However, on the flip side, it wasn''t good for her either.

    It''s because she thought Azzy would leave the school, after the examination, or maybe, the very next day. It left her mind in a mess. She didn''t even know what she was supposed to do. To date, she was suffering whether she should pursue Azzy or just forget her feelings and move on.

    A lot of times, she thought of the latter option but for some reason, she wasn''t able to. It was as if her soul itself is attracted towards his presence, although her Arcana Spirit seems to hate it. And now, there was a sudden twist before her¡­

    Just as she was sorting out her thoughts, Ramiel called out the names in a loud tone, ignoring the presence of the esteemed guests. "Mia Leveret, Claire Lefeuvre, and Snivy¡­"

    The three of their faces became stiff because of the sudden call but they responded, "Yes."

    "Like Azrael, I''m willing to recruit you into our organization along with providing freedom of continuing your normal lives. However, all of you have yet to give your all and I don''t want anyone else to complain about it later. Those who are interested to accept the offer, feel free to follow me to the training grounds."

    "Gideon, that includes you too¡­" He added as an afterthought.

    Ramiel looked at Barton and asked for permission, to which the latter accepted in high spirits.

    "Joining WAMO without compromising on normal lives? That means I get to stay with Azzy now, and even after graduation?" Claire felt as if a sudden door to an endless road opened before her.

    "Ramiel Crescent, you aren''t giving any face to us." The legendary realm expert of Hurricane erupted.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 211: Ramiels Recruitment Test part-1

    Alabaster Draguar was the ancestor of the prestigious Royal family of Tavrobel, a nation-state that''s located in the far north of the continent in the polar region.

    After appointing his successor, he left his homeland more than two thousand years ago and became a wandering Arcana Master.

    A few hundred years later, one day, he suddenly decided to settle down at the Silver City, a place known to hold many headquarters of the organizations and companies.

    He started an organization called Madford. One should say it is a home for free-spirited wandering Arcana masters who don''t like their freedom to be restricted, lone wolves who like to operate alone, and Adventurers who love to venture into the wild.

    Like many organizations, Madford also operates like a guild. Due to the ease of restrictions, its strength grew up very quickly, although, in the end, there''s no sense of unity within the organization.

    When one of their scouts showed the video of Azzy''s performance, Alabaster immediately felt Azzy was perfect for his organization. Many lone necromancers also have memberships in Madford. So, there''s no problem for him to scout Azzy.

    Trying his luck, he personally came to the feast but never in the world did he expect WAMO to make their move. In fact, Ramiel wasn''t even supposed to be a guest. He was just there to auction the Jewel of Life.

    When he found that Azzy was already scouted, like the fellow legendary realm experts, he got angry. Before he even expresses it, the thunder emperor standing before him even publicly tried to poach the other kids too.

    Alabaster no longer stayed silent. He erupted and addressed Ramiel by his name and dropped the prefixes. "Ramiel Crescent, you aren''t giving any face to us."

    Everyone''s attention suddenly turned to this old man who resorted to threats during the Auction to claim the Set accessory but failed in the end.

    He then said, "WAMO doesn''t even have the right to recruit at this event and you are even brazenly trying to poach them in front of other guests. Do you invite us with an intention to insult or something?" "Calm down, Mr. Draguar." Barton came to Ramiel''s support. "They are my students and he has my permission."

    But, Alabaster dismissed him immediately without giving him any face. "It''s not about your students, Everglade. Stand aside and stay quiet."

    Barton''s face darkened. Azzy also got a little bit angry that this man trying to cause trouble in their own school but he knew that he can''t poke his nose into this matter. So, he kept silent.

    Alabaster continued, "Your attitude really got on my nerves." He further accused of how shameless WAMO has gotten to lure the kids by using devious means.

    Everyone who also has a problem with Ramiel''s method agreed with this man who expressed their thoughts too.

    Just then, another legendary realm expert who was just as frustrated as Alabaster let out a comment, "what can we expect from them? They made the descendant of the greatest murderer in the history of mankind as the Vice President."

    "Mind your tongue, Conifer." Ramiel''s facial expression quickly turned cold and lightning sparks start to dance over his body.

    Everybody immediately became alert.

    Taking a deep breath to control his emotions, he spoke, "It''s not that we don''t have any right but we are the ones who stay silent to give everyone a fair chance. It was an unofficial agreement. However, it seems our silence is taken for granted. Then, listen carefully¡­"

    Ramiel then turned his attention to everyone and announced that his test will now be open to all the champions present in the room. "One hour. Anyone interested, come to Grand Arena within one hour."

    After telling Azzy and Gideon to join their table, Ramiel walked out of the banquet, leaving everyone in a daze.

    Alabaster and Conifer felt hateful gazes from several people for provoking Ramiel unnecessarily.

    "What are you looking at?" Conifer hit back at them for being silent.

    The Fire Temple''s elder shook his head with a sigh, "You are a fool to bring Aelius Crescent into this mess. Now, not only you have lost all the advantage over him, but you also provoke a sleeping tiger."

    "So, what if he announces the recruitment? Who will go and¡­" Alabaster tried to support Conifer but stopped talking in the midway as his eyes fell on the twins from Freyles Academy as they suddenly stood up on their feet to walk towards the entrance, ignoring the exalt realm who was trying to scout until a while ago.

    "Where are you going?" The representative instructor of Freyles Academy tried to stop them.

    Irene Ash turned her head and answered, "We aren''t interested in money or some material benefits. We are only interested in getting stronger."

    Although she didn''t explain it in detail, every expert, representing a business organization felt like they were being slapped by reality.

    No matter how much they kind of mistakes they try to pick out on WAMO, it is and will always be the top choice for people who strive to get stronger because of their advanced training systems.

    Now that there''s a Golden Chalice in Ramiel''s hands, WAMO''s popularity will even grow further among the geniuses.

    When Laura Drake from the Phoenix Academy and Gideon also left, the atmosphere turned awkward for both Barton and the guests.

    Barton could only apologize to everyone while regretting allowing Azzy to go to the rooftop. This tournament indeed turned out to be memorable for him but not in the way he wanted it to be.

    Now that the die has already been cast, he can''t do anything about it other than going with the flow.

    Soon, embarrassed Conifer and Alabaster Draguar also stormed out of the place while swearing revenge. To save the last bit of image, Barton went on to the stage and thanked everyone before announcing that the feast has been ended.

    Nearly, an hour later, Grand Arena was packed with the students and teachers.

    *Ha*

    Irene''s Volcanic Ash transformed into that a shape resembles a dragon''s head, which shot hundreds of tiny ash spheres towards Ramiel at a close range.

    For each one that hit him, he felt his own weight increased by a little. In the end, he felt as if there''s two tons of weight on him. Naturally, as a person who trained in the Violet Pavilion, it wasn''t a big deal but it gave an opportunity for the giant Golem to create tiny rocky golems nearby.

    As they exploded at perfect timing, Ramiel was pushed back a few meters while Irene covered herself with a dome of ash. A look of surprise appeared on his face. Even if he suppressed his strength to peak-rank-5, even if he isn''t using soul energy, still, he was a peak-rank-8 expert that lived for two thousand years and has vast fighting experience.

    To push him back isn''t something any ordinary genius can do. Moreover, both of them aren''t even the true children of heaven. They only have gold-grade Arcana spirits.

    "Both of you pass." Ramiel extended his hand towards them with a satisfactory look, "Welcome to World Arcana Masters Organization. Within a week, both of you will receive the contract with special terms and conditions."

    Both of them expressed their thanks at the same time and high-fived each other before stepping aside.

    Next, it was Laura''s turn. After her test is over, Ramiel didn''t hold back in saying that she wasn''t suited to battle solo. As for the result, he judged that she can get a normal membership without any issues but to get special treatment like Azzy and the twins, he will have to discuss it with the President.

    She felt a little bit bad but she knew her place the moment she participated in the duo category.

    "C''mon, whether it is special treatment or normal, you still passed the test." Her partner tried to console her. Mia who wasn''t participating in the test also cheered her.

    Only three were left, Gideon, Snivy, and Claire.

    Looking at them, Ramiel said in a serious tone, "You have a choice, unlike that girl. I haven''t seen the full extent of your abilities but the chances of failing are higher if you participate in this test, alone. On the other hand, if you fought as a group, you will either succeed together or fail together. Discuss among yourselves and come to a decision."

    "I''ll participate alone, Master." Before they even get to discuss, Gideon gave his answer. "More than getting into the organization, I want to find out whether I was worthy or not. Even if I fail here, I could still get stronger in the future and apply again."

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 212: Ramiels Recruitment Test part-2

    Gideon''s statement changed the facial expressions of Snivy and Claire for a moment. Both of them cursed him in their hearts for making them look weak now.

    Even they wanted to show off all of their skills to prove their worthiness but getting into WAMO is too important for these girls that they cannot gamble on the chances.

    For Snivy, who was born in a normal middle-class family to commoner parents, her future career is important. This is why she fell into a dilemma when those scouts gave various offers. As for Claire, she just wants to spend her future with Azzy.

    Although for different reasons, it concerns their futures. So, as soon as they take a look at each other faces, Snivy and Claire immediately knew what they are going to pick.

    Without having any conversation, they just nodded together and a duo has been formed.

    Meanwhile, Gideon summoned his lightning sword. Ramiel crossed his arms to the back.

    "The rules are the same. Five minutes tops. Use everything you have, Gideon. Good luck."

    "Good luck." Watching it from the audience section, Azzy mumbled to himself.

    "Say, will he be able to do it?" Barbara who sat beside Azzy asked him. Since both are her family, she was looking forward to the results.

    "He''s the weakest out of all the contenders, junior sister. If Vice president Crescent was being impartial with his own student, then, the possibility is too less." Vann who sat on her other side answered in place of Azzy.

    "I don''t know what kind of strength you define as strong or weak but it isn''t the stronger person that wins the battle, Vann." Azzy got ticked off because of the comment. "The one who wins the battle is called a stronger person and the one who gets defeated is called weak."

    While he commented in his indifferent tone, he was cold inside. The one who was sitting near to him is a beast that must be killed at all costs.

    Vann didn''t refute Azzy''s statement and just turned his attention towards the arena. For him, it reminded him of how he was being soundly defeated by Leah in the finals contrary to his expectations.

    Gideon''s test started.

    "Activate, Skill card: Thunder Steps."

    Gideon activated his favorite skill card. As soon as the card disappears, everyone saw lightning sparks on his legs. He turned blurry to most of the spectators the moment he dashed towards his opponent.

    Pouring soul energy into the sword, he started aggressive attacks on Ramiel. Azzy saw dozens of attacks on Ramiel. After concentrating for a while, Barbara rubbed her eyes, "I feel dizzy¡­ Gideon got even faster."

    Azzy nodded in response.

    For a whole three minutes, Gideon was relentlessly attacking from all sides with everything he got but Ramiel wasn''t budging in the least. He was just standing like a wall, blocking all the attacks with his bare arms, forcing Gideon to increase speed even further.

    At the fourth minute, Ramiel made his first move by blocking the sword with one arm and throwing a punch at Gideon''s chest.

    Just as it was about to land on Gideon, the latter suddenly jumped high, evading the attack, and slashed at his Master''s shoulder.

    This slash was different compared to the previous ones. Everyone saw blue Crescent-shaped energy which is quite sharp. But, Ramiel was even faster. He caught it at the last moment and crushed it with brute force.

    "It didn''t work?" Gideon got distracted for a moment.

    Before he came to his senses, a powerful kick was planted in his abdomen.

    Gideon flew away for more than a hundred meters and crashed on the wall.

    *Cough* Cough*

    Gideon slowly stood up on his feet, grabbing his stomach.

    "Your swordsmanship is indeed good but you have two issues. One, you lack the raw strength, Two, you focused too much on your swordsmanship and forgot about your attribute. Do you what is the greatest gift of attribute?" Suddenly, as Ramiel went into teaching mode, Gideon stopped in his tracks and pondered about it.

    Most of the spectators who still don''t know that Gideon is the student of this peak-rank-8 expert wondered why Ramiel is doing this when he didn''t do the same thing with the other participants.

    Is he being partial? The audience had the reason to suspect it.

    As there isn''t much time left, Ramiel tried to give him a hint, "Earthquakes, Tsunamis, lightning strikes, tornados, Volcano eruptions, what is the common occurrence in these natural disasters except for the casualties and economic losses they cause for victims?"

    Realization dawned upon Gideon. "Billions of joules of energy will be discharged from them¡­"

    "That''s right. It is called the attribute energy." Ramiel gave a nod and explained, "One of the inborn talents of the true children of heaven is that all of them can add the properties of attribute even in normal attacks without much effort. Others have to train hard to achieve it. Unless you tap into attribute energy, it is impossible for you to even move me from this spot."

    "Anyway," looking at his pocket watch, he then said, "you still have a little more than 90 seconds left. Now, do what you can do¡­"

    "Is he trying to discourage Gideon or giving a lesson?" Barbara didn''t understand what''s going on inside Ramiel''s mind.

    Vann glanced at Azzy, waiting for his opinion.

    "He''s telling Gideon to use the soul skills and skill cards." Leah who sat on Azzy''s other side answered her in place of Azzy, this time. After remembering something, she added, "but, he''s only at the beginner stage of Elite realm. There''s no way it would work. It is too weak."

    "Not if he uses our clan techniques as a combo." Azzy didn''t even get to comment on her statement before Barbara pitched in and immediately, close her mouth in realization.

    Azzy really felt the urge to slap her head for being a blabbermouth. Vann didn''t care about her tongue slip. However, Leah, who has complete information on Gideon, fell into thoughts.

    Before she expressed her suspicion, Azzy quickly covered, "Gideon is his disciple."

    "I see¡­" Leah understood what Azzy implied. She misunderstood that Gideon might be Ramiel''s disciple for a long time by now. Since Gideon is out of her radar, she didn''t think of the matter too deep and focused on the battle.

    It isn''t hard for a child with 140 above IQ to figure out the meaning behind Ramiel''s sentence. And he even went above Leah''s thinking.

    Dashing towards Ramiel, he once again continued to strike him one after another like before but with more speed. The spectators shook their heads in disappointment. Some of them felt pity for Ramiel who even went ahead and tried to help out this four-eyed teenager.

    Even Leah thought Gideon might have been given up the test. Soon, the battle entered the fifth minute with only 20 seconds remaining.

    It was then, a smile appeared on Gideon. "Good, the conditions are perfect." He then, jumped as high as he can and raised his sword above his head.

    Looking down from more than a hundred meters above the ground, Gideon released three soul skills and a skill card simultaneously, to unleash a combo attack along with the finishing Crescent slash.

    "Soul skill: Wrath of the Lightning Dragon"

    Lightning energy descended from the clouds in the form of a wingless and limbless dragon.

    "Skill card: Water Beam"

    Huge volumes of water gushed out of the skill card at a rapid speed.

    "Soul skill: Trident of Lightning"

    And finally, a ten-meter huge Trident made of lightning energy appeared above Gideon''s head. It was Gideon''s fifth soul skill which was unknown to the public as he just entered the Elite realm.

    Surprising everyone, Gideon pointed the skill card toward the sky and unleashed the water beam while also concentrated on moving the Trident in the same direction.

    As the lightning dragon was passing through the water beam, Gideon''s soul energy acted as a medium to transform it into a giant lightning-water dragon.

    A part of the stadium was covered by a huge shadow for a moment. A Giant wingless Dragon with only two front limbs was seen floating in the sky. It has the trident in its grip.

    *Roar*

    It raised its head to roar at the heavens.

    "Soul skill: ten thousand volts shock"

    Meanwhile, the lightning sword discharged a huge amount of electricity that merged with the crescent energy attack to form a circular disk with lightning energy dancing over it.

    As the circular disk collided with Ramiel''s palms, the Lightning-water Dragon descended like a flash and tried to pierce Ramiel''s back at the same time.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 213: Ramiels Recruitment Test part-3

    *Boom*

    As soon as the trident was pierced into Ramiel''s back, the giant Dragon detonated itself to release an enormous amount of energy, engulfing him in an explosion.

    But, when the smoke cleared, Ramiel was seen standing straight in the same place with a look of surprise on his face. Not even his suit was damaged in the least.

    However, his palms were bleeding while he was trying to block an Electric circular disc, which was the combination of Ten thousand Volt shock and the Crescent slash.

    "What¡­ the¡­ hell¡­"

    The guests from other schools who were ridiculing his decision of going solo now became dazed.

    "I see this is why he chose to participate in this test alone. He wasn''t just putting a brave front but has a trump card all along, after all." Iphi mumbled to herself.

    A soul skill and a skill card combo was a feat that was too common. But, a combo of two soul skills and a skill card is very uncommon. And it is even more of a miracle when one considers the status of Aclein Academy.

    The younger students of the school looked at him in admiration. His fame that was suppressed by Azzy''s skills, now, suddenly shot up.

    "Gideon" "Gideon" "Gideon"

    No one started it but within no time, there''s a loud cheering from the audience where they are hoping for him to get selected.

    Meanwhile, the bleeding increased as the electric circular disc was advancing millimeter by millimeter, cutting his skin even deeper every second.

    Soon, the time passed, Ramiel released the soul energy to dispel the attack and nodded in approval. "At the very least, I didn''t choose a dud."

    Previously, it was out of fear for a Demi-God that he chose Gideon as his disciple but now, he was happy with his decision.

    Gideon wasn''t the first of the Crescent clan to combine a soul skill with the clan''s technique but still, Ramiel was impressed that a 14-year-old branch clan member managed to achieve such a feat.

    "You pass, Gideon,"  Ramiel announced, healing the palms.

    *Woah* Wah* oooh*

    Loud cheers erupted from the spectators, especially from the younger students. The Champions of the other schools were the ones that were affected the most at the moment.

    Never in the world have they expected a supposed weak link of team Twilight had hidden such a powerful trump card that can even injure a rank-8. Even after becoming the tournament winner, these top talented people from top academies never recognized the potential of Azzy''s friends. They only thought the other four are above average at most.

    But now, as they realized that everyone from Azzy''s team didn''t get to show everything in the tournament, they couldn''t help but turn their gaze towards the two girls.

    Everyone is looking forward to watching the next battle.

    Soon, Snivy and Claire stepped forward together while they exchanged messages to form a perfect plan based on all the battles they have watched until now.

    "Okay, are you ready?" Ramiel was professional enough to forget about the earlier test and focus on current participants.

    Both of them took out their Arcana. This battle wasn''t that exciting or intense as the earlier ones. Heck, it didn''t even last 10 seconds.

    As soon as Ramiel started the stopwatch, Snivy unleashed her strongest soul skill, the Iron Fist.

    A giant metal iron fist erupted from right below this legendary realm expert gave a powerful punch to his butt, blasting him away into the sky.

    "Soul skill: Descent of Heavenly Guardian"

    As Claire unleashed her soul skill, a holy aura emitted from her, and golden wings sprouted from the back. She instantly flapped her wings and flew towards Ramiel who reached the mid-way of his flight.

    Controlling her soul energy, she created a beautiful golden whip to capture his legs and swinging them down with everything she had.

    Ramiel crashed onto the ground, creating a twenty feet deep crater. Claire and Snivy stood at the edge of the crater while Ramiel dusted himself off.

    Of course, there''s not even a single scratch on his body but strangely, he passed the both of them, surprising the audience.

    "Welcome to World Arcana Masters Organization, Ms. Snivy, Ms. Claire Lefeuvre."

    If Gideon''s performance amazed the spectators, Claire and Snivy''s performance brought a great deal of dissatisfaction among the instructors and the students of the top academies as they finally realized the hidden rules behind the test. One is to move him from the place and the other is to injure him.

    While injuring him is almost impossible for every student out there but high-headed people like Iphi, Lark, Bay passel, captains of top academies thought even they could do such things, the situation was quite unfair.

    They started murmuring among themselves.

    Ramiel, who already anticipated such a reaction, then, proceeded to announce the Open Recruitment test which will be held worldwide, three months later.

    "Good luck."

    Without saying any particular goodbyes, Ramiel then disappeared from there like a flash.

    After his disappearance, everyone returned to the dormitories. The students of the top academies also started leaving one by one.

    "Okay, Cou... I mean, Azrael, it''s time for goodbye." Barbara gave a light hug to Azzy as she was following the rest of her teammates to return. "I''ll be busy during the summer, training with my Master. So, I might not get time to meet you until next year. Anyway, let''s stay in touch."

    After watching Claire, Azzy, and others, a competitive spirit also brewed in her heart. While she didn''t know what will happen when goes back to the future but according to what Azzy informed her, at the very least, her memories will stay intact.

    She decided to work hard in learning all the advanced knowledge from her Master, a peak stage Supreme realm expert.

    After Barbara, it was Leah''s turn to say goodbye. As she proposed on exchanging soul energy signatures to stay in touch, the onlookers looked at the both of them in jealousy and envy.

    "I''m looking forward to meeting again during the summer. See ya, Azrael." Leah left with a huge smile on her face.

    Theodore Light was shivering in rage but he couldn''t speak even a single word because of the invasion incident. He thought he needs to be prepared to get laughed at by his fellow students.

    On the other hand, the insecure girl Claire, as usual, didn''t like the advances of this rival. Now that it was decided that she and Azzy will be spending time even after graduation, she now only has one goal. It is to confirm his feelings for her before Valentine''s Day and officially propose to him.

    It is not just her, everyone has their own plans for the next couple of months.

    Azzy had plans of mastering soul energy and sealing techniques.

    Snivy had plans to use this opportunity to work hard at WAMO and get promoted soon, securing her future.

    Mia decided on her future path, long ago. So, whether it is the tournament results, various offers from organizations, or her friends getting selected to become the Elite member of the World''s Biggest and most powerful Organization, none of it fazed her. She wants to enroll and later, graduate from the phoenix academy before 25, then, take over the family''s business.

    Finally, Gideon intends to train hard to catch up to Azzy and his friends.

    However, little did they expect, the very evening dinner is going to bring a great change in everyone''s life.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 214: Eternal Financial Group

    Evening 7 o''clock, Elite Division Girls Dormitory;

    "Woah, you look like a Disney princess. I''m so envious." The usual ever calm Mia went to a daze for a moment as her eyes fell on her best friend who was wearing a one-shoulder golden sheath gown and now was wondering whether to let the hair loose or go for a braided crown.

    Mia''s comment brought Claire back to reality and looked at her. Her eyes darted to Mia and then, herself. She mumbled, "I''m the one who is envious."

    "Hmm, what is it?" Mia asked her, wondering what she was unhappy about.

    "Nothing," Claire shook her head and then, asked her help for the braid.

    After a while, Snivy entered the room, depressing the both of them even more as they compared their¡­

    Contrary to their thoughts, the situation was the same for Snivy too. The busty loli was also envious of Claire who is tall and looks elegant and Mia who has the perfect body and curves that every girl of their age desire.

    Soon, Claire received a message from Azzy. She looked at both of them. "Let''s go."

    With every guest left, there are only like 40 girls living in this Elite dormitory. So, it was expected to be empty. However, it wasn''t as Claire expected. A large number of girls gathered at the entrance hall.

    A few of them are squealing in delight while a few of them are murmuring while looking outside as if they were seeing a celebrity.

    In one sense, Azzy and Gideon are indeed celebrities within the city of Aclein because of winning a prestigious tournament. Now that they got even scouted by WAMO, every media company is interest to contact them.

    However, as Barton was adamant about refusing any kind of personal interview, the photojournalists of several media companies and other freelancers could take photos and collect the information to publish articles on the next day.

    And that caused the swarming of the media into the academy. With several bodyguards blocking them, they were taking pics of those Azzy and Gideon.

    The former just crossed his arms to the chest and was waiting for the girls while the latter became busy with a photoshoot.

    Soon, as the three girls exited the dormitory, their attention was quickly shifted towards them. Claire and Mia were accustomed to this kind of situation as they usually attend formal events in their respective nobility circles. On the other hand, Snivy blushed feeling shy and nervous.

    Then, her eyes fell on the two boys waiting for them. With the black tuxedo, Azzy looked handsome, just like he always has been. There''s not much change. However, Gideon seemed way different from his usual nerdy look.

    After changing his spectacles for lens and spiked up his hair, he indeed looked a bit stylish and handsome too. The only thing that''s put him at disadvantage is his height.

    Compared to Azzy who was at 5ft 6in, Gideon was only 5ft 2in, so when they stand beside each other, the former grabs the attention even without doing anything.

    Meanwhile, Azzy was seen staring at Claire as she was walking towards him. Usually, he was immune to the charms of a woman but at the moment, Azzy''s heartbeat rose all of a sudden while remembering the image of his future family. He couldn''t take off his eyes on her for a few moments until he realizes it and quickly looked away in embarrassment.

    "Looks like you attracted your hubby''s attention," Mia whispered to Claire, trying to tease her. The latter blushed slightly and continued to walk straight. She was feeling a bit happy inside though.

    "Hey, let''s take a pic as a group." Gideon was the first to act as soon as the girls arrived but Azzy dismissed his suggestion and got into the vehicle.

    The rest of them also followed one after another.

    "Woah," Snivy looked around in amazement as she never got inside of such a luxury car. Even Mia and Claire also had the same reaction. For a while, everything seems good. But, when Barton and Sahara also joined them, the males and the females sat separately, bringing Azzy and Claire to face each other all the way.

    Both of them neither could look into each other eyes nor they could look away. Thankfully, the restaurant was only fifteen minutes away from the academy. So, the awkwardness between them didn''t last long.

    Soon, everyone get down from the vehicle and followed Barton into the empty restaurant.

    There, Azzy saw two ladies were seated, having wine together. One was a graceful-looking young lady while the other is a stylish old woman with spiky short hair and a butterfly tattoo below her left eye. There was another long tattoo over her right arm but the script is unreadable. She was wearing a black coat over a black t-shirt.

    As she stood up, Azzy saw she wore ripped jeans and long boots. Everyone was just shocked to see her appearance. The white-haired woman only lacked a guitar. If it was there, they would have wondered whether she stopped on the way from a concert.

    Not only Azzy but even the others including Barton are also surprised at her outfit. When Sahara informed them to wear the custom-made clothes, even Azzy thought there would be an event similar to that of the Royal Feast.

    He didn''t expect it was just two women and one of them even dressed strangely. It was only after the Reaper informed Azzy about their soul realm, he remembered Aegis and his usual outfit and convinced himself that there are all kinds of weird people in the world.

    "You are late, Mr. Everglade." The woman spoke to him as soon as she saw him at the entrance. Her eyes then shifted to the teenagers standing behind him.

    "It''s my fault. I apologize, Venerable Silverthorn." Sahara bowed in response.

    "Venerable?" Everyone''s heart skipped a beat for a second. It is well known that Venerable is only used for Supreme Realm experts. They finally realized why the Principal said the one they will meet in private dinner is a very important person.

    "Alright," She waved her hands and then, asked the young woman, "Are these the kids who won the trophy?"

    "Yes, ma''am. The one on the far left is Azrael, the second left is named Gideon, the middle one is Mia Leveret, the second right is Claire Lefeuvre, and the one on the far right is named Snivy." The young woman whispered to her.

    Everyone sat down, wondering about her identity.

    Barton then turned his head towards his students. "Let me introduce her. She''s Angie Silverthorn, a mid-rank-9 Arcana Master and the head of Eternal Educational Institutions. And this is her assistant, Linnea."

    "You forgot to mention that I''m future Director too, Mr. Everglade." The old woman added.

    "I haven''t informed them, yet." Barton apologized to her.

    "Is that so? Fine, Linnea will explain it to them." The old woman didn''t take any offense and was cool about it.

    "Thank you."

    "Eh? Our director?" Azzy and his teammates looked at each other faces in confusion.

    What does she mean? Was she trying to scout them? But then again, none of them ever even heard of this Institution either.

    Only Mia had an inkling of that word. She spoke, "By Eternal Institutions, do you mean the Eternal Financial Group?"

    "Oh, you seem to have knowledge about us. Good." Both of the strangers were surprised for a moment before Angie praised her. "Now, it will make it a lot easier¡­"

    While Claire and Azzy appeared to be calm, on the other hand, Snivy was feeling nervous. Realizing that she''s even stronger than the royal ancestor, Snivy was being overwhelmed by her presence.

    As the waiters were serving the drinks, Linnea proceeded with Angie''s permission. "First, let''s start with the introduction of our Institutions. Like Ms. Leveret mentioned, our parent company is Eternal Financial Group (EFG). It is comprised of Eternal Global investors, Eternal bank, and Eternal insurance.

    It was only eight years ago, we entered the education sector with Eternal Educational Institutions. So, you can say, we are fairly new in this circle. Currently, we have over twenty-two branches so far, of which fifteen branches are working, six of them are in the middle of a renovation, and the construction of University for advanced studies is almost complete.

    Anyway, coming to the point, a few weeks ago, we had a deal with Mr. Everglade. From the next academic year, Aclein Academy will become a part of Eternal Educational Institutions."

    "What?"

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 215: Will Azzy accept Barton as his Prime Master?

    Even in their dreams, none of them expected to hear such news. Until now, they only thought it was another organization that wanted to recruit them.

    Then, after that, when they heard they have Educational institutions, all of them decided to reject the offer of transferring. But the last sentence of Linnea brought a huge shock to the five of them.

    "Master, you sold our academy?" Azzy was the first to react to it. The others also turned their heads, waiting for confirmation.

    Remembering how Barton showed off his enormous wealth during the auction, Mia and Gideon now suspected whether there''s a deal regarding them behind their backs. Many theories popped up in their mind now that she confirmed the identity of the old woman.

    In response, Barton nodded his head, "The contract has already been finalized. After this semester, Aclein Academy will not exist, anymore. I''m going to inform everyone tomorrow. You five are receiving the news just in advance."

    Before Azzy or others reacted, Linnea told them that they don''t need to care about it. She stressed that only ownership and the name will be changed. Barton will still be the Principal, Sahara will still be the Vice-Principal, the rest of the faculty will not be removed and the students will continue studying as usual.

    Of course, she didn''t say anything about the curriculum or the addition of new faculty or change in divisions as she believed it was unnecessary to talk about them at the moment. After all, the three girls will graduate in one year and the two boys will graduate in two years.

    The only thing she needs to worry about convincing them to continue for advanced studies in the university.

    So, she started to talk about good points like a student exchange program, scholarships for merit students, no requirements for the Aclein Academy''s graduated students to enroll in the Eternal University or affiliated colleges, special one-week internship program per every three months, exclusively for ninth and tenth graders, etc¡­

    While she was explaining the details, Angie observed the reaction of these so-called champions. She saw no change in Azzy''s expression; Mia also seems to be uninterested as if she doesn''t care; Claire and Gideon seemed to be in deep thinking; Snivy was the most excited of all.

    It was different from what she imagined, either way, Angie didn''t care much about scouting as much as Linnea as the contract has already been signed. After all, in her eyes, genius students will come and go. What she needed is a legendary realm expert as a loyal soldier. This is why she didn''t hesitate to offer an enormous amount of fortune to acquire his loyalty.

    This contract Barton had signed is considered a slave contract for Barton as it stated that he cannot quit the company for the next hundred years and in exchange, he will continue to be the principal.

    This is how he received the payment of received 300 million Krocs in cash (3B credits) and six billion worth of weapons and materials beforehand. He basically decided to sell himself to acquire the Jewel after receiving the news from Aegis. Even his wife doesn''t know of the terms of the contract either, at least not yet.

    "Okay, Mr. Everglade. I need to leave for the Headquarters." Angie shook his hands and used a teleportation card to leave without making any commotion.

    At first, they thought she might be in a hurry but as everyone exited the restaurant, they saw a group of people with cameras. They started clicking the pictures as soon as they saw the new celebrities of the city.

    *Sigh* "Let''s take one for formality and leave." Barton said to everyone.

    After a group pic, they boarded the limo and left for the academy. The girls were the first to be dropped at their dormitory. Then, it was Gideon''s turn. Just when Azzy thought of getting out of the vehicle to leave for his home, Barton stopped him, telling him that he''ll drop him at the home.

    He said good night to Gideon and continued to sit.

    "Go to Training grounds-1," Barton ordered the driver. Azzy thought the couple probably would get down there. And they did too. But, to his surprise, Barton told him to follow him to the office.

    Azzy wondered what it might be. Does it have anything to do with the meeting with Angie Silverthorn? Does he want to give an explanation to him about his reasoning for selling the academy? Whatever it might be, from his earlier experiences, Azzy knew that it won''t be a simple matter.

    His suspicions increased further when Barton said his wife to wait at the entrance hall. It even surprised her a bit but Sahara nodded and stayed there, assuming that her job is to make sure to keep an eye on the barrier.

    Unknown to him, the Reaper was also seemed to be anxious, waiting for the forty-two percent future possibility to happen.

    As they entered the office, Barton created another barrier to make sure no sound escape. He doesn''t even want to let his wife knowingly or accidentally hearing it.

    After closing the door, Barton pointed to the sofa, "Sit down, first."

    Azzy now almost believed that his master will give him an explanation for sure. Back then, he did the same to clear his doubts regarding Neal and his intentions to hide him from the world, although he failed.

    But then, thinking of how his master brought him here when he can just tell it in the limo, Azzy threw away his useless thoughts.

    It was at that moment Barton summoned his storage card and took out a glossy black crown with a green jewel embedded in it.

    "The Jewel of Life, it is yours¡­" He put for the crown on the table, stunning Azzy.

    Standing up on his feet, he displayed his shock. "What do you mean it''s mine?"

    Looking straight into his disciple''s eyes, Barton said, "Your potential is something that I can''t even calculate, Azrael. However, your talent will bring too many enemies along the way. After seeing the seriousness of the church of light, I realized that I cannot protect you at all times. If there comes a time where I wasn''t around, this will help you. Oh, and also, it is extremely heavy, so, I caution you to use carefully."

    "Take it, Azrael." The Reaper''s words echoed in his head. "Don''t hesitate. You don''t get another opportunity like this to get your hands on a cosmic gem."

    Azzy sensed the voice was filled with excitement. He never thought the Reaper would be this excited about this stone. From the Reaper, Azzy knows of its origins and he also knew what his master has sacrificed.

    Azzy stared at it but his hands never went forward.

    The Reaper understood his dilemma. He tried to convince him, "If you think you can''t take it for free, then, acknowledge him as your Prime Master and pledge your loyalty. You met your future self. Then, you should know that you are destined to become a Demi-God in about two hundred years. As a Legendary realm Arcana master, he still has a long life ahead of him. Isn''t the status of a Demi-God''s master worthy? Everyone in the world will fear him and even a Supreme realm expert will have to respect him in the future. Think about it."

    Azzy proceeded to lift it. It felt heavier than even the combined weight of adamantine gloves.

    Keeping it back at the table, Azzy stepped aside to an open space and then suddenly kneeled before Barton, giving him a surprise of life.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 216: Revealing the surname

    "My first bow to Mother Goddess, Gaia."

    "My second bow to Guardians of Life, the Celestials"

    "Bearing Heavens as the witness, I, Azrael Garcia, hereby take an oath of accepting my second master as Prime Master for life."

    "My final bow to my Prime Master, Barton Everglade."

    "Please accept my respects."

    Azzy kowtowed for the third time, completing the ancient ritual.

    "Garcia? You are from the royal family of Freyles?" Barton''s eyes shook.

    When he was presenting the crown, he was sincere in his heart. He never expected anything in return. After realizing Azzy''s potential, he knew that he wasn''t worthy to be his Prime Master.

    Who would have thought Azzy would suddenly acknowledge him as his Prime Master. However, that would mean Azzy cannot take another master until he dies nor he could assign the position of Prime Master to another master Azzy had before him.

    So, Barton tried to convince Azzy that he shouldn''t make a rash decision and further said that only a Supreme Realm expert is worthy enough to be his Prime Master.

    But, Azzy was adamant about his decision. He said that he will not take the Jewel of Life if Barton doesn''t agree to it.

    Looking at how Azzy is stubborn on his decision, Barton felt like everything he had sacrificed whether it is thousand years of longevity or whether it is trading the Djinn for the Jewel is worth it.

    He taught the ancient ritual to Azzy. But, this another piece of shocking news almost made his legs weak.

    Barton did expect Azzy might be a descendant of a noble family as commoners seldom have this much potential. Never in the world had he thought Azzy was not just a noble but of royalty and even more so, he knew his family name. That only means he wasn''t an orphan from a Southern nation at all.

    Azzy also feared that Barton will react like this when he hear his surname. This is why he was a bit reluctant when the Reaper suggested him because during the ritual he had to be honest.

    In fact, if he didn''t meet Barbara, he wouldn''t have known that the Garcia family is the royal family of Freyles.

    He only believed that the Garcia family is registered as a noble family of Freyles but after meeting with Barbara, he learned that more than twenty thousand years ago, one of his ancestors, who left the clan, became a general under King Lorris Shade, the ruler of Baernarta.

    After that, stuff happened and Freyles became an independent kingdom and later, at the end of the tenth Epoch, the power of the royal family fell just like other kingdoms, and Republic, Democratic, and Communist governments rose.

    ***

    As a part of the ritual, along with the crown, Barton bestowed two more gifts, an activated black-star-rank-8 skill card, and a platinum-grade storage card to Azzy before confirming his suspicions about his background.

    Now that Azzy acknowledged him as the Prime Master, Barton believed that Azzy will at least share his troubles.

    In response, Azzy gave a half-truth explanation to give Barton a bit of clarity on his background. "I was born and grew up at a small town in the Southern Qudour. I had a family but because of an incident, I lost everyone. At a crisis, I was teleported to this city and thankfully, I met a new family here. And that''s how I ended up at this academy."

    As directed by the Reaper, Azzy just gave him a vague description. There''s indeed no lie in his story but at the same time, he knew this story will also let his master think differently of what happened originally.

    Just like Azzy expected, after listening to his explanation, Barton thought one of Azzy''s parents might be a direct descendant or might even be the next heir to the throne. So, they were assassinated and Azzy was teleported to safety. "Hmm¡­ If that''s the case, then, it''s probably safe for you not to use your surname until you enter the Exalt realm."

    Azzy nodded in agreement.

    "Anyway, the classes are going to start tomorrow. The afternoon Arcana subject classes were replaced by study hours. It is mandatory for you to attend the afternoon study classes with everyone else. So, for the next few weeks, you might not get enough time to train. For now, just focus on your studies."

    Azzy nodded reluctantly.

    "And also, there''s one more thing, once I announce the news in the morning assembly, some students might cause trouble. You are the Disciplinary Committee''s President. So, I''ll leave it in your hands." Patting his shoulder, Barton told Azzy that he can leave.

    Azzy soon left the building. Of course, it goes without saying that his hidden bodyguard Aria followed from behind to protect him.

    "I''m home." As he entered the house, Azzy saw the couple is seen watching a local news channel. His quarterfinal match with Moon Academy was being played on one side of the screen while a news anchor is discussing with an analyst.

    "Azzy, you are back," Affea responded with a smile. Oakley, on the other hand, praised him. "I thought your aunt is exaggerating when she told your battle skills. You are really strong, kiddo. Anyway, how the Feast went today?"

    "C''mon Dear, he only came home and must be tired from all those meetings." Affea slapped lightly on Oakley''s shoulder and then, told Azzy to get fresh up and take a rest.

    After a while, Azzy came downstairs and joined them, instead. He then informed them about the Feast in the afternoon and then, dinner in the evening with a Supreme Realm expert who will soon take over their academy.

    He left out a couple of things like receiving expensive presents from Dr. Mac and Barton, being scouted into Elite forces of WAMO.

    As for his recruitment into WAMO, to not let Affea worry, Azzy informed them about the special terms.

    While Oakley didn''t have much reaction to it since he never met Barton in person, his wife felt a little bit happy that she doesn''t have to part with her foster son, at least for now.

    Two weeks later;

    Azzy left for the academy early, an hour before the homeroom period like usual. He visited the Student Council building. The Disciplinary Hall is on the first floor.

    Just as he was about to climb the stairs, a familiar voice from the end of the hallway stopped him. "Hey, Azrael¡­"

    He saw a familiar girl in school uniform, accompanied by Bay Passel, the one who offended him during the first semester, and Matilda, his vice president.

    "Morning, President Zona." Azzy greeted her with a nod. He skipped the guy and then, greeted the girl next to him. "Morning, Matilda. You are early."

    With his situation completely reversed in a mere two weeks, Bay was behaving himself without causing any trouble, despite being selected as the Vice President of the Student council.

    "There was a troublesome incident that occurred last night in one of the Girls Dormitories. She visited us for their information." Zona informed him as Matilda handed over a few papers.

    Azzy frowned as he read their information. Two of them are from the Soul weapon division and the remaining seven are from the Dropout division. "Nine people involved in this?"

    "Yes." As Matilda nodded, Azzy parted ways with the student council representatives and get on the stairs. His vice president followed him while reciting the story.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 217: The case of drunken assault

    "Last night, two-tenth grade girls from Soul weapon division entered the Girls dormitory of the Dropout division in a state of being fully drunk and allegedly bickered with three ninth-grade girls who are having a late-night snack at the Cafeteria. The ruckus made by them woke everyone up.

    And when a handful of tenth graders tried to stop them, these two girls from a higher division beat them up. Thankfully, the Warden came in time or else, the victims wouldn''t have faced light injuries. President Zona promised that the Student council will help in the investigation." Matilda gave him the information as much as she knows.

    Upon hearing everything, Azzy found something amiss. He first asked about the security guards. How did they let those two inside in the first place?

    "As you know, Dropout dormitory has many numbers. So, they probably didn''t think much of it or they might be asleep. I''ll give a full investigation report by afternoon." Matilda answered him in a serious tone.

    Azzy looked at the images of girls once again.

    Then, suddenly, something clicked in his mind, he immediately asked her to collect information about the two accused and also camera footage from the dormitory.

    Usually, all the dormitories have cameras fixed in the corridors, cafeteria, and entrance hall. So, he wanted to check them first.

    As there were only two of them, Matilda left for the dormitory to collect the footage by herself while Azzy went to the office and took a seat.

    *Sigh*"Just like master had warned, ever since the announcement, troublesome incidents are occurring one after another especially regarding the dropouts." For the past two weeks, Azzy was coming to the academy early by an hour and leaving late by two hours just to sort out the documents and punishments, which were left pending because of the Champions League.

    With the help of Vajra, Matilda, and sometimes, Zona''s clones, he managed to sort everything out. He even showed mercy by handing out moderate or light punishments to the offenders while ignoring Matilda''s nagging about how they need stricter punishment.

    Thankfully, his fame helped in making almost everyone abide by the punishments. The ones who ignored the Disciplinary committee''s punishment were either already dropped out or requested the student council for an extension of the time limit.

    Because of such results, Azzy should have been happy. However, he wasn''t. It was all because the new incidents kept popping up each day, increasing his workload.

    Looking at how serious is this latest incident, Azzy doubted his judgment whether he was too lenient on them.

    After all, Azzy is the type to give even a person who wanted to kill him, a second chance to live, so it''s not surprising that he was merciful in handing out punishments.

    Nearly forty minutes later, as Azzy was busy with absorbing the solar energy and refining it, Matilda arrived with a video cassette tape and the ten-years past records of the accused from the moment they enrolled into the academy to the previous day.

    Azzy stopped training and gesture her to sit.

    She took a seat beside him and explained their records of bullying.

    After listening to everything, Azzy let out a comment, "so, they were actually victims of bullying until seventh grade, huh!"

    "President Azrael, you cannot pardon these two." Matilda had a frown on her face in displeasure. She didn''t like how this new president, unlike her impressions of him, was just handing out light punishments when she worked hard to the bone to get the investigation results for every case.

    "First, they are underage and yet consumed alcohol. Second, they harmed even the staff members. Third, several witnesses are saying that they have the intention to kill. Even a solitary cell can''t change these two. Both of them will be graduating in one month. You can''t let them go away with this. They need to become an example for others." Matilda tried to convince Azzy as usual, hoping he would at least enforce stricter punishment, this time.

    *Trrring*

    It was at that moment, the bell rang at all the school buildings simultaneously.

    Placing the materials into his storage card, Azzy stood up from his seat, "Let''s talk after you bring the complete investigation results. See you in the evening."

    ***

    Evening 5:30 p.m., Disciplinary Hall''s monitor room;

    While everyone returned to either dorms or their respective residences, Azzy was all alone in the office, watching the footage, over and over again. He was also trying to analyze each of their moments.

    "Hmm, the two girls seemed to be sober when they dodged the kick." He rewinds it and plays again.

    In the video, the Dorm''s leader, a tenth grader of the dropout division was trying to plant a kick at one of the accused.

    The accused Nella, a high-four-star Arcana Master perfectly dodged it. But then, after that, she didn''t wobble like a person who was drunk but stood firmly on the floor for a couple of seconds before she yelled.

    Another suspicious thing is that they assaulted a ninth-grader only after the appearance of the dorm leader. And a moment before that, Azzy saw both of them slightly nodded to each other.

    "This was a planned one." Realization dawned upon him. He didn''t it was a coincidence that only the Dorm leader was heavily injured out of the seven victims.

    He read the investigation reports once again to cross-check the records of the two accused and the Dorm''s leader.

    *Slam*

    "Rosalee was actually a bully when she was at Soul weapon division. And these two girls Nella and Rebecca were her victims. Now that they are graduating, they must have looked for revenge in the pretense of being drunk. However¡­"

    Azzy looked at the records with a frown as he discovered one more important thing. "After being demoted to Dropouts division, three years ago, Rosalee never had a record of two-star or higher indiscipline level. That means either she was really changed or Leo might have overlooked it. She was a commoner and only in the three-star realm. There''s not much potential considering her Arcana spirit is only blue grade.

    So, the latter option can be taken away. She likely turned to a new leaf. Well, I can''t judge someone without a record anyway. So, let''s focus on these two. One, it is a planned assault. Two, a soul skill is being used inside the building. It is definitely a five-star case.

    And I should consider other possibilities. What if the warden isn''t on time? What if other victims face serious injuries and their future will be impacted? What if there was a murder?"

    *Sigh* "Oh, boy¡­ what a headache... Sometimes, it really feels like I made a mistake in accepting this position." Azzy couldn''t help but let out another deep sigh. "Okay, fine. Let''s do this my way."

    He took out a 1 Kroc currency coin. It has an image of a stingray on the back and number 1 on the front with words, "Republic of Northern Qudour."

    "I''m leaving their fate of two girls on you." Azzy tossed it upwards.

    Azzy tends to do it from time to time whenever he was struggling to choose an appropriate punishment between his two choices.

    As it landed on the floor, he found it was tails.

    "Okay fine¡­"

    Azzy pressed a five-star stamp on the document. After signing it, he wrote the punishment he decided on and closed the file.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 218: Change the punishment? In your dreams.

    The next day morning, Soul weapon division building, Class 10-C;

    As the final exams are getting near, everyone attended the morning classes. Some of them even buried their faces in books and not paying attention to their surroundings.

    Yet, there were also a group of students who were playing around without any tensions.

    "A whole day passed. There''s no response from the Disciplinary Committee or Student council." A boy commented.

    Another girl responded with how Matilda visited the girls'' dormitory for footage.

    Rebecca worried about the school management''s action against them regarding their assault as well as their alcohol consumption.

    Nella brushed off their worries, "What can happen? A self-reflecting letter? Or maybe, clean the classroom? With how Azrael and Zona are operating their respective clubs, there''s no need to worry about some accidental assault. As for drinking, we just need to ask Zona for a favor. We will graduate in a few weeks anyway¡­"

    Seeing how confident she is, some of them put the matter away while some others who were nearby hoped that they receive harsh punishment.

    Just then, the class homeroom teacher arrived and everyone took their seats. His face appeared to be serious.

    "Nella, Rebecca." He called out their names.

    Both of the girls stood up from their seats. Rebecca seemed nervous while Nella seemed confident.

    Their homeroom teacher then took out a paper from his pocket and read, "Based on the reports submitted by the Disciplinary Committee, the school management has decided to demote the students Nella and Rebecca of grade-10 from soul weapon division to dropouts division in allegations of drinking alcohol underage, planned assault on a fellow schoolmate to take revenge, and injuring staff members."

    The two girls were stunned on the spot. The others were also surprised. The homeroom teacher eyed them seriously before continuing to read.

    "On the charges of committing a five-star offense, Ms. Nella and Ms. Rebecca hereby cannot attend the final examinations until each of them fulfill 150 hours of community service on or before March 9th, 1994. Note that during the community service, they are forbidden to use soul energy.

    The students can appeal for a special trial if they feel they got injustice.

    Student Council"

    After reading everything, the homeroom teacher crumbled the paper and threw it towards them in anger. "You two brats can''t stay out of trouble for long, can you?"

    Meanwhile, at the Elite division''s class-8, Rueben, their homeroom teacher entered the classroom and took a roll call. Based on the performance in the Annual tournament, a few people were promoted to the Elite division.

    And now, the class strength grew to 17 of which 13 are boys and 4 are girls.

    Once it was over, he proceeded to inform everyone about the upcoming event. "I''m sure all of you know Valentine''s week will start from tomorrow."

    Suddenly, the boys appeared to be interested. The newly-promoted girls collectively glanced at Azzy. Like other fans, they also developed a crush on him.

    Reuben continued, "Just like every year, no celebrations will be held for grade-6 and the senior students. No one should appear in civilian clothes during the classes or try to make funny incidents of announcing it from the broadcast room. You are allowed to give chocolates but that''s it. There won''t be any private or public love confessions within the academy either. Those who break the rules will be punished strictly."

    Instantly, everyone''s face immediately darkened. Of course, they went through the same thing, last year and before last year but now that the academy is closing down, they expected the management to be a bit liberal.

    "Azrael¡­" Reuben then called Azzy.

    "Yes?"

    "Disciplinary committee members need to patrol during break times. Plan accordingly." Reuben was serious as he warned him of the consequences if the situation gets out of hand. Azzy was transferred to this academy just a year ago and recently took the charge of the Disciplinary Committee.

    While he knows that Azzy is strong enough to beat every student in the school, the leadership is different. Combining with how the Disciplinary committee is giving very light punishments to everyone alike, he was worried that Azzy might not able to handle this chaos week properly.

    In response to his warning, Azzy plainly nodded, indicating that he understands it.

    With nothing else left to say, Reuben took his seat and closed his eyes, feeling sleepy.

    A little more than five minutes, his sleep was interrupted by an announcement through the speakers installed nearby the CCTV.

    "Student Azrael of Grade-8, please come to the Principal''s office immediately." "I repeat, Student Azrael of Grade-8, please come to the Principal''s office immediately."

    As Reuben removed the barrier, Azzy left the classroom.

    He soon arrived at the Principal''s office to find Zona, a teacher he only talked to once during the past year, and the two girls standing before Barton.

    As soon as he entered the room, Nella and Rebecca glared at him in anger as if they want to rip his flesh.

    "Sir, you called me?" Ignoring the others, he asked Barton, to which the latter replied, "Teacher Linwood wants to change their punishment. I told them that you are responsible for it and since I don''t see any unfairness in your judgment, I''m leaving the matter to the two of you to discuss."

    Before Azzy commented to the statement, the teacher spoke, "The final examinations are roughly four weeks away. At this point in time, if they spend 150 hours on community service, they won''t get time to study, which impacts their overall score in the final exams. It further impacts their advanced studies too."

    Zona didn''t interfere in the matter and silently stood aside as her future was already set. In fact, neither the final exams nor her position will impact much. So, she was extremely chilled at the moment, not caring about the outcome.

    Azzy glanced at the two seniors and answered, "If it happens outside of the academy, both of them will be faced with criminal charges. I don''t see how such kind of people will be useful to the society even if they graduate in high distinction (above 4.5 CGPA)."

    As usual, his facial expression was indifferent and his tone was plain as if he was giving an answer to a question that has nothing to do with him, making Nella blurt out in anger. "And those dropouts will save the society?"

    "You¡­" The teacher didn''t even hesitate to slap her head. "Isn''t it enough that you caused trouble? Now, you even dared to speak?"

    "I''m sorry." She was quick to apologize.

    However, it was too late. At first, even Azzy thought it was too extreme but now, he felt like she was being spoiled because of the teacher''s protectiveness.

    Azzy was indeed soft at heart but he wasn''t the type to concede to anyone no matter who it is. And now that he believed his judgment is even more right, he looked straight into the teacher''s eyes and said, "Then, you can apply for a special trial to change the punishment or you can request Master, I mean, Principal Barton to override our judgment."

    Before anyone else reply to his statement, he bowed to his master and then, turned around to leave the room.

    "Tch... You are still too soft. Instead of community services, you should have requested expulsion. You should always have to take a tough stance against crimes to teach them a lesson." The Reaper spoke in his head as Azzy was returning to his classroom.

    "No thanks."

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 219: Valentines week part-1

    Later that night, Elite division Girls'' dormitory;

    Snivy, Claire, and Mia gathered in the small garden located on the terrace.

    "So, Claire, are you going to propose to Azzy, this week or not?" Mia asked her. Snivy also looked at her.

    Claire let out a sigh, staring at the stars, "I don''t know. We are actually good friends now. If he accepts it, then, I''ll be happy but it rejects it, then, I''m afraid I''ll even lose my friend too¡­"

    "But, if you don''t tell him, how is he supposed to know you feel?" Mia tried to convince her to go ahead and face it.

    Snivy chipped in, "And how you will know about his feeling either?"

    As Claire responded with a brief silence, Mia put her arms around the shoulder "How about I ask him instead of you?"

    "Hmm, that''s a good idea." Snivy also agreed with it. "For several months, the whole school thinks something is going on between you, anyway." Then, something clicked in her mind, and she further said, "Maybe, he will not answer me. He won''t be honest with Mia either, even if she were to ask him directly. I mean, we have only been friends for a month."

    "How about Gideon? Maybe, he is a good choice? He can just ask him during a normal conversation¡­" As Gideon is Azzy''s best friend, Mia believed he might be honest with him.

    "No way¡­" Unlike Mia, Snivy had doubts. Considering how he was ogling every beauty, she definitely doesn''t want to imagine that he has a secret crush on her friend. At the same time, she also felt a bit of disturbance in her chest when she thought of such a possibility, although she doesn''t know why.

    To divert her, Snivy said, "I don''t really trust the words coming from that four-eyed playboy''s mouth. Who knows whether he tells us the truth or not. We can''t be sure."

    "C''mon, he''s not bad. When was he ever dishonest? He''s our teammate you know." Mia knows that Snivy was only angry at Gideon because of his interruption during the Royal Feast and doesn''t mean what she said. So, she argued back.

    Before Snivy gets to counter Mia''s statement, Claire dropped a nuke on their ideas with her next statement, "He knows it already. I proposed to him."

    "Eh?" "Eh?"

    Mia and Snivy abruptly turned their heads to look at her in shock. "You did what?" "When did it happen?"

    "When we visited Egrein city," Claire answered them. She neither divulged the details of the attack nor about the kiss. She just told them he listened to her sleep talk and she confessed it to him and that''s why they are so awkward with each other lately.

    "So, he didn''t give a proper answer and you never asked him either, huh." Mia now suspected that Azzy might not have romantic feelings for her friend. Even Snivy thought that Azzy wants to be friends with her.

    Both of them aren''t some love experts and neither had they had any relationships until now. So, these 15-years old didn''t know what to tell her friend.

    As the atmosphere turned silent, Claire told them that this is why she was afraid of proposing to him for the second time.

    Taking a deep breath, Mia advised her seriously, "If he already knows, then, the situation is different. I think it''s better if we ask Gideon''s help."

    "What if says no?" Claire asked her in worry.

    Snivy shrugged her shoulders and replied with ease as if it isn''t a big deal, "Well, it won''t be a problem as long as you stay together. If not now, then, the feelings will grow late after spending enough time."

    "What if he likes someone else?" This was the biggest worry Claire has. In her eyes, there were two competitors. One is the childhood friend and the other is a perfect beauty. Both of them have a terrific advantage over her.

    "We''ll first confirm with that too¡­" Mia assured her. Claire was always being popular among boys ever since she transferred in fifth grade. She always stayed distant from them and never ever displayed any interest in a boy until Azzy arrived.

    So, Mia took the matter seriously. She tried as much as she can. But, now that Valentine''s week is here, she figured the time is short or else, who knows Azzy might date someone else other than her friend. After all, strength and looks often attract the beauties in this world.

    Mia decided to take Gideon''s help in extracting the answers to a few questions from Azzy.

    The next day morning;

    An hour earlier to the homeroom class, twenty-three members gathered at the Disciplinary Hall.

    Before them, Azzy was standing straight with his arms to the back while Matilda sorted them into nine groups and the remaining one was told to join the two of them to form the tenth group. The sixth-grader from the Elite division seemed happy upon hearing it.

    At Matilda''s suggestion, Azzy divided them into 5 three-member teams and 5 two-member teams.

    A ninth-grader is paired with an eighth-grader and a sixth-grader while a tenth grader is paired with a seventh-grader of their respective divisions.

    Azzy then started to pass out his instructions. "It doesn''t matter if you work alone or with your partner but everyone must patrol during the morning break at 10:30. As for lunchbreak patrolling, sixth, eighth, ninth-graders will patrol from 12:00-12:30 p.m., then, go for lunch. Meanwhile, tenth and seventh graders will finish their lunch by 12:30 and patrol until 1 p.m."

    Everyone nodded in response, indicating that they understood. Whether it is a senior or junior, every member of the Disciplinary committee fears and respects Azzy.

    And his latest punishment on the two girls from the Soul weapon division also suddenly brought a little bit of fame within the academy. It was the first time such a punishment was introduced.

    Usually, such punishments are handed to first-time offenders in real society. Thinking that their leader finally started to be strict, all of them took his words more seriously.

    Azzy continued, "As per the rules, we only need to focus on sixth and above grade students. The student council is also working on maintaining the order but as all of you know they don''t have the power to use force but we have. Use force if you deemed necessary to stop troublemakers.

    I heard that the academy building backyards, broadcasting rooms, cafeteria, and especially stairs and corridors are extremely popular places for confessions. Give them more importance.

    And once the classes are over and everyone returned to dormitories, our work will be over. However, please note down the names if you ever saw a confession right outside your dormitory.

    That''s it. Everyone can disperse."

    As everyone left the place, Azzy looked at Matilda, "Don''t you think this is too stupid?"

    "Eh?" Matilda was taken aback a bit by the sudden change of words from Azzy. "What do you mean?"

    "First, we are trying to suppress one''s basic right. Okay, let''s assume that the academy is right and this kind of thing will impact the future of teenagers on their studies.

    But still, we are only enforcing these rules on these seven days.

    What''s stopping the students to confess their feelings in the remaining 358 days?

    What''s stopping the students to confess their feelings outside the academy?

    What''s stopping the students to confess their feelings before 9 o''clock and after 3 p.m.?

    What''s stopping the students to confess their feelings through a letter in secret?

    Moreover, how come we see many couples roaming in the academy?" Azzy was really confused about the instructions he received from the Head of the Disciplinary Committee, the Bishop that hates Azzy to the core.

    Without giving Matilda a chance to talk, Azzy again pointed out, "I really wonder why the academy didn''t just ban dating. Look at the student council, their president is dating my classmate. How come¡­"

    "Alright, Your grace, President Azrael, I got what you are trying to say." Matilda interrupted him as she had enough of his endless complaining against the academy when he was supposed to support the management. "But, we are just following the rules. Let''s just do what we asked to do and let the troublemakers find different ways to evade them. Now, please excuse me. I need to get to the student council''s office to see whether there are any new cases."

    While his vice president left, Azzy rubbed his chin, "Hmm, now that I think about it, after taking this position, I''m getting more talkative."

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 220: Valentines week part-2

    Ten minutes before Nine, Azzy hurried to his classroom after getting a message from Gideon that he should immediately come there. It''s very important.

    When he reached the place, there were a bunch of sixth and seventh graders gathered outside of the door. He wondered whether someone from his class is confessing to someone else, breaking the rules.

    Azzy tapped one''s shoulder that was blocking his path.

    "Senior Azrael," The sixth-grader gasped in surprise. His voice was also enough loud for everyone to turn their heads towards the source.

    As soon as they found Azzy, these eleven to thirteen-year-olds immediately gave the way.

    Reaching the door, Azzy found a couple of people gathered at his desk where a number of Rose plants were neatly arranged together. And each plant has at least five or six red roses but have not fully bloomed yet.

    "No wonder everyone gathered here," Azzy muttered under his breath. While it is not uncommon in this modern age where even girls take initiative to propose their crushes, the fact that someone sent him Rose plants was extremely weird because most of the guys don''t like to receive flowers when they were being confessed.

    So, either someone did it on purpose like trying to play a prank on him or it might be placed on the wrong desk. Of course, the other possibility was thrown away because only he knew that he likes flowers and plants.

    "Azzy," Gideon called him and waved his hands with a grin. Clearly, there''s a look of amusement on his face as if he was enjoying this situation. The other students who were sitting at their desks also turned their heads, placing attention on him.

    Suddenly, Azzy felt gazes from every side.

    Ignoring the others, he walked into the classroom and stared at the row of plants. Everyone is also quietly gazing at him from the corner of their eyes. They were quite interested to see his reaction to this incident.

    There was a greeting card placed at one of the pots. He opened curiously to know the identity of the sender.

    "Roses are timeless just like my love for you. Happy Rose Day!"

    However, except for a quote printed on it, Azzy didn''t find any name or any special message, or any proposal.

    "Who sent it?" Azzy asked Gideon. But, the latter shook his head and replied that they were already there before he arrived.

    Azzy didn''t bother to ask the others and observed each of them for a while.

    The others thought Azzy was probably looking for clues but only he knew that he was actually observing their state. "Hmm, might take a week for them to fully bloom."

    Attempting to tease him, Gideon stood up on his feet and put his arms around Azzy''s shoulder, "Judging by the size, your admirer really seems to be fond of you. Do you want to find the person? Should this brother help you?"

    "Forget it." Azzy stored all of them in his new storage card of platinum grade that was gifted by Barton and took his seat as if nothing happened.

    Not intending to back from having fun today, Gideon sat beside Azzy and said in a low tone, "If that sender is a girl of our class and is secretly observing you, she might think that you are interested."

    "Don''t spout nonsense." Azzy gave a quick excuse to him before taking out his books. In reality, he couldn''t bear to leave or destroy them but was too embarrassed to admit it.

    When Azzy was a child, he used to see the aura of death often. To counter those depressed feelings, someone advised him to water the flowers and plants as they represent nature, as in life. Watering them daily in his back garden, he used to observe their growth.

    Because of it, he grew up as a normal bright child and this is also why his grandpa hoped Azzy to awaken a healing type plant as Arcana. However, he didn''t know that fate has written something else for him.

    Thankfully for Azzy, he wasn''t the only one that received such a proposal, although he is the only male who is also the only one who received in the form of a plant instead of a bouquet. The rest were all girls who have unofficial fan clubs in the academy. So, he was saved from embarrassment. Moreover, no one dares to make fun of him in open either.

    The first day of Valentine''s week ended without any major issues.

    And then, comes the second day, the most troublesome day of Valentine''s week, where a majority of the confessions take place. So, Azzy and Matilda stressed the members to keep alert.

    Just like the previous day, Azzy''s desk and bench were occupied with flowering plants, this time, it was Lilac. There was another greeting card with a quote written inside.

    "My feelings for you in my life have only grown stronger since the day we first met. I want to seal our bond forever. Happy Propose Day!"

    Azzy silently stored all of them into his storage card and sat down.

    That day was a hellish one for the Disciplinary Committee. Just in those ten minutes of morning break, one hour of lunch break, and ten minutes of afternoon break, more than thirty people attempted confessing their feelings either at corridors or directly in classrooms.

    Other than that, there were several girls as well as boys who attempted to confess to their crushes in the classroom as soon as the study hour ends and everyone was about to return to their dormitories.

    By the end of the day, a total of 16 couples formed in the academy, of which eight are only from ninth grade.

    Obviously, neither the Student council nor the Disciplinary committee could do anything about it other than noting down their names. This is why Azzy knew this rule itself is ridiculous. Still, for breaking the rules, he had to give punishment for them. So, while everyone left the academy building, Azzy became busy with paperwork while cursing Valentine''s Day to fall on Sunday.

    Because of that, students only have Propose day as the alternative to confess their feelings to their respective crushes.

    After finishing his work by evening 5, he left for home and planted the lilacs in their garden.

    Affea asked him again and he replied the same as what he said the previous day. "I don''t know the sender."

    She didn''t think too much at first as she knew it is common for a youngster to have crushes. She was even a little bit happy that her foster son is popular.

    But then to her surprise, the next day, Azzy returned with a hundred chocolate boxes that he received from various people as an appreciation. The other members of the team also received the same.

    Later, as he planted a bunch of camellia flower plants in the garden, it was then she had an inkling that all of these presents might be one same girl as all of these flowers represent love in a way.

    Her suspicions grew stronger when the next day Azzy brought Iris plants with him on the fourth day and Alstroemeria flower plants on the fifth day. By then, even Azzy believed the same.

    And the news spread all over the academy. People started to talk about how this mysterious girl giving various types of flowering plants to Azzy every day of which every one of them represents love.

    A couple of them even shamelessly try to take the credit to attract the attention of Azzy but it only brought them a letter from the Disciplinary Committee. To escape the punishment, they too admitted the truth that it wasn''t them.

    As Azzy was too popular in the academy, everyone became curious and also started to analyze. A list of possible candidates has been made by a few enthusiasts.

    Azzy who was too busy with the paperwork didn''t get the time to think about it either. He wanted to show his indifference to show the anonymous girl that he wasn''t curious about her identity at all. So, he behaved the same as every day.

    It was the sixth day of Valentine''s week. For Azzy, it was a day he finally started to think seriously about the issue.

    Because this time, there was a courier from anonymous sender arrived at evening 5 p.m. directly at his home, but strangely, it turned out to be a bunch of black tulips plants along with a usual greeting card.

    "Kissing makes us fall in love with each other again and again. Let''s create more memories from tomorrow."

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 221: Valentines week part-3

    First, he thought something off about the quote but since it is just a printed quote, he didn''t think too much and put his thoughts on the flowers because black tulips don''t represent love. They represent power and strength.

    Then, what does that mean? Does she mean to say that he is strong or did she only send it because it was his favorite color? While it is only known to his friends, it wasn''t a secret as he always wears black t-shirts other than school timings. Moreover, his power is also dark. So, the flowers might also represent him.

    But why did she send a unique one on the sixth day? Is it perhaps, a different sender? As his identity as the foster son of the Divine Physician was well known in the city, he didn''t feel it is suspicious that this girl knows his address.

    For the entire evening, Azzy kept thinking. He didn''t even eat his dinner properly. He thought of the images of the six flowering plants that appeared one after another. Is there any deeper meaning behind them or were they just different flowers?

    The Reaper who was watching his thoughts nodded to himself, "well, I guess you need my help."

    "Azrael, once you read the names of the flowers, you will find your answer." The Reaper threw a hint to him.

    Upon hearing it, Azzy took a notebook and wrote them one by one.

    Rose; Lilac; Camellia; Iris; Alstroemeria; Tulip;

    "Chronos, what am I looking for, anyway? A name? There are girls named four of these flowers in our academy. But, this looked like the work of a single person. So, I guess there must be a hidden message. Am I right?"

    The Reaper let out a laugh as he replied, "if you concentrate on it, you should be able to get it by now. Anyway, I''ll give another hint. Sometimes, black is referred to as ebony too."

    "Ebony?" Azzy frowned as he observed the names. He recited them again and again until suddenly, something caught his eyes.

    R, L, C, I, A, E

    He rearranged the letters.

    "Claire?" Azzy eyes were widened in shock. "Is it Claire, the one who sent them to me?"

    He then remembered something else. "Gideon¡­ He was in this too?"

    Four days ago, on the Propose day;

    In the evening, after sorting out all the documents, Matilda left for the dormitory.

    Lonely Azzy was reading the details. Aside from the usual confessions, there were also other cases like a few lovers getting caught while kissing each other within the campus, a couple of senior boys trying to force their crushes into accepting their confession, and also a few cases of usual bullying.

    Nearly 100 documents are before him and he should decide on who needs to be punished and who is innocent. For example, if a boy/girl confesses to someone, then, if that someone accepts the confession, both of them are liable to punishment for breaking the rules or else, only the one who declared the confession.

    Meanwhile, Vajra sits in the corner by itself, reading a language book. Azzy ordered it to absorb the knowledge from the books so that the Reaper can transfer the knowledge to him later.

    Considering how the black wolf is a Celestial grade spirit, it was easy for it to read the human language.

    Nearly at 4:30 p.m., Gideon arrived there. When Azzy asked him, the latter replied that he was on his way to go outside to play some arcade games and dropped by to see whether he was still busy.

    "I''m only halfway done. At this rate, it will be 6 before I complete with this." Azzy said to him, feeling tired.

    As Gideon offered help, Azzy didn''t hesitate to agree with it despite Gideon being an outsider for the Disciplinary Committee.

    Under Azzy''s instructions, Gideon helped in writing the punishments. The progress now picked up.

    For a while, Gideon was talking about usual things but suddenly, he took Azzy by surprise with a question, "What do you think of Claire? Do you like her?"

    "Eh?" Azzy almost slipped his hand by the sudden surprise.

    Before Azzy replied, Gideon quickly added to his question, "How do you feel if Claire is the one who sent those flowers?"

    "Claire sent those flowers?" Azzy asked him. While his facial expression might appear indifferent, he was curious inside.

    In response, Gideon waved his hands, "Nah, she''s too busy with studying for final exams. She didn''t even have the time to chat with us much less going outside, buy them, and preparing all of these. I''m just asking what if."

    For some reason, Azzy felt a little bit disappointed that it wasn''t from her. Throwing away his thoughts, he answered, "I''ll be happy."

    "I see¡­" Gideon let out a smile and quickly changed the topic, "oh, yeah, I forgot to even ask you about it. Now that we have signed the contracts and officially became members of WAMO, we need to go to headquarter for reporting, right? Shall we go on Sunday since all of us will be free?"

    Present Day;

    "Recently, Gideon is always the first to arrive at the classroom. He might be helping Claire to arrange the plants all this while¡­" Azzy got a little bit angry, thinking that he was being betrayed by his best friend but when he thought of Claire, his thoughts were shifted to the reality of the situation and his heartbeat suddenly rose for a moment.

    "If it is Claire, then, considering tomorrow is Valentine''s Day, will she propose to me directly? Then, how should I respond to her? Currently, I don''t think I have romantic thoughts towards her. But someday, she''ll be my wife. Did my future self reveal it to me for this moment? But then again, thinking of a future with her doesn''t seem that bad to imagine.

    Then, what if I reject her? Will I change the future timeline?

    No¡­ no¡­ I will return to my timeline soon. Now, we are of the same age but when I return, she''ll be aged. What''s to say that I will even develop any feelings? Moreover, what if she will fall in love with someone else? But the future says¡­ Argh¡­ This damn future self of mine¡­" To clear his frustration, Azzy meditated for a while. Later, he slowly drifted into a peaceful sleep.

    *knock* knock* knock*

    The continuous knocks on the door woke Azzy from his sleep.

    *Yawn* "hmm, isn''t it only 6." Azzy stepped down from the bed and dragged his body to the door to open it.

    As the door opened, he found it was Gideon. "Morning, Azzy." Gideon seemed excited.

    "What are you doing here at this hour?" Azzy asked him lazily.

    Gideon reminded him about their visit to Silver City. Azzy widened his eyes immediately. "Does that mean everyone is here?"

    "Yup, Mia doesn''t want to come but Claire dragged her along though. Everyone is waiting for you downstairs. Fresh up and come down."

    After a few minutes, Azzy comes downstairs to find Gideon and Snivy are playing a racing video game, competing against each other. Both of them seemed to be in their own world.

    Mia and Affea seemed to be in a heavy discussion of politics early in the morning.

    After greeting the two of them, Azzy asked about Claire.

    "She''s outside, plucking the flowers," Mia replied to him. Azzy nodded to her and walked straight.

    When he stepped outside, he saw Claire was plucking a chrysanthemum.

    "Morning, Claire¡­" As soon as he called out her name, she turned her head and returned the greetings. There was a look of excitement as well as nervousness on her face.

    "Your garden looks great." She commented and turned towards the flowers. Placing her hand on a red rose, she asked, "I like the smell. I can pluck this, right?"

    "Of course, it is yours after all," Azzy replied without hesitation. He then started to walk.

    "Eh?" Claire suddenly felt her heartbeat quickened. "What do you mean by that?"

    As he almost reached her, Claire sensed his presence and turned around once again.

    When their eyes meet, Azzy opened his mouth, "I solved your puzzle, Claire. I know that it was you that send all of those flowers."

    Taking a deep breath, Claire stood up on her feet and faced him. They were standing only a meter apart now. Despite feeling embarrassed, Azzy was trying to look straight at her.

    Biting her lip, Claire raised her arm. A bunch of different flowers was seen in her hands. "Happy Valentine''s Day, Rael."

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 222: Graduating from singlehood

    Claire always used to be afraid of the outcome whenever she thought of expressing her feelings to Azzy. Back when she first proposed to him, it was because she thought they might die and without worrying about what Azzy will say, she boldly kissed him.

    However, now the situation is different. They were in a peaceful era and so, she couldn''t do it again.

    But, with her friends'' support, she managed to step forward and when she did that, somehow, Claire found her chest became too light and continued with her unique proposal.

    When she heard from Gideon about Azzy''s answer, Claire decided to pursue him even if he rejects her.

    And the moment Azzy told her that he solved the puzzle, she threw away the plan she had in mind and abruptly handed a bunch of flowers that she picked from the garden. It was on impulse but she felt this is the perfect time to express her feelings rather than delaying the matter.

    "Happy Valentine''s Day, Rael." A beautiful smile appeared on her face. As Azzy involuntarily took them, she then said, "I don''t know why but my Arcana spirit hates you to the core. This piqued my curiosity. It is also the reason I approached you in the first place. But, I don''t know why or when I fell for you on the way. Now, I couldn''t imagine my future with anyone else but you."

    Claire revealed all her bottled-up feelings. She also wanted to be as honest as possible. And then, when her eyes fell on Azzy who have an indifferent expression, her heartbeat suddenly spiked for a moment.

    She quickly looked away and stepped forward to walk away without waiting for his reply. No matter how much courage she gained, there was always that fear of rejection in this insecure girl''s heart.

    Just as she walked away a few meters, Azzy stopped her. "Claire, wait."

    She turned around to look at him, wondering what he will answer.

    "I''m sure that I might disappear one day in the near future. It might be 1 year, 10 years, or even 100 years. When the time comes, you won''t stop me from leaving. I want you to brace this truth if you want us to be in a relationship."

    "Huh! What did you say?" For Claire, the last sentence overwhelmed the other things. "Does it imply yes?"

    Azzy locked all the seals and suppress his soul power below 10. It is the first time Azzy purposely sealed off his soul power to express an emotion voluntarily.

    A smile appeared on his face. "Let''s Date, Claire."

    Claire''s face glowed up like sun with her heartbeat spiking up in excitement. As she ran forward towards him, Azzy involuntarily stretched his arms a bit wide before she jumped into his arms, giving a flying hug.

    Letting out a laugh, Azzy tightly grabbed her, feeling happy for the moment even though he doesn''t understand why hugging her giving him this sort of pleasant feeling. But, either, he just doesn''t want to release her but quickly put her down as he spotted Snivy and Gideon were watching them from the entrance door.

    Feeling embarrassed, both of them looked away while his friends came out of the house to congratulate them.

    A couple of hours later;

    "Okay, then, see ya later." Mia parted ways with everyone else as she decided to visit her parents at the last minute thinking she will be uncomfortable at Silver city while tagging along with them.

    If not for their next train arrives in one hour, they would have visited Mia''s home too but too bad for them that they had to wait for another hour until the arrival of a train with a very long nose.

    "Let''s go¡­" Gideon took the lead.

    The four of them took their seats. Azzy tried to sit beside Gideon but the latter didn''t let him.

    "C''mon, you are no longer single. Why are you being shy, now," Gideon forced the two of them to sit together while he sat with Snivy.

    The train didn''t wait for more than three minutes before the doors closed and it started to accelerate.

    Meanwhile, inside the train, Azzy felt nothing. It was as if the train was stationary, although he could see the objects outside were disappearing at a terrifying pace. Suddenly, he felt a touch. As he glanced to the side, Claire was looking away but her hand seems to be trying to grab his hand but was hesitating.

    Smiling inwardly, he grabbed her hand, locking his fingers with hers, leading to a smile on her face. It was a new experience for this new couple and they seemed to like it.

    It was a three thousand km long journey, taking the train a little more than five hours. By the time they reached their destination, it was only 3 in the afternoon.

    Azzy was really surprised when Gideon mentioned that the one they boarded isn''t the fastest train.

    As they got out of the station, everyone''s eyes fell on a large group of skyscrapers, which were located a bit far away from the station.

    They were familiar with skyscrapers but not like these. The city was full of buildings with over a hundred meters in height, some are over three hundred, a few are over five hundred, and there is one which stands in the middle of a city with over 1.2 km of height.

    The city was indeed lavish and bustling with people and vehicles. Four-seater flight taxis were roaming here and there. Suddenly, everyone felt like they come from a rural place.

    By 4 in the afternoon, they reached the organization''s headquarters building. On the way, Gideon also contacted his master. A person was sent to receive them at the entrance.

    It was a lady in a military-style all-black uniform.  She has three stars and insignia of Dragon on her shoulder.

    "You must be from Aclein Academy. Welcome to Silver City. I''m Hailey, Lt. Commander of Dragon Corps." She shook her hand with everyone. "Our Supreme Commander is expecting your arrival. Follow me."

    They quietly followed her. Along the way to the 86th floor, Azzy saw people were moving here and there. Of them, there were civilian outfits, there were also people in military outfits, research outfits, and most importantly, familiar-looking robots were assisting a researcher.

    No one bothered to ask who they were or what are they doing. Everyone was busy with their works and let them go on their way. Azzy felt like infiltrating this organization might be easier due to ludicrously lax security arrangements.

    He didn''t know that the person they were following is one of the most well-known officers in the organization. It is why no one dared to stop them or even attempted to talk to them.

    After changing three elevators, they finally reached their destination. Two people are waiting in a spacious office. One is the familiar buffed old man in a suit but the other is a thin and shorty old man standing only 4 ft tall.

    It was quite laughable when both of them stood together but no one did because the four of them knew that this seven-thousand-year-old man is a high-rank-9 expert, stronger than the Royal Ancestor, stronger than Angie Silverthorn. In fact, he was only a couple of hundred million soul power short of becoming a peak stage Supreme Realm expert.

    "Welcome kids. Welcome to World Arcana Masters Organization." The President smiled as he stepped forward.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 223: Team Twilight at WAMOs Headquarters part-1

    "I''m called Cornelious Emerald, the President of this organization."

    As soon as he introduced himself with humility, Azzy and others returned the greetings with a usual bow.

    "Sir, this is Claire Lefeuvre." Ramiel then started to introduce them for formality. "This is Snivy. This is Gideon, my disciple. And this is Azrael."

    Cornelious nodded to each of them. "Hello" "Hello" "Hello" "Hello"

    Once the greetings are over, he said, "We are extremely delighted to know that talented kids like you join our organization and serve humanity. Lieutenant Commander Hailey will explain the details of your training program once your registration is over."

    Soon, they excused themselves and the President''s face turned dark all of a sudden. He abruptly turned his head towards Ramiel, "you know how much it will cost for training a special fighter. I have no problem with Azrael, the princess also seemed like her soul is very strong but the souls of the other two are pretty much weak.

    It is okay if they enter the normal training regime and become the member of General Forces or even Special Forces, but to enter Elite forces, they will have to go through Hell training regime and their souls weren''t strong enough.

    Even normally, they might need years to forge their soul and improve its quality but you even gave special permission of attending the training for only a week of every month. How long it will take and how much it will cost? I hope you thought it through when you selected them."

    "Yes, of course, hahaha¡­" Ramiel awkwardly laughed in embarrassment. In reality, he just decided on the test on a whim and recruited seven teenagers in the end with a simple test. "Don''t worry, you''ll not be disappointed."

    While Ramiel was trying to convince of how the kids he brought with him are extraordinary, Azzy and the other three were taken to the 56th floor where their biometrics, retina scans, a bit of saliva for DNA sample, and little amount of blood were registered in their database.

    Once the procedures were finished, she took them to an empty conference room, taking out an object that looked like a monitor attached to a keyboard without any CPU or any wires. Azzy was from 2020. So, he knew what a laptop is but not the other three. They never had seen an object like this one.

    She connected a cable between the laptop and the projector. Everyone was just watching it curiously. Of course, Azzy only knew of their existence but never saw it from close, so, he was also the same as his friends.

    Soon, what was displayed on the laptop''s screen was also displayed on the projection screen installed on the wall.

    The lights were switched off. Everyone sat down to hear the explanation about the organization and its detailed training regime.

    "Okay, let me first start about the structure of our organization." A laser light fell on the screen.

    "WAMO is divided mainly into to eight organs, namely League of Nations, World Security Forces, Economic & Trade Council, World Trust, World Court, World Bank, Secretariat, and Elder council.

    The League of Nations is an important organ that connects us to all the nations that don''t run on the monarchy. Each nation will usually have a fixed representative to put forth their nation''s interests on the board and discuss the issues with other nations openly. The head of the body will be decided by a vote amongst themselves.

    Economic and Trade Council is an organ that mostly acts as the mediator in economic cooperation and trade agreements between the nations. It also decides how much each currency is worth.

    World Court is the sole international court that handles the disputes between two different nations if an international incident occurs because of an individual or organization. It has long been established that there''s no court above this and its final decision will have to be either accepted or they will face sanctions.

    World Bank is like any other bank but it only exists for the governments or Kings. Every nation or kingdom can deposit some of their treasury in it for a four percent annual interest. Then, the bank will lend the money to the nations in need of the money with a 0.5% interest. Of course, it has its own regulations, depending on the borrower nation''s international reputation, credit score, etc¡­

    These four are considered external organs. And the other four are internal organs that have nothing to do with international relations.

    World Trust is like any other non-profit organization. Whatever our organization receives donations from individuals or organizations will go to that trust fund that is used in helping out orphans, poor people, etc¡­

    Secretariat takes care of the scouting, writing reports, and allocating budget to each organ.

    The Elder Council is made up of hundred Elders that are the backbone of our organization where the majority will decide the organization''s role in the most important matters. Soon, they were going to decide on how to deal with the Church.

    And finally, World Security Forces, where the four of you are recruited into. World Security Forces are divided into two divisions, namely, the Combat division and Non-Combat division.

    Combat division has three branches, General Forces, Special Forces, and Elite Forces.

    As for the Non-Combat division, it is also called the Research and Development division. They swallow more money from the budget. Because of it, we are in constant arguments with them but still, we need to work with them. The newcomers like you four might sometimes, no, actually, a lot of times end up as a guinea pig for their prototypes. You should be prepared for the risks."

    Everyone immediately frowned as soon as they heard her last sentence. They clearly didn''t like it. Moreover, they could also sense the irritation behind Hailey''s voice when she talked about them. It led them to wonder what kind of troublesome division it might be.

    While Claire and Azzy stayed silent as they understand, every organization has merits and demerits. Gideon and Snivy opened their mouths for further clarification.

    "What kind of tests we will be going through?" "Are these risks life-threatening?"

    "No. You can be assured that they won''t be life-threatening for most of the part. But, you never know when an accident is bound to happen." Hailey waved her hands and looked at Gideon, "as for your question, usually, that depends on your sub-branch. If one is in the air force, then, it will be aerial vehicles and flight type devices, if one is in navy, then, it will be marine vehicles, etc¡­

    But, since all of you are allotted to Elite Forces, you''ll be trained in every kind of environment. So, you can say you can be called for any type. Of course, you can still refuse it but you''ll be missing out on the rewards and also favor with R&D division. Our customized equipment depends on them. So, unless you have an impressive track record, it would be better to not get on their wrong side."

    Until now, Azzy only know that WAMO is known for peacekeeping and didn''t have much knowledge about it either. But, upon hearing all the details, he realized that the organization is far more complex than he assumed it to be.

    Ignoring their expression, Hailey continued, "Anyway, let''s talk about our Elite Forces. It is divided further into five subdivisions, Tiger Corps, Phoenix Corps, Dragon Corps, Whale Corps, and Zero squad.

    There''s no hierarchy between the subdivisions. The four elite corps have almost equal strength and numbers. However, the Zero squad is on entirely another level. They are the best of the best and only take SS-grade missions."

    To make it to Zero Squad, the basic qualification needed is possession of a platinum grade Arcana spirit and Exalt realm. Then, there are numerous trials a cadet had to go through to enter it but it is not a concern for you, kids. So, let''s leave it at that and talk about your training regime."

    Hailey clicked on another file and projected the details.

    "Your training is divided into six levels. First-level, basic exercises like hundred km running, 1000 push-ups, 1000 pull-ups, 1000 sit-ups, and Hanging leg tucks for 50 rounds (1 km). You will go through these every day until you were able to do all of them within two hours. Of course, you cannot use soul energy."

    "They were basic?" Gideon and Snivy went into a daze, wondering what kind of mess they got themselves into.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 224: Team Twilight at WAMO Headquarters part-2

    As the first level wasn''t troubling enough, Hailey introduced five more levels, each one is more difficult than the previous one.

    "Once you pass the first level, you will become a fifth-tier cadet. Then, your training phase enters the second level, where all of you will be wearing weights totaling 500 kilos from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

    Throughout the phase, you will start your day by going through the exact basic exercises that you have gone through at the first level, however, three times more. Luckily, you are allowed to use soul energy to reduce the burden on the body and get more used to it. Then, you will be trekking mountains located in different environments.

    To pass this level, you have to do the new daily routine in four hours and without using soul energy. You will become a fourth-tier cadet upon being successful.

    Once you become a fourth-tier cadet, you will be deemed as physically fit for the Elite Forces.

    The third level is where you will be trained in weaponry. During the training, you will have to choose at least six weapons from ancient to modern. Based on the weapon, you will be allotted to different classes. The only way for you to pass it is by defeating your instructor in front of everyone with your skills. There won''t be soul energy or any external assistance either.

    After becoming a third-tier cadet, you will start receiving low-level missions, like rescuing a civilian hostage, helping the police in apprehending civilian-level criminals, etc¡­

    The success of the mission will earn you merits and likewise, failure will earn you demerits. Merits usually decide the promotion but you can also exchange them for unique materials, weapons, skill cards, etc¡­

    Meanwhile, as you entered the fourth level, you will go through mental training. You will be put through extreme sleep deprivation, coupled with physical tasks like weapon training with your partner. Losing concentration or control will not only endanger yourself but also your partner too.

    Then, you will be taught how to evade the capture from enemies, and possibly signal allies to come to rescue you. Then, you will deal with the situation of being captured like resisting interrogation, enduring certain techniques designed to disorient, break down, isolate, and exploit you in your weakened state. Most of the cadets will drop out from this phase because it will become a living nightmare beyond belief; something that has to be experienced in real life to fully appreciate this training.

    Here, your Lieutenant Commander will decide whether you are ready to become the second-tier cadet or not. It means the final decision rests with me.

    The fifth level of training will be done in the Arcana World where you will be taught how to explore the wild. Basically, you will live inside the wild zone 24/7, make campsites, and deal with beasts during the day as well as at night. You will be given random missions by your squad leaders about finding a specific type of beast and bring its hide to the campsite.

    These missions based on their difficulty have points as a reward. You just need to stack the points and reach your end goal of a hundred thousand. And you will become a first-tier cadet as soon as you passed the fifth level.

    But, I should warn you though. This isn''t easy as it sounds because sometimes, you might even have an unlucky encounter with the Region''s Overlord. If you die, then, that''s it.

    And the last stage of training, the sixth level. There''s no training here. You will just tag along with the trained Elites of the organization as they do high-level missions. Based on your performance, our commander will take the decision of whether to recruit you as a formal member or you still need more experience. Any questions, so far?"

    Hailey stopped the presentation for a minute and took a look at these newly recruited cadets to see their reactions.

    A pin-drop silence filled the room.

    "As expected," When her eyes fell on Snivy and Gideon, she quickly ascertained their feelings. A look of panic could be seen clearly on their faces. Then, she looked at others.

    Claire was in contemplation, not about how difficult this training regime is going to be, but was wondering how she can go at the same pace as her boyfriend.

    As for Azzy, he was just indifferent on the surface, so, it was difficult for even an expert like her to find out his inner feelings but in reality, he was cursing himself for accepting the offer.

    He doesn''t know whether he could do it or not but Azzy spent 3 years just climbing the gravity stairs to temper his body and he thought it was torturous. But, when he compared to what he will have to go through in the future, Azzy felt like the training at the Violet Pavilion is laughable.

    The Reaper felt that it was funny as he read Azzy''s thoughts because he knew more than anyone, more than even Azzy himself, the extent of Azzy''s current strength and his potential.

    However, not intending to give a spoiler, the Reaper stayed silent and let Azzy worry about his non-existent problems.

    With no one speaking out any question, Hailey continued her presentation, "This is everything you have to know regarding your training regime. Now, let''s talk about your salary. Without any fail, as long as you stay in the organization, you will be paid on a weekly basis, provided that your attendance is full.

    As all of you were recruited into Elite Forces, until you complete your training, all of you will receive a stipend of 20,000 Credits per every week, which will increase to 200,000 credits of weekly salary once you become a full-fledged member.

    According to the contract, until you graduate from advanced studies, you will be training every third week of the month. Nevertheless, you will receive your full stipend.

    However, in my opinion, it will be very tough and time-consuming with this kind of arrangement but it is what it is. So, rather than not dwelling on it, try your hardest to complete your training.

    Lastly, I''ll leave you with a piece of free advice." Particularly glancing at Snivy, she said as stood up on her feet, "if anyone feels like they can no longer continue the training, it is okay to drop from this training in the midway. You can still apply for Special Forces or General Forces."

    ***

    Garcia Palace, Death Clan Village;

    "So, what do you think, Kylan?" Qridus put forth his proposal for the marriage of his favorite grandchild and the temporarily exiled niece of Kylan, the leader of the Crescent clan.

    Kylan was overwhelmed in surprise as he never expected it from this old man. But, he wasn''t happy with it, "Lord Qridus, I would have agreed if it was anyone else from my clan but Izora is my late sister''s daughter. I promised my sister to keep her safe. Just like you, Vesyrn is the direct descendant of the founder. The curse of Eros will affect him the most. I don''t want my niece to die before me."

    Suddenly, a tremendous amount of pressure appeared in the surroundings, forcing him, a peak-stage Legendary Realm expert to kneel on the floor.

    Continue to sit on the throne, looking at him coldly, "Kylan, listen to me carefully. This marriage is extremely important for our clan''s future. I don''t have any interest to care about your emotions.

    Whether you agree or don''t agree, this marriage will happen. I''ll use force and replace the Crescent clan''s head if it''s necessary. So, I''m asking you again. Will you agree to it or will you not?"

    Qridus then dispelled the pressure created by his aura and waited for his reply.

    Kylan felt humiliated and rage in his veins was at its peak. But, he knew that even the entire Crescent clan couldn''t defeat the clan head.

    So, he could only swallow all of his anger and give a nod. "I agree but on one condition. Izora will be the only wife of Vesyrn until he dies. He will not marry any other woman or be fathered to different children. For proof, I need his Blood oath or else, even if you kill me, I won''t ever agree to it."

    Qridus stared at him. The latter has a determined expression. After a brief silence, he nodded, "very well. I hope you convince your niece very soon."

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 225: Snivys decision

    As the sun has been set long ago, darkness loomed over the supercontinent of Xynnar.

    Somewhere, a passenger train is traveling at a speed of almost 300 km/hr.

    By the time it was midnight, several people fell asleep. The compartment where Azzy was sitting was no different either.

    Claire appeared to be a bit intimate as she was sleeping on his shoulder while grabbing his arm.

    On one hand, he couldn''t sleep due to his racing heartbeat and on another side, he doesn''t want to free himself.

    In the end, to calm his heart, he could only focus on looking outside through the glass window. Behind his seat, Gideon was also awake. However, his expression tells that he wasn''t in a mood to talk but kept glancing at Snivy who was asleep.

    A few hours earlier;

    "Okay, I''m taking my leave. Someone will be here shortly. He will take you around." Once the explanations are finished, Hailey left the new cadets at the conference room, telling them to wait for their superior.

    There was a brief silence filled in the room. Everyone is digesting all the information of their training regime.

    "Guys, our train leaves at 10 p.m. We still have nearly six hours." Claire broke the silence, looking at her pocket watch. "Should we spend our time here or should we go and tour around the city?"

    Usually, she would also be in the same situation as others but as today is Valentine''s Day, she thought maybe, they could have their first date in the meantime. She was completely in a different world from the others.

    Snivy and Gideon stared at her in silence as if what''s wrong with her.

    "Hmm? What?" She looked at them cluelessly.

    "Nothing." Both of them shook their head.

    A few minutes later, a handsome hunk entered the room in his military outfit, surprising Azzy and Claire a bit.

    "Hello, I''m Neal, captain of Squadron-Z. You can address me as Captain Neal if you want to be formal or big bro Neal if you want to be informal, considering Azrael is my junior brother."

    After an introduction, he looked at Azzy and smiled, "it''s been a while."

    While Neal was pleased to see Azzy, the latter wasn''t. He still remembered how this guy caused trouble when he visited Aclein Academy during the Annual tournament.

    "Master doesn''t consider you as his disciple. So, neither I''m your junior brother nor you are my senior brother. Please refrain from acting like we are close." Azzy replied in his indifferent tone. Everyone immediately glanced at him. Even Neal was surprised at this animosity. He wondered whether it was because of his words at Barton before departing.

    In fact, Azzy could care less about him but now that he accepted Barton as his Prime Master, anyone who is hated by his master couldn''t be an ally of his. Barton''s enemies are his enemies. That''s how the relationship between a Prime Master and his disciples works.

    As a person who was abandoned and hated by his master, Azzy cannot possibly act nice to him. But, they don''t have enmity either. So, he did try to put a wall between them and try to consider him as a stranger just like any other passerby on the road.

    But, Neal wasn''t a kid that he gets offended by Azzy''s statement. He smiled in response, "well, once you pass the sixth level and become a private, we will be brothers-in-arms and you will be my junior."

    Azzy doesn''t have anything to defend this counterattack. So, he shut up his mouth and stayed quiet while Neal changed the topic, "Anyway, by now, you must have learned about your training. Now, follow me. I''ll take you on a tour around the Headquarters."

    Five hours later, Neal dropped them at the train station. Snivy had this look of excitement on her face as she felt it was worth joining the organization. Gideon and Claire were also satisfied with the facilities.

    As for Azzy, he felt that it was just a giant version of Northern Qudour''s Special Force HQ. Of course, there are a few things that impressed him like the gravity chamber that has a range from 0.32g to 32g. He also liked the dorms for cadets. The rooms were spacious and were very modern, extremely similar to those from sci-fi movies.

    And the most important feature that he liked is that they have a portal point within the building to go to Arcana world at any time and also have a special training room where the fifth-tier cadets were wearing VR headsets and doing stunts around. There was a scoreboard above them.

    At first, everyone was confused and after Neal explained the details, they understood that they were playing a game but competing against each other at the same time.

    Everything was fine until they aboard the train. And just ten minutes later, as the train reached the outskirts of the city and started to accelerate quickly, Snivy let out a comment while looking outside. "Guys, I decided to move to Silver City."

    "Eh?" Even Azzy and Claire turned around to look at her in surprise. It was then, she explained, "Eternal Educational Institutions'' main branch is here and WAMO is also here. So, it would become easier for me if I become an exchange student. After getting back, I''ll talk with my parents."

    Since Azzy didn''t have that much of a friendship with her, he took the matter lightly.

    Claire also supported her decision, thinking that they will meet every month either way. Gideon didn''t know why but felt a little bit sad despite having only a few weeks of friendship.

    One month later;

    The week of final examinations arrived on Tuesday. Being full prepared, Azzy went to the exam hall and took his seat.

    Orlon Language Test

    Hurley:

    "What many men desire! That "many" may be meant

    By the fool multitude, that choose by show,

    Not learning more than the fond eye doth teach;

    Which pries not to the interior, but like the martlet,

    Builds in the weather on the outward wall,

    Even in the force and road of casualty.

    I will not choose what many men desire."

    1) Why is it in this place? What is the inscription that he has just read, and on which casket was it found?

    2) List the conditions that Hurley had to promise to abide by before he was allowed to choose a casket.

    3) Explain in your own words, the comparison that Hurley makes between the martlet and the foolish multitude.

    4) Which casket does Hurley eventually choose? What does he find inside the casket that he chooses?

    5) How does Hurley respond when he discovers that he had made the wrong choice?

    6) What does this reveal about Hurley''s character?

    ********

    "Hmm¡­" Azzy was thinking about the novel where this piece was written. He was wondering which chapter it was¡­ Orlon''s literature is a bit difficult for him but where his wolf can memorize everything and the Reaper transfers the knowledge to him during his sleep, Azzy never felt the need to worry about the test.

    "Oh, Chapter-7, page-52¡­" Azzy could even see the page in his mind. The knowledge transfer was different from memorizing and store in the brain. It can never be forgotten at any time.

    Azzy started to write answers to the question. There are a few more questions on the same novel, although from different chapters, nevertheless, Azzy answered them quickly and now, it was the poetry section that came as an opponent.

    "For oft, when on my couch I lie.

    In vacant or in pensive mood,

    They flash upon that inward eye

    Which is the bliss of solitude."

    1) Who is the speaker? Describe the sight that greeted his eyes when he was out walking in the countryside.

    2) Where were the daffodils growing? To what does the poet compare the flowers?

    3) What effect does the scene have on the poet?

    4) What is the ''wealth'' mentioned in the poem? How do the daffodils outdo the waves?

    (v) Compare the poet''s mood at the start of the poem with his mood at the end. What do you suppose caused this change in mood?

    "Ugh¡­ The questions got tougher than the first semester examinations." Azzy felt a little bit troubled with the poetry section as he had memorized them, didn''t receive a knowledge transfer from the Reaper.

    Three hours later;

    He came out of the exam hall, being satisfied with his performance.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 226: Annual Examinations

    Day 2: Nation''s History Test

    1) Define the term constitution. State any two reasons for its significance.

    2) State any three freedoms have given under the Right to Freedom.

    3) When did the constitution of Northern Qudour come into force?

    4) Mention any three fundamental duties as given in the Northern Qudouri constitution.

    5) *Picture* "It was a dome-shaped structure made of mud, and carved symbols and the images of the ancient gods on it."

    a) Identify the structure given in the picture. Name the place and the state it is built.

    b) Name the king who built it. In what epoch and what century it was built.

    c) Name any two architectural features of the structure.

    ***

    "Ah, isn''t this the Dome of Trinia?" Azzy grinned inside, feeling good as he just read about it, a couple of days ago. "Okay, if my memory serves me right, it is built in the town of Trinia by King Agueves III in 10th Epoch, 1582¡­ Hmm¡­ No, 1578¡­ Uhh¡­ let''s just write the 16th century. Yup, that''s better¡­"

    Azzy nailed the exam on Day 2. He was a history lover and even had the hobby of reading history books whenever he had the time. So, almost all the questions appeared to be easy for him.

    The third Day was Physical Sciences and the following Day was Biological Sciences. Azzy wasn''t good at it but he wasn''t also particularly bad at it. Still, for the sake of CGPA, he made his own preparations.

    While he work out the physics, he made the poor wolf read and memorize the biology book, later transferred the knowledge to his brain. So, the weekdays also passed without any worries.

    Then, the weekend arrived with two days of break. Azzy didn''t even step out of room for two whole days to prepare to face his greatest opponent that often wins against him, the Mathematics.

    And then, arrived the day of the hell¡­

    With the Reaper deciding to not assist Azzy in the exam, the latter had to depend on himself. And yet, when he saw the question paper, Azzy felt as if the soul left him in peace.

    There was more calculation part than the theoretical part. With the help of knowledge transfer, he knows all the formulas, all the theories, but doesn''t know how to apply which one to which.

    The good news for him is that he wasn''t suffering alone. There are many students struggling with the answers.

    In the afternoon, students were coming outside from their respective academic buildings. Some have a sad look on their faces while some were seriously discussing the question paper.

    Along with the rest of the classmates, Azzy was also coming out of the building. He was looking at the clouds in a daze. Gideon was trying to console him.

    Suddenly, his hand was grabbed by someone, and found his arms locked by a slender arm.

    The owner of the arm was a blue-eyed blonde girl who has this cheerfulness on her face. "Rael, how did it go?"

    "Uh¡­ It''s alright." Azzy looked away in embarrassment, scratching his cheek.

    "You screwed up." Seeing how Azzy not meeting her eyes, she realized that Azzy faced trouble.

    "Damn you, Chronos. If only you had helped me¡­" Azzy cursed inside his mind, putting the blame on the Reaper who refused to assist him in all the exams.

    "I already told you that you shouldn''t cheat in examinations because it is the formal way that the school is testing you on what you have been doing for the whole year. As the President of Disciplinary Committee, you shouldn''t cheat in things like these." The Reaper counterattacked.

    But, Azzy didn''t back down and tried to fight, "what cheating. Didn''t you tell so many times that you are a part of me just like my hand or leg?"

    "Nope, I only said our Arcana form is part of you, not my soul. It is mine and Vajra''s is his. No, I mean, he is my slave. So, Vajra''s soul is also mine." The Reaper wasn''t the one to never admit defeat.

    What could Azzy do, if the Reaper bluntly tells him like that¡­ He just decided to run away by not commenting on it.

    In the end, he let out a sigh, looking down. "I think I roughly attempted 70 marks. Trigonometric equations are really difficult."

    "C''mon, it''s grade-8 exams, anyway. It''s not that important. As long you pass, it will be enough you know." Claire patted her shoulder in encouragement. "And you are already in Elite realm (rank-5), anyway. Regardless of the results, you will still be in Elite Division."

    "This is why I told you that I will tutor you, Azzy." Gideon who was walking beside Azzy chipped in, angering Claire a bit. "Instead of focusing on studies, both of you were probably in indulged in romance¡­" "Ugh"

    Suddenly, a punch was landed on the side of his abdomen. "Shut up." Claire blushed while looking away in embarrassment.

    Groan in pain, Gideon grabbed Azzy''s shoulder, "Bro, sister-in-law really became violent these days¡­"

    "Did you say something?" As she glared at him, Gideon looked away, "nothing."

    ***

    Azzy''s mood wasn''t good for the rest of the day. He didn''t even eat properly. After all, he worked hard for the past few months but realized that it isn''t easy to cover four years of absence from academics.

    Unfortunately, the troubles haven''t ended yet. The next day''s examination was a theoretical combat examination where there''s no textbook to memorize to prepare beforehand.

    The questions were in the form of hypothetical situations a party is stuck in and were asked to answer the most efficient way to solve them.

    For example, one of the ten marks questions says: "In the region of Seinhede, Alger is going on a hunt along with two of his friends named Sarah and Amy. Each one has a soul power of 86232, 72111, and 94782 respectively.

    Alger''s Arcana is a set of a shield and a sword; Sarah''s Arcana is an Electric Carp; Amy''s Arcana is an Earth Mole. All of their Arcana spirits are of Gold grade with no mutated ones. Their aim is to hunt down the boss of the region. Help Ager and his teammates in taking down their target."

    While it seemed like a simple question, it was actually more complex. For one, they only mentioned the region name and nothing else about the beast. So, unless, one has an idea about the region and the habitat inside, it is very difficult to attempt this question.

    As Azzy only joined the academy this year and there was no trip to the region of Seinhede, he was troubled. Without any information on anything, he formed a battle strategy, assuming that they are facing a peak-rank-4 beast of platinum grade like the previous Galarian King.

    "Hmm, considering there''s an Electric Carp and an Earth mole, the battlefield might be something like a pond."

    One after another, he attempted the questions confidently only to hear from Gideon that Seinhede is actually a level-2 region is a mountainous region devoid of forests and lakes. The boss is a giant spider living in a cave.

    When he heard that, he almost screamed in his head, cursing the question setter for deceiving him. Uphiar, who was traveling on a magical carpet, let out a sneeze. Rubbing his nose, he mumbled, "Someone must be talking about me."

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 227: An invitation to Camelot

    March 24th, Afternoon;

    *Trrrring*

    Several students were rushing out from the examination halls, feeling excited as it is the last day of the final examinations and the start of the three-week holidays.

    The spring holidays were actually supposed to last five weeks but due to the Champions League, the Exams were pushed back two weeks and reduced the number of holidays.

    However, no one is caring about that. Everyone was just happy that they will no longer have to study for the following weeks.

    Azzy was walking with his friends. Claire was clinging to him like a wet towel to nail.

    "C''mon, Mia, at least you come. It will be awkward if it''s just Rael and me." Claire was asking others to reconsider their decision of rejecting her invitation to the Triastal Kingdom.

    At first, Azzy also tried to reject it by telling her that he wanted to spend time with his family whereas, in reality, he had to go somewhere else. But then, as Claire said that she will convince his foster parents to also come with him, Azzy didn''t find any reason and reluctantly accepted her invitation.

    He also didn''t know that Claire ran a little bit of scheme behind his back with the others so that she could spend time with him alone. The other three rejected her invitation as per her request.

    But, little did she expect there''s going to be a hurricane waiting at Azzy''s home.

    As soon as both of them entered the house, their eyes fell on the six bodyguards in suits standing behind a sofa where two people sat on it while having tea together.

    One is the exiled/runaway princess of Snieca and the other is the crown princess of Camelot, Leah Pendragon.

    "Oh! Hey, Azzy" "Hey, Azrael"

    Both of them reacted at the same time the moment they saw him. Claire''s face frowned for a moment but she managed to control it.

    "Hello sweetie, you are also here." Affea''s face glowed even more when she saw her son''s girlfriend.

    Ever since Azzy started to be in a relationship, he developed a habit of sealing his soul power to show real expressions, although when they were alone. It was as if it is a secret for both of them.

    Claire enjoyed the feeling that Azzy shared something with her that he didn''t share with Gideon.

    Soon, after developing the habit, Azzy tried to be the same with his family. She was an Exalt realm expert. After seeing it a couple of times, she quickly recognized it without Azzy even telling her anything.

    She thought Claire might be the reason Azzy was opening up more. Adding on top of that, Claire was the youngest princess of Triastal. With her status also befitting for her son, Affea''s impression only improved within the past couple of weeks.

    However, even she didn''t expect that another princess would be interested in Azzy or else, why would she come all the way to invite her too. Then, something clicked in her mind.

    "According to this girl, Azzy and she made an agreement but that was before Azzy and Claire became a couple. Would that mean Azzy had a crush on this Camelot''s princess and later, got together with Claire? Or am I thinking too much? Ugh¡­ Whatever the case, let Azzy take care of the matter."

    As she already took a liking to Claire, Affea neither rejected nor accepted her invitation and only said that they will wait for her son to arrive and then, will talk.

    And now that she saw Claire accompanying him, Affea also thought Azzy would definitely reject Leah and maybe, the latter will also give up on him. How would she know that her son will give even more of a shock to her and his girlfriend?

    "Princess Leah, you should have given me a heads up before coming here." Instead of returning her greetings, Azzy directly told her.

    The royal knights frowned as they didn''t like his tone. It sounded very disrespectful to their princess but they didn''t move a step aside as the person in question herself didn''t take it as an offense. Instead, she only smiled and replied, "You didn''t tell me that you only have three weeks of holidays you know. So, I had to rush to pick you up."

    "Are they flirting?" Affea''s darted eyes right and left in confusion. At the same time, Claire''s facial expression darkened further.

    Previously, she was only a friend but now, he''s her boyfriend. So, his business is hers. She quickly stepped forward and stood before him with her arms crossed to the chest, "what business do you have with ''my'' Rael, Princess Leah?"

    She emphasized the word ''my'' to give a clear message to her. As expected, Leah was a little bit taken aback but she kept her smile and answered, "I and Azrael, both of us made an arrangement this summer where he will undergo special training at our Camelot. Now that I''m here to pick him up, I thought of inviting Auntie and Uncle to our kingdom too."

    Claire''s face displayed shocked as she turned around to look at Azzy, "Didn''t you agree to go with me to Triastal?"

    "I''m sorry." Azzy slowly whispered while looking down. "I promised her."

    Almost instantly, tears welled up in Claire''s eyes. "Then, what about the promise you made to me?"

    "I did but¡­" Azzy tried to think of an excuse but nothing else came to his mind.

    Before he thought of it, she interrupted him by pointing a finger at Leah, "then, tell her that you are going to accompany me. You can also train there."

    Azzy didn''t know what happened to her but Claire was shouting at him. It was the first time he ever saw this side of her. He didn''t know her insecurities at all. So, he thought she was taking it too seriously. But, he couldn''t say it to her after seeing the tears that are almost about to flow down.

    In the end, he could only apologize, feeling guilty of lying, "I''m sorry."

    Claire quickly stepped aside and run away from him.

    "Honey, what''s going on?" It was at that moment Oakley appeared, climbing down the stairs. Until now, he was peacefully sleeping on a massage chair upstairs but rushed down, thinking there''s a fight going on downstairs.

    When he came down, he saw there was this extremely beautiful girl with guards behind her. He caught an expression of smug on Leah''s face for a second before it became normal. On the other hand, he recognized Claire was running away with Azzy looking at the floor.

    "Eh? Don''t tell me he''s two-timing¡­" He wondered.

    Then, Azzy took a deep breath and looked at both of them. "Princess Leah, Aunt Affea, I''ll be right back."

    Azzy also rushed outside while activating his aura sensing. He quickly detected Claire''s aura that was nearby but moving very fast. He chased after her.

    "I''m his girlfriend but he chose that b*t*h over me." Claire was feeling heartbroken at the moment as if her world suddenly turned upside down.

    It was then, suddenly, two arms caught her waist tightly and forced her to halt the movements. "Claire, listen to me¡­"

    In the middle of a street, a boy was hugging a girl from behind without caring about the passersby.

    "Leave me. Now, I understand that you don''t love me, at all." Tears started to fall from her eyes. "I was a fool to think that you gradually developed feelings on me after spending time together but¡­"

    "Claire¡­" Azzy raised his voice, making her flinch for a second. Before she continues with her irrational accusations, he spoke, "The reason I''m going to Camelot is because of the creature that escaped to the human world. If you calm down for a moment, I''ll explain everything."

    "Eh?" Claire was surprised. As Azzy freed her, she turned around and looked into his eyes. "What does the creature have a connection with Camelot and why do you have to go with her?"

    Azzy first revealed that his and Leah''s Arcana sprits aren''t platinum grade but a grade higher, the Celestial grade. Then, he briefly told her that the beast now mutated into another Celestial grade beast and is taking the form of Vann Hildegard.

    As he explained to her about the tracking seal, Claire asked him while sniffing, "Why do you need to involve in it. She has royal knights and so many Generals too."

    "Vann is the crown prince of Hildegard. If wrongly handled, it will become an international incident, and Leah alone cannot defeat him. Moreover, I will receive 50% of his core in return."

    "Huh! 50%?" She looked confused.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 228: Azzy and Claire at Camelot

    "So, this is Camelot. It''s my first time witnessing a Castle city." Claire mumbled to herself as she looked around through her binoculars, standing at the second floor''s balcony. "But, this kingdom is very much landlocked. Our Triastal have amazing beaches."

    With a castle in the center, a city was developed around it. The forest of Glarith and Darkling woods are acting as a barrier for the city for the most part. To go outside, a road was constructed, connecting to the city of Fyrein in the north.

    Even Azzy was surprised at how they not only managed to preserve the ancient architecture but also rebuilt the city in exactly the same way it was written in ancient history books.

    The so-called forest of Glarith and Darkling woods weren''t natural forests but man-made forests supposedly created under the orders of Leah''s father, the current King.

    So, one can say the current city of Camelot is relatively a new one. That explains how uniform everything was built.

    The only thing that Azzy felt was out of his expectations is the lifestyle of the natives.

    At first, he thought it is a lot similar to that of the Death clan village, where almost no one use any sort of modern technology as if they still live in ancient times. Later, he realized only the architecture was similar. Unlike his homeland, people are pretty much updated just like any other modern city.

    While Claire was busy assessing the kingdom, Azzy and his family were chatting with Syllia who also came along because of her sister. She was worried about her safety as the land is very far away from their home. Moreover, with how Azzy has his own enemies, Affea and her family have their own enemies, she couldn''t leave her alone with them.

    As for Claire''s relationship with Azzy, Syllia was completely against it because of a number of reasons but for the sake of her sister''s happiness, she decided to give Azzy, a chance. She knew how powerful he is but she didn''t know what kind of person he is. It was another reason she was in the Camelot.

    *knock* knock*

    An hour later, Leah was back with a man in luxurious robes with golden armor beneath it, and a crown on his head.

    "Greetings, Your Majesty." As soon as the King entered the room, the adults stood up from the seats and greeted him. However, their attention was grabbed the beautiful crown on his head or more like the blue gem embedded in it along with several diamonds.

    Even Azzy was the same. Meanwhile, Claire returned to the room from the balcony and she remembered the afternoon when she saw the bright green gem during the royal feast, more than a month ago. It was the same feeling she got from this one too.

    "my, my¡­ What a surprise. I didn''t expect this royal family managed to protect it for a hundred thousand years." The Reaper''s words echoed Azzy''s head.

    "Is that also a Cosmic Gem?" Just like Claire, Azzy also got the same feeling from it.

    "Yeah, it is the Jewel of Water. It contains an infinite amount of pure water. The one who possesses the Gem will be able to control the water to use it for defensive or offensive purposes. Of course, its power only reflects its owner''s strength and just like your Jewel of Life, it is bound to a soul." The Reaper couldn''t help but added a statement about his fate in the end, "It looked like Moira indeed wrote a phenomenal fate for you, Azrael."

    Of course, Azzy didn''t like being controlled by some stranger even if she''s a Goddess. But, it isn''t the time to think about such things anyway. Azzy quickly managed to avert his eyes from the Gem.

    Meanwhile, Leah was all smiles as she saw the expressions of her guests. While Azzy appeared to be indifferent like before, however, she was very perceptive of her surroundings. As soon as Azzy''s eyes widened, she realized he was also the same as others.

    She then introduced her father, "this is my father, the current King of Camelot, Lucas Pendragon."

    "Father, this is Azrael, and this is his family." Despite the presence of two royal princesses in the room, Leah first introduced Azrael and then, the exiled princess who no longer possesses the status of royalty as a means to rile up the sisters of Triastal.

    And she also succeeded by making Syllia angry. However, considering she wasn''t here representing Triastal and her reasoning was only to protect her sister, Syllia forced herself to calm down. As for Claire, her only concern was Leah''s attitude towards Azzy.

    "So, you are the genius kid I keep hearing from my daughter." The King seemed to be easygoing too even though he knew Azzy was a commoner. He smiled as he put forth his hand, "I heard that you are only 13-years-old. Almost reaching intermediate-stage of Elite realm. Not bad. Anyways, pleased to meet you."

    Shaking his hand with his hands and bowing his head slightly, Azzy replied, "Pleasure is mine, Your Majesty."

    After greeting the others and apologizing for not coming sooner due to the meeting with the General, he asked them to join him for dinner.

    Everyone also agreed to it.

    Azzy usually could sleep even in new places but he couldn''t sleep as his mind was replaying the moment when his eyes fell on the blue gem. He coveted the cosmic gem but he knew it was impossible, so, he tried to push those thoughts away.

    The next day morning, Azzy woke up early because of the continuous knocks on the door.

    *Yawn* "It''s only 4:35. Who is disturbing my sleep at this hour¡­" Azzy suddenly remembered that he''s now in Camelot.

    Switching on the lights, he slowly walked to the door and opened it only to see two soldiers accompanied by Leah who is wearing a black shirt, long pants, and gloves. Her hair was also tied into a ponytail. It was unlike her usual typical Princess image as Azzy only saw her in traditional wear every time.

    Even though they looked simple, in the training outfit, with her well-developed body and tight-fitting clothes, she looked extremely sexy in Azzy''s eyes but thankfully, he was immune to such charms after spending a year with his maternal aunt in the Death clan. So, he didn''t show any reaction and behaved normally, at least on the outside, "Princess Leah?"

    "Morning, Azrael. The royal teacher is on her way. Let''s hit the Royal Training grounds." She urged him to hurry up.

    At first, her face was filling with excitement but soon, it was drained away as Azzy dragged Claire along with him.

    She was signed up for it. So, she put up with nuisance. "I''ll make sure this girl to give up on her own."

    Leah has nothing against her and she neither had any romantic feelings towards Azzy too. She was only slightly interested in him because of his sky-high potential.

    If Claire isn''t in a relationship with Azzy, she might probably treat her as a sister too. However, now that she knows the truth, Leah felt like it''s important to show Claire that she isn''t worthy of Azzy, the reincarnation of her ancestor''s General.

    Under Leah''s lead, Azzy, Claire, and Syllia entered the forest, exited it, and soon, by the time of dawn, they reached the Mountains of Ascetir.

    They stopped at the foot of one of the hills with a barrier over it which surprisingly has a staircase.

    "Eh? This is¡­" A memory of climbing the stairs jogged in Azzy''s mind.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 229: The Royal teacher of Camelot is a drunkard

    "This is the Stairs of Gravity, built by our ancestor Arthur Pendragon." Leah started explaining about the stairs while being proud of it, "A total of two thousand steps. Every step increases your weight by 1% due to the increase in gravitational force. By the time you reach the peak, a fifty kg person will feel the weight of thousand kg."

    "So, just for this, we have run for almost a hundred kilometers?" Claire didn''t hold back in making a rude comment. "Our team trained at 20g gravity chamber before. What''s so special about this?"

    She didn''t like Leah''s outfit and thought it was too bold. Although it was common such training outfits are worn everywhere, in Claire''s eyes, this girl was just trying to seduce her boyfriend. It was a mixture of envious towards Leah and insecurity over her relationship that made her act like this.

    Even Syllia who had seen her sister from childhood didn''t expect she could spout such arrogant words. As for Azzy, it seems like a normal statement. Even he was unimpressed by the stairs cuz the staircase at the Death Clan exerted more pressure.

    Meanwhile, Leah frowned as she glared at Claire, "I don''t know where you trained but training in 20g gravity chamber and climbing these steps are different. There, your strength, speed, and reflexes will be improved but here, by slowly increasing the gravity, not only you''ll get used to every range of gravitational force but you would be able to temper your body.

    To tell you simply, the gravity chambers will increase your maximum strength but this one will increase your base strength. There''s a difference, Princess Claire."

    As the ever-smiling Leah appeared serious, Claire also responded with seriousness, "We came here not to learn basics or increase our base strength. Moreover, you might have forgotten that Rael could even lift a rhino that weighs over 3000 kilos. Considering Rael''s current weight is 59, the most his weight will be increased to 1180 kg. A mere thousand kilos will not help him even if he spars in such conditions at the top."

    Upon hearing Claire''s analysis, Azzy nodded in agreement. He turned his head towards Leah questioningly whether this was all she was offering or if there was something more.

    Leah was taken aback at first but controlling her expression, she answered to Azzy, at the same time counterattacking Claire, "Azrael, if you feel the weights aren''t enough, we can always add them in the end. Anyway, isn''t it better to train in this environment rather than wasting time at Aclein or touring around? Let''s not waste the time, discussing useless things. Follow me."

    Without giving an opportunity to Claire or Azzy even speak further, she started to climb the stairs. Looking ahead seriously, she mumbled to herself, "I ought to teach this girl some manners, or else, she might think I''m a pushover."

    Leah increased her speed.

    Azzy observed the steps. While each step''s height is barely 1 ft, they were over fifty feet wide, enough for ten-twelve people to freely climb together without any clashes. This is where these stairs win as the one at the bottom of the Violet Pavilion could only afford three to four to climb side by the side.

    Azzy stepped on it. The pressure increased a little bit.

    He continued to climb at the same pace as Claire. Meanwhile, Syllia was also following them leisurely.

    Even though Claire trained at the gravity chamber in the underground secret facility, the training was only for a day. It became very difficult to climb the steps once she crossed the 1000th step where the gravity is 10 times stronger than on the ground.

    Her pace became slower. Azzy also intends to climbs with her. So, he stayed with Claire.

    Soon, the sun rose from between the mountains. Claire was feeling a lot of pressure in her legs but watching Leah climbed to the top with ease, she gritted her teeth and forced herself to climb the steps.

    It was at that moment, Leah returned to them by climbing down the stairs from the top, "you are taking too much time. Hurry up. The Royal Teacher is waiting."

    She took a glance at Claire and then, climbed the stairs once again.

    "Claire, just use the wings if you don''t want to use energy armor." In the end, Syllia advised her sister as she at least doesn''t want her sister to be a stubborn fool. "You are also wasting Azrael''s time."

    "It''s alright, Ms. Syllia. There''s no meaning if only I get stronger and leave behind Claire." While he meant about taking on the Draco-Galarian, Syllia thought that Azzy was talking about the future with her little sister. Claire felt touched as she thought the same.

    When Azzy was thinking about her, how could Claire be selfish? She stopped climbing and closed her eyes. Within a fraction of second, golden wings sprouted from her back while her soul power is being consumed little by little.

    Flapping her wings, she flew upward for a few meters. She also found out a little secret about the stairs that Leah didn''t tell them. "So, the gravitational force only affects these steps and three meters above it. This is like having an invisible slanted ceiling from top to the bottom."

    "Rael, let''s just go." As she flew towards the top of the hill, maintaining her distance from the gravity range, Azzy followed her.

    It didn''t even take a minute to climb the remaining thousand steps and reached the flat ground on the hill where a frail-looking old woman was wobbling left and right. Leah was standing behind her.

    Azzy was taken aback by the woman''s appearance. With long disheveled hair, wrinkled commoner clothes, and a vase in her hand, she looked like some drunken passerby on the street.

    Moreover, he couldn''t sense soul power from her too. If not the Reaper''s reminder, he would have thought Leah made a prank to fool him in the early morning.

    Since Claire didn''t have the support of the Reaper, she too wondered what kind of joke Leah is playing at, but then, she realized the drunken woman was standing in a place where the gravity is twenty times that of the gravity on the ground.

    Pouring soul energy over her body and forming energy armor, Claire landed beside Azzy.

    "Teacher, they are here." Leah stepped forward a bit and informed the old woman who was in the middle of drinking while closing her eyes.

    Her eyes fell on the couple and a wide smile escaped from her, "unique soul energies. Both of them are from the same place where the timeline has been shifted earlier and the emergence of a wild beast took place. And that girl¡­"

    She then took a glimpse at Syllia and sighed inwardly, "rare but nothing special."

    While the old woman is busy in her thoughts, Leah introduced her, "Azrael, this is the Royal Teacher of Camelot, Aurelia Harpis."

    "Teacher, this is Azrael. This is Claire Lefeuvre, and she''s her elder sister, Syllia Lefeuvre." Unlike earlier, her tone was extremely polite before this drunken old woman.

    Sorting her thoughts, Aurelia opened her mouth, "Nishhh thou meeeth you. Wishhout fursher delay, leshh shtarrt the trrraining, rithh now¡­"

    (Nice to meet you. Without further delay, let''s start the training, right now.)

    "Eh?" Azzy and Claire didn''t understand a thing that she said before she suddenly made a move.

    After storing away the vase, she stretched her palms forward. Claire and Azzy felt an enormous amount of suction force and flew towards her against their will.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 230: Sparring against a Supreme Realm Expert

    "Azrael, don''t resist and go with the flow." As soon as the drunken Supreme Realm expert started their training, the Reaper gave a piece of quick advice to Azzy. "And take her by surprise by launching an energy attack at the distance where even she can''t dodge it."

    Azzy listened to his advice and let him fly towards Aurelia who used suction force to test their capabilities. Claire, On the other hand, was using the friction between her feet and the ground to resist the force. Meanwhile, the golden wings behind Claire''s back covered her, giving her a massive boost of defense almost reduced the pressure by more than three-fourths.

    Claire eventually managed to stop the harmless attack by piercing her heavy sword into the ground and tightly grabbing it. Syllia let out a big smile in satisfaction.

    As for Azzy, he flew towards her without resisting it, surprising Leah who thought of the reverse situation.

    Just as the distance between Azzy and Aurelia decreased from ten meters to almost a few feet, the former suddenly threw a punch in the air while using soul energy.

    Looking at fist-shaped dark energy, Aurelia''s face changed. She immediately realized the uniqueness of this soul energy. Even though she''s in the Supreme Realm, she felt a threat from a mere Elite realm attack. She quickly sidestepped and dodged the energy fist.

    As a result, the suction force was canceled and Azzy successfully landed on the ground. Meanwhile, the energy attack that missed the target hit a lamp post behind the old woman and it was destroyed but it is of no issue to anyone here.

    "Your soul energy is very unique and powerful, far potent than any children of Heaven that I have seen." Aurelia gave a comment, this time, in a sober tone, and then, looked at Claire, "I guess you are a type to face the things head-on face to face, a born fighter. A bit unconventional from a light attribute user though."

    The most surprised on the field was Leah, who didn''t expect her teacher will praise both of them that much. She started training under her when she was four. In 12 years of training, never once her teacher gave such treatment to her. She would always criticize her mistakes.

    Leah could understand if Azzy got praised because Excalibur acknowledged his skills, moreover, he was also the holder of a Celestial grade beast, but Claire too? It''s a little bit hard to swallow it now that she had developed bitter feelings against this princess of the southern island kingdom.

    "Boy, step aside for a bit. I want to test the girl''s ability. Then, we''ll get to you." Aurelia now fixed her eyes on Claire.

    Against the Supreme Realm Expert, Claire didn''t hold back at all except for using the Rank-7 Shield that she received as a reward for winning the Champions League.

    The battle lasted roughly for ten minutes and Claire was panting heavily while supporting herself with the sword as all of her Soul Orb was almost empty. Since it was a rule that she can''t recover her soul energy using a recovery card, Aurelia stopped the spar and gave a satisfactory nod to her, "You are indeed what I thought you are, a warrior. It''s a rare quality to be seen in female Arcana Masters but then again, you are from Lefeuvre family after all."

    Aurelia took a glance at Syllia while she said that. She doesn''t know the two girls, but she once fought against one of their ancestors some thousands of years ago. So, when she saw Claire turned out to be as fierce as the one she fought, Aurelia appeared to be impressed with her.

    Leah couldn''t help but become uncomfortable as she was hearing the words of praises from her teacher. Why? She couldn''t understand why her teacher looks high on someone who was weaker than her and have far less potential than her.

    And Aurelia''s next statement pierced her heart, which made her resolve even stronger.

    "If I''m not restricted to this kingdom or you aren''t a princess of direct in line to the throne, I would have loved to take you as my disciple," Aurelia said to Claire, looking straight into her eyes.

    Claire was taken aback by her assessment and was also happier inside. She couldn''t help but glance at Leah who was stunned at the moment, not being able to believe her ears. Leah, for the second time in her life, became jealous of someone, the first one being Azzy.

    "Thank you." She gracefully bowed to her before returning to her sister while Azzy took the stage.

    "Now, it''s your turn." After pointing at him, Aurelia once again took the vase from her storage card and took a sip, turning into a drunken woman almost instantly. "Giff allll you''ve gottt" (Give all you have got)

    "She''s serious about this." Leah put aside her useless thoughts in respect to Claire and put her entire concentration on the battle.

    Azzy, of course, wouldn''t give his all. He has a lot of secrets to hide. But he wouldn''t shy away from using the skills that were known to the public.

    "Vajra, come out."

    The black lightning wolf jumped out of his soul card and bared its fangs at Aurelia. Because of its pitch black fur, the others wouldn''t notice any changes but it is easy for a Supreme Realm expert who is only a step away from reaching peak stage.

    Aurelia didn''t know how Vajra looked before but she could not only see a black gem on its forehead but also sense a tremendous amount of power inside the gem. "What kind of power is this?" A deep frown appeared on her face while she wobbled left and right. "This feels similar to the one inside that energy attack but compared to the purity of the energy inside this gem, that one is like 99% diluted. But, it feels too negative¡­"

    Aurelia was so into studying it that for a moment, she failed to even notice an attack from Azzy from behind until it landed on her.

    Of course, after reaching rank-9, her body is like a diamond.  If she can be hurt by something like this, then, it will be a joke. However, she did fly away in the air before she get back to her senses and smoothly landed on the ground.

    Azzy didn''t expect that his attack would land on her but he could care less about it at the moment and unleashed the soul skills one after other.

    "Soul skill: Eyes of God"

    "Vajra, unleash the soul skill: Extreme Bite"

    "Soul skill: Rise of the Undead"

    All of a sudden, his eyes turned pitch black with no visible pupils. And just like every time, no soul power was consumed in the process. Only the Reaper''s soul skills (excluding the weapons) have such exception.

    Meanwhile, Vajra''s canines grew sharper and larger, protruding out of the mouth. Black lightning was dancing over its teeth as well as its feet.

    *Hisssss*

    At the same moment, a four-headed Hydra appeared on the ground. Along with low-rank-5 platinum grade beast, several skeletal beasts of lower rank also appeared.

    *Thud*

    Just when the spectators were about to be amazed by the sheer number of beasts that Azzy summoned, to everyone''s surprise, all of them were fallen onto the ground. While Vajra seems to be completely fine, the skeletal Hydra seems like it was facing trouble with even raising its heads.

    "That''s right. This place is different." Realization dawned upon Azzy.

    For a moment, he had forgotten that he was fighting on a field where gravity is higher. Upon realizing it, he felt like he made a fool out of himself and was embarrassed inside.

    Thankfully here, his expressionless face helped him while he unsummoned the undead army.

    Syllia who was standing on the sideline said to her sister, "Bad move. He should have let them stay here and train along with him. While they don''t get any stronger because of the natural limitations placed upon a beast''s body, they could still get used to this type of environment. In the Arcana world, there are many places where gravitation force is abnormal. It''ll become helpful later on."

    "I see¡­" Claire nodded indicating that she understood.

    Meanwhile, the sparring session resumed.

    With their peak speed, Azzy and Vajra charged forward. Within a second, they covered the distance between them and the drunken opponent.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 231: Rivalry between the princesses part-1

    The sparring lasted only for five minutes, shorter than even Claire''s. Nevertheless, it was enough for a Supreme Realm expert like Aurelia to analyze his battle techniques.

    "You know many techniques and some of them are even lost in history but there are two problems." As Azzy sat down to recover his soul energy, she said while raising three fingers, "One, your soul power expenditure is higher as you still haven''t achieved perfection, much less mastery. Two, you haven''t mastered those techniques either. And three, you waste too many moments. They won''t be a problem against weaker or equal opponents. But, if it is a stronger one, your weaknesses will be taken as an advantage. In simple terms, your power is too raw and needs to be polished."

    Azzy has long discovered these problems. So, he wasn''t surprised a bit. Still, to respect her position, he nodded, indicating that he understood.

    Aurelia then made a plan for both of them. For the next seven days, training will be started at 6 in the morning and will be finished at 6 in the evening. During that time, Azzy was told to constantly spar against her while using soul energy and keeping his undead pets around all the time.

    Meanwhile, Claire was told to spar against Leah, believing they would learn from each other despite the difference in their strength and Arcana spirits.

    Leah immediately agreed with it as she believed it''s a perfect opportunity to prove to her teacher that she was better than her in every way. Maybe, she could also make Claire see that she isn''t worthy of Azzy and break their relationship?

    Of course, the latter wasn''t her main objective but if it can be achieved, then, there''s nothing wrong with trying.

    "Follow me," Leah said with a smile and walked away. Claire and Azzy nodded to each other before following her training partner. Syllia also left Azzy and went after her sister.

    The ground they just sparred was just a flat ground before the entrance to the cave, which leads to the real training ground built inside the hollow mountain.

    The training ground was constructed in a dome shape. There''s another barrier over it, ensuring to protect the people from the possible collapse of the mountain.

    When Claire reached the place, at first, her attention was quickly grabbed by two demonic statues that are standing at the entrance. Both of the sisters felt something wrong with them but their attention quickly shifted towards an intense high-speed battle going on between a handsome young man and a beautiful yet aggressive young woman who have a lot of features common between them.

    Both of them wore typical soldier armor and have heavy swords in their hands. Neither of them is using soul energy nor does the battle seem like it was tilting in someone''s favor.

    Both of them are at peak-rank-7 and they were so fast that Claire could only see blurry figures even at a 20g surface like this. She was stunned as a result. Unknown to her, even her elder sister Syllia seemed to be shocked.

    "Uncle Celus, Aunt Cynthia." As Leah shouted their names, they stopped their battle for a moment and turned their heads towards the entrance. Both of them were taken aback, although for two different reasons.

    "Hey Leah, when did you get back?" Prince Celus smiled widely as soon as his eyes fell on his niece. On the other hand, Princess Cynthia looked elsewhere, more like towards someone else.

    Then, as Prince Celus'' eyes shifted towards the sisters, he was attracted towards Syllia at first sight but managed to keep it hidden and asked, "Leah, who are they?"

    "Oh, this is Claire Lefeuvre and she''s Syllia Lefeuvre. They are our guests." Leah replied in a plain tone without attaching importance to them before she added, "there''s someone else I would like to introduce to you but Royal Teacher is currently busy training him."

    "Royal Teacher? Seriously?" This piece of information surprised him a lot as he knew this Supreme Realm Expert usually doesn''t take students unless they were extremely gifted.

    However, Celus didn''t think too much about it and focused on the busty woman who was standing just a few feet away from him and took an initiative to greet her. "Please to meet you. I''m Celus Pendragon, Lieutenant General of Southern Corps."

    "Hello" Claire greeted him with a slight bow. However, Syllia on the other hand didn''t bother returning the greetings and directly spoke to the lady in armor, "It''s indeed a small world, Cyn. No, my bad, it''s Ms. Cynthia Pendragon."

    "Syl, I¡­" Princess Cynthia blurted out, displaying her shock before she forced herself to calm down. "It''s been a while, Syllia."

    Even Leah was taken aback for a second and couldn''t help but ask, "Aunt Cynthia, do you two know each other?"

    She glanced at Syllia and nodded, "You can say we are acquaintances."

    Syllia narrowed her eyes in response but stayed silent. Meanwhile, Claire wondered whether there''s some kind of complicated history between these two. After all, mere acquaintances or even normal friends won''t call someone with short names.

    Leah was also intelligent enough to understand it too but since it has nothing to do with her, she didn''t probe the matter further and told them Aurelia''s instructions.

    Upon hearing that the training ground is now reserved for them, Cynthia thought of exiting the place as she was uncomfortable with Syllia''s presence. However, Prince Celus thought differently. With Claire and Leah sparring, he figured that Syllia will be alone. That means he can give her company.

    Having his own intentions, Celus gave an excuse that he too wished to see his niece''s improvement.

    "Princess Syllia, I have a set of chairs in my storage card. So, we can sit there in a corner to not disturb the kids. They need space to spar to their content." As Celus attending to her like a gentleman with other intentions in his mind, Syllia followed him in silence while glancing at Cynthia''s back from the corner of her eyes until the princess disappeared from her view.

    With all the training ground to themselves, Claire and Leah stood far away from each other while taking out their respective Arcana and pour soul energies, making them glow in purple and golden aurae respectively.

    One is a celestial grade sword, the symbol of authority while the other is only a mutated gold grade sword and yet, the divinity/holy aura it was emitting doesn''t seem inferior to that of Excalibur''s aura.

    Once again, the spirit of Excalibur felt strangely familiar with the sword Claire was holding and saw a silhouette of a person that he knew from the past but it quickly put away its thoughts as Leah charged forward, starting the battle.

    Claire, who was already feeling a lot of pressure due to extremely high gravity, didn''t hesitate to unleash her golden wings once again.

    *Cling*

    Within no time, both of the swords clashed. Naturally, Leah used peak-rank-5 strength in her attack. So, Claire couldn''t completely block the first strike. She slid a couple of meters away before she flapped her wings to fly above and then, dashed towards the opponent.

    This time, Claire was on offense. However, Leah successfully blocked the attack with a smile.

    "Do you want me to suppress my soul power to match with yours? A battle between unequal strengths is no fun, you know." Leah said to her. Her intentions were clear. She was indirectly stating that she is superior in strength and Claire is inferior.

    Claire also understood the same. In fact, her thoughts were even one step ahead, thinking that this girl was trying to mock her.

    Her anger increased a little bit. Suddenly, the golden wings suddenly spread wide and flapped in a reverse direction, pushing Claire forward and give her additional force.

    Leah found herself pushed back a few steps before she used soul energy on the bottom of her feet and stopped.

    "Those wings were indeed useful." Celus praised Syllia''s sister to leave a nice impression. But, Syllia was unmoved a bit. She shrugged her shoulders as if it wasn''t a big deal, "ability to use wings runs in our family."

    "So, that means you can also fly like your sister? You know with wings?" Celus asked her, trying to prolong the conversation now that he found some topic to chat with her.

    "That''s obvious," Syllia replied in a plain tone, clearly not interested in talking with him. Her eyes were fixed on Claire.

    Celus didn''t give up and thought of something else. His sister came to his mind. He asked, "Say, how do you know my sister?"

    "Oh, we dated once." Truth slipped out of Syllia mouth before realization dawned upon her and she tightly closed her eyes.

    "You what¡­" Celus screamed in shock as he stood up from the chair.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 232: Rivalry between the princesses part-2

    Prince Celus wanted to flirt with Syllia a little bit but never in his dreams did he expect that his sister isn''t straight.

    His abrupt reaction halted the battle for a second and made Leah and Claire look at him curiously. They wondered whether these two adults are arguing or something¡­

    "Uncle Celus, what happened?" Leah asked him.

    Syllia grabbed the Prince''s arm and pull him down. After he was forcefully made to sit down again, Syllia told them that it isn''t big and urged both of them to continue their sparring.

    Claire and Leah didn''t think much and got back to their fight while Syllia turned her head and looked at his face. "What''s with that overreaction? Is it that much of a shock that your sister and I used to be lovers?"

    Now that she could no longer keep it a secret, Syllia confronted it head-on. Of course, for Celus, it isn''t something that can be digested easily. He still couldn''t believe his ears. "How could it be possible? I knew Cynthia very well. She isn''t that type of person."

    "What do you mean that type?" Syllia frowned with unpleasantness. Obviously, she gets annoyed whenever some narrow-minded guy or girl tries to judge her sexual orientation as if it''s immoral. "Do you think it''s a crime to like someone of the same gender? Even the God of Archery sitting in that Heaven is a bi."

    Both of them are at the same level and yet, Celus felt overpowered just by her powerful gaze. In front of her, he who doesn''t even cower to battle a peak-rank-8 beast felt timid for the first time. He hurriedly waved his hands, "No, I don''t mean that. It''s just that Cynthia was engaged to Duke Welmir and soon, she will also marry him. So, it was a shocking thing, that''s all."

    "Engaged?" Syllia''s frown deepened, "when?"

    "About 8 years ago," Celus answered her truthfully.

    "So, it was because of this, huh! No wonder, she broke up with me." Realization dawned upon her and she mumbled to herself. "And I thought she''s just ashamed of herself being into women." Syllia''s heart became soft for a moment as the misunderstanding cleared. However, at the same time, she also knew nothing is going to change as Cynthia already made her choice. So, her conscience was clear.

    Naturally, Celus heard it. He wondered whether Syllia might be here because of his sister, probably not moved on yet. So, he spoke while being cautious because the matter is sensitive, "Princess Syllia, the marriage with Duke Welmir is very important for our father and Cynthia also seems to be happy with it. I hope¡­"

    "What she does with her life doesn''t matter to me." Syllia interrupted him with a casual tone as if she means it. She further said, "We are over, anyway. In fact, I don''t even know that she''s a princess of Camelot until today. Moreover, this is the first time we meet in 7 years. It''s just a coincidence. I only came here to protect my sister and plan on doing that only."

    "7?" Celus gasped inwardly, remembering something important. Seven years ago, Cynthia resigned from her job at Sun Academy and returned to Camelot. Since then, her personality changed from delicate to aggressive and developed an obsession with getting stronger.

    Either way, now that he heard that she won''t be planning on getting in his sister''s way, Celus felt relief and then, suddenly, another thought appeared in his head and he couldn''t help but ask whether Syllia only likes women or whether she like men too. To which, the princess of Lefeuvre admitted with a smile that she had dated a few men in the past too.

    Unknown to Celus, a smile appeared on his face too.

    Back to the battle, Leah was on the defensive while Claire is attacking aggressively with all of her strength.

    *Cling* Cling* *Cling*

    Every time their swords clashed, Leah was pushed back a bit. While it seems like Claire was gaining an advantage, in reality, she was getting tired from relentless attacks.

    On top of that, her weight is now twenty times that of before. Leah had trained in such terrain for all her life. So, it was just a walk in a park for her. However, Claire was different. Not only she was facing a true daughter of heaven of higher soul power but she was also receiving external pressure. And there''s her insecurity towards her opponent too.

    But, still, Claire was giving everything she''s got, not intending to show weakness for even a moment.

    On the other hand, Leah who was sweating as hell due to the high pace battle started to feel annoyed. From the start, she never intended to use a soul skill as this isn''t a life and death battle. It was only a friendly spar. Moreover, she was confident in defeating Claire with ease.

    When she realized that it''s not possible, Leah took her seriously. Claire slashed at her again, which was blocked by Excalibur. This time, she didn''t resist and let her flew away.

    Just when Claire thought she finally gained an advantage over the Camelot''s crown princess, the latter slid for a while, gaining a distance before she poured soul energy into the sword.

    "So, you finally decided to take me seriously, eh?" Claire muttered under her breath, halting her footsteps, and stared at the purple energy sword that grew as big as Leah.

    Leah slashed at empty air. A huge arc made of purple energy was generated from the sword and cut through the air to go towards Claire at a high speed.

    Claire crouched and covered herself with the golden wings. The attack collided with the wings but failed to do any damage to them and disappeared into thin air.

    However, the vibration emitted from the clash did affect Claire and made her lose her balance. She fell on her butt.

    Meanwhile, Leah''s face darkened. "Let''s see how many attacks it can take."

    Before her opponent gets up to take her stance properly, another energy slash hits the wings, making her roll backward before managing to hide under the wings once again.

    After trying for a while, Leah''s facial expression darkened deeper. She was feeling rage because of frustration as this wasn''t what she imagined in her head. "Fine, then. I''ll force you out of the turtle shell."

    "Soul skill: Amalgamation of Ice and Fire." At last, Leah unleashed the soul skill.

    "Ice." She raised her hand towards Claire who peeked at her opponent''s actions through the gap between the wings. Her eyes widened as she saw the surroundings around Leah started to get frozen in Ice.

    In one glance, she knew it was the same skill Leah used in the Champions League Semi-Finals. The training ground she was in isn''t definitely bigger than their academy''s Grand Arena.

    If Leah can freeze her hundred-meter surroundings, then, there''s no use of running away too. She can fly or just protect herself from the freeze but it is difficult to escape what will be followed.

    Claire didn''t hesitate to take out a card from her back pocket.

    "Skill card: Holy Ground"

    As the ice almost reaches her, she poured soul energy into the card before throwing it onto the floor, activating the skill card. The card shone brightly.

    Her wings and her body were protected by her soul energy. So, she was saved from freezing, although soul power consumption increased rapidly.

    "Okay, now, time to end this battle." Leah''s eyes were fixed on Claire as she spoke, "Fire."

    A beam of fire erupted from beneath Claire''s feet, hitting her dead on. It was the first time, the golden wings got damaged. They were burnt to crisp.

    "Leah¡­" Prince Celus immediately stood on his feet in worry as the attack was quite lethal. Forgetting whether she was Syllia''s sister or not, Claire was still a princess and is a guest of the kingdom.

    "Relax, Prince Celus. Don''t you sense something¡­" She pointed at Claire, or rather at her feet.

    It was at that moment, the ten-meter surroundings of Claire that was supposed to be frozen in ice suddenly transformed into golden color.

    The burnt wings that were shielding the girl suddenly recovered themselves almost instantly and opened up to see an uninjured Claire whose soul-power was recovering at a tremendous pace. All her fatigue was also gone and she felt refreshed.

    ....

    ....

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    Original link: https://www.webnovel.com/book/my-soul-card-is-a-reaper_18853172005298305

 Chapter 233: Rivalry between the princesses part-3

    "Fire" Leah attacked her again.

    But, Claire''s recovery ability was at the moment so great that it appeared as if she was invincible and nothing can harm her. Leah narrowed her eyes and glanced at the golden icy floor.

    "This abundant amount of life force." Celus was taken aback to see Claire completely nullified the effect of Leah''s soul skill.

    "It''s her unique skill card she created after researching for so long." Syllia passed a comment so that the prince beside her understands that this isn''t soul skill and was the result of her sister''s hard work.

    It wasn''t the first time she saw Claire using this skill card. Claire used it a few times in the tournament but every time Syllia watches it, she couldn''t help but become proud.

    Upon hearing Syllia, Celus was even more amazed. If it is some old man or some true child of heaven like his niece, he wouldn''t have been shocked. But, the fact that Claire is only 15 years old and only awakens a gold grade Arcana made him realize that he can''t underestimate the girl.

    "Princess Syllia, once your sister mutates her Arcana during the breakthrough to rank-7, in theory, she would become invincible against the opponents of the same level," Celus added a remark, feeling amazed at her potential.

    Syllia was naturally happy that someone is acknowledging her sister''s potential and she didn''t bother to be modest either. She replied with a nod, "My mother often says that she had the potential to surpass me because of the attribute purity and is destined to go to Celestial Empire of Heaven in the future."

    Celus was skeptical about her proclamation and didn''t take it seriously as it implies Claire will become a Demi-God. If becoming a Demi-God that easy, then, there would be so many experts would have ascended by now. The fact that only a handful amount of people became Demi-God in the past hundred thousand years tells how difficult it is to achieve.

    Meanwhile, Leah fell into thoughts. "The last time this girl used this skill, the range was a lot higher. Did she use a trick last time or was she using a lower rank skill card? It doesn''t make any sense unless she''s a fool to hold back against me. Then, did she use combo with skill cards?"

    While she was trying to figure out the skill, the latter who recovered her soul energy made her move.

    "Fire" Leah returned to reality and launches a quick attack. A burst of flames erupted from the floor once again. But, this time, she missed as Claire increased her speed and dodged the attack.

    "Let''s see how you can dodge this¡­" Leah motioned her arm to unleash the multiple burst of flames at the same time, taking Claire by surprise. However, the latter wasn''t afraid of the damage as long as she was inside the Holy Ground.

    She was hit a couple of times by the fiery flames but also recovered instantly. Leah quickly thought of another plan and started performing a seal.

    Three mystical symbols drawn by purple energy appeared before going into a giant triangular formation, spreading across the place.

    *Cling*

    Just as both of their swords clashed and Leah was pushed back, she unleashed the seal. "Capture seal, Y Formation, activate."

    All of a sudden, a thread of purple energy was unleashed from three seals, hitting Claire''s waist, effectively halting her movement. She was trapped in the mid-air, three feet above the ground.

    Claire tried energy eruption, slashing with the sword, flying with wings, but every attempt was failed. Only one thing that was left for her to do. Unleashing her strongest soul skill "Descent of Heavenly Guardian" and break free from constraints.

    But, she wasn''t in a hurry to do so as she was still in Holy Ground. She was confident that she won''t be harmed at least for the next eight or more minutes. So, she thought of pouring all of her soul energy into the sword to cut the energy threads simultaneously.

    It was at that moment, a smile appeared on Leah as she motioned her hand towards the left. Suddenly, the three seals started to move, dragging the trapped Claire along with her.

    "What? What''s happening?" Claire got panicked a little bit. Seeing the smile on Leah, she felt like her opponent is playing with her. She was angered.

    She proceeded to pour all of her soul energy into the Holy sword, making it glow very brightly.

    "Oraaa¡­"

    Claire slashed at the energy thread on the front. Sparks were emitted by the collision and the thread slowly started to cut. Claire pushed forward more despite being dragged to the side.

    As the thread was cut off, the remaining two disappeared and Claire fell to the ground.

    Just when Claire was about to rejoice that she had beaten Leah''s trick, she heard the latter speak to her, "Too late, Claire." "Fire"

    It was only then she realized that she was out of the Holy Ground. Before she even take out another card, the burst of flames ambushed her from below.

    While her excellent recovery ability healed her eventually from the burnt injuries within a minute, Claire couldn''t gain consciousness until a few hours later.

    When she opened her eyes, she found herself in bed. Azzy was sitting beside her bed while reading Camelot''s history book.

    "I lost," she mumbled herself in disappointment.

    Azzy who heard her voice closed the book and looked at her, "you are awake."

    "Leah defeated me easily," Claire said to him.

    Azzy put all the seals on his soul orb and let out a smile while grabbing her hand, "No, you are at disadvantage from the start. You know that. The fact that you lasted against her for so long tells that you gave a tough fight."

    "Thank you." Claire also smiled in return for his encouragement. After all, she doesn''t care about Leah. She was only worried about their relationship because of Leah and her insecurities.  As long as Azzy is on her side, she wouldn''t mind getting defeated even for hundred battles against Camelot''s princess. But at the same time, she swore to herself to work harder to walk at the same pace as Azzy.

    "By the way, where are others?" Claire suddenly noticed that she was alone with Azzy in the room and even her sister, who insisted on sharing the room with her to protect her from possible abduction, couldn''t be seen anywhere.

    "Aunt and Uncle are touring around the city. Ms. Syllia said that she was going to spar with Prince Celus." Azzy replied and then, added, "She said firmly that I need to stay with you until she returns."

    What he didn''t say is that he stopped his training to look after her as he doesn''t want Claire to blame herself.

    "Anyway, we have a whole day ahead of us. Shall we also go tour around together?" He suggested, thinking that it might cheer her up.

    "Sure," Claire''s expression brightened. Previously, it was she who will always ask about a date. Azzy rarely takes initiative to ask her first. So, she was more than happy ever.

    The two of them spent the rest of the day while visiting the hotspots within the Camelot that are packed with tourists from other nations.

    The next day, at 4:30 A.M.;

    Azzy, Claire, Syllia, Leah, followed by the usual two hidden guards of Leah reached the Mountains of Ascetair.

    Once again, they stood before the Stairs of Gravity.

    When Claire''s eyes fell on them, her expression hardened. The previous day''s battle surfaced in her mind.

    "Rael, you go ahead. I''ll train here for a while before continuing my spar with Princess Leah." Her decision was within everyone''s expectations. So, Azzy nodded and followed Leah to the top.

    A few hours later, Claire finally made it to the top and found a horde of skeletal beasts crouched on the ground. Only skeletal hydra was able to resist the gravitational force but it was still struggling to crawl around.

    On the other hand, a blurry figure was throwing punches and kicks at the drunken old woman who seemed like she was playing around, dodging every attack with ease. She wasn''t even moving around that much, except for taking a side step left or right.

    As Azzy''s entire concentration was on his training, she didn''t disturb him and proceeds to walk towards the cave slowly. Syllia was following her as usual. As they reached the place, they saw Leah was busy sparring Celus.

    Just like with Azzy, Claire could only see blurry figures here.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 234: Rivalry between the princesses part-4

    Upon sensing the arrival of the sisters, Celus stopped and greeted them with a huge smile. Leah greeted Claire with a remark, "you are faster than I expected."

    Claire didn''t comment on it and just sat down in a corner to take a rest. Leah followed the same upon her uncle''s advice.

    After taking enough rest, Claire and Leah get to their positions. Meanwhile, Prince Celus found his way towards Syllia. In the first meeting, it was just a normal attraction, after sparring with her, attraction elevated to infatuation.

    He fell for her so deeply that he didn''t even mind her past relationship with his sister. The only goal for him in the upcoming days is to woo her.

    "Instead of wasting time on sparring with me, you should have spent more time on physical training." Leah taunted her once again, trying to rile her up. She doesn''t like the warrior''s look in Claire''s eyes.

    However, her taunt failed as Claire took out a few skill cards and calmly opened her mouth. "I will for sure after giving everything I have got."

    "Well, what are you waiting for then?" Leah summoned the Excalibur and gestured her to attack.

    Claire glanced at the whole training field and then looked at the skill cards in her hand.

    All of the skill cards are only three-star and have the same image on them, a plain golden floor.

    Claire made the first move by throwing the first one right at her feet after activating it. "Skill card: Holy Ground"

    The granite floor turned golden in color. After experiencing it the previous day, it wasn''t a strange sight for Prince Celus. However, he didn''t understand why Claire used it at the start. It''s not like she was bleeding with injuries or experiencing fatigue.

    On the other hand, Leah, who knew the effects of this skill card very well, remembered Claire''s words and assumed that she was going to throw big attacks from the start.

    It was at the moment Claire threw a second card to the side, followed by the third, fourth, etc¡­

    Eventually, a lot of 10-meter-radius golden circular fields were spread all over the training field before Claire summoned her Arcana, sprouted her wings from the back, and dashed forward.

    For a genius like Leah, it isn''t difficult to realize Claire''s plan. Three-star skill cards are easier to make than Five-star skill cards and also consume less soul power.

    If the effects of lower and higher rank skill cards are the same, then, even if one were to compromise on the range, it is always recommended to use lower-ranked ones.

    Still, she welcomed it and didn''t bother to hinder her opponent''s preparations as she wanted to crush Claire''s hope of defeating her. It was only then, she could prove her dominance.

    But, it''s easier said than done even for Leah. Claire''s fighting style was the same, straightforward and recklessly attacking without care about defending as she knew that nothing life-threatening can happen to her.

    Of course, in a real battle, she wouldn''t take such a risk but against Leah, it is another thing. Moreover, with her sister standing for her protection, she believed she could take advantage of the situation.

    But, soon, she realized that she underestimated Leah far too much.

    The battle lasted thirty minutes before Leah was forced to knock her out with an energy needle ambushing at her neck or more specifically at her vagus nerve.

    After being unconscious for a minute, she woke up to find herself lying on the floor. Leah was sitting before her with a smile.

    She remembered what happened before she became unconscious.

    "Charging ahead and dealing everything with power doesn''t always work, Claire. With the way you are now, you can never defeat me let alone our future enemy." Leah said to her.

    Although it appeared like Leah is mocking her, on the inside, Leah herself was amazed at how she was forced to reveal three sealing techniques that she never used against an inferior opponent now.

    Claire felt disappointed but then, she suddenly remembered Azzy''s words of encouragement. Upon experiencing the extent of Leah''s strength, she didn''t feel that bad as the previous day.

    She slowly stood on her feet, "Let''s continue."

    "Don''t you understand?" Leah got irritated for a second before she controlled herself, remembering Syllia and Celus are also here. She calmly spoke to her, "It''s pointless to continue."

    "You don''t need to worry about my well-being, Leah. Just follow your teacher''s orders." Claire replied to her, brandishing her sword.

    Leah realized that she didn''t break her opponent''s will yet, "Very well."

    She jumped back and started to walk to create a sufficient distance and went into her opening stance. Claire poured soul energy into her sword and continued.

    Their sparring lasted for eight hours. In these eight hours, Claire was knocked out 19 times. What''s interesting is that the last match alone lasted more than 1 hour as Claire slowly got used to the gravity as well as her opponent''s tactics.

    On Day 3, Claire was knocked out 12 times. In anger, Leah was forced to reveal yet another variant of a sealing technique that suffocates the target''s breathing by targeting the lungs.

    It was kind of a cowardly tactic but Leah doesn''t know other ways of defeating her without killing her. Claire didn''t know that her opponent was still holding back a lot because she was worried that Claire will die if Leah goes all out. She only wanted to teach Claire a lesson, not kill her and make an enemy out of Azzy and draw a war between Camelot and Triastal.

    Meanwhile, Claire''s confidence received a huge boost after she compared it to the results of Day 1 and Day 2.

    On Day 4, her attacks got even more straightforward and reckless but stronger and faster with her getting completely used to the gravity on the training field. In the end, she was knocked out only 7 times, boosting her confidence even more.

    With Claire becoming faster and stronger, Leah felt pressured. She realized that her goal of teaching her a lesson seemed to be getting farther away if she continues to suppress her true strength. But she couldn''t reveal it, definitely not in front of Syllia or Celus who are true experts.

    On top of that, when she informed Claire''s progress to her teacher in detail, the Supreme Realm expert only praised Claire further and even asked her whether she learned something.

    Leah couldn''t understand what her teacher was trying to say. After all, what could she learn from Claire?

    Nothing. That''s what she believed. In her mind, she was still treating Claire as an inferior opponent.

    It was only on Day 6, Leah finally took Claire very seriously as she couldn''t harm or knock her out even after sparring against her for three hours straight. Despite being weak in attack power, Claire had a huge advantage over Leah.

    Claire is practically invincible in Holy Ground. Her instant recovery of injuries, soul power, and fatigue made her most difficult opponent for Leah who could only look for ways to knock her out.

    When she wasn''t able to do that, Leah put aside her pride and decided to suppress Claire''s Arcana and spoke in a confident tone, "Kneel before the Queen." Instead of purple energy, a golden aura was emitted around her and the sword.

    "Eh?" In the next second, her facial expression turned ugly.

    Usually, any type or any rank of Arcana spirit that was of a lesser grade than Platinum grade will submit defeat before Excalibur because of the latter''s authority. Platinum-grade Arcana spirits could resist it.

    But, to her shock, the gold-grade sword didn''t respond to her call.

    "What the¡­" Leah was stunned to see that she was failed for the first time. That is against the opponent who she looked down upon.

    Even more of a shock to her is that the ability itself didn''t work rather than Claire''s sword spirit is resisting Excalibur''s authority.

    When she enquired with the Excalibur, the latter just feigned ignorance and said that it might be an exception and it faced such things before too. Leah got an idea.

    Once the daily sparring is over, Leah buried herself in the books. It was midnight and she was searching for something in the books that were preserved from the First Epoch.

    What she was looking are the original adventures of Arthur Pendragon and Excalibur. Claire''s instant recovery ability from injuries, golden wings, the Holy Ground, and lastly, the sword that neglects Excalibur''s authority despite being a gold grade, every single thing pointed it towards something. All she needs is one piece of evidence to confirm her suspicions.

    It was then she stumbled on a story.  "This..." her eyes widened.

    ...

    ....

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 Chapter 235: Claire is an Angel?

    Day 7, Leah was training alone on the top of a hill. There were a lot of thoughts going on in her mind at the moment and a look of frustration can be seen on her face. To cool off her mind, she was sparring imaginary herself going all out.

    Each punch of hers was exerting so much pressure that the space itself is bending on from time to time. However, it only happens for a microsecond before the space returned to normal. So, it was as if nothing is happening around her, and Leah herself couldn''t feel it.

    After throwing away all of her unnecessary thoughts, Leah made a decision. "You are right, Excalibur. The future of Camelot is more important than my pride but taking help from someone of an Angel race is an insult to my ancestor."

    "So, what do you intend to do?" The sword spirit asked her.

    Excalibur had realized the true identity of Claire''s Arcana and her race long ago. But, it kept the matter a secret so that Leah doesn''t walk in the path of revenge.

    It has to do more with her ancestor, Arthur Pendragon, who was betrayed and then, killed by an Angel in the war against Demons. The reason? It''s very simple. Under the request of Celestial Empire''s Emperor Zeus, The King of Angels Michael had made a secret deal with his brother Lucifer, the King of Fallen Angels, and Hades, the ruler of the underworld.

    The Demons left Gaia and returned to the underworld. In return, Michael had Arthur assassinate by his own ally and also forced the other nine generals to stay hidden and quietly watch over humanity.

    Basically, this incident has collapsed the great Empire of Camelot and so, Leah, who worships her ancestors to the bone, hates the Angel race to the death. Thankfully, the Angels have returned to their Kingdom in Heaven and severed all the contacts with the humans too.

    Little did it expect that Claire will return to Leah''s life in the form of a great obstacle to Leah''s and Azzy''s union¡­

    Now that Claire is brought into the equation, the sword spirit''s plans are changed. It now wanted its host to be an ally with this Angel race princess that hosts the sword of Archangel Michael himself.

    Naturally, Leah would refuse its request. But, the princess of Camelot also knew that she needs Azzy''s help in reviving the Empire. So, in her current state, it was clear that her needs will outweigh her comfort.

    Leah also knew that she can have either both of them as allies or none of them. What should she do? When she thought about it deeply, she questioned herself that whether it is worth clashing with Claire who doesn''t have any personal enmity with her, whether she was that weak that she had to take help from an Angel to fulfill her ambitions and upset the spirit of her ancestor.

    After thinking for a long time, she told her decision to the ancient sword spirit. "I will not have anything to do with Claire. Azrael told me she''ll also train with him and fight with the Draco Galarian, my father allowed her to be the formal guest of Camelot, my teacher asked me to spar with her. Fine, I''ll accept their terms but she''ll forever be nothing more than a stranger, nothing more than that."

    Upon making the decision, Leah calmly sat in a lotus position and closed her eyes to meditate.

    A couple of hours later, the dawn arrived on Camelot and Leah was still meditating inside the training field.

    *Tap* Tap* Tap* Tap*

    Her ears perked up upon hearing the steady footsteps of some people. She opened her eyes to find Syllia, her uncle who seemed to be smitten with Syllia, and surprisingly her aunt for the first time came with them. Claire was nowhere to be seen and the three adults have this serious expression on their faces.

    "Morning, Leah¡­" Celus greeted her and asked her to leave the field for a while so that they can spar. Leah didn''t understand why she needs to go out if it is a spar between the adults. Then, as she studied their facial expressions, she wondered whether it isn''t a simple spar but might be a serious one where they have to go all out.

    Leaving the adults to their business, Leah walked outside of the cave and saw Azzy''s training with her master has already been started. After six days, several of Azzy''s skeletal beasts were able to walk on the field. Of all them, the platinum grade four-headed Hydra stood out as it joined Azzy and Vajra to attack the wobbling teacher of hers, albeit rather slowly.

    On the other hand, Claire was nowhere to be seen. Even though the current her was comfortable with 20x gravity and no longer need energy armor to reduce the pressure, she was still training by climbing the gravity stairs up and down.

    After training for six days, she could see the results very clearly by how she was able to hold against Leah. So, she intended to improve her foundations by tempering her body.

    In simple terms, training at 20g improved her maximum strength but upon tempering her body, Claire found her base strength has been increased. This is why she started spending on this climbing more as days passed.

    Leah was a heavenly genius from the moment she was born. She was so talented in every field that she doesn''t even need to work hard to learn something. So, when she saw how the princess of Triastal is working very hard in contrast to her, a trace of admiration and a bit of jealousy grew in her heart.

    However, she will not admit it even to herself. Now that she made a decision on how to treat Claire from now on, Leah ignored Claire and placed her concentration on Azzy''s training.

    "Vajra, use Lightning Net Prison" "Hydra, use Hydro blast"

    Azzy passed quick orders while creating six spears purely made of dark energy. They were floating above his head. If someone who didn''t know about Azzy''s soul skills were to see this, they would have believed it is a soul skill or a skill from a skill card but in reality, it is the new technique he developed after six days of training with the Supreme Realm expert.

    While it looks amazing, there''s a heavy drawback as well. Because they were six in number, the soul power they consume is huge. With nearly three hundred thousand soul power, Azzy couldn''t even create low-rank-5 spears. All he could create are of rank-4 strength that consumes less energy and also has less range.

    But, there''s a catch here. Because of the Protos and Death energies present in those spears, upon contact with the enemy, they will invade the opponent''s body and corrupts his/her soul energy provided that the victim isn''t too strong to expel it.

    Of course, right now, Azzy has only about ten percent worth of Protos Energy left in his soul orb compared to before as the remaining ninety percent went to Vajra. So, his energy attacks weren''t that corruptive as before.

    The black gem on the black lightning wolf''s forehead is actually a seal created by the Reaper on the day of finals.

    The unnamed diamond-shaped seal constantly absorbs the Protos Energy from Azzy''s soul orb every day in minute amounts. The Reaper created it because of two reasons. One is that he felt Vajra became weaker after all the Protos Energy extracted from its body. And two, he felt it is necessary to dilute Protos Energy within his soul orb so that he can suppress it whenever it''s necessary.

    He doesn''t want the Protos energy to take over Azzy''s consciousness every time he went through emotional situations. So, he decided to balance it out.

    And now, after several weeks, the seal is more or less complete. The Reaper decided to reopen the seal again later once Azzy manage to master the ten percent Protos energy, which is about only one percent of whole the soul energy present in Azzy''s soul orb. So, one can say it is really diluted¡­

    With the dilution of Protos Energy, Death Energy now occupies a huge share in Azzy''s soul energy of about sixty-five percent in Azzy''s soul energy and the remaining thirty-four percent constitutes of seventeen-percent Dark energy and seventeen-percent lightning energy¡­

    The new arrangement greatly satisfied the Reaper as originally, before the second awakening, Azzy''s soul energy was solely made up of Death Energy but later, it had to share with other energies that came along with Vajra.

    Not only the Reaper but even Vajra and Azzy were also happy with it as its attacks also became very lethal compared to before.

    Back to the battle, Vajra was the first to unleash its soul skill. A lightning energy net descended onto Aurelia who allowed herself to get captured.

    Then, the skeletal Hydra blasted huge volumes of water torrent towards her.

    Just as they were about to hit her, the Supreme Realm Expert simply blasted a hole out of the net and dodge the other attacks. What''s surprising here is that all this while, her strength was suppressed to only low-rank-5, the same as him.

    However, Azzy wasn''t discouraged as he was well prepared for it. The moment Aurelia blasted a hole out of the lightning prison net Azzy also threw the spears with all his strength.

    "Damn fast¡­" Leah''s eyes widened to not only see the energy spears in blurry but one of them even managed to pierce her teacher''s leg. The rest were missed.

    Taking out the energy spear from her leg, Aurelia returned to a sober state and said, "The spears are still not sharpened yet. There''s still room for improvement. Try to reduce those numbers and focus on increasing the sharpness."

    Azzy nodded in response.

    ...

    ....

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 Chapter 236: Cynthia and Syllia

    *Cling* Cling* Cling*

    The two swords were clashing intensively, generating sparks between them with their owners having a serious expression on their faces. Prince Celus, the sole spectator of the battle was sitting on the sidelines with a worried look on his face as the battle is getting more serious as time passed by.

    He let out a deep sigh, "I should have kept my feelings to myself."

    The previous day, after Claire''s usual sparring with Leah over, they left for the palace, Syllia and Celus stayed back for their daily 60-minute spar, which was suggested by Celus solely to spend time with Syllia alone.

    While sparring, they used to chat about random things. However, unlike other times, Prince Celus talked about a different thing, now. He expressed his interest in her.

    To which, Syllia responded lightly that she and his sister, Princess Cynthia Pendragon were in a relationship in the past. Even if she doesn''t mind, his sister might not like it.

    When Celus saw that Syllia isn''t rejecting outrightly, he saw a ray of hope and stated that his life has nothing to do with Cynthia. Moreover, she was going to marry someone else in the future, and thereby, her living place will also change. He assured that except on formal occasions, they will unlikely even meet each other.

    Seeing how confident Celus appeared, Syllia thought of something and throw a challenge. If he is so sincere in his feelings, then, he should first tell Cynthia. If his sister doesn''t have any problem with it, Syllia told him that she might think about it.

    Poor Celus who underestimated the seriousness of their relationship informed Cynthia. The latter didn''t even meet Syllia for once during the past six days. But, upon hearing it from her brother, she immediately confronted Syllia.

    Syllia took advantage of the situation and intimately grabbed Celus'' arm in front of her and said, "If you are ready to marry someone else, then, why can''t I? Moreover, your brother is a prince and a peak-rank-7 expert. Our statuses also match. An alliance between Triastal and Camelot can be established if we marry each other. In fact, we''ll talk with your father about it. I''m sure he wouldn''t mind a person like me as his daughter-in-law."

    Celus was taken aback by her announcement as he wasn''t looking that ahead. Of course, it wasn''t that he doesn''t want to marry her but it''s only been like six days since they knew each other. And he was also a prince. How could he make such a decision alone without consulting anyone¡­

    But, Syllia''s words caused so much excitement that he went into a daze for a while. By the time he returned to reality, Cynthia who was angered by her words already issued a challenge, following their old way of deciding things. Back then, Syllia used to be much stronger. So, even after suppressing her strength, Syllia wins every time but now, the situation is different or so Cynthia thought.

    So, she didn''t hesitate to battle her. Her conditions were simple. If she wins, Syllia will leave her brother.

    To which, Syllia asked for a serious wager from Cynthia''s side. If she wins, Cynthia will not come between her and Celus and she will also annul her engagement with Duke Welmir.

    Getting provoked by her wager, Cynthia then added another condition to this duel. Syllia will leave Camelot right away and never contact her or her family ever again.

    And so, the duel was drawn between ex-lovers, each is out for the blood of the other. Neither of them is backing down despite being heavily wounded.  Syllia''s reasons for this battle were simple. One, she never backs out from a challenge. Two, she wants to see how much Cynthia has changed from before.

    As for Princess Cynthia, whether she was really concerned for her brother, or whether she was just jealous, or whether she wants to prove herself to Syllia, even she doesn''t know why she challenged her in the first place.

    "Unique Skill: Knights Oath"

    Cynthia raised the sword overhead, unleashing the unique skill of rank-7. Natural energy in the surroundings surged towards her, forming an extra shield over her energy armor.

    It is a passive skill that improves her defense by 50% for a whole hour. Her soul power recovery will be also increased by 100% during this time. Compared to other unique skills of different geniuses, Cynthia''s Knight''s Oath isn''t that great but it is well suited for her battle style, which is to drag the battle longer and drain the opponent''s stamina and finish them at the perfect moment.

    Seeing her opponent unleashing the unique skill, the crown princess of Triastal mumbled, "it''s my turn." She stretched her arm and pointed the sword towards her opponent.

    "Unique skill: Lightning Beast Karion"

    Sparks started to gather around her sword. Meanwhile, streaks of golden lighting energy were erupting from Syllia in all directions, intending to paralyze anyone that comes in her range.

    Celus was forced to back away to the corner but never left his eyes on the battlefield.

    Looking at the sword transforming into a familiar beast, Cynthia''s face became serious. She very knew that it''s next to impossible to attack Syllia at a close range when the latter was unleashing the unique skill. The paralyzing power of that golden lightning energy is really high. And she also knew the extent of its power. If it hits her, she was sure that she will be knocked out.

    That''s why, adding on top of the unique skill and shield, she activated a defense skill card, Barrier.

    It was an activated skill card that she prepared beforehand. So, she didn''t lose any soul power.

    Upon activating it, a large barrier appeared in front of her shield before the lightning beast has even been formed.

    It took ten whole seconds for Syllia''s sword to transform into a twenty-meter giant beast made of golden lightning. Even though it is called a beast, in reality, it is actually in the form of a human baby of you ignore its two tusks and the horn.

    "Get ready, Cyn." Syllia motioned her arm forth and ordered the beast to attack her enemy.

    The Baby started to crawl towards its enemy. With its size, it only took four steps to reach her but as the barrier was blocking its advances, it rammed into it, trying to break it with brute force. Several cracks appeared.

    A smile appeared on Cynthia as she felt the barrier was more effective against the incoming enemy than she imagined it to be. She quickly took out another barrier skill card and activated it as the baby rammed its head at the barrier once again, destroying it.

    Just as it was destroyed, another similar one appeared, effectively blocking against the baby.

    "Karion, Discharge." Syllia gave an order.

    "Waa" "Waa"

    A piercing cry resounded all over the cave before the baby monster exploded itself, discharging millions of joules of energy.

    Cynthia''s eyes widened, "explosion. I underestimated the skill." She quickly tried to back away with all her speed. However, the electrical discharge was so quick that it enveloped her. Even Celus was forced to use energy armor to protect himself and closed his eyes because of the blinding flash of light.

    When he opened his eyes, he saw a charred figure is in Syllia''s arms. Almost Cynthia''s entire body was burnt but she still hasn''t lost her consciousness.

    "Cynthia¡­" Celus screamed in worry and dashed forward for a second before stopping his moments when he saw Syllia raised her left hand towards him while covering her ex-lover''s body with the wings.

    Syllia started to heal her slowly. Celus halted his footsteps upon realizing why she stopped him. Even they are a biological brother and sister, it is inappropriate to see them naked when they are adults and certainly isn''t old enough to not care about physical appearance. But, then, another thought appeared in his mind.

    "Wait a second. Isn''t it even more inappropriate for Syllia to see Cynthia naked? After all, she isn''t straight. Hmm, but then again, they used to be lovers. So, I guess it is okay? What do you mean okay? Syllia is supposed to be my wife? Wait a second. Now that Syllia has emerged as the victor, what happens to Cynthia''s marriage to Duke Welmir?"

    While Prince Celus indulged himself in useless thoughts, Syllia healed Cynthia to the full and stared at her with a smile, "You lost, Cyn."

    "Yeah, I lost¡­" Cynthia has a look of disappointment on her face, "as a loser, I''ll abide by the rules. I will not come in between you and my brother anymore."

    "You are really a fool." Syllia scolded her and bent down to plant a kiss on her lips.

    "You..." Cynthia''s eyes widened in surprise because of Syllia''s sudden action. Suddenly, her heartbeat rose. Before she spoke further, Syllia once again planted a kiss and this time, it was deep and for a long time.

    At first, Cynthia tried to resist but her defenses were down in just two seconds and she even put her arms around Syllia''s neck for a while before remembering that she had to cancel her marriage now that she lost the battle.

    She quickly dressed up and ran away from the place while blushing in embarrassment. Because of the wings, Celus didn''t see what happened underneath them. So, he was still under a delusion that Cynthia has accepted his proposal. It was just then, as Syllia walked towards him and patted his shoulder to thank him for helping her love and sorry for being dragged into her business, a sudden realization dawned upon him.

    "What the hell..." Celus could only scream in frustration.

    ...

    ....

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 Chapter 237: Aurelias final test part-1

    One week passed away in a blink of an eye. In one week, not many changes have happened in Camelot.

    Azzy and Claire''s training were proceeding as per the norms. Claire was fully accustomed to the 20x gravity. Leah who had already decided on how to behave with Claire did exactly the same. She never went all out against Claire and never sparred to defeat her.

    While this boosted Claire''s confidence and removed her insecurities, it never removed the feeling of being weak for the princess of Triastal. After all, never once she defeated Leah in the past two weeks despite being going all out. Whatever attack she throws, Leah would calmly deal with it. Azzy was very supportive and kept encouraging her. So, Claire was doing well overall.

    Coming to Syllia and Cynthia, while they were talking on a regular basis and even got closer, almost repairing their broken relationship in secret, Celus became unfocused and nervous these days as he kept worried about the possible backlash from Duke Welmir as Cynthia decisively announced to her father that she doesn''t her fianc¨¦e and isn''t interested to become a tool for their Statecraft or royal politics.

    It caused a huge uproar among the ministers but seeing how stubborn Cynthia had become, the King was forced to choose his daughter''s happiness over the relations with his wife''s relatives. Of course, he doesn''t know the relationship between Cynthia and Syllia yet. Fearing his wrath, neither Cynthia nor Celus had informed him.

    As for Leah, it looked as if she reverted to her old self, at least from Claire''s perspective. On multiple occasions, she tried to get closer with Azzy but the latter was still formal with her, indicating that he only intended to work with her, not interested to form any friendship.

    On a couple of occasions, she found Azzy was smiling when he was with Claire but at other times, he looked stoic-faced as usual. It led Leah to become jealous of Claire and couldn''t help wonder what she lacked that Claire has. She was confident that she was better than her in every way.

    She was also incapable to understand why Azzy keep his distance from her and neither could she understand why her master was so interested in Claire''s progress. For now, all she can only do is to swallow these negative feelings and focus on the mission.

    And today is the 14th and final day of the training. Aurelia, Azzy, Claire, Leah, and Syllia gathered inside the silver granite training field. Celus and Cynthia were nowhere to be seen as they were busy with court affairs.

    Leah and Syllia stood on the sidelines, becoming spectators while Claire and Azzy stood before Aurelia to handle the test.

    It was the same as before when they first met her. Just attack with anything they have got as long as they don''t use recovery cards or skill cards that will recover her soul power. The latter one was purposely added to the rule as the Supreme Realm expert knew Claire possesses the special skill card and is overly dependent on it whenever she sparred with Leah. So, this added rule effectively shut down the Holy Ground.

    Leah felt a little bit of happiness inside as this was the skill that troubled her too much in defeating Claire. Little she knows that Claire never intended to use it along with Azzy. Although Azzy never said it directly to her, Claire knew that it will only harm dark users like Azzy unless the difference between their strengths is too huge.

    "Okay, get ready. Claire, Azrael, show me how much you have been improved in the past two weeks." Aurelia spoke to them in a serious tone.

    However, the first thing Azzy thought is that she was sober today. After training two weeks with her, he understood that whenever this Supreme Realm expert is drunken, she will focus on dodging, and according to Leah, in such a state, her attacks will have less accuracy but stronger. That''s why she doesn''t attack lower-ranked people in such a state.

    And when she''s sober, she will not focus on much dodging but more on defending and counterattacking. In such a case, her attacks were damn accurate to the point that unless he takes out the hourglass and controls the time, he couldn''t dodge them.

    "It''s been a while since we teamed up, Rael." Claire looked at him and let out a big smile. She always wanted to fight along with him.

    "Yeah," Azzy was also looking forward to seeing how much Claire has improved. After this test, he will decide on whether to keep an eye on her to protect her or trust her and completely focus on eliminating the enemy.

    "This test has a time limit of ten minutes." Aurelia then stated while raising five fingers, "The first five minutes, you two will attack and I will defend and the latter five minutes, it will be my turn to attack and you will defend."

    As soon as Claire heard those words, something clicked in her mind and she made a suggestion, "With Vajra and Hydra, we have four. How about we go with Arrow on offense and invert T on defense?"

    "Arrow? T?" Leah wondered what Claire was talking about. Meanwhile, Azzy thought of it and nodded in agreement.

    He summoned the soul card. "Vajra, come out."

    *Woof*

    The black lightning wolf jumped out of the soul card and landed on the floor. It is its first time in this training field. So, it felt the surroundings were unfamiliar and looked around curiously. For some reason, its attention was grabbed by the two statues at the entrance for a while but as it didn''t figure out what''s wrong with them, it changed its attention back to its owner.

    "Soul skill: Rise of the Undead"

    While Claire summoned her sword, Azzy proceed to summon only the four-headed Hydra to assist in the battle.

    Strangely, Hydra was more comfortable with the presence of Claire than Vajra. When Azzy realized it, he felt that it was probably because of Protos Energy present in the black wolf. As he still hasn''t realized that Claire''s attribute is life, it led to him wonder whether light was the natural enemy of Protos Energy, considering the latter was born from the negative matter of the universe.

    "I''ll be at the tip. Hydra and Vajra in the middle, and you will be at the tail." Claire who naturally took the position of leader quickly formed a strategy and told him.

    "Got it," Azzy agreed to it.

    Soon, they changed their positions to stand in a formation of an arrow where Claire, Vajra, and Hydra stand in a triangle position and Azzy stand a bit far behind. It was a five-member formation they prepared to use in the Champions League finals but never got the chance.

    As for whether it works against someone like Aurelia or not, Azzy wasn''t sure but since his girlfriend intended to use those formations, he decided to go along.

    After taking his position, Azzy quickly summoned four dark spears. Unlike a week ago, their numbers are less but they looked quite imposing with their sharp and thin edges on front and rear ends. They look more like doubled-edged giant needles.

    Meanwhile, Claire unleashed her soul skill, Descent of Heavenly Guardian. Her sword disappeared while the Holy Aura covered her. Spreading her golden wings, she created twin golden energy swords, each in her hand, "let''s get started."

    ...

    ....

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 Chapter 238: Aurelias final test part-2

    As the tip of the arrow, Claire was the first to launch an attack with the twin golden swords, slashing at Aurelia.

    The Supreme Realm expert who suppressed her realm dodged the attack with a duck and grab Claire''s wrists to throw up in the air. Claire controlled her wings to fly and managed to land behind her while the two beasts arrived before her.

    And now, Aurelia found herself surrounded by Claire, Vajra, and Hydra.

    Azzy, who closely followed the beasts from behind, passed an order.

    "Vajra, Soul Skill: Lightning Net Prison"

    "Hydra, use Soul Skill: Quick Sand"

    Azzy knew that Aurelia can just punch through the lightning net and escape the confinement. That''s why he added another trap with Quick Sand and threw the dark spears at her.

    As if Claire understood Azzy''s thoughts without even planning ahead of the test, while Azzy unleashed the soul skills simultaneously, she dismissed the twin swords in her hand and created a golden rope that was made purely of her energy and attacked Aurelia from behind. At the same time, she also used her wings to fly and escaped the Quick Sand effect. As for Vajra, Azzy, and Hydra, all of them are linked to each other. So, they weren''t affected by the Quick Sand and could only feel the sand below them softened.

    "Good." Upon seeing Claire''s action, he nodded in satisfaction. With this, he felt that his attacks will be successful.

    However, to everyone''s surprise, Aurelia didn''t even bother to resist and let herself be captured by the rope with a smile, then, the lightning net, got her hands and torso pierced by four dark energy spears and slowly started to sink. She felt her soul energy is being absorbed by the Quick Sand at a rapid pace while strands of unique energy invaded her soul orb to corrupt it.

    Within a few seconds, more than half of her body was sunk. At this state, Claire has no choice but to dismiss the golden rope as she would only help the opponent if she kept holding on to it. Nevertheless, she wasn''t relaxed a bit. Claire continued to create golden spears one by one, taking the advantage of the fact that her soul power is being restored instantly.

    By the time Aurelia sunk up to the shoulder, Claire had over dozen spears floating above her head, waiting for her order to pierce the enemy as soon as the latter gets free.

    "What was she up to?" Azzy was puzzled about Aurelia''s behavior. He knew that this Camelot''s Royal Teacher has the habit of allowing to be struck by his attacks but she would never take this much time to get free.

    He felt something''s wrong and immediately unleashed the Reaper''s first soul skill, Eyes of God, turning his eyes into pitch black with no visible pupils. As soon as he activated God''s Eyes, he took a step back in surprise. "Claire, behind you." He immediately alerted her.

    "Huh!" Claire got a little bit confused as she couldn''t sense anyone behind her. Just as she was about to turn around in reflex, she felt a powerful force hit her in the abdomen. She flew away at a high speed. Azzy was quick to act and caught her in mid-air and slid for a couple of meters upon landing on the floor before he stopped. "Are you alright?"

    "Yeah, I''m fine." Claire''s eyes then shifted towards the direction where she was originally standing before and frowned. "Something hit me¡­"

    "It was the Royal Teacher," Azzy answered her, with his eyes darted from the sinking figure and the aura of an invisible woman who performed a sneak attack on Claire.

    "She looks like a clone." Azzy further said to her, making Claire remember Zona for a moment.

    In response to Azzy''s statement, the sinking figure turned into tiny specks of light particles and suddenly, the invisible figure materialized to form Aurelia herself and stared at him, falling into thoughts, "so, he could see invisible people even after they mask their aura, huh. I thought it could only see the movements in a slower motion. This soul skill has almost the same abilities as the Eyes of Truth. The only unsolved mystery here is the no reduction of soul power when unleashing the soul skill. I wonder what might be the second Arcana spirit that he was keeping so secret. Does Leah know it?" She glanced at Leah for a second before shifting her eyes back to Azzy.

    She praised the both of them, "I''m impressed that you managed to find me. And this isn''t a clone. It is just an illusion created by bending the sunlight around me."

    "Eh?" Claire and Azzy were taken aback a bit as they didn''t expect it is just an illusion, a simple yet quite complex technique that wasted their soul power.

    "It is a two-step process. First, she became transparent by allowing all of the sunlight to pass through her. Then, she controls the light particles around her to create a fake image of her before you two. Because she used her soul energy as a medium to create the illusion, both of them have the same auras and fooled your vision.

    Had your mastery over God''s Eyes increased, this situation wouldn''t arise. But, it wouldn''t matter. You made a blunder here even if you are inexperienced. If you had paid attention to her more closely, you would have realized that she doesn''t have a shadow. A bit careless on your part, Azrael." The Reaper explained him in detail, although not forgetting to lecture in the end.

    "Got it," Azzy took a note to his mind to pay attention to such things in the future. After all, if she can create one illusion by simply controlling the light particles around her, then, she can create a hundred illusions too.

    As if Aurelia read his thoughts, she created ten illusions and mixed herself in them to see what they will do now.

    Claire was a little bit taken aback by the new development and observed them carefully. Suddenly, something clicked in her mind. Before Azzy spoke to her, she said, "Rael, keep an eye on the surroundings for the invisible attacks, later. If she can turn invisible by bending the light, then, she can mask her attacks too. We need to be careful. And as for these illusions¡­" She then pointed her finger at one of them, "Only she has the shadow. I''m not sure whether she can also mask in or leave it purposely for us until she does so, we can ignore others and go for her straight."

    Her quick analysis surprised Leah who was standing on the sidelines. She didn''t expect Claire was also this smart. The more Claire started to shine, the more Leah feels annoyed inside but she did manage to keep it under control and mask her thoughts completely.

    Five minutes later, as Claire and Azzy''s offense ended, Aurelia made her move. Just like Claire feared, a lot of her attacks were invisible and fast. Aurelia even attempted to confuse the both of them by letting her illusions attack too. At first, Claire was struck a lot because she didn''t have the same vision as Azzy. But later, as Azzy decided to stick with her, both of them managed to defend well enough until the time is up.

    ...

    ....

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 Chapter 239: Portal to Anywhere

    12:50 a.m., April 8th, 1994, Eleventh Epoch;

    Three people wearing black robes and hoods exited the Camelot''s Imperial Palace in secrecy.

    "Do we need to go like this? Can''t we just go out with an excuse of touring the city in broad daylight?" Claire complained in a whisper. She didn''t understand why they need to move like thieves.

    "No, in daylight, Princess Leah will be followed by two hidden guards and you will be followed by your sister," Azzy explained to her to clear the confusion. "Moreover, today is a full moon. We need to be extra vigilant if we don''t want to get caught."

    "And we need to return by morning. It should be as if we never went out." Leah added to his statement. She urged them to increase the speed as they don''t have much time to waste talking useless things.

    With Leah''s lead, the three of them managed to get out of the capital city and started to move towards the mountains of Ascetir. They returned to the hill where the Royal Training Grounds is located.

    They stopped at a rock, located more than ten meters away from the entrance and hid behind it upon finding the two guards at the stairs. The special robes that the three of them wore mask their presence, so, the guards didn''t feel anything amiss and continued their night duty with a campfire before them.

    "What do we do now?" Claire asked Leah, to which the latter smiled and just summoned her storage card, taking out a flask with some kind of green gaseous substance inside it.

    Without explaining any further, she threw high in the air without even taking a look. Nevertheless, her throw speed and the trajectory were so perfect that they directly landed in between the two guards who are chatting with each other.

    "Careful, there''s¡­" One of them detected the flask when it was just about to hit the ground but alas, as soon as the flask hit the ground, it was immediately destroyed, releasing the gas inside it.

    "What the¡­" Claire who peeked from the edge of the rock was taken aback by the scene unfolded before her eyes.

    Even though the guards are at an intermediate stage of the Elite realm (mid-rank-5), they fell unconscious within a fraction of a second without even being able to resist it. It was an instant knockout.

    Claire was once again reminded of how Leah had so many tricks up her sleeve and she couldn''t underestimate her just because she managed to hold against her for several hours without being defeated.

    "It''s a sleeping potion in gaseous form created by several flowers grown at our Academy," Leah said to Azzy, almost bragging about her talent in alchemy studies. "It''s still incomplete as it can only affect the people under Upper Elite Realm and that too for those who possessed Arcana spirits lesser than that of gold grade. Need further experimentation¡­"

    "I see¡­" It made Azzy remember the Smoke clan that is extremely versed in alchemy. He wondered whether he should learn the subject after returning to his timeline. After all, he knew that he won''t be staying for too long here. So, he wouldn''t count on learning at an advanced academy.

    After a minute, the gas is dispersed and the team of three is ready to climb up the stairs and reach the Royal training grounds.

    Instead of going inside, they stopped before the entrance. Leah then took out some mystical ring from her storage card. Azzy takes a look at it. It wasn''t any different from an ordinary ruby ring. The only thing that''s off about it is perhaps the carvings of unknown symbols drawn on it. With just plain sight, Azzy couldn''t clearly see what they are.

    But, all of it doesn''t matter as his attention was shifted to Leah who started to speak in some kind of unfamiliar language. "Oh, duguo maegeneacen guardians rad Camelot, to behalf rad se ealdorstol, ic pro, Leah Pendragon, tima word mago rad Arthur Pendragon requests eow od cynelic waegn Portal rad Anywhere swadeana forleosan us of pro ic pass through."

    Claire looked at her in a daze, wondering just how many secrets this perfect princess has. Unknown to Azzy, his girlfriend clearly understood the language but she just didn''t expect Leah to know it too.

    Meanwhile, the Reaper informed him that she''s speaking in Ancient Orlon and translated it into the modern Orlon that he was familiar with. "Oh, the mighty guardians of Camelot, on behalf of the throne, I, Leah Pendragon, a direct descendant of Arthur Pendragon requests you to open the Portal of Anywhere and let us pass through."

    As soon as the incantation ended, the eyes of the statues suddenly glowed in red for a second before a red-colored slowly started to form in between them.

    "This is called Portal of Anywhere, exclusive to the Royal family, which can teleport to any place on Arcana world as long as you visited it before." While Leah was once again bragging about how great her ancestor is, Azzy was enquiring about the statues with the Reaper to see if he can find something.

    And the Reaper didn''t disappoint him either. He explained the secret of the statutes that he didn''t tell him before. "These two were called Gargoyles. They were an artificial race created by a Mad God Dyeyar and were used to lay a siege on the Sun Kingdom in the Celestial Empire. After the siege failed with his death, the Sun God Apollo/Surya/ Ra/Amaterasu or whatever name he was going by in different worlds, cursed the Gargoyle race that under his watch, they will forever be immovable statues. Only after the sun sets, Gargoyles can return to their form.

    Some of them like these two serve as protectors while some of them were enslaved by the Archdemons. Simply, they are like Djinn or any kind of weapon, neither good nor evil. Oh, I forgot to mention that these two are at the General level and each one can fight against a Supreme realm Arcana Master below the intermediate stage on an even ground. So, loitering here on the night is dangerous."

    Soon, the portal was completed and Leah told the other two to be connected to each other to get teleported together. Without waiting for the reply, she quickly grabbed Azzy and Claire''s arms and stepped inside the portal while thinking of a place in her head.

    ...

    ....

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 Chapter 240: Kill stealing from Draco Galarian

    Mountains of Zragos, Arcana world;

    In the deeper part of the level-3 snowy region where there are no trees present and is filled with glacial ice sheets and small-shrub tundra, located closer to the north pole of the planet, a handsome young man covered is engaged in a battle against an angry large white wolf with hundreds of dead wolves around them. The wolf seemed to be heavily injured.

    "You are only prolonging your suffering. Surrender and help me grow stronger by becoming my meat just like your brethren." Vann aka Draco Galarian said with a smile on his face, trying to provoke an angry snow wolf.

    *Grrr* Letting out a growl, the platinum grade wolf cursed him, "I will shred you to pieces, you bas***d."

    Despite knowing that it was facing a top-tier beast of the same realm, it doesn''t have an ounce of fear in its eyes. If anything, its aggressiveness is only increasing with each minute. Of course, if the Draco Galarian was in the peak stage of the Upper Elite realm, then, it would have probably backed out, but its opponent was only at the beginner stage while it is at the peak stage.

    As a beast that possessed intelligence, the white wolf knew that no matter how strong the Draco Galarian is, its soul power was only limited to 3 million while it has over 9.5 million. So, it intended to drag the battle. However, due to its aggressive nature and the rage built up by the death of its family members, the white wolf couldn''t help but attack him constantly so that its opponent will focus on using the soul power for defending.

    Alas, it didn''t know that the Draco Galarian wasn''t some top-tier platinum grade beast but a Celestial grade beast, which can absorb the natural energy from the surroundings with ease and recover its soul energy ten times faster than a top tier platinum grade beast.

    Being a more intelligent beast, Vann was just putting up an act to make his enemy feel that it has a chance against him. While he let himself be injured by the wolf''s attacks, in secret, he was absorbing the natural energy continuously but not refining it yet.

    After an hour of battle, both of them were heavily bleeding, and can be said that they were on the brink of death. The white wolf didn''t have much soul power left except for one soul skill. Seeing that its opponent was also in the same condition, it decided to gamble.

    *Awooo*

    Letting out a howl, the white wolf jumped back to increase the distance and unleashed its skill, gathering all of its remaining soul energy at the mouth.

    Putting up a serious expression, Vann used all of his soul energy to form a defensive barrier and block the attack. In an instant, a huge turquoise-colored shield formed in front of him.

    The snow wolf fired a powerful Ice beam with minus two hundred degrees Celsius, cold enough to freeze anyone under Supreme Realm as long as they weren''t defending themselves.

    The Ice beam hit the shield. Cracks started to appear all over but eventually, it was frozen before it was collapsed altogether. But, still, it managed to stop the attack.

    The wolf started to pant, indicating its tiredness, and is currently trying to recover its soul energy as soon as possible.

    It was just then a smirk appeared on Vann as he took out a card from his pocket. It has seven stars on it. "It''s a pity that you never visited the human world and restricted yourself to this primitive planet."

    "Skill card: Heal, activate."

    In an instant, the pre-activated healing card now become active and poured a tremendous amount of light energy into his body, healing his injuries, almost instantly. At the same time, more than half of his soul power was also recovered completely as he refined all of the absorbed natural energy.

    The wolf was taken aback by the sudden turn of events. It finally realized the reality.

    "Goodbye, little pup." Vann raised his hand. A mini sun started to form in the skies, raising the temperature in the surroundings.

    As it was almost about to be formed, all of a sudden, he felt a chill on his spine and immediately activated his senses. He sensed the presence of two familiar auras and they were so close to his location. Before he gets to react to the situation, an extremely dark spear passed by him swiftly and struck the wolf that was on the brink of its death.

    The wolf turned into charcoal and left behind a pure white energy orb in the air.

    "You¡­" His anger rose to the peak as he turned around to find three familiar instead. It was Claire, Leah, and Azzy who were in the black robes that erased their presence and even managed to fool a Celestial grade beast until now.

    But, he doesn''t care about the numbers as his eyes were full of red and an angry roar escaped from his mouth, "How dare you snatch my prey."

    "It''s been a while, Vann Hildegard." Leah addressed him while looking at him coldly, "or should I say, Galarian King."

    Her words made Vann return to his senses and he tried to feign ignorance with a frown on his face, "Galarian King? What are you talking about, Princess Leah?"

    "Drop the act, Galarian King, no, Draco-Galarian King. I knew that it was you who possessed Prince Leonard after killing him and then, you killed Prince Vann after my fight with him, then, transforming into a new face." Azzy spoke this time. He may look indifferent on the outside, but inwardly, his blood was boiling in anger as this beast caused him a lot of trouble, although he only gained from these misfortunate incidents.

    Vann fell silent upon hearing Azzy''s words. Remembering the past ten months, he mumbled, "no wonder this brat was always being cautious with me no matter how friendly I acted. Wait a second¡­"

    Suddenly, something clicked in his head and he realized that there were only three of them and no other human is lying in ambush even in ten-kilometer surroundings.

    A laugh escaped from his mouth, "well, you cost me my late-night dinner. But, never matter, my food came right to my mouth. Once I consume the two of you, I will become a Divine Grade beast, hahahaha."

    "Divine Grade? What was he talking about?" Claire felt confused by his words and asked Azzy. After all, she never heard of such a thing.

    "The one before us is a Celestial Grade beast, a grade above the Platinum grade. And the one above Celestial Grade is the Divine Grade." Leah gave away the answer in a hurry before Azzy explained to her. Even after deciding to just treat her as a stranger, she still didn''t throw away wanting to undermine Claire. So, she said without even bothering to ask Azzy''s opinion, "I and Azrael possess Celestial Grade beasts. Once it eats us and consumes our Arcana spirits, it will evolve once again. But, at the same time, we can also defeat him if we once together."

    "Celestial grade?" Claire looked at her boyfriend in shock.

    ...

    ....

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 Chapter 241: Four Headed Hydras undead rival

    Even though Claire understood the reason, she was still disappointed by how Azzy kept it as a secret from her when it is already known to Leah. After all, he was her boyfriend and Leah was nothing but a stranger. How could he do that to her of all people?

    Now, she finally realized why Leah became interested in Azzy and why she always lost to her. As if a beauty, background, and multi-talent weren''t enough, do Heavens need to bless the Camelot''s princess with even a Celestial grade Arcana spirit? She felt it wasn''t fair.

    Was she really worth of Azzy? Claire began to doubt herself as the reality hit her hard. If Azzy''s Arcana spirit is a platinum grade, she might still have a chance as her Arcana spirit is already a mutated gold grade spirit. During the breakthrough to Exalt realm, she could mutate it once more and evolve her Arcana to platinum grade to walk at a similar pace as Azzy.

    But, now that she knew her boyfriend''s Arcana spirit is even a level above platinum grade, all of her confidence in catching up with him was lost.

    Looking at her dim look, while Leah rejoiced in her heart and regretted a little bit of not telling it to her earlier, Azzy quickly grabbed Claire''s hand and explained, "The existence of a Celestial grade beast is itself a secret, hidden away from the world. If it becomes known, then, people like me will be hunted down without a question. And even governments can''t protect us from Supreme Realm experts. That''s why even my family is unaware of it¡­"

    "I understand," Claire replied slowly. Azzy didn''t know what she was thinking at all. He only guessed one of her thoughts and explained it to her so that she understands why he had to keep it a secret. Little he knows that his words didn''t dispel the worries that stemmed inside his girlfriend''s head.

    *Clap* Getting the couple''s attention with a clap, Leah passed the instructions while summoning the Excalibur, "Azrael, you go and absorb the soul orb/spirit core. I''ll handle him until then. As for Claire, you may guard him until he finishes the refining."

    She didn''t wait for Claire and Azzy''s reply and dashed forward. Looking at the incoming enemy, Vann licked his lips, "your meat will be tasty for sure."

    Since he faced her directly for once, Vann didn''t play around like with the snow wolf but immediately transformed into a large beast over fifty-foot big and more than a hundred feet long.

    Like a normal Galarian, it still looks a lot like a tiger but instead of blue color with yellow stripes, this Draco Galarian King was turquoise in color with no stripes and has dragon scales all over its body. It also has golden dragon wings on either side.

    Most of its face consists of thick, white fur and shorter turquoise fur around its golden eyes. Golden lightning sparks are dancing on its wings, lightning-shaped tail, and two of its sharp fangs that were protruding out of the mouth until its chin.

    *Roar*

    Its powerful roar was heard all over the mountain range, scaring the hell out of the beasts that were living. Every beast started to run away in fear as it released its aura.

    It was the first time Azzy felt such a powerful aura. Nevertheless, with the Reaper nullifying the effect, he wasn''t intimidated in the least. Surprisingly, the girls were faring a lot better than he imagined, especially Claire.

    He forgot that she was used to Vajra''s aura and even his. So, compared to them, Draco Galarian King''s aura doesn''t seem much for her. So, she easily resisted it by covering herself with the holy aura.

    Soon, Leah and the beast were locked in a battle while Azzy dashed towards the floating spirit core. Claire sprouted her wings and followed him from behind but as he was at his maximum speed, she wasn''t able to catch up with him.

    But, to her surprise, Azzy didn''t absorb it. He just stood there with both of his hands on its Spirit core. Mystical seals appeared on the core as well as the dead body on the ground.

    "Hmm, what is he doing?" The unfamiliar seal made even Leah glance at Azzy from the corner of her eyes.

    Usually, the process of refining the spirit core and increasing one''s own soul power starts with absorbing the energy in the Spirit core. As for how much can one absorb, it depends on one''s potential and for the refining, it depends on the quality of Arcana spirit.

    However, what Azzy or one should say, the Reaper was doing is to seal the spirit core of the killed snow wolf instead of letting Azzy absorb it and increase his soul power. He felt Azzy need powerful undead slaves to increase his battle prowess.

    By the time Claire reached him, the Reaper completed the seal and mumbled, "Seal."

    In general, the absorption will be smooth like the river but what Azzy did is swallow the whole river at one time. Leah was taken aback by Azzy''s actions and wondered whether he was using some kind of technique to absorb a hundred percent of the Spirit core. After all, even she could only absorb 70% of the spirit core at most, and that too, only when the attribute of the Spirit core is compatible ones like fire, wind, or water.

    This was also the reason she intended to split up the spirit core between her and Azzy using an ancient technique. Leah originally feared Azzy was more talented than her by a large margin, but this action of his actually made sigh in relief.

    Little she knows that she misunderstood completely. With the ancient sword spirit Excalibur has also no knowledge of these seals, he could only keep silent.

    Inside his mindscape, Azzy was standing on the cliff above the barren lands. He saw the emergence of bones from the soil and hovered in the air. The spirit core was descended from the skies and merged with the bones, slowly transforming into the shape of a large skeleton wolf.

    *Awooo*

    It let out a long howl as soon as it was born while looking around its companions. After a while, it started to move.

    The smaller skeletal beasts instantly gave the way as the skeletal Wolf walked straight with its head high except for one four-headed skeletal snake.

    *Hissss*

    As they come face to face, it was greeted by the multi-headed snake with a hello.

    *Woof*

    However, it responded with a powerful bark. The wolf asked it to kneel before the King. It was a higher level and is the King of Zragos Mountains. Its soul is already departed to the spirit world. What''s left is its consciousness left from the Spirit core. And it felt like the need to establish its authority.

    *Hissssss*

    An angry hiss escaped from the four heads of the Hydra. Obviously, as the consciousness of a platinum-grade beast, it has its own pride. Moreover, it was a senior. Naturally, it won''t submit to this newcomer no matter their difference in their power.

    *Woof* *hissss* *Woof* *hisssss*

    Even though both of them aren''t fighting and are just arguing, Azzy who was on the top of the cliff was taken aback to see such a strange thing. "Is it because both of them are platinum grade beasts and have spirit cores embedded inside them?" He wondered.

    ...

    ....

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 Chapter 242: Draco Galarian King Alpha and Beta

    "You humans are always interesting." The Draco Galarian King commented as it blocked Leah''s sword and counterattacked with slamming its head onto her. "There''s so much of knowledge in those libraries. This is why I love to spend time at Gaia."

    Leah flew back for a dozen meters before she gains her footing on the ground and dashed towards it, "Then, you should have stayed back there and lived a quiet life. Alas, you chose to become greedy about power and invite your death."

    Holding the sword tightly, she poured soul energy into it and slashed rapidly at the empty air numerous times, creating more than thirty small energy arcs that are aimed at the target in a wide range. After launching the attacks, she stopped in the midway.

    She knew the one standing before her is no longer the same one as the one she defeated in the finals. After eating up a peak-rank-6 platinum grade beast from another region, it made a breakthrough to the Upper Elite realm, and its current maximum strength was soared to high-rank-7. The fact that it almost killed the boss of this level-3 region with ease tells how strong her enemy is. Moreover, the Draco Galarian was not only stronger but also faster in its original form.

    With the power behind each attack being only in the Lower Elite realm (rank-4), she hoped for the beast to take them easily and block it so that she merges all of them at the last second, launching a surprise attack.

    To her surprise, the Draco Galarian didn''t block the attack and took a more cautious approach despite being confident that it was far stronger than its enemies.

    Flapping its wings, it flew upwards and let these tiny energy attacks pass by it and hit a rock and destroy it, spilling snow nearby. Seeing how the enemy doesn''t appear to be arrogant, Leah''s facial expression changed.

    Her enemy''s actions made her change her strategy quickly and she proceeded to perform a popular advanced sealing technique, the Restrictive Chains that not only restrict one''s movements but also drain their soul energy and stamina.

    From the memories of Vann and Leonard, the beast has the knowledge of known runes from basic to advanced, although both of them are not talented in sealing techniques.

    As soon as Leah was done with halfway, it realized what the seal going to be. Obviously, it doesn''t want to wait for the purple energy chains to erupt from the ground from all the sides and capture it. So, it decided to interrupt her.

    The Draco Galarian opened its mouth and spit a golden fireball at Leah. Looking at it, the princess of Camelot was quick to leave the sword and raised her right hand. As the sword fell on the ground, Leah activated Reflection with its right palm facing the fireball.

    The fireball made its way towards her and just as it was about to hit her, to the beast''s surprise, all of a sudden, the golden fireball stopped when it was only one centimeter away from her. Even if it doesn''t hit her, the fiery hot flames on the fireball usually should have affected her but they didn''t and instead, turned into purple fireball within a couple of seconds before firing back at the beast in the air.

    "She can reflect even this?" The Draco Galarian remembered the semi-finals of the tournament and its eyes widened in surprise. "How is it possible?"

    Just like how Azzy sees the death of other people, how Claire uses her golden wings to fly, and how Aclein Academy''s Rune subject teacher Exea uses her magical voice to attract every listener, Leah has her own unique passive skill she was born with. It is to reflect the attacks aimed at her back to the enemy. From the memories of Vann, the Draco Galarian very well knew of the data available on her.

    The strangest thing here is that like every unique passive skill, the Reflection skill also has its own limitations. One, it can only reflect the attack that doesn''t surpass Leah''s own maximum soul power. Two, it can only reflect the ranged energy attacks.

    Under Melee attacks, it will become useless. And what it now reflected is a ranged Energy attack. However, the Draco Galarian soul power is around 3 million while Leah''s soul power is supposed to be 999 thousand. Then, how did she do it?

    Was the data that Moon Academy gathered on her was wrong? Or was she suppressing her soul power? The second possibility seems very unlikely as the Celestial grade beasts can sense the real amount of soul power. Even if she suppresses her realm, she couldn''t hide it from the Draco Galarian King.

    The beast didn''t understand how she did it. Whatever the case, it realized that it can''t get near to her because of the seal and neither was able to attack from far away because it will be reflected.

    What to do? The beast was racking its brain to think of a solution.

    It was then, its eyes landed on Claire who was guarding a dazed Azzy. With no black wolf being seen anywhere, an idea popped up in its head.

    "Soul skill: Fission"

    The Draco Galarian unleashed the soul skill of a two-headed Salamander that it consumed a while ago. It started to glow in the sky before turning into the two identical beasts Alpha and Beta, each with 1.5 million soul power.

    Flapping its wings, one of two Draco Galarians flew towards Azzy and Claire, ignoring Leah who finished the seal and attacked the remaining beast.

    Purple chains erupted from the ground and chased after the beast, which is trying its best to dodge them.

    "I didn''t expect you to acquire such a skill," Leah mumbled with seriousness. Glancing at the flying beast, she motioned her arm and controlled the restriction energy chains to capture it. The Draco Galarian Alpha flew even higher to escape the range while trying to burn them.

    Meanwhile, Draco Galarian Beta made its way towards the teenage couple. Claire, who was acting as a guardian for Azzy until he''s back to senses, stood before Azzy and spread her golden wings to cover her boyfriend while unleashing her third soul skill, which she rarely uses.

    "Soul skill: Celestial Shield"

    A sturdy golden shield that''s as big as her appeared in her left hand. She tightly grabbed it to make sure to defend against every possible attack. She wasn''t the type to defend and majorly depends on her powerful recovery ability. But, since there was someone that she needs to protect at all costs, Claire had no choice but to use this shield. As for why she didn''t use the Holy ground, she doesn''t want to harm Azzy.

    Reaching the range, the Draco Galarian Beta started breathing a sea of golden flames. Claire put the shield in front of her to block the flames.

    Alas, Claire wasn''t Leah. Even after the beast''s strength was halved, her power is nowhere near to it. The shield she hoped to block the attack was cracked and was destroyed like a piece of glass and the flames struck her.

    "Argh¡­" She screamed in extreme pain with her skin started to burn. If not for her powerful recovery ability, she would have burnt to crisp. Sensing her golden wings are half burnt, Claire didn''t hesitate to unleash her strongest skill, the Descent of Heavenly guardian.

    Her sword disappeared and a thick golden aura covered her. Her wounds were healed instantly and her wings were repaired before the flames burnt her again and she screamed in pain.

    Her mind was screaming to step aside and dodge but her body refuses to listen to it. "I won''t let you harm even a strand of hair on my Rael." Claire gritted her teeth and bared with it.

    For a whole ten seconds, she stood there like a statue, getting burned and healed over and over again until the flames stopped and the beast descended onto the ground commenting, "your recovery ability is excellent, Claire. Your meat is more worthy than a platinum grade beast."

    Panting heavily, Claire growled in anger, "and should I be grateful for it?"

    She was frustrated as her movements became heavily restricted. And at the same time, she wasn''t confident that she would be able to protect Azzy for a long time. But, she won''t give up either way.

    She created twin golden swords and went into a battle stance with a sword in each hand. The Draco Galarian Beta rushed forward. Before she makes her move, an infamous familiar hysterical laughter was heard from behind.

    "he he hehe hehehe hehe he"

    Claire shivered for a second before she turned her head to see Azzy was back to reality and has a laughing purple skull in his hand. His facial expression seemed indifferent but somehow she felt he was angry.

    "Soul skill: Eyes of God"

    "Soul skill: Rise of the Undead" "I summon you, Hydra, Aurora"

    "Come out, Vajra."

    Without talking to her, he unleashed a couple of soul skills and summoned his black lightning wolf. A skeletal four-headed snake and a skeletal wolf rose from the ground and Claire sighed in relief that he''s back.

    With all of his preparations done, Azzy finally looked at Claire and thanked her before passing an instruction, "Claire, we are proceeding with the formation. Get back and take your position."

    ...

    ....

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 Chapter 243: Leahs Energy clones

    Upon receiving the order, Claire didn''t even waste a second and flapped her wings to fly above his head and landed a few meters away. In the meantime, four-headed Hydra crawled on the snow to reach the center position between Azzy and Claire. The snow wolf Aurora and the black lightning wolf Vajra were given instructions through telepathy to take their position and form a plus.

    While the beasts were trying to take the positions, Azzy wasn''t standing still. He conjured a dark spear using all of his remaining soul power and attacked the beast without second thoughts.

    Feeling threatened by the spear, the Draco Galarian Beta flapped its wings to fly higher. Unfortunately, the distance between them was too less, its size was too huge, and the speed of the dark spear was too fast.

    These factors led to the spear successfully piercing its chin before the death energy slowly invaded its body.

    Meanwhile, in the other battle, the Draco Galarian Alpha successfully burned the energy chains in flames and flew towards Leah to engage in close combat. Landing on the ground before her, the beast raised its paw and slapped at her face.

    Leah who had extraordinary reflexes managed to dodge to the right and slashed at its leg.

    A cut appeared on it and it started to bleed.

    "Ugh" The Draco Galarian Alpha groaned in pain and abruptly turned its head towards Leah. Although the cut was small and is nowhere compared to the injuries it succumbed to when fighting the snow wolf a while ago, the beast was still couldn''t believe that it was wounded by such a simple attack.

    Suddenly, it remembered the identity of the sword. "Damn, I forgot that Excalibur isn''t a simple sword of Celestial grade. It is the king of swords. Grrrr¡­"

    It wondered whether the sword has penetrating properties. That would mean any kind of defense is useless against the sword. To test the theory, the beast quickly conjured a shield while the Camelot princess was trying to stab its leg with the sword.

    The sword collided with the shield but the defense was broken like a piece of glass and its leg was pierced deep.

    "Argh¡­ You fu****g b***h" The beast loudly cursed in pain and hurriedly used the energy eruption. Almost all of its soul energy passed through its layers of skin and exited its body, pushing everything away.

    *Boom*

    A heavy explosion of energy blasted away Leah who was caught off guard and got heavily injured. She flew more than a hundred meters away and crashed onto the ground, bleeding over the body. As for the Excalibur, it fell somewhere due to the expulsion of energy.

    "So, my defense is useless, huh!" The Draco Galarian Alpha mumbled to itself, confirming its suspicions. At the same time, it was also excited that soon, such power will become a part of it. With the soul orb almost being emptied, the beast quickly started to recover the soul energy.

    Meanwhile, Leah slowly stood up on her feet while dismissing the sword.

    *Cough* "I was careless." *Cough* She spit out the blood and wiped the mouth.

    With great difficulty, she managed to take out a six-star healing card from her pocket and poured soul energy, sticking it to the middle of her chest.

    A tremendous amount of light energy entered her body and healed her wounds. Before coming here, she already made enough preparations, especially regarding the Healing and Recovery skill cards. As long as she won''t die in one strike, she was confident of successfully completing the mission.

    With Excalibur out of the picture for the next five minutes, Leah proceeded to summon the second soul card and roared on top of her lungs. "Izarok, Wake up."

    The Draco Galarian Alpha which almost recovered its soul energy was alerted by the appearance of the platinum grade Arcana. The memory of the Champions League finals was still fresh in its mind. It stared at the powerful water beam that come out of the soul card and is rushing towards it.

    The beast poured soul energy into its legs and added its lightning attribute. The lightning sparks started to dance over its legs, increasing its speed and reflexes by several folds.

    Dodging the water beam with ease, the Draco Galarian Alpha continued to charge at its opponent. Izarok, the unique Arcana born in the form of a river, changed its direction and chased after the beast.

    Leaving the soul card to hover around her, Leah proceeded to create a seal. Different combinations of runic symbols gave rise to a rune, which transformed into a mystical symbol, followed by a second one, a third one, so on up to eighth. All of them were joined by a thread of purple energy to form an octagon before the image of a girl appeared in the middle.

    While the beast was breathing an ocean of flames, trying to evaporate Izarok, the latter''s master successfully completed the seal and unleashed her trump card.

    Looking identical to that of Leah, a figure appeared before her purely made of purple energy. It wasn''t a simple clone but an energy clone, possessing equal strength to its creator. The drawback here is that its energy is limited and will disappear when consumed all of it. Not to mention, its energy cannot be restored too.

    With the energy clone absorbing over 500 thousand soul power, Leah took out a recovery card and recovered her soul power to full before creating another seal.

    By the time the Draco Galarian Alpha noticed it, there were already two energy clones accompanying the Camelot''s princess and she''s in the middle of creating a third one.

    Naturally, the Celestial grade beast felt alarmed by the situation and didn''t hold back any longer. It went all out against the river Arcana, intensifying its flames and raising the temperature to nearly 2000 degrees Celsius.

    Along with Izarok, the surroundings were also affected a lot. The ice sheets and snow started to melt and even evaporate quickly. Seeing the flames almost reaching Izarok''s core, Leah stopped creating the energy seals and passed an order.

    "Izarok, transform."

    Upon receiving the order, the water beam suddenly stopped in its tracks and took the form of a human, identical to Leah except that her body is made of water.

    "Shut its mouth," Leah gave another order, seeing how the beast is destroying the environment of the surroundings.

    Before the beast realized what just happened, Izarok took the initiative to attack it first and raised her hands. The slender hands stretched for several meters until they reached the target. Suddenly, their size expanded several times before capturing the mouth of Draco Galarian Alpha.

    The beast could no longer open its mouth and spew the flames. It tried to shake off the water hands. When it failed in getting free, it stood up on its back legs and tried to grab the stretched hands through its paws. However, they only passed through the hands.

    "Yes." Leah clenched her fist, managing to trap it successfully. She turned her head towards the two energy clones in waiting, "you two, go and attack."

    Just as the energy clones charged forward, Leah heard a piercing cry of the beast from a distance. She turned her head to see beams of light descending from the skies one after another, injuring the beast.

    "Is that Claire?" Her eyes widened in surprise.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 244: Claire becomes the puppet

    The original plus formation is based on Hydra taking the center of the formation while Leah takes the head, Claire takes the tail, and Azzy and his black wolf take each side.

    As the center, Hydra''s job is to assist the one who is locked in close combat with the enemy. If it is Leah, then, the snake could use wind attribute to assist her fire attacks or might use Leah''s Arcana Izarok''s water for its advantage. Because of its multi attributes, the four-headed snake would make an excellent assistant to anyone.

    Meanwhile, the other three would also assist the main attacker with range attacks or using support-type skill cards. Based on the enemy''s position, Azzy, Claire, Leah, and Vajra would rotate around the multi-headed snake while conserving their energy.

    However, Azzy never expected that he will stumble on a situation where he could literally gain another pawn. That''s why he never hesitated to use his Spear of Death onto the snow wolf as soon as Leah suggested it. Now, with the addition of Snow wolf, he could just make his own formation without the need of Leah. After all, his team up with Leah was like a one-time thing. Eventually, he will go back to the Academy and Gideon might have to replace Leah''s position.

    In his honest position, Gideon isn''t a good replacement. But, now, the issue has been solved and he was happy that he could use this formation anywhere.

    Back to the battle, Azzy was locked in close combat against the beast. With his speed and reflexes comparable to that of an Exalt realm expert, the Draco Galarian Beta couldn''t even land a single attack on him while it was getting beaten up in every round.

    In the meantime, Claire was creating golden spears and throwing at him one after another over Hydra''s head in a projectile motion. Snow wolf was spewing out snowball attacks from its mouth, Vajra is blasting away black lightning energy balls at the enemy, and Hydra is using wind bullets to attack the beast.

    If the opponent is someone else weaker, they would have long been defeated. However, with its high defense, the Draco Galarian Beta managed to hold itself against the four except for the snow wolf, which is a peak-rank-6 platinum grade beast. With Azzy not giving it any chance to counterattack, the light wounds became heavy.

    Enduring the attacks, it attempted to fly high but once again, Azzy''s energy-powered punch forced it to crash on the ground. After trying seven times, it finally managed to get away.

    Blood was trickling down its mouth. Several bruises and wounds could be seen on its body.

    *Roar*

    Roaring in anger, it flew higher and higher until fifty-meter range, the beast suddenly transformed back to heavily bruised Vann except that he still retained dragon wings.

    "I wanted to kill you through fair means as a way of displaying my strength but if it doesn''t work, then, using unfair means is also fine too." Taking out an activated skill card from his shared storage card with the counterpart, Vann eyed the two humans in the group.

    He glanced at the pre-activated eight-star skill card. It has the image of two humans with one of them being connected by energy threads to the other''s fingertips. Vann bought this skill card for several millions of Krocs through an instructor at Moon Academy.

    "Skill card: Puppet Control, activate." He poured the soul energy into it and activated the skill card, targeting Claire.

    A beam of golden lightning energy escaped from the card and shot towards Claire like a flash.

    "Careful," Azzy shouted in panic, feeling the intense power behind the attack. Claire who was also keeping an eye on the beast sensed the power behind it and quickly flapped her wings to dodge but she wasn''t fast enough to dodge the attack and was struck at the abdomen.

    "Claire¡­ Eh?" At first, Azzy was panicked to see Claire was harmed and was even ready to use the hourglass in case, something unfortunate happens to her. However, to his surprise, she wasn''t harmed in the least. Claire seemed completely fine or so he thought until he saw her eyes changed to that of cold before throwing the golden spear in her hands at the twenty-foot snake standing in the center of the formation.

    "What the¡­" Azzy was taken aback by her sudden attack. Before he came out of his senses, the golden spear struck one of the heads of skeletal Hydra and destroyed it.

    "Why is Claire attacking¡­" Something suddenly clicked on his mind and he abruptly turned his head towards the sky. "Is that because of the earlier attack?" He wondered.

    *Hisssss*

    The Hydra let out a powerful hiss in anger, displaying its animosity against Claire for harming it. While Vajra seemed to be confused by her actions, the skeletal Snow wolf, which only joined the team a while ago and doesn''t have any relationship with Claire, also turned towards her and bared its teeth, treating her like an enemy to its master.

    Claire recovered her soul power instantly and dashed towards Hydra while creating twin golden swords in her hands.

    "She was struck by an eight-star skill card. She was now nothing but a puppet to the Draco Galarian." The Reaper informed Azzy and confirmed his suspicions.

    "Then, how to get her back?" Azzy immediately sought a solution while ordering Hydra and his other beasts to not attack her. In the meantime, Vann took out a healing card to heal his wounds.

    "One is to knock her out with Soul Absorption. Two, kill the controller of the puppet. And three, raise her to mutate gold grade Arcana spirit by another level so that it can possess the host." The Reaper put forth three solutions before Azzy, taking him by surprise.

    "Raise her Arcana''s grade?" Azzy was taken aback upon hearing the third solution. After all, it is impossible for a rank-5 to raise the grade of their Arcana spirit. After all, any type of Arcana can mutate only at three instances, when breakthrough from Rank-3 to rank-4, Rank-6 to Rank-7, Rank-9 to Rank-10 unless it gets infected by Protos Energy.

    Remembering Barbara''s case, he wondered whether the Reaper is suggesting for him to use the Protos energy to mutate her Arcana. But, wasn''t most of his Protos Energy sealed inside Vajra? His soul energy was no longer being dominated by the Protos energy like in the past. Is it still possible? And even it is possible, how can he infect others without asking their permission. Infecting Barbara by accident is one thing but purposely infecting his girlfriend is entirely another issue despite how it helps her.

    With a lot of thoughts, as Azzy went into a dilemma, the Reaper''s words once again echoed in his head to clear his misunderstandings, "I''m not suggesting Protos energy. And it is quite dangerous for you if her Arcana spirit is infected with Protos energy. We don''t want to incur the wrath of the Angels."

    "Eh? Angels? Not using Protos energy? What do you mean?" Azzy was confused by his words.

    The Reaper proceeded to reveal the secret that was only known to Leah until now, "her Arcana spirit is the sword of Archangel Michael. There were complex seals placed upon it, which will be unlocked at the specific breakthroughs. In normalcy, the sword will retain its mutated Celestial grade on its own when Claire becomes a Demi-god but I guess I can remove one of the seals to let the sword of Michael become a Platinum grade and unlock the consciousness of the spirit."

    "Archangel Michael?" Azzy still remembered the name. It was uttered by the Reaper when he first attended the card creation class. It was the day when he met Claire for the first time. "So, this is why her healing ability is too powerful compared to other light attribute users?" His suspicions of her possessing the Life Attribute despite not being an Angel became stronger.

    "Oraaa"

    Claire''s roar brought Azzy back to reality and he immediately agreed with the Reaper''s proposal upon seeing his girlfriend was aggressively attacking a poor undead hydra, which cannot attack her due to its master''s order and is too huge to dodge her attacks with ease.

    Soon, the Reaper took over his body and raised his hand to perform a seal. Vann saw the unknown seal and got alerted and quickly transformed back into beast''s form and spew out a fireball.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 245: Agatha, the ex-sword of Archangel Michael

    Vajra and the snow wolf left the formation and dashed towards their master to protect him until the seal was completed. The fireball that was shot at Azzy was nullified by Snow wolf''s snowball and Vajra''s lightning energy ball.

    Eventually, a five-point seal was completed in star formation and the Reaper pushed it towards Claire.

    Even with all the knowledge it gained from the timeline, the Draco Galarian Beta couldn''t even understand what type of seal it was but considering Azzy and Claire''s good relationship, it thought the seal might be a capture kind.

    While the beast couldn''t control Claire''s movements in a precise manner, it can still give orders on attacking, dodging, or changing the targets. In this case, it ordered Claire to fly towards it.

    Unfortunately, the seal was created by the Reaper. Once it was locked on the person, there was no escape. While she was in mid-air, the seal struck her back, disappearing into her body, invading her mindscape.

    It was a world of a floating island amidst the clouds where it is full of vegetation. A sword with two invisible chains around its blade was placed in the middle of the floating island.

    One of the chains suddenly broke into pieces and the sword started to roam around in its world like a little kid until it sensed something strange. It connected its mind with its host''s soul. Upon realizing the situation, it started to shiver in anger and an angry roar escaped from it.

    "Preposterous." Golden energy erupted from its blade, illuminating all over its world.

    Back to the real world, the Draco Galarian Beta sensed a disconnection from Claire''s mind as her golden aura suddenly thickened by a lot. The beast deeply frowned inside, "platinum grade? No, it''s far powerful than a normal platinum grade."

    Before it proceeded with its next move, all of a sudden, Claire closed her eyes and stretched her hand above her head with her palm facing the skies. "I summon the Sacred Pillars of Light."

    Agatha, the awakened sword of Archangel Michael unleashed one of the techniques that can be used when Descent of Heavenly Guardian is activated. The attack was very instant. The moment the possessed Claire unleashed the technique, all of her soul power was reduced to zero while a beam of light descended from the skies onto the beast. Her soul power was restored to full instantly before it fell to zero as the second beam of light struck the beast.

    The first beam pierced its right-wing. While the Draco Galarian Beta was falling, the second beam pierced its neck. Before it fell on the ground, six more beams of light pierced its neck, body, and tail.

    With Claire''s low rank, their strength wasn''t great and barely compared to the level of a high-rank-6 attack, but still, the beast was greatly injured by the light beams as they effectively hit its vital points, especially the fourth one that pierced its body went as deep as to pierce its heart.

    Leah who just sent energy clones to beat up the Draco Galarian Alpha couldn''t help but turn her head towards the other beast that crashed onto the ground while letting out a piercing cry.

    "Platinum grade?" She also sensed the presence of an additional platinum-grade beast in the group, aside from the skeletons. Instantly, the story she read a week ago hit her memory, triggering a change in her facial expression, "she managed to unlock a seal. What did she do?"

    Hearing her words, the Excalibur resting in her mindscape mumbled to himself, "No doubt. It is the work of Lord Tezca. It must be. What is his name in this life again, yeah, it''s Lord Chronos now¡­ I should stop using the previous name and get familiar with the new one."

    Meanwhile, the Draco Galarian Alpha, whose mouth was forced to shut by Izarok, once again used energy eruption to cause a heavy explosion and push away everything around it.

    Along with Izarok, the two energy clones that made their halfway towards their target were caught in it and got blasted away. Thankfully for Leah, she''s out of the range. So, she was completely fine and her attention shifted back to her opponent.

    Conjuring a purple energy sword in her hands, Leah pushed her leg against the ground and dash forward. The energy clones also managed to get a footing on the ground and joined her. On the way, she sent an order to Izarok to enter the beast''s mouth and destroy it from inside. Izarok extended its legs and leaped towards the beast.

    It was at that moment, the Draco Galarian Alpha suddenly disappeared from Leah''s eyes, fusing itself with the Draco Galarian Beta, returning to its original form as the latter cannot be merged with it because of the light beams.

    However, in the next second, the Draco Galarian realized that it made the stupidest decision of the century.

    "Argh¡­" Not only the pain wasn''t reduced even a little bit, but the beams of light also continued to pin in down to the ground even after the beast returned to its original form.

    The beast thought it would become free when fused together but it didn''t happen as it thought. No matter how much it struggled, the Draco Galarian couldn''t move an inch. The possessed Claire let out a peal of laughter and spoke, "Indeed, a beast, in the end, is a beast no matter its strength and grade."

    She then flapped the wings and slowly landed before the pinned beast, looking directly into its eyes, "These sacred pillars descended directly from the Silver City, you fool. A sinner like you can never hope to break the restrictions."

    "From Silver City?" The Draco Galarian started to become panic. It knew the place its enemy was talking about is the home of Angels.

    "It''s been a while, Agatha." The possessed Azzy opened his mouth, drawing her attention towards him.

    The familiar yet terrifying voice made Claire jump on her feet in fright for a second before she turned her head and looked at Azzy. When their eyes meet, it shuddered in fear for a moment before she averted her eyes away.

    As a spirit from heaven who witnessed several things, Agatha could sense the Protos Energy as well as Death Energy inside Azzy. While the Protos Energy angers her, the Death Energy is the one that is forcing her to stay silent, thinking of the two gods that possessed it. So, she was cautious as she asked, "Have we met before?"

    "How long has it been? 10 million years?" The Reaper replied vaguely instead of giving a direct answer. He talked as if he was going down a memory line, "The last time we met is when you poked Zeus'' butt and was taught a lesson by your bitter rival."

    Suddenly, realization dawned upon her and she greeted him with a kowtow, "Thank you for releasing me, O'' Great one, the Divine Lord of Death and Time."

    "Agatha, I released you partially on the account of my host''s relationship with your host. This is where my help ends. The rest will be followed according to Michael''s wishes." The Reaper replied to her and before he gets a response from the other party, he told her that they will talk later. Seeing Leah running towards them, Agatha no longer spoke and stayed silent.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 246: The end of Draco Galarian King

    "That was some good technique." Leah was a little bit impressed by Claire''s light beams that managed to pin down the Draco Galarian.

    Not intending to waste any time on how she managed to unlock the seal, Leah quickly dashed towards them. After all, to split the spirit core, she had to be the one that finish the beast and can''t let Azzy or his girlfriend acquire all the spoils of the victory.

    On the way, she saw Claire and Azzy were talking about something instead of taking care of the beast. As she was more than a hundred meters away from them, she couldn''t hear their words and neither was she interested in it. So, she didn''t bother about it and continued to rush forward.

    All of a sudden, Claire kowtowed before Azzy. She didn''t understand what Claire was doing. Was she expressing her gratitude for Azzy''s help? Does that mean Azzy is the one that unlocked the seal on her Arcana? But, why would she do that? He was her boyfriend. As far as she knows about relationships, in general, no girl would do such a thing for her guy. Then, was Claire kowtowing to this Tezca her Arcana mentioned? Or was it Agatha kowtowing to Tezca?

    With several thoughts running through her mind, Leah continued to run.

    By the time she reached there, the sword of Michael and the Reaper returned to their respective mindscapes, letting their hosts return to reality. The first thing they saw is the pitiful state of their enemy.

    "Graaaaa" "You mot***f*****s, leave me¡­" The beast was roaring, cursing, struggling with all its might but it couldn''t move an inch. The sacred pillars of light thoroughly restricted its movements.

    "Wow¡­" Azzy exclaimed inside, looking at the light beams. With the help of God''s Eyes, on the light beams that nailed the beast to the ground, he saw mysterious runes were engraved on them.

    Azzy never saw such symbols before, leaving him in wonder why such things are even there on an attribute energy attack. Even though he didn''t understand what''s going, at the very least, he knew that it was the work of his girlfriend or more like her Arcana''s cuz the last time he saw her, she was being controlled by the beast. "Are you alright?" He asked her.

    Meanwhile, Claire was shocked to the core. Not only did she see how familiar yet unfamiliar beams of light struck the enemy but she also sensed the changes within her soul card. Azzy''s question brought to reality and she nodded with uncertainty, "I guess¡­ What just happened?"

    "I will tell you later but first, let''s take care of him." Azzy turned towards the Draco Galarian. His summoning also followed the suit, although they became quite wary of her, especially Vajra who earlier sensed the consciousness of an annoying pest that it doesn''t like.

    Very soon, Leah reached the place followed by her energy clones and her platinum grade Arcana. Despite not wanting to do it, she still praised Claire, "Good job, Claire. Now, before it escapes from the restrictions, let''s finish it."

    For the next couple of minutes, the mountainous region of Zragos was filled with the screams and curses of the Draco Galarian while it was being bombarded with numerous attacks.

    Claire finished the beast with a stab in its neck with a purple energy sword, causing a little bit of envy on Claire who could only create such energy swords in a special state like right now.

    With the final hit, the Spirit core of the Draco Galarian left behind the corpse and floated in the air. Unlike the other spirit cores, this giant sphere looked too beautiful in the eyes of Azzy, Claire, and Leah. For a moment, even Leah had wanted to snatch this delicacy for herself.

    It wasn''t that it literally looks beautiful. With several attributes mixed in it, the spirit core will actually look absolutely hideous if one were to see it in a photo. However, it was left behind by a Celestial grade beast. So, naturally, the spirit core attracted the three of their attention. Claire was even worried that Leah might gobble up all for herself.

    Her suspicion wasn''t unfounded as Leah herself has the look of greediness on her face. With the Reaper nullifying the effect, Azzy quickly returned to reality and took a look at the faces of the girls. He felt it was quite intimidating for a moment before the Camelot''s princess resisted her urge and spoke, "As per our agreement, I claim fifty percent of it and both of you claim twenty-five percent each. Should I proceed with it?"

    Azzy nodded calmly in silence.

    Taking a deep breath, Leah sat on the ground and started making runes with her soul energy. The runes changed to different symbols before they were joined by the threat of purple energy, creating a streak of light, which cut the spirit core into two parts. In no time, two small-sized spheres are seen floating before the three of them.

    Then, she once again cut the sphere into two halves, creating two identical spheres of fist size. After the seal disappeared while removing the marks on the spheres that were connected to her soul, Leah told them to take partial spirit cores.

    Azzy placed his palm on one of the fist-sized spirit cores and closed his eyes. All of it was immediately absorbed by his body. He then sat in a lotus position and started refining the soul energy.

    The time went by and his soul power steadily increased. By the time, he completely refined, the maximum soul power on the soul card changed from 289252 to 664674, pushing him to almost reach the advanced stage of Elite Realm.

    On the other hand, Claire, who could only absorb 30% of energy from the spiritual core, raised her soul power by more than two hundred and twenty-five thousand and has nearly 400 thousand soul power.

    Unlike Azzy who has a Divine Grade spirit making even a Celestial grade spirit core be refined into fifty percent of his energy, both of the girls managed to refine it completely, raising their soul power significantly despite their absorption rate being far lower than him.

    The strange thing here is that despite absorbing 1.5 million worth of soul power from the Spirit core and even refining it completely, Leah was still at the peak stage of the Elite realm. Her soul power wasn''t improved by even 1. Claire was greatly surprised by it.

    Was she facing a wall and her progress came to halt? But, is that possible for Camelot princess, a twin Arcana user who owned a Celestial grade beast? Azzy doesn''t think it is.

    It led to him thinking about it before something clicked in his mind, "that''s right. She knew the Decarune Seal. and has applied it before." In their first meeting itself, the Reaper mentioned to him. That''s why she looked like a civilian back then.

    When he remembered the fact, Azzy realized that she is hiding her true realm. Was she in Upper Elite Realm? He wondered for a moment before throwing away those thoughts deeming them to be useless considering how they won''t be meeting each other again anyway.

    "Say, how should we split the corpse?" Once everyone''s refining is finished, Leah posed a sudden question, bringing both of them to reality.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 247: Trouble coming for Claire?

    Somewhere in the universe lies a tiny irregular-shaped galaxy, which wasn''t following the laws of the universe, not revolving around anything, not attracting any object nearby too. Even the biggest of the biggest black holes couldn''t impact it even a tiny bit. It was just floating aimlessly all over the universe like a free traveler without any restrictions but at the same time, it was connected to every planet and star present in the universe.

    This weird galaxy was the home to Gods, Angels, Immortals, Demons, and other spiritual beings. It is where Heaven and Hell exist. It is where the fate of every human will be decided. It is where the creation of life takes place. It is also where the souls return after they die. The most common term humans use to describe it is the Immortal Realm.

    In one of the worlds inside this realm, there lies the kingdom of Angels, which is often regarded as the most peaceful place in Heaven, not because everyone is nice and all but because of the strict rules within the kingdom.

    Even though the kingdom of Angels governs a portion of the universe under the Celestial Empire, because of the existence of seven Archangels guarding the world and their strong unity, the Angels were more or less independent from the decisions of Olympia.

    And within such kingdom lies the Silver City, an administrative capital where they oversee everything within their jurisdiction and is also the home to one of the seven Archangels.

    An angel named Isda is flying with her fastest speed towards the Royal Palace that stretched for several kilometers wide. She landed on the ground and passed through the security, entered the palace, and started walking towards the office of Chief Minister, who overlooks the city administration.

    In the waiting hall, she saw several civilians with low social status waiting for their turn. It isn''t that different from human civilization. Just like the humans on the earth, there are millions of Angels without the power of soul energy and are generally considered the bottom section of society.

    The only difference here is that human governments could be run by civilian people but not high-level official posts in the Kingdom of Angels. Thankfully, for them, the Angel race people won''t get hungry and only needs air as food. So, at the very least, they won''t die of hunger. Secondly, due to the strict laws of the kingdom, there is near to zero percent corruption, has a 100 percent conviction rate, and doesn''t have plea bargains in the trial. One can say, Silver city is one of the safest places to live.

    Following the rules, Isda sat along with the civilians. After several hours, her turn came and she went inside to find an obese male leaning towards the table with a tired look on his face.

    She greeted him with a bow. "Greetings, Lord Abraxos. I''m Isda, seventh seat, Second Division."

    "Take a seat." He pointed to the chair before the table. She hurriedly waved her hand, "no, it''s alright. I need to inform you about an anomaly that occurred at Silver river realm (Galaxy)."

    "Silver River?" A frown appeared on his face, "Never heard of it before. It isn''t under our jurisdiction, is it?"

    "No, it isn''t." She confirmed his suspicions and continued to explain the matter, "The Realm was located in the far right section of the universe. Eight of the Seventy-two sacred pillars were briefly summoned at one of the inhabited worlds. It was an unauthorized summon."

    "Sacred Pillars were summoned without an authorization?" The frown on Abraxos deepened. "Only the seven kings and their direct descendants have such power. And not everyone could summon eight of them. Who might it be?"

    Isda answered with a helpless sigh, "We aren''t sure. It is out of our jurisdiction to probe into the matter." She then placed a paper on the table and said, "I''m sent here by Captain Raziel to request permission for investigation."

    The Chief Minister of the Capital City took it and fell into thoughts. After a brief silence, he nodded, "I will pass it to his Majesty."

    After Isda left, Minister Abraxos left his office, putting on the meetings held for a while because of the importance of the matter, and left for the Courtroom, and later, King''s Chamber.

    An hour later, he finally found the person he was looking for, at the execution site where there are three people standing in line, waiting for their death. This particular Angel who was sitting on the throne had a crown in his right hand and a three-thonged whip in his left hand. He is Archangel Jegudiel, one of the seven kings, who was known to heavily reward the righteous and severely punish the sinners.

    "Greetings, Your Majesty." The Chief Minister greeted him and proceeded to tell everything to him.

    Upon hearing it, Jegudiel mumbled to himself, "At Silver River Realm, huh!" He fell into thoughts for a while as if he was going down on a memory lane. A while later, he opened his mouth with a serious expression, "Abraxos, I need you to send your trusted subordinate to that world and find a person for me. This person might be a male or a female but will possess the life attribute for sure. You can expect it will be in the purest form."

    "Purest form?" Abraxos was taken aback by Jegudiel''s statement. After all, the purest form of life attribute is only present in an Archangel or their direct descendants. Considering the Archangel''s reaction, he couldn''t help but wonder whether it was his descendant. If not, the person must have the blessing of Goddess of Life, Thesan.

    Jegudiel then took a triangular prism out of nowhere and handed it to the obese Angel. When the latter tried to probe this solid object made of gold, he found nothing special about it.

    The Archangel then spoke, "a part of it will glow when it is near the person we will be looking for. The near the person, the more parts will glow. It will glow completely in the hands of the person who possesses the spirit of Agatha. After finding him/her, your subordinate need to watch over the person quietly and report to me regularly."

    "Agatha?" Abraxos almost lost his balance upon hearing the name. "You meant that Agatha, the sword spirit of Saint Michael?"

    "Don''t probe too much and get to work." Jegudiel quickly sent him away and once again, focused on the execution process.

    Meanwhile, Azzy, Claire, and Leah returned to Camelot without any issues. Because of the sudden rise in Azzy and Claire''s soul power, Leah suggested the two of them suppress their soul power so that no one feels suspicious of their secret activity.

    Azzy never told about the Reaper''s involvement in unlocking her Arcana''s grade raise or the real identity of her Arcana spirit, although he didn''t hide the fact that there are seals on her Arcana. He only mentioned one of them was broken by chance, probably by the sheer will of the sword spirit itself. Claire didn''t understand it completely. So, she decided to ask her sword spirit later.

    Little did Azzy know that not only did his decision make Claire stronger but also saved their relationship, considering how his girlfriend''s hopes were dashed when she heard that his Arcana spirit is a Celestial grade.

    Claire thought that she could never catch up to him and who knows, that feeling might have broken them apart. But, now that she realized her Arcana had suddenly become a top-tier platinum grade spirit, her hopes of catching up to him were relived once again. Of course, it also made her realize why she always lost to Leah before. She vowed to work even harder from now onwards.

    As for the Corpse splitting, it was decided that Leah get to keep it and in return, Azzy will receive rank-7 torso armor from the Royal treasury.

    Even though it can withstand the full-powered attack of a platinum-grade beast with a high-rank-7 soul, it doesn''t mean that he will be safe from everyone under Legendary Realm. After all, the protection is only for the torso and not the head. And also, the armor is over a thousand kilograms. So, wearing it is the same as restricting one''s speed.

    Claire, on the other hand, gets to keep all the items in Vann''s storage card that was dropped alongside the corpse.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 248: Azzys Annual Report card

    Three days passed away in a blink of an eye.

    Originally, Claire planned to return to Triastal right away but as the princess of Camelot asked Azzy to stay for a couple of days more to tour around the kingdom, she was obliged to stay behind for three more days.

    As for why Leah asked Azzy to stay around? Naturally, she doesn''t want him to treat her place like a training ground. She also wants him to have memories of touring around her kingdom a bit. So far, Azzy has toured only around the city of Camelot, but not the whole kingdom, unlike his foster parents. With so little time for the next semester to start, he decided to enjoy the little time he have with a three-day vacation.

    In the meantime, Claire and Leah also have one last spar to test the former''s new strength. Claire still lost horribly without putting up a good fight but still, she was more satisfied with the outcome, seeing how Claire was forced to battle with two of her Arcana from the start, used several soul skills and also sealing techniques. In simple terms, Leah went all out against her.

    On April 11th, Azzy and his family returned home while Claire and her sister returned to Triastal.

    Upon reaching the home, Affea casually looked at the mailbox before entering the home. There are three envelopes inside, of which two of them were addressed to Azzy.

    She handed to him, "Azzy, it looks like both of them are from your Academy. Here¡­"

    Entering the house, Azzy opened the first envelope curiously only to find the report card inside.

    ACLEIN ACADEMY OF ARCANA

    Principal: Barton Everglade

    Vice Principal: Sahara Fauns

    Homeroom teacher: Rubin

    COMMENTS

    In general, we see progress but also potential. Mr. Azrael proved himself in the combat subject but he was quite behind the rest of the class when it comes to theoretical subjects. He needs to focus on his studies more. We will naturally encourage him for the next year and hope to see his grade improve a lot. A model student is the one that not only does great in combat tournaments but also does well in academics, so that, other students find him as an inspiration to work harder. Good luck.

    TEACHERS

    Homeroom: Rubin

    Orlon Language: Ashley

    Mathematics: David

    Physical Sciences: Norris

    Biological Sciences: Almeda

    Nation''s History: Harlan

    Runes: Exea

    Theoretical Combat: Uphiar

    Ancient History: Klaus

    Practical Combat: Gilaes

    Card Creation: Sahara Fauns

    REPORT

    CGPA Calculation: 50% of 1st semester + 100% of 2nd semester

    Total Marks: 1500

    300 Marks: 1 CGPA

    SCORES

    Subject: 1st semester (Grade) ¨C 2nd semester (Grade)

    Language: 79 (A) ¨C 96 (S)

    Nation''s History: 68 (B) ¨C 84 (A)

    Mathematics: 37 (E) ¨C 59 (C)

    Physical Sciences: 54 (C) ¨C 72 (B)

    Biological Sciences: 52 (C) ¨C 79 (A)

    Runes: 92 (A) ¨C 98 (S)

    Ancient History: 85 (A) ¨C 99 (S)

    Card Creation: 81 (A) ¨C 96 (S)

    Theoretical Combat: 45 (D) ¨C 68 (B)

    Practical Combat: 0 (F) ¨C 0 (F)

    Overall Marks: 1047.5/1500

    Overall CGPA: 3.5

    Class Rank: 7th

    Overall Grade Rank: 34th

    Result: As an Arcana Master in the Elite realm (Rank-5), Mr. Azrael gets automatically qualified to enter the Elite Division during the next semester.

    ***

    "3.5, huh¡­" Azzy was satisfied with the overall score considering his poor grades in the first semester. Not to mention, he never went to school for the past four years and basically skipped from second grade directly to eighth grade. However, he was disappointed to read the comments section where the academy seemed to be expecting much more from him. He thought the school management would understand how much hard work he did during the second semester. In the end, the results matter the most.

    Putting aside the envelope, Azzy proceeded to open the second one. This one contains a letter.

    ACLEIN ACADEMY OF ARCANA

    Principal: Barton Everglade

    Dear Mr. Azrael,

    This is the official notification regarding the school management rights, which have been transferred to Eternal Institutions, followed by the change of name, school uniform, and curriculum of Arcana studies. Please bring the necessary books listed down below for the next academic year.

    A guide to Hieroglyphs and Logograms by Autumn Searvale

    Rune Dictionary

    Hector''s guide to Card creations by Hector Magnolis

    Great Arcana Masters of the Tenth Epoch by Emory

    History of Arcana by Cecilia

    The world before the age of Apocalypse by Jeanette

    Combat strategies by Angie Silverthorn (Will be available at Student Council Building)

    The term begins on April 15th. We await your return to the school dorm before April 22nd. For details of room allotment, please contact your respective Dorm Manager.

    Yours sincerely,

    Sahara Fauns

    Vice Principal

    ***

    "Let''s hope that this new academy will promote free Arcana studies just like before." For something like combat, runes, card creations, or sealing techniques, Azzy feels that they should be more open and books should only be like one of the guides, not a textbook where a student just memorizes and follow them. This type of method will restrict one''s ability to attempt new things.

    He closed the envelope and took his seat while Affea went upstairs and switched on his personal assistant robot. Usually, she wouldn''t do that as Kia was gifted to her son but after leaving for two weeks, the house is full of dust and the cleaning servant is unavailable at the moment. On the other hand, she is a princess who never touched the broom in her whole life.

    So, she had to ask the robot to take care of the house cleaning.

    During the next few days, Azzy did nothing but laze around the bed or exchange messages with Claire and Gideon. He received a piece of information from Gideon that Snivy has already left for the Silver City of the Vesna Nation during the previous week. He wasn''t close with her and already knew that she was going to join Eternal Institutions Main Branch as an exchange student. So, he wasn''t bothered much about it.

    Then, he heard that Mia is going to be the next student council president as Zona was graduated. But, since he doesn''t have her soul signature to contact through the message card, Azzy could only congratulate her later.

    April 15th, 1994;

    Azzy woke up early in the morning and wore the new school uniform that he received from the Academy. A white shirt and tie with a logo of an eye stitched on the front pocket. Over it, he wore a maroon blazer and buttoned up.

    "Kia, fetch me my watch, please." After spending enough time on ordering this and that to his robot assistant for several days, he was very comfortable taking its help as it would reduce his time.

    The cute robot in white scanned the room and pick the watch from a shelf and handed it to him while he was busy packing the books inside his platinum grade storage card that was gifted by Barton back when he accept him as his Prime Master.

    After getting ready, he came downstairs, had his breakfast, and left for school at seven-thirty in the morning, ninety minutes earlier, mainly because of the Orientation.

    He exited the house and started walking towards the bus stop. Meanwhile, the Super Android was following him in secret, as usual, fulfilling her duty as his bodyguard.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 249: New academic year

    "Rael," Claire rushed forward and hugged him, planting a light kiss on his lips as a greeting as soon as she saw Azzy in the Student Council Building. It''s been four days since she last saw him, so, she missed him a lot despite exchanging messages very often.

    Azzy blushed a little bit by her bold action considering Mia is still there. Thankfully for him, he didn''t seal his soul power. So, his facial expression was indifferent as always. After greeting her, he congratulated Mia before asking what Claire was doing at this building.

    Was she perhaps joining the Student Council? Considering her grades are in the top 5, he wondered whether she was aiming to become Vice President or something. Contrary to his expectations, Claire gave him a simple reply while shrugging her shoulders, "She just forgot something. I''m here to give it to her."

    "What is it?" Azzy was curious. Mia flinched a little bit and was about to grab Claire''s hand before the latter shook her head, "nothing important. Just some girl''s stuff, you don''t need to know about it."

    Mia sighed in relief inwardly. She was worried a bit that Claire might accidentally slip her tongue about her period. It will be too embarrassing then.

    Azzy was confused for a moment but he put aside the matter and asked Mia about the Elite division list.

    It was then Mia told him a surprising thing regarding the divisions. "Three of the divisions were scrapped. The students were now divided into two divisions, Elite and Common."

    "What did you say?" Azzy''s eyes widened in surprise upon hearing that divisions like Soul weapon, Soul beast, and Soul plant divisions were removed.

    Mia then started to tell him about every change the academy is going to bring in.

    In fact, these pieces of information were not known to the students yet and will be informed during the Orientation. However, being the student council president, Mia had the access to the information beforehand and she informed Azzy and Claire the same without hiding anything as they will hear it again soon anyway.

    With no vice-presidents available for either student council or disciplinary committee, Azzy was forced to stick with Mia at the entrance of the auditorium, guiding everyone to their seats. Every grade was allotted a separate section where they were supposed to sit.

    Naturally, most of the students don''t need it but the higher grade students are teenagers who were going through a rebellious phase. They can''t be trusted to be followed the rules. This is where Azzy''s presence helped a lot. Whether it is a junior or a senior, everyone quietly entered the auditorium and only started to chat after taking their seats.

    Mia continued to remind the people patiently. A student council president ought to remember every face and name of the student. This is why being top in academics is a necessary qualification to become one. So, Mia doesn''t need to ask their grade and directly told the students about what section they need to take the seat. Azzy, on the other hand, was just standing in silence with his arms crossed behind and occasionally nodding to the greetings of his juniors.

    It was 8:28 and almost every student attended the orientation. Looking at his watch, Azzy informed Mia, "Only two minutes left. Let''s go inside."

    "I think there are still students who didn''t arrive yet." Mia replied to him, to which, he shook his head, "not our problem. If they are late, it''s on them. Let''s go. Principal Barton is here. I''m closing the entrance door."

    As if she was waiting for someone, she looked at the road for a moment before she followed Azzy to go inside as the Principal arrived on the stage.

    Just as he was almost about to close the door, suddenly, he sensed the presence of an Elite realm Arcana Master nearby the entrance, rushing inside with a super speed, almost rivaling his own. Azzy halted his movements and activate his aura sensing in reflex.

    "Hmm, Azrael?" Mia who was about to walk forward sensed that Azzy was still standing at the door and she turned around to see him staring outside.

    His Master was also a little bit puzzled but as he sensed the incoming person, he waited in silence.

    Soon, a teenager appeared in Azzy''s view. He looks tall, reaching almost six feet in height, a little buffed with broad shoulders, and seemed to have heterochromia with a blue right eye and emerald left eye. With long blond hair tied into a pony tail and short pointed ears, the stranger absolutely looked like a protagonist who came out of an anime.

    "Oh, wait up." The teenager waved his hands and increased his speed. Within just a few seconds, he covered almost two hundred meters and stopped before the door.

    Mia also spotted the teenager. "This guy¡­"

    "Umm, Hello." The mysterious teenager immediately greeted Azzy with a slight bow. "Sorry for the late. I''m new to this city. So, I was kinda lost for a while."

    "Louis, right?" Mia, who was standing behind Azzy with a look of shock on her face, opened her mouth, "The exchange student from the main branch."

    The teenager nodded with a big smile on his face, "Yes, senior."

    "Azrael, he''s also a Grade-9 student and your classmate. Please take him with you." Mia said to him before she turned around and walk towards the Grade-10 section.

    Azzy closed the door and walked towards a seat in silence. Gideon was preoccupied with something and couldn''t attend the Orientation. So, no one saved him a seat, and Azzy was forced to sit in a corner, which doesn''t have a good view of the stage. Louis followed him and took an empty seat.

    With everything set, Principal Barton who was standing quietly on the stage finally started to speak. "Okay, I guess, everyone is here except for you but anyway, let me warmly welcome every one of you to the brand new exciting academic year. To those who are here for the first time, let me introduce myself. I''m Barton Everglade, a rank-8 Arcana Master and currently working as the principal of the academy.

    First things first, as you all know, there''s a change in the name of our academy. So, I hope every one of you here will get used to calling yourselves as the student of Eternal Institutions of Arcana from now onwards.

    For those who are new or those who are old, everyone must place attention to the few points I''m going to address now.

    All the grades have the same regime. Every grade is now divided into two divisions. One is Elite and the other is Common. As for what the academy is expecting from each division and how the curriculum will be like, it''s best if you hear it directly from your respective homeroom teachers. However, let me just tell you something. Your beginning isn''t decided by you.

    If you have awakened a low-grade Arcana spirit, you might not be able to catch up with the geniuses. It is a harsh truth and there''s nothing you can do about it but as long as you work harder and not give up, you can still find a path in your lives and accomplish something worth it."

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 250: Class Zero

    Barton then started to talk about the changes in the academy. Unlike the Aclein Academy that allows all the students to pursue freedom in the Arcana path, Eternal Institutions was taking a systematic approach, for both Elite and Common division students.

    It''s like the school management will decide on which student should take what kind of path after analyzing their abilities for the upcoming four weeks. It is more advantageous for lower-grade students. However, the path of Arcana is a long way. Even a Lower Elite Realm Arcana Master would be able to live for two hundred years.

    So, even if the higher grade students would be forced to start from scratch, it would only help them in the long run. At least, that''s what the new school management thinks. Whatever system they follow at the main branch, they implemented the same at all the branches including this Aclein City.

    Just like Azzy, several students hate to follow the rules other people set for their lives. Moreover, the higher grade students are in a rebellious phase where every restriction irks them. The auditorium was filled with murmurs, forcing Barton to stay silent for a brief period of time to let them digest it before he continued to speak about the next change.

    "Now, here comes the next change in the system. Aside from Elite and Common Division, there''s one more division, or rather, one class is added. It is termed as Class Zero." His statement caused everyone to pay attention to the stage once again.

    Barton proceeded to explain. "It isn''t some mysterious thing. Basically, it''s just a similar version of the Elite division from before except that this Class Zero is a separate class of Elites nurtured by the academy where students of different age groups will become classmates. That means a grade-3 student and a grade-10 student will study together."

    Everyone became curious and stared at the principal as if they are asking for more explanation.

    Barton continued, "Class Zero or Class Z students receive enormous benefits compared to the rest. First, there''s a fee waiver. Your boarding fees, tuition fees, travel expenses, food, and every kind of expense will be covered by the academy.

    On top of that, per annum, there''s a one million credits merit scholarship for each and every student. You''ll receive a quarter of that amount on your prepaid card every 3 months.

    Class Zero will have separate instructors who will only concentrate on teaching them. Every month, your seniors at the university will come by and mentor them for three days.

    Earlier, I informed you about the inclusion of weapons training in the regime. Usually, you will be taught by your current teachers or other recruited experts. However, the students of Class Zero will be taught by Master Class experts.

    Along with these benefits, the upper management has decided that our training grounds 1 which has numerous habitats and has excellent indoor facilities will now become exclusive to only Class Zero. I''m sure most of you, if not some of you, must have heard or seen the might of the robots against the enemies when our academy was invaded, a while ago.

    Now, Class Zero students will have a special class where they will frequently spar with the robots that have perfect control over their movements. But, worry not. Even Elite Division students will also get a chance to spar them too."

    Barton''s statements about Class Zero didn''t bode well with the students. After all, this isn''t some kind of top academy where there are numerous geniuses around who can compete with each other for the place.

    Most of the students within this academy weren''t talented and don''t have great ambitions too. When they heard that three divisions were removed and will just be divided by Elite Division and Common Division, more than half of them were hoping to get into Elite Division, thinking that they will get to enjoy the same perks like the ones who used to be Elite Division. Little did they expect that the so-called Elite Division is nothing more than a combined form of Soul weapon, Soul beast, and Soul plant divisions... Common Division is more likely to be the Drop out division where the students don''t get to choose anything.

    How does it change anything? If anything, it only gave the geniuses more preference while taking away their freedom in Arcana studies and the right to use facilities.

    The more Barton talked about the benefits of Class Zero, the more the listeners felt disappointed except for some who were looking forward to getting into the class.

    However, it wasn''t over yet. The most important of Class Zero is yet to be announced.

    After informing the students regarding the new class, Barton finally spoke about the requirements to get into it. And when the students heard those two requirements, they felt entering such a class is at the same level as entering a top university.

    The foremost qualification to enter Class Zero is to possess a Gold Grade Arcana spirit, which eliminates more than 97% of the competition right away. The other qualification is to defeat a gold-grade beast of the same realm without taking the help of others and skill cards.

    Only those who fulfill the above two requirements will be able to enter this special class. There''s also a third qualification where their potential is shown by an analyzing machine. However, due to the last year''s incident with Azzy blowing up the machine, Barton requested the main branch to scrap the third rule.

    "F***k. It''s so unfair." Someone from the tenth grade swore in frustration. Because it is dark, no one can exactly pinpoint the person but several ambitious people also felt the same way. On the other hand, others felt relieved that the requirements are very high. As long as there are people who will be on the same boat as them, even in despair, some people will feel happier.

    Barton frowned for a moment but he tried to sympathize with their feelings and let it slide and continued while taking out a list from his pocket. Adjusting his spectacles, he read, "Currently, these are the students who proved themselves and entered the Class Zero. From Grade-4, Anner Light and Flora. Congratulations."

    Two girls who sat next to each other stood up together with smiles on their faces as everyone clapped. Azzy was a little bit taken aback upon hearing the surname Light but he didn''t pay much attention to her for she''s only low-rank-2.

    On the other hand, he heard this genius sister of the ex-vice president of the Disciplinary Committee. Matilda bragged about Flora a couple of times to him in the past. Even though he wasn''t close to her and she wasn''t what he would call a friend, she''s still not a stranger either. Although Matilda took the same path as Snivy without even informing him in advance, Azzy felt he might look after her from time to time if needed.

    Barton continued, "From Grade-6, Raven Passel; From Grade-7, Rain Nightingale; From Grade-8, Annabel and Larch; From Grade-9, Azrael, Lark Sandrou, and Gideon; From Grade-10, Mia Leveret, Claire Lefeuvre, and Calder. There are a few more exchange students who came to our academy from the other branches. Of them, five more will join the Class Zero."

    For some reason, Barton didn''t say those names, maybe it''s because he just wants to show off the proud achievements of his original students. Whatever it is, the crowd was pleased with how their academy is attracting the talents.

    "Now, the next important change is the introduction of bonus score, which is a precious chance for Common Division students."

    His next statement drew the attention of students who were in the drop-out division during the previous year.

    "Every Friday evening, missions will be posted on the notice board on every floor of the academic buildings. Each mission will have certain requirements to accept it and have a relevant score according to its difficulty. Upon completing a mission, you receive a bonus score. And those bonus scores will be added to your monthly evaluations, where you will get a chance to move from Common to Elite Division.

    Unlike before, the number of students in the Elite Division was fixed. So, if a Common Division student gets promoted, then, the last-ranked student of Elite Divisions will get dropped down to Common Division. You''ll hear the details from your homeroom teachers."

    After Barton was done explaining the changes, the Orientation moved on to the questionnaire where the Principal gave a brief introduction regarding the second Awakening and the mutation of Arcana spirits.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 251: The new exchange students

    For those who have low-grade Arcana, Barton highly recommended letting their Arcana spirits absorb elemental crystals instead of themselves so that their Arcana spirits will get more mastery with the attribute and get a higher chance of mutation during the breakthrough to rank-4. As for those who already missed their chance, they can only wait for their next chance at rank-6 to rank-7 breakthrough, which is almost impossible for everyone with Arcana spirits that are lower than Purple Grade.

    Soon, the bells rang at all the academic buildings and Barton dismissed the students while informing the new students to be at the training ground 5, which is nothing but a simple barren land surrounded by huge walls over 20 meters in height.

    He also informed everyone to take a look at the notice board at the entrance of the academic buildings to find their name and class. As for Class Zero, they were told to go to the Indoor training facility located at Training grounds 1.

    Azzy got up from his seat and followed everyone to exit the place, then, walked towards the location. After he parted ways with the rest of the students, Claire and others joined him. Mia was leading the new students to the training ground. So, she couldn''t join them.

    Surprisingly, four strangers also followed the rest of the eight. Two of them are around ten years old who appeared to be nervous because of the new environment. And the other two were in the upper grade.

    The pony-tailed six feet teenager is one of those two, the other one being occupied in his own world. In a way, the guy behaved a little similar to the last year''s Azzy. An indifferent expression on the face, not talking to anyone and even if someone strikes the conversation, all they would receive is a short answer to end it. While he looked a bit mysterious, he''s only at the peak stage of the Lower Elite realm. At a glance, he looks unapproachable.

    On the other hand, Louis who was an extrovert attracted the attention of others. His tall height and unique looks were a bonus.

    The entrance of the training grounds zero was only a three-minute walk from the auditorium. And by the time the group entered the grounds, Lark and Louis already looked like they became good friends.

    Louis was talking about his experiences at the main branch and spoke of his reasons for coming to this branch. "The main reason is because of the money. First thing, Silver City is damn expensive to live in. You can say the living costs over there are at least ten times that from here. I''m about to turn 15. After that, I can no longer enjoy the privilege of receiving education funds from our orphanage."

    Realizing that he might draw pity instead, Louis quickly changed the conversation, "Anyway, did you guys know that this year''s Champion League matches videos will soon become a teaching material here?"

    "Not kidding¡­" Lark couldn''t believe it for a second.

    Louis nodded, "It''s our usual regime to study and analyze those videos. After all Champions League is where top academies will send their representatives. Along with the junior tournament, we will also analyze the senior tournament. But, I should say it is still amazing to see a bunch of beginner stage Elite realm experts completely thrashing peak stage ones." After saying that, he nudged his classmate, "Don''t you think so, Nick?"

    The quiet one who was in his world opened his mouth for the first time, "it''s more like a one-man team."

    Everyone nearby couldn''t help but glance at the couple leading the group before Lark commented while feeling jealous of Azzy, "Possessing a platinum grade Arcana is really unfair."

    Even Louis agreed to his statement, "yeah. I guess that''s why they were called the true children of heaven/ heaven''s favored kids."

    After another five-minute walk, the group of twelve reached the indoor training facility where card creation and practical combat classes are usually held. There, at the entrance, Vice Principal Sahara is waiting for them. She was a familiar person to everyone but the new kids. She didn''t feel the need to introduce herself and just told them to follow her.

    They followed her to a hall, divided into three sections, and a podium on the stage with a large screen on the wall. Azzy looked around. It''s been a year since he last stepped inside this place, exactly one year ago, on the same day, although in the afternoon. Azzy remembered how he blew up the rooftop because of his lack of control over the soul energy and started a chain of events. Claire was also thinking about the same day but of a different event. Taking a seat, she whispered in his ears, "This is where we met for the first time, right?"

    As everyone took their seats, Sahara proceeded to speak, "first of all, congratulations on making it to the prestigious class zero. From now onwards, this will be your classroom, habitats will be your outdoor training field, and Grand Arena will be your sparring platform. Except for the Robots Storage Chamber, every facility in this building is free to access. After a while, your homeroom teacher will arrive. Until then, stay here and wait. And Azrael?"

    "Yes?" Azzy stood up from his seat as she called his name.

    "You are the president of Disciplinary Committee. So, I''ll be leaving them in your hands. No one is to go and roam until your teacher arrives." Sahara passed and order and walked away. Azzy took his seat again.

    Everyone in the room knew of Azzy, even including the new students. Forget about going outside, no one even dared to move from their seat for half an hour until Uphiar arrives. Just like how Azzy felt last year, the new students also felt the same when they first took a glimpse at this sorcerer with a staff in his hand. The fault lies in his face. No one can do anything about it if they misunderstood him for a wicked Arcana Master.

    Their attention quickly shifted to the little boy and a teenage girl who stood behind him.

    "These are your new classmates." Uphiar pointed to the two of them after briefly introducing himself. He then looked at them and gestured to give introductions.

    First, the little boy stepped forward. He appeared to be nervous as he introduced himself, "Hello, my name is Stephanus. I''m uhh¡­ 8 years old and hailed from Egrein city. Please take care of me." He bowed a little in the end and finished his introduction.

    Then, it was the girl''s turn. She crossed her arms to the chest and let out a snort, "You lot are not worthy to know my name but since I''m going to study here for the next two years, then, I''ll make a favor on you all. My name is Estella Moon, 15 years old, Peak stage of Elite realm, and the host of a top tier platinum grade Arcana spirit, or should I say, one of the most powerful Arcanas ever existed. I became an exchange student after hearing that there''s a person like me studying here." Whether it''s her expression, her posture, or her words, the arrogance and cockiness are clear for everyone.

    "Moon? One of the nine hidden clans?" Azzy''s expression hasn''t changed a bit on the outside, but inwardly, he was alarmed a bit. Encountering other hidden clans isn''t a good thing for him.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 252: Introductions

    A brief silence filled the room as Estella finished her introduction. With her long silver hair and doll-like appearance, a couple of male students even developed a crush on her at first sight. But, who could have expected the cutie would break their hearts within just a minute. Meanwhile, Uphiar mumbled to himself, "This is why people say never judge a book by its cover."

    But, Estella''s antics haven''t even started yet.

    After finishing with her introduction, she took a glance at everyone and found the person who she was looking for. She walked towards a certain couple sitting together in the middle of the first row and stopped before them. Azzy''s right seat and Claire''s left seat were empty.

    She tried to take the empty seat beside Azzy. However, Azzy stretched his hand and stopped her from sitting beside him. He said indifferently, "It is reserved for Gideon."

    It was the first setback for her and she was embarrassed by the rejection. She thought, "There''s a beautiful girl trying to sit beside you but you are not letting her? Hmpf. But, if I backed down, I will be laughed at." She shifted her attention to Claire and spoke in a tone like she was ordering her, "I want to sit here. Take the other seat or go elsewhere."

    Looking at the scene, Lark bit his fingers feeling jealous of Azzy. Ever since Azzy appeared in his life, Lark, who used to be confidently lead everyone as the class president, began to develop an inferiority complex.

    Meanwhile, Claire raised her eyebrows in response. Everyone shifted their attention towards the two girls to watch the drama that was about to unfold.

    Leah was different. She looks perfect in everyone''s eyes whether it was male or female, she''s strong, possesses twin Arcana spirits, intelligent, very knowledgeable about advanced seals, doesn''t display arrogance despite her stature being the crown princess of Camelot, the direct descendant of the Legendary Emperor Arthur Pendragon. Whether it''s in looks, talent, or intelligence, there''s hardly anyone who could match up with her.

    So, Claire used to feel very insecure whenever Leah even had a small talk with Azzy.

    However, Estella is different from Leah. There''s nothing Claire had to be jealous of her. Except for looking like a cutie, she wasn''t superior in terms of the body. If anything else, her body was even more underdeveloped than Claire''s. And coming to the strength, Claire was also the holder of top-tier platinum grade spirit just like this girl before her. As for the status, she never heard of the Moon clan. So, Claire doubt Estella is a princess and thought she was probably noble at best. That makes Claire''s stature even higher.

    Adding on top of that, the situation is also different from the past. Not only Claire was stronger but she had already claimed Azzy. So, there''s no sense of insecurity within her, instead, her blood boiled in anger when she was looked down on by this new girl who claims that she''s here because of Azzy.

    But, still, she couldn''t just display hostility and start a worthless fight with everyone that is eyeing her boyfriend. It wasn''t worth it. So, she decided to deal with it calmly but at the same time, showing her confidence.

    Crossing her arms to the chest, Claire stared at Estella, directly into her eyes, "Get lost, newbie. I don''t have time to entertain you."

    Azzy who developed a bad impression of her due to her proclamation felt that his girlfriend took out the words from his mind. If someone tells him that, even he responds in the same way, although he wouldn''t address the girl as a newbie though.

    Meanwhile, Estella''s face turned red due to Claire''s befitting response. "You¡­" She clenched her fist in anger but before she did anything, Uphiar coughed twice and called her name to get attention, and then said, "Student Estella, please sit down."

    Estella felt humiliated and felt rage in her heart. She has nothing against Azzy who stopped her earlier as she acknowledges his strength. But, Claire, on the other hand, is weaker or she thought.

    This is the problem with conceited people like her. They will have huge egos and are vulnerable to insults. Even though everyone just silently stared at her, she felt as if everyone is laughing at her. She also knew that making a scene now will only deteriorate her situation further.  Estella decided to take care of her during a sparring session.

    After compromising for the moment, she took an empty seat behind them, ignoring Louis who is waving at her with a wide smile as a greeting.

    "Okay, today is the first day. So, today, we''ll about your curriculum for the next year but before that, you should at least get to know each other names." Uphiar then pointed at the eight-year-old who sat on the far left of the first row. "Let''s start with you, little miss."

    The lovely little girl with pigtails who kinda have similar features to Emelia as well as late fifth prince Leonard stood up on her feet and gave a lengthy introduction of herself, "My name is Anner Light, I''m eight years old and is a student of grade-4. I''m from Egrein city. And I''m not a member of the royal family, well not anymore, considering my grandfather Aegis Light was expelled a while ago. I''m a plant master (the one who controls a plant type Arcana) but I''m more into modern weapons like guns though."

    The cute little girl then summoned her storage card and suddenly took out a three feet length weapon, weighs over 7kg, and showed a smile on her face, "this is my favorite weapon, gifted by my grandpa. It is called a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. In short, RPGL. It is used by the military to take out battle tanks. Although recoil hurts very much, once you get used to it, you can effectively use this weapon to take out the beasts from even half a kilometer away with ease. Of course, for that, you need a 90mm warhead though. But anyway, if you are out of them, you can just use soul energy and shoot them. It has an explosion radius of over 15 meters and has a firing speed of over 300 m/s. So¡­"

    *Ahem* "Student Anner." Uphiar had to interrupt her in the middle, fearing that this little miss would go on a lecture and perhaps even a demo, wasting a lot of time. As she stopped and took a glimpse at him, he said, "Just name, age, native place, and little info about family is enough. We don''t have a lot of time, you see."

    "Ah, I''m sorry." The little niece of Emelia Light quickly apologized, feeling embarrassed about how she once again displayed her obsession with modern weapons. She sat down in a hurry and her best friend and rival stood up from her seat.

    "Hello, I''m Flora, Age 8 and grade-4 student. I was born and raised here at Aclein. My parents are civil servants, working for the government. Nice to meet you." She smoothly finished her introduction and sat down.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 253: Unknown motives of Estella Moon

    Then, one after another, students gave their introduction. The last one to speak is the quiet boy who was sitting alone in the corner. "Adam, age 14, Grade-9. I was born and raised in Silver City. My parents work at WAMO, in the research division."

    As soon as Adam sat down, Louis added, "Teacher, Adam''s parents were the inventors of the world''s first supercomputer, Eon."

    "Oh!" Almost half of the class exclaimed in surprise as they never expected a low profile guy like him has such a high background. Even Uphiar was surprised by the information. He felt grateful to Azzy and his team members for winning the tournament, thereby, attracting such talents. At the same time, he was slightly disappointed that Adam is faring a lot worse compared to his genius classmates. Even Lark entered the Elite realm.

    But then again, he is selected for this class because of his high potential. Uphiar decided to observe him in the upcoming weeks.

    Putting his thoughts aside, Uphiar then started to explain what the school management''s plans with Class Zero are and the objectives students need to focus on.

    "Okay, now that the introductions are over, we''ll first see the timetable." The sorcerer took out a tiny remote from his sleeves and clicked on a button, displaying the timings on the screen behind him. "Look at it and commit to your memory."

    06:01 ¨C 06:30 >>> Homeroom period

    06:31 ¨C 07:00 >>> Physical Education

    07:01 ¨C 07:30 >>> Weapons Training

    07:31 ¨C 08:00 >>> Sparring session

    08:01 ¨C 09:00 >>> Break

    09:01 ¨C 09:45 >>> Orlon (Language class)

    09:46 ¨C 10:30 >>> Mathematics

    10:31 ¨C 11:15 >>> Physical sciences (Nation)

    11:16 ¨C 11:30 >>> Break

    11:31 ¨C 12:15 >>> Biological sciences

    12:16 ¨C 13:00 >>> History (Nation)

    13:01 ¨C 14:00 >>> Break

    14:01 ¨C 15:00 >>> Card Creation

    15:01 ¨C 16:00 >>> Practical Combat

    16:01 ¨C 17:00 >>> Runes

    17:01 ¨C 17:15 >>> Break

    17:16 ¨C 18:15 >>> Ancient History

    18: 16 ¨C 19:00 >>> Theoretical Combat

    19:01 ¨C 20:00 >>> Break Self indoor

    20:01 ¨C 21:00 >>> Self indoor training

    **

    "Kids, this is how your daily activities will go on." Uphiar reminded that their timetable is vastly different from the rest of the students, except for the morning classes, which they have to take with the Elite division students of respective grades.

    While everyone will come to school at 8:30 in the morning and leave at 4 o''clock in the afternoon, the class zero students have to spend several hours within the academy and will barely have any free time to spend outside for fun.

    It was almost an exact copy of the timetable at the main branch, so, Estella, who was also in Class Zero before was completely familiar with it. The others on the other hand seemed to be a bit troubled.

    Uphiar continued, "To increase competitiveness among the students, Elite division students will get an opportunity to enter this class. Six weeks from now, top students from each grade from the Elite Division will join you guys and after that, every month, they''ll be challenged by the successive top student of their respective grades to take their place.

    While this has nothing to do with you, all of you must keep in mind that the academy is going to spend a lot of funds on this program. So, anyone of you might be dropped from here if you failed to prove yourselves. Whether it''s the missions, monthly tournaments, friendly sparring matches, or your soul power improvement, just make sure to not get lazy and slow down your progress."

    Uphiar then proceeded to talk about a few more things until a bell rang throughout the classroom and they left for Elite division academic building for the morning classes.

    As a fellow student of ninth grade, Azzy was forced to go along with Lark and the other three exchange students. With Gideon being on leave, Azzy could only find an empty desk and sat alone. However, the new girl doesn''t seem like leaving him alone. She outrightly sat beside him amid everyone''s gazes.

    Azzy used Gideon as an excuse because he wasn''t comfortable sitting along with a stranger who is from one of the nine hidden clans. According to the Book of Death, hidden clans protect the world from shadows and seek to maintain the balance like power, natural resources, rare materials, economy, etc¡­

    And according to the Reaper, Azzy knew that he has the potential to topple the entire system, creating an imbalance in the world. That''s why, unless he reveals his real identity, his life will be in danger if the hidden clans were to figure out his secrets. Even to date, people are looking for a time traveler.

    The fact that Estella came to Aclein city especially for him doesn''t feel right in his mind. Azzy wondered whether he''s on their radar and whether she''s here to confirm her suspicions or something.

    In any case, he decided to stay away from her. However, right now, when he was walking towards his seat, Estella followed behind. After he took his seat, she sat beside him without giving him the chance to reject her. Now, if he says anything unpleasant, will it increase her suspicions? He only had speculations.

    Until Azzy figures out her intentions, he shouldn''t act any different towards her. Or so he thought and stayed silent.

    Not even caring whether it was the first day, the familiar language teacher, who also taught Azzy and others last year, directly started the lesson.

    Some are paying attention while others are busy with chatting, reading a comic, dozing off, or showing off their cell phones to their desk mates.

    Azzy seemed like he was paying attention to the class but in fact, he was just busy absorbing the solar energy little by little and refining it.

    Ten minutes into the class, Estella got bored and took a glimpse at Azzy. A thought appeared in her head. She tried to start a conversation, "Azrael. I''m curious about something."

    "What is it?" Even though he was concentrated on refining the solar energy, Azzy could still pay attention to his surroundings. Moreover, since he wanted to know her intentions, he didn''t ignore the girl.

    Estella then asked, "I heard that you are a twin Arcana user and possess two platinum grade Arcana spirits. Is it true?"

    "Was she suspecting my second Arcana spirit might be related to time as well as necromancy? Is this the thing she wanted to confirm?" Azzy wondered about it. At first, he felt it was foolish but he can''t underestimate the hidden clan. Each one is more or less equally powerful as the Death Clan.

    But, he didn''t clarify her doubt. After all, he didn''t even tell his girlfriend about the Death scythe. How could he reveal it to a stranger whose motives were unknown? In the end, he replied in a plain tone, "no comment."

    "What is so mysterious about it?" Estella became curious.

    If it is someone he know, Azzy would have probably thought of excuses. However, Estella is nothing to him. He only got irritated and doesn''t want to look for lies and then speak more lies to cover them up. So, he tried to end the conversation with a cold reply, "none of your business."

    His reply brought a frown on her face but she managed to control her anger by clenching her fist tightly. She spoke with full of confidence, "I guess you might not have faced worthy opponents who forced you to bring out your second Arcana until now. Let''s spar later. I''m sure I''ll bring your true strength. Perhaps, you will bring mine too."

    "My skills aren''t suited for friendly spars." Azzy refused her invitation to the spar too. Turning towards her, he then looked into her eyes and said, "It is used for real battles where a person might die if they aren''t strong enough."

    "Well, you never fought me before." Estella naturally didn''t give up. In her dictionary, backing down is the same as getting insulted. She backed down from challenging Claire once due to Uphiar''s intervention. Now, she can''t back down again just because another person isn''t willing. "I''m not underestimating you but even if you use your full strength, I highly doubt whether you can win against me." Her confidence was really over the sky.

    "Interesting, very interesting¡­" The Reaper was rubbing his skeletal chin while looking into the countless futures.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 254: Aggressive Claire and an Arrogant Estella

    By afternoon, the normal classes were finished. Just like the other students, Azzy also stood up from his seat and started to leave for the cafeteria except that Estella was also seen tagging along. She stuck to him like glue, instead of going with her two former acquaintances and attracted the attention of others.

    Some wondered regarding the nature of their relationship while others didn''t think too much into it. And with Azzy''s reputation within the campus, no one dared to point it too.

    Azzy walked into the cafeteria and took a seat at an empty table instead of joining the line. Estella was taken aback a bit at first, wondering whether someone else is bringing him the food or something?

    She shrugged her shoulders and joined the line. Strangely, for some reason, she didn''t tell others to move aside to give her the way. Just within four hours, she became obedient and shed her arrogance? Naturally, it''s not. Under Azzy''s watch, she was forced to follow the rules.

    Meanwhile, Azzy continued to wait, glancing at the entrance from time to time until the appearance of two girls who became the center of attention of every boy present around.

    While both of the girls are incredibly popular within the academy, Mia''s fan following was more despite how cold she usually acts with everyone and rarely smiles. In fact, during the last year Valentine''s week, someone in her class took the picture of her rare smile and sold it to her fan for more than ten thousand credits. Of course, the picture was seized by the Disciplinary Committee and the two culprits were punished with a ten-page self-reflective essay.

    As for Claire, her foreign appearance and her different slang were indeed an attraction for many, but it is no secret that Azzy and Claire are a couple. So, many wouldn''t dare approach her.

    "Rael," She waved her hands excitedly. Being in a honeymoon phase in dating, Claire would always be in high spirits whenever she gets to see Azzy. On the other hand, Azzy''s feelings were complicated.

    While he likes her, Azzy wasn''t sure whether he truly loves her, or he just thinks he loves her because she''ll be his wife in the future. At the same time, he constantly worries that he will have to leave for his time, thereby, leaving her for 27 years. He''s only 13 years old where he just needs to have fun living his life without any responsibilities. Is it the age to have such worries? Thankfully, Azzy forgets about those worries and focuses on savoring the moment more whenever he gets to spend time with her alone.

    "Took you long enough," Azzy commented as he stood up and walked towards them.

    "Well, Amy, that fool proposed to Shawn after the class ended and her ex made a ruckus. Ugh, it''s a mess." Mia seemed like she was irritated. "Anyway, Claire said you were summoned to the Principal''s office during morning break, right? What is it about?"

    Claire also looked at him curiously. During the class break, she wanted to go down to the second floor and meet him but she got a message saying that he was going to the Administration building because of a summoning.

    "Oh, it''s about the appointment of Vice President," Azzy answered her while walking towards one of the lines. Just as they reached the end of the line, he heard a voice from nearby, "President Rael, you are there?"

    Not just Azzy, but even Mia and Claire also turned towards the direction of the voice, mainly because of how Azzy was being addressed. Instantly, a frown appeared on Claire as her eyes fell on Estella who had a platter with food on her hands and a puzzled expression on her face.

    "Oh, so, you were waiting for them, huh. Okay, I''ll be there¡­" As Estella saw Claire and Mia, she let out a comment and went towards the table Azzy earlier sat without bothering to greet them.

    "Rael?" This was the term that forced Claire to react to it. She abruptly turned towards Azzy and looked at him questioningly, narrowing her eyes, "what''s going on here?"

    Azzy doesn''t know why but he felt a chill run down his spine as he took a glimpse at Claire''s face. "Apparently, the school management from the main branch added a request that along with the transfer, the two exchange students must also receive a high position in the two student bodies. Now, she''s appointed as the Vice President of our Disciplinary Committee."

    "That makes sense," Mia nodded in understanding. In the morning, after the division allotment for new students, she was also summoned to the Principal''s office and was informed that Louis is going to be the Student Council''s new Vice President.

    "That''s not the point here," Claire replied differently as her reasoning to inquire was something else. Pointing her finger at Estella, "why, nobody like her is addressing you as Rael?" Claire doesn''t like the fact that someone else apart from her is calling him like that.

    As her voice was a bit loud, it attracted the attention of everyone nearby who was busy with their own discussion. In an instant, Azzy felt several gazes from every side.

    Her question brought a change in Estella''s facial expression and she halted her footsteps and turned around.

    "It was this girl again?" Estella got triggered by Claire''s words.

    *Ting*

    She violently put down on the platter on the table, spilling the food, and walked towards them at a quick pace. Stopping before Claire, Estella glared at her and said, "You dare call me nobody? Who the hell are you?"

    Claire only meant that she was nothing but a stranger to Azzy. So, why is he allowing her to address him by a short name, which is usually reserved for close friends and family? However, Estella, who has a high ego and has already been insulted once during their first meeting (according to her), didn''t take it that way.

    She felt that Claire trying to put her down because she interacted with Azzy. A weakling like her didn''t even have the right to talk to her much less berate as nobody. This is Estella''s view.

    Unfortunately for her, Claire seemed like she isn''t going to back down from even a fight. She crossed her arms to the chest and stated out loud and clear, "One, this is my boyfriend. Two, you aren''t close enough to call him by nickname. He''s Azrael to you. Three, stop behaving like you own the school. I don''t care how your former schoolmates behaved around but don''t expect the same here."

    The entire cafeteria went silent for a while and everyone just stared at both girls.

    "Oh, you are his girlfriend?" Claire''s eyebrows were raised. An idea popped up in her head, and she spoke to rile her up, "then, you should break up as you lack the necessary qualifications to stay beside him. The world of us who were the hosts of platinum grade Arcana is vastly different from weaklings like you. You should know your place by now."

    "You¡­" Claire instantly released her aura in anger, increasing pressure in the surroundings. Ever Mia was taken aback by how strong her aura has become. Estella was pleasantly surprised by the quality of Claire''s soul energy. Her Arcana spirit got excited to battle.

    Pointing her finger at Estella, Claire threw a challenge, "People like you really need a thorough beating to learn some manners. Come outside, right now."

    "Um, Claire?" Azzy slowly called her. But, he got a sharp response instead, "What!"

    "Nothing, I''m just hungry," Azzy looked away.

    "Then, go and join the line." Claire appeared very angry that even Azzy didn''t want to disturb her at the moment. He directly turned around and joined the line. For some reason, his guts told him to not intervene in a girl''s fight.

    Meanwhile, the others stared at him in a daze.

    Where is that guy who on the very first day of school caused trouble with the instructor by killing his Arcana?

    Where is that guy who forced the tenth graders to kneel?

    Where is that guy who almost beat up ten bullies to death because his friend was bullied by the seniors?

    Where is that guy who almost killed a genius student of a top academy in front of everyone?

    Where is that guy who made everyone tremble in fear with his stare?

    Where is that guy who is known to be the most powerful student in the academy?

    Looking at the tiger that became a cat in front of a girlfriend, some people shook their heads in pity while others sneered in their minds.

    "Eh? What''s going on here?" It was at that moment, a certain person with round glasses stepped inside the cafeteria and stopped with a look of surprise on his face.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 255: Battle between the true daughters of heaven part-1

    According to the rules of the former Aclein Academy or the current Eternal Institutions or just any other top academy, it''s a formal tradition that those students who have an extreme problem with someone can challenge them as long as the latter''s soul power isn''t lesser than the former.

    Once both parties are ready to battle, a teacher can stand as a referee for their battle. In rare incidents, a witness can also be a referee as long as he/she is stronger than the participants and has the power to stop the battle at any time.

    Both of the participants then put forth their conditions and whoever loses must abide by the rules of the match. Once the match is over, then, the two must not show any grudges to each other. It is the job of the disciplinary committee and student council to take care of the situation.

    In case the loser doesn''t adhere to the commitment of fulfilling the conditions that he/she accepted, while the school management couldn''t take any action against them, their dignity will fall in everyone''s eyes and might get taunted by even teachers later.

    And now, on the first day of the semester, a huge battle is going to erupt between the two Elite realm experts where the reason for their battle isn''t even that great to show such animosity, well, at least to the spectators.

    For Claire, the name Rael holds significant importance in her life. She addressed him by that name for the first time when she kissed him on the train and confessed her feelings. Even she doesn''t know why she calls him that way but it felt natural and very familiar for her. Now that she is in a relationship with him, Claire felt it was reserved for her as if she owns it.

    On the other hand, there''s Estella, who thinks of herself as the Arcana Master with the highest potential. She believes her world was different from these ordinary geniuses and thought only a person, who possesses the same talent like her, would probably understand her.

    She couldn''t transfer to other academies like Heavenly Academy and others as the academy wouldn''t let her go. And so, when a lucky opportunity arrived before her, she didn''t hesitate to transfer to Aclein Academy to train and fight alongside Azzy.

    With a record of not getting lost by her peers in the same realm all her life, she looks down on everyone and believes every Arcana Master with a Gold or lower Grade spirit is below her. So, when Claire obstructed her path, she felt humiliated and decided to teach her a lesson.

    Both of them have their own views that go against each other and so, they eventually ended up at the Training Grounds-2 along with Poor Azzy, who not only didn''t get to each his lunch but was also forced to become a Referee. Gideon, Mia, and several others became spectators, taking the seats at the audience section.

    As the news spread too quickly, several teachers also joined the audience, although a majority of them were only interested in this true daughter of heaven who transferred from the main branch.

    "Okay, let me recount the conditions of the match." Azzy who became the referee for the first time carefully followed the rules that he remembered. "If student Claire loses, she''ll kneel before the winner and apologize for her actions. And if student Estella loses, she''ll¡­ *Ahem* she''ll never address student Azrael with a short name or any kind of nickname."

    Azzy was a little embarrassed because of the strange condition put forth by his girlfriend. What kind of stupid terms is this? It''s ridiculous. Azzy inwardly sighed and then, leaped back to land smoothly on the ground a few meters away, "both of the participants will have one minute of preparation. And let me remind you that usage of pre-activated skill cards is forbidden."

    "I don''t know whether you are brave or a fool." Estella sneered as she stretched her hand forward, summoning her soul card. She continued with a taunt, "But, then again, this is a good thing. After this match, everyone will also realize not to mess with me. Since you are doing me a favor by becoming an example, I''ll go easy on you."

    "Come out and have fun, Oh the lord of the seas, Levi," Estella calls out for the spirit of her Arcana and summoned it from her soul card.

    In an instant, a giant cyan-colored dragon head exited the soul card, followed by the rest of its body before landing on the ground. A huge shadow fell on Claire, taking her by surprise.

    It is by far, the biggest monster even Azzy saw until the present. The students were in awe to look at this four-hundred feet large sea serpent that was covered by dragon scales and had fearsome red eyes with no visible pupils. In fact, the height they were seeing is only half of its true height, considering half of its lower body was still on the ground.

    *Roar* It let out a powerful roar that was a mixture of demonic and draconic. The roar shook the hearts of several students who were at the lower realm and was so loud that even the people passing by had heard it and took a glimpse in the direction of the source, only to get scared by its appearance. Several passersby on the road stopped and stared at the Leviathan in shock. Even they didn''t see such a large monster in their lives.

    The freelancers who were lurking around the academy couldn''t help but take pictures of it, although from far away as the security personal won''t allow them inside. With the image of the Academy soaring to new heights due to the Champions League, the main branch heightened the security with several Upper Elite realm experts and even appointed an Exalt realm expert as the head of the security.

    Despite its sheer size, it was still at a peak stage of the Elite realm. So, higher realm experts around didn''t feel much threatened by it except for being shocked that its energy gave the intensity of a platinum-grade beast.

    Meanwhile, Claire quickly calmed down and just observed the giant monster that lowered its head to the ground and let its master mount it. "So, what if it''s big? In the end, it was only a platinum grade monster, not even a mutated one, much less a Celestial grade." She wasn''t intimated in the least. If anything else, Claire was even more confident in winning against her because right now, she was at a higher level despite her lower soul power.

    "It''s time to show your new self, Agatha." Claire let out a smile as she summoned her Arcana. A familiar-looking heavy sword brimming with a holy aura appeared in her hands. However, the entire stadium went silent for a moment.

    "The Hell, Platinum grade?" "That sword¡­" "How is this possible?" Every spectator had something similar going on in their head as soon as the sword of the Michael has revealed itself. Even her best buddies couldn''t believe their eyes now.

    "Is it me or did I just see that Claire''s sword gives off the same intensity as that monster? No, it appeared even higher? What''s going on?" Gideon asked Mia in disbelief. To which, the latter replied, "It looks like something happened during the summer."

    She was best friends with Claire for several years and she very well knew that Claire''s Arcana spirit was only gold grade, which mutated during her breakthrough to rank-4. How did it suddenly turn out to be a mutated platinum grade, now?

    While everyone was left with confusion, Estella who was standing on the head of her prized Leviathan mumbled in seriousness, "So, this is why you were so confident on taking me head-on, eh. Then, let''s see how strong you are."

    Upon seeing the sword, Estella no longer looked at Claire as someone weakling but as a potential rival. She summoned her storage card and took out an exquisite bow where the bones and blood of a rank-7 platinum grade beast are used in the process of making it.

    "She''s an archer, huh." As the person who uses the same type of weapon, Mia was interested in her archery skills. At the same time, she felt it makes sense to use the Leviathan''s size to its advantage.

    As soon as the minute is up, Azzy announced loud and clear, "start."

    "Levi, attack." Estella made the first move without wasting the time.

    The Leviathan didn''t even need to move from its spot to attack its enemy. It lowered its head and stretched towards Claire or more specifically aiming at the sword, which is a natural enemy of it, considering it has a demonic bloodline in it while the sword has a holy aura.

    Upon reaching the enemy, it opened its mouth, revealing its sharp teeth that are bigger than even Claire. A few of the spectators gasped as if they felt the monster is going to swallow Claire.

    Thankfully, after training at 20g surface at Camelot, Claire was a lot faster in a normal environment. It was a piece of cake for her to dodge the attack using the wings.

    It was then, Estella conjured a cyan-colored energy arrow and then added wind attribute to it, consuming a little more than two hundred thousand soul power. With the help of wind attribute energy, the arrow shot towards Claire swiftly.

    "Oh, no." Azzy became worried as he found the arrow almost about to hit the side of Claire''s abdomen.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 256: Battle between the true daughters of heaven part-2

    Without any miracles, the arrow pierced the side of Claire''s abdomen and wounded her. Claire staggered a bit before crashing onto the ground. Estella smiled in satisfaction, "good."

    "Claire" "Claire" Gideon and Mia stood up from the seats in worry while Azzy on the other hand stepped forward but controlled himself and halted his movements. He knew that his girlfriend wasn''t that weak that she''ll be defeated by one attack. Her greatest strength doesn''t lie in her sword or her fist.

    "Levi, let''s finish this," Estella ordered the Leviathan to attack the enemy that was down.

    As the neck of the beast changed its direction and stretched towards Claire, from the latter''s hand, a simple card with red-colored two stars fell onto the ground. "Skill Card: Holy Ground"

    Only a couple of meters around the princess of Triastal were turned into golden color. But, still, it was enough for Claire to recover her wound completely and return to her peak condition once again. When her Arcana spirit became a mutated platinum grade, Claire''s recovery ability is also improved tremendously. But, the wound was too deep that Claire felt she needs the skill card''s help.

    As soon as she got recovered, Claire jumped to the left and rolled a bit to dodge the Leviathan''s attack. She then flapped her wings to fly higher before raising her sword. Soul energy quickly gathered around her sword and she swung downwards.

    A huge arc of energy was generated from the sword and flew towards a part of the giant serpent, possibly its stomach.

    Due to its giant size, Leviathan wasn''t able to dodge the attack. Estella noticed the attack but she didn''t care about the beast''s defenses and focused on conjuring another energy arrow. She was confident that the damage won''t be that high. However, the Leviathan thinks otherwise because of the presence of divine energy.

    It tried to dodge the attack but failed in the process and the energy arc struck the upper part of its tail. A clean-cut was made on the outside and an enormous amount of blood spilled in different directions.

    It screamed in pain, surprising Estella just when she was about to release the arrow. As a result, the aim was off and the cyan energy arrow flew towards the audience section.

    Before the teachers stop it, Azzy took the action as a part of his job. Raising his arm towards its path, he blasted a dark energy sphere.

    "Woah, that''s cool." As the energy sphere perfectly collided with the energy arrow and caused an explosion in the air, a student of seventh grade let out a squeal of delight, fangirling over Azzy, "Necromancer Prince is so cool."

    Meanwhile, the divine energy present in Claire''s attack invaded Leviathan''s body. Thankfully, it was too weak. So, the sea serpent managed to expel it while suffering a great deal of pain. The effect of the holy/divine energy on demonic beings like Leviathan is obviously a lot powerful, although no one, not even Claire or Estella knew why her normal injured the giant serpent greatly.

    Only Agatha, Leviathan, and the Reaper knew of the truth but they wouldn''t say it to their hosts either. Agatha doesn''t want Claire to know of the divine energy yet. The matter will get too complicated then. Leviathan doesn''t want her host or anyone to know that it had a demonic bloodline. As for the Reaper, his motive would go something along the lines of saving Azzy from getting sidetracked.

    Estella proceeded to use the healing skill card on her Arcana. Meanwhile, Claire poured more soul energy into her sword, which further created a giant energy sword over the blade. It was quite identical to that Leah.

    After sparring with her for two weeks, Claire somehow managed to pick it up and when she returned to Triastal, she practiced for three more days to perfect the technique. With the sword spirit becoming a platinum grade, somehow, it became a lot easier for her to master it.

    Back to the present, in just a few seconds, the sword became five meters long and a meter wide. Everyone saw a giant golden sword was descending towards the serpent, as Claire dived down, preparing to attack again, this time directly.

    Unfortunately for her, Estella was prepared this time.

    Not intending to get into disadvantage once again, the princess of Moon Clan gave out a quick order before the energy sword was even formed. "Levi, use soul skill: Draconic shield."

    Claire''s sword reached the upper end of its tail and she swung it with all her strength but to her surprise, when her sword hit the scales, nothing happened. In fact, her hand felt the tremor due to the rebound effect.

    Leviathan''s head rose higher, casting a shadow on Claire before it blasted huge volumes of water from its mouth. Naturally, Claire, who was being careful about getting attacked from behind by her opponent, sensed the attack and she flew to the side.

    With her superior speed, she managed to dodge the attack, frustrating Estella even more, "why isn''t it working? Dammit, her movements are too fast."

    "I need to think of something. How about..."

    Taking a deep breath, she pulled the string and used the remaining soul energy to create two energy arrows between her fingertips before adding water attribute to one of them and wind to other, aiming at the sky, instead of her opponent.

    *Swoosh* Swoosh*

    She released the arrows towards the sky much to the surprise of every spectator, including Claire who was attempting to slash the Leviathan''s skin once again only to get failed.

    As the arrows continued to fly higher, Estella no longer paid attention to them and took out a quiver from her storage card. The quiver was full of metal arrows with a blue crystal arrowhead and a few runes inscribed upon the tail. Those who had good vision managed to recognize the metal. It was Mythril, a metal that has penetrative properties.

    While they themselves couldn''t harm an Elite realm expert like Claire, if soul energy powered them up, then, it won''t be good news for her.

    Azzy inwardly frowned at her move. He wondered whether he should have banned the external weapons too. But then he remembered that skill cards aren''t different from external weapons. Had he done that, Claire wouldn''t have gotten a chance to use Holy Ground earlier. So, he felt it was fair.

    Estella took an arrow from her quiver and poured soul energy into it, powering it up before firing at Claire. The latter flapped her wings and dodged with ease before sensing an approach of another arrow. Claire dodged it once again.

    Looking at the scene, Azzy wondered why Estella is making her Arcana stay still when she was attacking. Is it perhaps difficult for her to shoot a target by standing on a moving object? If that''s the case, then, the first attack might be a fluke. Or maybe, her accuracy is limited to less distance.

    He continued to observe closely.

    Because of her rapid firing, Claire didn''t get a chance to counterattack and was just forced on dodging the arrows for a while until all of a sudden, raindrops started to fall from the sky.

    "Hmm?" Azzy sensed something strange about these raindrops falling on him. First, the rainfall is only restricted to a limited area, barely covering the field inside the Arena and not affecting the audience even a little bit.

    Two, Azzy felt that each raindrop feels a lot heavier like at least a hundred grams. And three, the temperature of the raindrop is quite cool like 5 to 10 Centigrade, considering it was April where the average temperature is around 25C.

    "Finally," Estella let out a wide smile and lowered her bow as she saw the rainfall. "It''s time to raise the altitude of the battlefield."

    "Levi, Raise." She ordered her Arcana to raise the height even further while taking out a recovery card to recover her soul power to full.

    Leviathan followed her order and stretched its body higher. With only one-eighth of its body on the ground, the Leviathan stands seven hundred feet tall, forcing Claire to fly higher after failing to injure the beast a couple of more times.

    By the time Claire reached the eye level of the sea serpent, Estella''s soul power recovered completely and she was ready with conjuring an energy arrow.

    "What the hell..." Claire''s expression changed as the raindrops suddenly turned into ice pieces and her body started to freeze.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 257: Agathas might

    As Claire''s body was slowly freezing in ice, Estella pulled the string along with the energy arrow between her fingertips. She let out a smirk, "since you are a tenth-grade student and also from a great background, you probably had heard about the advanced attributes which actually form because of two basic attributes. What you are now seeing the example of it."

    Claire frowned upon listening to her explanation. She remembered the two arrows Estella shoot at the sky, a while ago. "Wind and Water?"

    Claire naturally had the knowledge of the advanced attributes. Even a grade-5 student in the academy knows of it as it was in the syllabus. However, she was sure that one cannot merge two attributes and create an advanced attribute directly. They should have awakened an Arcana spirit with the advanced attribute in the first place, then, those special talented Arcana masters will be able to use the two attributes with ease just like the twin and set Arcana users.

    But, Estella owns the Leviathan, a water attribute beast. If Estella could use the wind attribute, then, she must be also a twin Arcana user or a very rare set Arcana user. If such the case, then, either her second Arcana spirit must be of wind attribute or the giant seal serpent must be a dual attribute one. Not only Claire but several higher realm experts also thought the same.

    "Is her second Arcana spirit, an Ice Attribute type just like my skeletal snow wolf?" Azzy wondered while staring at the sky.

    It was then he felt the raindrops on him. They were heavy but still, normal. "Strange. Chronos, why are those raindrops changed into icicles, up there but not here?" Having no idea, Azzy sought the help of Reaper.

    "She does have a second attribute as you think but it was just a wind attribute beast. But, this has nothing to do with it. Instead, this was the power of the little girl she was born with just like how you were born with the sight of seeing someone''s death." The Reaper answered him.

    "Eh? She can create ice?" Azzy felt amazed to see such a powerful unique passive skill. But then, the Reaper clarified his statement, "In a way, she can, but not out of anything. She would need external matter for that. Her unique ability is something else, it is the temperature. She can control it within some limits."

    "She can control the temperature?" Seriously?" Azzy felt this was even more overpowered than the last one. He took a glimpse at her once again and mumbled to himself, "no wonder she was confident of herself."

    Meanwhile, Claire used a bit of her soul energy and pushed away all the ice particles, freeing herself before another set of icicles fell on her body and started freezing once again, making her body stiff. This time, she felt not only the temperature in the surroundings became lower but the formation of ice is even faster. Thankfully, for some reason, her wings are unaffected.

    "It''s no use, Claire." Estella let out a smirk and released the arrow with wind attribute. It shot towards her very swiftly. Because her body is a little bit numb, Claire wasn''t confident in dodging the attack. So, she controlled one of her golden wings and turn towards the other side.

    The arrow hit the wing and pierced it, slightly grazing Claire''s shoulder before it stopped and disappeared. As a result, a few feathers were destroyed and a hole can be seen inside the wing.

    Claire sighed in relief and pushed the ice once again to become free only to get frozen once again.

    "Damn it." Estella gritted her teeth in frustration as this attack was also failed. After talking big, as she fails to deliver the results followed by it, Estella was naturally angered.

    "Okay, let''s see, how you will be saved, this time." As these small things were nothing to her opponent, she decided to go big. "Levi, soul skill: Stairway to Hell."

    As Leviathan''s eyes glowed, in an instant, Claire was literally stunned like a statue and suddenly started to fall down from the sky, losing her consciousness.

    Thinking that she was defeated, Azzy dashed forward to catch her but within just a couple of seconds, Claire stopped falling and appeared to be back to her consciousness quickly, except that her eyes were glowing in golden color. She glared at the beast and the one on top of it. Estella seemed surprised by the turn of events. Her eyes widened as she spoke to herself, "impossible. How did she escape the illusion, so quickly?"

    "It was her Arcana." A reply came into her head from the Leviathan. "This was a bad move."

    It was then Estella realized she made an extremely bad move but at the same time, she finally confirmed that Claire''s Arcana was indeed stronger than hers. Only a mutated platinum grade and higher grade Arcana spirits will be unaffected by the skill. Even normal platinum grade beasts need a lot of time to resist.

    "I usually don''t want to possess her but the situation is demanding it."

    Agatha who possessed Claire flew higher. Upon reaching the eye level of the Leviathan, the icicles once again started to hit her and tried to freeze her. However, unlike Claire, she looked confident. The soul energy gushed out of the body to form a golden bubble around her, blocking all the icicles. Since it was made purely out of energy, they weren''t able to affect the bubble.

    Pointing the sword at her, Agatha snorted, "little girl, you still have a long way to go."

    "Soul skill: Descent of the Heavenly Guardian."

    Upon unleashing her strongest skill, the sword disappeared from her hands and her aura thickened a lot. All of her soul energy was recovered and the hole in the golden wings was also repaired by itself.

    Estella drew her bow once again while the Leviathan charged forward towards the opponent.

    Agatha raised her hand. All of her soul power was consumed and a golden energy spear appeared above her head. Her soul power was instantly recovered to full while she threw a golden spear at the serpent.

    Estella shot the cyan-colored energy arrow at the incoming attack and nullified it, only to see another one is on its way. She hurriedly conjured another arrow and shoots it, only to see another one is on the way, which was blocked by Leviathan by blasting huge volumes of water at it along with the opponent.

    Agatha flapped her wings and dodged it and counterattacked with creating a golden rope this time.

    Upon creating the golden rope, she threw it towards Estella. The latter tried to destroy it with an energy arrow but the rope was flexible and its other end was also in the hands of Agatha.

    She made the rope dodge the arrow and took the attack head-on instead. With the instant recovery, the wound on her chest was recovered immediately while the golden rope successfully caught Estella''s leg.

    As soon as she was caught, Agatha threw her away lightly to separate the beast and its host.

    However, instead of trying to help out Estella who was about to crash onto the ground from nearly seven hundred feet high, Leviathan went after the enemy flying before it.

    Agatha shook her head with a sigh, "after being downgraded to platinum grade, you lost your intelligence."

    Leviathan naturally didn''t understand her words and wasn''t in the mood to think about it either.

    Upon reaching the enemy, it opened its mouth and tried to swallow her. And those who enter its stomach had their soul energy completely sucked away while their body will be burnt by the acids.

    But, it didn''t even get such an opportunity. This time, Agatha stretched her arms and created dozens of golden chains. The chains from the left hand closed its mouth and tightly captured it. Meanwhile, the chains from the right hand were stretched for hundred meters and captured the falling Estella before she summoned her second Arcana spirit to save herself.

    "Now, it''s time to end this battle."

    Her eyes glowed even brighter as she let all of the divine energy invade Leviathan''s body while at the same time, pulling up Estella with all her strength to swing at the other side with all her might.

    "Kyaa¡­" Estella couldn''t help but let out a high-pitched scream as her bow fell from her hands and she was moving against her will at a high speed.

    Before she reached the peak height of seven hundred feet, she hurriedly used energy eruption and freed herself, and started to free fall from five hundred feet this time.

    "Come out, Garuda." She screamed at top of her lungs.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 258: The prideful daughters of the heaven

    "Unfortunately, you won''t get to summon that hybrid." As soon as the chains were broken by Estella''s energy eruption, Agatha swiftly activated a sealing technique.

    All of a sudden, the second soul card that was just summoned on Estella''s side disappeared immediately along with the giant serpent that was suppressed because of divine energy that invaded its system.

    Meanwhile, Estella felt a huge suppression on her soul, more like on her soul orb, sealing her soul power completely. Her expression completely changed to fright because of the sudden change of events and she started to scream while falling towards the ground. She seriously felt like she was going to die.

    Obviously, Agatha won''t let her fall to death. Before Azzy even put forward his step, she quickly summoned one of the sacred pillars from the silver city and pierced her body.

    Strangely, it didn''t harm her but instead, it passed through her and pierced the ground, leaving her suspended in mid-air. Everything except for her head was inside the pillar and as a result, she couldn''t move an inch no matter what she tries. Perhaps, the only good thing that came out of this is how her panic was reduced a lot and now, she was trying to communicate with her Arcana spirits to break the chains on her soul orb and get free.

    Looking at her, Agatha dived down to her eye level and spoke, "no use of struggling, little girl. The moment you forced me to possess my host is when the match is already decided. Now, you are left with only one choice. Accept the defeat and then, apologize on your knees later."

    "No, I won''t¡­ Argh¡­" Estella didn''t give up on getting free from this trap. She continued to struggle but to no avail.

    It was at that moment everyone saw Azzy quickly dash forward without giving any warning.

    "Hmm, what is he doing?" A frown appeared on Agatha''s face as she looked at him.

    "Soul skill: Spear of Death."

    A dark appeared in Azzy''s hand and he pierced it with all his strength upon receiving the suggestion from the Reaper.

    The sacred pillar, which was the pride of the Silver City cracked like glass upon the contact of the death spear and disappeared a few seconds later, freeing Estella.

    "Kyaaa" Estella once again started to scream as she resumed to free fall. Azzy pushed his leg against the ground and jumped high, catching her in mid-air. Estella''s eyes fell on Azzy as she put his arms around his neck in reflex.

    As they were slowly landing on the ground, she just stared at his face as if she was lost in something.

    Upon landing on the ground, Azzy raises his head to stare at Agatha for a while in silence. While he looked indifferent as before, for some reason, she felt he was serious or maybe angry?

    Azzy then announced, "Student Estella is no condition to battle. However, student Claire broke the rules. Hence, the match is declared as void."

    The frown on Agatha deepened as she flapped her wings and dived down. Estella was even more stunned than others. Was he siding with her instead of his girlfriend?

    Landing on the ground, Agatha opened her mouth, "Inheritor of Death, you shouldn''t have interfered with the match."

    Naturally, she wasn''t pleased that the sacred pillar was destroyed, although she knew that the death energy has the power to destroy the sacred pillars of heaven. Moreover, the spear of death was made purely of 99% death energy and 1% Protos energy.

    Of course, there was a weakness to the Death spear too. It is only one time attack. If there are several sacred pillars like how Agatha used to contain the Draco Galarian, Azzy would have to depend on other attacks.

    "Inheritor of Death?" Estella immediately come to her senses as soon as she heard it. She looked at Azzy curiously. But, her attention wasn''t much longer on it.

    Azzy, on the other hand, calmly replied to Agatha, "As a referee, I need to interfere when rules are broken. You have used a forbidden sealing technique on student Estella. Decarune seal can only be used against heinous criminals, not in a friendly sparring match. Release her, right now."

    For a moment, she forgot her situation but Azzy''s words remembered her that she was forcefully turned into a mortal, hopefully temporary. At the same time, her rage rose abruptly. It is a forbidden seal used against criminals? How dare she treat her that way? Does Agatha/Claire think she doesn''t have any powerful trump cards in her arsenal? There are even rank-8 and rank-9 skill cards in her storage card that are pre-activated.

    Agatha then said, "I will not unless she kneels and begs for it."

    "It wasn''t in the terms," Azzy argued back. Even though it was Claire''s Arcana spirit, he can''t agree with her demand. Moreover, there are dozens of spectators around.

    "Beg?" Estella who was silent opened her mouth and made the situation even worse. "Who do you think I am?"

    The Decarune seal only sealed her soul orb up to rank-1 but not her soul energy. She could still summon her storage card and take out the skill cards. And she did exactly the same.

    Estella didn''t even hesitate to take out an eight-star skill card from her storage card. The stars are even silver in color, meaning, their power will be around mid-rank-8 to high-rank-8 level. Even Azzy was taken aback by her sudden move.

    "Remove these seals on my soul orb or else, I will be forced to use this." Estella threatened her with a powerful skill card that was given by her clan for safety.

    Agatha snorted in response, "even a heavenly genius would need at least three seconds to unleash that skill. In that time¡­"

    She stopped talking in the middle and instantly created a golden energy spear. "My spear will pierce your heart more than ten times."

    "Oh, yeah? Then, try it and see if you manage to stay alive¡­" Estella went on to pour the soul energy into the pre-activated skill card. Agatha didn''t back down either. She gripped her spear tightly, waiting for the last moment to see her opponent''s resolve.

    If Estella really planned to kill her, then, she wouldn''t wait for it and destroy her enemy.

    Azzy and the others felt the situation is turning worse as both of them seem to be very serious.

    Just as Azzy was about to make his move to stop both of the girls, a shout was heard all over the Arena. "What''s going on here?"

    Sahara could no longer sit around in the stands and flew towards them. Like others, she was interested to see Estella''s prowess but who could have expected Claire would stun her with her performance.

    Everyone stared at the sky. With a serious expression on her face, the Vice Principal flew towards them and landed beside Azzy.

    The three of them greeted her with a slight bow, to which the latter looked at the both of them, and ordered them in a stern tone, "This is an academy, not a battleground. Drop your weapons."

    Estella argued back, "then, you tell her to remove the seal on my soul orb."

    "You sent Claire''s soul to an illusion world where even I can''t easily bring her back." Agatha was ready to summon all of the sacred pillars to make sure even Azzy can''t break them. She further said, "Unless you apologize, I will not let this slide."

    "It was my power." Estella didn''t admit defeat. Now, her skill card was ready to be unleashed. Of course, she wasn''t a fool to commit a murder in daylight and that too, a royal. She was just using it as a threat. If Claire/Agatha will be adamant about not releasing her soul orb, then, Estella would take the help of her clan.

    When Estella said that she was in her right to use her power against Claire in however he wants, Agatha replied to her that it was her power to seal her soul orb too. She was the spirit of the sword of St. Michael, the strongest Angel. Her pride is several levels greater than even Estella''s. Why would she listen to her nonsense?

    "Calm down¡­" Seeing that the girls are not backing down, Sahara roared at them in anger and released her high-rank-7 aura to pressure them. Were they even giving her respect?

    A tremendous amount of aura pressed down the three of them. The Reaper quickly nullified the effect of aura on Azzy. While Agatha was almost on her knees and trying to resist it, Estella, whose soul power was restricted to below 10, let out a scream before fainting right away.

    Due to the non-usage of the card for several seconds, the activated skill card dispersed into tiny fragments of energy, then, disappeared into thin air.

    "Stop it, Ms. Fauns." Azzy immediately intervened, surprising everyone including Sahara herself, and then calmly said, "I''m the referee. Let me handle the situation. Please take back the aura."

    Without talking to Agatha, he just walked towards the unconscious Estella and placed his hands almost an inch away from her back, and closed his eyes.

    Soul energy escaped his hands and slowly formed a decagon-shaped seal with the images of Aries, Taurus, and so on up to Capricorn at each vertex. "Decarune Seal, unseal."

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 259: Claire returns from illusion realm

    "Inheritor of Death, you really intend to take the side of a stranger over your loved one?" Agatha felt like her pride was wounded upon seeing Azzy rescue Estella once again. If not for the fact that she sensed the presence of the Reaper, she wouldn''t have hesitated to attack him for being preposterous.

    Usually, one''s Arcana spirit influences their host''s personality a lot. While Claire didn''t inherit any arrogance or pride, she still received her violent/aggressive side from Agatha.

    To her accusation, Azzy calmly responded with two statements, "First of all, you aren''t my loved one, Claire is. This action of yours is independent of her decision. And second, even if it''s Claire, I would still do the same thing because I''m the referee here. A referee needs to be impartial at all times."

    For a brief amount of time, Agatha stared at him in silence. Meanwhile, Sahara (Vice Principal) and Estella started to wonder why she''s addressing Azzy by such a thing? Is it because of his powerful Necromancy skills or is it something else?

    Estella who was from a hidden clan couldn''t help but think of the Death Clan when she heard it. She was also well aware of the ancient history between the hidden clans, more specifically the close relation between their clans. But then, she threw the thought away considering Azzy doesn''t have any surname, clearly indicating that he is a commoner. Maybe, he doesn''t know his clan? She wondered.

    Agatha opened her mouth, "Currently, I don''t possess the power to fight you. This is the reason, I''m going to accept the verdict."

    Without waiting for his reply, she returned to the mindscape, letting the unconscious Claire fall. Azzy quickly caught her, "Claire."

    While Agatha''s words deeply etched in Sahara''s mind, Estella turned around to walk away after informing him that the effect only lasts for one hour on average. She didn''t even thank him for helping her out but Azzy didn''t mind her behavior as he never expected it either.

    He then carried her to the infirmary while chatting with the Reaper on dispelling the illusion on her. Since he wasn''t sure when Estella turns into a real enemy in the future, Azzy felt that he needed to prepare in case it happens again.

    "It''s not much of a big deal for me but this wasn''t a simple illusion that blocked her senses. Her soul itself was trapped in an illusion realm. If I were to forcefully drag her, it might harm her instead." The Reaper didn''t recommend Azzy to save her and he even further said that it might be a good experience for Claire against the illusion attacks.

    Meanwhile, Claire was in an intense battle against her most formidable opponent inside the illusion realm. The surroundings around her perfectly resembled the Royal Training grounds at Camelot while her opponent is Leah who was killing her over and over again.

    It is similar to Uphiar''s soul skill where a person dragged into the illusion realm will resurrect over and over again until the objective was completed. And here, Claire''s current objective is to win against Leah and get outside. Thankfully for her, she experienced Uphiar''s illusion regularly during her classes. So, she wasn''t feeling any panic while being trapped here. Perhaps, the only thing that''s still troubling her is the result of her match with Estella.

    If she loses the match, then, no doubt, she will be humiliated by kneeling in front of her. On top of that, she wasn''t sure whether her Arcana spirit possessed her body or not. She was hoping it would be the case but there wasn''t any hint for her to confirm it. For now, all she could is to try harder and leave the place as soon as possible.

    "Soul skill: Amalgamation of Ice and Fire."

    "Ice." Leah started to freeze her entire surroundings. Claire faced it numerous times and is extremely familiar with the attack. However, the only issue here is that she cannot use materialistic things like skill cards or even use soul skills in an illusion realm. So, she had to look for an alternative solution.

    Flapping her wings, Claire flew higher and dodged the freezing before Leah started to attack with multiple bursts of flames that are erupting from the ground nonstop.

    In order to not get injured accidentally, Claire improved her defenses by supplying soul energy continuously to all of her body''s vitals and created dazzling golden energy armor over her.

    "Fire" "Fire" "Fire" "Fire"

    As the fake Leah continued to attack Claire, the latter discovered one more new thing about this realm. The opponent will have an unlimited amount of soul energy. This made it a far powerful technique compared to Uphiar''s.

    "What should I do now?" Not only does Claire feel hard to dodge the flame bursts but also covers the distance between her and Leah for close combat. The real Leah might have held back very much but this Leah doesn''t. While she couldn''t use any techniques that Leah hadn''t used against Claire so far, Leah still could move following the instincts. As for how that works, unfortunately, even Estella doesn''t have an answer for that.

    Upon realizing that she can''t close the distance not until these flames bursts run out, Claire only focused on dodging them. It went on like fifteen minutes before the freezing flame bursts disappeared and Claire instantly flew towards Leah while swinging her sword vertically at empty air, creating a wide energy attack in the shape of an arc.

    However, before she even saw the result, her consciousness blanked out and her surroundings changed to that of an infirmary where she found herself on the bed. Her left hand was in Azzy''s hand while the latter''s eyes seemed to be closed at the moment.

    "I guess, I was lost." Disappointment filled Claire as she saw her surroundings and let out a sigh. It was then, she found Azzy. "Rael?" She slowly opened her mouth.

    Azzy quickly stopped absorbing the solar energy and opened his eyes, "you are back."

    "The match, did I lose?" Claire wanted to confirm from Azzy''s own mouth. To her surprise, her boyfriend shook her head, "No, it was a draw."

    "Eh?" Claire was taken aback. She wondered whether Azzy stopped the match due to her unconscious state. Agatha who was quietly staying in the mindscape then complained to her, "No, we actually won but your loved one over there sided with your enemy and nulled the result. Sometimes, I really don''t get humans. Despite knowing that the world is unfair, they always talk about fairness. The line between good and evil is always thin but these humans keep trying to stay on that line and cannot bear the people who stand one side."

    Even now, Agatha still can''t accept the result of the match for she knew it was her win.

    Azzy didn''t know what''s going on in Claire''s mind but he didn''t spare any details. Upon hearing everything from her Arcana spirit and her boyfriend about the same thing, she sided with her Arcana spirit and asked Azzy, "I don''t get it. What''s wrong with Agatha summoning the sacred pillar from the heavens or this mysterious forbidden seal against my opponent? It''s not as if that arrogant girl will die from them, right?"

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 260: Gideon and Estella

    While Claire might not know completely about her Arcana, she at least knew that Agatha is originally a Celestial grade and had a part of her strength being sealed away by Archangel Michael himself before she awakened as Claire''s Arcana.

    From the divine sword spirit, she also learned a little bit about Celestial grade spirits. Unlike the lower grade spirits, their memories won''t be erased even after rebirth.

    Agatha is the one that gave her hope of defeating Leah in the future once she makes a breakthrough to the Exalt realm and breaks the remaining seal to unlock her full potential.

    It is the reason why she felt Agatha must be right if she was forced to use such powerful techniques against a human. Her negative feelings for Estella made her think that she deserved the punishment too.

    Azzy was stumped for a second as he didn''t expect Claire couldn''t understand his view. But, he didn''t dwell on it for more than a few seconds and explained to her properly, "It was a friendly match, Claire. If it is a real battle, then, it wouldn''t matter."

    Feeling that his girlfriend doesn''t seem to be satisfied with his simple explanation, Azzy lectured her, "Moreover, your Arcana spirit is quite reckless. Using such heaven-defying techniques in the public will bring the attention of several unknown people. What will you do if some Supreme Realm expert decided to abduct you to extract that technique of sealing other people''s soul orbs? What will you do if the Angels sitting in the heavens will get angered?

    Because of your Arcana spirit''s actions, I had to reveal that I not only possess the knowledge of the forbidden technique but also have the power to destroy the sacred pillar. Even though the sacred pillar will repair itself later, both of us might draw the attention of the Angels. And how their reaction will be like, we aren''t sure yet. People might even think twice before touching you because of your birth in the royal family but for me, who knows. You know what happened in the last year."

    Claire fell silent after hearing everything. She felt like she harmed Azzy instead. After all, she was responsible for the actions of her Arcana spirit. She clearly remembered the invasion of Aethon Light and his aides. If not for a few people protecting Azzy, the soul of her boyfriend would have probably left to the spirit world.

    "Sorry." In the end, she apologized to him.

    Azzy felt a little bit guilty while saying those words to Claire as he doesn''t want her to be feeling sorry for him or anything. But, still, he felt like he needed to remind her that sometimes, people needed to stay low unless they have the power to protect themselves from the possible danger created by their actions.

    Feeling that he was too harsh, he quickly thought of something and spoke softly, "Thankfully, most of the spectators were of the lower realm and probably don''t have any idea of what happened there. So, I think it''s better to be careful the next time. In fact, you don''t need to resort to using forbidden techniques to defeat Estella. Her Arcana spirit Leviathan has a demonic bloodline. So, instead of flying, if you just had used Holy Ground from the start¡­"

    Claire''s eyes widened in realization, "I would have suppressed the beast with ease. That''s right. My golden energy spears heavily injured it until Estella used her soul skill and hardened her defense. I just need to drag the match a bit longer then."

    Claire didn''t know that Leviathan has a demonic bloodline. If she knew it beforehand, she would have used Holy ground from the start. After all, she knew her power more than anyone. At the very least, that''s what she believed.

    For a long time, Claire never understood why her sword has divine power when it was a gold grade and why she could heal very much faster compared to her peers. Her mother only said she was blessed by the Heavens but never gave the proper reason. It was only after Agatha''s consciousness was released from the seal she finally got to know the reason behind her abnormal recovery rate. It was only then, almost everything became clear.

    Of course, there are other things she was puzzled like why Agatha was sealed by her former master, why she had to resurrect, why she has chosen her in the first place, why one of the seals was broken during the fight, or why is it that she can''t teach her how to summon the sacred pillars. In any case, Claire was glad to have an Arcana spirit that can possess her body in case she gets knocked out during the battle.

    Having enough time for lunch, the couple returned to the cafeteria. Obviously, they attracted the attention of everyone around them. Only that the meaning behind their gazes was different this time.

    Claire felt the gazes filled with admiration from all the sides with the news about her Arcana spirit spread like wildfire in just fifteen-twenty minutes. Thankfully, Azzy and Claire were used to the attention, so, they didn''t care much and stood in line.

    Maybe, Estella was feeling embarrassed to face the public or maybe, she was just angry. For whatever reason, she didn''t eat lunch or go to the dorm. Instead, she returned to Class Zero''s exclusive training facility at training grounds-1.

    Upon finishing the lunch, Azzy planned to go to the Disciplinary Hall. However, due to the lack of time, he could only return to the classroom with Claire.

    By the time both of them returned, none of them were in the classroom and everyone was making full use of the break time and roaming all over the training facility. The training rooms were nothing new for Azzy. So, he calmly took his seat in the middle of the first row. Claire also followed the suit as there were only five minutes left for the afternoon classes anyway.

    Soon, the bell rang, and one after another, the students of class zero return and took the seats randomly.

    "Get lost, you vermin," A familiar tone filled with annoyance was heard at the entrance of the hall and Claire glanced from the corner of her eyes. She nudged Azzy and gestured him to look.

    As Azzy also took a glimpse in the direction where his girlfriend is pointing towards, he found Gideon seemed to be mixed into the group of three exchange students from the main branch. He doesn''t know what this six-foot guy did, but it looked like he received a hit from Estella, considering how he was clutching his stomach. Surprisingly, Giden was apologizing to him, instead of Estella. Azzy wondered why.

    Meanwhile, Gideon spotted his friends sitting together.

    "Azzy," As soon as Gideon spotted Azzy, he abandoned the three of them and rushed to him before taking his seat and head locking friendly, "Bro, you never told me that you got 2nd rank in the second semester."

    "Eh? Second?" Claire was the first to react. "What nonsense you are spouting?"

    What second rank? Azzy wasn''t even in the top 30 in his grade.

    Maybe, Gideon was influenced by the battle between her and Estella. He flinched in reflex but was able to calm himself down and clarified before this violent woman take action, "I only meant the second semester."

    "Oh, that means, my hard work paid off." Leah widely smiled in satisfaction. After all, she tutored him for two weeks before the annual examinations.

    "What hard work? He would have scored even higher even if he had studied alone." Gideon mumbled to himself.

    "What did you say?" She abruptly turned her head to glare at him.

    "Nothing," Gideon looked away only to find Estella stopped before him. "Hmm?"

    She stared at him and Azzy intently for a few seconds and fell into thoughts. "I was humiliated quite a few times already. Why should I risk it again? But, if I maintain the distance, that''s the same as admitting the defeat to Claire. No way, that''s the last thing I want to do¡­"

    In the end, she decided on taking the seat beside Gideon instead of telling him to get lost or sitting far away from the couple.

    Unfortunately, Gideon who pretty much falls for every pretty girl misunderstood it and his eyes lit up, "Estella, you want to sit beside me? hahaha, I knew you would want to..."

    "Shut up."  Her face darkened as she interrupted him before taking out the card creation instruction manual for the next class.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 261: Azzy to mentor Flora

    "Since we are already acquainted with each other, let''s get right into the subject." Vice-Principal Sahara started her class while everyone else went silent. Unlike the other classes, all the students in class zero are geniuses and weren''t the type to fool around when it comes to Arcana studies. So, the class wasn''t disturbed in any way.

    "The students of grade 9 and grade 10 were already familiar with the card creation. So, you guys will mentor your juniors in the upcoming weeks in my class." Sahara took out a list and announced the teams after giving a brief introduction regarding the card creation.

    "Student Glenn," Sahara first called out a name. A ten-year-old girl stood up from her seat. She used to be a student of the Torkai city branch of Eternal Institutions. The city was only 60 kilometers away from Aclein. So, she or her parents also had no problem with transferring.

    "Your partner will be student Claire." As she stated the name of her teammate, Glenn who seemed nervous broke out into a smile. With Claire''s popularity suddenly boomed due to her Arcana''s grade, Glenn was completely satisfied. Not to mention, she''s also a healer with a light attribute. In her eyes, it was a jackpot.

    "Yes." She cheerfully replied to her.

    Sahara continued with the list. "Student Copper of Grade-5 will pair up with student Calder of Grade-10."

    "Student Stephanus of Grade-3 will pair up with student Adam of Grade-9"

    "Student Annabel of Grade-8 will pair up with student Mia Leveret of Grade-10."

    "Student Larch of Grade-8 will pair up with student Lark Sandrou of Grade-9."

    "Student Rain Nightingale of Grade-7 will pair up with student Gideon of Grade-9."

    "Student Raven Passel of Grade-6 will pair up with student Louis of Grade-9."

    "Student Flora of Grade-4 will pair up with student Estella Moon of Grade-9."

    "Student Anner Light of Grade-4 will pair up with student Azrael of Grade-9."

    "A total of nine teams. You won''t be partners for just this class. Along with card creation, even in the other Arcana studies, the seniors must mentor their junior partners, although you will have special instructors. Of course, if you want to change your partners because of any valid reason, you can always talk to your homeroom teacher." Sahara only created partners on the basis of their attributes and gender.

    With the female number higher, only Azzy turned out to be an exception but still, she was only 8. As long as Azzy isn''t a pedophile, she could trust her with him. Moreover, she was the granddaughter of a peak-rank-8 expert who saved Azzy from the royal ancestor.

    Sahara thought Azzy wouldn''t treat her badly too. However, she never expected Azzy to state his objection right away. "Ms. Fauns, I would like to mentor Flora instead."

    "Eh?" Everyone immediately turned their attention towards him upon hearing his statement. Before anyone else reply, he further spoke, giving out his reasons, "Flora''s elder sister used to be the Vice President of our Disciplinary committee. I think I''m more comfortable with mentoring her. Not to mention, she is a commoner. I think classmate Estella will probably be more comfortable with student Anner than Flora."

    Azzy didn''t hide his reasoning for choosing Flora. Just like he said, he wanted to look after Flora not only because of her elder sister Matilda but also because of Estella. He already saw her nature. With someone like her who thinks of herself above everyone, he wasn''t confident on whether she would be able to mentor Flora properly.

    Anner''s face darkened while surprising the little girl who is sitting beside the grandniece of the King.

    Sahara thought for a second and asked the girl, "Student Flora, if you are ok with this arrangement, I will change the pairings."

    "I..." Flora glanced at Anner. She could clearly see her friend was disappointed by the rejection. However, getting mentored by Azzy is a rare opportunity. And she also had a bad opinion of Estella. She let on to wonder whether there''s even a possibility that this upper-grade arrogant girl will look after her. On the other hand, her friend had a great background. No one dares to mistreat her.

    As she fell into a dilemma, Anner tugged her skirt and nodded slowly.

    Flora accepted Azzy''s offer.

    "Good." Sahara nodded and announced the new pairings without even asking the opinions of Estella and Anner. She thought if they had a problem with it, then, they can say it at any time. The pairings can also be changed in the future. So, it isn''t a big deal. Moreover, Azzy is the superstar of the academy and is like a family to her, considering he is the disciple of her husband. So, she can be a little biased.

    "Okay, please sit according to your teams."

    Within a few moments, the seating arrangement has been changed. While the obsessive girlfriend could no longer sit beside Azzy, as Estella sat even far away from Azzy, she was satisfied with that. Despite having an upper hand due to the divine energy, Claire knew that Estella didn''t get the chance to give her all by summoning her second Arcana spirit. So, she won''t take her lightly.

    Unless clear domination was established, Claire thought she will have to be on alert at all times, trying to protect her relationship.

    Maybe, it was because she was the one that proposed to him first, or maybe, it''s just her insecurity suddenly rose due to Estella''s strength. For whatever reason, there was still a hint of tiny suspicion left in her heart.

    It was only after Azzy stole Estella''s supposed mentee in front of everyone without bothering to ask her permission, the last bit of suspicion has been removed from Claire''s heart and she eased up.

    The class continued with Sahara started with giving a brief introduction about the author.

    "Before we start, let me tell you a thing or two about the guidebook you were informed to purchase beforehand from the academy''s store." She lifted the book.

    "Hector''s guide to Card Creations"

    "Hector Magnolis is one of the greatest card creators who lived in the fourth Epoch (60000+ years ago). Although he died very young at the age of forty, nonetheless, his contributions to the creations of skill cards are worth remembering for life. If any of you aimed to become a card master in the future, never forget his name." Sahara''s serious expression states that she respects this author very highly as she was asking her students to do the same if they were to walk in her steps. In everyone''s eyes, she felt like nothing more than a fanatic.

    Azzy couldn''t help but remember the two sisters of the Magnolis family. He wondered whether he was their ancestor.

    It was then the newly admitted eight-year-old Stephanus raised his hand and asked, "Teacher, what is a card master?"

    The students nearby glanced at him from the corner of their eyes as the question was quite foolish but they quickly withdrew their attention upon remembering that he was the youngest.

    Estella let out a snort as she crossed her arms, "the one who makes the cards. Don''t need to disturb the class with such questions, kid."

    Everyone naturally frowned upon hearing her response, especially her haters who don''t like her attitude.

    Claire, who was one of them, gave a fitting response, "half-knowledge always brings harm to oneself and others, Junior. Just like not everyone will become a master swordsman just because they wield a sword, not everyone who makes the cards will not become a card master. Certain requirements need to be fulfilled before one can call themselves a card master."

    "Yes, student Claire is right." Sahara agreed with her, bringing a change of facial expression on Estella once again.

    She continued, "However, the requirements are quite different from other professions. There are four stages of a card master, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert, and Supreme.

    First stage: Beginner. This is where all of you are right now except for one student."

    Everyone immediately glanced at Azzy who received the highest marks during the previous year''s annual examinations. Although the rankings were done according to grades, they still took the examinations of practical Arcana subjects, together.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 262: Fusion skill card

    "Student Mia," Sahara called out Mia''s name, surprising everyone. "You are an intermediate Card Master, so, in my class, you will be the monitor."

    "Yes." Mia calmly nodded and took her seat. She didn''t know how much of a surprise she gave to her friends. None of the students, not even Azzy thought of her when the vice principal hinted one of them is an intermediate card master.

    Of course, Azzy knew the regulations to become one. So, unlike others, he didn''t think of himself but thought someone from the transfer students might be the one. How in the world did Mia become one without him knowing?

    Even if Mia doesn''t tell him, it''s fine. Then, what about Claire? She''s Mia''s best friend, right? Wouldn''t she know of it beforehand? If that''s the case, then, Claire kept it as a secret from him? Maybe, Mia asked her to do so?

    Several thoughts appeared in Azzy''s mind and he turned her head to see his girlfriend only to realize that she was also shocked just like others.

    According to the regulations of the Card Master Council, to become an intermediate Card master, not only one has to demonstrate the skill of creating four-star skill cards in all the seven attributes but also create three item cards such as message cards, flying cards, and storage cards of at least Bronze grade.

    Once they were able to fulfill the requirements, all they have to take a test at Card Master Council and gain the two-star badge from the council. The certificate from this world organization is usually considered as an official status.

    While Azzy passed the exam with flying colors by rapidly creating gold-star skill cards of four-star level, he wasn''t as proficient in creating other attribute cards as Mia. Unlike her, he was also bad at creating item cards too. It is the reason he was still at the beginner stage like others.

    Sahara continued with giving demonstrations of some of the known skill cards after providing each student with hundred blank cards. All of them are bronze-plated. So, only one-star to three-star skill cards can be created on them. Along with them, low-grade item cards can also be made.

    "My attribute is fire." Sahara created a two-star fireball before everyone just like on the first day of the previous academic years. "Before you think of creating other attributes, concentrate on your attribute.

    The basic skill cards are usually created just by pouring soul energy into the card, although you need to control it. To do that, the focus is very much required. Now, do as I say¡­"

    As instructed, Flora placed a blank card on the desk before placing the palm on it. She gathered all of her soul energy and poured into it to create a two-star skill card instead of starting with one-star. The overall soul power is only number 292 but Azzy was surprised by the density of soul energy erupting out of her palm.

    It can''t be compared to his but it was still dense enough for her to almost lose her control over it as she was trying to contain all the soul energy into the card.

    "This¡­" Azzy''s eyes widened as he saw the pure white energy. "Ice attribute? Is it why Estella was originally assigned to her as the mentor?"

    Then, his eyes shifted to her face. She was gritting her teeth and her entire arm is trembling.

    He remembered how his first day went in the academy. He blew up the roof due to the lack of control.

    Azzy pointed his finger and quickly sent a wisp of his soul energy towards the blank card to destroy her soul energy before it explodes.

    A wisp of his dark soul energy worth only 100 soul power entered the blank card and got contacted with the out-of-control white energy. To both of their surprise, instead of destroying it, both of them merged to form an image of black snow on the card. On its back, two silver stars appeared.

    "Eh?" Flora was taken aback to see the image. She never saw or heard of black snow in her life and thought it was amazing. After all, she succeeded on her first try and the result turned out to be something different from others. Is she a talented card master?

    "Teacher," the little girl raised the card and called Sahara out of excitement. For a moment, she completely had forgotten Azzy''s existence and showed off her success to the whole class. Despite feeling exhaustion because of low soul energy, she was in high spirits and waved the skill card as the vice principal walked to her desk to inspect the card closely upon seeing the black snow image on the card.

    Her friend and rival, Anner''s face darkened and she proceeded to recover her soul energy and try again.

    Meanwhile, Sahara reached the desk and took the card from Flora''s hands in curiosity. Upon observing closely, a frown appeared on her face as she asked the little girl, "Student Flora, is your attribute dark?"

    Flora shook her head in confusion. Her attribute is water.

    Azzy opened his mouth, "Ms. Fauns, it''s a fusion skill card."

    "Fusion skill card? What is that?" Flora and other lower-grade students wondered.

    "I see. No wonder." Sahara nodded and gave the card back to Flora and said, "It looked like you got a compatible mentor."

    "Huh?" Flora didn''t get what she meant.

    Seeing the confusion in Flora, Sahara explained, "Basically, you created a skill card with student Azrael''s assistance. Because of the compatibility, they merged to form a new skill card, which has the properties of both of your soul energies.

    Usually, one normally uses elemental crystals to create a dual or multi-attribute skill card but they can''t be compared to the merging of two soul energies of different Arcana masters."

    "Oh!" Flora''s eyes lit up in delight. It was then she finally shifted her attention towards Azzy. "Senior, when did you assist me?" She asked.

    "When your energy is going to get out of control," Azzy replied calmly despite being surprised himself. After all, it was a miracle to find such a strong soul energy that was able to withstand his corruptive and destructive death energy.

    "Cool¡­" Flora looked like she was ecstatic and turned her attention towards the card before admiring it. She was thinking of boasting to her elder sister, later.

    Sahara then warned her, "Unlike other skill cards, Fusion skill cards have risks due to the presence of different soul energies. Even the user might be harmed if handled wrongly. So, it''s best to be careful. Never use such cards without your mentor monitoring you."

    Flora got a little bit taken aback by the warning. Nevertheless, she nodded and put the card aside to recover her soul energy.

    Before she returned to the stage, Sahara gave a suggestion while the little girl was recovering her soul energy, "student Flora, first, focus on creating 1-star cards before trying for the higher rank."

    At that time, Flora nodded. But, once Sahara returned to the stage, she turned towards Azzy and asked, "Senior, how can one improve their control over soul energy? I can''t control the consumption of soul power to that of rank-1."

    "Hmm?" Azzy stared back at her in silence. It was in fact, the toughest question for him.

    Flora felt nervous while wondering whether she had asked a stupid question. "Nevermind," she turned her attention to the desk to place the card and try for the next card creation.

    As she slowly poured the soul energy into the blank card, Azzy opened his mouth, "I did it by rigorously training of soul energy''s usage over and over to improve my control."

    "Ah, I see. Thanks," Flora was embarrassed a little bit. She finally remembered how Azzy used to be famous for not being able to control his energy despite being an eighth-grade student.

    Because the Champions League is where only the strong geniuses appear, the lack of controlling one''s power is not a bit of a problem. Believing that he is the last person to ask the question, she shifted her focus to the blank card.

    Meanwhile, Azzy took a couple of fire crystals out of his storage card and placed them on the desk.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 263: Anners choice for new partner

    Fire: Fireball

    Water: Stream of water

    Lightning: Speedster

    Earth: Rocky Armor

    Wind: Air Float

    Light: Healing

    Dark: Night

    "Okay, let''s do with the ones that I''m familiar with, first," Azzy mumbled to himself while reading the guidebook or instruction manual that had the brief descriptions about the known skill cards that are usually found in the card stores.

    Unlike the other skills, these seven of them usually don''t need any kind of mental skills or dense soul energy. All one needs is either sufficient soul energy with the ability to add an attribute to it or just corresponding elemental crystals to create them.  In modern terms, these skills are called default cards.

    There''s an additional condition, which is that the maximum soul power consumption must be equal to or less than 999 i.e. lower than rank-4. Of course, one can still create higher-rank skill cards using more soul power. However, one might need a high level of concentration for that.

    Because of complete absorption talent, Azzy only took out a couple of fire crystals that are bought from a local card store. They were deep scarlet in color and each crystal is about the size of his hand.

    He placed his left hand on the blank card and his right hand on one of the crystals. "Absorb."

    In an instant, all the fire energy was absorbed into his body, leaving behind nothing but powder. However, Azzy didn''t refine it and instead, redirected the energy from his other palm towards the blank card. Since he wasn''t a fire attribute user, it was the only way he could create a fireball skill card.

    After pouring all the fire energy, Azzy felt it wasn''t enough for a three-star one, so, he absorbed the second crystal too. Soon, the image of fireball appeared on the front of the blank card with three silver-colored stars on the back.

    "Good, now, let''s go for the next one."

    One after another, Azzy created three-star skill cards of different attributes with the help of elemental crystals. After a year of practice, Azzy didn''t face an issue creating those cards. Of course, that was the case for only up to three-star. After all, lower rank cards just need him to redirect the energy into the card and make sure the inserted energy doesn''t go out of control.

    However, from four-star and above cards are entirely different for him. On his own, Azzy couldn''t do four-star cards of Healing and Air float skills.

    His master Barton, who looked after his training from time to time during the past year thought that it has mainly due to his attribute relationships like his lightning is weak against wind and his dark is opposite of light, but the truth is that Azzy just wasn''t interested in card creation in the first place as in his view, death energy is the real force behind his skill card. What is the use of creating other attribute skill cards? It''s a waste of time for him.

    That''s why, despite having talent, apart from creating laughing skulls, Azzy didn''t put much hard work into card creation.

    "Senior, help me," suddenly, a piercing cry was heard from the corner of the classroom, disturbing his concentration and forcing him to reabsorb the wind energy from the blank card and turn in the direction. The others also halted their work for a moment.

    It was none other than Estella and Anner. The little girl has this panic expression on her face as her soul energy is about to go out of control and is on the verge of exploding. On the other hand, Estella was busy with her own card creation, not paying even a little bit of attention to the one who sat beside her and behaving as if she was alone.

    *Boom*

    The card exploded, releasing a thousand joules of energy. Just as Sahara was about to make a move, a portal suddenly appears behind her seat and suck her inside before disappearing and reappearing a few meters away along with her seat.

    "Eh?" Anner looked around herself, widening her eyes in surprise as she found herself right beside the Vice-principal on the stage. The other students were also looking at her in surprise. Meanwhile, Estella blocked the explosion with a palm. It was only rank-2 strength. So, for a peak-rank-5 like her, it isn''t worth noting.

    However, her reaction brought a frown on Sahara. She immediately berated her, "student Estella, I believed that I told you to look after mentee. If you don''t want to mentor her, you should have rejected it earlier. Thankfully, student Louis saved her, or else, student Anner would have been heavily injured."

    Usually, a person like her who possesses two platinum grade Arcana will be treated like a princess even in Dragon Academy. However, Sahara didn''t treat her that way because her academy where she poured sweat and blood to run it for nearly 250 years is now being sold to Eternal Institutions. If not for the enormous price, she would have directly abandoned her post or might have even divorced Barton for his decision that was taken without her consent.

    And so, in her view, whether Estella stays in this school or not doesn''t matter. The only thing that matters is Azzy''s growth considering they have a connection.

    Her response surprised Estella a little bit but she didn''t justify her actions and calmly replied, "I have no intentions in mentoring anyone, Ms. Fauns."

    Anner''s facial expression darkened further by her blatant rejection. It was the second time she was rejected, first by Azzy, and now by Estella. At least, Azzy was nice that he stated it beforehand but Estella, on the other hand, is far worse. She accepted her but doesn''t have intentions to proceed with mentoring. It would be a lie if she would feel good. Anner felt like complaining to her father and transferring to another school.

    Meanwhile, Sahara took a look at others at asked, "And if there''s anyone who has the same intentions as her, say it now. If you don''t say it now, I will not tolerate any irresponsible behavior in the future."

    Unlike Estella, the others were the students of the Aclein Academy and weren''t as arrogant or talented as her. So, even though some of them didn''t want to waste time mentoring their juniors, none of them stepped forward.

    After a brief silence, Azzy raised his hand, "if junior Anner won''t mind, I have no problem in mentoring her too."

    He felt a little bit of guilt for rejecting Anner earlier and chose Flora over her now that he realized Estella doesn''t plan on mentoring the granddaughter of Aegis Light, his benefactor. However, it isn''t the reason he came forward but it is the Reaper who reminded him about the Buddhist scripture that was won by Aegis during the Royal Feast after the Champions League. Making a favor on her would only get him closer to Aegis and let him gain knowledge from that ancient book.

    "Eh?" Anner was once again taken aback by Azzy''s move. She doesn''t know how to react. It was at that moment Mia came forward and said, "Azrael, I think it would be better if I mentor her."

    "Huh?" It was Azzy''s turn to get surprised this time. The others also looked at her while she gave her reasons, "first, we are relatives. Second, lately, I''m training in modern weapons. And finally, my partner is junior Annabel, who is an eighth-grader. So, I don''t think I would be stressed by looking after two people."

    Not only Azzy but the others also felt her reasoning is good but what will Anner do? Choosing Mia will be an obvious choice but rejecting Azzy is the last thing one can do.

    Anner also knew that very well. It was a difficult choice for her too. As a result, she went silent, not knowing who to choose. Sahara was also in a tight spot. She was on Azzy''s side but Mia''s argument is correct, moreover, both of them are good friends and the presidents of respective student bodies. So, she didn''t interfere and let the little girl take the decision.

    After a whole minute of silence, Anner Light finally opened her mouth, telling that she would accept Mia as her mentor and apologized to Azzy, to which the latter waved his hand with an indifferent expression and replied that there''s nothing to worry about.

    The Reaper let out a sigh, "you have lost a good opportunity, Azrael. But then again, neither of the girls brings any kind of change in your life whether in the present or the future. So, it doesn''t matter either way."

    The class resumed. Azzy continued to help out Flora when necessary by giving advice. Estella was sitting alone in the corner, minding her business. It was her first day and so much has happened to her due to her choices. Nevertheless, she doesn''t have any remorse at all as in her view, only Azzy matters. Perhaps, now, Claire also matters considering she''s also a platinum grade user and is at the same level as her.

    After the card creation class is finished, it is the turn of Practical Combat. Instead of the appearance of the teacher, an announcement was heard from the speakers around.

    Following the instruction, everyone left the training facility and made their way towards the forest habitat where a man in light brown pants and a red blazer with white fur lining is waiting for them. He''s tall, muscular, and has a fair-skinned body that is covered with large battle scars. His hair is long and grey and his eyes have deep scarlet pupils.

    As everyone stopped, the man spoke, "Hello, I''m Arley Blood."

    "Blood?" Azzy, Gideon, Estella, and surprisingly Claire, Mia, and Anner were taken aback by surprise at the same time.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 264: Find the flag

    For Azzy and Gideon, the Blood clan is a part of the Death Clan but for the rest of these high-born nobles, the surname Blood signifies something else. Fifty thousand years ago, before the Blood Clan members started living in the Death clan village, they were ruling an Empire of Alexandria, which at their peak, once ruled almost one-third of the entire supercontinent.

    After the fall of the Empire, their clan was divided into two factions. For some reason, one faction joined the Death clan village while the other one continued to rule a kingdom that later turned into the nation of Alexandria in the modern age about two thousand years ago.

    Unlike the Blood clan in the Clan of Death, the other royal Blood clan at Alexandria didn''t follow the rule of maintaining the bloodline purity and mixed with several clans over time. However, there''s still a tradition maintained by the royal family, which is that only the one that was born with pure blood, or one should say, only the one that can control the blood after awakening can have the right to keep the surname Blood.

    Because of such tradition, at the present date, it was known that number of people with Blood surname within the nation of Alexandria is only about 11. Due to their extraordinary lifespan and unique passive ability to turn into a bat, they were popularly known as Vampires and are often considered by some as the most superior race of humans.

    This is the reason nobles like Estella were totally surprised to see such a person at their academy.

    Crossing his hands behind the back, the new instructor spoke, "Practical Combat is the most important subject of Arcana studies no matter what academy you go to unless you plan on using elemental crystals to aid your growth all the time. Of course, you can also depend on higher-rank Arcana masters when hunting down the beasts but that''s another story.

    Anyway, first things first, I need to see each of your strengths and weaknesses, so that I can formulate a training plan for the ongoing semester. We only have one hour, or more specifically, only 52 minutes, which is of course, not enough to cover eighteen of you. So, for the next week, you will be tested in different areas one after another.

    But, today is the first day, so, we''ll start our semester with something fun instead."  Arley Blood then took out a paper from his pocket and unfolded it before announcing the teams of 3 with six on each team. Coincidentally, earlier pairings that were announced in card creation class also became teammates.

    Team Azrael: Azzy, Flora, Gideon, Rain Nightingale, Stephanus, and Adam.

    Team Claire: Claire Lefeuvre, Glenn, Lark Sandrou, Larch, Calder, and Copper.

    Team Estella: Estella Moon, Mia Leveret, Annabel, Anner light, Louis, and Raven Passel.

    With each of them possessing platinum grade Arcana and is in the Elite Realm, the instructor separated them into different groups and made them leaders.

    Claire was once again disappointed as she became a competitor to Azzy instead of an ally. Nevertheless, there''s Estella in another group, so, she doesn''t need to compete with Azzy but puts her focus on Team Estella instead.

    After grouping them, the instructor continued, "If you have a problem with your teammates and couldn''t find a solution, you can exchange your members with other teams by discussing with respective leaders as long as you follow these two conditions. One is that your partner should always be with you, and two, the balance should always be maintained like you cannot have more than 3 upper-grade students (grade-8, 9, 10.)

    Okay, we have now three teams. So, let''s get to the task."

    Azzy and others looked at him curiously. They wondered what kind of task it might be.

    Considering there''s a two thousand sq. meter forest habitat behind him, it is probably related to it? Some of them wondered.

    Arley explained, "I have planted two flags within the premises of this training grounds-1. Two clues. One, a flag is planted inside the forest habitat behind me. Two, there was no flag planted in the training facility. There are no winners here. The team that failed to acquire the flag here will be the loser. There will be a light punishment for the losing team.

    You can use whatever methods to acquire the flag as long Satellite item card isn''t involved in the process. Discuss with your teammates and decide your strategy. One minute later, all of you can move."

    After giving all the details, Instructor Arley started the stopwatch while observing each team.

    Like the other two teams, Team Azrael also stood in a circle to discuss their strategy.

    "Look, it''s obvious that instructor Blood purposely informed us about the flag planted in the forest habitat." Gideon took the charge instead of Azzy. The latter also didn''t mind as he admits his best friend was more knowledgeable than him. Gideon''s deductive skills are also better than Azzy''s as long as the latter won''t take the help of the Reaper.

    Gideon continued, "In my opinion, we should abandon the forest and look elsewhere because the other flag will be in the open space according to the second clue. The second flag will be easier to find."

    "Not necessarily, Senior," Flora voiced out her own opinion. She wasn''t shy in expressing her view, unlike others. "Teacher only said that training facility is excluded in the test, not the Grand Arena. In the Grand Arena, there are also rooms."

    "Hmm, I think you are right." Gideon agreed with her. At the same time, he was impressed that the little girl managed to find a flaw in the strategy. But, he wouldn''t accept that he was wrong. He reminded her that a flag can be placed anywhere in the forest habitat, which included on top of the branches. In the end, looking for the second flag still would be a better option.

    The others only listened to their opinions and stared at Azzy to make the decision.

    After a brief silence, Azzy opened his mouth, "the five of you will search the Grand Arena and I will take care of the other habitats in the open."

    "Alone?" Everyone was a little bit surprised about his decision.

    "No, I''m not alone¡­" After Azzy explained his simple strategy, they felt that they have more winning chances compared to others.

    *Whistle*

    "Everyone, you can start searching," Arley announced after one minute is over.

    Team Azrael didn''t move from the spot to check the movements of other teams. Except for Claire, all the other five in her team walked towards the forest habitat. The princess of Triastal was staring at Estella to see her move. She didn''t have any intentions of finding the flag. Her goal is something else.

    Surprisingly, Estella seemed to have the same idea. She stayed behind while Louis and his partner stepped into the forest while Mia and her mentees rushed for the other habitats. Estella looked back at Claire with the same idea in her mind.

    Azzy strongly felt like they would probably fight again but since there''s a teacher around, he didn''t feel the need to worry about the outcome and gave the signal to his teammates.

    Everyone rushed towards the Grand Arena except for Azzy who left in a different direction after telling Claire that he was leaving.

    Estella and Claire were left behind, staring at each other calmly in silence.

    "What are you two doing? Go¡­" Arley said to them.

    Estella let out a smirk as she replied, "Mr. Blood, didn''t you say that any kind of method is okay as long as Satellite card isn''t involved? Then¡­"

    She then turned towards Claire once again and said, "I challenge you to a duel. The one who loses will have to admit defeat and withdraw from this task. Do you dare to accept?"

    Claire never thought of the task. She only planned to challenge her and win against her by fair and square without the help of Arcana''s possession. Now that Estella challenged her, Claire didn''t waste any time and accepted it without hesitation but she has something else to add to the conditions.

    Meanwhile, Azzy reached an empty rocky habitat and looked around. "Okay, this is the perfect spot." He jumped and landed on the tallest rock.

    "Soul skill: Rise of the Undead."

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 265: Stealing the flag from Anner Light

    Lightning Habitat, Training grounds-1;

    Mia, Annabel, and Anner decided to start searching with the flame habitat. It is a ground filled with fire crystals embedded in it, increasing the temperature in the surroundings. Coupled with the potholes that keep spewing out flames at regular intervals for all the times, the average temperature within the habitat is over 40C. In summer, its peak will even reach as high as 56C, definitely isn''t a place for civilians and Arcana masters below rank-2.

    Thankfully, it is April and Anner was just a step from the Upper Privileged realm (rank-3), so, her body was able to handle it even without the protection of soul energy, although she would be sweating very much.

    In one glance, there''s no flag found on the ground. Mia spoke, "let''s spread and look for the flag within the potholes." She then warned the little girl, "Anner, do you know how to use energy armor?"

    The little granddaughter of Aegis nodded her head, "yes, but I can''t maintain it indefinitely."

    "For how long?" Annabel asked her with a hint of surprise on her face, not expecting a fourth grader to know such an advanced technique. But then, she remembered her identity and felt it might not be strange.

    Anner answered by raising three fingers. "Three minutes at best. After that, the soul energy will slip up from my body."

    "Three minutes are more than enough." Mia calmly replied while staring at the field before them. It was only 40 meters by 25 meters filled with over 50 potholes that were spewing out flames. Considering they are three, how much time can it get to search them? Definitely not as long as three minutes. So, she was cool about it and told them to start their search.

    One after another, the three girls began their searching. Anner was very careful while approaching the potholes. Once the flames were gone, she was taking a look inside before leaving quickly as the interval between the bursts of flames is only four seconds.

    Within a minute, Mia not only finished her quota but also started to check the potholes under Anner''s. Overall, more than half of the field was covered.

    All of a sudden, Anner let out a squeal of delight, attracting the attention of the other two.

    "Senior, here¡­" She pointed to the pothole before her.

    "Wait for me," Mia told her not to take the flag as she was worried that Anner will get her hands burned. She proceeded to rush towards the place.

    It was just then, without warning, a large skeletal wolf appeared in the midst of the field, blocking Mia''s path and scaring the hell out of Anner and Annabel.

    "Undead? Azrael?" Mia''s face changed to that of a frown as she realized Azzy sent a spy after her team. "When did that guy turn this sly? Unbelievable. But, it doesn''t matter. He''s a competitor now."

    *Grrr*

    The wolf bared its skeletal fangs against Mia, who decided to finish the beast that''s in the way.

    But, before she even made her move, the skeletal wolf opened its mouth and released a tremendous amount of chilly thick fog, blinding her vision completely, and then, it turned out to make a leap towards Anner.

    "Kyaaa¡­"  Anner screamed as she was pinned to the ground with one of the paws. The snow wolf only used a little force, so, she wasn''t injured in the least.

    Ignoring the flames, the skeletal snow wolf put its mouth inside the pothole and grabbed the flag that was placed at the bottom.

    Upon finishing the job, it didn''t wait any longer and started to rush towards the rocky habitat where its master is sitting in a cross-legged position on top of a rock, closing his eyes and completely focused on giving instructions to Vajra and the Hydra who were moving in an invisible state in other habitats.

    Erasure is a unique skill card that allows the applied object or person to be in the state of invisibility until the user dismisses the effect. Those who were affected by the card will also completely mask their presence from every Arcana master and evade their senses. Just by theory alone, it is indeed a formidable skill card.

    However, it has its own limitations. One is that the affected person cannot use any kind of energy, which dispels the invisibility effect. And the other limitation is that the effect can only evade the senses of Arcana Masters of the same or lower realm.

    For example, Azzy had used the five-star Erasure skill card on his summons. So, while they were invisible to everyone, the Upper Elite realm experts within the school could still sense their presence. But, once Azzy goes into a higher realm, the effect also becomes stronger too.

    This was the card Azzy got as the reward after winning the Champions League. WAMO had given him a choice of choosing one of the seven they presented but Azzy only had chosen the knowledge transfer of invisibility card over attack or defend type skill cards.

    The main reason for his decision lies in using the death scythe or the hourglass in the future. He can use the card on his exclusive soul weapons before using them.

    This way, even if the higher realm experts would be able to sense the weapon in his hands, they can''t see what they look like. Of course, he should be careful when dealing with Supreme Realm experts as well as the geniuses with special eyes.

    Azzy originally wanted to use this card at Camelot so that they can get to Arcana world without any issues in the middle of the night but Leah was already prepared with the suppressing cloaks. So, he didn''t get the opportunity to use them. Now that he finally got one, Azzy tested it.

    And just like he thought, his experiment turned out to be a tremendous success. Despite its large size, not only did the skeletal wolf stalk Mia and her two mentees closely without letting them have any idea about it but it also managed to bring back the flag to Azzy while Mia chased after the beast. Upon acquiring the flag, Azzy just dismissed the summons and rushed back to the entrance of the forest habitat where the instructor was waiting.

    Peak-rank-7 expert, Arley Blood, who kept his eyes on everyone using Satellite card, saw what Azzy did and it seemed like he was actually impressed with his actions.

    As he was returning, Azzy also spotted Estella and Claire is locked in a battle. Neither of them is using any Arcana or skill cards or even soul energy for that matter. They were just in the midst of close combat, depending completely on their fists and kicks. And it looked like neither of them is gaining an advantage over the other.

    "Here," Azzy reached the instructor and planted the blue flag into the ground.

    "Good job." Arley gave a nod and then, praised him, "Unlike these over enthusiastic fools, you used brains instead of just using force and get into fight unnecessarily. I heard that you were scouted into WAMO?"

    "Yes," Azzy confirmed it before turning his attention towards the battle happening on the lightning habitat, which is located not far away from where he was standing. Compared to the last year, the habitat seemed more impressive as it was upgraded by Barton during the holidays.

    Previously, the ground used to be filled only with lightning crystals and its function is only for improving the training speed of a lightning attribute user.

    But, now, several seals were placed all over the ground and the yellow crystals were emitting sparks, which will give a shock to anyone that gets contact with them. Depending on their soul power, the numbness from the shock might vary.

    So, for the girls who were in the midst of an intense duel, not only did they have to pay attention to their opponent''s movements, but also have to see the positioning of lightning crystals.

    Seeing his attention was on the two girls, Arley continued his conversation with a suitable topic, "who do you think will win?"

    "Claire is a sword user while Estella on the other hand is an archer," Azzy calmly gave a statement in response.

    He didn''t give any clear explanation but his answer his clear to Arley. Azzy was betting on Claire.

    "Correction. She isn''t an archer, Azrael. She only prefers the bow."

    As soon as Arley''s words ended, all of a sudden, Estella changed her stance and gave a sidekick to Claire''s abdomen.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 266: Rematch between Claire and Estella

    "I told you earlier. You cannot beat me in battle." Estella raised her chin high, being proud of her martial arts, looking at Claire who coincidentally crashed on the purest lightning crystal on the ground and got paralyzed for a second before she got up on her feet.

    Claire was still feeling a little bit numb as the lightning energy invaded her body. But, since she cannot break the agreement, she didn''t use any soul energy to push it out and let it disappear on its own with the help of her immune system.

    The arrogant heiress of the Moon Clan continued to boast, "Do you know that everyone in our family must learn swordsmanship? Choosing close combat is the worst thing you can do when dealing with me."

    Claire didn''t move from the spot and just replied to her instead of resuming the fight, "If that''s the case, you would have fought me with a sword, instead of a bow. Either you are bluffing or overestimate yourself too much. If not for my Rael intervene in the match, you wouldn''t dare to challenge me like this again."

    "My Rael?" Estella felt amused by her words, feeling how pathetic is the girl before her. "Obsession isn''t a good characteristic for an individual blessed by the heavens. People like us are guaranteed to live for thousands of years. So, being obsessive about love will bring nothing but pain."

    Estella''s words have a point but will Claire listen to her advice? Naturally, she won''t. In fact, she got angrier as she was pointed by her of all people. However, she controlled herself, waiting for the last bit of numbness in her legs to disappear.

    She asked her reasoning behind the transfer, "Why did you come to our academy, anyway? Something tells me that you aren''t here just for the company of another child of heaven."

    Estella''s facial expression changed a bit as she remembered something. In her memory, she seems to be arguing with a couple in their middle ages.

    Returning to reality, Estella charged forward after answering, "I''ll tell you if you win against me."

    "Well, I guess I can''t hold back any longer," Claire mumbled to herself while becoming serious. Now that she was completely alright, it was time to engage in battle rather than wasting time in useless banter.

    Both of them charged towards each other. When they were only a few feet apart, Estella jumped and performed a roundhouse kick. It was then, she saw Claire turn into a blur for a moment while a powerful punch was landed on her stomach.

    As she was about to fall on the ground, two more punches landed on the same spot, thereby increasing the damage. Estella''s back hit the ground with force.

    "Ugh." A groan escaped from her lips as she tried to get up but Claire didn''t want to give up the opportunity. She quickly jumped high and attacked with a knee strike. However, before the attack landed, thanks to her quick thinking, Estella managed to roll aside and dodged it at the last moment.

    "Damn it." Claire felt like she made a mistake in going for a knee strike instead of just stomping on her stomach. But, then she realized that would look too ungraceful for a girl. That might be the reason her instincts decided to go for a more flashy technique.

    Meanwhile, Estella clutched her stomach because of the pain from the earlier strikes and jumped backward to increase the distance and formulate a plan in her head. "She focuses much on offense. So, I need to take advantage of it. Kokutsu Dachi (Back stance) is the right thing to do in this situation."

    After deciding on a strategy, she turned her back foot out to the side and bent her knee, and drew her foot towards her body to a little over shoulder-width apart, resting the foot lightly on the floor. She placed almost two-thirds of her weight on her back foot and the remaining on the front.

    As for Claire, her fighting style more depended on aggressiveness without worrying about defense. The only thing she has an upper hand on is her speed. So, she decided to make this advantage into her weapon.

    Pushing the leg against the ground, Claire charged forward and went into the offense this time. In Estella''s eyes, her opponent looked blurry but as she wasn''t on offense and only focusing on counterattacks, she was able to feel the target of Claire''s fist. With the back foot as her support, she moved back and evaded the punch and then, rotated her body as she launched a kick.

    Unfortunately, Claire''s new speed isn''t something to be underestimated when she focused on the opponent''s movements. She managed to duck her body and also dodge the kick.

    The battle went on for twenty long minutes without deciding any winner. Azzy had long abandoned the instructor and went towards them, stopping just outside the habitat and becoming a spectator. Meanwhile, his team members also returned after his message to Gideon. They were also standing along with him, watching the battle.

    Maybe, due to the presence of the audience or maybe, it''s just because of the frustration of not getting an advantage over the opponent. For whatever reason, the battle became really intense between the two girls despite getting low on stamina and being filled with bruises all over their bodies.

    Claire''s powerful punch landed on Estella and the latter''s kick landed on the former. Estella''s back hit a lightning crystal before she fell onto the ground while Claire just crashed onto the ground.

    "Argh¡­" Estella roared in anger as she clutched her fist. She got up on her feet. Meanwhile, Claire was also on her feet. Both of them are extremely low on stamina and probably left little strength to continue.

    "Let''s decide this one move." Claire dashed towards her opponent with everything she has got.

    Estella was clutching her fists tightly and went into an immovable stance to anchor herself to the ground so that she can defend the attack. She knew very well that her remaining stamina doesn''t allow her to make big moves that require great mobility.

    Claire was only a few feet away from her opponent. She was about to throw a punch while Estella is focused on blocking it.

    It was at that moment, a man in long grey hair suddenly appeared in the middle of them, blocking Claire''s punch and grabbing Estella''s arm, shocking both of them. "Alright, your duel stops here. The flag in your wager has been destroyed in the battle between student Louis and students Lark and Calder. Student Azrael has succeeded. So, that means both of you have lost this task and your respective teams will also face punishment along with you."

    "Eh?" "Huh?"

    Claire and Estella were stunned and looked at each other.

    "Seriously? Can''t he just let finish the battle?" Azzy muttered under his breath. He may have looked indifferent on the outside but Azzy was super annoyed by Arley''s move. For the past twenty minutes, he was looking forward to seeing who will emerge as the winner but in the end, the match was canceled one more time.

    After a brief silence, Estella shrugged her shoulders after freeing herself from Arley''s grip, "it''s alright. This is only day 1. There will be a lot of chances where I can prove that I''m stronger."

    Claire snorted in response as she turned around, "you got lucky for two times. There won''t be the third time."

    When her eyes fell on Azzy who was waving her hand, her mood improved a little bit, and walked towards him. But, just as she walked for a few meters, she lost all of her strength in her legs and lost her balance.

    Azzy quickly dashed towards her and caught her before even the instructor moved a footstep, changing his cold expression to that of a surprise.

    "Are you alright?" He asked her. She let out a smile and nodded, "Yeah, I guess I need more training."

    "This kid, he''s gotten faster than when he participated in Champions League." Arley took a glimpse at Azzy before he thought of someone else who is now in the forest, agonizing over the destruction of the flag. "Perhaps, only Louis can match him in terms of speed."

    Unknown to them, Estella stared at the couple, feeling very disturbed in her chest.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 267: Adams unique Arcana

    While the members of the losing teams are running around the stadium with their leaders wearing 100 kg armor because of failing to finish the task, in the middle of the grand arena, Arley Blood, the instructor brought a sparring robot in front of team Azrael and let them spar for five minutes, one after another.

    As the leader, Azzy got the first chance. Being the most experienced in sparring against a robot, he displayed his favorite fighting style, the combination of various fighting techniques of boxing, taekwondo, and jujitsu.

    As these high-quality sparring robots analyze the opponent''s fighting pattern and employ a strategy, Azzy cannot use one style and so, he decided to different techniques to make it harder for the robots while he aims for their joints and blind spots.

    From the moment Arley started the stopwatch, the robot with low-rank-6 strength was completely overpowered, leaving the spectators amazed, especially the juniors as well as the transfer student Adam.

    "Senior Azrael is so strong. He didn''t even summon his Arcana. It looked like he held back his strength in Champions League." Flora commented with her eyes fixed on the sparring. Gideon was standing beside her.

    Crossing his arms to the chest, he replied, "It is probably because his opponent isn''t a human."

    "Huh!" The others who were also paying attention to his words took a glimpse at Gideon as if they were asking what he meant by that.

    Gideon explained to Flora, "Azzy had a lack of control over his strength for a long time. So, even after acquiring control with all the hard work, he tries to hold back his strength in a worry that he might kill his opponent."

    It was at that moment, the instructor spoke while looking at the stopwatch, "Student Azrael, you have fifteen seconds left."

    Upon hearing it, Azzy kicked the ground and increased his speed as he charged forward, making a fist covered by pitch-black-colored energy.

    The robot''s blue eyes turned deeper.

    "Incoming Danger¡­ Activating Divine Shield."

    As the robot raised its arms, a familiar blue shield appeared before the robot like a three-meter big and two-meter wide wall to block the attack.

    However, Azzy was no longer a rank-4 like in the past. Even back then, he managed to shatter it. How can it block his punch, now that his physical strength is almost equivalent to that of a peak-rank-6 Arcana Master?

    As soon as his energy-powered punch landed on the shield, it broke into pieces like glass and it put its arms forward to defend against the incoming punch that hit it head-on.

    The robot flew for a couple of dozen meters before it crashed onto the ground. Sparks flew out of its body while it spoke to itself, "Core Damaged by 73%. System is malfunctioning. Self-repair isn''t possible. Emergency Hibernation activated."

    Within a few seconds, it went offline and just lies on the ground like a dead body

    A frown appeared on Arley. "It looks like I underestimated his strength."

    He quickly turned into a blur and reappeared beside the robot and placed it in the storage card. "I should bring peak stage one, next time. Or just maybe, I should have a talk with Principal Barton and ask for permission to use one of the guardian robots. Azrael is still growing. Only rank-7 ones might tame his power."

    After placing it in the storage card, Instructor Arley Blood took out another robot for the others to spar. This one is only peak-rank-5 and is weaker than the earlier one but Arley felt it is sufficient considering the strongest of the remaining bunch is only at the beginner stage of the Elite realm.

    "Okay, student Azrael, you can join the rest." Arley shifted his eyes towards the juniors and decided on the next interesting genius. "Student Flora, you are next. As I have mentioned before, the robot will adjust its strength based on its opponent. So, you have no need to worry."

    Flora felt like her heartbeat rose because of nervousness. This is the first time she had even sparred against someone that is over her realm.

    Passing by her, Azzy gave a suggestion, "Your opponent is a lot stronger than you and will only focus on defense. Just give everything you have got without worrying about control."

    She doesn''t know why but Azzy''s words eased up her a lot and she proceeded to summon her soul card and call out her Arcana.

    "Everest, wake up."

    Her soul card vibrated for a few seconds before a ten-foot-tall ape with a furry coat of white hair landed before her. It was a Yeti with pure ice attribute.

    In a normal situation, its appearance alone would scare away the people, especially a grade-3 student like Stephanus. But, after seeing the gigantic Leviathan, a couple of hours during the afternoon break, none of them had much of a reaction.

    And with Flora''s soul power is only in the early three digits, it didn''t impress anyone until Flora attacked the robot with a soul skill right away, instead of warming up.

    "Soul skill: Tundra blast."

    The Yeti let out a roar and blasted an Ice beam towards the robot.

    Surprising everyone, the robot made a move that is very similar to the one that Azzy faced earlier.

    "Warning. Incoming danger. Activating Divine shield."

    The robot conjured its last line of defense, which blocked the incoming ice beam but to everyone''s surprise, the entire shield was frozen for a few seconds before it melted on its own and the water fell down on the ground.

    "Did you see what I saw?" Gideon exclaimed as he pointed his finger at the sturdy shield.

    "Yes." Azzy nodded in response and said, "It looked like the soul skill has the capability to freeze the things in contact. It will become a terrifying weapon in the future."

    Other than that one soul skill, her performance wasn''t worth remembering. Her techniques were poor, her punches and kicks were too weak, and due to the lack of control, she consumed a lot of recovery cards within five minutes of sparring. But still, it was enough to make a huge impression on this instructor of Exalt realm.

    Arley was also as surprised as others too. Since Flora is only nine, he didn''t pay much attention to her data before. Now, he felt like he should teach her diligently.

    After her, Gideon went and showcased his swordsmanship. Then, it was his partner, grade-7 student, Rain of the Nightingale noble family''s turn. Even though his attribute is dark, he is an Assassin.

    Maybe, it''s because both are melee users, they were paired up or so, Azzy thought.

    After them, it was Adam''s turn. At first, Azzy wasn''t that curious about him as he isn''t even at Elite realm yet. However, when he revealed his Arcana, even Azzy was taken aback to see a guitar as Arcana. It''s not just Azzy, but everyone also appeared to be stunned by its appearance.

    "Seriously? There''s such an Arcana spirit?" Every spectator has the same thought as they watched how Adam started to play the music, releasing energy beam attacks.

    Usually, every Arcana spirit when materialized, they were in the form of beasts, plants, or ancient weapons like swords, daggers, bows, hammers, etc... None of them ever heard of a guitar like Arcana in their life.

    The only one that''s looking calm is Arley Blood, who had lived over nine hundred years. In his life, he had witnessed Arcana that look like music accompaniments like flute, zither, violin, etc¡­

    While Adam did develop curiosity in spectators, the results of the spar were much disappointing that even a newly awakened Arcana master like Stephanus was left unimpressed in the end.

    But, it isn''t Adam''s fault. It''s just that this class is full of geniuses. And with everyone showcasing extraordinary abilities, and he, on the other hand, couldn''t hit the robot even once along with his less mobility, he left a bad impression.

    Perhaps, only two people saw him in a different light. One is the instructor and the other is the Reaper. The former thought it might be because of his rare Arcana, Adam didn''t receive good guidance until now.

    The Reaper on the other hand was looking at the future and thought he would make an interesting company to Azzy.

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 268: Azzy at World Training Center Day-1

    A few weeks passed away in a blink of an eye. The academic life didn''t go smoothly for most of the students except for those who followed the rules.

    If Azzy''s punishments weren''t harsh enough, Estella''s addition made it worse for the undisciplined students that are going through a rebellious phase. Usually, for bullying, the accused would have to display a heartfelt apology to the victim by kneeling in front of classmates and later, write a self-reflection letter to the homeroom teacher.

    When the said accused won''t fulfill it within three days, then, the disciplinary committee will have the right to detain him in a cell-like room at the Disciplinary hall.

    But, after Azzy took charge, he had changed that punishment with serving at public facilities for certain hours as repentance. Those who don''t follow might receive a few days of suspension, a letter to accused parents, get a demotion of division, or even get a warning of a reduction in examination scores.

    Since bullying is a serious issue, the teachers also wholeheartedly supported Azzy''s punishment too. In fact, it even happened with the girls from the soul weapon division, a while ago. The students studying in the academy were teenagers below 16 years old. They thought it is too cruel.

    However, Estella took that to a whole another level. Instead of handing out punishment like commute hours, she first beats them up black and blue, then, makes them kneel at every classroom, playground, and even cafeteria with a small placard hanging around their necks. On it, words are written, "I''m a bully. I have committed a sin. Please forgive me."

    The first incident happened on Day 4. The accused was a girl from eighth grade''s Elite division and the victim are two girls from the Common division of the seventh grade.

    Maybe, it''s because she''s a girl, she only stopped there.

    But, her act triggered another bullying incident the next day. Rather than bullying, it''s more like sexual harassment done by a previous classmate of Claire and Mia towards a 13-year-old girl from common division.

    Flared up Estella didn''t just punish him once. She made him do that for three days in a row.

    To punish him, she didn''t even go to the Arcana world trip on Sunday. Instead, she made a trip to the Boys Dormitory with the placard and dragged him outside ad then, forced him to kneel in front of the girl dormitory in sun for several hours.

    Azzy naturally didn''t like her method. It is just not but humiliating the accused. How can such punishment redeem a person? And what happens if the guy/girl will commit suicide because of it? And more importantly, in this situation, doesn''t she seem more like a bully?

    At first, he confronted her. Estella just responded to him that she knows what she was doing and this method of hers actually works in stopping the bullying incidents like how she did it at the main branch before she transferred. She even challenged him that if the result can''t be seen in the next seven days, she will listen to him or else, she will follow her own way just like he did.

    The higher realm experts stationed within the premises of the academy don''t care about it.

    The teachers don''t dare to point to finger at an Arcana Master with twin platinum grade Arcana. In their eyes, she''s just like Azzy.

    Barton and Sahara put their trust in Azzy that he will take care of the issues posed by Estella.

    Most importantly, the Reaper was on her side and lectured him that he was too soft. He praised Estella to teach the undisciplined kids a good lesson.

    Surprisingly, within a week, forget about bullying cases, even small indiscipline actions like getting late weren''t reported. It''s as if the whole academy is being transformed. However, Azzy know that it was due to fear. The Reaper clarified to him that even at Death Clan village, whether it is the head of the Discipline Hall or whether it is the Clan Head; they must instill fear in everyone to make sure no one goes out of control.

    To be honest, he knew that he wasn''t the type to care that much about people''s personal lives. What happens to their future or growth has nothing to do with him. Like Estella always says, he and others don''t belong to the same world.

    So, with the help of the Reaper, Azzy came to be in peace with Estella and allowed her to do what she wished. As long as the results are delivered, he is fine with it. And when it happened, decreasing his workload by a lot, Azzy slowly warmed up to her.

    The little bit of closeness developed between them irked Claire very much and she continuously maintained her rivalry with Estella and vice versa. In four weeks, they fought against each other more than twenty times. So far, the score between them stays at 0-0 to date.

    The other things that happened to Azzy during the first four weeks of the semester were the boring trips to Arcana world along with the missions. Since he''s the mentor for Flora, he was tasked with protecting her and hunting down the beasts in those level-1 regions.

    Despite how his soul power was restricted to 100, his death energy is enough to kill them with a simple touch. With Flora being fine on her own, he felt the trips were very boring and wondered when this mentoring will be over and when he will get to level-3 regions. Thankfully, he has an indifferent expression all the time. So, Flora didn''t get to know his thoughts at all.

    Another thing Azzy found out is that strangely, Gideon and Estella know each other from childhood. But, for some reason, Gideon refuses to speak about it. Azzy thought it might have been linked to the Death clan considering both are hidden clans and didn''t probe the matter.

    It is the last day of the second week in the month of May. As soon as the classes are over, at 10 o''clock in the evening, Claire and Gideon followed Azzy to the house.

    Claire slept in the guest room while Gideon ended up sleeping in Azzy''s room as the both of them chatted for a long time. Gideon confessed to Azzy that he finds Estella cute and likes her, not considering her overbearing behavior. Azzy didn''t take it seriously and just wished him luck instead.

    The next day morning, the three of them left for the portal point to get to the Central city located in the world of Arcana, and from there, they found another portal point that leads to Silver city. This overall trip cost the three of them, nearly 1000 Krocs (10000 credits) per each. With such money, one can happily rent a room at a five-star luxury hotel in Aclein city for a whole week.

    It was expensive. Nevertheless, it saved them a lot of time. From the teleportation/portal point at Silver City, they traveled for another two hours to reach the place that was surrounded by three hundred feet tall walls on every side.

    As Azzy stepped down the cab, a familiar-looking person appeared in his view. It is the same Lieutenant commander Hailey who received them on their previous visit to the HQ.

    "Welcome to the world training center, cadets." She shook hands with everyone and turned around to start walking without wasting time, "Follow me. We''ll first sort out your uniforms, identity cards, personal equipment, and accomodation. Then, you''ll be thrown into your first day of training right away."

    Just like she mentioned, Lt. Commander of the Dragon Corps only informed them about the important stuff and left the useless stuff like touring, later.

    It wasn''t even fifteen minutes since Azzy stepped inside the training center but he already found himself wearing a black t-shirt and black pants. Azzy felt the uniform was too simple but didn''t voice out his thoughts as he liked the color.

    Soon, the three of them were taken to one of the training grounds where he saw nearly twenty people were running laps with wearing weights.

    "Lt. Commander." An instructor who was keeping an eye on the cadets called out to her. He appeared to be in the Upper-Elite realm.

    As he stopped before them and saluted her, Hailey nodded and pointed the three, "new recruits. I leave them in your hands."

    "Sure." The man smiled at her and introduced himself, "Hello, I''m Myron, Captain of Squad four but, for now, your temporary instructor. A pleasure to be working with you."

    He shook hands with each of them while maintaining his smile. The Reaper commented in Azzy''s head, "I smell several deadly sins from him."

    "Deadly sins?" While Azzy wondered what it is, Hailey decided to return to her office.

    As soon as she was out of sight, all of a sudden, the smile on this captain was gone and his tone was also changed. "What are you lot waiting for? Click the button on those watches and start running. In case you don''t know the drill, 100 km of running, then, 1000 pull-ups, 1000 push-ups, and 1000 sit-ups, and finally handing leg tucks for 50 rounds. And no soul energy either. See me after you finish with the running."

    A little more than ten minutes later;

    All the level-1 cadets who were running earlier were seen standing with a look of shock on their faces. Even the instructor himself has the same expression as the blurry figure stopped before him. While taking heavy breaths, Azzy raised the watch and showed him. "100,000 meters. Done."

    "What the hell..."

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 269: Captain Cool returns to HQ

    Mt. Astrego, Nation of Chivaria;

    On the top of an active volcano, a heavily injured man in robes was carrying a crying baby in his arms.

    He was looking around and realized there was no way to escape. Before him, stood a handsome fellow in a military outfit with the insignia of a Dragon and two stars.

    Meanwhile, a helicopter armed with several modern weapons was hovering around the place, ready to blast him away at any time. A gigantic red barrier was erected around the whole mountain, blocking anyone without authorization from entering or leaving the premises.

    "Alfred Mapleleaf, surrender yourself in peace. There''s no way for you to leave. Anything happens to the princess, you''ll face punishment worse than death." Neal clenched his fist, trying to control his emotions.

    The baby is the princess of Chivaria who was abducted by her own paternal uncle''s men due to the dispute between him and his younger brother, the King. There is a simple demand put before him in exchange for her. That is to talk with the government and release all the former Generals from the maximum-security prison.

    The King knew that the government wouldn''t release such heinous criminals who massacred thousands of civilians in exchange for his newborn daughter. So, he sought the help of WAMO instead for a secret rescue mission.

    Neal and his Squadron Z were commissioned for this mission. They successfully managed to kill everyone from the hideout but unfortunately, the main culprit escaped at the last moment while taking the baby as a hostage.

    Neal followed him from behind without adhering to his threats and eventually cornered him. But, he underestimated Alfred''s hatred towards his brother.

    The man was still left with one final plan.

    "I''m the eldest son of Mapleleaf family and the rightful heir to the throne. But, that ba****d snatched it from me and forced me to live like a bandit." He roared at Neal before declaring his decision. Today, I can see my end but I won''t be going down alone, I will give a lifelong pain for my dear brother."

    "hahaha¡­" Alfred laughed out like a mad man as he threw away the baby into the magma. "Your only daughter will go straight to the spirit world after living for six days, brother¡­"

    *Bang* Bang*

    The sniper sitting inside the helicopter started to shoot energy bullets at the culprit''s legs continuously to immobilize his movements.

    Meanwhile, the baby started to into the volcano rapidly. As the temperature rose tremendously, his skin started to burn, and so was the baby. She fainted due to heatstroke.

    "I won''t let you." Neal hurriedly raised his arm. A giant Chameleon suddenly appeared out of nowhere and stretched its tongue.

    Before she even made it ten or so meters, they were caught by the tongue and pulled up. The baby returned to Neal''s hands and he didn''t waste any time in healing her with a heal card.

    After confirming that she was normal and her soul wasn''t harmed in the least, Neal looked coldly at the man who was screaming in pain. He raised his hand and gestured his colleague to stop shooting.

    "I warned you before, Alfred Mapleleaf. But, you didn''t listen and crossed my bottom line. Now, face the punishment." Neal dismissed the beast and started to pour soul energy into his fingertips before drawing a seal in the air.

    Within a few seconds, the seal was completed and Neal unleashed it upon the culprit, surprising his teammates. They had never seen this sealing technique before.

    "I call upon the mighty flames of Hell to descend onto the wicked and punish his soul."

    A huge seal appeared above the man''s head, releasing blue flames that shot towards him and disappeared into his body.

    "Argh¡­" Alfred clutched his head and screamed in pain, feeling as if his entire body and soul is burning. "Please stop it. I beg you. Aah!"

    Neal just looked at him coldly without moving from the spot.

    Eventually, he could no longer stand the pain and went into an unconscious state.

    Neal then unleashed another seal and bound him with energy chains, and then, imprisoned him into a seven-star prison card. A live image of an energy-bound unconscious Alfred, surrounded by prison bars can be seen on it.

    Several hours later;

    Neal and his three mates returned to HQ after finishing their mission and went to the reception desk at the Elite Forces department on the 36th floor.

    "Hey, beautiful." Neal greeted her with a smile as he gave her his ID card. She blushed a little bit as she scanned it to confirm that the whole payment was transferred to the department''s account, then, term the mission as successful to transfer 500 Arcana coins to his account.

    Every captain takes 50% of the team''s contribution by default regardless of his hard work. In this B-grade mission, Squad-Z received 1000 Arcana coins of which, 500 is the captain''s, and the rest will be distributed equally among the other three who accepted the mission.

    While she was busy with her work, Neal leaned his head forward and asked, "So, you are free this weekend?"

    "Um, no, I have plans." The lady clearly seemed to be a bit shy and couldn''t look at his eyes. "My brother is bringing his girlfriend home for dinner. I also need to visit my parents."

    "C''mon, it''s not like she''s going to be a part of your family, right away. Why waste time on that occasion when we can have a romantic dinner at Starlight?"

    "That''s¡­" The lady obviously had a crush on this handsome hunk. However, she also knew that he''s a playboy and definitely isn''t the type to stick to a relationship. So, she controlled herself by taking a deep breath and focused on distributing the mission rewards without answering him and then, handed him the ID along with an envelope. "Captain Neal, this is from Supreme Commander Kruger."

    In an instant, Neal''s facial expression changed, "Kruger?"

    His teammates standing behind him were taken aback as they heard the name of this legendary captain of Zero Squad who is also the Head/Supreme Commander of the Entire Combat division. According to the rumors, he''s as strong as Vice President Ramiel Crescent.

    While his subordinates or teammates were amazed to hear that their captain had the attention of such a legendary figure, Neal looked annoyed. He took the envelope and mumbled to himself, "That old man will not give up, does he?"

    As higher realm experts, they did hear this mumble but none of them said anything about it and stayed silent while Neal opened the letter for formality. It turned out to be an offer letter to join Zero Squad.

    Soul energy erupted from his palms and destroyed the letter in an instant.

    "I need to meet someone, you guys can take a break." Saying goodbyes to the rest of his teammates, Neal left for Commander''s office. The commander of Dragon Corps is his eldest senior brother, the Prime disciple of Kruger.

    The secretary tried to stop him because the Commander was busy in a meeting but Neal looked a bit serious. So, she stepped inside and informed them of the situation.

    Thankfully for her, the Commander didn''t get angry and gave the permission.

    Neal went inside and found Lt. Commander Hailey was also there. Without minding her presence, he directly spoke to the middle-aged man with silver hair. "Commander Hugh, I got a letter from the master, again. Did you want me to leave Dragon Corps, that badly?"

    Hailey knew the relationship between those. So, she was unsurprised and chose to stay silent.

    The Commander shook his head with a sigh, "you know I can''t go against the master. But, I also can''t tell you what you do. So, you can reject the offer, again. However, I suggest you should think more carefully."

    "Nah, I burned it already," Neal spoke in a casual tone, surprising Hailey, and then told him in a serious tone that he will never go back to the squad and become teammates with his bitter rival.

    "Excuse me."

    After informing his decision, he bowed and turned around to walk away.

    Just as he stepped outside and the door was about to close again, Hailey opened her mouth, "Anyway, Commander, I''m waiting for your approval. Cadet Azrael and Claire Lefeuvre are qualified to become third-tier cadets. Going through normal procedures will only waste the time."

    "Azrael?" Neal halted his steps and turned around to rush into the room, again.

    "Did you just say Azrael? Was he here? When did he arrive? How come I didn''t know about it? Did you say, third-tier cadet? That means it must have been a while." Neal suddenly bombarded the lieutenant commander with questions in curiosity before she started explaining to him. "No, it''s their Day-1..."

    Upon hearing how the couple easily finished the first level to the third level on the first try, Neal could only be amazed. He decided to meet his colleague.

    Captain Neal, who was interested to recruit Azzy and his friends later, thought that he had to make a visit to them after hearing the news from the Lt. Commander.

    Upon reaching the place, he didn''t find Azzy or Claire anywhere as they would be resting in their respective rooms but he found Gideon and Snivy. Both of them are running around the laps with others. Along with them, a dazed person is sitting in the middle of the ground, staring at the sky, and is mumbling to himself. "Impossible¡­ impossible¡­"

    ....

    ....

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 Chapter 270: Azzys road of life

    He shook the dazed instructor''s shoulders, forcing him to come to reality. "Captain Myron."

    "Captain Neal?" Myron was taken aback to see Neal and hurriedly stood up on his feet, greeting him with a bow. "What brings you here?"

    Even though the latter is older and is in the same position, Neal is in the Exalt realm and is considered the strongest captain in Dragon Corps. The only person who can soundly beat him is the commander. Even a peak-rank-7 expert like Hailey can only end up in draw even though Neal is only mid-rank-7.

    Myron knows his place well. That''s why he gives the same amount of respect to Neal as he gives to the lieutenant commander.

    "I''m here to enquire about a new cadet who joined today. His name is Azrael." As soon as Neal spoke Azzy''s name, the instructor shivered a little bit and replied, "That boy is a monster. I have lived for nearly a hundred years. However, I have never seen a human who has such terrifying potential. Funny thing is that I''m an entire realm above him but I don''t have confidence in beating him even if I go all out.

    And there''s that girl who not only finished even level-2 training regime on the first try but also defeated me in sword battle within 9 minutes. Who the hell are they?"

    Clearly, the instructor looked very frustrated more about his loss in skill battle as he was appointed as the instructor to the cadets because of his mastery over all the ancient weaponry.

    Originally, he was supposed to be the instructor for fourth-tier cadets, those who reached the third level but as the previous instructor for the sixth-tier cadets had gone on a mission, Myron took the job for additional pay. Never in the world did he expect to be humiliated by two teenagers in his own game.

    Neal patted his colleague''s shoulder in pity and said, "Azrael is the true son of heaven. You can''t apply common sense to people like him."

    While Neal was surprised that Claire got strong enough to beat a master swordsman in swordplay, he didn''t pay much attention to her. Perhaps, he would change his mind after getting to know that Claire was a platinum-grade user. But, for now, his attention was only on his junior brother.

    As Captain Myron went into a daze once again, Neal left the man alone and returned to his quarters.

    Meanwhile, the love birds were on a date, having a good talk after a long time. They were sitting on a mini electric train in an amusement park.

    Because of classes from morning 6 to evening 10, Azzy and Claire didn''t get to spend much time with each other. The only free time for Class Zero is the break times during classes, 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., and during Sunday.

    During breaks, Azzy goes to Disciplinary Hall, after 10 p.m., he had to go home and sleep, and on Sundays, they were sent to Arcana world and mentored by their partner for the past few weeks.

    So, for Claire, this week is actually a way to spend time comfortably with her boyfriend without being embarrassed by the fact that her friends or schoolmates are looking at them.

    It is why she tried her best to complete whatever challenges that she faced at the training ground. Her power of love is so strong that she finished the second trial within two hours when it was the first time she had ever worn 500 kilograms of weight. She even defeated the instructor with her sword skills while depending on her fast recovery; all was to catch up with him so that she won''t waste time on useless things like running laps.

    "So, um, what am I saying is that I''m going to graduate this year and probably enter Sun Academy for advanced studies. And you decided to work here, instead of venturing into the wild zones, right?" Continuing to hold his arm, he spoke in a sweet tone, "How about staying at our Juan city?"

    "Juan?" Azzy looked at her in surprise.

    Claire nodded with a smile, "You said Auntie and uncle were shifting to Freyles nation, anyway. What will you do alone at Aclein? After three more years, I''ll graduate from the academy. At this time, you just need to try and make a good impression on my mother. Once she agrees to our relationship, all the obstacles will be gone."

    Leaning her head to his shoulder, she closed her eyes and went into a fantasy world where she even imagined them as husband and wife, staying together in the palace.

    On the other hand, Azzy''s expression doesn''t look good. He felt like Claire is thinking too much, these days. But, at the same time, he, himself, doesn''t have any idea about planning the future.

    Till now, all he had planned is to just graduate from the academy, go into hiding until he reaches Exalt realm and return to his future.

    But, becoming high profile with Champions League, then, meeting his future self, knowing the identity of his future wife, getting into a relationship with Claire and slowly developing feelings for her, accepting Barton as his Prime Master and receiving the Jewel of life, scouted by WAMO, everything made him scrap his plans.

    For now, he was going with the flow, which he was very good at doing, but sooner or later, he needed a certain direction where he wanted to go by his own will. Azzy knew that but was just clueless on what to do.

    Looking at the pair, the Reaper chuckled and spoke to himself, "While this kid was clueless on how to build his road of life, there are people who started constructing the roads filled with their own agendas.

    His master, Barton Everglade wanted Azzy to graduate from Eternal institutions after finishing advanced studies.

    Claire Lefeuvre wanted to live together with Azzy at her home. Nothing else matters for this lassie.

    His future self wanted Azrael to be free from my control just like how he did and maintain his timeline intact as it is.

    Estella Moon''s moves were probably affected by the relationship she had with Azrael during her previous life. In fact, she wasn''t even aware of why she transferred to Azrael''s school for him. It''s not attraction, just a remnant of a relationship.

    Leah Pendragon wanted a high potential warrior in her age group like Azrael as her future partner so that the future of Camelot will be secured through their descendants. Honestly, she''s perfect for Azrael. But, too bad, Azrael can''t escape from his destined true love.

    Gideon Crescent probably wanted to follow Azrael and see where the new and unknown path takes him. I guess it landed him at Violet pavilion in the end.

    Those pair, Aegis Light and Dr. Mac wanted Azrael on their side to level up the strength of their organization.

    Ramiel Crescent wanted to nurture Azzy to see if he can join Zero Squad and become the pillar of the organization in the future. To do that, he even scouted Azrael''s friends. His ambitions can''t be concealed from anyone.

    Azrael''s foster mother, Affea Snieca wanted to spend time with her son as much as she can before she leave for her husband''s ancestral home.

    Azrael''s great grandfather, the current clan head, Qridus Garcia wanted to send him back to his original timeline safely. Azrael''s future self mentioned that he will convince Qridus but will he listen? I''m not sure. I don''t know how did he get into Azrael''s dream just like that but I need to be careful in hiding the kid from not only the Death Clan but also the other eight hidden clans.

    Anyway, this tells that so many people are currently deciding to draw their own pathway where they want Azrael to walk in that road of life.

    Little did they know that beneath all of them, a wide and long road was being constructed by me so that no matter what kind of path the kid will take, in the end, his destination lies at the Abode of Death. In this life, Azrael must replace Thanatos and become the Death God himself."

    The Reaper''s expression changed to that of coldness all of a sudden as he glared at the barren land.

    He hit the ground with the bottom of the death scythe''s handle, "To do that, if it is necessary to sacrifice his dear people, it will have to be done. Everything is for the greater good. To set everything into motion, bitter enemies need to enter Azrael''s life."

 Chapter 271: Azzy at World Training Center Day-2

    Third training ground, World Training Center;

    "Ha"

    A collective sound was heard at a section in the training ground. There were like thirty-odd people around here.

    "Don''t swing half-heartedly. Do it with full force." Neal was walking back and forth while keeping an eye on the cadets. Contrary to his gentle appearance, his voice sounds like a tough military instructor. His face was also devoid of expression like Azzy''s except that the latter''s a natural one while the former is a well-trained one.

    Because of Lt. Commander Hailey''s recommendation, Azzy and Claire got a promotion directly to fourth-tier without going for any test and now joined this group as the new members.

    With Captain Myron refusing to stay as instructor anymore, Neal stepped forward. While he was looking forward to mentoring Azzy and Claire, his primary intention is to take a break from continuous missions.

    And so, Azzy was ended up in the same space as Neal.

    Meanwhile, Claire went into depression as she found out that the schedule for the Fourth tier cadets is even tighter than at the academy.

    Their daily training starts at 5 o''clock in the morning with trekking on a hill while wearing 500 kg of weights, then, 30 min breakfast time, after that, two hours of sword training, two hours of Archery training, then, a 60 min lunch break, after that, two hours of Spear training, two hours of hand to hand combat, a 30-minute break to relax, then, four hours of modern weapons training, a 60-minute dinner break, and finally, the day ends with an hour of meditating in the gravity chambers.

    Well, this is Azzy and Claire''s timetable as they chose Sword, Bow, and Spear as their weapon choices. But, still, the training time is the same for every cadet in the third stage.

    In all, the cadets get only 6 hours of sleep. If that wasn''t enough, they can only rest during break time. Most of them, who are swinging the sword along with Azzy and Claire, were stuck as cadets for at least a year by now. So, they were used to it.

    Claire also doesn''t have an issue following it but it was just out of her expectations. She thought she would get to spend enough time with her boyfriend but it seems it unlikely to happen.

    The only good thing that came out of this training phase apart from getting her stronger is that there are no potential love rivals in this organization who will give her stress. It''s majorly because Azzy is the youngest person to be recruited as a cadet in Special Forces.

    The others are mature adults who will see Azzy as a talented person but won''t attract him romantically unless they are pedophiles. Even someone becomes interested, no one here has the time to engage in a normal conversation much less flirt.

    Back to the training grounds, Azzy and others swung a heavy wooden sword a little more than 1000 times in the two hours.

    Once it was over, Neal blow the whistle, and said, "Everyone, attention."

    All of the cadets stopped swinging and stood straight. Azzy and Claire followed the suit.

    At the same time, in another section, not so far away from them, another twenty-odd people who were thrusting forward with wooden sabers also stopped their training.

    Standing somewhere between the two groups, Neal spoke, "Proceed with your next training."

    Leaving the weapons on the ground, over sixty cadets, still stuck on the third stage, split into two groups once again.

    Except for sixteen cadets, everyone just followed to the section where different types of maces and hammers were placed.

    Archery isn''t that popular in WAMO considering it needs extreme concentration and too much of a hassle. On top of that, rifles are better than bows for a majority. So, cadets would usually change their weapon of choice in the midway. Only a few people who like archery would stick to it.

    Azzy, Claire, and the remaining 14 followed to the Archery section.

    "So, you two are those genius kids from Northern Qudour?" A blonde-haired man initiated the conversation with the two of them on the way. He, as the two of them, is an Arcana Master of Elite realm.

    Azzy and Claire stopped in their tracks for a second and looked towards him.

    The man introduced himself as Gerald and hails from the same country as them.

    There are over 40 million people living in Northern Qudour. Is that big of a deal to meet a fellow countryman? Moreover, he was raised at Southern Qudour while his forefathers'' place is at Freyles. Meanwhile, Claire was from Triastal. So, for both of them, the man holds no importance to have a chat.

    As a result, Azzy simply listened to his introduction and nodded before continuing to walk forward.

    Gerald, on the other hand, doesn''t seem like he intended to leave them alone. It might only be a day but the rumors do spread very fast.

    Before they even joined the third day, he had already heard about the two of them. And he doesn''t want to waste such an opportunity to make friendship with Azzy and Claire, as for the age difference, it can go down the drain as long as gets to be acquainted.

    In the archery section, everyone was ready with their respective bow and quiver full of arrows.

    Gerald took the next spot to Azzy. On the other side, naturally, Claire was standing.

    "Are you a beginner at Archery?" Gerald asked Azzy as the latter forgot to keep a finger above the arrow for stability. Right now, he was just grabbing the bow and the arrowhead was above his hand.

    Without answering his question, he drags the string and released the arrow.

    *Swoosh*

    Without any surprises, the arrow hits a five-pointer.

    "Woah, that was fast." Gerald was surprised by the speed of his arrow.

    With a fraction of a second behind his, Claire also shoots the arrow, which lands on the 8 pointer circle.

    "Hmm?" Azzy looked at her result and then, his. "Maybe, I don''t have talent?"

    "You forgot about the index figure." The Reaper''s voice was heard in his head, right away.

    It was then Azzy realized his mistake. This time, he grabbed the bow and placed the arrow in the correct position before releasing it.

    *Swoosh*

    The arrow cuts through the air and strikes on 9 pointer circle, almost near to the edge of the innermost circle.

    "See, you can do it." The Reaper said to him.

    "Seriously?" Gerald''s eyes popped out in shock. The target was nearly 100 meters away. It isn''t strange that a rank-5 expert like Azzy struck the target but hit a nine-pointer? He wondered whether it is luck or something.

    *Swoosh*

    Azzy''s third arrow flew towards the target and struck the 9 pointer circle, again.

    "You are also skilled at Archery, aren''t you?" Gerald asked him in surprise. To now, he has yet to shoot an arrow. "No wonder you choose this weapon."

    This time, Azzy responded to him. He turned his head and said, "This is the first time I touched a bow."

    "Huh! It''s your first time?" The guy just stared at Azzy. He clearly didn''t believe it.

    Azzy continued to shoot the arrows. Claire is also doing the same.

    After a while, the quiver was empty. Azzy walked forward towards the target and started to pick up the arrows from the target. A few moments later, Claire was also done emptying her quiver.

    When she reached the target, Azzy was still picking up the arrows. An idea popped into her mind.

    "Rael, how about making this practice more fun?" She said to him.

    "Hmm?" Azzy looked at her.

    Claire proposed a match of thirty arrows. The one who loses must listen to the three demands of the winner.

    "You are on." Azzy accepted it.

    One after another, the arrows were hitting around 8 and 9 pointers, earning a nod from the Reaper, followed by a piece of advice.

    "Good job, Azrael. You are getting hang of it. All you need is to improve your concentration. Don''t think of the arrow as simply an arrow. Think of the bow as your extension and the arrows as your energy spears. And your aim should be the center of the target. Think of the target like a bird or a fish and the center is its eye."

 Chapter 272: Claires three demands

    Azzy closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath and opened his eyes while pulling the string.

    Unlike before, he was in full concentration mode, not paying attention to either of his neighbors.

    Claire, on the other hand, getting the hang of it and managing to hit nine-pointers now. She wanted to strike a ten-pointer before chatting with her boyfriend.

    This was only the 19th shot. Azzy was leading by 149 to 146.

    Both of them dragged the bowstring to the maximum, and Claire shot the arrow. It traveled like lightning and pierced the ten-pointer circle. It was barely on the circle. Nevertheless, it is 10.

    "Yay, I''m 156, now." Claire had a big smile on her face as she turned towards Azzy who didn''t release the arrow yet.

    Instead, he was dragging it back even more while picturing that there was a bird with an eye as big as the ten-pointer circle.

    *Ting*

    As Azzy managed to drag the string to the maximum, the string couldn''t handle the strength and broke into two.

    "Rael," Claire left the bow and hurriedly stepped towards him and grabbed his right hand, and checked to see if there''s a cut or something.

    She sighed in relief as there''s no wound.

    Meanwhile, Neal, who was nearby and saw it, walked towards him and told him to switch the bows.

    After switching the bows, Azzy placed the arrow and dragged the bowstring to hit the target but Claire stopped him. "No, this is cheating. You can''t change the bows during our match. You lose."

    "Eh?" Azzy looked at her in surprise.

    She looked away, not intending to meet her eyes with his, "This is a fair match. So, you can''t use any other bow than the one we decided on before. I win. So, you should adhere to three demands of mine."

    In Azzy''s eyes, she sounds so ridiculous and childish. If it is anyone, he wouldn''t have accepted the outcome at all. But, he was curious. If Claire is choosing this way for three demands, he wondered what she was planning. He played along.

    "Fine, you win. Tell me, what I have to do?" He asked her.

    Claire let out a chuckle as she touched his nose, "not now."

    "But, the time limit is only one week though. After that, I won''t accept any demands. I''m telling you." Azzy reminded her, to which she simply grinned in response. Azzy was even more curious now.

    Both of them continued to practice.

    After the daily training of Archery is finished, they went for respective dorms. Azzy met a tired Gideon in the latter''s room. Later, both of them set out for the cafeteria together.

    Azzy, Claire, Gideon, and Snivy sat together with the meal platters.

    It''s been a while since Azzy met Snivy. The last time was before the annual holidays. He doesn''t know what to say to her, and neither did she knows except for greeting him.

    Thankfully, for him, Claire came to the rescue.

    "So, is everything going well at the academy?" She asked her.

    Snivy awkwardly replied, "Yeah."

    For some reason, it was a little bit difficult for Snivy to talk face to face with Claire, although towards Gideon, she acted just the same as before.

    Glancing at Azzy, Claire asked her, "Snivy, how different is the main branch from our academy?"

    Maybe, it''s because she keep spending her time with Azzy that even without his expressions, she was able to understand his feelings and thoughts, a little bit. She was sure that Azzy wanted to ask it but was hesitating.

    Snivy was a little bit taken aback at first because she kept in touch with Claire and they exchange messages on daily basis about what happens in their respective academies.

    Still, she answered, "the major differences are probably the teaching staff and games."

    "Games?" The three of them wondered.

    Snivy proceeded to explain, "we have these civilian sports like soccer, basketball, baseball, and others. There are also clubs, ranging from reading clubs to sports clubs.

    The rules were exactly the same, except that we are allowed to use soul energy. It''s much fun actually."

    "What club you are in?" Gideon asked curiously.

    Snivy replied, "Tennis."

    "Oh!" Gideon instantly fell into imagination. Even Azzy could imagine how she can hit the balls and slam them into the opponent''s court. After all, her Arcana weapon is a hammer.

    "Say, you must have heard about Estella while you were there, right?" Gideon suddenly brings up the moon clan''s heiress, sensing the opportunity.

    "You mean, Estella Moon?" Snivy''s facial expression instantly turned dark as she looked at him, "if you are after that girl because of her doll-like appearance, I should warn you to stay away."

    "Eh? Why?"

    Snivy raised three of her fingers. "One, she despises weaker people than her."

    "Ugh." Gideon felt like an invisible arrow pierced his chest.

    Snivy continued, "Two, you are a commoner and she''s a highborn noble. On top of that, an heiress. According to my classmates, she looks down on those with low status."

    "Eh? But, she doesn''t look down on Azzy, though." Gideon pointed it out, to which Claire calmly answered, "his foster parents and master is of high status."

    "Oh, you are right." Gideon realized it before he felt another pain in his chest. His status might be low but he was a member of the Crescent Clan and the direct disciple of Ramiel Crescent. He even knew her from childhood, yet, she ignores him most of the time.

    Snivy ignored his expression and said about the final crucial point, "Three, you look like a nerd but you act like a dog in heat. Forget about Estella, no girl in the right mind would want to date you."

    It was the final invisible arrow that pierced him and he complained, "that''s harsh of you. This time, it''s a real one, you know."

    "Yeah, right. Hmpf." Snivy didn''t take his words seriously and continued with her lunch.

    After the lunch break, the two pairs parted ways. Azzy and Claire left for the spear training while Gideon and Snivy took a rest in their respective dorms as they were done with meeting the daily target.

    Five days passed away in a blink of an eye. Azzy and Claire progressed leaps and bounds in their weapon training. Both Neal and the Lt. Commander, Hailey were under the impression that they might become Third-tier cadets within a couple of months.

    On the other hand, Gideon and Snivy were attempting for the trial.

    A captain named Edward is overseeing the trial. Claire and Azzy came to the ground to watch in person, silently cheering on the side. Along with the two teenagers, there are a few more cadets who are also participating.

    Each of them is standing in a separate lane on the running track. A lap is approximately 1 km in length. So, they have to make 100 laps before going for push-ups and other tasks.

    After resetting everyone''s timer, Captain Edward blew the whistle.

    "Do you think they can do it?" Intimately holding Azzy''s arm, Claire asked in a sweet tone.

    "Let''s hope so," Azzy slowly replied.

    ***

    Night Clan compound, Death Clan village;

    Within the village of Death Clan, at an isolated place between the hills lies the compound of the clan of assassins.

    A little girl was training hand combat with the Matriarch of the clan, Pandora Night who looked like she was in her thirties but was more than three thousand years old.

    A man in an assassin outfit suddenly appeared in the training ground, interrupting their practice.

    "Greetings, Matriarch." He greeted with his one knee on the ground.

    "Ethar, what is it?" Strangely, she recognized him despite his face being completely covered by a black mask.

    He handed her a scroll. "It''s from the monarch." Qridus was addressed as such by many clan members.

    After he disappeared, she opens the scroll and read it. "Crescent clan, eh?"

    The nine-year-old little Avia heard her mumble but it appeared as if she was annoyed.

    Putting away the scroll, Pandora Night looked at her descendant. "There was going to be wedding celebrations in the clan. In the upcoming weeks, you will get to meet your parents."

    "Mama and Papa?" Avia''s face glowed in delight. "They will be here?"

    Pandora added, "if they come, that is. There''s a troublesome kid they were looking after."

    "Troublesome?" Avia instantly remembered Azzy. Her face darkened.

    Meanwhile, Pandora thought to herself, "Maybe, I should extend the invitation to that kid too. If he comes, I''m able to solve the mystery of how he has the black lightning, the same attribute variant as Aelius Crescent."

 Chapter 273: Wedding invitation to Azzy

    "C''mon, what kind of weird demands are they?" Azzy stared at Claire in disbelief as she put forth the demands while they were returning to Aclein in train.

    "It is what they are. If you don''t hold your promise, then, I won''t talk to you." Claire looked away, showing her stubbornness regarding this matter.

    According to their bet, the loser should adhere to three demands of the winner and Azzy also agreed to fulfill it, back then. But, now, when he actually heard of them, he felt a little bit regret.

    It''s not that they were impossible but they were just embarrassing.

    The first demand is to write atleast a 500-word love poem/letter for her and broadcast on the radio Aclein, in the evening 7 o''clock "Love You" program so that the whole city listens to it. C''mon, what''s the need of doing that? He will be so embarrassed when it airs.

    The second demand was a simple one. She wanted to visit his house and spend time with his family members. Azzy was completely fine with it but he was a little bit embarrassed when she boldly mentioned that she also wanted to learn cooking from her mother-in-law.

    As for the final demand, it was the most embarrassing of them all. He needed to be defeated by Estella in a formal match. Until now, Azzy never lost to anyone. So, losing her is the same as humiliating himself. Moreover, it should also be a convincing defeat where no one will point out that he was holding back a lot.

    Azzy could understand the first two ones as it was just something that belongs to their relationship but he couldn''t understand what Claire would gain by making his boyfriend, a loser.

    Well, maybe, it''s also not a bad idea to remove the public attention on him and shift it towards Estella. Was Claire thinking of him perhaps?

    A definite "NO." Claire was only thinking of keeping away from Estella and for some reason, Azzy couldn''t see that and the Reaper don''t want to bother with his love life, at least not anymore.

    In the end, his pride didn''t allow him to fake a defeat and he asked her to change the third demand.

    After a brief silence, she let out a smile, changing it to a completely opposite situation. Azzy, however, readily accepted it.

    She grabbed his arm and kissed his cheeks, "I knew you were the best."

    Azzy blushed a bit because of the people around looking at them and just closed his eyes to take a nap.

    After 12 hours of journey, Azzy and Claire reached Aclein. As for Gideon, he didn''t travel with them as he had to meet with his master.

    After escorting her to the academy, Azzy started to walk towards his home while his hidden super bodyguard continued to follow secretly.

    A week ago, Aria followed him to the Silver City, intruded into the WAMO Headquarters, then, secretly monitored him at the training center, and eventually, returned with the both of them. From start to end, Azzy couldn''t even sense her presence at all.

    It was around 11 o''clock in the evening. The residential street was silent with most of the houses having their lights switched off, indicating that everyone is asleep.

    As he neared the home, Azzy saw that the lights in Affea Mansion are still on. He mumbled to himself, "Are they waiting for me?"

    He opened the gate and entered the compound.

    *knock* knock*

    He knocked on the door twice.

    To his surprise, a very familiar person opened the door.

    "Eh? Ethan?" Azzy was taken aback to see this servant who served him from the movement he was born in. But, then, he remembered that the person before him should be a stranger in this timeline. So, he didn''t talk to him and just entered the mansion, only to see his foster parents are having tea with a young woman that he has never seen before in his life. But, the stoic expression on her is too familiar.

    "Azzy, you are back." Affea was always the first to spot him as her gaze is often towards the entrance door whenever he was about to come home.

    It was then, the seemingly young-looking woman turned her head to look at him.

    Oakley then hurriedly spoke, "Azzy, come here and greet our esteemed guest. The matriarch is waiting for you several hours."

    "Matriarch?" Azzy wondered who this woman is and what she wanted with him. Nevertheless, he walked forwards towards them and greeted her with a bow. "Hello."

    "My name is Pandora Night, the leader of the Night clan of Freyles." She casually introduced herself and took a sip of tea.

    "Pandora Night? Never heard but I guess she''s the previous leader of the Night Clan before Aidus Night took over the position." Azzy fell into thoughts for a moment before he asked, "Is there anything that I can do?"

    Ethan Night, the rank-6 expert of the clan frowned when he heard Azzy''s emotionless tone. Azzy''s expression and tone made it seem like he was disrespecting the Matriarch. On the other hand, Pandora herself didn''t care much about his tone and proceeded to speak her intentions, "the story is long and I didn''t have that much time to waste. So, I''ll tell you briefly and you can ask for the details from your foster parents.

    An important marriage ceremony is going to be taking place at the Royal Castle of Freyles. Many esteemed guests are invited. Your parents are family. So, naturally, they are also invited and so are you.

    But, the real reason for inviting you is different. I was impressed with the abilities that you showcased during the Champions League. A person with your potential shouldn''t limit yourself to a tiny city like this. That''s why I''m willing to give you an opportunity. The rest is your choice to make."

    Soon, she left the house with her servant, leaving behind a confused Azzy who looked at Affea and Oakley for an explanation.

    For some reason, both of them looked a bit nervous. After a brief silence, Oakley slowly replied, "Azzy, the thing is that she''s actually my great grandmother, and she¡­"

    "Let''s talk about it, tomorrow." Affea hurriedly interrupted him and changed the topic, "our son just came home after a week and you wanted to talk about all that history? Let him rest."

    She turned towards him and said, "You must be tired from the long journey. We can talk about everything in the morning."

    "But, I need to go to the academy before 6." Azzy reminded her and took a seat. "Aunt Affea, what is it?"

    Both of them looked at each other before Affea take the seat and explained a few things that Azzy already knew some of them. The first is that Oakley isn''t a commoner but is the heir of the Night clan. But, he went against the clan rules and married an outsider with a strong bloodline. So, he was expelled as a result and from her side, both of them made an enemy out of her ex-fianc¨¦e.

    Apart from the secret about the Death Clan''s existence, Affea reluctantly revealed everything.

    At first, Azzy wanted to reject the invitation but as he heard the names of the bride and bridegroom, Azzy agreed to take an absence from the academy and attend the marriage.

    Affea and Oakley were happy that Azzy is coming with them.

    "Okay, go and get sleep, now. We''ll talk with your principal about your absence." Oakley said to him.

    Azzy said good night to them and went to his room to sleep. Meanwhile, Affea and Oakley went to their room calmly before Oakley activated a seal that suppresses all kinds of sound within the barrier.

    "Why didn''t you say it to him?" He asked her in a serious tone.

    "What should I tell him?" Affea also turned serious, "That your great grandmother is suspecting our Azzy as a descendant of Crescent clan and she wanted to confirm it? What would he think of us? If not for the fact that I would get to meet Avia, I would have never let him attend the wedding. It''s your fault. Why did you leave our daughter, there?"

    "Oh, really?" Oakley argued back with his logic. "Isn''t it more because of your family? To get you back, they even kidnapped Avia."

    While the husband and wife started their argument, Azzy was talking with the Reaper.

    "No, I don''t recommend it, Azrael."

 Chapter 274: Will Azzy join the military?

    "Why?"

    The Reaper tried to convince Azzy to abandon the thoughts of going to the wedding, "Going there is the same as digging your own grave. Don''t you know what happens if you were discovered?"

    "C''mon, there would be hundreds of guests. Who would have the time to pay attention to me? Moreover, the venue isn''t even at the Death Clan but the royal palace." Azzy was adamant about going to his parents'' wedding so that he may take look at them.

    After all, he never saw them until now and when the opportunity came to his doorstep, why not use it?

    "The threat isn''t those high profile guests, Azrael. It''s your own clan." The Reaper also didn''t back down. Of course, going there isn''t a grave threat. That''s why he won''t take extreme measures to stop Azzy but instead, will try to make Azzy give up on his own. "Qridus Garcia is an Arcana master who is just a step away from becoming the Demi-God. Even I can''t save you if he acts."

    "Why would he harm me? I''m the future heir to the Death Clan and his direct descendant. Even my identity is exposed, what can happen? I''m the only one who can control the time. The worst thing that can happen is that he''ll send an expert to monitor me." Azzy was naturally not convinced. Affea and Oakley may not know but he was the one that requested the Clan head to take care of his family.

    The Reaper didn''t like the response. He felt like arrogance stemmed in Azzy''s heart. Azzy''s promise to Claire''s third demand itself is the perfect example for it. And arrogance always makes one not only careless but also makes them feel like their decision is the most optimal.

    The Reaper can''t do anything but wait until the right moment.

    But, for now, this conversation is more important. This deity tried for the last time, "It''s true that Qridus Garcia won''t harm you but it is also true that he''s the head of the Death Clan. The person sitting on that throne needed to be stubborn to uphold his duty.

    To fulfill it, he won''t hesitate to lock you up at the Death Clan village or worse, take hostage of Claire to force you.

    If he did that, even if the entire Triastal kingdom, super robot Aria, Ramiel Crescent, Barton Everglade, and Aegis Light combine their strengths and wage a war, they wouldn''t be able to save her.

    And the situation will be worsened further if other hidden clans find the truth.

    Your great grandfather might only hurt Claire to force you but if it''s others, they might take even a greater drastic step of taking your foster parents, Master, and Gideon as hostages.

    Why risk everything just so as to take a glimpse at your parents. You would still reunite with them in the future, anyway."

    Azzy became silent. He never thought of this angle.

    On one hand, he desperately wanted to meet his parents, or at least, look at them from far away. On the other hand, he can''t ignore the risks even if the possibility is extremely low.

    While Azzy is seriously thinking, the Reaper became busy, seeing the infinite futures.  "I see. Then, I need to turn this into an opportunity." He mumbled to himself.

    After thinking for a long time, in the end, Azzy asked the Reaper''s help, "then, give me a solution where I can go to the wedding but can''t get caught at the same time."

    The Reaper was prepared for this outcome. He replied, "Only one choice. You had to mask your soul energy completely during this time. No matter what kind of situation you will end up in, you cannot use the soul energy at all. Instead, use the gun to protect yourself. During the past week, you were given enough training to handle the modern weapon."

    "Modern weapon? The normal guns that depend on bullets are useless. Even a special firearm is also useless if I can''t use soul energy." Azzy voiced his opinion. He was taking the suggestion seriously as it was the only way.

    "You needed a gun that can use natural energy, Azrael." The Reaper reminded him about the scientist who gave him the gloves. If he can contact her through Aria and make a request, then, it might be possible.

    The Reaper''s suggestion made Azzy remember the gloves, "what about the gloves? It stores natural energy, right? As long as I can bear the weight, I won''t need to use soul energy. Can''t I just protect myself?"

    "Yeah, you can sure do that. But, what will you do if people find it''s made of adamantine? How will you explain about possessing a billion credits worth item? It can be used as an emergency measure but not in open. You will only attract unnecessary trouble." This is the reason the Reaper never suggested the gloves in the first place. In fact, in this deity''s eyes, they were nothing but a useless invention, which cannot help Azzy at all.

    Azzy fell into thoughts and asked him whether he really need to request the weapon. It''s because if he was the one that initiates the request and gains something, then, he will also have to do something for them.

    The Reaper also prepared for this question. He replied, "Then, you tell them that you will join the special forces of Northern Qudour after graduation.

    And in exchange, you will ask for that ancient book and a special weapon as the joining bonus. Of course, you cannot ask for the ownership of a book that Aegis Light bought for 150 million credits. Instead, you will ask me to lend it to you for a week or two.

    And once both of the items fall into your hands, you won''t need the soul energy at all."

    "One more attachment?" Azzy complained to himself. It was enough that he accepted Barton as his prime master, and then, joined WAMO, now he needed to join the military too?

    "Well, once you go back, no one would remember you anyway. Not a big deal." The Reaper casually replied to him.

    Azzy felt like he was cheating them but desperate situations call for desperate measures. What he should do to return the favor, he will think about it later. But, for now, going to his parents'' wedding is more important.

    Following the Reaper''s advice, Azzy decided to talk with Aria, right away. In the middle of the night, he jumped out from the window and landed on the ground before raising his head and spoke in a usual, not loud and not a mumble either. "Aria, I want to talk to you about something. If you are listening, then, appear before me."

    As soon as his words left his mouth, the teenager-looking girl appeared before him.

    Azzy proceeded to speak the exact words the Reaper told him.

    Aria nodded in response and he returned to his room again.

    The next day morning, when Azzy woke up from his sleep, he found an envelope beside him. There was no name on top of it.

    Azzy opened it curiously. Inside the envelope, there''s an application form, and there''s a note, which contained a message.

    "Dear Azrael, we''re delighted to know that you are interested to join the Special Forces. Fill the application form and give it to Aria. Within a week, you will get the items you desired.

    From Dr. Mac"

    "So fast?" Azzy didn''t expect it would go this smoothly.

 Chapter 275: Acquiring Buddhist techniques

    A few days passed away in a blink of an eye. Azzy continued his academic life as usual.

    Claire pestered him daily to fulfill the demands but Azzy could only hold them for a while as his attention was on the upcoming wedding.

    On the fourth day, he finally received the first item, the ancient book of Buddhism.

    After returning from the academy at around 10 o''clock in the evening, Azzy locked his room and sat on his bed in a lotus position.

    "The book contained various techniques but first, you start with Immortal Bodhi art. This technique will let you absorb the natural energy temporarily, powering up your soul orb." The Reaper''s voice echoed in his head.

    "Now, first concentrate on your surroundings, activate your senses to the maximum while I''ll directly transfer the knowledge to you."

    "Alright." Azzy nodded and closed his eyes. He started to meditate while concentrating on the surroundings to sense the invisible particles that are supposedly present everywhere.

    The Reaper doesn''t want Azzy to turn into a monk or worse, a Buddha. That''s why he didn''t bother to translate all the stories and teachings written inside the book. He only picked up important things that can be weaponized against the future enemies and slowly transferred them to his brain.

    Within just a couple of minutes, Azzy was able to sense a countless number of tiny transparent bubbles all around him. It filled his entire room. "Are these the natural energy particles?" He wondered.

    "First stage is sensing. The second stage is absorbing. The third stage is temporarily merging with the soul orb. The fourth part is either refining to increase your soul power or expelling to attack your enemies." The Reaper poured the information to Azzy. "You passed the first stage. Now, it''s time for absorption. Release your soul energy and form armor around yourself.

    Until now, you have used the soul energy to either strengthen your attack or act as a barrier to reduce the inflicted physical damage upon you.

    But, now, you will use it as a black hole. The process is the same as absorbing solar energy. It''s just that you will use the soul energy as a medium because it takes less effort for the merge."

    The process took nearly 30 minutes until a layer of energy can be seen around the soul orb, thereby, increasing the size of the planets within the soul orb too. Azzy felt the presence of the second layer of translucent energy over his soul energy armor.

    Once the process is done, Azzy refined the raw form of natural energy and increased his soul power barely by a couple of hundred.

    "Now that you are done with basic technique, it''s time for you to learn about Invincible Divine body.

    It has nine tiers just like the soul realms. Usually, people will strengthen their bones and skull by breaking through to the next realm. However, there exist people like you who train in tough environments and raise their physical strength, ending up being stronger than their peers.

    This is one such technique where you will be able to become so strong that when mastered completely, you can go toe to toe with the Supreme realm expert as long as the latter don''t use soul energy and skills. Currently, you are considered at the sixth tier.

    And once you reach the ninth tier, your body will go under metamorphosis. Your skull and your bones will be like they are made of steel, and your entire body will be like it is forged in a myriad of metals. It''s as if you become a living Adamantium."

    Azzy was naturally excited about it. The knowledge of the technique began to pour into his brain.

    Nearly ten minutes later, he inwardly thought, "I see. So, instead of feeding it to the soul orb, the natural energy needed to be fed to the bones, huh. And the rate of absorption increases with my soul power. So, I need to find a balance between both of their training."

    Then, it was the turn of Embodiment of the Heavens, where one can shrink their body to atomic-scale after mastering it completely.

    After that, Azzy learned levitation, which the combat instructor Herman occasionally uses, although it was practically useless other than showing off.

    Then, it''s the turn of the Divine Palm technique, which uses the natural energy to form a giant translucent golden palm to crush the enemies, although its power entirely depends on what level the user''s Divine Body is at.

    One after another, The Reaper extracted the techniques from the ancient book and transferred the knowledge to Azzy.

    By the time everything is finished, it was already dawn and Azzy could only leave for the academy without any sleep.

    At around 7:40 a.m., during the sparring session, Claire reminded him again while they were having a friendly spar.

    Azzy thought of postponing it again, giving the same excuse that he will surely fulfill the demand when Estella becomes rank-6 and further said that challenging and defeating her will make it seem like he was a bully.

    Little did know, Claire purposely spoke of it when Estella was near. The latter frowned.

    And during the afternoon, at Practical Combat, by coincidence, the class instructor arranged to spar between the two students with similar strengths, giving the reason that he wanted to see everyone''s progress before the upcoming monthly tournament.

    He then announced the fixtures with the venue being the Grand Arena.

    First match: Glenn and Claire Lefeuvre versus Copper and Calder

    Second match: Stephanus and Adam versus Estella Moon

    Third match: Mia Leveret, Annabel, and Anner Light versus Larch and Lark Sandrou

    Fourth match: Raven Passel and Louis versus Rain Nightingale and Gideon

    Fifth match: Instructor Arley Blood versus Azrael and Flora

    Sixth match: Claire vs Louis

    Seventh match: Mia vs Adam

    Eighth match: Gideon vs Calder

    Ninth Match: Lark vs Annabel

    Tenth match: Azrael vs Estella

    ****

    Ten matches, with each one lasting only five minutes. Claire was naturally happy that God is listening to her, not knowing that this entire sparring session was arranged by Estella behind their backs as she felt her pride wounded by Azzy''s comment.

    Arley Blood used to be a combat instructor at Eternal Institutions, Silver city Branch, and was acquainted with Estella for several years. When she spoke her intentions of sparring against Azzy, he accepted her wish.

    The first match was between Team Claire and Team Calder, where the former easily wiped the floor with the latter.

    Ever since her Arcana spirit''s grade rose to platinum, everyone gradually realized that she was completely on a whole level compared to the person who fought in the Champions League.

    Estella''s match doesn''t even need to be mentioned. She easily knocked her opponents without even using her Arcana.

    The third match was also Mia''s favor. The battle made Azzy realize that Mia was better in modern weapons compared to Archery. And there''s also Anner. Although she was injured, she displayed enough skills to be lauded.

    The fourth match ended up as a draw. But, for some reason, Azzy felt that Louis took easy on Gideon, considering he never saw that amazing speed that he saw on the day of the orientation ceremony.

    The fifth match between the instructor and Team Azrael also ended up in a draw. Azzy didn''t attack the instructor even once and gave all the opportunities to the little Flora.

    On the other hand, he managed to keep up with Arley''s speed to dodge the latter''s attacks. It brought mixed reactions among his fellow classmates. After all, it''s a great opportunity to fight an Exalt realm expert. In their eyes, Azzy wasted it but then again, no one has the courage to say it to his face either.

    The friendly matches continued.

    In the sixth match, Azzy saw Louis'' speed once again but against Claire, the six-ft teenager only focused on dodging and forced the match to be drawn. Claire complained that there''s something wrong with that anime-faced guy.

    In the seventh match, Mia won against Adam because of obvious reasons. Adam is purely a support type and Mia is a control type. If the guy was good at physical attacks, he might have given a good fight, unfortunately, he had a weak body. The result was decided as soon as the match is started.

    Gideon and Calder''s match ended up in a draw and they are evenly matched. As for lark and Annabel, surprisingly, the eighth-grader won against Lark despite having lesser soul power and the same Arcana''s grade.

    "Final match, Estella Moon versus Azrael," The instructor announced it and everyone fixed their eyes on both of them as this is the first time they are going face to face.

    "I''ll be going all out, President Rael," Estella announced to him in a serious tone. "If you wanted to not lose your face, be prepared for it."

    Azzy stared at her in silence. His face was the same, without any expression. So, it is difficult to say what he is thinking about.

    "Student Azrael, student Estella, get ready."

    *Whistle*

    As soon as the whistle is blown, Estella stretched her hands as she summoned not one, but two soul cards.

    "Come out and have fun, Oh the lord of the seas, Levi."

    "Come out and tear apart my enemies, Oh the lord of the skies, Garuda."

    A familiar 800ft long Demonic Serpent, Leviathan appeared beside her. Along with it, a 100-ft giant eagle appeared in the sky, flapping its wings.

    As they saw their opponent, the Leviathan let out a powerful roar and Garuda let out a powerful screech. They were so loud that even Gideon and other kids closed their ears for a moment.

    Estella mounted on top of the eagle and looked down at him, "I''m waiting, Azrael. Summon your Arcana."

    "Soul skill: Eyes of God"

    Instead of summoning the black lightning wolf, Azzy unleashed the soul skill.

 Chapter 276: Azzy spars with Estella

    As Azzy powered up his strength with usual energy armor, a frown appeared on Estella. "President Rael, what are you doing?"

    Azzy answered, "If you want me to take this seriously, make me."

    "Yes, that''s the way." Claire was grinning from ear to ear as she felt her boyfriend look so cool saying it to the face.

    "Is that so?" Estella summoned the storage card and took out her bow.

    All these years, she was looking for a partner/ rival that can make her stronger. Now, she had not only met one but two rivals. Estella had already gauged Claire''s strength. She felt it''s time to test Azzy''s strength.

    "Well, then. Let''s see how much stronger I got during this time." Azzy cracked his knuckles and clenched his fists. He then charged forward.

    "He''s coming." Estella felt tensed up as she saw her opponent turn into a blur. She closed her eyes and hurriedly poured soul energy into her eyes to power up her eyesight.

    While it didn''t give her superior sight like the Eyes of God or Eyes of Truth, still, it boosted her vision enough that she can see Azzy, instead of blur.

    Realizing Azzy''s aim, she hurriedly activated the soul skill. "Levi, unleash the soul skill: Hardened defense."

    Meanwhile, Azzy reached the giant serpent and threw a fist at it. The Leviathan with over a 50-ton weight naturally wouldn''t be blasted away. Adding on top of that, now that it raised its defense for a short period of time, the beast didn''t even move an inch from the spot. However, as its weight is also distributed all over the body, its upper body swayed back and one of its scales got destroyed.

    At the same time, it generated a tremendous amount of repulsive force, pushing back Azzy more than a dozen meters.

    "Woah¡­"

    The spectators were amazed by seeing how tough Leviathan is. In their heads, Azzy was the strongest.

    Claire''s face darkened as she didn''t expect its skin would be this tough. She couldn''t help but remember her battles where she couldn''t even leave a scratch on the beast whenever it unleashes the soul skill.

    Meanwhile, a smile appeared on Estella as she pulled the bowstring and conjured an arrow. "I''m not in the same league as the ones you have battled until now, Prez. Now, it''s my turn."

    She released an arrow. To her surprise, Azzy didn''t move from the spot and just stood there in silence. With God''s Eyes, he can see the incoming arrow very clearly. In his eyes, it was too slow. But, his primary focus is on the energy arrow.

    "First step, sensing." With his senses heightened to the maximum, Azzy sensed the energons, which are usually called the natural energy particles.

    "Second step, Absorption." With just a thought in his mind, Azzy started to absorb energons rapidly.

    "Third step, merge." "Fourth step, expulsion."

    From the start to the finish, only four seconds passed away and a translucent layer of energy appeared over his energy armor.

    By this time, the energy arrow reached him. Azzy quickly raised his hand and caught it. In the next second, the arrow was crushed in his palm.

    "This, what energy is that?" Everyone wondered in a daze.

    "This boy somehow managed to use natural energy," Garuda spoke to Estella through their telepathy. "But that layer is too thin. Either he wasn''t used to it or he completely mastered it." Leviathan voiced her opinion.

    "Okay, let''s try this again." Azzy kicked the ground and dashed forward at his maximum speed once again.

    "This speed¡­" Estella''s eyes widened as he turned into a bit blurry again. However, she could still see his path. "Levi, tail sweep."

    She passed an order and conjured another energy arrow, shooting it at Azzy who reached Leviathan again.

    Azzy jumped and dodged Leviathan''s tail sweep. In the mid-air, he sensed the incoming arrow from behind.

    But, it was still away and will take a couple of seconds to reach him. So, he proceeded with punching at Leviathan once again.

    *Dum*

    A loud noise was generated from the collision. This time, Azzy''s punch thoroughly destroyed one of its scales and penetrated its skin but got stuck. The upper body of the serpent swayed a lot, but this time, it wasn''t able to balance and started to fall back.

    Despite the situation, Estella was calm. In fact, she was smiling as her arrow almost reached Azzy''s back and it was about to pierce the target.

    Just before the energy arrow was about to pierce his back, Azzy''s left hand raised and caught it at the perfect time before it was crushed once again.

    "Damn it. Garuda, let''s get down."

    *Screech*

    The giant eagle let out a powerful screech and flew towards Azzy whose movements were temporarily halted due to his hand stuck in the leviathan''s skin.

    "Azrael, gather the energons at your right palm and use eruption in the same you use for soul energy. In the meantime, twist your arm to blow it up altogether." The Reaper''s advice flows to his head, at the same time.

    Azzy then, rapidly absorb the natural energy particles from the surroundings and rapidly gathered at his stuck palm. At the same time, he raised his left hand towards the incoming Eagle. Three Protos spears that looked like pitch-black giant needles made of energy appeared around his palm while consuming half of his soul power. "Go."

    Three Protos spears cut through the air at the speed of the sound and flew towards the beast.

    "Garuda, destroy them."

    Garuda, the platinum-grade giant eagle opened its beak. A gust of wind emerged from its mouth. The wind and the Protos spears collided but the former cut through them, forcing the beast to flap its wings and dodge the attack upon sensing the terrifying power hidden in those tiny needles.

    Garuda flew up and the Protos Spears passed it. The beast continued to fly towards him.

    "Sorry, but they are the extension of my limbs, not simple attacks." Azzy made simple motions with his left hand. The Protos spears that were traveling towards the sky with no aim suddenly made a u-turn and chased after the beast.

    "It''s best if you shoot down them," Garuda suggested its master while continuing to fly. It was only a hundred meters away from the target and will reach in a few seconds.

    Estella turned around and looked at the pitch-black spears. She conjured an arrow within a fraction of a second and shoot at one of them. The arrow collided with the Protos spear but the former got destroyed instead. "I guess I need more soul energy." She conjured a second arrow, which consumed more than thirty percent of the remaining 50% of her soul energy.

    Meanwhile, Garuda almost reached Azzy and it raised its talons to pierce him. Just then, Azzy mumbled, "Three isn''t my limit."

    A fourth Protos spear was created at the tips of his fingers and it shot towards the beast.

    *Screeee*

    Due to the low distance, the Protos spear pierced its target, the eye of the Eagle, making it crash on the serpent that was trying to get up.

    *Argh*

    A Protos Spear pierced Estella''s hand. The remaining two pierced the fallen Eagle from the back.

    Everyone''s eyes widened in surprise. Arley Blood''s face turned serious as he saw black patches are appearing on Garuda at a rapid pace. "It is indeed the energy from the cosmos. Is he even a human? Or is he a being like us, the evolved species?"

    In the meantime, Estella sensed her energy is getting out of control as some foreign energy invaded her system. At the same time, she was losing blood continuously from her left wrist.

    "Time to finish this serpent¡­" Azzy mumbled to himself as he successfully managed to twist his arm perpendicularly and expelled all the natural energy gathered by his palm.

    A concentrated beam of translucent energy was shot from his right palm. The beam destroyed everything in its path and within a few seconds, the leviathan''s head was exploded with the energy beam breaking through it and continued to travel straight, destroying the wall of the Arena. After that, it disappeared into thin air.

    Estella was bathed in Leviathan''s blood from top to bottom and she kneeled there on the ground in a daze. It was too much of a shock for her. In the meantime, Garuda was filled with black patches here and there. The beast was trying its best to fight against the Protos energy.

    After freeing his hand, Azzy kicked the ground and took a great leap, landing before his competitor.

    "You may be a twin Arcana user and possessed platinum grade beasts but you aren''t strong enough for me to go all out."

 Chapter 277: Lets keep Claire away from cooking

    Maybe, the defeat took a toll on her mind or maybe, there''s another reason by pure coincidence. But, the next day, Estella wasn''t seen in the academy. She took leave for ten days and even disappeared from Aclein City, probably returning to her home.

    However, for the students of the academy, Estella was embarrassed to show her face in the public and ran away from the academy. When she didn''t show up for three days in a row, the rumor became strong.

    Meanwhile, Claire was on high clouds. The outcome was more than what she expected. Naturally, she enjoyed the days peacefully. Not only her but the others who were the victims of Estella''s torture also felt relieved. Except for Gideon, no one cared about her absence.

    Sunday arrived and it''s time for the trip to Arcana world. It is also the last day Azzy formally mentor Flora. According to the curriculum, starting in the month of June, students of the advanced program from various academies will get an opportunity to serve their internship to mentor the Class Zero of every branch of the Eternal institutions.

    Azzy and Flora, Claire, and Glenn formed up a team like just every time as they ventured into the mountains region of Stymphita. Usually, a team should be separate but Azzy and Claire don''t get time to spend with each other during normal days. So, they had to choose this way.

    Azzy and Claire were comfortably trekking the mountain with locking their arms and chatting with each other while Flora and Glenn are walking in the front.

    The two had the same missions. The first is to hunt down three Perighan beasts, which look a lot like brown bears. Their mentors aka Azzy and Claire had the mission to collect their eyes.

    The second is to bring back at least two stalks of Yicru root, which look off-white in color and had a similar shape to that of ginseng. They only grow at 12000ft altitude. So, trekking is necessary. The mentors, on the other hand, had an important mission. That is to find a rare flower known as ruby blossom. It is a type of red lotus that glows all the time. The specialty of this flower is that it purifies one''s bloodline and improves the quality of soul energy, although it is only useful for kids below the age of 8.

    The major issue here is that its location is random and there''s only one such flower, blooms every decade. That means not only it will be difficult to find but there will be huge competition and is likely to be found by someone already. Even though they accepted the mission, Azzy and Claire didn''t have any intentions to search for it and waste the time.

    After trekking for several hours, the team of four found a tiny lake formed because of a crater. Claire pulled a huge tent out of her storage and they set it up on even ground as if they came for camping.

    "Let''s have lunch. We''ll continue after taking a rest for a while." She then started to take out the dishes, which she brought from Azzy''s home. Although Affea did the most cooking, Claire helped her out.

    Everyone sat comfortably as more than ten dishes were spread out all over the table.

    "Rael, Try this Pilaf." Claire enthusiastically opened a dish and put it forth before Azzy. "I made this especially for you."

    As soon as his eyes fell on it, Azzy was taken aback in surprise and looked at it in disbelief. "You made this, for real?"

    Pilaf was supposed to be a saffron rice dish that features dried fruits and prunes, onions and herbs, and meat such as lamb or chicken. The rich people will add the meat of high-ranked beasts. The most expensive one at the world''s only 9-star hotel will serve dragon meat in it but that''s another story.

    And this version of Pilaf made by Claire looked so good in appearance. It''s as if it was bought from some high-class restaurant.

    "Okay, let''s see." Azzy take out a big scoop of rice and served himself.

    The two girls on the side looked at him in envy for they were offered every other dish except for this.

    "Um, Azrael, it''s better to not eat it for your safety." Just as he was about to put the spoon in his mouth, a voice of concern echoed in his head.

    Azzy was frozen for a second, "what does that mean, Chronos?"

    "Your girlfriend doesn''t possess the talent for cooking. I already told you that. It''s impossible that she can make even a normal food, much less an excellent one. Don''t go by appearances. If you don''t want to worsen your taste buds, you better stay away." The Reaper warned him.

    Azzy quickly put down the spoon full of rice back to the bowl.

    Claire was taken aback by his actions, "what happened, Rael?"

    "Nothing," Azzy awkwardly replied. "I think for some reason, I''m not hungry."

    "Eh? But, you haven''t eaten breakfast, either." Claire looked at him in worry. "Are you alright?"

    "You bet, I''m," Azzy replied in a confident tone. He quickly thought of an excuse and said, "Maybe, it''s due to the technique I''m lately training."

    "But, I made it especially for you." Claire became crestfallen. She looked at her food in disappointment.

    It was then Flora spoke, "if Senior Azrael doesn''t want to eat it, you can give it to me."

    "Alright," Claire picked up the dish and was about to hand it over to the kid before Azzy suddenly snatched it with a scream, "No¡­"

    The three girls flinched by Azzy''s sudden action. "You worked so hard on it for me. I''ll eat it."

    Flora glared at this mentor of his as if her favorite toy was taken away.

    Meanwhile, Azzy put the spoon in his mouth and took the first bite. His eyes widened, "damn, my mouth is burning. What did she add to the recipe? And there''s too much of salt."

    Azzy felt the urge to cough but swallowed everything without bothering to chew on it.

    "How is it?" Claire asked him with expectations.

    "It''s di¡­ damn good." Azzy forced himself to give her a comment while his body shivered for a second.

    "Really?" Claire thought that Azzy shivered in excitement. She was high clouds, "I didn''t expect that you liked it so much."

    While she was in her own world, Azzy quickly ate all the rice at super speed.

    "Oh, Poor thing." The Reaper looked at Azzy in pity.

    Azzy then sat in a lotus position and closed his eyes, giving the others an excuse that he needed to meditate to improve the rate of digestion.

    As they continued to eat, Azzy appeared in mindscape and stood at the edge of the cliff. There are the familiar skeletal beasts roaming on the endless barren land. There was a peaceful sky above his head. There was a specter standing not so far away from him.

    All of a sudden, Azzy screamed on top of his lungs and coughed crazily, complaining how disgusting that food is. The beasts down below flinched in surprise while the Reaper and his wolf shook their heads.

    "Phew¡­"

    Ten seconds later, Azzy took a deep breath and calmed down. "Okay, let''s keep Claire away from cooking."

    Soon, he returned to reality and found that they were still eating. So, he decided to use this time to observe the things in the surroundings through Aura sensing.

    Three powerful human auras were detected in the sky, about half a mile away.

 Chapter 278: Encountering Sapphire Magnolis, again

    "Hmm, judging by the speed, the flying card must be of platinum grade, quite rich, eh. And they seemed like they were going to pass this place."

    At first, he thought they might be the Arcana Masters who were also looking for the flower and didn''t place much attention and shifted it towards the wild beasts that are nearby the shores of the lake. They looked something similar to that of a deer but smaller in size and their curved horns were as short as an average adult man''s index finger.

    Despite sensing a human''s presence, they were peacefully drinking water. It explains that not all wild beasts are against humans, at least at level-1 region. Maybe, this is why this lower region is often filled with civilian tourists.

    "Okay, let''s try to locate that Ruby-Blossom. Since it constantly absorbs the natural energy, maybe, I can try it by slowly eliminating the other trees."

    Little by little, as he was trying to locate the flower through aura sensing, all of a sudden, he sensed those powerful human auras stopped, right above him.

    He stopped the aura sensing and opened his eyes and raised his head.

    There was a translucent flying card floating in the sky, a couple of hundred meters above. Three Arcana masters are looking at him. Azzy''s eyes met them, or rather, the girl standing on the right. She appeared familiar to him, especially her purple eyes. "I saw her somewhere. Where?" He wondered as the flying card is descending.

    "It''s that kid, you met last year. The princess of the Magnolis family. You even battled her little sister at Champions League finals." The Reaper reminded him.

    Azzy finally remembered her. "Yeah, that griffin girl, what''s her name? Hmm¡­ That''s right, Sapphire Magnolis, isn''t it?"

    As they landed on the ground, the purple-eyed beauty let out a smile, "It''s been a while, Azrael."

    "Yeah, it has been, Ms. Magnolis," Azzy replied calmly.

    "You know each other, Saph?" The young man on the right asked her. He was thin, a bit short, and has the look of a teenager. At a glance, even Azzy thought for a second that he''s his age. But, seeing how he was addressing Sapphire who was 19 years old, Azzy thought that either they were very close with each other or this person is a lot older than he appeared to be.

    Sapphire nodded and introduced each other, "This is Azrael from Aclein Academy. I believe it is now called Eternal Institutions. And Azrael, these are my friends from Dragon Academy. Like me, they pursue advanced studies."

    "Aclein Academy? Azrael?" The person standing in the middle opened his mouth and clenched his fist. He''s as pale as milk and a bit too fat, doesn''t seem like he works out. Azzy can''t even see his eyes properly because they were too small. When standing beside a beauty like Sapphire, it wasn''t pleasing for anyone to see him.

    But, for now, this guy looked like he''s angry for some reason.

    "You are the one that humiliated our juniors?" He tightened his fist with his

    As soon as Sapphire mentioned that they were from Dragon Academy, Azzy realized that they were going to be trouble as he had bad blood with it. They came to the Aclein as the favorite for the Champions League but in the finals, one was dead, the second one turned into a civilian with his soul orb completely destroyed, the remaining three had their soul orbs broken and is in rehabilitation, becoming a laughing stock in front of other studies.

    So, he was calm even inside, and replied, "It''s the result of their actions. One can''t escape his/her karma."

    Naturally, his tone and expression were devoid of any emotions and is completely plain. It''s as if he was stating the obvious fact. And this brought a frown on the teenager-looking guy as well as the fatty.

    "You¡­ I will roast you¡­" Powerful red-colored soul energy erupted from the fatty. It was very dense.

    Sapphire patted the fatty''s shoulder and spoke, "we are in level-1 region. Calm down."

    She knew how strong Azzy was. To make sure her friend won''t suffer painful defeat or worse, death, she tried to remind him. But, the fatty wasn''t convinced. If his strength is suppressed and so, was Azzy''s. Moreover, he''s a high-rank-6 expert. In his view, he was naturally stronger than a teenager.

    The commotion brought the three girls to come out of the tent. Claire looked at the three of them and she deeply frowned, thinking that it''s an enemy.

    "Rael, what''s going on?" She asked him.

    The three of them turned towards the source and found the three girls standing at the entrance of the tent. Glenn stood behind Claire, panicking a little bit. She fought beasts and people before but never fought a real battle with another Arcana master in the wild. In the academy, there are rules but here, there are no rules. So, this fifth grader worried a little bit. Meanwhile, Flora fearlessly stood alongside Claire and even summoned her soul card.

    However, what they expected didn''t happen. The fatty suddenly retracted his soul energy and dashed towards them. His speed is as fast as Azzy, something none of them expect.

    Just as Azzy was about to make his move, he saw the fatty didn''t attack them but instead caught Claire''s hand, not only taking everyone by surprise but even making Azzy angry as he said, "wow, you looked beautiful. Want to be my girlfriend?"

    "Stay away," Claire shrieked in surprise and tried to free her arms but found his grip was really too strong.

    It was the first time Azzy saw someone hit on his girlfriend and he doesn''t like it.

    In the next second, a pitch-black giant needle made pierced the fatty''s right elbow, followed by a voice filled with coldness, "Put your filthy hand away from her."

    Azzy surely liked her but during their past three months of the relationship, he rarely displayed his affection. Putting aside his age for a second, he just wasn''t the romantic type. All he does is encourage her, stand by her, support her, and shield her from harm. But, now, for the first time, he attacked someone because of her.

    "Argh¡­" The fatty screamed in pain and retracted his arms before he forcefully expelled it with energy eruption. Unknowingly to him, fire attribute was added to the soul energy erupting, releasing powerful flames.

    "Gyl, no." Sapphire tried to warn him in advance but it was too late.

    It was then Azzy turned into a blur and dashed towards the three girls and shielded them with his body from the flames. Unfortunately, the tent and all the things in it were burned to ash.

    Almost all the school uniforms of Arcana academies were usually resistant to the attribute effects. So, Azzy''s uniform was intact but as the uniforms don''t absorb the attack, his back felt the heat and slightly burned.

    Sapphire and the other guy managed to dodge the flames and were completely fine.

    "Are you alright?" Claire asked Azzy worriedly.

    Azzy nodded in response and after finding that she''s completely fine, he turned towards the fatty.

    "You dare to ambush me?" The fatty didn''t even apologize for his actions that can result in heavy injuries or worse, the death of Flora and Glenn. Instead, he barked at Azzy for being preposterous. He raised the hand, conjuring a fist-sized fireball.

    "Claire, take the girls and move back," Azzy said to her.

 Chapter 279 - This Potato Poked The Wrong Nest

    As the girls moved back a few meters, Azzy released his soul energy to make energy armor over him and then, started to absorb the natural energy from the surroundings.

    Considering there''s a restriction in the region, all of the 100 soul power worth of energy gushed out, leaving nothing for him to use any soul skills.

    The fatty frowned at first upon seeing such a phenomenon. Nevertheless, he didn''t think too much about the two-layered defense as it indicated that the kid is afraid of him.

    And why wouldn''t he? After all, this 22-year-old named Gyllan Varen Eranyl is a prince of Rivendell and is a high-rank-6 expert, a genius in his own right. So, in his view, Azzy wasn''t in any way better than him, the looks are excluded.

    "I guess you became too arrogant after winning the Champions League. You really needed to be taught a lesson for not knowing your place." The fatty prince raised his hand and summoned a sword made of flames.

    Meanwhile, Azzy clenched his fists and changed into a boxing stance. His right hand and foot were slightly angled back from his target. His right hand is near his chin with his left hand slightly covering his face. His left foot is about a shoulder-width apart from his right foot.

    The fatty prince charged forward and swung the sword at Azzy, going for the head. He intends to kill his target.

    If it was anyone else, Gyllan would have probably gotten successful. But, his opponent is Azzy.

    Just as he swung the sword, Azzy simply ducked and then, raised the fist, giving a powerful uppercut to his chin.

    *Puchi*

    The fatty prince spat the blood out of his mouth and flew up in the air for three meters before crashing on the ground. He lost his consciousness. It was a one-punch knockout.

    Sapphire and her teenage looking friend, Vogio went into a daze. The Princess of Evenor knew that Azzy was strong but didn''t expect that he was strong enough to knock out someone like Gyl.

    Meanwhile, Azzy blinked his eyes in silence for a couple of seconds, "He''s weak, or did I get too strong?"

    From the start, he sensed that his opponent is in the Upper Elite realm and thought that he is probably stronger than Estella but the result is too disappointing.

    Looking at the other two, Azzy said, "So, will the two of you also come at me or take this garbage away from my sight?"

    "Sorry for the trouble caused by my friend. Being the only son, he was a bit too pampered by his father. He was spoiled further after his father ascended to the throne. I''ll compensate you for the loss. How about we put this behind our back?" As Sapphire apologized to him, the other guy picked up the fatty with his single hand as if he was picking up a rice sack bag.

    Although she was apologizing to him, Sapphire also sent an indirect warning that the fatty isn''t someone he can bully. So, he should stop here and let the matter end for his sake.

    Azzy also understood the meaning behind her words but he care less about it. Instead, he replied with a warning, "I don''t need any compensation. Just make him understand that this isn''t his kingdom. He cannot poke every bee nest that he sees. Some are too lethal."

    Sapphire smiled awkwardly in response. She still remembers their last encounter and had the inkling that he wasn''t the type to listen to threats. Her sister complained that Azzy has a high ego and was too arrogant for his own good. Now, she confirmed it with her own eyes.

    She didn''t comment on it and took out her own grand tent from the storage card. ;

    "Here, I apologize once again. Please, take it."

    As Azzy took it, Sapphire let out a smile and changed the topic as if nothing happened earlier, "by the way, what are you doing here? A weekend school trip?"

    Azzy nodded in response, "Yes."

    "We are here in search of something. It''s¡­"

    Meanwhile, Claire and the other girls returned to beside Azzy. Naturally, Claire''s rivalry senses activated as soon as she saw the girl was behaving strangely towards Azzy, ignoring the fact that Sapphire was six years older and wouldn''t likely be attracted to a teenager.

    At the same time, her gaze turned cold when her eyes fell on the unconscious fatty. She interrupted her, "You mentioned that his father was a king, right? What country is it?"

    "Eh?" Sapphire was taken aback by her tone. Still, she answered truthfully, "It''s the kingdom of Rivendell. I also apologize to you in his place. Please don''t drag it any longer."

    "If it same thing happens to you, would you leave it that way?" Claire asked her.

    Sapphire didn''t know what to answer. It was a simple issue and yet, these guys are making a big deal out of it. At that moment, she really regretted that she stopped on the way and greeted Azzy.

    From behind, Glenn added a remark, "Senior Claire is the second princess of Triastal, you know."

    "Ah, you are Claire Lefeuvre?" Sapphire finally realized that he fu**ed up. She thought in her head, "Oh, boy. This potato really poked the wrong nest."

    It was then the teenage-looking senior replied, "The pumpkin''s an idiot. He made a mistake and got beaten up. What more do you want, princess?"

    Claire frowned at his response. However, before she gave an answer, Azzy opened his mouth, "Rivendell kingdom? That means his father is Ragron Jerome Eranyl, isn''t he?"

    Everyone looked at him. Sapphire nodded, "Yes, that''s right."

    Leaving the folded tent on the ground, Azzy crossed his arms to the chest and said, "Then, I''m afraid you can''t take him away just like this. Unless he apologizes on his knees, he''ll stay here."

    "Don''t go too far, brat." Vogio was provoked by Azzy''s statement as he felt they were being looked down on.

    Meanwhile, Sapphire felt like she was having a headache. Then, something clicked in her mind and she asked, "Do you have an issue with his father?" ;

    Claire also forgot about her anger and stared at her boyfriend. She felt like it is some personal enmity. Perhaps, King Ragron was the one that killed his parents? She wondered.

    Azzy plainly replied to Sapphire, "Wake him up."

    "I had enough, brat." Vogio put down the fatty prince and dashed forward.

    Just as he was about to punch Azzy, the latter caught his fist and used all of his strength to crush it.

    "Argh¡­" Vogio screamed in pain as he slowly fell to his knees. Azzy continued to hold his fist tightly and then gave a kick to his abdomen.

    Vogio flew in the air for a couple of seconds before Azzy swung his left arm that was holding the former''s fist.

    *Thud*

    Vogio crashed onto the ground. Of course, unlike Prince Gyllan, he was faring better but felt extreme pain in the back. "I''ll kill you, brat."

    Vogis summoned his Arcana. It is a club of earth attribute.

    Azzy took out a 2-star skill card in response and activated it. A purple skull appeared in his hand.

    "Hehe he he he"

    The hysterical laughter made his opponents and friends shiver for a few seconds.

    Continuing to hold it, he said, "As you can see my power are well suited for real-life battles. If you want to go ahead, then fine, just don''t regret it later."

    "Wait." Sapphire decided to step in and came in between the two of them. "We''ll wait until he wakes up, alright?"

    "Princess Sapphire," Vogis shouted at her. The latter turned her head and sharply retorted, "We don''t have any personal enmity with Azrael. Why are you so intent on creating one? If he has a problem with Gyl or his father, they will settle it by themselves. We''ll not interfere unless he asks our help."

    "Alright." Vogio was subdued quickly and he dismissed his Arcana. Azzy also dismissed the purple skull.

    After a couple of hours, the prince finally woke up and found himself lying on a hospital bed. Vogio was sitting beside him.

    "Where am I?" He grabbed his head for a second before he remembered. "That little prick, I will kill¡­ Huh!"

    All of a sudden, he felt severe restrictive chains on his soul orb, completely reducing his soul power to 10. "What''s going on?"

 Chapter 280 - Claire Seals Off The Fatty Princes Soul Power

    A couple of hours ago;

    Azzy, Sapphire, and the others were setting up a tent on her insistence while Vogio, the teenager-looking adult guard the unconscious prince.

    As for why they didn''t wake up the fatty prince to finish the matter right away, it''s because they tried and failed. By a coincidence of 0.01% probability, Gyllan''s consciousness was disconnected from his soul and was trapped in his own mindscape.

    And it usually takes time to recover since his Arcana was a gold-grade one. Of course, with outer interference from an Exalt or higher realm expert, he could recover completely but currently, everyone''s soul power was restricted.

    The only one that could help him is the Reaper but he doesn''t want to bother with it. After all, he wanted Azzy to develop connections with this princess of powerful background.

    Soon, the tent was set up completely. From the outside, the tent looked like a 100sq.ft place but when they got inside, there was a whole mansion, inside.

    Glenn and Flora pinched their cheeks, opening their mouths in amazement. There were portraits, paintings, a hanging chandelier, a staircase that splits into two sides as it leads to the first floor, there''s even a kitchen with modern equipment.

    Azzy looked around and thought, "The mechanism seemed to be similar to a pocket dimension."

    Claire was naturally, unimpressed. This obsessive girlfriend gets jealous very easily whenever a girl approaches Azzy and talks in a sweet manner.

    Pointing at a random direction with her hand, "this is a portable mansion, created by my great-great-great-great grandfather and it was a birthday present to me when I turned 18, last year. I hope this compensation will satisfy you. I will personally make him kneel before you later but for now, we need to leave."

    "It''s good and luxurious. It would be a lie if I say, I''m not impressed." Azzy nodded and praised it. In an instant, a satisfactory smile appeared on Sapphire. She hoped that Azzy will now forget about the unconscious prince.

    However, in the next second, her facial expression changed as Azzy continued to say, "But, it is also true that the riches cannot erase enmity. However, since you are willing to throw away something that is kind of sentiment to you, I''ll be willing to put this matter for now but only if my girlfriend intends to forgive him."

    "Girlfriend?" Sapphire blinked her eyes twice before realization hit her. She looked at Claire in surprise.

    A chibi Claire appeared in Claire''s imagination and it is dancing in happiness. For an obsessive girlfriend like her, a proclamation from Azzy is indeed precious.

    Sapphire said to her, "Look, Princess Lefeuvre, we are on an important mission here and cannot waste too much time. Can we let this go by, for now?"

    "Is it the Ruby-Blossom flower?" Claire asked her curiously. It was the only thing that''s valuable in a level-1 region. They must have come for it or else, why would these Upper Elite realm experts come here.

    "Yeah, you can say so." Sapphire didn''t expect these kids to also come here for that flower but at the same time, she felt like Azzy and Claire don''t know the whole story. So, she kept that way.

    "But, it''s not that worth that high profile people like you come." Flora voiced her suspicions.

    Sapphire quickly thought of an excuse and replied, "It''s more like punishment. That''s a whole another story."

    "Alright, fine. Let''s do a quick punishment." Claire closed her eyes and switched places with her Arcana spirit, Agatha.

    When Claire who was now possessed by Agatha opened her eyes, Sapphire saw Claire''s eyes were glowing in golden color.

    A frown appeared on her as she fell into thoughts, "Arcana Possession. But, how? Isn''t her Arcana, a gold grade?"

    Meanwhile, Agatha looked at everyone around her. When she saw Sapphire, the latter felt naked as if her secrets were being exposed. "So you are this era''s griffin user, huh. Not bad, you have a huge potential. However, that half-breed animal needed more training. It lacked the spine and was too submissive."

    The Griffin inside Sapphire''s mindscape was screeching in anger as if she wants to fight.

    Agatha''s eyes then fell on the fatty prince. She displayed an expression of disgust on her face, "Ugh, this human has neither good personality nor had any potential. On the other hand¡­"

    Agatha let out a wide smile as she looked at Vogio. The latter was alarmed when his eyes met with her.

    "You are an interesting, breed." She let out a comment, making Vogio''s heart spike up suddenly.

    "Are you trying to insult me?" Vogio displayed a frown on his face to hide his real panic.

    Agatha didn''t answer him and started to make a seal.

    Azzy didn''t intervene in the process and let this Arcana do what she wants, as it is now Claire''s decision.

    The seal struck the unconscious prince and she said, "I sealed his soul orb for good. Magnolis family is reputed to possess more than one Supreme Realm expert in every era. If this era''s Supreme Realm experts in your family had any profound knowledge, they can break the seal. Until then, he will be nothing more than a civilian. This is his punishment for behaving inappropriately towards my host.

    Sapphire and Vogio''s expressions were darkened but little they were smart enough to know that they couldn''t do anything, right now.

    The Princess of Everon didn''t waste too much time and bade farewell to Azzy and others, leaving the place in shame. Vogio swore in his heart that someday, he will rip them apart for sure. More than Azzy, he felt like he needed to focus on Claire for he suspected that Agatha found out his secret. So, for the sake of his tribe, he cannot let her live.

    Once the three of them were out of sight, Claire returned to reality, and Azzy and the others roamed the 12-room mansion.

    "That sister is really nice, isn''t she?" Flora looked around in a daze and complimented Sapphire to which, Claire retorted, "It''s just an act. As if she was the only one with money. Hmpf."

    Everyone decided to enjoy the space for 15-20 minutes before they resume hiking the mountain once again.

    Unfortunately, they didn''t get such a chance.

    They didn''t even complete the tour and they saw a blinding flash of light suddenly enter the tent and fill the entire mansion for three seconds before it dimmed, then, disappeared.

    "Glenn, Flora, stay inside." Azzy rushed outside in hurry. Claire followed the suit.

    "What the hell was that?" He raised his head.

    A few kilometers away, there''s a beam of light descending from the heavens. Azzy instantly activated his aura sensing.

    After concentrating for a whole 23 seconds, eliminating the auras of humans, beasts, and trees, he finally saw the aura of the source. Meanwhile, the beam of light disappeared.

    "It''s a lotus?" Azzy saw the outline of a lotus-shaped object, which is as big as himself. "Ruby-Blossom?" He wondered.

    "It''s more like a Ruby crystal Blossom, Azrael," informed the Reaper and then explained, "A Ruby-Blossom usually matures every decade but once every millennium, the guardian of this realm blesses the flower, turning it into a Ruby Crystal Blossom.

    Once the flower matures, the petals transform into a crystal. Absorbing the energies from those crystals will mutate one''s Arcana spirit no matter their rank and age. Of course, it only works for a gold grade or lesser spirits.

    For those who had a mutated gold grade, they need at least 15 of its 20 petals to evolve into a platinum grade Arcana.

    This is known to a few societies.

    However, the story doesn''t end here."

 Chapter 281 - Ruby Crystal Blossom

    "Every Epoch, i.e. every ten thousand years, the Ruby Crystal Blossom will develop a core where its soul nurtures the natural energy and transforms itself into a plant monster.

    It takes ten years for it to get full control over its body. Until then, it is just like any other monster without any consciousness on its own.

    And this is where things get interesting. During the first six months, its soul will still be in its core and won''t be integrated with the rest of its physical body. And if anyone managed to kill it and absorb the core completely, they can transform into their own Arcana spirit.

    A Mono Arcana user will become a Twin Arcana user and a twin Arcana user will become a triple Arcana user. Of course, even in such a situation, one needs proper guidance or else, it will swallow the existing Arcana as it was a platinum grade spirit.

    I think this is probably the reason those kids are here."

    "I see this is the reason why you said I might have an extraordinary opportunity, today morning." Azzy continued to stare, this time, he de-eliminated the auras of the humans around it. A few people were standing around the flower, waiting for something to happen and it seemed like more people are flocking. He was also tempted to go there.

    However, it seems like the Reaper is against it. "Earlier, I was only talking about this tent. As for the Ruby Crystal Blossom, don''t even think about it. No matter what, you can''t go there."

    "Why?" Azzy frowned inwardly.

    The Reaper gave a vague answer, "I''m not sure whether you will turn into a fortunate person or not, misfortune is sure to befall on you one way or another. That''s why it''s best to avoid it."

    "Misfortune?" Azzy wondered whether it has something to do with the people flocking at the location. Maybe, the hidden clans sent their representatives to snatch it?

    While Azzy was filled in thoughts, Claire opened her mouth, "Rael, let''s go there."

    "Hmm?" He returns to his senses and looks at his girlfriend.

    Claire then said, "According to Agatha, my Arcana spirit, this kind of opportunity won''t come again."

    After explaining to him everything that he already knew, Claire commented, "I think Princess Sapphire and her friends were also for the red lotus because they knew of it."

    "Uhh, maybe, it''s better not to go." Azzy tried to stop her, giving various excuses. "See, there''s Flora and Glenn with us and their safety is our responsibility. A treasure will attract the trouble. If it''s a couple of them, I can protect you but if there are numerous enemies, those two kids will be the ones that will become casualties."

    Upon hearing Azzy, Claire fell into thoughts. Agatha complained in Claire''s head, "Your partner is too cautious even with such tremendous power. Anyway, let''s leave the kids with him. I''m here to protect you. So, no worries even if you are alone."

    Claire didn''t like the idea of leaving Azzy alone but as Agatha mentioned how that lotus flower will only raise her potential and get closer to Azzy, Claire was tempted.

    She expressed her wish of acquiring the Arcana to Azzy, to which the latter went into silence for a few seconds before warning her to be extra careful while dealing with the enemies. Grabbing her cheeks, he looked at her eyes and further added, "Don''t hesitate to use a teleportation card to escape from there if you face a life-threatening danger."

    "Of course, I know that. Don''t worry about me." *muah* She leaned forward and gave a quick peck on his lips before rushing towards the east under Agatha''s instructions.

    Azzy stared at her back until she disappeared from his sight and returned to the tent, informing both of the girls about the situation.

    Without Claire, the three of them resumed their hiking to complete the missions.

    A little more than an hour passed away, Azzy, Glenn, and Flora reached their destination, the Yicru''s peak.

    *Clap* Clap*

    "Flora, Glenn, we are here, get ready to dig." He spoke while handing them the shovels and pickaxes.

    They knew that Azzy wasn''t going to help because he''s only there to look after them.

    The two girls looked at each other and nodded.

    They started to dig around to find the medicinal roots. Meanwhile, Azzy took a seat on the rock.

    Although his sight was on these two little kids, his mind was completely on the red lotus. He was worried about Claire. Azzy doesn''t know it yet but he started to care more about Claire''s well-being and feelings, lately.

    In his heart, her place was already above the likes of Barton, Avia, and his foster grandpa, and even Gideon. Unfortunately, there are two people she couldn''t beat yet. One is Affea and the other is the Reaper.

    "No, don''t focus on that place. Under Agatha''s care, Claire will be fine. Instead, use this time to increase your soul power, Azzy." He encouraged himself so as to not use aura sensing. Azzy was worried that he will leave right away to protect Claire if he senses her in danger. So, he doesn''t want to think about the lotus or his girlfriend.

    However, the Goddess of Fate had written something else for him.

    Within a few minutes, Flora beat Glenn in finding a Yicru root, first by taking the help of Yeti, her Arcana which is kinda like a snow ape.

    As Flora grinned, showing a victory symbol to Azzy, Glenn cutely puffed her cheeks and complained that it''s unfair. After all, she''s a healer and is a supportive type.

    Azzy then told Flora to help Glenn in finding one.

    Just as both of the kids turn around to resume the digging, all of a sudden, a bipedal monster popped up right in front of the rock where Azzy was sitting on the top.

    It was scarlet in color from top to bottom with cute little eyes, nose, and mouth. Its body was barely two feet in height and looks like a cartoon character from the television.

    However, above its head is a giant lotus the size of an average adult where its petals are in crystalline form and are glowing.

    The monster was stunned as it saw Azzy. A look of panic clearly displayed on its face.

    "Is this Ruby Crystal Blossom?" Azzy was taken aback.

    "Did I mention that this plant monster is a terrible coward and likes to run away?" The Reaper''s voice echoed in his head before an order was given, "it looks like the heavens are on your side. You encountered the situation where only one in every hundred futures that I have foreseen. Quickly, kill it and absorb the beast before it teleports."

    "Eh? What are you saying?" Azzy was surprised at his order. After all, he possessed a Divine Grade spirit and there''s also a mutated Celestial grade Arcana spirit too. He even had a Peak-rank-6 Skeleton snow wolf. Why would he need another Arcana and that too, a lower grade one?

    Moreover, didn''t his girlfriend wishes to acquire it? How could he steal after letting her go in search of this beast?

    While Azzy was in his thoughts, the Reaper realized that he will only waste the time in convincing him. He decided to take action and explain, later.

    As he took over Azzy''s body, the little monster with giant hair is seen running away at a terrific speed.

    Under the possession of the Reaper, Azzy let out soul energy and rapidly absorbed the natural energy around his arm.

    The little monster had ten seconds until it can use teleportation. So far, 6 seconds passed away. Only four seconds left before it can escape.

    But, Azzy turned out to be faster. As he raised his arm, a large arm made of energy manifested over his right arm, then, extended towards the monster.

    Within just two seconds, he caught to the beast and pierced it, turning the monster into the corpse amid the gazes of the two little girls. While Flora felt amazed by Azzy''s decisive actions and cheered for him when the energy arm caught the core and dragged back into his body, Glenn shivered in fear.

    Everything happened in an instant.

    Meanwhile, Azzy found himself in his mindscape where he saw the black lightning wolf is sleeping.. Before he came out of his confusion, a scarlet sphere appeared out of thin air and is slowly taking the shape.

 Chapter 282 - The Black Lotus Arcana

    Under the guidance of the Reaper, not even a strand of energy of the core was absorbed by Azzy''s soul orb and slowly turned into Arcana.

    However, it didn''t end there. The black lightning wolf stood up on its four legs.

    While the spirit was about to take its shape, a beam of black energy shot from the forehead of Vajra, or more specifically, the black diamond seal.

    Three hours later, a black lotus was successfully formed. Its size didn''t change but strangely, the petals aren''t crystalline and there was no humanoid figure below it. The Arcana was simply, a fully matured lotus flower, although in the size of an average adult.

    "Puyi?" The lotus floated in the air and spun itself clockwise and then counterclockwise before it landed in front of the black wolf.

    "Puyi" "Puyi"

    It greeted the wolf. Just like with the weapons and some plant Arcana, No one knows where its mouth is but it''s a platinum grade beast. So, it can transmit its voice through human speech through all of its petals.

    Of course, it was a baby and didn''t know the human speech. So, it was trying to converse with the other housemate that it sees.

    However, the black wolf doesn''t like to communicate with the new housemate and ignored it.

    While Vajra had to become the Reaper''s prisoner, this new one, which is far weaker than itself get a separate abode on its own.

    The black wolf raised its head to look at the sky where a floating island was about to form. Vajra lies down once again and closed its eyes.

    "Puyi?" The lotus jumped left and right, wondering what''s wrong with the black wolf.

    "Puyi" "Puyi" "Puyi"

    It once again tried to talk to the wolf but the latter ignored the lotus.

    "Puyi¡­" Its petals bent as the black lotus crestfallen due to the rejection.

    It no longer paid attention to the wolf and looked curiously at the front. Far away, there''s a simple grave but the flower was scared to go there and flew to the opposite side.

    It reached the edge of the cliff and found dozens of skeletal beasts, some are roaming, and the others are resting.

    "Puyiiiii"

    Its black petals once again rose in excitement as the black lotus took a leap from the edge of the cliff. Vajra opened its eyes and glanced in the direction the black lotus disappeared before closing its eyes once again.

    However, just a few seconds later, screams from the barren land disturbed its sleep.

    "Puyi" "Puyi" "Puyi" "Puyiii"

    Vajra was irritated and forced to go to the edge of the cliff to see the black lotus was screaming for help as it was being chased by the skeletal snow wolf, the self-proclaimed boss of the barren territory. Of course, the Four-headed skeletal hydra wouldn''t agree to it.

    In the eyes of the snow wolf, the territory belongs to the undead beasts and the black lotus doesn''t have any right to step in. And considering its high grade, the snow wolf felt threatened and started fighting with it.

    However, the black lotus is cowardly in nature even with Protos energy. It started to run away from the giant skeletal wolf and the latter chased after it, feeling that this intruder is challenging to catch it.

    "Grrr¡­"

    Growling to itself, the black wolf let out a powerful bark.

    *Woof*

    Everyone came to halt with a single bark. The snow wolf stopped chasing and every skeletal beast bowed their heads to its King. The Reaper might be the absolute ruler of the mindscape but they never saw him until now.

    As everyone appeared to be revering their ruler, the black lotus let out a bright cheer.

    Vajra was irritated by its bright personality, even more. It took a leap towards the endless barren territory and landed in front of the flower before grabbing it with one of its paws.

    "Puyi?" The black lotus wondered what it is before it let out a scream again as the wolf dragged it back to the top of the cliff and then, took another jump, throwing it towards the floating island.

    "Puyiiii" The black lotus was shot towards the floating island like a cannonball and crashed on it.

    "Puuyi" "Puuyi"

    The black lotus flower complained to itself that the wolf was a bad guy before its attention fell on the surroundings.

    Strangely, the place was quite beautiful, quite in contrast with the land below. There''s a pond in the middle, a few trees around, a tiny hill surrounded by clouds. Overall, the atmosphere was so life-like.

    "Puyiii."

    The black lotus took a dive into the pond in excitement. It started to float, being very comfortable with its abode.

    Meanwhile, in the outside world, Azzy was sitting in a bus along with his classmates as it was returning to the academy.

    Claire was sitting at the window seat, staring outside while continuing to ignore him.

    "Um, Claire?" Azzy slowly opened his mouth in nervousness as he grabbed her arm.

    She didn''t respond and continued to sulk.

    "The thing about Ruby-Blossom¡­" he slowly opened the topic but quickly shut his mouth as she abruptly turned her head and glared at him, "I told you to not talk about it."

    Everyone on the bus glanced at the couple sitting at the back.

    "But, it''s really not my fault." Azzy defended himself. "My Arcana spirit acted without my will."

    She started to lightly beat his left shoulder, "aren''t you already too strong? Didn''t you already have two Arcana spirits? How much stronger do you want to get?"

    Claire doesn''t want to argue with her boyfriend at all. But, she was already frustrated that she''s far behind Azzy. She realized it when Azzy beat up Estella with ease while she couldn''t do it with all her strength.

    Now that Azzy acquired a platinum-grade Arcana spirit, the strength between them only increased. It really hit her confidence.

    "C''mon, it''s not like my strength has been boosted just because of the Ruby-Blossom. I gained nothing. " Azzy responded with a fact while feeling injustice. He wanted to shout at her that the lotus doesn''t belong to anyone but he knew that it would only worsen the situation, so, he only focused on appeasing her.

    "Then, why did you steal my prey?" She argued back.

    "I told you already. I didn''t. My Arcana did. Just like your Agatha, he has his own consciousness and I can''t do anything about it. Moreover, I was busy with my business. It was the one that came to me, in the first place." Azzy tried to make her understand but it only frustrated her even more.

    "Argh, alright. It''s my fault that I was busy fighting some bas****s, fighting over its possession and letting it escape." She almost screamed before getting back to her senses, looking away in embarrassment.

    Meanwhile, their homeroom teacher, the sorcerer Uphiar intervened to calm them down, "silence. There are people around. Both of you can have your couple fight, elsewhere."

    "Sorry" "Sorry."

    Both of them apologized at the same time.

    They looked at each other before the girl snorted and looked away, "Hmpf."

    "Chronos, any ideas?" Azzy turned to the Reaper when he failed to appease her. Not to mention, this mess is caused by him, in the first place.

    "Girls like gifts, so. I guess you can try that way?" An answer quickly came to the boy but the latter felt like there''s a question mark in the end. Was the Reaper unsure about something other than mathematics?

    Anyway, Azzy decided to make something special for her. But, what he should do?

    While he was filled in thoughts, the Reaper''s voice once again echoed in his head. "How about gifting away that useless artifact?"

    "Hmm? Which one are you talking about?" Azzy asked him curiously.

    "Those Gloves," The Reaper answered him, shocking the hell out of Azzy, "are you serious? Chronos, the adamantine gloves cost at least a billion credits. That''s 100 million Krocs. If it''s for Claire, it''s too much. Not to mention, it''s not even her birthday or something."

    The Reaper calmly said to him, "first of all, you need to understand about the gloves. The pair of gloves only had three uses. One is the weight exercise as they were made of Adamantium and are quite heavy. Two, they can absorb the natural energy and let you use the power of rank-7. And three, it''s expensive because of the material.

    And for you, who already can lift even 4000kgs, who already can absorb natural energy through lotus sutra, who already has the maximum strength equal to an Exalt-realm expert, who is already destined to become the Monarch of the Death Clan, what use they are for?"

 Chapter 283 - Giving Away The Adamantine Gloves

    Azzy fell into thoughts after the Reaper made him realize that the gloves are essentially useless to him.

    However, due to its extraordinary price, Azzy still couldn''t accept the suggestion.

    The Reaper sensed that Azzy was half convinced. So, he went ahead and told him why it is a good choice.

    "Now, listen. Despite being useless to you, the gloves themselves are worth killing for. Just think for a second. Rather than you, what if Claire had them? She was from the royal family and is in line in the succession of the throne after her elder sister.

    If you were to possess it, people would question you about its origins but if it''s her, no one would.

    Secondly, if she were to possess it, you wouldn''t have to worry about her even if she faces a powerful opponent in the future. Sooner or later, you need to disappear, anyway. In your absence, the gloves will protect her.

    Thirdly, the gloves suit her aggressive personality.

    Fourth and the biggest reason, you are leaving for Freyles, tomorrow evening. You don''t have much time unless you want to go on the trip without solving the issue.

    So, what do you say?"

    The Reaper said everything he wanted to and waited for Azzy''s reply.

    After a brief silence, Azzy replied with a simple sentence, "Thank you, Chronos."

    Ten minutes later, the bus stopped at the entrance of the academy.

    "Azrael?" The sorcerer called him and asked whether he will step out, right away.

    Azzy stepped out of the bus without bothering to say bye to Claire.

    As the bus moved, he took out a message card from the pocket and sent an audio message to Claire.

    Soon, he received a reply and he decided to wait at the entrance.

    Five minutes later, Claire appeared in his sight.

    Upon reaching him, she asked while crossing her arms, "What is the important thing that you wanted to say?"

    Azzy glanced at the two guards nearby and shook his head, "not here. Follow me."

    Claire was curious about the matter. However, no matter what, she decided not to forgive him that easily if he called her to apologize, again.

    They walked for a while. It was around 7 p.m., so, it was tough to look for a secluded spot where there are fewer or no people. Claire''s curiosity increased.

    Stopping at the end of the street where Azzy lives, he checked the surroundings once again and finally, summoned his storage card, taking out a pair of gloves.

    "These are Adamantine Gloves I received from the country''s Special Forces as a gift of gratitude for winning the Champions League. This is the only way I could apologize for my Arcana''s actions."

    After explaining its features, he stretched his hand towards her.

    Claire was stunned at the spot. She knew what adamantine is. But, the features were overwhelming even for her, "With such features, the gloves will be too expensive. No, I don''t want it."

    "C''mon, Claire, what''s wrong with taking a present from your boyfriend?" Agatha was excited when she heard that it can launch an attack in Exalt realm. She tried to convince her.

    But, Claire ignored her suggestions and didn''t take them, "I was just frustrated that my chances of catching up with you were widened further. I forgive you, okay. You don''t need to do this."

    She felt that Azzy was really sincere in his actions and was touched by them. Even if it''s a prince or a king or some business tycoon, these gloves are worth snatching from whoever possesses them.

    Of course, she would understand if Azzy had an enormous wealth but he didn''t. His foster parents might be rich but even they couldn''t afford to buy these gloves. She believed that her boyfriend must have really loved her in the same way she loves him. It made her happy.

    As she refused to take them and was even willing to forgive, Azzy insisted.

    Claire took them into her hands and suddenly, enormous weight forced her to kneel on the ground for a second before he gritted her teeth and tried to stand up. Before this, she only wore a 500 kg vest, back at WAMO headquarters.

    Azzy hurriedly took away from her hands, "are you okay? I''m sorry. I forgot to mention that each one weighs over 350 kg. Use soul energy to lighten the weight. You can also use them as training weights too."

    After placing them in a storage card, she gave him a tight hug and a kiss, ending her sulking.

    Unknown to them, Aria, who was naturally spying on them, noted this entry to her database.

    Azzy then escorted Claire to the academy and returned home.

    The next day, in the evening, after saying goodbye to Gideon and Claire, he left the academy.

    At home, Affea and Oakley appeared to be waiting for him.

    At around 6 in the evening, the three of them left for the railway station. Azzy didn''t complain about it as he knew that these two enjoy living like ordinary civilians more than anyone.

    But, he didn''t understand why they are taking the long route of taking a sleeper train instead of teleporting to the city of Graena directly through portal points. After all, the travel time to Freyles is like 20 hours even when traveling in a superfast train that travels nearly at 540 km/hr.

    Is it because the charges are expensive? They are rich, so, he doesn''t think it is.

    Anyway, it doesn''t matter for Azzy. He was patient enough to not judge a person''s decision when that person is either Affea Isabel Snieca or Oakley Night.

    After 18 hours of travel, the train reached its destination. He stepped out of the train and felt cold. There''s also fog around. Even though they were in the month of May where the usual temperatures touch around 30 at Aclein, here in the city of Graena, it is around 6 or 7 at best.

    Thankfully, the temperature was quite stable, considering it barely hits -2 during the winter. So, the people living here are comfortable with the weather, no matter the season.

    But, for the visitors from the south, it isn''t okay at all.

    Azzy couldn''t help but remember his first time at the Death Clan as soon as he saw a snow-capped mountain far away in the north.

    Meanwhile, Oakley and Affea were in a vacation mood. "It''s really a good location for vacation, isn''t it?" Affea was grinning in excitement. Of course, the real reason is that she was about to visit her daughter after several months.

    Oakley proceeded to take out a mobile phone and called someone.

    *Ring* Ring*

    Not far away from them, Azzy heard the sound of another mobile phone ringing. A person picked up the call. "Hello?"

    "Hello, Ethan, where are you?" Oakley asked him.

    Perhaps, his voice was loud enough. Ethan replied that he found him and soon, he received them.

    From there, they traveled on a gold-grade flying card much to Oakley and Affea''s dissatisfaction as both of them wanted to hire a taxi instead. But, they couldn''t as the hosts of the wedding very much dislike the modern inventions made by man.

    Within ten minutes, a majestic palace appeared in their sight.. For a second, Azzy was awed by the golden palace that was glowing in the night.

 Chapter 284 - Azzy At The Royal Palace Of Freyles

    As soon as they reached the palace, Ethan took them to the section of rooms where the guests from the Night Clan are staying.

    There are over 1800 rooms in the majestic palace. So, it has no issue in housing a large number of guests. However, to make sure there won''t be an issue to the relatives of the bride and the groom namely, the Death Clan, the entire east wing was allotted for them.

    They were only stopped once at the entrance of the east wing. After that, no one stopped them as Death Clan doesn''t need any security from the Royal Palace.

    Before going to their room, Ethan took the family to one of the Royal guest rooms, which are usually reserved for very important guests. In this case, the subordinate clan heads, the Death Clan Elders, etc¡­

    "Greeting Matriarch," Ethan went on his one knee to greet the young woman who was busy talking with an old man that Azzy didn''t know. There was also Avia, but she appeared to be sleeping.

    Oakley and Affea''s faces lit up as soon as they saw the daughter but before that, they need to follow the etiquette.

    "Oh, it''s Master Oakley." The old man let out a smile as soon as he spotted Oakley Night.

    He stood up and took a deep bow, paying his respect, "Greeting Master Oakley".

    "It''s been a while, Elder Ives." Oakley waved his hands with a smile. He didn''t bow in return for his status is higher than elder now that he was no longer expelled.

    Then, the older gave a casual bow to Affea, "Greetings Princess Snieca." And then, he looked at Azzy, becoming clueless for a second before looking at the couple in confusion.

    Affea let Oakley do the talking since it is his family.

    Oakley informed him, "This is Azrael, our foster son."

    Before the old man react to it, the young woman, the Matriarch of the Night Clan opened her mouth, "he is a special guest of the Night Clan, Ives."

    She then looked at Ethan, "Azrael''s safety is your responsibility."

    As Ethan nodded, Pandora Night turned towards Azzy, "you must be tired from all that travel. Ethan will take you to your room. Whatever you want, Ethan will arrange it. So, no need to worry. We''ll meet again soon, during dinner time."

    Azzy understood that she probably want him to leave so that she can talk to them. He nodded and followed Ethan to a guest room at the end of the hall. Of course, it might be an ordinary guest room and pales in comparison with the royal guestroom whether it is the size of luxury but it was still as good as a five-star hotel room.

    He remembers his one-hour stay at a five-star hotel, back when he teamed up with Prince Leo. He went to the shower and changed his clothes, then, took a seat on the bed, sitting in a lotus position.

    There was no television or books in his room. Azzy got a little bit bored quickly, "what should I do? I''m at a place where I can''t roam carelessly and I can''t just sit around like doing nothing."

    It was then something clicked in his mind and he closed his eyes, connecting his soul to his mindscape.

    Instead of the cliff, his soul appeared on the floating island as he thought of the lotus, instead of the Reaper.

    He looked around. "It looks beautiful." There was indeed a large difference between the barren land roamed by undead beasts and grassland with a pond.

    He spotted a black lotus floating on the pond.

    "Black Lotus? Shouldn''t it be Red lotus in crystalline form?" He was puzzled.

    It suddenly jumped from the pond and floated in the air, upon sensing Azzy.

    "Puyiii"

    Letting out a scream of delight, it flew towards Azzy and landed before him. As it controlled one of its leaves and stretched it towards him. "Puyi" "Puyi" "Puyi"

    Despite no talk, Azzy could feel what it was saying. He caressed one of the leaves as he said, "Nice to meet you, partner."

    "Puyiiii"

    It squealed in excitement as Azzy was the first person that gave a positive response since it was created.

    "Puyi" "Puyi"

    "Do you want a name?"

    The lotus leaves moved up and down.

    Azzy thought for a while and asked, "how about I just call you black lotus?"

    It spun left and right vigorously.

    "No?" Azzy touched his chin and thought for a bit, "how about Ruby?"

    "Puyiii." It agreed with the name.

    "Okay, I name you Ruby."

    As soon as he named him, the lotus was suddenly transformed into a tiny bipedal flower beast. Its body appeared to be a green-colored humanoid but its hair is a black lotus flower. However, this time, the flower was that of his palm size.

    It took a leap and landed on his shoulder, "Puyii."

    He stayed there for like 15-20 minutes, trying to figure out what its powers are. However, considering it was just born, Ruby didn''t even know itself. Azzy sought the Reaper''s help, to which the latter said that he needed to respect Ruby as other Arcana.

    The Reaper made him understand that the black lotus was different from Vajra, which was a slave to the former.

    Despite the difference in their strengths, the Reaper told him that he and the black lotus have equal status and if Azzy wanted his help in acquiring the knowledge of Ruby''s skills, the latter should also become the Reaper''s slave.

    Vajra is obligated to become a slave considering it is a sinner but Ruby is different. So, in all, the Reaper told that he will sit on the sidelines.

    The only thing he mentioned is that under his orders, Ruby lotus was infected with Protos energy and was mutated as a result.

    Azzy understood what the Reaper was trying to tell and decided to figure it out on his own.

    The only thing he had confirmed is that Ruby had two forms, which it can interchange without any sort of cooldown timer. One is this humanoid form with unknown abilities. Maybe, part of the soul skills is used in this form, or maybe not.

    The other form is the flower transformation where it transforms into a large flower. It can fly and also can carry him during that state. As for how high it can fly, he needed to test it after returning to Aclein city.

    Roughly another 30 minutes later, while Azzy and Ruby trying to figure it out together, he sensed some people entered the room.

    Azzy immediately left his mindscape and opened his eyes. In an instant, his heartbeat spiked up to the peak.

    Along with Pandora and Ethan, a familiar frail-looking old man was standing at the entrance with his arms crossed to the back. Indeed, it was none other than the Death Clan''s Monarch, Qridus Garcia, who is also Azzy''s great grandfather.

    "Don''t panic and be calm. Your identity hasn''t been found out. Continue to keep your soul orb locked." The Reaper''s voice echoed in his head, calming down his nerves.

    Azzy climbed down the bed and greeted everyone with a bow, "Hello."

    "This is the boy you mentioned, Pandora?" Qridus asked her coldly.

    Pandora nodded politely, "Yes, Your Grace."

    She then stepped forward and spoke to Azzy, "Azrael, meet the Royal Ancestor, Qridus Garcia."

 Chapter 285 - Revealing A Secret To Hide Bigger Secret

    Azzy took a deep breath and took a deep bow, once again in silence. If it is someone else, he would have been worried about the possibility of being lured into a trap but it is his own kin, after all.

    In the worst case, all he had to reveal was his death scythe and then, later, escape from the place with an hourglass, turning back the time. He was prepared for it, before stepping on the train.

    "I heard that you are the lone survivor of a beast attack. May I know the names of your parents?" The old man suddenly dropped an unexpected question.

    "Parents?" In an instant, he realized that Qridus is suspecting him of something.

    Thankfully, there''s the Reaper by his side to help him out. A voice echoed in his head.

    Azzy followed the advice and replied with a bow, "Sorry but my parents have enemies. I can''t speak their names out and put my life in danger without knowing your intentions."

    "Azrael¡­" Pandora frowned a bit. It was the Death clan''s Monarch asking the question. He is the man who was a step away from becoming a Demi-God, not some stranger from the streets. Just talking in this way itself is a huge disrespect.

    Before she tried to reprimand him, Qridus raised his hand, "if you wish to keep it secret, then, I won''t force you but you can at least tell me this much, whether you saved someone from Hydra, during the last year."

    Azzy understood what the old man was asking about. After all, he was the one that told him that back when he requested him to cancel the expulsion of his foster parents.

    He nodded, "Yes, I saved a guy who''s around my age or maybe, a little bit older."

    "Do you know where he is, right now?" Qridus continued to question his descendant that traveled through the time.

    Azzy shook his head, "we only met once. I neither knew his face nor remember his appearance properly. If you came here to interrogate me about that person, I''m afraid I have to disappoint you. I apologize for wasting your time." He politely bowed again.

    "Eh?" Pandora was taken aback upon hearing the conversation. After all, she brought him here as she heavily suspects Azzy is a descendant of Aelius Crescent.

    But, it looked like Qridus had other intentions. What it might be? And who is that person the Monarch is talking about? She wondered.

    Meanwhile, Qridus let out a sigh of disappointment and put away the matter for now. He patiently said, "One more thing. Clan Leader Pandora brought me here to take a closer look at your Arcana for she suspects your wolf isn''t a dark wolf with a lightning attribute but is a wolf with a black lightning attribute. Black Lightning is a variant that hasn''t been seen for several millennia. The only one in history who possessed such an attribute is Aelius Crescent.

    Ever heard of the Great Massacre of Tenth Epoch?"

    Azzy nodded in response, "Our teacher taught us about it."

    "Then, this makes the matter simple." Qridus let out a smile and explained, "If you really possessed the black lightning attribute, then, there''s no doubt, the ancestors of one of your parents hailed from the Crescent Clan. This is why it''s necessary to know about your parents. But, before that, I want to confirm whether it''s really true or not. My intentions are nothing simpler than that."

    Ethan and Pandora were shocked to the core, seeing the ever mighty Qridus was patiently explaining to a simple brat. Even the subordinate clan leaders and Death Clan elders never received such treatment.

    For him, to subdue Azzy is as simple as breathing but what they were witnessing is something else.

    And if that wasn''t shocking enough, the boy seemed to be unafraid of rejecting his goodwill either.

    Azzy followed the advice of the Reaper and asked the old man in return, "what if it turned out to be true? Will the Crescent Clan claim my custody or something?"

    "No, your life will be unchanged," Qridus promised him.

    "What do you think?" Azzy asked the Reaper. The answer indeed surprised but when Azzy thought about it, he felt that it is better to be the descendant of Aelius rather than be a time traveler.

    Azzy stepped back and pointed at Ethan, "Can you close the door? I have never shown my second Arcana to anyone else including Aunt Affea and Uncle Oakley."

    Pandora felt like the kid is too cautious but as Qridus gestured to her, she nodded and closed the door. Meanwhile, Ethan stood outside as a guard to make sure no one eavesdrop. There were already a few clan members standing far away and looking in the direction upon witnessing Pandora''s appearance. As for Qridus, no one even spotted him.

    Other than Ethan, Pandora, ad Azzy, he was invisible to everyone that he doesn''t want to be seen.

    As the door was closed, Azzy summoned the black wolf, followed by the black lotus in its flower transformation.

    "Oh, this one is also a top-tier platinum grade." Pandora''s eyes lit up when she saw the black lotus. When she saw it was also black and its energy is strikingly similar to that of the wolf, she turned her head towards the old man.

    At first, Qridus had a disappointing look as his 1% suspicion about Azzy being the heir was removed but then, the flower attracted his attention.

    "I feel earth element but not exactly. It appeared to be a variant. What is its attribute?" he displayed his curiosity.

    "It''s a black crystal," Azzy informed him what the Reaper had informed him, although he had yet to see any crystal abilities.

    "I see, no wonder you are so secretive about it," Pandora commented, grabbing her chin as if she was thinking about something.

    Meanwhile, Qridus went down into a memory lane, remembering about Aelius, whom he had seen, talked, and sparred personally back when his father is the Clan''s Monarch.

    He nodded with a smile, "indeed, it gives the same feeling as Aelius'' lightning sphere. Especially this wolf, the feeling was even more similar."

    Pandora''s face glowed in excitement. But then, she thought, "wait for a second, why am I feeling happy? It''s not like he''s a descendant of the Night Clan. It''s only the Crescent Clan that will get stronger. No, if I can play the cards, right, maybe, in hundred or two hundred years, we can control the entire Crescent Clan through this boy. But, his love and loyalty towards Affea and Oakley must be intact. Hmm, can Avia become the key?"

    As various schemes are running through this Matriarch of the Night Clan, Azzy dismissed his Arcana and sealed his soul energy once again. This is the thing that made Qridus suspect Azzy''s identity for a moment.

    However, he also understands that everyone has their own secrets and he also confirmed what he came for. So, he didn''t stay there for very long and left the room. Pandora also followed the suit. Before she went, she said, "don''t think badly of Affea and Oakley. I was the one who put pressure on them to keep it as secret as you know, anything that concerns Aelius Crescent isn''t of a simple matter."

    Azzy never had such a thought anyway. He didn''t clear her misunderstanding and plainly nodded in response.

    Once they left, Azzy collapsed on the bed, "Oh, boy, let''s hope that this is the last trouble I face during this wedding."

 Chapter 286 - Dinner At The Royal Palace

    After Azzy freshened up and got ready for dinner, Ethan Night took him back to the royal guestroom where Pandora was having a talk with Oakley and another familiar person he was familiar with.

    It was none other than Crescent clan''s ancestor and the Vice President of WAMO, in a way, his boss.

    "Oh, Azrael, you are here." Pandora nodded with a smile.

    "It''s been a while," Ramiel spoke with a smile before adding, "Just now, Elder Pandora is telling about you. I didn''t expect we would be connected this way too."

    Azrael greeted both of them with a simple bow in silence, not intending to comment on the matter.

    As Ethan reminded her that it''s time, she nodded and stood up from the seat. Ramiel and Oakley also followed the suit.

    "Come, let''s go. Some important guests are waiting for us." Pandora told Azzy to join her and the other two.

    On the way, as Pandora and Ramiel are walking side by side, Oakley and Azzy follow behind.

    He asked, "Uncle Oakley, what about Aunt? And Avia too. Won''t they join us?"

    Oakley shook his head with a sigh, "I''m afraid not. She wouldn''t be comfortable with one of the guests we are going to meet. Even me too, but Matriarch insisted for me to join as I''m the heir to the Night Clan."

    Azzy wondered who they might be. Something clicked in his mind, "Is it her family?"

    The Majestic Royal palace of Freyles does have several dining rooms. On the way, he was informed that these guests are from the bride''s family. The groom Vesyrn, the clan head Qridus and some other clan heads were having their own guests.

    Azzy''s heartbeat rose a bit when he realized that he was going to meet his mother. He took deep breaths and tried to keep his cool as he reached the dining room that was reserved for the Crescent family and their guests.

    Everyone stood up on their feet as Pandora entered, not just because of her authority but it is also because of her strength and age. After all, she was one of the few candidates to enter the Supreme Realm, after the clan head.

    The dining table was huge alright. The table, the chairs, everything is made of some kind of crystal. Considering it''s a formal dinner party, the seating arrangement is a bit weird. Everyone was just drinking wine while sitting at the same spot and just conversing with their neighbors.

    The southern countries have different customs where there are multiple round tables. And during the pre-dinner when everyone is having wine, they usually have it while standing along with others. But, Oakley was familiar with this too. So, there''s no issue. He was only worried about Azzy.

    There were a lot of familiar people sitting in the chairs like the head of the Smoke Clan and his granddaughter Izetta Smoke, whom he saw at last year''s Champions League. Then, there are two members from the Silver Clan, one of them is the head of the Silver Clan, Azzy knew the old man.

    Along with them, there are a few strangers he never met, but his eyes were searching for that one person whom he came for.

    However, Izora was nowhere to be seen either. He was a little bit disappointed and walked forward along with the rest.

    There was a trace of surprise appeared on Izetta. She whispered to the person who looks like middle-aged. "Grandpa, that boy, he''s Azrael, the one I told you about."

    "Oh, the one with the platinum grade wolf?" The middle-aged fellow glanced at Azzy who was walking towards them. "mid-rank-5 soul power? Not bad¡­"

    Meanwhile, Pandora and Ramiel nodded to everyone.

    "It seems I''m not that late." She then pointed at Oakley and then at Azzy, introducing them to everyone, "Some of you know him. He''s Oakley Night, my grandson and this boy is his son."

    Azzy bowed to everyone before taking the seat beside Oakley. His other side is currently empty.

    For a while, the people talk between themselves, and Azzy just stayed silent while drinking the mango juice that he was served by the waiter.

    Izetta wanted to vacate her seat and go to Azzy to talk something as he was the only one in her age group but she wasn''t that bold enough to do so in front of several distinguished guests. Moreover, as a 16-year-old heiress of the Smoke clan, she needed to maintain etiquette in front of others. So, she kept seated.

    Nearly seven minutes later, the next set of guests arrived. Azzy turned his head and saw it was Kylan who came with another middle-aged fellow.

    Although he only met him twice during his four-year stay at Death Clan, Azzy still remembered Kylan for he is his maternal granduncle of him. But, he is in no mood to entertain him as his mother didn''t arrive with him either.

    Thankfully, his doubt was cleared right away.

    As Kylan greeted the others, Ramiel asked him, "Kylan, where is Izora?"

    To which, Kylan sighed, "I guess she was too nervous. She wasn''t feeling well."

    "She''s the bride, Clan leader Kylan." Pandora pitched in. She was clearly displeased. "If she won''t come, then, why bother to arrange the dinner."

    While Kylan apologized to everyone, Azzy felt the gaze from the fellow standing beside the Crescent Clan leader. When his gaze met with the latter, Azzy somehow felt like that guy was curious about him or something.

    It was then Kylan introduced the gentleman standing beside him, "everyone, meet Ragron Jerome Eranyl, the King of Rivendell. He''s a good friend of mine and accepted my invitation to come, two days before the marriage ceremony."

    In an instant, Oakley''s face darkened but an old man that Azzy didn''t know commented, "Rivendell, huh. That brings back the memories. Cyrus and I used to spar a lot, back in younger days."

    Ragron seemed to be stumped, and suddenly turned polite, "Cyrus? That''s my great-great-great-great-great grandfather. May I know who you are?"

    Kylan introduced him, "this is one of the elders of the Royal clan, Alvares Garcia."

    "Careful with him, Azrael. He is a Supreme Realm expert." The Reaper warned Azzy.

    Azzy knew that the royal clan of the Freyles country is the Garcia clan but he didn''t expect there are Supreme realm experts other than his great grandfather.

    "Ah, yes, hello, Venerable Garcia." Ragron greeted him with a bow, treating him as an ancestor, ignoring the fact that his stature is higher. Azzy felt like this guy is a lot different from his arrogant fatty son.

    Ragron greeted everyone, including Oakley with a smile and took his seat.

    Kylan didn''t sit but excused himself by saying that he needs to go and welcome the most important guest of this dinner.

    Everyone including Azzy wondered who that might be but little did Azzy expect that a huge surprise is on its way.

    In the next 15 minutes, guests with important positions at Freyles country as well as at the Death Clan arrived one after another.

    The surprise finally arrived in the form of a young woman, a frail-looking old woman with wrinkles and a girl that looked like a doll.

    A few minutes ago, Kylan left the room, and now, he returned by personally escorting them.

    As soon as they arrive, Pandora and even Alvares stood up from the seat. Seeing that everyone is standing, Azzy also followed the suit.

    "Venerable Moon," everyone bowed collectively.

    "Rael?" A trace of surprise appeared on the cute girl and her voice was a bit loud, attracting attention.

    "Hmm?"

 Chapter 287 - An Apple Doesnt Fall From A Mango Tree

    "I didn''t expect Mr. Oakley is a member of Night Clan. Fate is really mysterious, isn''t it?" Estella had shed the graceful-looking image like other young girls and just stole the seat beside Azzy from another guest before turning into a chatterbox.

    Azzy didn''t know what to talk about. Their last meeting didn''t end well. Azzy thrashed her nicely, showing the difference in the strength between them.

    After that, this is where they were meeting but Estella didn''t seem like she was bothered about her defeat. She appeared more enthusiastic.

    Some of the guests around were staring at Estella and Azzy. Some felt that they look good together, some of the elders of the Crescent clan including Kylan felt that Azzy is too preposterous for chatting with the princess of the Moon clan because they think Azzy is just an outsider, the remaining didn''t care because, in their eyes, both of them are just little kids.

    Pandora didn''t like it but for a different reason. In her view, the moon clan princess getting close to Azzy wouldn''t be of any use to her or her Night clan.

    Meanwhile, Estella''s mother and her ancestor were curious. They heard of Azzy before but still wondered what''s so special in him that their little girl is so fond of that she''s behaving unladylike.

    As Azzy continued to stay silent, Estella tried to guess what he is thinking, "you must be wondering what I''m doing here. Crescent Clan can be considered a branch of us, you know. Long ago, the Moon clan''s heiress and Garcia clan''s Patriarch who was then the Generals of Emperor Arthur married each other. Their kids founded the Crescent Clan.

    Do you know what''s funny here?"

    Estella leaned her head and said almost said in a whisper, "Their names are also Azrael and Estella."

    Azzy abruptly turned his head in surprise as something crazy theory appeared in his head.

    It''s not because he heard that Crescent Clan''s origins are from another hidden clan. After all, hundred thousand years, the nine clans lived together under one Empire. It''s quite possible that the Death Clan''s founder married the Moon Clan''s princess but what is surprising is the name.

    It was then he remembered Princess Leah''s explanation about the history of Camelot and its nine generals. "That''s right, the founder had the Reaper, and General moon said to possess the leviathan. And what''s more, Leah has Excalibur. It''s too much coincidence that they return in the same era. Are we really perhaps the reincarnation of those legendary figures?"

    When such a thought appeared, Azzy''s eyes fell on the smiling Estella and he immediately threw it away, "no, there''s no way this girl is the reincarnation of my past life''s wife. You have to stop thinking about unnecessary issues, Azzy. Focus on the present and future."

    Azzy convinced himself again and again before forcing himself to fill his mouth with a drumstick and look away.

    Despite not having any expression on Azzy, Estella was sure that it surprised him. While the entire moon clan thinks that Estella is the reincarnation of their ancestor, she never thought that Azzy is some reincarnation of her past life husband. After all, there''s a lack of death scythe and Azzy''s commoner background is a bonus.

    She can form some speculations like Azzy''s second Arcana is a death scythe and he might have been born to Garcia family and doesn''t know it yet. But, the facts are more important for her and she wasn''t waiting for the Death clan founder''s reincarnation either. She doesn''t believe in that sh*t as there are no conclusive shreds of evidence either apart from similar Arcana.

    What matters for Estella is that Azzy defeated her with ease and that''s enough to plant a desire in her heart to grow stronger.

    In the past few days, she trained rigorously under extreme conditions to improve her strength and she succeeded in breaking through to the next realm without the need of external help like the beast''s core.

    When she realized that Azzy is the key to her progress, she developed an interest in him. Coincidences about their names only made her think that they were destined to be together.

    She no longer cared whether Azzy is claimed by Claire or not. She decided to snatch him away. This is the reason behind her sudden strange behavior.

    After the dinner is finished, some of the guests continued to sit and have an after-dinner wine while the others left.

    It led to Azzy wonder just how much these adults love the wine. They drink white wine before eating, they drink red wine while eating and they continue to drink again even after that.

    Soon, only the most important guests left. Naturally, Azzy and Estella aren''t a part of it. The young woman who tagged along with Estella also exited the room.

    As soon as he left the dining room, Azzy wanted to return his room but Estella didn''t let him do so. She introduced him to her mother, "Rael, this is my mother. Mom, this is Azrael."

    The beautiful young woman put forth her hand with a smile, "nice to meet you, Azrael. My daughter kept talking about how you were during the past few days. If I didn''t know that you were a student, I would have thought she was talking about her idol."

    "C''mon, mom. Don''t exaggerate too much." Estella puffed her cheeks that slightly became red.

    Meanwhile, Izetta saw them from distance but didn''t know how to barge into their conversation either as they were as good as strangers to her. She sighed and left the place without even saying hello to Azzy.

    As the mother and daughter had fun with each other, with the former teasing her while the latter complained, Azzy just stared at them in a daze.

    He doesn''t even know what he was doing here, walking with them to the Royal Gardens. Until now, Azzy barely spoke a couple of sentences in the past ten minutes. But, one thing he did find was that Estella seemed to be a normal teenager when she was with her mother. He couldn''t help but get envious of the relationship between this mother and daughter pair.

    Being uncomfortable in their presence, Azzy tried to leave, giving a silly reason, "excuse me, Mrs. Moon, I need to get back. My family would be worried about my absence."

    "Ah, c''mon, don''t need to worry. That bodyguard of yours is keeping an eye on you." Scarlet Moon pointed her hands casually behind her in the 7 o''clock direction.

    From the start, she never turned back, and neither did she meet Ethan but still managed to accurately point him with ease and further said as she looked into the sky where the moon is in waxing gibbous phase. "Do you know Azrael that our clan''s origins said to come from there?"

    "Moon?" Azzy looked at the sky. He felt like the lady is pulling his leg because it is impossible in his eyes.

    "Please, mom. You said it many times." Estella appeared to be annoyed. "Think practically. How is it even possible that humans lived on the moon? Whether it is the atmosphere or the temperatures, that land isn''t even possible for humans to live. Those texts must have been written by some fanatic who thought of linking our clan to the moon because of similar names."

    Azzy couldn''t but nod in agreement.

    It was then, a voice was heard from behind. "Ms. Moon, that isn''t true. In the past, humans did colonize the moon and other planets."

    Azzy felt the voice is familiar and turned around only to see Ragron walking towards them while accompanied by Kylan.

    As the mother and daughter pair also glanced behind, a frown appeared on Scarlet as Ragron further complimented, "It''s been a while, Ms. Scarlet. You look beautiful as ever."

    "What are you doing here, Brother Kylan? Is the meeting already over?" Scarlet ignored Ragron and asked the person standing beside him.

    "No, Sister Scarlet... we were just kicked out by Venerable Moon," Kylan replied her with a helpless smile.

    "This is why you should be careful when making acquaintances," Scarlet let out a comment, surprising both Estella and Azzy for a moment.

    Azzy looked at Estella''s mom and then, at Ragron, and wondered whether she dislikes him or something. It made him a little bit happier.

    "Sister Scarlet¡­" Kylan tried to handle the situation but Ragron patted his shoulder, "it''s alright, Brother Kylan. Ms. Scarlet doesn''t seem to be in a mood to talk. Let''s not disturb her."

    As Ragron left the place like a gentleman, Estella asked her mother, "Mom, do you know King Ragron?"

    In response, her mom snorted and expressed her disdain, "He''s just a loser who tried to court me, long ago. His father tried to establish relations with our clan through our marriage but was taught a lesson.

    A few years ago, when your father passed away, this guy''s father once again shamelessly sent another marriage proposal to our clan. In return, I challenged Ragron to a battle. Obviously, I beat him to a pulp.

    Now that he ascended the throne and recently made another breakthrough to the legendary realm, his intentions are obvious.

    I don''t understand how a guy with a mere gold grade Arcana thinks so high of himself when he couldn''t evolve it to Platinum grade even after reaching Exalt realm."

    Azzy went into a daze once again, "I knew it. An apple doesn''t fall from a mango tree. Like mother, like daughter."

    He realized that her mother isn''t that different from Estella, very arrogant, and looks down on the people that have low-grade Arcana.

    Still, at the same time, he felt that the guy deserved a beating.

 Chapter 288 - Battle With Ragron Part-1

    The following day;

    Royal palace grounds, Freyles;

    "All the best, Rael," Estella cheered on the side as Azzy and Ragron walked into their positions.

    Scarlet, Kylan, and a few other people turned into spectators, murmuring between themselves.

    They were standing about 10 meters apart, facing each other. Azzy had the same look, the same expressionless face. On the other hand, Ragron seemed to be amused by the situation he was in. He is a legendary realm expert, the one and only King of Rivendell is fighting against a brat who was still in puberty.

    "Go on, kid. As the elder, I will give you an opportunity of five minutes head-start where I won''t attack you and neither would I dodge. As I have mentioned before, I will not use my Arcana and will even suppress my strength to peak-rank-5. I believe this would be enough, right?" Ragron tried to provoke Azzy with his blunt words.

    However, Azzy wasn''t the type to lose his cool easily. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the surroundings. Soon, translucent energy started to appear over him.

    "Thousand hand Bodhisattva."

    The translucent energy gushed out of him, transforming into a giant figure who was sitting in a lotus position. Meanwhile, several hands started to appear one after another.

    Ragron''s facial expression suddenly changed, "natural energy? What kind of technique is that?"

    Soon, as the entire figure is formed, Azzy opened his eyes and looked at him, "Are you ready?"

    One hour ago;

    At around 7 o''clock, Azzy went to see his foster parents see if they can eat breakfast together. During the last night''s dinner, he couldn''t eat with Affea because of that king from Rivendell.

    When he went there with Ethan, he found the door was still open but inside the room, there was this unpleasant guest sitting with his foster family and having tea with them. There''s also his maternal grand-uncle and some stranger.

    Did they make amends perhaps? He wondered as he knocked on the door. "Excuse me¡­"

    In an instant, Affea''s eyes lit up and she left her seat immediately with a smile on her face, "Azzy, you came at the right time. I was just wondering whether I should go and wake you up but you are here. Come, let''s go and have a walk in the gardens."

    Looking to the side at the little girl who was quietly sitting on a chair, she further said, "Avia, you too follow me."

    But, just as she made two steps forward, a voice escaped by the stranger, who was facing against her earlier, "Affea, sit down quietly. I''m not finished yet."

    Without looking back, the stranger with shoulder-length hair with grey streaks said, "The person who doesn''t have any business must leave."

    Azzy was surprised by his tone and looked at Affea as if he was asking whether he should come back later.

    But, Affea suddenly exploded in anger, "He''s my son, Eldest brother. And I won''t sit around and do nothing if you don''t control your tongue."

    "Oh, it''s that genius orphan kid that you took in. I thought it''s some servant." The stranger commented in realization before he turns his head and looked at the entrance, "strange, you don''t have soul energy?"

    "The kid is indeed a genius to hide it perfectly even from true experts like us, Prince Snieca." Ragron praised Azzy with a smile. But, he didn''t turn his head to particularly look at him.

    Azzy narrowed his eyes and stared at the back of the stranger for a couple of seconds. He was a little bit angry to be called an orphan but he calmed down himself, remembering Affea addressed this man as her elder brother.

    "Kid, we are busy, right now. Can you come sometime, later?" Kylan chimed in before pointing at Avia, "Oh, please take this little girl with you. It''s uncomfortable for adults to talk with her, here."

    "Well, you can talk between yourselves, then. I''m going. Come Avia." Affea walked forward.

    Once again, the prince of Snieca shouted, "I said sit down."

    His voice was loud enough to hear all the way to the end of the corridor, startling the servants and the other experts who are comfortable sleeping in their beds.

    Avia shivered for a moment before rushing away from her seat and hiding behind her father.

    "Calm down, Prince Snieca. There are Venerable Masters residing in their rooms." Kylan reminded him where he was and made him cool down. In front of Supreme realm experts, their identities such as prince and a king wouldn''t matter. They do what they want.

    The government wouldn''t want to interfere unless they cross the bottom line or there''s someone like Aegis Light working for the government who is unafraid of offending them.

    Usually, only an organization like WAMO can handle these powerhouses. So, the crown prince of Snieca no longer made a ruckus and spoke in a normal tone, this time, directing his voice at the silent Oakley, "Brother-in-law, let us not cause trouble, okay? Tell Affea to sit down."

    "Dear¡­" Oakley called her. As she turned around, he gestured with his face, requesting her. After a decade of enmity, the Snieca''s royal family finally came to peace and acknowledged him as their son-in-law. He doesn''t want to disturb the relations once again.

    Even though Oakley had a reason to forgive them, Affea was still angry with her second brother and her eldest brother who dared to abduct their daughter and tried to break her marriage for their benefit.

    She looked at Azzy and said, "You are also a family member. Come inside and listen to what your uncle had to say."

    Before he replied anything, she grabbed his arm and dragged him with her, and stopped in front of the three intruders that barged into their guest room.

    Looking at her brother, she further said while raising the three fingers, "Eldest brother, I need to tell you three things. One, I don''t care about you or that old man who disowned me, a decade ago.

    Two, my home is no longer the place where I grew up but it is where my husband''s home is. If he lives in Aclein, then, Aclein it is. If it is a tiny town in Southern Qudour, then, I will live there happily. Now that my in-laws removed the expulsion of my husband and let us live in the clan compound of the Night clan, it will be my home in the future.

    And three, not only Avia and Oakley, but Azzy is also off the limits for the both of you. I''ll go to any lengths when it comes to my family even if that person is my brother or a King of some country.

    If there''s still anything that you wanted to discuss, then, please be my guest."

    She crossed her arms as she took the seat, looking at her brother, sharply. Realizing that Azzy is still standing and Avia is still hiding behind the chair where Oakley sat, she told them to take a seat.

    Azzy didn''t hesitate to just sit on the bed as there weren''t any spare chairs in the room. While taking the seat, he stared at the King of Rivendell.

    As if Ragron felt the gaze on him, he glanced at Azzy and opened his mouth while the crown prince of Snieca was stumped by her words.

    After all, the crown prince only came here to the wedding to convince her and take her back to the palace on his father''s orders. Oakley just said that he will follow the wishes of his wife, to which the latter firmly reduced it, citing the security concerns along with the trust.

    "It looks like Mr. Azrael wanted to tell something to me?" Ragron looked at Azzy, changing the topic all of a sudden.

    Affea furrowed her brows and then, turned her head to look in Azzy''s direction. The remaining people also glanced at him for a second.

    Azzy asked, "Do you know that your son''s soul orb was sealed, two days ago? Did he return to normal with the Magnolis family''s help? I heard that Rivendell doesn''t have any Supreme Realm experts to treat him."

    In an instant, Ragron''s facial expression changed, "I came here to visit the wedding in peace but you had to go ahead and provoke me.. You are really a gusty kid."

 Chapter 289 - Battle With Ragron Part-2

    The "Thousand hands Bodhisattva" is said to be the ultimate technique of Buddhism where the user would be able to use all of the thousand hands to contend against an opponent who is even two realms above.

    But, it has its own difficulties. One is that it''s extremely tough to master it. The knowledge can be acquired from the Reaper but mastering can only be acquired by practice. Without mastery, Azzy cannot use it to its full potential.

    And the other difficulty is that the technique is time-limited. Even the one who mastered it cannot maintain this state for a very long time.

    Azzy knew that very well but he couldn''t help it when he can''t reveal his Arcana or even soul energy and on the other hand, the opponent is someone like Ragron. So, he needed to go all out.

    After activating the technique, Azzy didn''t waste any time and attacked Ragron by pushing forth his palm.

    In the next second, about five hands of the giant figure shot towards their target like projectiles.

    As promised earlier with big words, Ragron didn''t move from the spot and faced the attack, head-on.

    Ragron quickly used soul energy and pushed out his palm too. A giant triangular shield was formed before him. As he suppressed his power, the aura that the scarlet shield was emitting is at the border between rank-5 and rank-6.

    *Bam*

    A huge sound produced by the collision of the giant translucent hand formed by natural energy and the shield formed by soul energy.

    The attack didn''t make it through but the shield vibrated for a fraction of a second before another attack was landed and cracked the shield.

    The third attack shattered the shield and the following two attacks successively landed on Ragron''s chest simultaneously.

    Everyone just gaped in silence as they saw the mighty legendary realm expert was seen blasted away.

    Deciding to take it as an advantage, Azzy kicked the ground and rushed forward before launching another palm attack. Once again, five of the Bodhisattva''s hands were shot towards Ragron who was still in mid-air.

    But, Ragron isn''t a simple Arcana Master either. He was experienced enough to not only twist his body in mid-air but also create an energy sword made of soul energy, then, adding his fire attribute, turning it into a flaming sword before slashing at the incoming projectiles.

    He effectively destroyed the five of them as he landed on the ground. In exchange, the flaming sword was also disappeared.

    Azzy didn''t give up and launched the projectiles for the third time. Standing about twenty meters far away, Ragron had enough time to create another flaming sword and cut them down with rapid slashes. Even Azzy could only count 36 strikes when he concentrated on it.

    The giant figure disappeared as time is up and all the natural energy stored in his body was also consumed.

    Azzy once again started to absorb the natural energy from the surroundings. This time, he only powered up his fists and legs as he charged forward at his maximum speed.

    Ragron furrowed his brows, "this speed. Is he really at an intermediate stage of Elite realm?"

    Azzy''s current speed was comparable to that of a rank-7 Arcana Master.

    Within a couple of seconds, Azzy covered the distance and threw a fist at Ragron''s abdomen.

    The latter caught Azzy''s arms just before it hits him and grabbed them tightly, "kid, you are indeed a top-level genius but if you think you can underestimate an Arcana Master who is in Legendary realm just because he isn''t serious, then, you are wrong."

    Azzy didn''t try to free himself. Instead, he opened up his fist and said, "You are the one that is underestimating me, King Ragron."

    All of a sudden, the natural energy around his body surged towards his palms.

    Ragron sensed it but thought Azzy would try to free himself with force. So, he grabbed even tighter. It was so tight that Azzy''s veins started to pop up.

    But, in the next second, his facial expression changed as Azzy released all the natural energy in the form of a beam from both of his palms, effectively hitting him in the chest this time.

    Ragron blasted away for a few meters once again and crashed onto the ground.

    He stood on his feet and dusted his robes before spitting a mouthful of blood. Ragron''s face turned extremely serious.

    Meanwhile, Azzy stayed on the spot. He didn''t rush forward but rapidly absorb the natural energy for nearly thirty seconds and look at his opponent.

    "King Ragron, this is my strongest attack. See if you can block it again." Azzy said to him while pouring all of the natural energy into the right palm.

    He run forward a bit and then, kicked the ground to jump high.

    Azzy easily reached 100 meters above the ground and while he was coming down, he motioned the palm towards Ragron, releasing a 10 meters giant palm made of natural energy.

    The attack made everyone''s heart skip for a second as they felt the power of Exalt realm in it.

    Ragron conjured the giant triangular shield, a couple of meters above his head.

    The divine palm collided with the shield and instantly destroyed it. Its movement isn''t halted and continued its way to press down onto Ragron''s head.

    Ragron could evade it easily if he wants but at the moment, not even 2-minutes have passed and he promised that he will give Azzy, a five minutes head start.

    Abiding by the promise, he hurriedly poured soul energy into his body, powering up his defense. He used bare hands to stop it.

    But, the Divine Palm doesn''t seem like it was going to be stopped by his efforts.

    He was getting pushed down. Ragron''s knees were bent, feeling the enormous pressure the divine palm is emitting.

    Just as his knees were about to hit the ground, he gritted his teeth, and roared, "Oraaaa¡­"

    A sea of flames escaped his body and pushed towards the Palm, not only stopping it but also completely destroying it in just five seconds of time.

    As Ragron saved his image by not kneeling on the ground, Azzy quietly stared at him from the distance. "You lost, King Ragron."

    "Hmm? What do you mean by that?" Ragron asked in return before realizing that he used the power of the legendary realm earlier, thereby breaking the rules of this spar. He let out a sigh, "Yeah, I lost. And yes, it looked like I underestimated you, Azrael."

    Ragron once again proved himself to be a man of character. Not only did he admit defeat, he even praised Azzy with a smile, "It''s very rare to see a kid of your caliber. It''s foolish to make enemies with people like you and a wise man would rather extend the friendship. The Palace of Rivendell is always open to you. If you need any help in the future, you can ask for my help. Here¡­"

    Ragron handed him a ruby ring that he was wearing, and further said, "Show this to anyone who dares to stop you from meeting me, if such day comes."

    Azzy took a closer look at it and asked the Reaper, just in case. The Reaper said it was fine. So, Azzy nodded and kept it. In fact, he wanted to reject the present but it would only make him the bad guy instead. Moreover, a few of his clan members are also watching. He thought it''s better to back down when it is necessary.

    Azzy no longer stayed there and returned to Affea''s side where Estella was also standing along with her mother.

    She smiled widely as she welcomed him, "Rael¡­ that was some great performance. That one where you blasted him away, it was the same one you used it on my Levi, right?"

    As Azzy confirmed her suspicion with a nod, Scarlet said to him, "Azrael, participate in the world league. If you are going to participate, you have a high chance to win it."

    Estella nodded in agreement and added a comment, "The preliminaries for all categories soon will start. If we participate as a duo, with four platinum grade Arcana, we can destroy the enemies on the battlefield."

    Azzy stayed silent and didn''t comment on her indirect proposal of teaming up. At the same time, he was extremely uncomfortable with this changed behavior. He felt as if someone is scratching an iron with a coin.

    Meanwhile, Ragron was glancing at Azzy from the corner of his eyes as he passed by. "It''s just like that Vogio kid mentioned. This kid is indeed a threat to my son. If left alive, once he grew up, perhaps, even I would regret it in the future. But, I can''t make any move here.. I guess I need to wait for the right moment."

 Chapter 290 - Marriage Ceremony

    At one of the royal guest rooms at the west wing, the representatives from the Moon Clan were having a discussion between themselves.

    "So, what do you think of Azrael, mom?" Estella asked her mother in the presence of the Matriarch of their Clan who is a high-rank-9 Arcana Master, about 2 Billion SP (soul power) away from becoming a demigod and increasing the lifespan for a hundred thousand years.

    Scarlet let out a mischievous smile as tried to tease her daughter while pinching the cheeks lightly, "why? Do you want to give surprise news? I saw how you are behaving around him. Just like a girl who has a crush on a boy. Do you like him?"

    Estella didn''t feel any shy to answer her mother''s question. She answered truthfully to her and her ancestor. "He''s the only one in my age group that I don''t have the confidence to defeat him. Even in the future, I''m not sure I can beat unless a miracle appears. I finally realized it after watching today''s battle.

    There''s an issue is his origins but a person with such terrifying potential cannot be a commoner. So, I think he''s the perfect partner for me."

    "Hmm¡­" Scarlet nodded in agreement. She then said, "As far as I can see, he appeared to have a bigger ego than yourself and is strongly attached to his foster family. Seeing that you are asking me something, I guess you need my help. Do you want me to talk to his family? But, both of you are still young to even think of marriage and love cannot be forced. Why don''t you get more familiar with him and his family? Once you were adults, I''ll think about it.

    Moreover, you shouldn''t rush with things like these, or else, you''ll end up like me."

    "Exactly, this is where I want your help, mom." Estella grabbed her mother''s hands in excitement, "If you approve Azrael, help me to clear the obstacles that I cannot cross on my own. I just need simple favors from both of you."

    The Moon Clan''s ancestor and Scarlet Moon looked at each other when they realized one of these simple favors isn''t simple at all. If not for the fact that they personally witnessed Azzy''s abnormal strength, Estella would have been scolded by now.

    Meanwhile, at another royal guest room in the east wing, Kylan was stunned on the spot, "what did you say?"

    Pandora said it again with a straight face, "I said that Azrael is the descendant of Aelius Crescent. It''s possible that he might even be a direct descendant considering how he possesses the black lightning element. The monarch was the one that confirmed it. I wanted to let you know before you think of any funny business because of your friendship with the King of Rivendell."

    As the matriarch of the night clan left the room, Kylan Crescent furrowed his brows and mumbled, "The black lightning has appeared after 6000 years? I need to keep this secret from my son Gredor or else, who knows what will he try to do to the kid. Forget about that for a second, Kylan. There''s even more of a pressing matter here.

    You should think about what to do with Ragron. He was humiliated deeply today. I can''t destroy my good relationship with him and Rivendell just for the sake of the kid. But, I can''t let the kid be harmed too. Hmm, maybe, I should just let Gredor ascend to the position of Patriarch of Crescent Clan and then, talk to the kid to return? Anyway, let''s decide once this marriage ceremony is over.

    At present, Izora''s mental state is the most important."

    The day passes away in a blink of an eye;

    Although people heard of the battle between Azzy and Ragron, it wasn''t still a fair match and so, it didn''t attract that much attention. Who wasn''t here a genius and have secret techniques? There are legendary realm experts and even Supreme Realm experts staying as guests. Without being a genius, how could they reach such a level?

    So, the matter didn''t attract too much attention. Only those who witnessed it personally paid attention to Azzy.

    Either way, Azzy was no longer of any importance as it is the day of the wedding between Vesyrn Garcia and Izora Crescent.

    For the foreign guests, the former is a prince of the kingdom and the latter is a high-born noble. Only a few knew that they both belong to the Death Clan.

    There''s no media coverage as these distinguished guests and hosts detest modern things like cameras and all.

    The traditional wedding at Freyles lasts three days. The first day is the marriage, which is attended only by special invited guests and relatives from either side. It is done in a closed space.

    The second day is the wedding reception, where the couple to be introduced to the public. Here, other guests will be also invited to the place for a grand banquet at noon. Gifts to the couple are given on this day and this event will be done in an open space.

    The third day is more like an in-family thing where the couple will receive the blessings from the founders, Azrael Garcia, and his five queens. After that, the couple will have lunch at the bride''s paternal home and then, dinner at her in-law''s home.

    Azzy arrived at the grand hall where the wedding was supposed to take place. While Oakley was forced to join the other Night Clan members at the front along with the distinguished guests, Azzy sat with Avia and Affea at the back just like other family members of other clans.

    Soon, the bridegroom arrived.

    Azzy couldn''t smile outwardly because of the location but inwardly, he appeared to be delighted to see his father for the first time. However, as he doesn''t have any memories with his parents, Azzy couldn''t get emotional. He was just happy. That''s all¡­

    Along with his father, there''s Qridus Garcia, the strongest human in the world, alive.

    In usual situations, everyone would stand up to pay respects to such a figure but everyone continued to sit to follow the tradition.

    The grandfather and grandson pair reached the front where a huge statue was located. It is the statue of Hera, the wife of Zeus, the queen of the gods, and the goddess of marriage.

    About exactly three minutes later, a beautiful young woman in a traditional wedding dress arrived at the hall. She was accompanied by Kylan, who is there in place of her late father.

    "Wow, in photos, it wasn''t that clear but she seriously looks a lot similar to Aunt Evelyn." Azzy thought as he saw his mother walking down the aisle.

    It was at that moment, Avia whispered to her mother, "Doesn''t Azrael looks a little bit like her?"

    "Hmm?" Affea was taken aback and looked at Azzy, and then, at Izora. "She''s right. They surprisingly have similar features, especially the eyes, chin, and ears too. Ah, I forgot that she''s also from the Crescent clan. It can be possible."

    She replied, "Maybe, it''s because both of them have the same ancestor."

    "Same ancestor?" Avia glanced at Azzy from the corner of her eyes. "Is he a noble too?"

    Soon, Izora reached Vesyrn and both of them faced the statue of Hera while the current king of Freyles personally officiate the marriage.

    Azzy saw that his father was grinning like a fool while his mother was devoid of any expressions.. It led him to doubt whether his mother was happy with marrying his father.

 Chapter 291 - Marriage Ceremony Part-2

    "First bow to the Parents"

    "Second bow to the Ancestors"

    "Third bow to the Goddess of Marriage, Hera"

    "Take an oath with Fire, Water, Wind, Lightning, Earth, Light, Dark, Space, Time, Life, and Death as the witness."

    "The Groom takes the pledge to provide for the welfare and happiness for his wife and children."

    "The Bride promises to happily and equally shoulder the responsibilities for the welfare of groom and their family."

    The wedding rituals went smoothly but Azzy couldn''t meet his mother as she left with Kylan, very soon. Following the traditions, the bride can only meet the guests either before the marriage or on the second day. And the day of marriage will be spent at her maternal home instead of staying with the husband.

    Azzy found it so weird but what he can do? They exist for tens of thousands of years.

    Meanwhile, the bridegroom aka his father was being introduced to the distinguished guests one after another by the current king, who is also a direct descendant of the Garcia family.

    Affea told him that Vesyrn is the nephew of the King but Azzy doubt that very much for he knew the existence of the Death Clan. So, he thought his foster mother was trying to cover up the truth just like the others.

    After like half an hour or so, the King and Vesyrn finally arrived where Azzy was. Oakley tagged along with them.

    Azzy''s heartbeat increased for a moment when he saw his father was standing right before him. There was this inexplicable joy in his heart to meet him, nearly 18 months after his arrival to this timeline.

    He managed to calm down while Oakley introduced them. "Master Garcia, This is my wife, Affea Snieca, our daughter Avia Night, and our foster son, Azrael."

    If it was Affea, she wouldn''t have mentioned the word foster and just addresses him as her son but emotionally, the Divine Physician of Aclein City, Oakley Night wasn''t that attached to Azzy compared to his wife.

    Not to mention, Azzy''s relation to Aelius Crescent has already been revealed to Kylan Crescent and Qridus Garcia. He wasn''t even confident that he can claim his custody, any longer.

    Azzy also didn''t mind it and calmly gave a bow, "Hello, nice to meet you. Congratulations on the wedding. I wish you happiness and prosperity."

    As Azzy congratulated him like everyone, Vesyrn let out a smile, "thanks. Actually, I and my wife attended the Champions League and watched your battles. And I also heard about your sparring against King Ragron. If there''s an opportunity arrives in the future, I would love to spar with you one day."

    Azzy was stunned for a second as he didn''t know that his father and mother came to Aclein City. All of a sudden, something struck him. The Reaper once mentioned how his parents are watching his battle. Was he referring to them, not Affea and Oakley?

    However, it isn''t the time to think about the matter that passed away.

    Azzy thanked him and replied that he looked forward to it. His plain tone and emotionless expression brought a frown on the King for a second but Vesyrn nodded and waved his hand with a smile as he was familiar with it with his clansmen, "we''ll talk later."

    After he left to meet other guests, Avia commented, "He looks a bit easy to approach compared to elders OR the clan members in high positions. All of them have this stoic faces and have this mysterious air as if they look down on them." While saying that, she took a glance at Azzy. In her opinion, he isn''t that different from the Night Clan Elders.

    "You''ll become one of those elders too, Master." Azzy thought in his head upon hearing her comment.

    Later in the evening, Azzy went to dinner in the hopes of meeting his father, once again but unfortunately, he heard from Oakley that Vesyrn was in a private dinner with Qridus, the Moon Clan''s Matriarch, and a couple of Supreme Realm experts.

    And so, he was forced to dine with Estella and her mother as they joined the table. Ragron was also at the dinner but he didn''t approach and just chatted with other guests with smiles as it was too embarrassing for him to meet them.

    The day passed away without any issues.

    The next day, at around 10 o''clock, the wedding reception was started. The venue, this time, was the palace grounds, which were decorated grandly.

    Hundreds of guests who are officials of the government, ambassadors from other countries, journalists and reporters, and some very important guests started to arrive.

    Azzy tagged along with his family.

    His mother and father were just standing on a podium while being photographed with each guest much to the disapproval of the elders. But, since it is Vesyrn''s wish to make a wedding album for memories, no one dared to object.

    Azzy and his foster family sat in the Night Clan''s section at a separate table and wait for their turn. He and Avia were watching while Oakley was informing them about the identities of these distinguished guests.

    Surprisingly, King Brian Light attended the lunch banquet with his wife. It''s unknown whether he knew about Azzy''s presence or not, but Azzy didn''t like his presence for sure.

    One by one, people are arriving.

    Eventually, Azzy found a chariot that was pulled by seven horses in the sky.

    As it passed the grounds like lightning, Oakley furrowed his brows, "It''s the Sun Clan."

    "Sun Clan?" Azzy took another glance in the direction where the horses disappeared. They must have landed around the stables.

    He only knew their name from the Book of Death. Since he doesn''t know anything else, he asked the Reaper as Oakley changed the topic, right away.

    The Reaper explained the details, "You know that the Sun Clan is a hidden clan just like the Death Clan and Moon Clan but what you don''t know is that they were once the rulers of Phoenix Empire. Emperor Arthur, your clan founder Azrael Garcia, and Aelanor Moon defeated them in war and annexed their Empire into the Empire of Arcana.

    While they used to stay loyal to the throne, they were bitter rivals or to one extent, enemies with Garcia Clan and Moon Clans.

    Putting that aside, the Sun Clan is indeed fortunate to be blessed by the divine bird Phoenix. There''s always a child in the family to awaken Phoenix as Arcana. The divine bird isn''t just the symbol of fire but it is also immortal. The child who awakened it will have nine lives before the divine bird will deem its host as unworthy and no longer provide immortality.

    Oh, by the way, the Qin family''s ancestor is the founder of Phoenix Academy."

    "Oh¡­" Azzy felt overwhelmed by this new piece of information. 9 lives¡­ How amazing is that? But, still, he was proud that no other Arcana Spirit is more amazing than his.

    Eventually, an old woman made his way towards the VIP section where a bunch of overpowered old men and women were sitting together.

    About 20 minutes later, another hidden clan representative has arrived on a dragon.

    "It is the Dragon Clan." Oakley gasped in surprise, this time.

    Upon hearing that the clan heads personally made a trip, Azzy wondered why they bothered to do so, just for his father''s marriage. Is it because his father is the next clan head? Or do they want to discuss some other important matters?

 Chapter 292 - Invasion From Outer Space Part-1

    10 minutes later;

    "Azzy, Avia, let''s go," Oakley said to them as Pandora gestured him to follow.

    Azzy nodded and walked towards the podium. On the way, Affea nudged him and asked, "What happened, Azzy? Why are you nervous?"

    Even though there was no expression on his face, somehow, Affea sensed that Azzy was filled with nervousness. She also saw there''s a lot of hesitation in his walk. There are slight pauses every once in a while.

    Azzy shook his head, "Nothing, Aunt Affea. It''s just overwhelming standing in the presence of Supreme Realm and Legendary realm Arcana Masters."

    "It''ll get easier if you just treat them as fellow guests," Avia commented without turning her head.

    Azzy didn''t respond to that and just walked. From the moment they met, it was always awkward between them and now, it appeared that the distance between them only increased further.

    Congratulating them, Oakley passed a gift package to the couple. It was then passed to the groomsmen who put them aside.

    Vesyrn then saw Azzy and smiled, "Azrael, you didn''t meet my wife yet, haven''t you? Let me introduce her. She''s Izora Crescent."

    As Vesyrn introduced Azzy to Izora who simply nodded, Azzy hesitated a bit before he summoned a storage card and said, "I didn''t have time to pack it and all. I hope you like my present."

    He took out a pair of glowing ruby crystal beads that are attached together by a string of natural energy.

    "I crafted these beads with some help. These were made from a crystal flower I encountered by chance. They will control the blood flow and heartbeat, calming down the wearer to give him/her inner peace." Azzy handed the both of them to Vesyrn, to which his mother, who looked uninterested until now, opened her mother in surprise, "You made these?"

    "It''s my time attending one''s wedding. So, I thought I should make something special." As Azzy nodded in response, Affea and Oakley also looked at him in surprise for they never expected Azzy would also prepare a gift.

    After he came from the Arcana world trip, he took the Reaper''s help in crafting them. Azzy used the corpse of Ruby Crystalline Lotus and natural energy, although most of the credit must go to the Buddhist sutra that acted as the medium.

    "Thank you," Vesyrn proceeded to put on the crystal beads to check his effect. The moment he put over his arm, he felt a cool sensation in his body, followed by removing impure thoughts in his head.

    Vesyrn was actually too excited that he finally married his crush and now, that they are wife and husband, he was constantly thinking about possible intimate moments between them. Those thoughts were suddenly removed by the crystal beads, surprising him. He doesn''t know whether it is a good thing or a bad thing.

    In the end, he thanked him again and put them into his storage card.

    After taking the photograph, Azzy and his family returned to their table. He knew that those photographs will not disappear even after he returned to the original timeline but then, it wouldn''t matter as he will once again become the scion of the Death Clan and won''t be vulnerable to external threats.

    Just about five minutes later, the Sun Clan''s Matriarch along with an elder went onto the podium to bless them. Azzy continued to watch. He was served a glass of mango juice.

    He took the glass in his hands from the platter and just as he was about to drink it, he stood up on his feet while losing the grip.

    The glass hit the carpet and the juice spilled out, forcing Avia to move away quickly.

    "Watch where you are looking, Azrael." She said to him, feeling angered by his actions.

    However, Azzy wasn''t paying attention to her or his foster parents. His hand was shivering while looking at the podium.

    There was a pitch-black aura that covered his mother. "The aura of death. She''s in danger." He whispered to himself.

    "Chronos, tell me what''s going to happen." He shouted in his mind urgently.

    "Now that you have come here, then, you should get ready." The Reaper gave a vague answer instead.

    "What do you mean?" Just as Azzy asked him, all of a sudden, Vesyrn was pushed away with powerful force and Izora was trapped in a bubble.

    "Qin Yaling." A powerful roar escaped by Qridus as he stood up. "What is the meaning of this?"

    A shot of light beam escaped from him, forming a lightning net over Vesyrn and making him slowly land on the ground.

    Every guest stood up from their seat. Commotion spread quickly among them.

    The old woman from the Sun Clan looked at him calmly and said, "I don''t believe that you are unaware of the time traveler, Qridus Garcia. She''s the only way for us to locate that person."

    "I didn''t expect that Sun Clan would turn this foolish." A peal of laughter escaped from the Moon Clan''s Matriarch. "Did you forget our presence or something?"

    "No, she didn''t." A voice filled with power escaped from nearby.

    In an instant, a buffed middle-aged-looking fellow appeared beside the Sun Clan''s Matriarch. He''s the Dragon Clan''s Patriarch, Marius Ravillon, a high-rank-9 Arcana Master.

    "So, the Dragon Clan decides to go war against us?" Qridus asked them. He appeared very angry that he was barely controlling his rage because of the guests around.

    "No, no, how could weaklings like us go against the mighty Death Clan?" Qin Yaling sneered at him and snapped her fingers. "We are here only as side support. Someone else is going to declare war against you. You will soon see them, be patient. Until then, you can try evacuating your people. We won''t go anywhere."

    Officials and several guests started using teleportation cards to get out of the place.

    In no time, almost half of the guests disappeared from the spot. The members of the seven clans of the Death Clan stayed behind.

    Meanwhile, somewhere in the outskirts of the city, more than a hundred experts gathered in a circle before creating a mystic seal that shot up to the sky while becoming bigger by each other. A giant portal was created in the sky, stunning everyone in the city.

    Soon, a giant triangular spaceship exited from the portal, where dozens of experts armed with modern guns and a suit of titanium armor slowly exited it and landed on the ground.

    The man standing in front of them, who was wearing a special armor made of nanofabric, revealed his face while turning towards the two Supreme realm experts, "Hold the Gaia''s guardian until we finish our mission. I''ll guard that woman."

    He took a cube out of nowhere and threw it at the captured Izora who was using all her strength to break out. As soon as the cube hit her, she was absorbed into it, before the object teleported to his possession.

    Everything happened in just a few minutes, turning the peaceful palace grounds into a war zone. Azzy felt dizzy by the sudden turn of events. Who are they? Why is this happening on such a beautiful day?

    "Scarlet, take Estella and leave this place." The Moon Clan''s ancestor ordered her descendant.

    At the same time, Oakley told Affea the same. Affea asked him to come with them but he refused, saying that he can''t abandon his clan.

    Azzy was worried about his mother who was captured by the Sun Clan''s Matriarch. But, without getting an opportunity to speak, he was grabbed by Affea along with Avia and was teleported several kilometers away from the palace.

    "Azzy, Avia''s safety is your priority.." After handing the little girl to Azzy, she left towards the palace grounds, leaving behind the two of them in extreme confusion.

 Chapter 293 - Invasion From Outer Space Part-2

    "You bastard, free my wife." Vesyrn roared at the captain of the spaceship who had captured Izora into some cube-looking thing.

    "Sorry but that''s not possible. You see, your woman is useful to my allies. And I was also fascinated to see that person who managed to travel in time. Perhaps, if we use him/her in our research, we would be able to invent the time ship." The young man in his late twenties replied with a grin.

    After a brief silence, he further added while playfully tossing up the cube, "If you are strong, then, you are free to battle like a man and defeat me and save her instead of whining."

    Vesryn doesn''t care what happens to the time traveler. For him, Izora''s safety is most important.

    "Come out, Arya." A golden-colored ginseng root was summoned from his soul card, earning a burst of laughter from his opponent.

    "Pfft¡­" The captain of the ship laughed uncontrollably while pointing at him, "I heard that current natives of this world summon something extraordinary called Arcana and you are supposed to be the next head of the strongest force in this world? It''s hilarious."

    Vesyrn answered while pouring soul energy into his palms, creating a golden-colored sword, "Arcana''s attribute or shape isn''t everything. The real power lies within one''s soul."

    He dashed forward. In a fraction of a second Vesryn reached his opponent and slashed at him.

    The young man just raised his arm and caught the golden sword with his exosuit arm. He continued to hold the cube in another hand, "You can''t defeat me. My hand is enough to defeat a primitive human like you."

    "I don''t know where you come from but never underestimate an Arcana Master who surpassed rank-7." Vesyrn made his next move. The golden sword suddenly turned into a sphere and exploded, releasing a million joules of energy.

    The sudden explosion of energy caught Vesyrn''s opponent by surprise and was blasted away more than fifty meters and the cube slipped away from his hands.

    Seeing the opportunity, Vesyrn didn''t waste any time in catching it and hurriedly put it in the storage card.

    "Damn it." The spaceship''s captain punched the ground in anger and looked at Vesyrn.

    He raised his hand towards Vesyrn. His connection with the nano prison hadn''t severed but he felt that it was trapped in a place that can''t be retrieved.

    "I guess I underestimated you. Fine then, I''ll take you seriously." He spoke before closing his eyes for a second. "Neo, activate the weapon system."

    In the next second, large cannon materialized in his hands.  A glow appeared below his feet and he started to float in the air.

    Pointing the cannon at Vesyrn, he said, "even if I ask you politely, I know that you won''t hand over the prisoner in peace. So, all I have to do is to kill you before those two old men return. Before you die, remember my name, Virgil. It''s the man who will have your head."

    Vesyrn replied calmly, "Today, you''ll learn how fearsome the light element is."

    "Arya, unleash the soul skill: Limit Break."

    As the golden ginseng glowed brightly, Vesyrn was covered by a blinding flash of light before it diminished.

    Virgil didn''t find anything amiss but the Arcana masters nearby who are fighting against the enemies in titanium armor were stunned for a second.

    The natural energy was absorbed into his body at a terrific speed, increasing his soul power by 10 times, temporarily forcing him into step into the Legendary Realm. Currently, he was a high-rank-8, although he will only be in this state only for the next five minutes.

    But, Vesyrn felt that it was enough.

    He summoned the golden energy sword one again. This time, Virgil finally understood the difference.

    "That small sword can release over 100 million joules of energy?" Virgil furrowed his brows when his Artificial intelligence informed him.

    He didn''t hesitate to pull the trigger of the plasma cannon. It took entire 10 seconds to get charged. Since Vesyrn doesn''t have knowledge of the enemy, he decided to spend a couple of minutes understanding the enemy before counterattacking during the following three minutes.

    An orb of plasma was shot from the cannon, aimed at Vesyrn. When it left the Cannon, it was only at the size of the average adult''s head but then, as it traveled towards the target, it grew in size, almost 2 meters.

    Vesyrn never sensed such strange energy before. It wasn''t soul energy or even nuclear energy. It was something else. The power behind it is also unknown to him. However, he could see a core inside the orb. This core was generating blue and purple-colored electricity in all directions.

    He assumed it was probably lightning attribute. Either way, it doesn''t matter as he planned to block it anyway as he doesn''t want to risk a huge explosion where his clan members get caught up in it.

    So, Vesyrn decided to take a risk. He changed the shape of the golden sword into that of shapeless energy. Vesyrn poured more soul energy into it, transforming it into a huge arm.

    Because of its slower speed, the plasma orb took an entire four seconds to cover a mere 60 meters of distance.

    While Virgil was charging the weapon to shoot at him for the second time, Vesyrn went into battle stance and motioned his arm forward.

    The slow-moving giant plasma orb was caught by the energy arm.

    "Hmm?" Vesyrn sensed that the plasma orb is trying to absorb the energy and move forward.

    He clenched his fist. The orb was crushed by the giant hand. 300 million joules of energy were released by the orb but Vesyrn managed to contain it within the grip of his giant golden arm.

    Virgil''s face behind his mask turned ugly. "I underestimated him." It wasn''t just him.

    Vesyrn''s facial expression also changed. "It consumed almost forty percent of my soul power even in limit break state. I underestimated him."

    A few more seconds later, the Plasma Cannon was charged once again and Virgil clicked the trigger once again.

    This time, Vesyrn was more prepared. He leaped towards the incoming plasma orb. Before it reaches the size of a kid, he punched it with the giant energy arm, assuming that its power increases as time passes.

    And just like he expected, the power was half of what he faced earlier.  The plasma orb was destroyed easily and Vesyrn flew towards Virgil who was waiting at the same spot.

    Just as he almost reached him, all of a sudden, two cannons emerged from the suit around his shoulders. They firmly stood on the shoulders and shoot a concentrated beam of plasma energy.

    Vesyrn''s eyes widened and he tried to dodge but the speed of the plasma energy beams was too high. Both of the beams hit right his abdomen and chest respectively, blasting him away for at least 100 meters.

    Vesyrn crashed onto the ground with two holes in his body.

    Virgil flew towards him and stopped a few meters above. He then aimed the plasma cannon at Vesyrn who looked like he lost consciousness.

    "I thought you were tough to beat but didn''t expect your defenses are like paper," Virgil sneered as he pulled the trigger.

    He shot another plasma orb. To his surprise, a mid-sized crater was made, leaving behind nothing.

    "Hmm? Where is the cube?" Virgil furrowed his brows.

    It was then, an alert came from the A.I. "Danger, an attack. The position cannot be tracked."

    "Eh?" A look of surprise appeared on his face as he looked around instinctively. Something pierced his suit, went past its defenses, and pierced its chest.

    "Ugh¡­" As he groaned in pain, Vesyrn materialized before him, brimming with golden energy, "I told you before, didn''t I? The light element is a lot more fearsome than it appears. As long as there is sunlight, I can bend those particles to my will. Creating an illusion is a piece of cake."

    Vesyrn was indeed hit by the plasma beams but with the help of ginseng, he recovered right away and left behind an illusion to confuse the opponent for a few moments while he recover his soul power through the recovery cards.

    Vesyrn''s statement surprised Virgil as he didn''t expect his suit couldn''t detect an illusion.

    As the suit proceeded to self-repair, he dismissed the plasma cannon and summoned two lightweight guns.

    Meanwhile, somewhere far away in the mountains, Qridus Garcia and Elyssa Moon are trapped inside a barrier with Qin Yaling and Marius Ravillon barely holding onto it together.

 Chapter 294 - Invasion From Outer Space Part-3

    Near to the north pole, the northernmost part of Freyles country as well as the supercontinent, in the mountain range of Bentnora, where temperatures reach as low as -70C, four of the most powerful people on the planet were in a stalemate.

    With a special 9-star skill card that took a lot of resources, the matriarch of the sun clan and the patriarch of the dragon clan managed to trap Qridus and Elyssa.

    However, it wasn''t just enough to capture these two old fogeys either. After all, both of them have immense power. That''s why Qin Yaling and Marius Ravillon were also forced to stay outside the barrier and keep feeding their soul energy.

    "I''m afraid this can''t be broken by techniques, Qridus. Brute force is needed." The moon clan''s ancestor voiced her opinion after observing it for several minutes.

    Qridus narrowed his eyes. Despite being one of the strongest Arcana Masters in the world, he was still a light element and the most powerful healer. Alone, he was invincible. If he''s in a team, then, that team will be invincible. They won''t ever die under his watch.

    If an enemy has less power, he could deal with them through the difference in strength, but his opponents are different. The difference between him and them is only about a little more than Billion SP (soul power). The combat strength is almost the same.

    This is why they managed to trap him with ease. The credit must be given to the Phoenix and Black Dragon. If not for the difference in their Arcana too, Qridus wouldn''t be in this state.

    Qridus was thinking various things, "With my position isolated, I cannot contact the outside world. The only person who can free me is the Great Granduncle. Maybe, he will notice the outside commotion and come to save me? No, it''s just wishful thinking that he leaves the clan village.

    I need to think of something else¡­"

    After thinking for a while, he asked, "Elyssa, do you have any skills that let you become invincible even for a few seconds?"

    "Eh?" Elyssa looked at him in surprise. In the instant, she understood his plan, "I have defensive techniques but invincibility is out of the question."

    Upon listening to their conversation, Qin Yaling spoke, "Even if you use energy eruption, it is useless, Qridus. With the two of us keep supplying the soul energy to the barrier, you will need to possess the power of a Demi-God to break this seal and get free. It can only happen if you are willing to sacrifice yourself with a soul burst.

    However, it will result in your death and maybe, even Elyssa will also be dead because she wasn''t immune to the damage. While our objective will also be fulfilled, I wouldn''t recommend it because both of your existence is necessary for humankind in case a Beast Emperor escapes from Arcana world and invade ours."

    It was then, a peal of laughter echoed in the surroundings, followed by a comment, "what a bunch of hypocritical old fogeys."

    "Hmm, who is it?" Qin Yaling and Marius Ravillon immediately became alert. They looked around but found no one.

    Qridus widened his eyes, "this voice is familiar. Is it him?"

    The voice continued, "It''s ironic that people who use beasts as companions, people who use beasts for food, people who use beasts in the process of making weapons, people who use the beasts to increase their own soul power believe that it''s dangerous to let an intelligent beast to even leave from its prison but help the aliens who planned to enslave the humans."

    "Who is it? Come out." Marius spoke loudly while furrowing his brows.

    A hooded figure materialized a few meters above the barrier. He was carrying a death scythe that was twice as big as him. Underneath the hood, his face was skeletal. It was the reaper form of the future Azrael where he turns into the Reaper itself.

    But, the surprise doesn''t end there. There was an old man in white robes floating beside him. His facial expression was serious.

    Qin Yaling and Marius Ravillon were taken aback to see their presence. Both of them are strangers to them. Soon, an expression of panic appeared on their faces as they felt this old man was in the same league as Qridus. He was also a peak-rank-9 Arcana Master.

    On the other hand, they couldn''t sense anything from the hooded figure but the death scythe in his hands gave away his relation to the Death Clan and Qridus.

    "Great Granduncle?" Qridus suddenly called out in surprise. It was then they finally realized that there isn''t one peak expert in the Death Clan. There was a hidden expert too.

    Even the moon clan''s matriarch was surprised by how Qridus addressed the old man.

    Without waiting for any time, the future Azrael made his move. He disappeared and reappeared right above the barrier and struck it with the death scythe.

    Like a huge rock shattered the glass, the barrier was shattered into millions of pieces with just a single strike of the death scythe and freed the two Supreme Realm experts, shocking everyone in the present.

    The only one who was calm and even a little bit excited is Qridus, who knew that this descendant of his is a Demigod.

    As the facial expressions of outnumbered enemies paled in fright, the future Azrael looked at his grandfather and spoke, "Lord Qridus, thank you for granting my wish. Consider this little help as returning the favor. Now, we are even. I don''t want to interfere and cause a disturbance to Gaia. That woman nags a lot. Anyway, I''ll be taking my leave.

    With Lord Pierre here, I believe you can take care of them. Before I go, I want to state that if you even discover the identity of your descendant, never try to drag him to the Death Clan. Let him live as he wishes. Quietly watch over him as you always do for your clan."

    After saying what he wanted to, the future Azrael disappeared once again, leaving behind a lot of questions in the minds of the listeners.

    Qridus, on the other hand, perfectly understood what the Demi-God was trying to tell him. He also understood the second meaning too. It means he will find his descendant for sure.

    Meanwhile, Pierre Garcia flew towards Qridus and Elyssa. Having no other choice, Marius re-summoned the Black Dragon and Qin Yaling re-summoned her Phoenix.

    "Qridus, for colluding with the outsiders, they only have one fate. You shouldn''t show any mercy." As Pierre reminded his great-grandnephew and summoned a ghostly skeletal horse, Qridus nodded and summoned his Arcana, a staff named Miraak.

    At the same time, Elyssa Moon also didn''t hesitate to summon her Arcana, a harmless-looking rabbit that was radiating in a silvery blue glow. However, it wasn''t just a normal rabbit. It is the moon rabbit of the legends where its immortality is compared to that of a phoenix.

    The only difference is that a phoenix rises from the ashes while the moon rabbit is just indestructible. Of course, it is still below the phoenix as the rabbit doesn''t give immortality to its owner like the former.

    A grand battle resumed between the two forces.

    Meanwhile, in one of the streets of Graena city, Azzy was holding Avia as the latter wishes to return to her parents.

    "Leave me, Azrael.." She screamed loudly.

 Chapter 295 - Invasion From Outer Space Part-4

    "No, it''s not safe, Avia. Listen to your mother and come with me." Azzy was stern.

    "You want me to sit around and do nothing when my parents are risking their lives?" Avia screamed at him, again while struggling to free from his grip. But, it was too strong for her.

    Azzy answered with a straight tone, "If you''ll go, you will end up dying."

    Avia already hates him. So, she couldn''t help but spout rude words in the heat of the moment, "You might not care about their lives since they aren''t your parents but I would rather die than live like an orphan like you."

    Azzy furrowed his brows. He felt hurt a little bit by her harsh words but he could understand her position and age. She gets to reunite with her parents after a whole year and then, this happens.

    Even he wanted to go out there and save his mother, who had an aura of death on her and was captured by an enemy but he couldn''t because of this little baggage handed to him.

    He was extremely grateful to Affea and Oakley. Whatever he was enjoying the life, it was because of them. If something happens to Avia, then, he wouldn''t be able to look them in the eye, ever.

    Taking a deep breath, Azzy lectured sternly, "Even if you go there, what can a mere rank-2 like you do?

    Moreover, I heard that you were abducted once. What if you get abducted again and this time, they use it against your parents? When you are weak, you are nothing more than a liability.

    Now, I''m asking you for the last time. Don''t be a burden to your parents and quietly follow me. Be a brat and I will knock you out and take you back home. Either way, you aren''t going there."

    With Azzy''s lecture and a warning, Avia became silent. She was an intelligent person. She could understand things when they made sense.

    She nodded and opened her slowly after thinking calmly, "alright, let''s go but not to home. We''ll stay in the nearby city."

    Grabbing her hand, Azzy ran at a slow pace as she neither could bear his top speed nor she wants to be carried.

    Since they were several kilometers from the palace and the Death clan members stayed behind to fight them, he wasn''t in too much of a hurry to escape the city.

    Little did he expect their path will be obstructed by more than ten mysterious Arcana Masters in a secluded alley. What''s surprising is that all of them are in the Upper Elite realm (rank-6).

    "You must be Avia Night and Azrael." The leader of the group said to the two of them.

    Azzy looked at them. Judging by their outfits, they don''t belong to the church. "Who are you?" He asked.

    "Let''s just say you made quite a lot of enemies with powerful backgrounds. We belong to one of those." The leader replied in a calm tone. After a brief silence, she added, "however, we aren''t here for you. We are here for the little heiress of the Night Clan. But, since you are also here, then, it''s even better. We can present your dead body and her alive to our master. He will be happy."

    She proceeds to take out a message item card and send a message.

    An expression of panic appeared on Avia as she remembered Azzy''s earlier warning and she instinctively hid behind Azzy.

    Azzy clenched in a fist. He spoke in his head, "Chronos, I want to know whether I can use my powers or not. They don''t seem like they are from the hidden clan."

    "Against this bunch, the powers of the sage will be enough. However, if you intend to kill them, you can even summon the Death Scythe." The Reaper answered him, almost immediately.

    "I won''t." Azzy was stubborn about not killing human beings as he believed it would corrupt his mind and made him fall into an abyss where there is no return. Not to mention, there isn''t any Aura of Death on them either. That means their lives aren''t in danger.

    "Anyway, just don''t use the hourglass and you are fine." The Reaper said to him after listening to his reply. For some reason, there''s a smile on his skeletal face and it''s damn creepy to even imagine.

    He started to absorb the natural energy from the surroundings. With his gaze fixed on the enemies, he said to Avia, "Don''t panic. I won''t let them harm even a single strand of your hair."

    His announcement stunned her a little bit before he unleashed the soul skill. His eyes turned pitch black with no visible pupils.

    "Soul skill: Rise of the Undead. Come out, Aurora."

    A large skeletal wolf appeared beside Azzy, taking everyone by surprise.

    "Rank-6?" The enemies furrowed their brows but since they were large in numbers, they weren''t afraid at all.

    "Aurora, protect Avia." He ordered the beast before he conjured his four spears and two rank-5 laughing skulls.

    As they continuously laughed hysterically, Avia''s face paled in fright. She felt that her Night Clan was scary enough but this foster brother of hers is even more of a dark attribute. He is a necromancer where all of his fellow clan members in the entire clan village would do anything to acquire such ability.

    Of course, she wasn''t envious at all. If anything, she felt like she would pee in her pants at any minute because of the presence of this undead wolf and then, these laughing skulls.

    "Kid, now, are you finally prepared to give your best?" The leader of the enemy party asked him as if she was mocking him. Not only her, but all the remaining nine also don''t seem like they were surprised by his unique skills. She added, "Don''t worry, I have already sent the message to our master. He ordered me not to kill you and is on the way. Until he arrives, we play with you. I also wanted to fight a fellow platinum grade Arcana user."

    "Sorry but I''m not in a mood to fight your boss. I''ll be finishing this, right away." Azzy threw all the four spears and the two laughing skulls at the enemies.

    "Fool, we already know about your powers and how to counter them too." The enemy party''s leader curled her lips up and gave an order, "Now¡­"

    Three of the mages came forward and raised their staves. One of them successfully erected a barrier and Powerful fireballs are created at the tip of the other two staves.

    The leader was confident and was smiling.

    However, in the next second, everyone''s face facial expressions changed.

    "Soul skill: Eyes of God"

    "Soul skill: Soul Absorption."

    All of their soul energy was escaping their bodies and being absorbed by Azzy. After gaining mastery over this particular soul skill, Azzy could not only refine their soul energy into his but also use a certain amount of excess energy as a weapon.

    In this situation, the enemies collectively had a soul power of about 54 million. To fulfill Azzy''s 600,000 worth of soul power, he needs to absorb about 6 million worth of soul power from Arcana Masters.

    And at the present stage, Azzy could use about 3 million worth of excess energy. That would mean he absorbed an additional 30 million soul power worth of soul energy from his enemies.

    Of the ten enemies, three of them were low-rank-6, four of them were mid-rank-6, two of them were high-rank-6, and their leader was at peak-rank-6.

    Except for the high-rank-6 and the peak-rank-6 experts, all the other seven lost their consciousness already. Only the leader was faring well with almost 80% of soul power still present in her body. She managed to resist it, somehow with the help of its platinum grade Arcana.

    The two fire mages took a step back in fear. "monster¡­"

    Meanwhile, their leader frowned as he shouted at them, "we didn''t know that his absorption is this high and miscalculated. It doesn''t matter. There''s no harm done even now. Everyone is still breathing and they weren''t our comrades either.

    You two continue with spells and destroy the undead beast. Look for an opportunity to abduct the girl. Meanwhile, I will take care of him."

    If they were in a different situation, the two mages would have rolled their eyes at her.. As the captain, she was too careless with her planning and was too arrogant.

 Chapter 296 - Invasion From Outer Space Part-5

    With almost everyone down on the ambush team, the leader ordered the remaining two subordinates to abduct Avia while she holds off Azzy. In her view, once their master arrives with other elites, Azzy would be done for.

    However, will Azzy let her do whatever she wants? Naturally, he wouldn''t.

    "I don''t intend to give you an opportunity to even fight," Azzy spoke to her as he raised his arms towards her.

    In an instant, more than 30 Protos spears appeared around him. All of them were made from the excess 3 million soul power, which he can''t absorb or store in his body for a very long time.

    "Behold my ultimate created technique. Try your best to dodge because I can''t control them." Azzy shot all of them, aiming at the incoming enemy.

    Looking at the thirty Protos spears with each of them powerful enough to wipe out anyone below rank-6, she didn''t hesitate to use her soul energy to create a blue-colored barrier around her.

    This special technique will allow her to consume soul power according to the damage brought upon her. Since she had about 7.5 million SP (soul power) still left, there was a confident look on her.

    However, they weren''t normal spears either. Each of them contained the death energy as well as the Protos energy.

    The moment the first one hit the barrier, the spear was blocked but it didn''t disappear. Instead, it invaded the barrier, corrupting it.

    Soon, several spears landed on the barrier. Half of them missed her as she decided to change the direction at the last second.

    As for the remaining 15 spears, about five of them completely corrupted the barrier, thereby destroying it, and the remaining Protos spears pierced her all over the body.

    And it wasn''t over yet, the spears dissolved into her body making way for the Protos energy and death energy to invade her body, slowly corrupting her soul orb.

    "What the hell did you just do?" She screamed in pain while losing her strength in her legs, eventually, becoming paralyzed and collapsing on her knees.

    The scene reminded Azzy about the evening when he first encountered the Night Clan''s assassin, more than a year ago.

    Meanwhile, the two mages who were supposed to wait for an opportunity to abduct Avia became terrified at their leader''s state.

    They looked at each other and came to a decision without even talking. Within three seconds, they escaped by using random teleportation cards at the same time.

    Azzy didn''t care about them and walked towards the woman. Her body is refusing to move, her lips were shivering and her eyes were full of fear as she saw an illusion of a Reaper walking towards her to take her life.

    She couldn''t even contact the Arcana as their connection was cut off with the corruption of the soul orb.

    Stopping before her, he asked a question, "I ask you a simple question, just one. Who sent you? Give me the name."

    "Bri¡­ Brian¡­ Brian Light, the King¡­ the king of Northern Qudour." She managed to force out the answer with great struggle.

    "That''s all. Thank you for answering. Now, I will take back the corruptive energy and free you." Azzy nodded and gave a surprising statement, something that she didn''t expect. However, in the next second, he gave a warning with his straight face, "When you meet him, then, tell him that one day, I will sure to pay back several folds no matter how many years passed away."

    Showing kindness to the enemy, Azzy raised his arm, retrieved the death energy and Protos energy from her body, and turned around to return to a stupefied Avia.

    "Let''s go." He dismissed the undead wolf and proceeded to walk away with her while the woman fell unconscious.

    On the way, Avia just stared at him in silence while walking beside him. Feeling the gaze on him for a long time, he asked, "Do you want to say something, Avia?"

    Avia opened her mouth, "How did you get so strong? Is it because of Platinum grade Arcana?"

    She had already forgotten her earlier outburst against him. Currently, her mind was completely occupied by the fight Azzy displayed before her. Against Ragron, while Azzy indeed win, she too thought that it was probably because the former was never serious against this teenager. She was amazed by his unique techniques but didn''t fully acknowledge him.

    But, now that she saw his abilities with her own eyes, she was so overwhelmed that she even forgot about her parents for a few moments.

    Azzy shook his head, "A grade of Arcana indeed matters for one''s strength and potential but not their overall fighting ability. Being host to amazing Arcana spirit sure made my training progress more smoothly but I was able to defeat them because I worked hard on creating the techniques and on my control.

    Everyone has their own fighting style. One just needs to find it. When it happens, the training will also become a lot easier even if one doesn''t have some high-grade Arcana."

    Azzy doesn''t know how she fights now or what she was thinking either. So, he just gave a half-truth answer to cover up his secret, followed by giving a piece of advice in case she was in a worry about her own potential.

    Avia stayed silent and fell into thoughts while continuing to walk. No one knows what her thoughts are at the moment but after walking for like 5 minutes, something clicked in Azzy''s mind and he stopped in his tracks.

    "Ah, I forgot to ask her something pretty important. How did those guys find us, anyway? We were teleported to the place using a random teleportation card. So, either they found us by coincidence or they were just tracking us." Suddenly, Azzy remembered the woman''s sentence. She said they were here for Avia but also found him by pure coincidence. That means they were tracking Avia.

    If that''s the case, then, why would King Brian look for Avia? Did he have enmity with Affea and Oakley or something?

    "Damn, I shouldn''t have left her so easily. Should I turn back? If I remember correctly, she was unconscious. If no one picks her up during this time, she will be there." Azzy thought about it but eventually, he let the matter go and further asked the Reaper''s help about scanning Avia to find where there''s a tracking seal on her.

    The Reaper confirmed his suspicion but he refused to remove the seal, for now, stating that if he takes over him, the Supreme Realm experts might find out.

    Azzy found that ridiculous. When there''s no issue with summoning an undead beast or shooting spears that contain death energy, why would it matter when his body was possessed by Arcana?

    But, since he doesn''t possess knowledge about the abilities of Supreme Realm experts either, he didn''t argue with him but asked about the next step, to which, the Reaper simply said to wait.

    Wait for what? Azzy was confused but the Reaper left him in mystery.

    Very soon, the mystery was revealed with a message sent to him.

    "Hmm? Aunt Affea?" Azzy felt a sigh of relief after reading it and turned around to look at Avia, who looked at him questioningly as if she was asking why he stopped.

    He said, "Your parents are returning. I sent them the location. We''ll wait here until then."

    "Really?" Avia''s expression turned bright, all of a sudden.

    But, the happiness didn''t stay for long as soon, another group of enemies surrounded them.

    Looking at the fatty guy who was wearing luxurious clothes, Azzy opened his mouth, "Brian Light¡­"

    "Prepare to die, Azrael."

 Chapter 297 - Invasion From Outer Space Part-6

    In an empty neighborhood of the city of Graena, Azzy and Avia were surrounded by a group of 12 of which 10 of them collectively created a barrier, trapping the both of them inside.

    According to the Reaper, the barrier can only be destroyed in three ways. One is to release an attack that surpasses Exalt Realm. Two is to slowly corrupt with his death energy. Three is to kill or knock out those rank-6 Arcana Masters but since they were standing outside, it must be done by someone else.

    The remaining two stood before him.

    In Azzy''s eyes, they were a bit threatening as they are in Exalt realm. He can recognize one person. He is the King of Northern Qudour. The other one''s identity is a mystery. So far, he looks like a healthy-looking old man.

    "During the past year, I lost my son, I lost my ancestor, my father is in prison, our royal family has lost the reputation, the throne has lost the loyal subordinate clans, the dream of my ancestor to unite the Northern and Southern nations remained unfulfilled, all because of you." Brian Light roared at him with full of rage. "Prepare to die, Azrael."

    Azzy clenched his fist, feeling ridiculous about these allegations. If he was alone, it would have been alright but with Avia behind him, he had to be smart about his movements.

    If Aria was protecting him as usual, there won''t be an issue but before he traveled to the city, he received a message from Aegis that they can''t send Aria due to the possible presence of the Supreme Realm experts at the wedding.

    Azzy didn''t think much about the security issue back then because he thought he would be safe here whether he manages to keep his identity a secret or not but who could have expected that a giant spaceship would visit here of all the times.

    He thought for a bit and decided to stall them as much as he can, "I understand your hatred for me. After all, you lost everything but the position of king and I was growing stronger each day. You must be anxious about the possible revenge from me.

    But, I didn''t understand one thing. What do you have against a nine-year-old girl who was just a 2-circle Arcana Master? She wasn''t even some daughter of heaven that you need to be wary of."

    An overconfident King Brian answered, "Since you won''t be able to escape here alive, I might as well fulfill your last request. Ragron Jerome Eranyl, the king of Rivendell wanted the girl, not me."

    Suddenly, everything became clear.

    "An enemy of an enemy is a friend, eh," Azzy commented as soon as he realized the truth. He shifted his attention towards the man standing beside King Brian.

    Remembering the invasion of the academy by Aethon Light and his aides, Azzy realized that this man is indeed didn''t appear then. He thought of the leader of the ambush party.

    Looking at him, Azzy then asked to confirm his suspicions, "So, I guess this man is Ragron''s subordinate and so was that peak-rank-6 expert who tried to ambush me earlier?"

    The old mage''s facial expression changed when he heard that. Soul energy escaped from him and was consumed by the staff. "King Brian, we can''t want to waste the time, here. If those people can''t hold off the outsiders, soon, the entire city will be razed to the ground."

    "Alright, but let me remind you of our agreement, Mage Mason, the boy''s head is mine to take." King Brian replied to him while summoning a giant Mantis, which is almost as big as 2 m.

    "Indeed, Leonard Light is your son, probably your favorite. Both of you have the same Arcana." Azzy gave another comment casually while absorbing the natural energy.

    After absorbing enough energy, he added a statement, "You aren''t the only ones who know how to create a barrier."

    He stretched his arms above his head, pushing out the natural energy gradually. "Sage skill: The Dome of Fearlessness."

    Meanwhile, Mage Mason pointed the staff at Azzy. The soul energy absorbed by the staff was released in the form of flame daggers and flew towards the target. Although they were high in number, the power behind them is only about low-rank-5. He only wanted to separate the both of them so that he can capture the little girl and leave.

    However, Azzy turned out to be faster. When the foremost flame dagger was just two feet away from Azzy, they saw a translucent barrier appear over Azzy and Avia in the form of a dome.

    The flame daggers continuously hit it but not even a crack appeared on it. The Dome of Fearlessness is the greatest defensive skill of Azzy during the state of Sage.

    The only issue is that just like the mages on the outside who were constantly supplying energy to keep the barrier intact, Azzy too can''t move from the spot. He can only defend.

    Avia looked around in a daze. This foster brother of hers is really surprising her again and again.

    "Just use a strong move, Mage Mason." King Brian got annoyed as this partner failed. He added, "If you don''t want to, then, move aside. I will take care of him on my own."

    "No." The mage shouted. "Avia cannot be harmed. My master needs her alive and well. I will separate them using a spell. Meanwhile, you can support by making your Arcana casually attack the barrier at close range."

    "Alright, fine." King Brian nodded and looked at the giant mantis, "Ronnie, attack that dome but only with claws. No soul skill."

    The giant mantis took a giant leap landed before the barrier and started to attack with its claws.

    Being a rank-7 beast of gold grade, its attacks are indeed strong.

    Just the normal attack itself caused a crack on the barrier.  It attacked two more times.

    "Kid, you might have defeated a peak-rank-6 somehow but the difference between a rank-5 and rank-7 isn''t something talent can cover." King Brian sneered at him. He was sure that the barrier will break up for sure.

    In the meantime, Mage Mason was preparing a sealing technique. Since he wasn''t a sealing master, it looked like it will take a while. As for what the technique is, it is a mystery.

    Just then, Azzy made his next move. He poured his soul energy into the barrier along with the natural energy. Soon, the barrier turned pitch black. Azzy and Avia could no longer be seen by the enemies.

    And the mantis could no longer damage it.

    Brian furrowed his brows, "the barrier became powerful. I might need to use my strongest attack to break it."

    He glanced at the mage and the barrier. "Ronnie, use soul skill: tornado slash."

    The giant mantis stretched its front limbs wide and started to rotate at a terrifying speed before it clashed with the Upgraded Dome of Fearlessness. Cracks started to appear on the barrier but Azzy was pouring soul energy into it and repairing it continuously.

    "Let''s see how long you can hold for," Brian mumbled to himself with a serious expression.. He might be able to see Azzy but as the higher realm expert, he could still sense Azzy''s remaining SP (soul power) roughly.

 Chapter 298 - Invasion From Outer Space Part-7

    For twenty seconds, the giant mantis was continuously damaging the barrier while Azzy was repairing it, consuming the soul power. So far, he had already used 21 recovery cards of 5-star, each one will let him recover 100,000 SP (soul power).

    Azzy knew that he was about to run out of them but he stubbornly maintained the barrier.

    After about 10 more seconds, the mantis stopped attacking. However, to Brian''s surprise, the cracks didn''t disappear.

    "Hah, I guess he''s finally out of recovery cards." Brian thought like that and glanced to the side. He asked, "Are you still going on? When will be the seal completed?"

    "30 seconds at the maximum." The mage informed him truthfully.

    "What sort of complex seal takes this much time?" According to what he heard, the principal of the academy would only take 3-5 seconds on average to perform even an advanced seal.

    "It''s the Eye of Ra. With it, I can take control of the little girl and no defenses could stop it. I can try with the boy too but it is difficult, considering he possessed a platinum grade Arcana. The spirit can simply take over his consciousness if that happens." After explaining to him, the mage added, "Please do best and make sure the girl is visible."

    It tick him off a bit but Brian swallowed it ad redirected the anger onto the barrier. "I will personally shatter that barrier and separate them."

    Brian poured soul energy into his fist and dash forward but all of a sudden, he stopped in his tracks as he saw the giant barrier they used to trap the targets was suddenly disappeared and the supposed ten mages turned into headless corpses.

    Right then, the pitch-black cracked barrier also disappeared and revealed Azzy and Avia. Azzy was the same but the little girl was wearing some kind of exquisite armor made out of mithril.

    "Brian Light, how dare you ambush my children." A raging voice escaped from his 2 o''clock direction. There, he saw two ladies were standing along with a teenager and an unconscious middle-aged fellow with all of them covered by silver-colored energy. This technique of Scarlet lets her erase their presence before taking the mages by surprise and massacre them before they get an opportunity to report.

    Azzy turned around and said, "You are right on time, Aunt Affea. I was about to run out of recovery cards. And thank you, Mrs. Moon, Estella."

    That''s right. They were none other than Affea, Estella, and Scarlet. The unconscious guy is Oakley.

    "Mom¡­" Avia shouted in joy.

    Affea dashed forward and reached her daughter, putting arms around her as the latter hugged her immediately before questioning her about Oakley.

    Azzy also looked at him curiously. He doesn''t see any injuries. Maybe, he was healed on the way? He wondered.

    Affea then replied, "It''s nothing, sweetheart. Your papa is too stubborn on fighting the aliens when he''s just a healer. I knocked him out and forcefully brought him back."

    Azzy looked at her in a daze. The ladies he acquainted have aggressive personalities for sure.

    Affea then shifted her attention towards Azzy and hugged him, "it''s good that you are alright. I was worried when I read your message."

    "Sorry to interrupt your family reunion, but we need to clean up the battlefield, first." Scarlet then opened her mouth while pointing her finger at the two men. There was a huge pupil-less eye slowly materializing above the mage. It wasn''t complete yet.

    It was only then Affea''s eyes finally fell on the mage. Her eyes widened. "The eye of Ra?"

    She suddenly pushed Azzy aside and shielded them, "you three kids, close your eyes, right now. Don''t look at that eye or the caster."

    "Eye of Ra? I heard of that sealing technique." Estella replied and further gave an explanation, "The sealing technique was originally created from an object known as the Amulet of Ra, which can bewitch the minds of anyone that stare at him and take their minds under control. However, it is useless. Rael and I possess platinum-grade Arcana. It can do nothing to either of us. Only Avia needs to be careful."

    "Oh, you are also a daughter of heaven like your mother?" Affea looked at Estella in surprise. Avia was also surprised at first, but then, upon remembering that she''s the heiress of Moon Clan, she thought it isn''t strange at all.

    "Okay, then, let me take care of them. Princess Snieca, stay behind and protect your family in case of a sudden ambush." Scarlet told Estella to stay behind too and dashed forward.

    "Damn it. This brat is always lucky." King Brian gritted his teeth in frustration. He doesn''t know the prowess of Scarlet but at the very least, he knew that he wasn''t a match for the exiled princess of Snieca.

    Now that he was exposed, he realized that he had only two options. One is to kill them and the other is to hide somewhere safe like a coward because his brother, Aegis Light, who is in Legendary Realm, would use this opportunity to dethrone him for sure, considering the fact that Azzy was recruited by Special Forces.

    "Mage Mason, I think it''s time to go all out." He said to him, only to realize that this partner turned into a statue, taking everyone by surprise. The eye also disappeared. "This betrayer¡­"

    King Brian got angrier. A determined expression appeared on his face and he took out a light blue card made of mithril and poured soul energy into it.

    The card disappeared and he started feeling weird on his forehead, which was absorbing the natural energy.

    "He used the Replacement puppet technique." Affea suddenly turned angry upon seeing that. "I thought it was a coincidence that Eye of Ra appeared here. It isn''t Ragron. That damn prick, he really dared to trick me."

    "Who were you talking about, Aunt Affea?" Azzy asked her in confusion.

    Affea looked at Brian, "that fatty of a king will give you the answer."

    While Scarlet was in the midst of the battle with the giant mantis, Affea dashed forward while summoning her sword and shield.

    It didn''t take long for her to defeat Brian. Meanwhile, the mantis was also killed by Scarlet Moon.

    Pointing the sword at his throat, Affea asked in rage, "Tell me, who you colluded with? Is it really Ragron?"

    "I think you already know the answer, princess. It''s the King of Snieca, your father. I don''t know the reason but they are interested in your daughter." Brian answered her truthfully.

    Seeing a shocked Affea who had expected that it is her brother, King Brian took this opportunity to use his remaining strength in legs to leap backward and land only about 30 meters away.

    He suddenly started to laugh out loud as an eye appeared on his forehead. It was the Eye of Trias, capable of killing even a Supreme Realm expert. "Unfortunately, you wouldn''t get an opportunity to¡­"

    *Rumble*

    Before he finished a sentence, all of a sudden, a black lightning strike hit on his head, turning him into ash, followed by the sound of thunder and then, the calmness.

    "What the hell!" Everyone was stupefied like a statue, feeling goosebumps all over their skin.

 Chapter 299 - Invasion From Outer Space Part-8

    "Did you just see what I saw?" Scarlet asked Affea with a look of disbelief.

    "The clouds also vanished." Affea nodded and commented as she raised her head to look at the sky. She added, "I wonder which Supreme Realm expert helped us, now."

    "No, I don''t mean that." Scarlet Moon shook her head. She explained, "The lightning bolt that struck King Brian is black in color."

    "Must be a dark/lightning attribute. It''s not strange that one has dual attributes. Is there anything special about it?" Affea asked her in response.

    "Eh?" Scarlet was stumped by her response. After contemplating the matter for a moment, she nodded, "you are right. Maybe, I was thinking too much."

    The group of five started to walk away after Scarlet expelled the tracking seal from Avia. Neither of them was interested in the battle going on at the palace now that it was already turned in their favor.

    Estella tried to talk with Azzy but seeing that the latter was unresponsive, she perfectly guessed that he was conversing with his Arcana and chatted with Avia to get more familiar with her.

    Meanwhile, as Estella guessed, Azzy was talking with the Reaper. "Are you sure it''s him?"

    "No doubt about it. I sensed the death energy in that attack. It''s your future self." The Reaper affirmed that it was the future Azrael that helped him out. He then added, "But, this won''t look good for him."

    "Why?" Azzy asked in wonder. Isn''t it a good thing?

    The Reaper explained, "It''s because he possesses the power of time now and is the guardian of timeline. So, Gaia will keep an eye on him to make sure he won''t misuse his powers. You must have already heard about the origin, right? Death had to devour Time because of the latter''s irresponsible actions, resulting not only a merge and formation of this new me but also the fate goddess Moira."

    "My future self said that he was following the path of his future self. Does that mean I will travel back in time to this day and save myself?" Azzy asked him to confirm his thoughts.

    "Yes, but, you don''t need to do it either way. The present you create the future you, not the other way around. So, you can refuse to follow the same path as him.

    As long as Brian wouldn''t bring a big change to the timeline of the entire world, there''s no need to take action. Just stopping him from releasing the Eye of Trias would have been enough. Striking him down was completely unnecessary. These two ladies with you are strong enough to take him out.

    Either way, it has already been done. No need to think about it any longer."

    Azzy returned to reality and turned his head around.

    "Oh, you are finally back." Estella, who was keeping an eye on him while chatting with Avia, spoke to him and let out a smile.

    "Are you talking with your Arcana?" Affea asked him, to which he nodded in response.

    "Must be some serious conversation since you couldn''t hear what we are saying, earlier," Scarlet casually commented to it.

    In an instant, the Reaper gave him some amazing idea to escape the radar from the Death Clan. Azzy thanked him and said, "My Arcana mentioned that that lightning earlier didn''t contain Dark attribute. So, it might have been the famed black lightning.

    If that''s the case, it would match the descriptions from the history books. According to his analysis, there''s a high possibility that this unknown helper is a direct descendant of Aelius Crescent and awaken his Arcana."

    For a moment, everyone suddenly halted their steps and looked at Azzy in surprise. Estella commented, "Your Arcana seemed like it is very intelligent."

    "Yeah, he is." Azzy shrugged his shoulders without turning his head. After a brief pause, he added, "Lately, he helps me in studying."

    "That''s a great advantage," Avia muttered under her breath. She could be feeling a bit envious towards her foster brother, right now.

    Scarlet couldn''t help but look at her daughter and Affea stared at her son in silence. Ever since she was reunited with Azzy, the latter was giving her surprises one after another.

    Soon enough, as they reached the highway where there was huge traffic with half of them being empty vehicles, Scarlet summoned a flying card and everyone including Azzy boarded it.

    About half an hour passed since they started traveling on a flying card. They successfully left the city but Azzy kept glancing behind at the palace as he heard from Scarlet that almost all the invaders were successfully captured.

    On one hand, he wanted to go back and see for himself whether everything is alright with his mother because he clearly saw the aura of death on her, but on the other hand, he doesn''t have a proper excuse to leave.

    As far as the whole world is concerned, he lost his family and is currently living with Oakley and Affea.

    How could he leave?

    The Reaper was also staying silent about the matter and just kept saying that he needs to wait for the immediate future is uncertain.

    Along with it, there''s another thing that bugging Azzy. It''s the giant freaking spaceship. While they were traveling, he found that it suddenly disappeared. Did it teleport or did it just turn invisible?

    Azzy had no way of knowing that as he is at least sixty kilometers away from the palace and the maximum range of his aura sensing is only about 25 kilometers.

    ****

    Meanwhile, at the palace grounds;

    With Ramiel Crescent, the seven elders of the Death Clan, the six clan heads of the subordinate clans of the Death Clan, and several other rank-7 and rank-8 experts are fighting together, the enemies were easily defeated.

    Except for a few, everyone else who exited the spaceship was killed in action.

    The captain of the ship was captured with energy chains. Vesyrn looked coldly at him while holding a cube. "Do you know why the healers can be the most troublesome people on the planet?"

    Captain Virgil stayed silent.

    Vesyrn gestured to Ramiel who was standing beside him.

    Despite being the vice president of the world''s biggest organization, despite being only a step away from becoming a Supreme Realm expert, Ramiel didn''t sacrifice his clan. So, technically, he is still a subordinate of Vesyrn Garcia, who was in charge in the absence of Qridus Garcia.

    Upon understanding the instruction, Ramiel followed the orders and raised his arms. A concentrated beam of lightning shot out from his palm penetrated Virgil''s both of Virgil''s upper arms and made a hole out of the suit as well as causing heavy damage.

    "Argh¡­" Virgil screamed in pain.

    Vesyrn then raised his arms and shot a beam of light onto the injured parts. In an instant, the wounds started to heal.

    Vesyrn then said, "You see, we might not be as advanced as you but we have our ways to torture. I''ll not ask again. Release my wife, first and we''ll talk. Or else, ancestor crescent will keep hurting you and I will keep healing your injuries. We won''t let you die but we won''t you live in peace either.

    Your aides from the Sun Clan and Dragon Clan are almost down too. So, we aren''t giving you any choice."

    "Fine," Captain Virgil agreed to his demand and released Izora.

    While he still released her from the prison, she was still trapped by the bubble, which was created by Sun Clan''s Matriarch earlier. So, she wasn''t out of danger yet.

    Ramiel slowly injected his soul energy into the bubble and managed to free her.

    After a while, Vesyrn started to interrogate the invader, right at the place instead of taking him somewhere isolated.

    "Now, I have some quick questions. Answer it." Vesyrn said to him.

    Virgil nodded without resistance.

    Vesyrn then asked, "Tell me your identity, which planet you are from, and what your aim is."

    Virgil answered truthfully, "I don''t know my real name. As far as I can remember, my code name is Virgil. I serve as the captain of the 14th squadron, 23rd platoon, 2nd company, 6th Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st division, Leo Corps.

    Truth to be told, I''m just a small person of our empire, ''The United Federation of Arcturian.'' So, don''t think you have won some huge war. We have thousands of teams like these. Anyway, let me tell me about a brief history of ours.

    We were descendants of the original inhabitants of this world, evacuated millions of years ago due to the apocalypse event to protect the human race.

    We conquered the worlds, set up an Empire, eventually leading to becoming the strongest force in the entire Andromeda Galaxy. Our Federation is capable of even negotiating the terms with those gods or immortal beings.

    We thought our Gaia would have been destroyed a long time ago but about 3 decades ago, one of our chief scientists stole important data and escaped through a wormhole. We managed to track us here. And look what we¡­"

    "Ding! Captain Virgil, the countdown has reached zero. Proceed with the transformation?"

    As soon as he heard it in his mind, Captain Virgil stopped talking and let out a hearty laugh. "Sorry mutants, I guess we will have to pause this conversation right away."

    "Hmm?" Vesyrn furrowed his brows at his statement.

    It was then, all of a sudden, the invisible spaceship that was floating hundreds of meters above them suddenly reappeared, taking everyone by surprise.

    "It never left?" Ramiel''s eyes are widened in surprise.

    Before everyone came to their senses, another surprise came from them.

    The giant spaceship instantly transformed into a robot before turning into a handsome hunk.

    He looked at others and said, "Hello, I''m Neo, a Second Generation Super Android. I want you to release the hostages and leave us in peace or I might have to proceed with the extermination. Consider this a demand, request, or warning.. I await your reply."

 Chapter 300 - Invasion From Outer Space Part-9

    The battlefield fell silent for a couple of moments as everyone witnessed how the spaceship suddenly transformed into a young man.

    Everyone who participated in the battle knew that these beings were superior in modern technology but they didn''t expect the difference is his huge.

    Ramiel''s eyes turned greedy as he eyed the young man who introduced himself as an Android, a sentient robot that was only a thing in comics or sci-fi movies in the current world.

    He wanted to capture and let their research division perform tests on him to make scientific breakthroughs.

    While he doesn''t know much about modern technology, he was confident that even if this Android was destroyed, the researchers at WAMO will reverse engineer the program and successfully create one, although it might take a bit of time.

    But then again, for people like him who live for thousands of years, a decade or two isn''t that much time. So, he decided to destroy it, if it comes to worst.

    Before Vesyrn even gave a reply, this thunder emperor spoke, "Do you think you can invade us and leave as you please? Not even one of you will leave."

    Lightning sparks were seen all over his body before he dashed towards the super android.

    Virgil let out a laugh, "you can never defeat Neo."

    As soon as his words ended, Neo shot plasma rays from his eyes, hitting the incoming Ramiel dead on.

    Ramiel was pushed back for more than a hundred meters before he managed to escape with flight.

    With a tough body, which is coated by lightning energy, Ramiel was unharmed but his chest was still wounded. In the middle of the chest, there were two third-degree burn injuries appeared on his body.

    Vesyrn''s ginseng easily healed him from far away. He ordered, "Let the Legendary realm experts work together and take care of the enemy. The remaining will step back and keep an eye on the prisoners."

    "Die." The crescent clan''s ancestor, Ramiel Crescent shot a concentrated beam of lightning from his palms.

    "Fyre, attack." The crescent clan''s current patriarch, Kylan Crescent gave the order to his giant thunder lion with a red mane.

    The Blood Clan''s leader, Eight-thousand-year-old Francis Blood raised his arms. All the blood spilled on the battlefield rose into the air collectively, becoming an orb. In a fraction of a second, Francis Blood controlled the blood orb and shot a blood spear towards the lone enemy.

    The Night Clan''s Matriarch, Pandora Night turned into a shadow after summoning her dual daggers.

    The Smoke Clan''s Patriarch stayed behind as his poisonous plant Arcana isn''t suitable for team attacks

    The Ash Clan''s leader summoned iron dust out of thin air and created a lance with that before charging forward.

    The Silver Clan''s leader, Augustus Silver turned his body into that of steel and also charged forward, intending to fight with fists.

    The Supreme realm expert, Alvares Garcia, who stayed behind from the start, didn''t step forward because of his duty to protect the King. Even if the whole world is ending, it is his top priority. If not for the fact that the King insisted on staying behind when the attack started, Alvares wouldn''t even be present in the scene.

    The King has mixed feelings about this but he couldn''t convince the royal ancestor either.

    All the attacks bombarded one enemy who took them head-on in silence.

    Within a few seconds, several dents can be seen on his body.

    "What the hell is that thing?" The legendary realm experts were shocked to see their combined attack, failed.

    It was then Neo''s pupils turned from blue to red, "Initiating Extermination plan."

    In an instant, Neo became as good as new, and then, he dashed forward while sending nano missiles in every direction.

    Meanwhile, at the mountain range of Bentnora, the head of the Sun Clan and Dragon Clan were barely trying to defend themselves under the relentless attacks of two peak- rank-9 experts of Death Clan and a high-rank-expert of the Moon Clan.

    The only reason they could last for the past 45 minutes is that they were summoners with powerful beasts.

    But, eventually, their stamina started to run out and so the mental stress increased rapidly due to keeping recovering the soul power, using their full strength, getting defeated, and then, the cycle repeats.

    Unfortunately, because of this battle, half of the mountain range was destroyed. No one knows how this would implicate the country''s climate and geography but for now, Qridus'' priority is to take down the enemies.

    In about 15 minutes, the Sun Clan''s Matriarch decided to raise the white flag after dying and resurrecting two times. She already lost six lives in the past.

    Now that she died two more times, there''s no more resurrection if she dies again. The only way to increase the number of lives is to make a breakthrough. She decided to surrender, for now, bide her time, and then, get back at the Death clan, later.

    The Dragon Clan''s Patriarch didn''t have the strength to go against the two nor does have any extra lives like Qin Yaling. So, Marius also surrendered.

    "Tell me, what are you planning by allowing invaders of the outsiders?" Qridus growled at both of them. "100 thousand years ago, your ancestor, my ancestor, all of our ancestors worked together and stopped them. Why do you collude with them, now?"

    Qin Yaling answered, "We no longer want to stay hidden and live. The scarcity of talent also decreased our overall strength. We wanted to establish ourselves as a powerhouse and rule the world once again."

    Marius Ravillon continued after her, "On behalf of the Federation of Arcturian, we were promised to be the rulers of the world when they annex this planet into their empire. Along with that, there were also benefits of futuristic technology."

    "In the end, you turned back on this world for the sake of some material desires. You betrayed our ancestors who sacrificed their lives." Pierre Garcia, the gravekeeper of the Garcia family released a powerful amount of dark energy in anger. The ghostly horse was dismissed.

    To everyone''s surprise, a death scythe appeared in his hand and his face turned into a skeleton and his form started to become bigger with each second. However, it was different from Azzy. This death scythe is in the form of energy.

    Looking at them, the giant skeleton form of Pierre further announced, "I, Pierre Garcia, the guardian of the Death Clan, the gatekeeper of Gaia hereby releasing the Sun Clan and the Dragon Clan from the duties of Balance Keepers as they no longer deemed any worthy to hold the position.

    As the punishment for colluding with the outsiders, I, the servant of the God of Death, Thanatos, hereby declare the death for Qin Yaling and Marius Ravillon."

    Qridus Garcia and Elyssa Moon just stared at the scene in silence. Both of them could feel the power of the demi-god in this Pierre who suddenly turned into a Reaper.

    They didn''t expect it would turn like this. Even the clan head of the death clan fell into confusion.

    Meanwhile, Qin Yaling and Marius Ravillon decided to rebel once again, seeing that their opponents intend to kill them.

    Qridus and Elyssa flew back.

    Pierre Garcia simply raised the energy death scythe and slashed at the empty air.

    Before the targets knew what was going on, their bodies were cut into two by an invisible attack. Both of their souls left their bodies and flew into the death scythe.

    As the two bodies started to free fall, Pierre returned to his normal state before falling unconscious.

    Qridus quickly caught him, "Great Granduncle¡­"

    "What was that power, earlier, Qridus?" Elyssa asked him. She was barely keeping her body to not shaking in fear.

    "I''m not sure either," Qridus shook his head in helplessness. Even he wanted to know about this matter. But, for now, there''s something else that needs to be paid attention to.

    "We can discuss it later. The battle still seems to be going on at the palace." Qridus then said to her as he glanced in the southwest direction. From far away, he could see the explosions and all.

    "Okay, let''s return." Elyssa agreed to it.

    After picking up the storage cards that belonged to the dead clan leaders, both of them took one each and started to fly back.

    Elyssa didn''t forget to send a message to her descendant, Scarlet about the finish of the battle.

    Somewhere in the middle of the wilderness, which is located more than 100 km away from Graena, the party of six settled down to take a rest.

    After Azzy heard that Qridus and Elyssa won their battle, he relaxed down because he was confident that everything is going to be alright.

    They set up a tent with a portable mansion inside and started preparing to have lunch since they didn''t get an opportunity to eat at the palace.

    "It feels just like a picnic," Estella commented as helped with arranging the cookware.

    Affea and her family, including Azzy, were really surprised to see so many cooking types of equipment, tables, and ingredients. Do this mother-daughter pair often carry these things in their storage cards? Everyone wondered but no one voiced it out.

    Azzy was helping with making a salad. Estella didn''t want to appear as an easy girl. So, she kept her distance from Azzy, which only turned in his favor.

    Avia was standing beside him and watching everything.

    "I never expected this wedding would turn out into such an event." Oakley let out a sigh while cutting the onions.

    "Yeah, who could have expected that outer space warriors suddenly invade our planet?" Affea let out a depreciating laugh.

    It was at that moment, Avia suddenly let out a scream.

    "Avia, what happened?" Affea and the others stop the work and look at her who was pointing her index finger at Azzy.

    He suddenly started to become transparent and become normal. "Azzy?" "Rael?"

    "What''s going on with me, Chronos?" Azzy asked the Reaper while looking at himself.

    "Oh boy, the 3% probability had arrived.." The Reaper shook his head with a sigh.

 Chapter 301 - Invasion From Outer Space Part-10

    "3% probability? What are you talking about, Chronos?" Azzy fell into confusion. He doesn''t understand why he keeps becoming transparent and then, normal. He suddenly remembered the aura of death that he saw on his mother. "Don''t tell me¡­"

    The Reaper confirmed his suspicions right away, "One or both of your biological parents are on the brink of death. It''s highly possible that it''s your mother as there was an aura of death on her.

    That is the reason you are in the state of getting erased but I recommend you just stay here. Now that your future self is already here, there''s nothing to worry about. He will do everything to save you too."

    "So, you want me to stay and put hopes on my future self? What if he doesn''t? I remember him saying that he was meeting me for the 23rd time. If such a case happens, this timeline going to be erased along with my memories, isn''t it?" Azzy hit back at the Reaper. He already made the decision as soon as he heard the truth.

    The only thing he needed is the cooperation of Reaper. It''s because this deity can simply take over his body at any time and Azzy couldn''t do anything unless the deity of time and death will allow him to repossess it.

    This is why he first decided to get a word from the Reaper and then, he will set out while reversing the time, a bit.

    The Reaper read his thoughts and warned, "What you are about to do will risk everything you had done until now. Your identity will be exposed and the threats will be increased at an alarming level. Do you still want to proceed?

    Instead of giving an answer, Azzy stated with a confident tone, "You are a divine being, existed for billions of years. I''m sure you have a solution to eradicate this risk."

    At first, Azzy wanted to stubbornly say ''Yes'' but when he saw the Reaper only warned him of the consequences instead of telling him that it is extremely dangerous for his life, he understood that the Reaper isn''t completely against it. So, he tried to take his help, instead.

    "Not bad, Azrael. You are growing up." The Reaper was satisfied with Azzy''s reply. Thinking in a tense situation is what makes one stop being a reckless fool.

    He said, "There are advanced seals where one can erase their presence, create a giant illusion to confuse the senses of others, or even change their appearance but it needs me to possess your body. And that''s riskier when surrounded by a Supreme expert of a hidden clan.

    Instead of eradicating the risk, you can minimize it. We''ll use the same tactic as before. This time, you will expose your relation to the death clan to cover up being a time traveler. It''s been six millennia since the death of Aelius Crescent. No one would be able to refute that the Crescent clan and Garcia family share a few descendants.

    Naturally, Qridus will suspect you as a time traveler too. To make sure the others won''t suspect it, you can use one of your natural energy techniques here. But, I should warn you though. No matter what happens, you can''t use the hourglass on a global scale. Even I can''t rescue you if that happens."

    "I can''t use the hourglass?" Azzy frowned inwardly, clearly being displeased by his suggestion. After all, his strategy is entirely dependent on the hourglass.

    But then, he realized that the Reaper wasn''t entirely against using the hourglass either. He shouldn''t use a soul skill that affects the whole world, that''s all like reversing the time.

    After thanking him, he finally returned to reality and saw Affea who had a panicked expression on her face.

    "Azzy, Azzy¡­ answer me, dammit. What''s going on?" As she was rushing towards him, Azzy responded as he put aside the bowl of salad, "I need to leave."

    "Where? What is happening to you?" She asked.

    Azzy hurriedly thought of an excuse, "It''s because of a third Arcana spirit, breaking the balance. I need to be alone for a moment. Excuse me."

    Pouring his soul energy into the body, Azzy started to run at his maximum speed in the direction of the city they had just come from. In no time, he disappeared from everyone''s sight.

    Affea wanted to follow from behind but Scarlet stopped her, saying that everyone has a fair amount of secrets that they won''t be willing to share with anyone.

    As Oakley came in support of her, Affea stayed behind and looked in the direction her foster son just left.

    On the way, Azzy didn''t forget to empower his speed by absorbing natural energy.

    As a result, he was now running even faster than the speed of sound, almost as fast as a peak-rank-7 expert.

    Little he knows, there were two beings floating in the sky without being spotted or sensed by anyone. It was as if they didn''t even exist.

    One of them is a familiar character, the 116-year-old future Azrael who still looks like he is around 20.

    The other one doesn''t even look human. It looked more like a humanoid beast with pointy ears, a dragon wing, an angel wing, demon horns, red eyes with no visible pupils, pale-faced, dragon tail, etc¡­

    Looking at his younger self, the future Azrael spoke in rather a polite tone, "Master, I can no longer interfere in this situation. I''ll leave him in your hands."

    The mysterious being nodded and replied in human speech, "You are asking me too many favors these days, Azzy. Anyway, since this won''t anger the mother goddess, I will help you out. But, unlike you, Chronos is someone I cannot dare to offend. So, I need to be careful."

    As the mysterious being raised his hand, all of a sudden, a portal opened right in front of Azzy who was rushing, taking him by surprise.

    Before he knows what''s going on, he already exited from another portal, only to see himself standing in an empty park, which is located a few kilometers away from the palace.

    "What was that?" Azzy was taken aback by the sudden teleportation.

    "Must be the work of your future self, secretly helping you. I told you, didn''t I? He won''t let you die." The Reaper calmly answered him before reminding him to look at the front. Well, he wasn''t far from the right. His future self did help the younger Azzy but the teleportation wasn''t his act.

    Before Azzy''s eyes, there was an intense battle going on between a heavy bleeding Izora and Captain Virgil while his father appeared to be unconscious, lying on the back of a giant blue dragon.

    A while ago, in the midst of a battle between Neo and the legendary realm experts of the Death Clan, the captain was able to free himself from the traps and escape from there.

    Filled with rage, Izora summoned her lightning dragon and went after him. Vesyrn followed her, worrying about her safety.

    The two of them worked together in bringing down this captain but in the process, Vesyrn himself was deeply injured and was knocked out.

 Chapter 302 - Invasion From Outer Space Part-11

    Back to the present, Azzy, once again, saw the aura of death on his mother. He continued to be in the cycle of becoming transparent and materializing.

    "Come out, Ruby" "I summon you, the weapon of Chronos, the Death Scythe."

    "Puyi"

    Jumping on top of the giant black lotus, Azzy grabbed the death scythe.

    "Hmm?" "Hmm?" The enemy and Izora suddenly sensed the presence of others and they couldn''t help but look in the direction.

    "Who is this kid?" The person in Exo suit wondered.

    "A scythe?" A trace of surprise appeared on her face at the same time.

    "Fool, you forgot about using Embodiment of the Heavens." The Reaper suddenly scolded him.

    "But, there''s no Supreme Realm expert here though. Moreover, the fight is in the air. I have to take Ruby''s help. So, I thought it was unnecessary." Azzy replied.

    "Well, your thought process isn''t wrong but you have forgotten that at present, she isn''t your mother. That lady is the daughter-in-law of the Death Clan. She''s bound to report it to Qridus, later." The Reaper made him realize an important factor that he missed.

    "What should I do now?" Azzy helplessly asked for advice.

    The Reaper let out a sigh, "there''s nothing you can do, now. Just help her in defeating the enemy and hope that she will keep it a secret at your request. But, make sure to shrink if you ever wanted to use the hourglass for single target soul skills."

    "I understand," Azzy decided to put away unnecessary thoughts and focus on the battle. He ordered the black lotus to fly higher.

    Meanwhile, Izora and Captain Virgil put aside their battle for a moment and stared at him. More than his face or his Arcana, they were looking at his state.

    Izora furrowed her brows when her lightning dragon transmitted its thoughts to her through their telepathic connection. It was feeling a little bit overwhelmed by the strange energy present in the lotus and the scythe.

    Under the curious gaze of Captain Virgil, Azzy reached the blue dragon. "Hello, Ms. Crescent. I''m Azrael, the foster son of Oakley Night and Affea Snieca."

    "We met just a while ago. I remember you, Azrael." Izora replied to him. She further asked in a bit of confusion, "What are you doing here? And what''s going on with you?"

    "I''ll explain it, later. But, first, heal yourself while I will hold the enemy for a while." Azzy dodged her question and stared coldly at the enemy.

    "No, don''t throw away your life unnecessarily. I know you are strong but he isn''t someone who you can face." Izora advised him in a serious tone. After a brief silence, she added, "Moreover, I don''t need anyone''s help in taking him down. If I really needed help, I would have already asked for my uncle or someone else. So, go back kid."

    Azzy felt like this biological mother of his was too stubborn. Just look at her state. She looked like she can die at any moment, and yet, she doesn''t want to take the help.

    He naturally didn''t listen to her and proceeded with unleashing the first soul skill of the Reaper, right away, "Eyes of God."

    After his eyes changed to pitch black with no visible pupils, he raised the death scythe and poured soul energy into it. Then, he glanced at her and replied, "This man is from outer space and is the enemy of everyone on the planet. I don''t have a right to help you but you don''t have a right to stop me either.

    Whether you take rest and recover, leave the place, or attack him alongside me is entirely your choice. I''m going to defend my world by taking him down."

    "This brat¡­" The Reaper shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh or get angry. Just now, he said to Azzy that he should help Izora and in return, ask to keep the secret of his Arcana.

    If he butts heads with her right away, how could he ask her later?

    "Ruby, let''s go."

    Upon receiving the order, the black lotus flew towards the enemy at its top speed.

    "Too slow," Captain Virgil shook his head and clicked on the trigger of both of the guns at the same time.

    2 plasma bullets were shot from the gun, one towards Azzy and the other towards the dragon.

    Under the effect of God''s Eyes, everything is super slow and clear for Azzy. He simply tilted his head, dodging the bullet with ease, and summoned the storage card.

    With a simple thought, a bunch of cards flew into his front pocket and the storage card was dismissed.

    Meanwhile, Izora''s lightning dragon breathes out a branching stream of lightning and destroyed the bullet.

    Azzy then took out one card and activated the 5-star skill card.

    "he he hehehe"

    A peal of infamous hysterical laughter was heard in the surroundings as a purple skull was summoned in Azzy''s left palm.

    Azzy set Captain Virgil as his target and threw it at him.

    Continuing to laugh, the skull flew towards the target. With Neo in offline mode, he couldn''t guess what it was and could only try to destroy it.

    *bang*

    A plasma bullet was shot at the laughing skull. The bullet pierced the skull and the latter exploded right away, surprising Azzy, this time.

    "I guess he''s powerful, after all. But, my strength doesn''t lie in the power of my attacks but the corruptive nature of my energy." Azzy raised the death scythe a bit higher.

    "Soul skill: Rain of Death"

    A dark cloud slowly started to form a few meters above the death scythe. As his soul power steadily decreased, the size eventually increased.

    By the time he lost 100 thousand SP (soul power), a giant cloud was formed successfully, spanning 100 meters in radius. It is two times bigger than the last time he used it when he was rank-4.

    As it completely formed, everyone heard the thunder within the cloud and black rain started to fall.

    Azzy purposely flew at a lower altitude than Izora. So, she was safe from the rain. Captain Virgil was in the range. So, he was drenched in the rain for just two seconds before parts of his suit vaporized with just the touch of the black rain and he hurried out of there by flying higher.

    Azzy and Izora could see his bare right shoulder, the biceps of the left arm, and the black hair on top of the head.

    Captain Virgil looked at the black cloud and the person on the black lotus in wary. He was also a little bit panicking right now as the nanofiber suit wasn''t self-repairing. The part was just destroyed.

    Izora stared at the scene in disbelief. She and her husband fought for so long but they couldn''t even scratch the suit properly. And here came a rank-5 Arcana Master who wasn''t even one-fifth of their ages and he could damage the suit. What kind of terrifying power is that black rain?

    No wonder her lightning dragon is afraid of that power.

    Meanwhile, Azzy was inwardly surprised by the success, "is it this easy?"

    The Reaper answered, "of course, he isn''t some Arcana master that can resist the death energy. He is nothing but a normal human being who depends on advanced technology. I should say you are the bane of these people from outer space."

    All of a sudden, confidence grew in Azzy''s heart. He raised his head and looked at the enemy through the dark clouds, "Okay, the clouds are thick enough for any normal gaze to spot my actions."

    Instead of using the rain of death to harm the enemy, he used it as a cover for his next step. It''s because he knew that the enemy is faster than his black lotus. He can just fly higher and dodge the rain with ease. After all, the dark cloud moves according to its user. Even though it is strong, this soul skill had its own weakness like this.

    He closed his eyes and concentrated on his soul orb. He could feel the enormous amount of natural energy that was absorbed but is unused until now.

    "Om¡­"

    He started to chant the mantra he was given by the Reaper in the forgotten ancient Sanskrit language. At the same time, he was concentrating on spreading the natural energy all over his organs and body parts.

    Meanwhile, Captain Virgil resumed the battle with Izora above the giant dark cloud.

 Chapter 303 - Invasion From Outer Space Part-12

    While Azzy is busy unleashing one of his Sage techniques, Captain Virgil attacked the heavily bleeding Izora without giving her time to use any healing card and recover. He doesn''t know she was actually out of them. So, she was never planning on wasting time to summon the storage card and check it.

    *Bang* Bang* Bang*

    He continuously shot the plasma energy bullets at her until he emptied the magazine, intending to kill her as soon as possible since he can no longer capture her now that his cube prison was confiscated by Ramiel for the research and he doesn''t have any clue about the whereabouts of allies.

    "Argh¡­" "Graaaa¡­"

    Flapping the wings, the blue lightning dragon did evade a few bullets but couldn''t evade from all. Four bullets pierced its skin and one struck its master in the right shoulder.

    The plasma energy was quite destructive, harming her soul energy and the electric force makes her body numb.

    After a couple of minutes of battle, Izora could no longer feel her hands. But, she didn''t lose her will. After all, there''s one more skill that she has yet to use, in fact, it is the trump card of all the seven-star Arcana masters.

    Just when she spotted Captain Virgil is changing the magazines in both of his guns, she ordered her dragon, "Raiga, unleash the unique skill: Merge"

    *Roar*

    The dragon let out a powerful roar and turned into a blinding flash of light. For a couple of seconds, she was engulfed by the light. By the time he was ready to shoot, he found Izora transformed.

    She had blue dragon scales all over her body, protecting her like armor. A pair of dragon wings grew from her back and her pupils turned into vertical slits. Flapping the wings, she was carrying her husband in her left hand. At the current stage, her physical strength is equivalent to that of a high-rank-8 Arcana Master.

    But, there''s a catch here.

    Not only her maximum SP (soul power) is still the same as before but her injuries didn''t disappear either. In fact, along with the strength, she also received the injuries of the dragon too.

    So, her condition only worsened.

    Pointing both of the plasma guns at her, Captain Virgil said, "You made a big mistake on whatever technique you used. Now, it''s even easier to kill you."

    He shot a couple of plasma energy bullets.

    Izora dodged them with ease and replied, "That happens when you can hit me."

    She raised her hand and shot a lightning-energy orb. Captain Virgil destroyed it by shooting five times in a row. "Eight bullets were needed to destroy that orb? Previously, it was only 2. That means her strength increased at atleast five times, huh. Let''s try for a few times and then, bring out the cannon."

    Captain Virgil flew towards her. Izora decided to risk it and flew towards him to shoot at the close range.

    Just when the both of them are only about a few meters away, Captain Virgil rapidly fire at her and she shot another lightning orb at him.

    However, Captain Virgil has twelve bullets left in each magazine. And he went all out to empty them in one go.

    Ten plasma bullets took out the lightning orb but Virgil who shot the last round from the two guns flew towards her.

    Izora planned to evade it by free fall.

    It was at that moment, she suddenly disappeared from the spot, taking Virgil by surprise.

    Garcia Palace, Death Clan Village;

    "Eh?" Izora suddenly found herself on a king-size bed in wedding clothes. Vesyrn was seen in a sleeping position on the nearby couch. She looked at herself. Along with the wardrobe change, there are no injuries at all.

    "What just happened?" Her eyes filled with confusion. "Don''t tell me everything is just a nightmare"

    She quickly got out of it as he observed herself and the surroundings carefully. "No, my soul power is only at 10% at the moment and there''s sunlight coming through ventilation. That means I''m trapped in an illusion."

    Back to the City of Graena, after the disappearance of Izora and Vesyrn, Azzy sighed in relief as he looked at himself.

    He was no longer becoming transparent. Staring at the hourglass in his right hand, he muttered under his breath, "I managed to send the both of them using ''Chrono Rewind'' skill but I wonder where they were sent to."

    He didn''t have any specific thoughts when he unleashed one of the soul skills of the hourglass.

    Chrono Rewind is a single or multiple target Skill where Azzy can send the targeted party back to their past. Of course, they won''t be traveling through time but just go back to the location.

    For example, Azzy just used the skill on his parents. While he didn''t set a specific time but he used the maximum limit, i.e. 12 hours.

    His parents went back to the location where they were 12 hours ago. Not only that, but their clothes also changed to something else which was worn by them, 12 hours ago. Their injuries were also completely healed.

    But, this technique has minor flaws too.

    His parents neither recover their soul energy nor were they able to use the skills again. Those were still in the cool-down period. Another thing is that his mother was sleeping 12 hours ago but since she was conscious when the skill is performed, she was still conscious even after being teleported back to their bedroom at Garcia palace.

    His father was unconscious now. So, even if the timer were set two hours ago, he would still be unconscious. Nothing can be done about it.

    Azzy knows that very well but for now, he was satisfied with just his parents being alive thereby restoring himself to a normal state.

    Captain Virgil, on the other hand, was confused about what happened. He assumed she probably ran away and focused his attention on the dark cloud. His face turned dark, "That black rain is dangerous. I can''t let it touch me. Let''s wait until it disappears. Hmm, wait a second¡­"

    He stared at the rumbling dark cloud once again. "If my calculations are correct, it has a diameter of roughly about 200 meters. With him as the center, it is 100 meters. My plasma guns don''t have that much range. But, the plasma cannon has a range of 500 meters. So, I''ll be fine if I just shift the weapon.

    Or maybe, I can just shoot him from here. With no visibility and the sensors being damaged in the suit, it would be like shooting the target with a blindfold. Let''s stick to the earlier plan.

    After defeating the kid, let''s take him back with me and keep him as a prisoner. He would have to face the consequences for damaging my suit."

    Just after a few seconds, he saw the dark cloud start to rise high.

    Instead of just flying higher, Captain Virgil flew away after he got out of the dark cloud''s range. He changed the weapon in the midway.

    With heavyweight plasma cannon that only recovered four charges at present, Captain Virgil aimed the weapon at¡­ "Huh?"

    There was no Azzy to be seen. There was only a black lotus and a dark cloud. "Where was the kid? Did he turn invisible?" Captain Virgil wondered.

    Unknown to him, there was a housefly-sized Azzy with a tiny death scythe and a tiny hourglass in his hands, standing on one of the petals of the black lotus.

 Chapter 304 - Invasion From Outer Space Part-13

    Four Protos spears were conjured around black lotus before one of them flew towards the enemy.

    Upon seeing it, Captain Virgil was now almost sure that Azzy had turned invisible.

    Clicking on the trigger, he sneered, "what a stupid tactic. That Vesyrn guy is atleast better. He managed to hide himself well but this kid, what''s the use of turning invisible when your position clearly gives you away."

    The plasma energy orb fired by the cannon cleanly destroyed the Protos spear and further proceeded towards the black lotus.

    Meanwhile, the rain of death continued to fall. So, the slow-moving but powerful plasma orb was being attacked by the black rain and its power was chipped away at a rapid pace. Instead of an increase in size, the plasma orb was actually decreasing while losing power at the same time.

    By the time it reached the black lotus, its size is only one-third of its original size.

    "Azrael, now," The Reaper gave a signal to Azzy when the plasma orb was only a couple of feet away from hitting the black lotus.

    Tiny Azzy closed his eyes and concentrated on the soul orb. A suction force erupted from his soul orb just like when he absorbs the natural energy.

    The plasma orb was completely absorbed by Azzy. The Reaper became busier to refine it into his soul energy.

    His SP (soul power) was increased by 1544 in one go.

    A trace of surprise appeared on both Azzy as well as Virgil. The latter was surprised that his attack was nullified by a kid just like that and the former was surprised that he can just make use of the enemy''s attacks to become stronger.

    "It really worked, Chronos." Azzy excitedly spoke to the Reaper.

    The Reaper replied, "Didn''t I say that you are the perfect nemesis to that outer space warrior?"

    "But, why?" Azzy questioned the Reaper in confusion. Previously, he was in hurry. So, he just followed the instructions. But now that there''s time, he thought he might as well clear his doubt.

    The Reaper went into a lecture mode, "It is because he was attacking with plasma energy. Last year, you have already learned about the matter but in textbooks, they usually show only three. Solid, liquid, and Gas. Plasma is the fourth state of matter. It exists in every star in the universe including our sun.

    And plasma energy is produced when the fusion takes place in a controlled and magnetized environment like the stars.

    On our planet, some of the countries possessed plasma generation but their purpose is only to create clean and renewable energy. But, it is by no means affordable.

    I guess the organization behind this guy managed to extract the energy and weaponized it.

    As for your absorption, unlike the soul energy of Arcana Masters, these attacks made of plasma energy don''t belong to him. It was an external matter. He was just using that little toy as the medium to attack.

    At your current stage, you cannot absorb it directly from the stars for their distance is too far and you haven''t mastered the ''Nature Absorption'' sage technique.

    You must obtain this guy''s suit before it falls into other hands." The Reaper''s voice turned a bit serious at the end.

    But, Azzy paid no heed to his words, "I don''t steal things that belong to some else."

    The Reaper knew Azzy the most. But, he also wanted to get rid of his na?ve thoughts. As a person with strong beliefs can''t change abruptly without any big incident, he can only be changed gradually.

    So, the Reaper twisted his words a little bit to convince Azzy, "Don''t treat it as stealing. Think of it as compensation for almost erasing your presence from this timeline. If that happens, everything you have learned during the past year would have turned worthless. Not to mention, we don''t really want the suit but the energy conversion device implanted in it. Your absorption speed will get a lot faster with it."

    "Hmm, it is logical." Azzy was almost convinced. But, before he replies anything, another plasma orb was fired by the enemy.

    This time, he didn''t attack it with the Protos Spear. He even dismissed the rumbling dark cloud and let the attack reach him.

    Once again, upon reaching the black lotus, the orb started to get diminished, eventually disappearing into thin air. Azzy''s soul power was increased by more than 5000.

    "Just what is going on? Can this kid really nullify the plasma energy attacks? Maybe, he isn''t even a kid but an old freak who had the appearance of a kid. The mutants in this world are different from the species of other planets." Captain Virgil furrowed his brows.

    He couldn''t help but glance at his bare shoulder. The suit still hasn''t self repaired. Perhaps, he should get away and wait for Neo to find him. "Hmm, or maybe, I should attack him a close range and see if I can kill him. Let''s go with the same tactic I used against that healer. There was no dark cloud or that black rain either to stop me, anyway."

    Captain Virgil flew towards the floating black lotus at his peak speed. Azzy was taken aback by his sudden move but there was enough distance between them for him to get prepared for any attack.

    Azzy dismissed the hourglass and calmly waited.

    Upon covering half of the distance, Captain Virgil dismissed the large cannon and took out some tiny object from his suit. It became bigger, turning out to be some kind of another weapon.

    It looked like a futuristic handgun with two barrels placed at the top and bottom. The top barrel was a bit bigger compared to the lower one. Apart from that, it has two triggers, each one for the respective barrel.

    Virgil clicked the second trigger and fired a web-like attack, where electrical sparks can be seen dancing all over it. The web became as it tried to envelop the black lotus.

    When it was shot, it was only at the size of a fist but when it reached Azzy, it was as big as a three-story building and it wasn''t slow either. All it needed was a little more than 1 second to reach the target.

    Azzy closed his eyes and completely absorbed the electrical energy from the web, leaving behind a normal web made of high tension wire that was contracted while binding him and the black lotus tightly.

    The use of the web was to stun the targets or electrocute them. Without the electrical energy, it was no big deal. Azzy simply used energy eruption and blasted it away into thousand pieces.

    "Just what in the hell is this guy?" Captain Virgil was never more serious. "Let''s try for one last time." He clicked on the first trigger and held it. A fiery beam of plasma energy was shot towards him.

    This was super fast and Azzy didn''t get the time to absorb it. But, he always had a backup in cases like these. The Reaper immediately stepped up just before the plasma beam pierces Azzy along with the black lotus.

    The beam didn''t do anything to the black lotus and even that was completely absorbed into Azzy''s body and helping his soul power rise by a significant amount.

    "What the¡­" Captain Virgil''s eyes widened.. "Okay, I need to escape from here."

 Chapter 305 - Invasion From The Outer Space Part-14

    Far away from the city of Graena, Estella and others continued to camp.

    "Dear, you stay with Avia. I''ll return with Azzy." Affea said to him after waiting for about an hour.

    "The battle is already over, Affea," Scarlet responded to her, instead, trying to calm her down. "Azrael will be fine. My daughter says that he''s the most peerless genius of all the people she had met. With the help of two platinum grade spirits, he would solve it with ease."

    "If that''s the case, then, why is it taking so long for him to return?" Affea shook her head. She refused to stay there and wait any longer. "What if he was ambushed by my eldest brother or King Ragron, on the way? He isn''t even returning my messages."

    "Auntie, I think it''s best to contact Ramiel Crescent." Estella voiced her opinion, bringing a trace of a surprise to Affea''s face. She wondered whether this girl knew about Azzy''s relation to the Crescent clan.

    It was then Estella added, "Ramiel Crescent is the vice president of WAMO, and Rael, I mean Azrael is a member of the organization. With his talent, he must be looked after, well too. If you ask him, he can utilize his authority to perform a search using their satellite. With a facial recognition system, it would be easy to find him."

    "That''s a viable solution." Oakley agreed with her. He grabbed Affea''s shoulders, "Azzy is also a precious member of the world''s biggest organization. Whether it is Ragron or your brother, neither of them can afford to offend WAMO and hurt Azzy. He must have been meditating somewhere and probably wasn''t paying attention. Let''s do as Estella says."

    She asked Scarlet to contact the Crescent Clan as the Moon clan is close with them.

    About twenty minutes later, Scarlet received a message. She immediately furrowed her brows as she informed, "they found Azrael."

    "What happened?" Affea''s heart skipped a beat when she saw the change in Scarlet''s facial expression.

    "They found Azrael chasing an unidentified person." She replied. After a brief silence, she pointed her finger towards 2 o''clock, "The location was about 162 kilometers in this direction and they were getting far away."

    "Thanks, Scarlet. I owe you for this." Affea dashed towards the direction at her peak speed.

    Meanwhile, somewhere in a wilderness, Captain Virgil was running at his fastest while he was being chased by Azzy through the ground. The latter''s foot was powered up by the layer of soul energy and natural energy.

    "Dammit, this guy doesn''t seem like he was going to stop any time soon. I need to lose him." Captain Virgil cursed himself for his bad luck.

    Not only does he have to meet his nemesis but the flying function in his suit had to be damaged because of a lucky hit from one of the Protos spears.

    From a distance, he spotted a large number of buildings. It was a city.

    "I should blend in with the people and escape him before I can try establishing the connection with Neo and send SOS. I need to leave this planet as quick as possible." A thought appeared in his head. He let out a grin and continued to dash forward while shooting plasma bullets towards behind without looking.

    Azzy welcomed the bullets made of plasma energy and absorbed the energy to increase his SP (soul power) by a little more than a hundred every time.

    When he came to Graena city to watch the wedding of his parents, Azzy''s SP was roughly around 680K but now, it had already reached 720K, just a little more than 30k from reaching the advanced stage.

    "He''s getting away. I should run faster." Azzy was getting a bit agitated as time passed and he couldn''t narrow the gap. No matter how much he tried, there''s always 200-300 meters of distance between them.

    Thankfully, he already had activated the ''Eyes of God'' soul skill. So, whether it is snowing from above; whether he is moving on an uneven surface; whether they passed through a mini forest, at the very least, nothing would hinder him in chasing after the enemy.

    While Azzy had a no-kill policy, he still doesn''t want to let this invader from outer space go away after injuring his biological parents to the brink of death and almost erasing his presence from this timeline.

    After recovering his soul energy once again, he summoned another set of Protos Spears, which are actually weakened versions, containing the power of only rank-3. All he wanted was to make sure that the distance gets reduced. Even those fractions of seconds that will be wasted by Captain Virgil would help.

    Since their attack pattern is quite straightforward, Captain Virgil, an experienced space explorer didn''t have any difficulty in aiming at them with his plasma gun. He doesn''t even need to look behind to nullify those attacks.

    "Chronos, little help here." Azzy was out of options when the attacks failed for the umpteenth time. He did everything he could but to no avail of success. Of course, he couldn''t give his all.

    If not for the fact that he was worried about the enemy getting away in that momentary gap of time, Azzy would have used soul skills. In the end, he depended on the Reaper.

    The Reaper was looking into the immediate future at the moment. Because of various possibilities, he was weighing his options on whether to help Azzy or let the enemy get away.

    After thinking for a brief amount of time, the Reaper made a decision, "Letting you get stronger is important. Okay, Azrael, I will take over you for a moment."

    "Alright," As soon as Azzy agreed to it, his consciousness drifted away and the Reaper took over Azzy''s body.

    Unlike Azzy, the Reaper had complete mastery over the skills, seals, and weapons. He doesn''t need to waste even a millisecond in unleashing them.

    The Reaper glanced at the sky, "Apollo, I guess I might have to use your power a bit."

    All of a sudden, a tremendous amount of solar energy was gathered in the pitch-black eyes of Azzy.

    Captain Virgil''s heart skipped a beat when he sensed the power behind him.

    The power of soul energy is a bit unfamiliar to him but things like solar energy or plasma energy or others are completely known. In fact, he could usually repair his suit using the solar energy but for some reason, he wasn''t able to.

    "I guess I have no other choice." Captain Virgil pressed on the diamond-shaped object on the chest part of the suit.

    "Argh¡­"

    Some needles erupted from within the suit towards his skin and pierced his skin all over the body before injecting some strange liquid into his blood.

    Captain Virgil screamed in pain and halted his movements.

    But, in the next instant, a strange phenomenon occurred. Captain Virgil''s body started emitting plasma energy as the suit turned red hot. He no longer moved and stared at his hands.

    However, the Reaper was unconcerned. He continued to absorb the solar energy while slowing down the pace.

    "Okay, I only have 100 seconds at most. After that, the safety mechanism in the suit will kick in.." Heavily panting Captain Virgil then stared at Azzy who stopped about a hundred meters away from him.

 Chapter 306 - Invasion From The Outer Space - Final Part

    Feeling overflowed with plasma energy, Captain Virgil decided to finish the battle once in for all.

    "This guy could absorb the energy. So, I guess I need to depend on my physical strength. At my current state, it will be easier to dodge his attacks too. So, there''s nothing to worry." Captain Virgil clenched his fist.

    He flew towards Azzy at his peak speed, covering those hundred meters in a fraction of a second.

    Upon reaching the target, he threw a kick.

    But, currently, Azzy''s body was possessed by the Reaper who also had God''s eyes activated. In his eyes, it was as slow as a snail.

    Azzy''s body ducked and counterattacked with a punch at Virgil''s thigh.

    The powerful punch was landed on Captain Virgil, blasting him a few meters away.

    Captain Virgil was unharmed by the punch with most of the damage was taken by the Exo suit.

    The Reaper frowned inwardly, "normal ones wouldn''t do. I need to use that."

    Captain Virgil flew again and threw out a fake punch at Azzy''s chest before lifting the leg in a fraction of a second.

    But, this time, the Reaper didn''t block it and let the kick hand on Azzy''s abdomen.

    Azzy coughed out a mouthful of blood and was blasted away dozens of meters. Captain Virgil flew like lightning and landed another kick before Azzy crashed onto the ground.

    The Reaper continued to absorb the solar energy into the eyes while letting Azzy lay on the ground.

    Captain Virgil positioned himself a few meters directly above Azzy. "I should have done it a long time ago. I didn''t expect it was this easy. I guess only his energy and so-called soul skills were unique."

    Pouring plasma energy into his fist, he dived towards Azzy, motioning his fist backward.

    "Too late¡­" A mumble escaped from Azzy''s mouth just as his chest was about to be punched.

    It was at that moment black laser beams escaped his pitch-black eyes and struck the suit, blasting the enemy for dozens of meters and crashing on the ground.

    After a fraction of a second, Protos energy gushed out of Azzy''s body and formed a thick barrier with large thorns protruding from all sides.

    In an instant, Azzy''s body looked as good as new. The Reaper controlled the energy and pushed it back into the gem on Vajra''s forehead.

    "Energy of the Protos race, You shouldn''t always act at the brink of death."

    The Reaper was actually telling the Protos energy earlier that it is too late for its defenses to kick in.

    "Well, anyway, let''s see how the plasma energy is faring¡­"

    Azzy''s body stood upon his feet and the Reaper stared at the enemy who had a hole in the middle of his chest. The suit couldn''t block the earlier attack.

    However, the plasma energy repaired his body to as good as new within seconds, although it couldn''t repair the suit.

    The Reaper nodded to himself, "the recovery properties are good. It must have been extracted from a star with extremely high temperatures."

    Meanwhile, Captain Virgil groaned a little bit as the tissues were being regenerated by the new power. He gave a serious look to Azzy.

    "I don''t know what that attack is but I''m invincible in my current state. You cannot defeat me." Captain Virgil said to Azzy before adding a proposal, "How about we call it a truce and go on each other ways?"

    The Reaper simply pointed his finger at him, "I don''t think so, kid."

    "Hmm? Kid? His voice turned deeper?" Captain Virgil felt as if the person before him was changed.

    But, he isn''t in any luxury to think about such a thing because just a couple of seconds after the Reaper''s words ended, he felt like losing strength in his legs and hands.

    The middle of his chest blackened all of a sudden before spreading to all over his body parts before the defensive mechanism of the plasma energy kicked in to regenerate the lost cells and fight the foreign energy.

    "Argh¡­" He screamed in pain for a while. The cells in his body started to break down on their own and then, they will be regenerated by the plasma energy. The process was repeated at least ten times.

    "You, what did you do?" He screamed at Azzy, collapsing onto his knees.

    The Reaper answered it right away, "Solar beams but with a little bit twist. You see the corruptive energy of the Protos race is something that even the gods fear. What a little human like you or your so-called advanced technology can do against it?"

    The Reaper then summoned the death scythe and controlled Azzy''s body to slowly walk towards the enemy.

    "No, don''t come near me. Stay away¡­" Captain Virgil never felt any fear. His body condition is in a state where he cannot even move, much less escape. He regretted not trying to escape earlier.

    Upon reaching him, Azzy raised the death scythe and placed the curvy blade at the enemy''s neck.

    The Reaper then said, "My host has no policy of killing. This is why I will not kill you. Give me the suit and I will free you from this suffering."

    "You¡­ are¡­ doing¡­ this¡­ for my suit?" Captain Virgil realized the aim of his enemy. "ha ha haha haa, I thought it was because I attacked your planet. How wrong I was¡­"

    In the next instant, a burst of laughter escaped from him. "You have the look of someone who has a certain disregard for the lives of others. I don''t think I will get out of here, alive whether I give you the suit or not. Fine, before I go, I might as well take you with me."

    The Reaper saw all the plasma energy gathered at one spot in the suit. It was at the core. He saw the boundaries of the core start cracking because of overload.

    Perhaps, Protos Energy also sensed the danger. Even without the Reaper''s permission, it gushed out of Azzy, forming a barrier before the plasma energy orb detonated.

    However, the Reaper just smiled inwardly, "what a foolish lad."

    Somewhere in the wilderness, about a hundred kilometers away from Azzy, Affea was seen running at her peak speed.

    *Boom*

 Chapter 307 - The Secret Of Time Traveling Is Out?

    *Boom*

    Faraway, in the direction where she was going, an enormous explosion of blue-colored energy with atleast a ten-kilometer radius was seen by her.

    "Azzy¡­" Her expression turned into panic.

    But, strangely, the explosion disappeared right away, leaving behind the dust in the air and the gust of wind was generated from the center of the explosion.

    About a few minutes later, as she continued to rush towards the location, a heavy wind traveling about 250 km/hr hit her.

    She crashed onto the ground a few hundred meters away with scratches on her body. Affea stood upon her feet and charged forward once again.

    It took her more than half an hour to reach the location where she found Azzy sitting in a cross-legged position while a mysterious old man was on the lookout.

    "Azzy¡­" She screamed his name as she dashed forward.

    The old man raised his hand, "don''t disturb the kid."

    "Who are you?" Affea turned wary. She never met this person in her life before.

    "Me? I''m a simple graveyard keeper." The old man answered her with his eyes fixed on Azzy. He added, "By the way, who are you? What is your relation to this boy?"

    "I''m Affea Snieca Night and he''s my son," Affea answered right away. Her wariness didn''t leave her because she didn''t confirm whether this is an ally or an enemy.

    The old man shook his head right away, "you are lying. Both of your energies don''t match a bit."

    "Look, I don''t know who you are but if you are someone that my son was acquainted with, then, fine. If not, then, once he opens the eyes, I hope you will explain yourself why you are here, or else, I will have to suspect that you have other intentions¡­" Affea gave a stern warning to the mysterious old man and in response, only a chuckle escaped from the latter, "You emotion behind the words is pure. I guess you are family, after all. Anyway, let this child complete his refining, then, we''ll talk."

    Affea went near to Azzy and guard him, just in case this mysterious tried to abduct him.

    About another twenty minutes later, Azzy finally opened his eyes.

    The first thing he did is to summon the soul card and looked at the numbers without paying attention to the surroundings.

    "8,344,673" Azzy gasped in shock to see his soul power was expanded more than 10 times.

    He rubbed his eyes and took a closer look at it and counted the digits once again, "seven digits¡­ My soul power is really in 8 million. That means I''m near to rank-7, already?"

    "Azzy¡­" Affea''s call brought him to reality.

    "Aunt Affea¡­" His eyes fell on his foster mother. A trace of surprise appeared on his face. He stood up on his feet, "What are you doing here?"

    "I came looking for you, what else?" She instantly hugged him while tears welled up in her eyes, "Why did you run off on your own. I was so worried."

    "Sorry." Azzy slowly apologized to her while looking down. Even though it''s only been a few months he had spent with Affea, for him, even his own biological parents can''t replace her existence.

    "Sorry to interrupt your family reunion but I need an answer to my question." A familiar yet unfamiliar voice shifted Azzy''s attention towards the source of the sound.

    "Eh?" He saw the familiar graveyard keeper he met a couple of times in the future timeline is now staring at him while stroking the beard.

    "You can''t run anywhere now, Azrael." The Reaper''s voice echoed in his head, all of a sudden. "Out of all the people, you had to encounter one person who you shouldn''t have come across."

    "What are you talking about?" Azzy fell confused.

    "This child has the brand of Thanatos and also possesses the death energy, although it is a given, not born with it. He can sense the death energy inside of you. We should now see whether he can find out your real identity." As the Reaper give him a bit of clarification, Azzy walked towards the old man and stopped a few feet away from him.

    Taking advantage of emotionless expression, he asked the old man, "Do I know you, mister?"

    Affea furrowed her brows when she heard that. She immediately rushed forward and grabbed Azzy before looking at Pierre Garcia, "it looks like you are a stranger, after all. Now, answer me. What are you doing here? I highly doubt you are a passerby."

    Pierre Garcia answered, "No, the explosion of cosmic energy brought me here. Anyway, I have one question that I need an answer to. After that, I''ll be on my way."

    "What is it?" Azzy asked him.

    The death clan''s ancestor responded by snapping his fingers and then, opened his mouth, "Your soul energy is quite identical to the mysterious young man I just met a while ago. You are from the future, aren''t you?"

    Azzy''s heart skipped a beat for a moment as his greatest secret was out just like the Reaper warned earlier.

    Upon hearing it, the Reaper couldn''t help but curse out, "That damn brat must be the one who also brought this servant of the death god. Azrael''s future self is a really troublesome fellow.

    But, it doesn''t matter. Azrael is close to making another breakthrough. Once he enters the Exalt realm and returns to the present, none of this would matter.

    Meanwhile, all the restrictions on me would disappear. Then, I won''t have to worry about the probabilities of the future.

    The timeline is malleable anyway. All I need to make sure to not mess up the timeline for the rest of the universe while changing the kid''s future. Even if someone becomes the victim by mistake, it''s alright. I will talk to Thanatos and let them reincarnate quickly. After all, it''s for the greater good."

    The Reaper then gave a piece of advice to Azzy. "Just speak exactly what am I about to tell you¡­"

    The latter was surprised by the suggestion but trusting his Arcana spirit, he looked straight into the eyes of the old man, "Maybe, I''m from the future or maybe, I''m not. Truth to be told, I''m not sure. I don''t remember most of my memories before the age of 12. All I know is that I''m from Southern Qudour and I''m an orphan.

    However, I did meet with the older me who claimed that he was from the future. He informed me that I''m the descendant of Death Clan''s founder. This is everything I know."

    Azzy''s reply brought a trace of surprise even on Pierre Garcia. He didn''t expect such a reply.

    He fell into thoughts, "According to his words, his future self has the power to time travel. According to Qridus, the time traveler is not only the descendant of the clan but is also the future clan head. On top of that, his younger self is living somewhere.

    So, that would mean this kid might not be related to Vesyrn at all? Is that the case? The death energy inside him is evident that he was blessed by Lord Thanatos just like me. Should I contact the death domain? No, a while ago, a reaper from the hell informed that Lord Thanatos is losing his mind, lately.

    Let''s ask Qridus to keep an eye on this kid."

 Chapter 308 - Mysterious Master Of The Demigod Azrael

    After thinking thoroughly, the old man replied, "okay, I got it. You can be assured that your secret will be safe from the rest of the world. But, the decision will be taken by the current monarch of the Death clan."

    "I understand." Azzy nodded in response before adding, "However, I hope you understand that I decide what to do with my life."

    The old man simply smiled and disappeared.

    Meanwhile, the frown on Affea''s face deepened. She watched both of them open their mouths but she couldn''t hear what they are saying.

    She knew that there are a few secrets that Azzy was keeping from her but the more mysterious Azzy started to turn out, the more she felt that he was going away from her. This wasn''t something that she wanted.

    It was at this moment she saw Azzy let out a sigh of relief and blurted out something as the old man disappeared.

    "He was gone, finally." Azzy took deep breaths for a few seconds and calmed down his heart. Only he knows how nervous he was when giving half-truths. At the same time, it was a surprise for him that there''s another peak-stage Supreme realm expert hiding in the Death Clan.

    "No wonder Chronos said that Magnolis family isn''t a threat." Azzy blurted out his thoughts.

    "Magnolis family? That man is from the nation of Evenor?" Affea asked him right away as soon as she heard it.

    "Ah!" Azzy realized that he spouted something that he shouldn''t have. When faced with a questioning gaze of Affea, his nervousness returned once again.

    The Reaper came to his rescue, "It looks like your Aunt Affea misunderstood something. Let it be that way."

    Following the instruction, Azzy replied, "I was acquainted with the princess of Evenor. We met at the Arcana World during one of our trips more than once, I fought with Sapphire''s little sister Iphi during the Champions League, and a while ago, I beat up her friend for trying to misbehave with Claire."

    "Ah, you meant Ragron''s son?" Realization dawned upon her.

    What Azzy said was complete truth but Pierre has nothing to do with the royal family of Evenor.

    Fortunately, by giving a different answer, he successfully misled Affea to believe that this old man was sent by the Magnolis family.

    "So, is he an ally or a foe?" Affea asked him before realizing that she asked a stupid question. Before Azzy answered, she added, "of course, he isn''t a foe. If he is, he would have attacked you by now. Is he here to warn you about King Ragron?"

    This time Azzy stayed silent.

    Seeing hesitancy from Azzy, she said, "Alright, I understand if you can''t divulge the details. At least, tell me if you are facing a threat from someone, okay?"

    Azzy could feel Affea''s concern for him.

    He sealed his soul orb and let out a smile to assure her, "Don''t worry, Aunt Affea. Nothing is gonna happen to me. That man isn''t a foe."

    Only after hearing this reply, do Affea''s worries disappear.  She said, "Okay, let''s go home."

    Azzy nodded in response.

    Unknown to him, the three figures namely, the future Azrael, his master, who looks like a mixture of several races but can speak human tongue, and some unknown woman, were watching him from the sky.

    The woman turned towards the both of them, "Azzy, Wil, I think you have stayed enough. It''s time for your return, especially you, Wil. Unlike Azzy, you can''t escape the senses of the Celestial Empire. Leave before Zeus sends an army to capture you for violating the rules of time."

    "It''s not like they are capable enough to defeat me, Goddess Gaia. Did you forget that I defeat Zeus in an official challenge, millions of years ago?" The mysterious being answered her with a tone of pride before he turned towards the future Azrael, "Anyway, Azzy, bring me back to my timeline. I don''t want to escalate the matter over some false pride and bring the attention of Chronos."

    "I''ll be going, then." The future Azrael bowed to her and grabbed his master before disappearing from the spot. The woman shook her head with a sigh, "I didn''t expect the wandering god, who was never tied with any relations, to take the rebellious successor of Chronos as his disciple of all the people. Now, I should worry about the future of the Celestial Empire."

    Meanwhile, at the palace grounds, the handsome man, a transformed figure formed by the merger of the sentient artificial intelligence from outer space ''Neo'' and the spaceship, was now being captured in the chains made of light.

    As soon as Qridus returned to the battlefield, it quickly turned around, and eventually, it was defeated and captured by the monarch of the Death Clan.

    Continuing to observe the expressionless puppet, Qridus asked the others, "I can''t sense Vesyrn and Izora even in thousand kilometers. Does anyone know what happened to them?"

    Kylan was quick to answer, "Lord Qridus, both of them are safe at the clan village."

    "Clan village?" Qridus furrowed his brows, "did they desert the battlefield? The Vesyrn I know wouldn''t run away. Who gave such nonsensical order?"

    Everyone including the King stiffened when they saw Qridus displeased with Kylan''s answer. His displeasure can be understood. After all, Vesryn is the heir to the Death clan and will become the next monarch. He can''t sit behind like a coward and watch everyone else fight unless there''s a situation.

    Kylan quickly replied, "No, you misunderstood. My daughter said that she encountered the enemy but she and Vesyrn were suddenly teleported to the clan. She was clueless about it, either."

    "Suddenly?" Qridus fell into thoughts for a moment. He remembered the future Azrael and calmed down, right away, "tell them to report to me. I will hear the details in person. And Ramiel¡­"

    "Yes, Lord Qridus?" Ramiel Crescent responded with a loud shriek, fearing that he will be scolded for not being to take care of the enemy in his absence. Thankfully, it wasn''t what he thought.

    Qridus pointed his finger at the silent young man, "he won''t be able to escape for now but it can''t be said about the future. Tell your president to personally look after the security while you do whatever research on that artificial soul inside him. I need to know about their future plans. Put this as a priority. Consider this a mandatory S-grade mission you received from the clan."

    Since the future Azrael had already warned about an alien invasion, a hundred years later, Qridus couldn''t help but suspect that this is a reconnaissance party. This is why he told the vice president of WAMO to prioritize it over everything.

    Ramiel bowed in response, "I will, Lord Qridus." He was interested in researching him, anyway. Until now, he only heard of artificial Arcana but never heard of artificial soul. If this can be replicated, then, it will be a huge breakthrough in science.

    He was excited to find out about it.

    "Okay, everyone will return home." Qridus gave an order and teleported away from there.

    Soon, everyone from the Death Clan started returning to the clan village.

    A couple of months passed away in a blink of an eye;

 Chapter 309 - Preparations For World League Part-1

    Grand Arena, Eternals Institute of Arcana, Aclein City, Northern Qudour;

    "Ruby, dodge"

    A black lotus was seen dodging the energy arrow fired by Mia. Azzy was flying on top of the lotus and Mia was standing on one of the top branches.

    The lotus reacted right away and tilted to the left. As the arrow missed, Azzy crossed his arms to the chest and spoke, "You are wasting too much time in aiming the bow, Mia."

    The black lotus was nearing the 50ft tall Oak Tree.

    "I know¡­" Mia calmly replied to him. Just when their distance is reduced to just 5 meters, she suddenly motioned her left arm downwards and her right arm reached her back, pulling out of a gun. She shot an energy bullet.

    By the time she clicked the trigger, the distance was only 3 meters. In theory, the speedy bullet would pierce Azzy''s chest in a fraction of a second.

    However, to her surprise, Azzy raised his arm covered in the layer of translucent natural energy and blocked it before throwing out a punch with his left hand, just a fraction of a second later.

    The black lotus then passed the Oak Tree while Mia clutched her stomach in pain. The leaves of the tree rustled but then Mia said, "Don''t."

    The Oak Tree stayed still and rooted itself onto the ground like it was ordered by Mia.

    After flying straight for a few more seconds, the black lotus made a u-turn and stopped under Azzy''s command.

    He stared at the tree and nodded, "it was good at following the commands. Sometimes, not helping is just as good as helping."

    Mia stood straight once again and turned around. She descended onto a lower branch before leaping to the branch on the other side. She then raised her head to look at Azzy, "I thought I would draw in the enemy to close range and take them by surprise but didn''t expect that you would stop it."

    "I''m not underestimating you, Mia. That''s why I was prepared to face any unexpected situations like earlier." Azzy replied to her.

    Just when Mia thought it is good, Azzy added, "The biggest flaw in your surprise attack is the limited power behind the bullet. I think you should consider our instructor''s advice on focusing on either gun or bow."

    "No, only dual wielding will give me a chance to face platinum grade users like you." Mia was stubborn in her decision to use a bow and arrow as her main weapon, and the gun as her secondary weapon. She added, "As for the firepower of the gun, it will be upgraded once my new weapon is successfully developed."

    "Well, I hope the delivery will arrive soon. After all, there''s only a month away from the preliminaries." Azzy thrusts his hand forward, conjuring a large palm as big as himself, filled with natural energy. "Take this¡­"

    "Artiz, down." Mia hollered in hurry.

    The oak tree shrank itself at a rapid pace, trying to evade the incoming attack but the speed of the energy palm was found to be greater.

    The top part of the Oak Tree was hit with a destructive force. It was entirely uprooted from the ground as it fell down, making Mia lose her balance.

    Thankfully, she reacted in time and jumped onto the ground.

    The black lotus stopped flying once again as Azzy looked down at Mia who landed on the ground, "wrong move. You didn''t consider the distance between us. You should have tried destroying the attack, instead of dodging."

    Mia glanced at her Arcana, "are you alright, Artiz?"

    The leaves rustled once again and the tree''s roots dug into the ground once again before the rest of the tree managed to get back to its initial position.

    "Oh, that''s new," Azzy stared at the tree. Something clicked in his mind, "why didn''t I think of that?"

    Before Mia speaks anything, he said in a loud tone, "Mia, until now, you haven''t used your Arcana''s flexibility to your advantage."

    "Eh?" A trace of surprise appeared on Mia. "How?"

    "Think like this. Your Arcana can grow up to two hundred feet with the nourishment from the water source, right? What if it bends¡­ let''s say about 120 degrees and use its trunk to sweep the enemies while catching them off guard with the branches?" Azzy told her what is on his mind. He doesn''t know whether it works or not, but he could imagine the scenario.

    "Hmm¡­" Mia took the advice seriously and communicated with her Arcana.

    After a brief silence, she replied, "Artiz says it is possible but it will become vulnerable. The roots are its source of life, you know."

    "Well, you aren''t participating alone. I can temporarily upgrade its defense with natural energy. One of my Arcana can also stay behind to guard it." Azzy reminded her that she had the backing of her teammates.

    "I guess I need to work harder," As Mia nodded in understanding, a voice interrupted them, "Ms. Leveret, Azrael¡­ battle more and talk less."

    Azzy glanced towards the source. His biological mother, Izora Crescent was standing there with an unpleasant expression.

    Mia''s body stiffened right away as soon as she heard the voice. Meanwhile, Azzy shook his head and sighed inwardly. "It would have been a lot better if mom never come into my life."

    Six weeks ago, Affea Mansion was visited by Vesyrn Garcia and Izora Crescent.

    As soon as they finish their two weeks of honeymoon, they seemed to receive an S-grade mission to safeguard Azzy. All they know is that Azzy is a descendant of the Crescent clan who inherited the powers of Aelius Crescent.

    Izora also saw the death scythe on Azzy, back then. But, still, she couldn''t understand the purpose of her mission.

    Even if Azzy''s potential is extraordinarily high and is a descendant of the Death Clan, it doesn''t make sense that she and her husband were sent to protect the boy. After all, Vesyrn is the heir of the Death Clan who will probably take the position of monarch within a hundred years. Why should he give security to a subordinate?

    As for Azzy''s Arcana, there were other clan members who also possessed the dark scythe. In her view, it isn''t a big deal to possess it. So, the thought of Azzy being the heir never crossed her mind.

    Not to mention they were just married and would like to live together in a separate house. It is quite embarrassing to live with Oakley and his family of four.

    With how Vesyrn is happily helping out at Oakley''s clinic and integrating into the family so easily, Izora was feeling troubled.

    So, she was quite moody these days.

    Ever since she replaced Arley Blood as the combat instructor for Class Zero, Azzy tried to get bond with his mother but not only did she put up a wall between them but also treats him coldly, just the same as everyone.

    Maybe, more than a year ago, Azzy was desperate to meet his parents and live with them but after receiving lots of love from this foster family and his friends, he was no longer the same as before.

    Now that he was in his rebellious phase, he wasn''t happy with his mother''s behavior.

    At school, not only did she keep an eye on him at all times but he was constantly lectured by the actions of the disciplinary committee.

    Outside the school, she follows him and Claire on their date. Unlike Aria, she wasn''t great at hiding her presence. So, the Saturday dates weren''t comfortable.

    When he confronts her regarding the matter, she even advises him that he was too young to have a relationship.

    If it was anyone else, Azzy would have directly told them to not interfere in his daily life but he doesn''t know what to do as she''s his mother.

    On the other hand, he likes being in the company of Vesyrn. His father was filled with optimism, patience, and is very humble in nature.

    Back to the Arena, Azzy and Mia finished their daily sparring and returned to the stands while Estella and Gideon made their way to the Arena.

    "Senior, here¡­" Little Flora handed a couple of towels to the both of them to wipe off their sweat.

    Meanwhile, Azzy gets an additional bottle filled with glucose water. "Thanks," He ruffled her hair as he took the bottle. 9-year old Flora grinned in response.

    It''s something everyone is familiar with. So, no one cared about it too much. The only one who appeared to care about it is a grade-3 little girl who transferred to the academy, six weeks ago. "Hmpf, it''s not like he has tried his best or anything.. Nothing but a half-hearted fight."

 Chapter 310 - Preparations For World League Part-2

    "Holding back strength needs a great deal of patience, junior Avia." Flora, who heard her comment, countered with her statement. She added, "It isn''t a secret that Senior wasn''t known for holding back when he first transferred here. You are his sister, shouldn''t you know that more than anymore."

    "Well, he''s a stranger to me just as he is to you." Avia shrugged her shoulders.

    "Ah, yes¡­ I forgot that you didn''t spend much time with him. You might not have known anything about him, after all." Flora hit her back with a fact. As if it wasn''t provoking enough, she further said, "and senior isn''t stranger to me though. He looks after me like a sibling."

    Avia didn''t say anything and just looked away while mumbling to herself, "and the one who should be treated like sister gets ignored."

    The relationship between little Avia and Azzy is quite complicated. On one hand, she dislikes the fact that her parents, especially her mother loves him a lot. Sometimes, she felt as if she was the one that was in foster care.

    On the other hand, she was impressed with Azzy''s strength and wishes to train with him now that she was away from Night Clan.

    The clan''s matriarch, Pandora Night ordered her to stay at the home and rejoin the academy, instead of returning to the clan village.

    The problem is that her powers have nothing in common with her parents. Her attribute is dark, which is a common trait of the Night Clan but neither of her parents has that attribute.

    Her Arcana whip is something that''s wielded by her maternal grandmother. Unfortunately, her parents didn''t have a good relationship with them.

    Because of that, she often had difficulty in training in the clan of assassins.

    In her eyes, Azzy is someone who can mentor her in the absence of Pandora Night but he was reluctant on taking such a job because his hands are full with Flora.

    She believes that Azzy shows blatant favoritism towards Flora while she, who was a part of his family, gets plain treatment. Well, it''s not false as Azzy does treat Flora differently compared to the rest of their classmates. Only Gideon, Mia, and Claire were exceptions.

    In her eyes, he should at least be good to her considering her parents gave him home.

    Well, it''s not her fault to think like that.

    The majority of Arcana Master with Dark attribute often think in a negative way. While growing up into an adult, their thoughts can be influenced by the situations they face, by the things they learn.

    This is why the academy is important for every kid who will grow up into a future Superhuman.

    Back to the Arena, as Azzy took his seat beside his girlfriend, Gideon was having an intense sword battle with Estella. The latter didn''t even summon her Arcana and is using a high carbon steel sword but was powered up by her soul energy.

    *Clang* *Clang* Clang* Clang*

    Sparks are generating constantly whenever both of the swords collide with each other.

    Pushing him away with brute force, Estella spoke coldly, "you cannot defeat me, Gideon."

    Gideon looked like he was enjoying the spar despite being at a disadvantage. With a foolish grin on his face, he said, "Ella, how about a date as a wager? Coincidentally, tomorrow is Saturday. If you can''t defeat me, then, you need to go on a date with me."

    "Hmpf, you wish¡­" Estella snorted in response and dashed forward.

    *Clang*

    As their swords collided once again, she said, "I already told you that I don''t have any interest in weaklings. Only someone who is strong and has high potential, someone like Rael is worthy."

    She was pushing him back. His boots were trying to hold the ground but it was useless when compared to a difference of strength between the two.

    Gideon didn''t take it as offense but just counterattacked with a simple fact, "but, Azzy is already taken and doesn''t like you either. How about just settling down with me? After all, I was the only one who could handle your temperament."

    Mixed with embarrassment and anger, Estella''s face reddened like a tomato and she poured more soul energy into the sword, aggressively pushing away Gideon and jumping high in the air.

    While Gideon crashed onto the ground and groaned in pain, Estella raised the sword above her head and unleashed an arc of blue energy. It''s the crescent clan''s finishing move that uses one''s soul energy and the natural energy, raising the damage power by a fold.

    Gideon''s eyes lit up when he saw that, "it''s amazing that my darling can unleash the move bypassing all the necessary movements before it. But, I don''t intend to lose this battle."

    Lightning sparks appeared in his eyes.

    Azzy stood up on his feet, feeling the power of mid-rank-6 in the attack. He was sure that if it hits Gideon, the latter would receive life-threatening injuries.

    Just as he was about to make his move, his mother dashed towards Gideon and stood before him, raising her palm.

    A shield made of soul energy erupted from her palm, blocking the crescent slash effectively.

    Estella''s facial expression changed by Izora''s intervention, "what is the meaning of this, Instructor Crescent?"

    She wondered whether it is because Gideon and Izora belongs to the same clan.

    The latter coldly stared at the student, "this is a friendly sparring match, not a battlefield. And you are sparring against an opponent who is an entire realm below you. I told you many times already. Exercise control over your emotions as well as your power, student Estella. Twenty rounds as punishment, no soul energy. Get down now."

    As everyone was stumped by Izora''s judgment, a voice was heard from far away, "teacher, there''s no need to do that. The attack wouldn''t have hit me, anyway."

    Izora glanced in at 8 o''clock direction. Gideon was seen standing over a hundred meters away with lightning sparks dancing all over his body. There''s no soul energy involved, it''s just pure attribute.

    The children of heaven like Azzy and Estella could naturally attach the power of attribute to their soul energy attacks, empowering their strength but for the other Arcana Masters, using extracting the power of pure attribute without soul energy or natural energy is like 0.01% percentile.

    "It appeared that your master had taught you well." Izora gave praise before lecturing him too, "but, this isn''t about you. This is about the principles of friendly sparring. If you intend to support her, you can share the punishment and run 10 laps with her."

    "Uhh¡­ is she in a bad mood or something?" Gideon wondered before glancing at Estella who was frowning, not just because she was scolded but also because of Gideon''s skill. He immediately let out a smile, "with pleasure."

    As Estella and Gideon started running together, Azzy sighed in relief. "He''s progressing well. I was worried for nothing."

    Of all the people, he was the second person to know about Gideon''s attribute skill, the first being Ramiel Crescent. But, still, he was worried about his friend.

    Upon watching how he evaded it with ease, Azzy was confident that Gideon would fare better in the upcoming league.

 Chapter 311 - Preparations For World League Part-3

    The sparring sessions continued until evening 10''clock without any breaks.

    Along with Mia, Azzy had sparred against Calder from grade-10; Gideon, Adam, and Louis from ninth grade.

    Naturally, he defeated all of them with ease. Of them, Louis gave him the toughest fight for he was blessed by Space.

    Like time, space isn''t considered an attribute because of no representation of God to rule it. Because of that, people cannot awaken it solely with either of those powers.

    Like Azzy awakened death along with the time, Louis had awakened wind along with the space.

    So, his speed was unnaturally fast.

    With Azzy suppressing his strength to mid-rank-5 so as to not upset Claire and let her throw a fit again, he found himself to be slower than that Louis.

    Using his speed to increase the distance and shoot the arrows with his Bow Arcana, Louis was found to be a tough competitor for everyone.

    He was the only one who forced Azzy to take the help of Vajra, the black lightning wolf; Ruby, the black crystal lotus; and Hydra, the undead serpent.

    Only then did Azzy manage to distract his attention and knock him out.

    The seniors of class Zero appeared to be tired by the end of the day with all the battles while the juniors were watching the battle without batting an eye.

    It is the last match of the day but overall, the 36th one between Estella and Claire. So far, both of them only have three wins each with the remaining 30 turning out to be drawn, mainly due to the limited time.

    At present, the match is going on for eight minutes with only 2 minutes left. A 100ft giant kite/eagle hybrid was chasing down a 5ft Claire with a divine sword in her hands.

    Meanwhile, an 800ft serpent found itself entangled by its tail and is struggling to get free. Estella didn''t help the leviathan and is just focused on defeating her rival.

    "Garuda, fly faster." She was trying to keep her cool as much as possible.

    Claire was flying away from the opponent, biding her time to recover her soul power.

    With Izora setting the rules of no healing and recovery cards during the spar, everyone could only depend on recovering naturally. However, Estella knew that Claire''s recovery rate will go a hundred times faster after wearing a pair of mysterious black leather gloves.

    She doesn''t know what they are but ever since Claire acquired them a couple of months ago, it became very difficult for her to defeat this rival.

    At first, Claire used the adamantine gloves to train her body and power up her fists.

    Gradually, as she get used to it, Agatha, the divine sword spirit taught her a technique where she could absorb the gathered natural energy inside the core of the gauntlets and refine it into her own soul energy to recover her soul power.

    With the gloves constantly feeding her soul energy, she reduced her dependence on her soul skill: Descent of the Heavenly Guardian and the recovery cards.

    But, at the same time, it took away Claire''s speed due to its 1500 pounds of heavyweight. So, during the flight, she had to keep using soul energy to activate the mechanism of the gloves, which will nullify the weight.

    "60 seconds left." Izora''s voice echoed in the surroundings, reminding the two girls about the time limit.

    "It''s time to strike back, Claire." Agatha said to her host, to which the latter replied, "no, it isn''t. We need to wait a bit more."

    Claire tilted her wings and made a turn to the left. Meanwhile, Estella furrowed her brows. For the past couple of minutes, she was chasing but to no avail. She was getting impatient.

    Seeing that Claire still doesn''t intend to fight back, she spoke as loudly as she can, trying to taunt her opponent, "I guess you are trying to draw the game, aren''t you? Worried about her injured? Where was that aggressive Claire who had pride in her self-healing capabilities? Your boyfriend must be very happy to see you run away like a coward."

    Claire didn''t respond to her and just flew.

    Estella''s face darkened when there is no reply but then her eyes fell on the lying serpent.

    She realized that Claire was flying towards the Leviathan who almost freed itself. In fact, it doesn''t need to struggle anymore for she could unleash the attack at any time, although the enemy needs to be in its range.

    A thought appeared in her head. It was transmitted to the beast through telepathy. Leviathan lay there on the ground without making any movements.

    Just as Claire passed the air space above the serpent, Estella shouted, "Levi, use soul skill: Petrifaction."

    *Ssshaaaa*

    The Leviathan''s upper body suddenly sprung up, trying to take Claire by surprise. However, before its eyes fell on its target and turn Claire into stone, the latter let out a smile as she take out the two gloves, "do you think I forgot you?"

    She threw the gloves at the beast, perfectly hitting its neck.

    While the weight of 1500 pounds wasn''t any threatening to this giant serpent, the force was enough to push its head backward to miss the target.

    As Claire expected, the laser beams that came out of its eyes missed Claire and aimed at the sky before disappearing.

    "Now, let''s take away this snake. It irked me for too long." She took out a skill card with five golden stars behind it.

    "Activate skill card: Claiomh Solais (The sword of light)" She poured soul energy into the card. Her soul energy was almost cut off by 80%.

    The skill card was transformed into fragments of light before they were absorbed into the divine sword, increasing its size to atleast a hundred times bigger.

    Everyone in the stands stood on their feet and raised their head. It wasn''t the first time they were witnessing this but still, most of the spectators couldn''t help but be amazed.

    The sword gives off a very pleasant feeling just by glancing at its radiance. This wasn''t a real Claiomh solais. It was an imitation based on that celestial grade sword Arcana of the past that Claire''s ancestor used to wield.

    "What are you doing?" Agatha was confused by Claire''s decision to use the soul energy on Leviathan instead of its owner. Unlike the Reaper, she couldn''t completely read her host''s mind when the latter doesn''t wish to share it.

    "Well, this is going to be a draw for sure. Instead of trying hard for the win, I might as well humiliate her." Claire answered Agatha while swinging a giant 400ft sword of light at the snake.

    Leviathan didn''t even get an opportunity to dodge for this attack was too fast and in a blink of an eye, its head was seen flying in the air before the body of the beast disappeared from the material world.

    "Levi¡­" Estella clenched her fist in anger. Soul energy erupted from her, forming a layer over her and the giant eagle.

    She no longer suppressed her strength to mid-rank-5 as being instructed by Izora for the sake of playing fairness.

    "Garuda, use soul skill: Divine Storm."

    Just as the giant kite was about to use its wings to create a powerful storm, Izora''s voice was heard in the surroundings, "Student Estella Moon, you are disqualified for breaking the rule. Hence, the winner of the match is Claire Lefeuvre."

    "Eh?" "Eh?"

 Chapter 312 - Scarlet Moons Life Lessons To Her Daughter

    After thoroughly lecturing Estella for not following the rules set by her, Izora announced the end of sparring matches and gathered everyone.

    With her hands crossed to the back, Izora stared at them sternly, "Listen carefully. I have some urgent business to attend for the next couple of weeks. It might even take longer for me to return. During this time, your training will be taken care of by your homeroom teacher.

    Since we aren''t getting much time to train, I''m taking this opportunity to conduct a special class, tomorrow. Those who are interested can come. It is entirely voluntary but I would recommend it because tomorrow might be the last class of mine before the league preliminaries."

    "Eh?" Most of them were happy that they are gonna get a break from this devil instructor, the others like Estella and Claire were a bit unpleasant.

    As the biggest international league is on the corner, they wanted to improve their strength as fast as possible even if they have to face harsh training.

    Surprisingly, the driving force behind it was same for the both of them. It was Azzy.

    The only difference is that Claire wanted to catch up with Azzy so that he wouldn''t have to worry about her and Estella wanted to defeat him fair and square.

    Meanwhile, Azzy wondered the reason behind the absence of his mother. Is it another mission from the clan or something? Will she go alone? Or will both of his parents leave? Several thoughts popped up in his head.

    The next day morning;

    *yawn*

    Letting out a yawn, Azzy slowly came out of his room and went downstairs. He wasn''t planning on going to the academy for special lessons at all. Instead, Azzy intended to take a break for the whole day. Not to mention, with Affea being busy at the academy, he would be able to get some qualitative time to spend with his girlfriend.

    "Morning, Aunt." Azzy greeted Affea. He looked around. There was no one else. "Where is everyone?"

    "Avia and Izora left for the academy early morning 5, your uncle and Mr. Garcia left for clinic," Affea answered him with her eyes fixed on the television. She was watching a rerun of a popular tv drama called the ''Wolf of the East.'' Azzy doesn''t like it because of the outdated graphics.

    "I''m going to the garden¡­"

    As Azzy was about to go outside to check up on the plants, she added, "We are having guests in the afternoon. It''s from Moon Clan."

    "Eh?" Azzy stopped in his tracks and looked at her in surprise, "Moon Clan? Again? Why?"

    During the past couple of months, Estella''s mother came to lunch twice already.

    "Yeah." Affea nodded and further said as she finally turned her head, "I bet you have already figured out why they are trying to get close to our family. Look Azzy, Moon Clan is a close ally. We cannot reject to host their direct descendants without proper excuse. If you are uncomfortable with them, you can go and meet your friends. I will give them various excuses and manage here."

    Azzy stayed silent. He doesn''t want to trouble Affea for his mess. Azzy knew that Estella fancies him and he rejected her twice already, stating that he was in a relationship with Claire.

    He didn''t say it to her face because she and her mother helped out during the crisis but even if he didn''t like Claire, Azzy would have still rejected her proposal. Her arrogant attitude, which outrightly dismisses weaker people doesn''t sit with him very well.

    After brief thinking, he responded with a question, "Can I invite Claire, then?"

    In an instant, Affea understood what was going on in Azzy''s mind. She nodded with a smile, "sure, why not."

    ***

    Meanwhile, somewhere nearby the island nation of Zuweth, which lies to the east of the continent, a young girl was accompanying her mother who was fishing on a boat, early in the morning.

    It was Estella Moon and Scarlet Moon.

    The former was getting impatient while the latter was very calm as she stayed still like a statue, waiting for the fish to bite the bait.

    "Ugh, I shouldn''t have informed you about my arrival, mom," Estella complained to her.

    Estella returned home to spend time with her family on weekend instead of wasting time on attending Izora''s special class for the latter punished her earlier. Of course, there was Gideon who always asks her out no matter how many times she rejected him.

    If not for the fact that she wasn''t ordered by her mother to bear his presence, she would have already made her thoughts of getting rid of him forever, a reality.

    And when she returned to Zuweth, early in the morning, she was received by an attendant who was sent by her mother. She followed him.

    As a result, she ended up on a tiny fishing boat which is floating on the ocean but isn''t moving an inch as it was covered by an invisible barrier.

    After waiting for 30 whole minutes without any result, Estella asked her mother, "mom, if you want to catch fish, I''ll just release Levi into the water. She will bring you thousands of them."

    Scarlet replied, "Yes, you can but in the process of catching those fishes, you will cause a disturbance in the ocean, Ella. And what do you do with those? It''s not like you will sell in the market or eat all of them. This is why, to achieve a goal, one should carefully choose a path."

    Estella felt something strange in her mother''s words. "You are talking about fishing, right?"

    Scarlet shook her head with a smile, "It is applicable to life as well, especially yours."

    Estella furrowed her brows in confusion, "just what do you want to say, mom? Please explain it properly? Did I do something wrong?"

    "I''m talking about Azrael and Claire," replied Scarlet with her eyes fixed on the waters. She added in a serious tone, "I agree that the boy is a once in a millennium genius but you are just 14 years old, a teenager, and so were those two.

    Do you think they would stay like that forever? The second princess of Triastal will eventually leave the academy, next year and you will spend a whole year with him. The time was enough for them to break up and form a new relationship with you.

    Is there a need to get rid of her just so that you can get close to him?"

    Estella Moon wasn''t surprised at her question. She answered calmly, "of course, it is necessary. It hasn''t been long since they became a couple. I fear that their relationship will only get stronger as time passes away.

    So, I might as well get rid of him now. He would certainly feel sad but it would be easier for him to forget her as time passes away. If not for the fact that she has a powerful background, I would have already done it myself with one of my trump cards given to me by the ancestor.

    This is why sought both of your help but until now, you aren''t doing anything."

    Estella asked her mother and even her ancestor''s help several weeks ago, back at Graena city, but her mother was delaying this task until now.

    Instead of removing Claire from her path, her mother was trying to get close to Affea and her family instead.

    In her view, they aren''t important as they aren''t Azzy''s real parents and only took him in more than a year ago. On top of that, her mother ordered her to behave with Claire and Gideon.

    Estella''s answer made a Scarlet frown. She immediately berated her daughter, "this is why you couldn''t defeat Claire despite possessing two powerful Arcana of platinum grade."

    Estella''s facial expression changed when she heard that. She wanted her to counter that she defeated Claire three times until now but in the end, she swallowed her words and stayed silent.

    Meanwhile, Scarlet lectured her daughter, "If you rush towards the destination without thinking too much, you will miss things (opportunities) that were around you. Who knows¡­ you might even end up falling into a manhole (trap).

    Just stop once in a while and look around you."

    "I don''t understand." Estella was confused with these word games.

    Her mother smiled once again, "Patience, my dear. Be patient. The world is like an ocean and the people around are like fish. If your goal is to acquire a fish without disturbing the ocean, then, you need a perfect bait and patience."

    As soon as her words ended, Scarlet felt something and pulled up the fish rod.. An arm-sized tuna was seen at the hook.

 Chapter 313 - Affeas Worries

    It was about noon;

    A group of identical-looking SUVs was traveling on the roads of Aclein like a convoy for president.

    Since this is a tier-2 city, naturally, it attracted the attention of the passersby, but it didn''t last long as they entered the most affluent neighborhood of Cypress. Here, it was common for wealthy civilians to travel in luxury cars. So, no one cares¡­

    The four vehicles stopped and about ten guards in suits exited along with Estella and Scarlet who adorned themselves with expensive jewelry. It was as if they wanted to show off their wealthy status.

    Estella was feeling a little bit embarrassed when being escorted by the guards. Even when they went to the high profile wedding at Graena city, they didn''t go like this.

    "If not for Rael, I wouldn''t have bothered to suffer this much. I hope he and his family appreciate it," mumbled Estella as she continued to walk at a slow pace, due to her long gown and high heels.

    The door was kept open and there was an old man in butler uniform waiting for them at the entrance.

    Estella was a little bit excited; a little bit nervous for some reason when she arrived at the entrance.

    However, just as she stepped inside, her face darkened right away. In the living room, Azzy and Claire were together, helping the servants in setting up the dishes on the dining table. As if both weren''t enough, she even saw Gideon who was coming downstairs coincidentally at the same time.

    Scarlet was also visibly surprised for a second when she saw Claire but she controlled her expression and walked forward.

    Upon hearing the steps, Azzy and Claire turned their heads to find Estella who just looked like a human Barbie doll decorated with jewelry.

    A while later, Azzy, his foster family, his real family, his best friend, his girlfriend, and the two guests were seen having ''Duck & Orange salad'', which is a popular starter dish in the southern part of the continent.

    The atmosphere turned out to be quite awkward since there wasn''t any group talk at all.

    Izora and Gideon were feeling out of the place. They were completely silent. At least Izora''s situation was better. At least, she was getting attention from the other two married ladies, but Gideon, who sat on the edge, feels like he was invisible.

    Oakley and Vesyrn were conversing between themselves just like Scarlet and Affea. Estella was unhappy as she was told to sit beside Avia and converse with her.

    While she obliged, it was tough for her to witness Azzy and Claire were sitting together on the opposite side and talk between themselves while laughing.

    Poor Gideon couldn''t talk with Estella with her mother''s presence in the room. As he sat beside Claire, he couldn''t interrupt the couple''s conversation at all. He regretted leaving the seat beside Azzy because of Scarlet''s presence.

    He was trying to woo her daughter, so, there''s no way he would want to sit between Azzy and Scarlet Moon.

    The lunch ended with Avia and Estella becoming a lot closer than before. The former even gave away custom-made daggers to the little girl on Scarlet''s orders.

    Other than that, there aren''t any changes in the relationship between the Moon clan and Affea, Oakley.

    Azzy didn''t understand their approach but either way, he doesn''t care about it and just spent the rest of the afternoon with Claire while Gideon, Avia, and Izora returned to the academy for special classes.

    The next day morning, Azzy''s parents left to accomplish some kind of secret mission.

    The heir of the hidden clan of Kuru was abducted by a powerful dark organization.

    Vesyrn got an order to join the group formed by several hidden clans and Zero division of WAMO because of his healing capabilities.

    However, Izora insisted to join him on this expedition because she felt it is useless to guard the boy who is probably as powerful as herself.

    Both of them joined this mission, which is not only saving the heir of Kuru but also destroying the hideout of the organization.

    Because of her stubbornness, Qridus had to deploy someone else now. In the end, Ethan Night was deployed for Azzy''s protection.

    Pandora Night doesn''t know that Azzy was the time traveler or the descendant of the Death clan. When tasked to protect Azzy, all she thought was that Qridus wanted to protect the descendant of Aelius Crescent from danger because there are a lot of people who had a grudge against that late thunder emperor.

    While she was interested to drag Azzy to her side, she wasn''t that desperate to send precious Exalt realm experts when there''s Affea at the mansion and Barton at the school. In the end, she sent Ethan who was familiar with the family.

    Either Affea or Oakley never knew that Izora and Vesyrn were sent there for Azzy''s protection. They only thought that the couple is only there because of Izora''s appointment.

    Even when Ethan arrived on the day they left, none of them felt strange because Ethan is a part of the Night Clan.

    Two weeks passed away in a blink of an eye. Azzy and the other students of Class Zero trained in the illusionary realm of Sorcerer Uphiar, their homeroom teacher.

    It was even harder than Izora''s harsh training. After all, the students couldn''t die in that realm. So, every one of them who is above 12 years old had experienced death more than once.

    The children below 12 were spared from that training as the sorcerer doesn''t want to cause trauma among these little kids who just started their journey of becoming an Arcana Master.

    As Azzy''s strength is now even greater than that of the teacher, Uphiar''s illusion didn''t help him much.

    So, he took this time to train under his master, Principal Barton, to improve his sealing techniques.

    The preliminaries of the world league were only two weeks away and Barton was anticipating Izora''s return. While Uphiar is good at combat, he felt that Izora was more suitable as she was good with a sword as well as a bow. She was better at training summoners too.

    Thankfully for him, three more days later, Affea and Vesyrn returned after a successful mission.

    Izora didn''t take a rest and took charge of her post right away as soon as she returned.

    The lives of everyone else acquainted with Azzy returned to normal, except for one.

    Affea started to suspect the couple after realizing that Ethan returned to the clan village on the next day they returned. She somehow felt that this wasn''t a coincidence.

    If not, then, what might be the reason? Should she confront them? No, they might not answer it. And if there''s nothing, then, she would unnecessarily make their relationship worse.

    Maybe, it''s Azzy? But, why the Death Clan would send Vesyrn and Izora, who are two powerful Exalt realm experts to keep an eye on him?

    Is it because they suspect he will become the next Aelius Crescent?

    The more Affea thought about it, the more it made sense. The world might not know but she was there when he made a breakthrough all the way to high-rank-6.

    What if Azzy gives the symptoms of losing his control like Aelius? Will these two eliminate him? Such negative thoughts increased Affea''s worries more. She knew very well that Death Clan wouldn''t hesitate to even kill their own if one becomes a threat to mankind.

    But, what can she do? A few people popped up in her head as she was thinking hard, sitting all alone in the living room. "Lord Aegis and Ancestor Crescent, both are legendary realm experts but if one day, the Death Clan decides to erase him, then, neither of them might come forward.

    Ancestor Crescent will listen to the monarch of the Garcia Clan. And Lord Aegis was the pillar of this country now that King Brian and Royal Ancestor were dead.

    Principal Barton will protect his disciple but he wasn''t strong enough to face the Death Clan.

    The Moon Clan is interested in Azzy but will they still protect him, considering their relationship with the Death Clan? Not to mention, Azzy doesn''t seem to like Estella.

    There''s with Magnolis family. Azzy said that he was acquainted with the princess of Evenor. But, Evenor has good relations with King Ragron.

    That leaves Claire¡­ Triastal is far away and has no relations with the Death Clan. Their Elven relatives don''t wish to stay in contact with the rest of the world either.

    They are too young to get married but can be engaged in advance, right? The future can be left to the future but at present, Azzy needs some powerful backing so that people might think before having any nefarious designs on him.

    But, the main issue is that I still don''t know what her mother thinks about her relationship with my Azzy. She might not even know about it, yet.

    Hmm¡­ should I tell her, then? What if it backfires? Ugh¡­ I''m getting a headache just by thinking about all of these possibilities. Maybe, I''m just thinking too much.

    But, what if I was right?"

    Affea thought for a long time before she mumbled with a determined look, "I guess it is better to talk with Claire and her sister directly before contacting the Queen of Triastal Kingdom."

    While Affea is thinking of ways to secure the future of her foster son, at Aclein city, meanwhile, thousands of kilometers away, at the kingdom of Camelot, a peerless beauty was busy in intense training under the supervision of a drunken supreme realm expert.

 Chapter 314 - Leahs New Swordplay: The Swords Of Lancelot

    Inside the Dome of Gravity, Camelot;

    "Ha" "ha" Ha"

    Leah was practicing a sword technique at 20 times the gravitational force. As if the gravitational field around her wasn''t enough, she was wearing nearly 60 kg of arm and leg weights, which is like having 1200kg additional force on her. Her opponent is Cynthia Pendragon, who is her paternal aunt and the ex-gf of Syllia Lefeuvre.

    After breaking her off engagement with Duke Welmir and bringing chaos to Camelot, she left home and became busier with adventuring into the wild once again, only to return a few weeks ago under the King''s request, so that she can train her niece.

    Due to the political situation at home caused by her aunt, Leah had to reveal her Upper Elite realm (rank-6) soul power and graduate from the Heavenly Academy and return home.

    As the crown princess of Camelot, Leah became very active in politics but the announcement of the world league forced the king to give her time to train. After all, the trophy of the world league is not only important for Leah but the whole of Camelot.

    This year, she knew that there was going to be a tough competition in the form of Azzy, Claire, and who knows how many other children of heaven who went into hiding until now will resurface¡­

    With only two weeks in hand, she was training her hardest for she doesn''t want to underestimate her opponents.

    Aurelia Harpis, the royal teacher of Camelot, a Supreme Realm expert (rank-9) was continuously drinking while keeping an eye on her student.

    "You arrr rrrepppeatinnggg the forrmshhh¡­"

    (You are repeating the forms)

    Aurelia spoke loudly, interrupting Leah''s practice with Cynthia. "Eh?" A trace of surprise appeared on her face.

    "rrrememmberrr, no tecnikkke is the besshhth forrrmm offff teknikke"

    (Remember, no technique is the best form of technique)

    Realization dawned upon her. She bowed, "I apologize. I''ll not make the same mistake again.

    She went back to practice.

    What she was practicing is a sword technique called Swords of Lancelot. This swordplay has nine stances, each of which is designed to counter a particular form of martial arts, including those involving the use of weapons.

    The first core element of swordplay is prediction and speed. She was trained to quickly predict and identify the weaknesses in the opponent''s techniques to target them even while counter-attacking.

    The second core element of swordplay is its formless nature and adaptability. Unlike other sword techniques, the Swords of Lancelot don''t follow any fixed pattern. As such, in theory, it is impossible for an opponent to predict the moves of the swordplay.

    Of the nine stances of general, sword, saber, spear, whip, mace, palm, arrow, and energy, Leah had already mastered eight of them and is currently in the middle of training the energy stance, which is used to block and counterattack all the energy attacks.

    Around noon, she stopped her training and both of them returned home for the lunch.

    The family members are having lunch together. Cynthia was quiet during the whole time, refusing to meet her eyes with her eldest brother. Prince Celus was also quiet, trying his hardest to keep the secret of his sister, a secret like always.

    In the end, the King started a conversation with her, "Cyn, how is it going with Leah''s training? Will she end by the time of the league?"

    He had already heard from his daughter but so as to not make the atmosphere too awkward, he tried talking with his younger sister with whatever it comes to mind. At least talking about something is better than staying silent.

    Cynthia answered slowly while looking at her plate, "I''m sure, she will."

    Her answer was quite short. She was also a little bit disappointed that her brother talked to her only to enquire about Leah. Is he even worried about her well-being? But, then again, she cannot afford to expect too much after becoming selfish and causing too much of a mess.

    Lucas Pendragon, the Camelot''s King nodded, "I see¡­" He became silent for a brief amount of time before saying, "I think you should take her to Arcana world, preferably, a level-3 region, to see the results of training until now."

    "Eh? Arcana World?" While Leah was visibly surprised, Cynthia simply nodded, "yes, I will."

    The atmosphere became silent once again for a while until Cynthia stood up from the seat, "I''m finished. I''ll go take some rest for the rest of the noon. We''ll resume our training in the evening, Leah. We''ll venture into the wild, first thing in the morning."

    She bowed to her brother and sister-in-law, and left the place, making the King sigh deeply, "It''s becoming very difficult to talk to her these days. It''s as if she was keeping some kind of wall between us."

    The Queen patted his arm, "she will come around when she truly understands that we aren''t blaming her. Give her the time¡­"

    "Well, what else can we do?" The King let out another sigh.

    Celus and Leah stayed silent. They don''t know what to do with her either.

    Meanwhile, somewhere in the northeastern part of the continent, the kingdom of Rivendell;

    Inside one of the large bed chambers, an obese-looking naked young man was sleeping soundly with a couple of sleeping naked women on the side. There were clothes and wine spread all over the floor.

    It is the fatty prince of Rivendell, Gyllan Varen Eranyl, the only child of King Ragron whose soul orb was sealed by Agatha. Later, with the assistance of the Magnolis family''s ancestor, the access to soul energy returned to him.

    Even after the incident, Gyllan just resumed enjoying his life in bliss, instead of training harder and making a breakthrough. It''s because he knows that it''s useless. He might be arrogant but not foolish. He knew that he cannot defeat Azzy on his own when the latter could force his father to use real strength to block the attack.

    On top of that, his age is over 18. So, he cannot participate in the same division as Azzy either. So, this entire training is meaningless for him.

    As for sending someone else, his father didn''t allow him to send the guards to go to Aclein city and assassinate Azzy. Gyllan feared his father. So, he behaved and just waited for an opportunity while enjoying like any other rich young fellow.

    The 22-year-old slowly opened his eyes, grabbing his head that was aching, "Ugh, I guess I drank too much¡­ Eh?"

    The first he saw is a floating envelope that is made of energy. There was a signature of a familiar person.

    He furrowed his brows, "why is this guy contacting me?"

    He grabbed it and crushed it with his soul energy. Letters started to appear inside his mind. It was a text message. He read it.

    In an instant, his facial expression changed. He cracked his knuckles with a grin on his face, "Finally, I got the opportunity to take my revenge on those two but before that, I need to talk with Father. His humiliation at Graena city also needed to be avenged.. Who knows¡­ he might even agree to send a General."

 Chapter 315 - Tomb Of Nephthys Part-1

    The next day;

    Eternal Institutions of Arcana, Aclein City, Northern Qudour;

    It''s the third Sunday of September, time for another trip to the Arcana World, except that this time, Class Zero was split up even before entering the portal.

    With the league two weeks to go, this is probably the last opportunity for the kids to improve their soul power.

    All of those who are at least in the Elite realm (rank-5) were advised to go to the level-3 region but in pairs.

    As if Izora had something against Azzy and Estella, she split up Azzy and his gf only to pair him with Louis, the exchange student from the main branch.

    At the same time, Estella got Gideon as her partner.

    Meanwhile, Claire was paired up with Mia; Lark, who recently broke through rank-5, was paired with Calder who is a tenth-grade student with mid-rank-5 soul power.

    As for Adam, the one with a guitar as Arcana; he''s still in rank-4. So, he couldn''t accompany them to the level-3 region and went with younger classmates to a level-2 region where the strongest monster will be peak-rank-4.

    The group of eight students entered the region of Snuirhiel, which is located close to the equator of the planet. Even from the portal point, Azzy could only a vast amount of sand, rock formations, or barren land, far away.

    This level-3 region was a part of a vast sandy desert region that spreads over 2.4 million sq. km.

    Along with the students, five experts also followed them to the place.

    Combat instructor ¨C Izora (high-rank-7);

    Homeroom teacher ¨C Uphiar (peak-rank-6);

    Vice Principal - Sahara Fauns (high-rank-7);

    New Rune teacher ¨C Weldon (high-rank-6);

    And new Ancient history teacher ¨C Myrtle (peak-rank-6);

    As the rest of the guardians stayed silent, Vice Principal Sahara looked at everyone and gave a warning in a serious tone, "all of us will follow you but won''t help unless you are in grave danger. So, you need to treat it as if you are alone with your partner and forget about your guardians.

    If possible, don''t venture more than 100 kilometers from this city. Only stick to low/mid-rank-5 beasts. The danger out there is quite big, not only from the monsters but also fellow humans who might try to attack you just so that they can kill steal the monsters and absorb their core.

    Some might also try to use it as their shield. So, all of you must stay vigilant all the time. Make sure you stick close to your partner. And most importantly, don''t make any risky movements. We don''t want to send reckless fools to the world league."

    As everyone nodded, three of the groups went into different directions along with their respective guardians at once while Azzy and Louis were asked to stay behind.

    Soon, Azzy realized the reason why he wasn''t paired with Claire.

    "Azrael, you are with Instructor Crescent." "Louis, you are with me," Uphiar said to them, splitting them up.

    Azzy realized that his team up with Louis was a ruse. But, why did they have to deceive the other students? He didn''t understand.

    Nevertheless, it doesn''t matter. He wouldn''t have to stick to his partner, any longer. With his soul power surpassing most of the guardian instructors, he wouldn''t even need to improve anymore.

    Until now, he suppressed his strength but it might not be possible at the world league. Of course, Azzy never had the intentions to become the league champion but the rules don''t restrict someone to kill their opponents.

    So, he was worried about his teammates. And if a situation arrives when he had to use his full strength, then, he might kill the opponents. Whether his opponents or the judges care or don''t care, he had a no-kill policy.

    That''s why he needs to train and stabilize his newfound strength. His control once again becomes a mess when he doesn''t seal the 6th planet in his soul.

    And Azzy wanted to use this opportunity to achieve his goal. Thankfully, for him, it''s Izora who knows his real strength and also saw his death scythe. So, there''s no need to worry about holding back.

    After Uphiar left with Louis, Azzy looked at his mother, "Lady Crescent, shall we go?"

    Izora nodded in response.

    The mother and son pair set out in a direction towards the east.

    Meanwhile, somewhere about a few hundred kilometers away, inside a man-made pyramid, an intense battle is going on between a sword user and a Sphinx.

    It may be a fate or maybe, just a quite coincidence, Leah Pendragon had arrived into this very same city, a couple of hours ago, and ventured into the wild along with Cynthia Pendragon.

    At present, she was engaged in a tight battle against the overlord of the region.

    While the Sphinx is indeed the strongest monster in this region of Snuirhiel, it was actually a guardian of the tomb, which hosts the skeleton of an alleged Demi-god realm Arcana Master.

    No one knows his name but the tomb has been there for dozens of millennia.

    Of course, this place has been raided several times and the treasures of the supposed Arcana Master were looted long ago but the spirit of the Sphinx was tied to the place and couldn''t get free no matter how many times it was killed.

    The Sphinx dies and then, its body disappears, three days later, it once again resurrects at the same place.

    Maybe, it could get free if the skeleton in the tomb was destroyed. However, the tomb was also sealed with powerful and complex runes and until now, no one could open it, neither through force nor through decoding.

    With the powerful Sphinx doesn''t give any benefit of core even after being killed, eventually, the place is abandoned altogether. Nowadays, almost no one comes here, except for the fools who believe that they are the fated ones.

    "Izarok, materialize"

    Out of the large volume of water that filled the chamber, a figure materialized in the form of Leah.

    "Izarok, restrict its movements." She ordered while slashing at the Sphinx.

    As a large cut appeared on one of the front legs of Sphinx and healed in the next fraction of a second, the aqua girl placed her palms on the water surface.

    In an instant, several pairs of water hands appeared beneath the Sphinx, grabbing its legs firmly.

    *Roar*

    It let out a powerful roar while trying to struggle.

 Chapter 316 - Tomb Of Nephthys Part-2

    Two streaks of flashes are traveling across the desert of Snuirhiel, pushing away the sand away all over the side. Sometimes, they go straight. Sometimes, they suddenly change the direction. And sometimes, they even go in zig-zag.

    The various low-grade beasts like giant centipedes, sand vipers, giant silver ants, giant Scorpions, and ostriches, all of them that are on the way were seen dumbfounded and a part scared when they were passed by the blurred figures.

    "This kid is too fast." As Izora''s strength was suppressed to peak-rank-6, Izora was trailing behind Azzy by a long distance. She had to use soul energy to keep up with him and make sure he doesn''t go out of her sight.

    As Azzy made a sharp cut towards 2 o''clock, she furrowed her brows, "Was he here to train or play around?"

    It''s not that Azzy was in a hurry or something. He was moving at his fastest speed while trying to improve his control like changing directions, slowing down, then, accelerating, etc...

    In about half an hour, they already traveled over 350 kilometers from the city and reached the barren land in the region where surprisingly, no wild beast is being seen.

    There was nothing but a lone pyramid, built in the middle of nowhere.

    Azzy finally decided to put his break to his speedrunning. Due to the lack of control, he skids for several meters before he stopped with his foot buried a couple of feet into the ground.

    "What is this place?" He looked straight at the pyramid.

    A few seconds later caught up with him. She controlled her breathing in order to show that she was feeling exhausted, and said, "The Pyramid of Nephthys. I wanted to you to this place but didn''t expect we ended up here even without I say anything."

    "Nephthys?" Azzy looked at her.

    Izora explained, "This is basically a tomb of someone. No one knows the identity of the person who was resting here but according to the records, this tomb was built at the ending of the 4th Epoch by King Nephthys, who once ruled the kingdom of Hildegard."

    "Hildegard?" Azzy remembered Vann as well as Barbara. The former was the prince who was killed by the Galarian King and the latter was the disciple of the royal teacher of Hildegard.

    While he was thinking about how it was a pity to lose Vann, Izora''s face turned serious, "there are two people inside. Both are in the Upper Elite realm."

    "Hmm?" His thoughts were interrupted and his attention was grabbed by her words.

    He activated Aura Sensing ability right away and saw through the walls of the pyramid and searched for life.

    Three figures are found inside. Seeing the shape of the auras, Azzy fell into thoughts, "two females and one monster. But, the aura of one of them appears to be a little familiar. I only know a few female Arcana Masters who are in Upper Elite or higher realms, though. Is it Aunt Evelyn? I can''t think of anyone else other than her."

    Azzy and Izora entered the Pyramid through its large entrance that is facing the east.

    Meanwhile, inside the final chamber, Leah was in the midst of the battle. The aqua girl was nowhere to be seen. It was dismissed a while ago for it was becoming an obstacle to her swordplay training.

    The Sphinx appeared to be badly injured. After recovering countless times, its recovery ability was reduced by a lot.

    Leah had yet to use a soul skill of Excalibur, skill cards, or her other trump cards lying in her storage card. Until now, she didn''t even get to use a healing card as the Sphinx failed to injure her even once.

    As for the soul energy recovery cards, it is common to use them and one can''t expect otherwise during such a tough battle.

    Cynthia continued to stay on the sidelines, not intending to help her niece as she did for the past one hour.

    She suddenly sensed the presence of intruders and so was Leah.

    The latter spoke, "Aunt, the creature is about to die at any moment. I don''t want anyone to steal my prey after all the battle. Stop them."

    Cynthia was confident in Leah''s life-saving trump cards. She nodded and rushed towards the entrance.

    Sensing the enemy is coming towards them, Azzy and Izora stopped in their tracks and waited until they encounter Cynthia, only to be surprised by each other.

    "Azrael?" "Princess Cynthia?"

    Both of them called out each other names, making Izora let down her guard and asked Azzy, "Do you know her?"

    Azzy nodded and answered while looking at Cynthia, "she''s the princess of Camelot. I was more acquainted with her niece though."

    After informing his mother, he asked Cynthia in suspicion, "The other person with you, is it perhaps, Princess Leah?"

    Cynthia replied, "Leah is busy in battle and she doesn''t want anyone to disturb her until she was done with it."

    Izora let out a sigh, "I guess we are late. Now, we have to travel all the way to the west of the city to let you fight the overlord of the region."

    "It doesn''t matter." Azzy shrugged his shoulders in response. "I''m not here to improve my soul power anyway."

    Very soon, the three of them started to walk together.

    On the way, Cynthia kept glancing at Azzy from the corner of her eyes, being surprised at his soul power levels, "This boy isn''t even a mid-rank-5, a few months ago. Now, he has already surpassed Leah and reached high-rank-6? That''s some tremendous improvement. But then again, soul power isn''t everything. Even with mid-rank-6 soul power, Leah could easily defeat him. Once she completes the new technique, she will be unstoppable in the upcoming world league."

    After reaching the final chamber, Cynthia no longer paid attention to him and fixed her eyes on the battle.

    Just like Cynthia, Leah was also surprised to see Azzy. More than her, the sword was more excited. Its voice echoed in her head, "See, I told you before. He''s your destined knight. What are the odds of you meeting him of the people and that too, here, at this time?"

    Maybe, she wanted to show off her strength, or, maybe, she had enough of practice. All of a sudden, Leah suddenly raised her sword and poured soul energy into it, unleashing the soul skill for the first time.

    "Soul skill: Amalgamation of Ice and Fire"

    All of her surroundings started to freeze in ice. "Get back," Cynthia warned Azzy and Izora as she backed off. Just as Izora grabbed him to escape the freezing, Leah spoke out loud, "don''t need to."

    The ice only covered just a few meters around her before a thick beam of flames burst from the ground, burning away the Sphinx.

    *Thud*

    The corpse of the Sphinx fell on the ground before disintegrating into million specks of light.

    There was no core left by the Sphinx. So, there''s nothing to gain for the one that killed it.

    "Hey, Azrael," She waved her hands with a pleasant smile. But, in the next second, she was stunned on the spot, "high-rank-6?"

    "Hello, Princess Leah." Azzy was formal with her as always. He was also maintaining his usual blank face.

    "It looks like you are doing well." She commented upon reaching the others. She observed him again. Compared to the last time, he also grew a little more than two centimeters. He''s 5''7" now.

    "Not bad, I would say¡­" At the same time, Azzy also observed her. The last time he saw her, she was at peak-rank-5 but now she is mid-rank-6, almost reaching an advanced stage.

    He remembered how she didn''t receive any improvement of soul power back when they killed the Draco-Galarian and absorbed half of its core as a part of her share.

    Was she hiding her true strength, back then? Or has she just improved during the past few months?

    Either way, it doesn''t matter for him.

    Eventually, everyone''s attention was grabbed at the tomb with Cynthia''s reminder.

    "Is that the tomb of an alleged demigod?" He asked Leah as the latter walked towards it.

    "Yes," Leah confirmed it upon reaching the tomb and caressed the runes engraved all over the tomb.

    It was then the Reaper''s voice echoed in his head, "Not just ordinary demi-god. It''s the tomb of a powerful one."

    "Hmm?" Azzy halted his footsteps when he was about to follow Leah to the tomb. "Do you know who it is?"

    "No, I don''t. But, I can sense the presence of spirit as well as some ancient treasure present inside it. There''s no doubt about it.. The spirit of a demigod was trapped inside."

 Chapter 317 - Tomb Of Nephthys Part-3

    Leah is trying to remove the seals placed on the tomb. Of course, she wasn''t alone. Excalibur is working with her.

    However, the sword spirit didn''t possess her and just showed off its profound knowledge.

    With her extraordinary talent in sealing techniques, Excalibur was confident that she can unseal it in no time.

    Meanwhile, Azzy was enquiring with the Reaper, "Is it really safe?"

    More than the treasure, he was worried about the presence of the spirit trapped inside. If it isn''t a demi-god, it wouldn''t have mattered but he met his future self who easily severed the connection between him and the Reaper, back a while ago.

    Even if it doesn''t have a real body, the spirit can possess one of them and attack the others. Not to mention, he couldn''t see through the tomb with his aura sensing. That''s another thing to worry about.

    So, Azzy was confirming with the Reaper so that he can stop Leah in time if it is really dangerous.

    The Reaper stayed silent for a brief amount of time and replied, "I can''t say that nothing unfortunate can happen but in every future that I see, the spirit appeared to be harmless, although you might have to prepare yourself mentally for what was about to happen."

    *Ting*

    As the seal was lifted, a crispy sound was heard from within the tomb before the slab that covered the tomb moved on its own and fell onto the floor, alerting the adults.

    On the other hand, Leah was completely calm. Like Azzy, she too knew about the presence of the spirit. Excalibur informed her before.

    Slowly, a translucent figure rose from the tomb. It was an old man dressed in traditional robes. His head was covered by a scarlet-colored muffin hat where an insignia of a golden dragon was printed on it.

    "A ghostly spirit?" Izora and Cynthia summoned their Arcana immediately. A blue lightning dragon appeared behind Izora while Cynthia tightly gripped a saber.

    "Woah, easy there, ladies. I''m not a malevolent spirit. My will is still intact." The spirit looked as if he was taken aback by the reactions of Izora and Cynthia.

    His eyes then fell on Azzy for a moment before shifting his attention to Leah and the sword in her hand, "you must be the one that released me. What is your name?"

    "Leah Pendragon." She answered truthfully, despite knowing that it might displease the spirit for Camelot and Hildegard were known to be enemy kingdoms, due to the border issues.

    "So, it''s the descendant of Arthur Pendragon that inherited his Arcana, huh. No wonder you managed to free me." Contrary to her expectations, the spirit of the demigod nodded calmly and then stared at the sword for a while before he started speaking about himself, "I''m Amerys, born as a prince of Hildegard kingdom and lived most of my life as the Royal Ancestor and Grand Tutor.

    I have lived for 24544 years, survived through two Epochs. I have seen the kingdoms rise and then, fall. Several heavenly geniuses stamped their names in history as I quietly protected my homeland.

    But, my descendants aren''t that fortunate. For thousands of years, I hoped for a successor of the throne who was blessed by the heavens. But, I only witnessed the descendants of my brother rise to the throne and then die after a few centuries.

    The old man then let out a sigh and continued in a depressing tone, "My hopes were kept crushed again and again. Eventually, I decided to leave the fate of the kingdom to the heavens and go to the land of immortals. After all, I have a lot of restrictions placed on by the Mother Goddess due to the human population booming.

    With great expectations, I ascended from this world. Unfortunately, I underestimated the cruelty of those gods.

    On Gaia, demigods are super powerful beings where we can decide the fate of any kingdom with a snap of a finger but at the Celestial Empire, they treated us like slaves.

    I was born as a child of heavens and naturally, a bit more powerful than other demigods of the same level. So, my status is more like a servant.

    Even among the servants, my position is quite high. Serving a true god-like Poseidon is indeed an honor. Only later did I learn that such a position was granted to me because I was the master of the Shield of Gaia that contains the Earth Jewel, which I found accidentally at the mortal world of Arabor during one of my expeditions.

    Little did I expect that it turned out to be a cosmic gem, which has a tremendous value than I imagined it to be¡­

    And the next part of the story can be guessed. In just a century, trouble arrived in the name of Cilix, Poseidon''s mortal grandson who was at the brink of breaking through to the God realm.

    He coveted the Jewel of Earth, believing that it will help him in breakthrough. But, the cosmic gems are bound to their owners. They cannot be used by anyone else as long as the owner is still alive.

    Prince Cilix tried to assassinate me and when I escaped, he sent equally powerful demigods to hunt me down. Naturally, I wasn''t a match for them.

    In the end, I had to sever a part of my soul to escape with the Jewel of Earth and returned to my home.

    One of my descendants, Nephthys Hildegard had assisted me in sealing this remnant spirit of mine into my wife''s tomb, following my orders."

    "Slaves?" Azzy was taken aback by surprise. He didn''t expect the so-called Heaven touted by everyone to be nothing but hell.

    Meanwhile, Leah thought as she stared inside the tomb, "so, this wasn''t his skeleton, huh! Ah, yes, that''s right. The skeleton structure is a female one. It''s obvious that it wasn''t his. Putting that aside, I can understand waiting for some potential successor but it is damn weird to spend time with skeleton for like thousands of years even if it is his wife. Does he have an obsession over her mortal remains or something?"

    "Throw away those useless thoughts, Leah." Excalibur''s voice interrupted her thoughts. "Look over the shield beside the skeleton. You found a cosmic gem."

    "Cosmic Gem?" Azzy was also informed the same by his Arcana. He couldn''t see it from far but he trusts the Reaper. "Which one, Chronos?"

    "It looks like the Jewel of Earth," The Reaper answered him, almost immediately. "First, it''s the Life jewel, then, its water, and now, it''s earth. You are indeed fated with the cosmic gems. No matter what, you have to acquire it. Send the three of those away with Chrono Rewind or just rewind the time to get it before they do. As for the spirit, the death scythe can take care of it."

    "But, I don''t have such right." Azzy frowned inwardly. He would be lying if he wasn''t tempted to take it but there''s such a thing as morality. "Chronos, she defeated the tomb keeper and it''s her reward. How could snatch it away? Moreover, aren''t you suggesting doing the same thing as this Cilix did to Amerys?"

    "No, it is different. First of all, the Jewel of Earth doesn''t belong to anyone. Everyone in the universe is eligible to possess it but killing is a sin. On the other hand, what I suggested to you isn''t a sin. It''s because you can liberate his spirit from suffering and let him go through the reincarnation cycle," replied the Reaper in a firm tone, trying to make him understand the seriousness of the situation.

    However, Azzy was stubborn as a mule when it comes to upholding his principles. He said, "No, my grandpa taught me that one won''t the value of the reward if they don''t work hard for it."

    "Exactly," The Reaper chimed in response.

    "Huh? What do you mean?" Azzy frowned inwardly.

    Just as the Reaper was about to explain, Azzy''s attention was the floating glossy black-colored knight''s shield with an insignia of a dragon on top of it.

    Amerys then spoke, "Princess Leah Pendragon, I would like to thank you for unsealing me but to acquire this shield, you have to go under a trial. I want to see whether you have the capability to use this to the fullest capability. Don''t worry¡­ even if you fail, I will still reward you with the knowledge transfer of a unique skill card for unsealing me."

    Before Leah answered to him, he shifted his attention to the others in the chamber, "the three of you are also welcome to challenge this trial but none of you gain will anything if you fail to clear the trial."

 Chapter 318 - Trial Of Demigod Amerys Part-1

    Neither Azzy nor even Leah expected this spirit of demigod would offer a trail for everyone else too.

    Upon realizing that the Jewel of Earth isn''t a reward for releasing the spirit remnant of the demigod, Azzy finally understood why the Reaper mentioned getting prepared for what''s to come.

    The Reaper was probably talking about the trial. But, then, why did he change his words and suggested stealing the jewel?

    Soon, the answer came to Azzy. The probability of the future. As the deity of time and death, the Reaper could see millions of futures at the same time. Every minute action of someone leads to a different outcome. But, it isn''t that all futures are completely different from each other. Most of them would overlap at one point or another.

    When he realized it, Azzy thought that the Reaper might have seen a lot of pretty bad ones that probably made him suggest doing that. He felt a little bit apologetic towards his Arcana but his decision won''t change anyway. Leah might not be a close friend but she isn''t a stranger either. She was also a benefactor, in a way.

    He wouldn''t harm her for the sake of his selfish interests.

    Azzy stayed silent without moving from the spot as the spirit of the demigod created a portal nearby his tomb.

    With a smile on his face, Demigod Amerys stretched his left arm towards the portal, "interested candidates can enter."

    Izora walked towards Azzy and asked, "Do you want to go?"

    "Well, I don''t want to travel back and forth without doing anything. Now that I came all the way, I will have to take part in it." Azzy announced his decision.

    Izora had already expected it since it is tough to go against the temptation of acquiring the treasure but she was different. She''s more than 100 years old and often ventures outside. Naturally, she faced all kinds of people.

    She was wary of the spirit, suspecting it might be a trap.

    As she was about to warn Azzy, a voice interrupted from the side. "Leah, don''t be hasty."

    Leah, who was walking towards the portal without thinking much, stopped in her tracks and turned around, "Aunt?"

    Amerys and the others also looked at her.

    Staring at the floating spirit, Cynthia asked a couple of questions, almost in a way that can offend the listener, "How can we be sure that you aren''t luring us into a trap? Moreover, why should we enter a trial to possess the shield? Can''t we just snatch it away with force? With suppression around, I don''t think your remnant spirit can defeat us, anyway."

    "That''s right¡­" Izora silently nodded in agreement. These are the same thoughts she was also having. It appeared that the adults are thinking on the same wavelength.

    However, the kids, on the other hand, felt like Cynthia shouldn''t have run off her mouth because their respective Arcana had warned their hosts beforehand, regarding the strength of Amerys.

    In response to Cynthia, Amerys nodded with a smile, "Well, your questions have logic. I guess I have to prove myself¡­"

    "Azzy, Careful" "Leah, careful"

    The Reaper and Excalibur alerted their respective hosts.

    In the next moment, an enormous force of suppression descended onto everyone.

    "Argh¡­"

    Cynthia and Izora fell onto their knees right away along with Izora''s lightning dragon.

    Soul energies escaped from Azzy and Leah at the same time, automatically covering their owners.

    "Ho¡­ now, this is a surprise." Amerys stroked his beard while being visibly surprised by Azzy. He expected Leah to resist his aura but never expected there would be another one.

    He was even more intrigued by Azzy upon seeing how dense his soul energy is. It was at least three times denser than even Leah''s.

    Amerys suddenly became curious of Azzy. His attention lingered on him for a while, trying to probe the secrets of the kid.

    Unfortunately for him, the Reaper was already prepared to protect Azzy. Now that Azzy is in the Upper Elite realm, the Reaper''s own limits were increased by a lot, compared to the time when the future Azrael isolated him.

    Amerys found himself no success. Glancing at Azzy and then, at Leah, a thought appeared in his head. He stroked his beard once again, "a fate, indeed."

    "You bas***d, what are you doing!" Izora flared up in anger when she was suddenly ambushed by the aura. She was unafraid of him. To escape the suppression, Izora decided to unleash her unique skill, which is to merge with the dragon to transform into a humanoid dragon.

    Thankfully, she didn''t waste her skill for the suppression was removed within a few seconds.

    On the other hand, Cynthia was shivering in fear from top to bottom upon realizing how powerful this remnant is.

    Once his observations were finished, Amerys stared at the one who suspected his intentions, "lady, now, you should be able to understand that I don''t need a silly thing such as a trap. I may be a spirit but I was also a demigod who lived more than a hundred lifetimes than you. You can be assured that I know a million ways to capture you, kids, and take over the possession of one of your bodies. But, that''s not who I am.

    As for the participation in the trial, both of you ladies no longer need to enter. I have already found out the qualified candidates."

    The demigod turned his head towards Leah and then, at Azzy, "Both of you could resist my aura without issues. That clearly states your potential.

    Before you make your decision, let me remind you that this wasn''t the first time I was freed by the children of heaven like you. There are people who managed to unseal me but none of them had cleared the trial so far.

    I was waiting for sixty millennia by now. I can wait another twenty millennia for another fated person. It doesn''t matter to me. What matters is whether you want to grab this opportunity or not. The choice is entirely up to you."

    After saying everything he wanted, Amerys waited for the decision of his selected candidates.

    Izora stared angrily at the demigod but stayed silent. Meanwhile, Cynthia was greatly shaken by the earlier suppression. With her keen senses, she could feel the vast difference between a Supreme Realm expert like Aurelia and this Amerys.

    If she never had sparred against the royal teacher of Camelot, she wouldn''t have been troubled by the aura of demigod. Now, if a mere spirit can unleash such suppression in level-3 region, then, how powerful would have been this demigod when he was alive?

    And how powerful those gods must have been who forced him into servitude and later, hide in this place.

    It took a great toll on her mind. She was trying hard to control her emotions, right now.

    As for Leah, she was the calmest person in the room. She turned her to look at Azzy who appeared to be in thoughts, "Good Luck, Azrael."

    As Azzy was busy discussing with the Reaper about his second thoughts of not taking the risk, he couldn''t give her a reply.

    She didn''t mind it and just walked forward, disappearing into the portal.

    After a couple of moments, Azzy said bye to his mother and went ahead to participate in the trial.

    Upon stepping inside, he found himself standing before the entrances of two caves.

    He looked around. There was no sign of Leah. She was probably in another independent space.

    Then, a voice was heard from the sky.

    "Candidate Azrael, this trial is divided into three phases, namely, strength, inner demons, and Battle against oneself.

    For every phase, you will have to randomly choose one of the caves before you. The difficulty of one test is a lot higher than the other. It depends on your luck on whether you choose an easy one or not.

    If you are on the brink of death or cannot continue, your trial will be declared as a failure and I will forcefully bring you back to the real world whether you like it or not. Of course, you can voluntarily give up at any stage."

    Azzy nodded in understanding and walked into the cave on the right.

    The surroundings changed to that of a simple and plain barren land. A giant portal appeared in the sky far away from him.

    In a couple of seconds, a fire dragon exited the portal. It wasn''t much strong, just a rank-5 one.

    "I guess I picked up the easy one," Azzy mumbled to himself.

    "Unfortunately, no," The Reaper''s voice echoed in his head.

    As soon as his words ended, a large number of hounds and dragons started to jump out.

 Chapter 319 - Trial Of Demigod Amerys Part-2

    "Soul skill: Eyes of God"

    "Soul skill: Rise of the Undead"

    "Soul skill: Rain of Death"

    Azzy unleashed the soul skills one after another as soon as he saw the horde of dragons and hounds coming towards him.

    His eyes turned pitch black with no visible pupils.

    Rank-5 Skeletal Hydra and Rank-6 Aurora (Skeletal snow wolf) of platinum grades were summoned behind him.

    The black lotus, Ruby was carrying Azzy.

    The black lightning wolf, Vajra, which is now a high-rank-6 celestial grade beast, was proudly raising its head as it stood ahead of everyone.

    Finally, Azzy had a death scythe, which is almost twice the size of him, in his hands while his 100-meter surroundings are being melted because of black rain.

    "Guys, leave none of them alive. No usage of soul skills on your own though."

    With no one around to worry, he went all out against the beasts. As if Vajra was bloodthirsty, it went on a rampage without holding back, killing every hound by simply swatting its paws randomly or dashing and colliding head-on.

    Meanwhile, Azzy flew up along with the dark cloud before killing each one with a slash that is still alive after being hit by the black rain.

    A total of (75) rank-4; (16) rank-5; and (4) rank-6 beasts turned into corpses before disappearing into thin air without leaving any cores behind. Azzy also found that none of their skeletons are also added to his undead army.

    By the time the rain stopped, only one dragon was seen alive, flapping its wings and staring at Azzy. It was a double-headed giant dragon with one head being black and the other head being red.

    Azzy''s summoning beasts on the ground are helpless against the monsters that can fly. So, they became spectators to the final battle between their master and the peak-rank-6 beast of platinum grade.

    "Ruby, fly¡­" He ordered the black lotus. With four Protos spears hovering at his back, Azzy flew towards the dragon, which was constantly releasing a wisp of poisonous gas every time it exhales from its left mouth and a wisp of blue flames from its right mouth.

    With no Rain of Death, the dragon was no longer afraid to get near to its enemy. It also flew towards Azzy.

    When they were about only thirty meters away from each other, the dragon breathes out a ball of flames to incinerate its enemy. The flames were blue in color and the attack is naturally a lot stronger than a full-powered attack of a typical peak-rank-6 beast.

    If it was before, Azzy would have been a little bit worried. But, now, it is of no concern. He calmly raised his free right arm and motioned it towards the incoming attack.

    A Protos Spear cut through the air like lightning and precisely struck the blue fireball.

    The Protos Spear disappeared right and corrupted it at a quickened pace. By the time the attack even crossed half of the distance between Azzy and the dragon, its flames were put out before turning black and disintegrating into nothing.

    *Grrr*

    It growled in response to its failure.

    As the black dragon head is gathering its energy to unleash an acid blast, the beast flew towards Azzy for close combat.

    Meanwhile, Azzy raised the death scythe above his head and poured soul energy into it.

    To distract its attention, he sent one of the Protos Spears at the dragon.

    The beast was alerted by the Protos Spear when it was just a few meters away from the target.

    Since there''s no way for it to dodge with such a huge body and close distance, the beast raised its claws.

    The tough skin didn''t save it. The Protos Spear pierced its limb and the energy invaded its body.

    *Graaaa* Just as the dragon roared in pain and momentarily shifted its attention to the insides of its body so that it can expel the invading corruptive energy, Azzy made his move.

    "Soul skill: Slice of Death"

    Azzy swung the scythe with all of his strength, creating a giant arc of pitch-black energy, which cleanly sliced the double-headed dragon into two and kill it instantly.

    "Oh, I guess I underestimated far too much." Azzy was visibly surprised at the result.

    Observing the one-sided bloody massacre, a trace of surprise appeared on Amerys as he thought, "A descendant of death clan with three Arcana, eh. The descendant of Arthur Pendragon and the descendant of Azrael Garcia are at the same place? Now, this gets even more interesting¡­"

    Azzy landed on the ground as the two caves appeared out of thin air, once again to indicate that he had passed the first phase of the trial.

    "Stay vigilant, Azrael, this next phase will be your inner demons." The Reaper warned him as his host had chosen the left cave.

    Azzy nodded and continued to walk. He entered the cave. The surroundings were changed to his home at Aclein city.

    On a dining table, Affea, Oakley, and Avia were having lunch together. All of them were laughing happily.

    "Aunt¡­" Azzy unknowingly called out her but there was no response from Affea.

    He found himself to be in some type of spirit form. He walked towards them but no one would discover his presence.

    "What kind of inner demon is this?" Azzy wonders as he too takes an empty seat.

    It was then Avia opened her mouth, "Mom, the house is really peaceful these days. It''s a good thing that Azrael had finally left. I use to be very uncomfortable with his presence."

    Oakley nodded in agreement, "Yeah, it is. It used to be so chaotic during that devil spawn''s stay. If only I never found Azrael on that night, we would have been living in so much peace. Because of him, we were found out, then, you got kidnapped, later, we were forced to go into hiding, your mother had even landed herself in danger. She would have been killed by the Royal Ancestor."

    Azzy was taken aback by surprise. He never expected such words from his favorite grandpa''s mouth.

    As this statement didn''t cause enough disturbances in Azzy''s mind, Affea also pitched in her opinion, "If not for the fact that he''s the user of Celestial Grade, who would bother to protect him. If we take care of him now, in the future, he will protect us from the Snieca kingdom.

    We already know that he had the potential to even become a demigod. Once he reaches the Supreme Realm, who would dare to look at us in the eye?"

    Azzy suddenly had a mental breakdown as those impacted him a lot. He and Affea are complete strangers more than 18 months ago. With their 8-9 months of disappearance, he lived with his foster family, for barely a year.

    But, the connection he formed with Affea is something he can''t explain in words. Their bond was so close that he wouldn''t even mind calling her mother if the latter had no problem with it.

    It is why it is so hard for Azzy to hear those words. Due to his unstable emotional state, the Protos energy that was sealed inside the gem on Vajra''s forehead shot towards its owner like a beam and hit him.

    Azzy started to get influenced by the Protos energy.

    Thankfully, the Reaper is always there looking out for him.

    The voice echoed in Azzy''s head after the Protos energy was sent back, "Snap out of it, Azrael. She''s an illusion. I already mentioned to you that these are your inner demons. Throw away those negative thoughts. It is the only way to win over your inner demons."

    Only then did Azzy manage to come to his senses. Realization dawned upon him, "I guess I was always insecure about my position in grandpa''s family."

    "Despite being close with everyone, you have a suspicion about whether the love you are receiving is true or whether it was just out of material gains." The Reaper said to him. He added, "But then again, it''s quite common. There''s no such thing as pure love in the world that is timeless.

    While I can''t question a mother''s love during the baby''s time in her womb, I can surely say that as the child grows up, even the pure love from mother and father will slowly get contaminated because of the society around them, followed by their ambitions.

    Everything will eventually disappear with time.

    Instead of pondering on whether you are right or wrong, you should just accept the positive and negative, believing that they are common."

    Azzy closed his eyes as he came to terms with himself, believing that while Affea and her family might have selfish thoughts, she still loves him regardless of her own son. That is an undeniable truth.

    When he firmly believed it, everything around him disappeared.

    But, unfortunately, the second phase hasn''t cleared yet. Another inner demon was before him, now.

    This time, he wasn''t a bystander. He was standing before his girlfriend, except that the latter was linking her arms with some stranger. However, the man''s face was all blurry. It''s because Azzy had never imagined a specific person to steal her from him.

    Claire looks the same as now but her words tell the timeline is different.

    "You are too late, Rael. 27 years, I waited for you for more than two decades for your return but neither had you replied to any messages nor even given a clue on whether you are alive. I moved on¡­" Claire said to him.

    The words hurt Azzy a lot but unlike earlier, he was a lot calmer.. The blurry face of the man unknowingly helped him a lot.

 Chapter 320 - Trial Of Demigod Amerys Part-3

    As Azzy spends more time with Claire and lets his feelings grow more and more, a fear developed in his heart.

    He knew that he had to leave her eventually and return to the original timeline. By then, 27 years will be passed. Will Claire still love him then?

    There are various things that troubled him. First of all, according to the rules of time travel, her memories of them will disappear. So, she wouldn''t even recognize him much less love him back.

    Second, even if a miracle happens and she remembers him, 27 years isn''t a small period of time. There''s a high possibility that Claire might lose her feelings gradually over time and fall for someone else.

    Third and the biggest problem, the age gap will grow wider. When he returned to his timeline, he will still be a teenager but Claire will atleast be in her 40s. Of course, his parents are over 100 years old. So, it isn''t much of a problem for him but will be a problem for Claire for she will be seen as a pedophile by everyone. So, the relationship might not be possible and he might have to wait for atleast a decade or two to get back with her.

    Now that he had a glimpse of a possible future is right before his eyes, Azzy fell into thoughts. Like the first inner demon, he needed to come up with a solution.

    Then, the Reaper''s earlier words came to his mind. "There''s no pure love exists for endless of time. In time, everything will disappear." Azzy closed his eyes and analyzed the situation.

    The current situation is that he returned to the timeline but Claire already moved on and is dating someone else. The most important part here is that she knew who he was. That means she had their memories.

    Azzy opened his eyes. Even without the Reaper''s help, he got the answer. He stared at the two of them who were waiting for his reaction. The logical answer would have been a heartfelt apology but Azzy''s response was different.

    "We Arcana Masters could live for centuries or even several millennia, Claire. If your love disappears after 27 years of time, then, it only means that we are bound to break up, a century more or less, even if I hadn''t left you." He proceeded to answer in a calmer tone when being blamed by Claire''s illusion for leaving her. This came from the bottom of his heart.

    When he accepted Claire''s proposal, he clearly warned that he will be gone for a long time that can even be a century. Either she had forgotten about it or she didn''t care. It doesn''t matter for Azzy as he was looking into the far future.

    He was thinking of his master and Vice Principal, who were together for hundreds of years. He truly wanted that kind of relationship.

    Maybe, this is why when the future Azrael showed him their family picture, which indicated that Claire was his wife and they even had a son, Azzy thought they will be together for hundred years. This long period of time is also one of the reasons he accepted Claire''s proposal and started loving her back.

    But, if Claire breaks up with him if he disappears from her side for a while, then, he wasn''t ready to get back with her. That''s why he came to an unexpected decision.

    Looking at the two of them who appeared to be shocked by his reply that appears to be more like blaming her, he further said, "Claire, since you have already moved on, then, there''s no need of apology or forgivingness. I will treat it as if we just aren''t fated and move on with my life too. Goodbye." Azzy let out a smile, wishing for their happiness.

    The two of them disappeared into thin air after he was done with his reply, indicating that he passed this inner demon.

    The Reaper was very happy with Azzy''s reply. He praised, "There''s no right or wrong way in tackling the inner demons. All that matters is whether your heart is clear or not. But, now is not the time to celebrate."

    "Yeah, I know." Azzy nodded as he stared at the person who appeared before him while his surroundings changed to some random streets. He was being drenched by heavy rain. "This inner demon will probably be hardest for me to get out."

    In front of him lies the situation where he was facing Gideon as an opponent, except that it isn''t some sparring match.

    Gideon had a sword in his hand that was dyed in blood. Meanwhile, there are corpses around him. All of them are blurry but it doesn''t matter. Azzy could figure out what kind of scenario it is.

    In school, he always protected his best friend from others whether he was right or wrong but what if Gideon turns evil and turns against you? Will Azzy break his no-kill policy for the sake of the world? Or will he forsake his morality for the sake of his friend?

    When he saved him from Estella once, the latter questioned him this. He didn''t have an answer back then and neither did he have now.

    But, unfortunately, he didn''t have time to deeply think about it because Gideon had already made his move.

    He dashed forward, coming for the kill. Azzy instinctively raised the death scythe and blocked the attack.

    "You keep coming in my way, again and again. Today, I''ll kill you for good." Gideon roared at him, displaying clear hostility.

    Azzy now wondered how to solve this. At first, he tried to convince him through dialogue. Pushing him away through force, Azzy said, "Renounce your ways, Gid. It isn''t too late."

    "You are just a spineless coward who can''t kill others," Gideon argued back and dashed once again colliding his sword with Azzy''s death scythe.

    Azzy doesn''t know how to respond to that insult when it came directly from his best friend. Meanwhile, Vajra, and the other two undead platinum grade beasts stepped forward to attack the enemy.

    Unlike the humans, the undead beasts were quite simple and extremely loyal. They don''t have any hesitation or confusion when dealing with the opponent.

    If an opponent shows hostility to their master, then, it is an enemy where they don''t have to hold back unless Azzy instructs them so.

    As for Vajra, it was a mutated celestial grade beast. Just like the Reaper, it can also restrict the will of the demigod. So, it wasn''t affected any mentally and is clear that Gideon is nothing but an illusion. So, it was clear.

    As the three beasts bare their fangs against Gideon, asking for the orders to remove the threat, Azzy stopped them.

    They stayed back and became spectators as a result.

    Azzy then once gain shifted his attention to Gideon who was laughing out loud, "see¡­ you can''t kill me, Azzy. And this weakness will become the reason for your death."

    Azzy started to wonder, "What should I do now? Except for the fact that he''s from Crescent Clan, I know almost nothing about Gideon''s background. He has an aunt, right? What was her name again?"

    As Azzy was racking his brains, the Reaper once again came to the rescue. But, his suggestion is something that Azzy doesn''t favor at any cost.

    "You want me to kill?" Azzy got a little bit angry at the Reaper as the latter suggested killing him to escape this illusion, instead of choosing a peaceful method.

    "Even if this Gideon isn''t real, if I kill him, it would be the same as admitting that I will kill my best friend without even trying to get him back if it ever happens in real life." Azzy refused the method right away.

    A thought appeared in his mind. He mumbled, "I think I have to use my usual way to deal with this."

    Meanwhile, Gideon charged forward once again. Azzy ordered Vajra to restrain him, instead.

    "Soul skill: Lightning Prison"

    Letting out a powerful bark, Vajra unleashed its fifth soul skill. Dark clouds gathered above in the sky before a net of lightning descended onto Gideon.

    After getting captured by a lightning net, Gideon''s body is paralyzed on the spot. He tried to get free by energy eruption.

    All of the energy tried to push away the lightning net, making a hole out of it. He jumped out and then activated his attribute skill. The lightning sparks started to dance all over his body.

    "There''s no use, Azrael." The Reaper attempted to convince his host once again. "You have to kill him. Remember what''s at stake here. For the sake of illusion, you cannot miss the opportunity to acquire the Jewel of Earth."

    "And for the sake of a cosmic gem, I won''t give up my friend." Azzy turned out to be stubborn, frustrating the Reaper.

    "Aurora, Hydra.... help Vajra to restrain him¡­" He gave the order.

 Chapter 321 - Trial Of Demigod Amerys Part-4

    "Azzy, free me right now." The fake Gideon roared at Azzy upon being restrained by the three beasts followed by a capture sealing chains.

    Due to the massive difference in strength between Gideon and Azzy, the former couldn''t escape the chains.

    Like before, he once again planned to escape with energy eruption but Azzy didn''t give him such an opportunity, sealing his soul orb through the Decarune seal.

    It is the first time he used it on someone else but he didn''t hesitate to do it in order to remove the possibility of assault from Gideon''s mind.

    "Gid, listen to me," replied Azzy as he walk forward. Upon reaching the illusion of his best friend, he said, "killing is sin. Not only will it cause harm to the victims and their families but even your soul will be corrupted in the process. Adding on top of that, you will face karma at the hell. Why face everything just for an unnecessary moment of desire.

    You are smart and have over 140 IQ. I''m sure you understand how foolish your actions are, once you ponder on it with a cool mind."

    "It''s too late, Azzy. I reached the place where I can''t return." Gideon shook his head in response. He appeared to be calmed a bit.

    Thinking that his words are affecting a bit, Azzy replied, "No, you can still return. All you need to do is to repent by doing something to the families that you harmed in your life. They deserved at least that much."

    The Reaper was silent, giving up on convincing his host. He could understand Azzy''s thoughts. It wasn''t childish but trying to talk with an inner demon is outright foolish when there''s something at stake here. He decided to give one last chance to Azzy. After that, he will take action whether Azzy likes it or not.

    Unfortunately for Azzy, it isn''t easy to convince Gideon to drag him to the right path.

    "It''s easy for you to say that because you have never killed someone in your life. How would you know what I feel or how I view the world?" Gideon argued back. In the next instant, his behavior changed, displaying the signs of a psychopath. Laughing out loud while struggling to get free, Gideon said, "That feeling of blood rush when you stab someone in the heart is something you can never feel in your life.

    Cutting the wrists and other vitals and slowly draining the blood while the victim is crying for help is another bliss moment. More than anyone, I guess I will get happier if I taste the moment of killing my best friend.

    How about let me kill you? I promise that I will renounce my ways, okay?"

    Azzy was taken aback by surprise. What kind of situation is this? It was a little bit overwhelming.

    The Reaper gave a piece of suggestion for the last time, "even if you consider this illusion created by your mind is true, you have to kill him. This fake Gideon cannot be saved. Killing isn''t a sin here. It''s mercy. You are saving his soul from getting more corrupted so that he suffers less in the underworld."

    As soon as the Reaper''s words ended, Gideon''s behavior worsened further. He was roaring again, trying to get free, "free me¡­ free me¡­ I''ll you kill Azzy. Let me kill you¡­ kill¡­ kill¡­ kill¡­"

    Unknown to Azzy, tears welled up in his eyes as he raised the death scythe. One can say he let his emotions involve deeply into the situation. This is the effect of the inner demon.

    He finally slashed at him. Gideon closed his pitch-black eyes tightly but nothing happened.

    After a couple of seconds, he opened his eyes only to see the curved blade of the death scythe was stopped at his neck.

    "No, I can''t," said Azzy as his hands were shivering.

    "Why¡­" The fake Gideon appeared to be confused. However, he didn''t receive a reply.

    The death scythe motioned back and then sliced his neck, separating the head from the body.

    A deep voice escaped from Azzy''s mouth, "Perhaps, it is my fault for letting you receive all the love and affection from everyone that you deserved. But, in return, it decreased your willpower and you developed a lack of conviction, Azrael."

    The surroundings once again changed. This time, he was surrounded by at least 30 people. All of them are wearing church robes. A few of them have recognizable faces and the remaining faces were blurred.

    The ones that have clear appearances were killed by Aria back when he and Claire were ambushed on the train. Apart from those, there''s the late Royal Ancestor of Northern Qudour (Aethon Light), late King Brian, and currently imprisoned Timothy Light (father of Brian).

    However, none of it matters because the Reaper is now in control of Azzy''s body and the Reaper didn''t intend to let Azzy finish the trial as he was in hurry to finish the race.

    The leader of the group, the illusion of a Cardinal named Ophanim, who was defeated by Aegis Light during the invasion of Aclein Academy and was later bailed out by the Church of Light, spoke to Azzy, "the devil spawn, your luck has been good so far. Every time you are in trouble, someone will come to your rescue. But, now, you are alone. Let''s see who can save you today."

    This is the final inner demon of Azzy; well at least, it used to be one of his worries, where he used to constantly think of a situation when no one helps him.

    However, the Reaper didn''t think it is any worry because everyone''s strength is limited to only peak-rank-6. It''s not because of the suppression in level-3. The illusion realm can''t be affected by the suppression in the material world.

    It is because Azzy''s soul power is around 8 million. From the beginning of the time, the unofficial rule of every trial states that the enemies faced by the said candidate cannot face opponents of a higher realm. This is why the children of heaven like Azzy and Leah often have it easier to complete the trials.

    In response to Cardinal Ophanim''s provocation, the Reaper brandished the death scythe like a whip, pouring the soul energy into it while creating a number of Protos Spears, "no useless talk, Human. Get ready to disappear."

    As the enemies bombarded Azzy with spells one after another, The Reaper who is in control of Azzy, ordered Vajra and the other two undead beasts to attack freely, although restricting their ability to use soul skills to rank-5 so as to conserve the soul power.

    He charged forward at the peak speed that Azzy''s body can accommodate, evading every attack and slashing enemies, piercing them with the Protos Spears.

    The massacre only lasted just 90 seconds. But, from his side, the four-headed Hydra was dead and the undead snow wolf is no condition to battle further. Vajra appeared to be a little bit injured but in good condition.

    However, the Reaper dismissed the wolf along the both of them and calmly waited for the next challenge

    The surroundings changed. Two caves appeared, indicating that the second phase is completed.

    Azzy walked into one of them.

    This time, it''s an Arena without any audience though.

    A 14-year-old boy was standing more than 50 meters away without any weapon or Arcana.

 Chapter 322 Trial Of Demigod Amerys Part-5

    From clothing to appearance, everything is identical. The only difference is that this time, the opponent is bathing in Protos Energy. In a nutshell, it''s a dark version of Azzy who was consumed the Protos energy.

    The opponent let out a peal of laughter, "Look at me, Azrael. The power of the Protos race makes you unimaginably strong and you still depend on that silly death energy. Someone, who can''t even take decisions on their own, cannot defeat me."

    In response, the Reaper swung the scythe, releasing an arc of energy. "You talk too much."

    Dark Azzy dodged to the left and furrowed his brows, "it''s you, Chronos. So, you have possessed him, again? I bet he didn''t volunteer for it."

    "So, not only the opponent will have Azrael''s memories but is also conscious of my presence. Demigod Amerys is skilled." The Reaper mumbled to himself before attacking him once again.

    Dark Azzy dodged it with ease and stretched his arm forward, "Chronos, Death Energy is weak and slow. Behold the mighty power of Protos Energy." ;

    A concentrated beam of black energy was shot towards the Reaper.

    The Reaper blocked it with the Death Scythe but the power behind the incoming attack turned out to be stronger.

    The Reaper was pushed back for several meters before he managed to stay firmly on the ground. He stared at the sky, "should I use it? The spirit will disappear anyway."

    "Where are you looking at, Chronos?" Dark Azzy shouted as he conjured Protos'' spears out of thin air. Unlike normal Azzy, this one could potentially control more Protos energies accurately.

    It took the Reaper by surprise as he didn''t expect that the opponent would unleash an attack that Azzy had never used before.

    "So, it can improvise too and bring out the potential of the candidate." The Reaper turned serious. "No matter what, this spirit cannot exist in this realm, any longer. But, before that, let''s finish the battle."

    The Reaper raised his left arm while constantly evading the five Protos spears that are fixed onto him.

    Dark Azzy''s expression changed upon seeing a familiar set of mystical symbols, which formed at a rapid pace.

    Various runic symbols were arranged in the shape of a seven-pointed star.

    "Seal of Faery"

    As soon as the Reaper pushed the seal onto the ground, it expanded to over 100 meters with him as the center.

    Dark Azzy attempted to escape the range but the speed of the seal turned out to be a bit faster.

    Before he even reached the edge of the seal, Dark Azzy was crushed to the ground.

    Protos Energy erupted from him, canceling the effects of the seals within just two seconds.

    However, those two seconds of time is more than enough for the Reaper to make his next move.

    The moment he got out of free, Dark Azzy found a harmless-looking hourglass in the hands of the Reaper. It was currently turned upside down.

    "Soul skill: Time Stop"

    "Hidden skill: Unsealing the Sands of Time."

    The Reaper unleashed two soul skills one after another. ;

    Azzy didn''t master his Arcana or soul energy. So, if he had unleashed the soul skill of the hourglass, the Time stop soul skill would have stopped the time of the entire world.

    But, the Reaper is the deity of Time and Death. He doesn''t just rule them like the other gods. He is the Time and he is the Death itself.

    So, when he used the Time Stop soul skill, he made sure to not affect the world or illusion realm. Within that fraction of a second, he completely toned it down to just the opponent, freezing his time for one whole minute.

    Still, he knows that the negative cosmic energy of the dawn of the universe, the Protos Energy can negate even the time. So, he unleashed the hidden skill to finish the opponent without sparing him any opportunity to counter.

    Just as the Reaper thought, Dark Azzy managed to nullify the soul skill after a few seconds but by that time, the white sand had already covered him completely.

    Before he used the Protos energy to expel the sand, every part and every cell of his body was destroyed.

    The Reaper retrieved the sands of time back into the hourglass, leaving behind nothing. There was no trace of Dark Azzy anymore.

    It was then an exclamation of surprise was heard from the sky. "The hourglass and the death scythe. I didn''t expect to meet the reincarnation of Azrael Garcia and the legendary servant of Thanatos. I was truly fortunate to witness this moment. Anyway, I congratulate you on completing the trial. Please proceed through the portal."

    Followed by his words, a large portal appeared before the Reaper. Even though the spirit of the Demigod misunderstood his identity, the Reaper didn''t feel the need to correct him and just walked into the portal only to find himself standing in another place.

    He didn''t return to the tomb chamber.

    As the Reaper looked around, Amerys materialized before him with a huge smile on his face. He said, "Please wait a bit longer. Princess Leah Pendragon is in the middle of the third phase."

    "What do you mean by that? Shouldn''t the fastest one get the cosmic gem?" The Reaper asked him.

    Amerys was taken aback by the commanding tone but he didn''t let it show on his face. He is a demigod. How can such a thing intimidate him?

    He replied, "I only said that the one must complete the trial to claim the Jewel of Earth. We will have to wait until the princess was done with the trial."

    "And what if she succeeds?" The Reaper asked him, to which the latter answered, "please be patient." ;

    Roughly about 20 minutes later, a portal appeared nearby and Leah walked out of it with little bruises and wounds all over her body.

    "As expected, you have also cleared the trial," Leah let out a bitter smile when her eyes fell on Azzy''s back. She knew that Azzy would pass the trial but still, she was a little bit hopeful about his failure.

    Unfortunately, it didn''t go the way she wished it to be.

    "What now, Demigod Amerys?" The Reaper asked the spirit. It was then she realized that it wasn''t Azzy but was possessed by Death Scythe Arcana named Tezca, according to Excalibur.

    As the Reaper was revered by Excalibur, Leah was careful to attempt conversation with him. Now that she realized the Reaper appeared to be quite irritated, she didn''t talk any further and just takes out a few skill cards to heal her wounds as well as recover her soul energy.

    Demigod Amerys then looked at the two of them, "I have been testing the geniuses for the past sixty millennia but I had never seen the Arcana Masters who not only defeated their inner demons but even dark version of themselves. Now that there were two before me, I have a proposition.

    I give both of you, two choices.

    1) Fight each other. The winner will take the Jewel of Earth. The loser will get a unique skill.

    2) Both of you will fight together against the guardian. If you are successful, one will randomly receive the Jewel of Earth, the other will receive two unique skills. Apart from that, I will also pass the knowledge of Advanced level Fusion technique, which will affect the soul skills.

    What do you say?"

    "Advanced Fusion skill?"

 Chapter 323 Trial Of Demigod Amerys Part-6

    Advanced Fusion technique, otherwise known as the Soul Amalgamation is an ancient sealing technique where two users will be linked by their soul. It was now nothing but a lost method, only being mentioned in the books.

    The Fusion skill card that is displayed by Azzy and 9-yr-old Flora was actually a watered-down version of Soul Fusion.

    So, what is this technique that drew the curiosity from someone like Leah?

    This special method will not just let them fuse the skill cards but also make the two users combine their attributes and soul skills, increasing their damage output by a whole realm.

    And once mastered, even the Arcana of two users could temporarily merge; forming a new beast with both of their skill sets, and letting the two users share each of their soul power.

    However, the Reaper was aware of the major drawbacks.

    First of all, it is a temporary seal and can only work an hour at most. After that, it needs a whole other day to perform it again.

    Second, even after the souls are linked, it only works in a limited distance. For example, Leah and Azzy activated the sealing technique but then, for some reason, they were separated.

    With enough mastery, the range can be increased but during the beginning, they couldn''t be separated even by ten meters if they want to enjoy the benefits.

    And final, the biggest drawback is the transfer of injuries.

    As the two users link their souls, one can transfer a part of their injuries to the partner without any consent of the latter. So, it needs an enormous amount of trust between each other.

    When the Reaper first saw Leah and Excalibur, he already saw a distant future where both of them will battle to the death with clear hostility from the princess of Camelot and a certain degree of hostility from even Azzy.

    More than a simple one of the possibilities, it appeared more like destiny because he could only see one. That''s why he warned Azzy to be wary of her from the start. Naturally, back then, Azzy didn''t understand the meaning.

    If possible, the Reaper wanted Azzy to stay away from Leah but fate keep bringing them together, first through Champions League, then, the Draco-Galarian, now, the cosmic gem.

    He doesn''t have any idea what will lead them to that but the Reaper, who intended to alter the timeline while keeping the aftereffects to the world at minimum, suddenly thought that this might be an opportunity.

    Who knows¡­ Maybe, that battle from the far future can also be removed from the timeline?

    Upon making his decision, he turned his head towards Leah.

    Just as he was about to open his mouth, the latter spoke first, "I''m willing to give up the Jewel of Earth and instead, take the unique skills, if Azrael fulfills my conditions."

    The Reaper as well as the Demigod Amerys was taken aback by her decision. It was, after all, the cosmic gem, a precious crystal that even make the gods go crazy.

    Was she afraid of someone ambushing her over it? Was it because her father already possessed one and will probably pass on to her after his death? Or was it because her condition is worth the Jewel of Earth?

    The Reaper didn''t know what was going on in her mind but he was happier that not only they were on the same wavelength but Azzy was also going to get the cosmic gem. With two of them, there''s nothing that can stop him to enter the God Realm.

    "Speak your mind, child." The Reaper said to her.

    Leah then asked, "Lord Tezca, can you make decisions on Azrael''s behalf? I need your word for it."

    "I already told Excalibur before and I will tell you once again. Tezca was my past avatar. Address me as Chronos." The Reaper reminded her and then nodded, "Yes, I will give you my word but only after hearing your condition."

    Taking a deep breath with a serious look on her face, Leah put forth her condition, "I need Azrael to form a duo with me and participate in the world league. I want his best. It goes without saying regarding usage all of his three Arcana."

    The Reaper stayed silent for a while. Since Azzy was already participating in the world league, he knew that the death scythe cannot be kept secret. With a few people already knowing about its existence, there''s no need to hide it too.

    Not to mention, this can also work in Azzy''s favor. With three Arcana revealed to everyone, no one would suspect him about being the time traveler. Azzy only needed to keep the hourglass, a secret, at least until he makes a breakthrough to rank-7.

    After thinking of all the possibilities, good and bad for Azzy, the Reaper made the decision, "alright, I will give my word but I hope it remains secret about the existence of the Jewel of Earth."

    "Sure, you can trust me on that." Leah nodded with a smile. She further said, "Even if it somehow gets leaked, the Camelot will offer protection to Azrael."

    "If you are finished with your conversation, shall I proceed with the next trial? We are pressed on time," Amerys interrupted him as if he was in hurry.

    Both of them nodded.

    "Okay, here we go¡­" Amerys snapped his fingers, creating a portal.

    The both of them walked in together only to find Azzy''s left hand and Leah''s right hand were connected by an energy rope.

    An instruction was heard from the sky. "I don''t have the power to isolate Celestial grade Arcana from their masters. So, I can only ask the two of you to abide by the following rules.

    One, neither of you will attempt to break the energy rope.

    Two, neither of you will use soul skills or skill cards.

    Three, neither of you can summon your Arcana. I will allow the possession but that''s it.

    If you break the rules, I''m afraid I will have to go back on all the rewards I promised until now.

    Good luck."

    Leah turned serious but abided by the rules and dismissed the Excalibur. The Reaper doesn''t need to dismiss the death scythe for it isn''t an Arcana but only a weapon of a Divine grade Arcana.

    Still, he did it because the others believed that he is nothing but a spirit of the death scythe. Not to mention, it doesn''t hinder his abilities in any way either.

    A familiar-looking Sphinx was revived in the illusion realm.

    "Girl, follow my lead." The Reaper first instructed her to move far away to test the length of the rope before they will attack the Sphinx from left and right.

    Respecting the Reaper''s status, Leah followed it and dashed towards the east while the Reaper did the same in the opposite direction. The Sphinx looked at left and right, wondering who to attack.

    Within a few seconds, they felt the limit and looked at each other.

    "So, it''s roughly 50 meters, huh." The Reaper muttered under his breath, "more than enough."

    He dashed forward while creating a bunch of Protos Spears. Leah also charged forward while conjuring a sword from her soul energy. The Reaper adjusted his speed to Leah''s so that they move at the same time.

    Analyzing the power between the Protos spears and the energy sword, the Sphinx made its decision and ran towards Azzy.

 Chapter 324 Trial Of Demigod Amerys Part-7 (Final)

    "Girl, the monster is coming towards me. You will be free to attack." The Reaper said to Leah before leaving another instruction. "Its heart is located, 55 inches away from the left front leg and 31 inches from its inner side. Choose an opportunity and strike it swiftly."

    His words were heard by Leah as well as the beast itself. The latter increased its speed to take out Azzy while keeping an eye on Leah. In the meantime, it used its soul energy to protect its organs.

    Leah knew that the Sphinx would put the measures and she also knew that the Reaper might have already taken that into consideration when he shouted out loud.

    Trusting him, she followed the plan. Powering up her legs using the soul energy, she increased her speed. However, to her surprise, it disappeared from her vision while she was on her way.

    "Lord Chronos, it was using Camouflage to blend in the surroundings," Leah warned the Reaper. She faced this skill before. So, she was familiar with its attack pattern.

    As she was further about to mention the details, based on experience, with fighting the Sphinx, the Reaper interrupted her, "it doesn''t matter. This hybrid cannot hide from my eyes."

    The Reaper threw a bunch of Protos Spears at the incoming Sphinx, taking it by surprise.

    It opened its mouth, shooting a concentrated beam of sand at the spear. Only four of the six were destroyed, the remaining struck its forehead and chin respectively.

    *Graaaa*

    It roared in pain with its camouflage still in working. But, the sound gave away its location to Leah.

    The Protos energy invaded its body. The Reaper unleashed capture seal. More than six death energy chains shot from his palms, capturing its four legs, neck, and body.

    The Sphinx roared once again and tried to pull away. The Reaper held his ground, tightly grabbing the chains.

    Normally, the Sphinx would have unleashed a soul skill to escape but its energy is currently in turmoil, fighting off the Protos energy that invaded its body. In the meantime, its camouflage disappeared.

    By the time it expelled all the foreign energy, Leah was already at its foot. She slid down below it and pierced the location where the Reaper told her to strike it.

    As she poured more soul energy to increase the size of the purple energy sword, it managed to reach the vulnerable heart after piercing from below. As one of the lungs was in the way, it was also damaged.

    After she was done with it, she continued to slide away and then, increased the distance between her and the beast.

    The Sphinx was desperate to heal its heart. It put its entire concentration to recover its organ without bothering to get free from the chains. Its survival is more important than getting free from the restraining chains. Due to its extraordinary healing powers, almost rivaling that of Claire''s, the Sphinx needed only ten seconds to return to its normal state.

    But, will the Reaper and Leah just stand aside and let the opportunity slip away? Naturally, they won''t.

    "Girl, cut one of its legs to make it lose balance and concentration." The Reaper gave the next instruction to Leah while using almost 70% of soul power to conjure a scimitar. This weapon is as big as the Sphinx itself.

    The Sphinx was doing its best to recover its heart and one of the lungs; it was restrained by the chains; Leah slid down once again and is about to cut off its leg; and finally, a giant scimitar was swinging down from above to cut off its head at the same time.

    What should it do?

    Before it came to the decision, a huge cut appeared on one of its legs, making it lose its balance and scream. In the next second, the scimitar sliced its human head. It was a clean cut.

    A huge human head, bigger than Azzy, was rolled on the ground for a couple of seconds before transforming into specks of light.

    From the time the Sphinx appeared to the time its head was cut off, not even 30 seconds have been passed. It was indeed a shocking scene for any spectator. Even Leah couldn''t believe her eyes for a second that they defeated the Sphinx with such ease.

    If it was her, she would have made use of several techniques and focused on teamwork, wasting dozens of minutes to finish the guardian of the tomb. She was now completely convinced that she did the right thing to concede the cosmic gem to Azzy.

    As the both of them returned to the special dimension that exists between Amerys'' illusion realm and the real world, the demigod was seen standing there with all smiles. He had an exquisite glossy black shield in his arms.

    "Here, this is your reward." Demigod Amerys handed the shield to Azzy.

    The Reaper took it into his hands and observed the brown-colored crystal that is embedded right in the middle of the shield. "Hmm, the shield is quite heavy. It must be over 800 kgs. It will be tough for Azrael to use it, during the battle. I think I should let him modify it a little bit."

    As he placed the shield inside the storage card, Demigod Amerys placed his palm on Leah''s forehead, transferring the knowledge of three unique skills. Two of them were the rewards for defeating the Sphinx together with Azzy. The other one is the reward for unsealing the tomb and freeing the spirit.

    The Reaper doesn''t know what skills she was receiving and neither does he care about it. He already got what he wanted. Now, there''s only one thing left for the Reaper to do, to send off the spirit from the mortal world.

    It is why he patiently waited until Leah received the knowledge of three new skills, followed by the knowledge of the Soul Fusion sealing technique.

    The Reaper already knew of it before. As a result, he didn''t show any reaction when the mark of Leah''s soul signature has appeared on Azzy''s soul orb and vice versa, forming a hidden link was formed between the souls of Azzy and Leah.

    After finishing with the process, he clapped his hands, "now, the two of you just needed to place your palms together and form the hollow tunnel. It only takes a moment to activate the dormant link between you two. The rest depends on your training.

    Okay, now that I''m done here, it''s time for me to leave this place. Perhaps, I may find a talented yet with an unfortunate fate and guide that person."

    "I''m afraid that can''t be possible, Demigod Amerys." The Reaper made his move. The death scythe appeared in his hand. His pitch-black eyes gave off a glow.

    "What are you doing?" Amerys furrowed his brows upon seeing the change in the situation. Leah was also taken aback by the Reaper''s action.

    <strong>"Soul skill: Claws of Death"</strong>

    He used the remaining soul power to unleash the sixth soul skill of the Death scythe.

    A black-colored portal appeared behind Amerys. A large pair of human arms but with claws exited the portal.

    Amerys tried to evade it but the attack was faster. Both of the claws pierced the spirit''s chest, paralyzing his body. His body was also hanging in the air.

    "You¡­ ba****d" Amerys cursed out loud as the Reaper slowly walked towards him.

    The Reaper''s voice then echoed all over the surroundings as he raised the death scythe, touching the blade to Amerys'' heart, "Mortal Amerys Hildegard, you have been dead for sixty millennia but you cheated the death and allowed yourself to live for so long.

    Usually, you will be subjected to harsh punishment in hell but you had done a favor on my host even if he had to go through a trial. That''s why I''ll make a favor on you, sending you to the spirit realm, so that you can reincarnate once again."

    In the very next instant, Amerys'' eyes widened in realization. "I guess I misunderstood your intentions. But then again, anyone in my situation will be alarmed too."

    As the spirit of Demigod Amerys slowly became transparent, the latter warned, "be careful, on the outside, there''s¡­"

    He disappeared completely before finishing the sentence. But, it doesn''t matter because the dimension around them started to collapse quickly.

    Before it collapsed completely, the Reaper and Leah stepped into the exit portal, returning to the tomb chamber.

    However, what was before their eyes is an intense battle between Izora, Cynthia, and six strangers of the Upper Elite realm.

    "What is going on here?"

 Chapter 325 One Move To Defeat Everyone

    "General, the boy is here." One of the assailants informed the guy who was fighting Izora''s blue lightning dragon.

    "Then, what are you waiting, for. Go and take his head." Their leader gave the order.

    In an instant, three of them left their battles and charged towards Leah and Azzy.

    Leah hurriedly took out the Excalibur. She doesn''t know who these strangers are why they are aiming for Azzy''s life but now that they have brought the battle to her, she didn''t stay still.

    Raising the sword, she spoke, "Kneel before the Queen."

    Followed by her words, Excalibur brightly glowed.

    To everyone''s surprise, four of their Arcana left their masters and just lay on the ground, paying respects to the Excalibur, which is the king to not just the swords but all the tool type Arcana.

    Only those in platinum grade or the ones of the higher realm could resist its authority. Unfortunately for the attackers, only one of them possessed a platinum grade Arcana and another possessed a beast. The others were tool users with three of them being assassins and the last one being a swordsman.

    With half of their power gone just like that, they fell into momentary confusion. The Reaper then spoke out loud, "all of you really chose a bad time to ambush. Even more unfortunate thing is that my soul power is running low."

    "Hmm?" Leah glanced at him from the corner of her eyes. Why running out of soul power is bad for the attackers? Meanwhile, a few of the attackers tried to pick up their weapons.

    It was then the Reaper raised the hand and unleashed one of his most powerful soul skills.

    <strong>"Soul skill: Soul Absorption"</strong>

    *Thud* Thud* Thud* Thud* Thud*

    Five of the six attacks fell on their knees one after another as all of their soul energy was sucked away from their body and absorbed by the Reaper.

    Once everything was absorbed, their soul orbs cracked altogether. They weren''t destroyed, just damaged. In a way, their cultivation level saved them. As for their leader, General Daniel, he had lost about 30 million of his soul power, which depleted his overall soul power to below 10%.

    Fortunately, world suppression only suppresses the strength of an individual, not their overall soul power.

    It means that if a rank-7 with 90 million power battles a rank-6 with 9 million soul power at a level-3 region, while both of them have equal strength due to the world suppression, the suppressed rank-7 expert will have more reserves, thereby, having an edge over his opponent.

    The same thing happened here too. With higher realm cultivation, General Daniel not only managed to escape the Reaper''s soul skill unscathed but due to Azzy''s soul power filling up after refining the absorbed soul energy, the leader of the group was also left with enough soul energy to escape from there.

    At that moment, General Daniel already made his decision. He abandoned the team and rushed towards the exit at his maximum speed.

    Cynthia and Izora chased him from behind.

    Leah also wanted to follow but the Reaper''s words stopped her, "forget it. There''s no use in capturing him."

    Leah looked back at him and asked, "Do you know these guys?"

    The Reaper didn''t answer her right away. He slowly walked for a few steps and stopped at an unconscious body. "Flip him."

    Leah followed his order and did it. Her facial expression changed right away, "this man. I have seen this person somewhere."

    "He''s the child of King Ragron." The Reaper answered her.

    Realization dawned upon her. "Now, I remembered. He''s Gyllan Varen Eranyl, a senior student from the Dragon Academy. Two years ago, I saw him when they came to our academy for an inter-academy friendly spar with our senior division. Why does he want to harm Azrael?"

    "It''s Azrael''s business. It''s best if he''s the one who will answer you," replied the Reaper as he continued to walk forward. "After returning, I''ll inform Azrael about our deal and I hope you will keep everything that happened in the other dimension, a secret."

    The Reaper took his leave without intending to chat with her or the Excalibur. At the same time, he sent a message to Izora that he was heading back to the city, indirectly telling her to meet him there.

    For some reason, the Reaper didn''t start running and continued to walk at a slow pace even though the distance to the city is over 350 kilometers. It was as if he wasn''t in hurry at all.

    A shout was heard from behind, halting his footsteps, "wait for a moment."

    The Reaper turned around to see Leah rushing towards him. Upon stopping a couple of feet away, she said, "I forgot to inform one thing."

    "What is it?" asked the Reaper, despite knowing what she was about to say. He was just playing along to hide his ability to look into all the possible futures.

    She then said, "Azrael and I are going to participate in the senior division. Please don''t forget to tell him."

    "Of course, that''s obvious." The Reaper nodded, "With both of your talents, it is a waste of time to battle the other geniuses who are still in their adolescences."

    Leah''s face glow up brightly when she heard that. The Reaper understood what was in her mind. She gracefully bowed, "I will take my leave and will come to Azrael''s home to pick him up, this Saturday."

    Leah used a targeted teleportation card to go to her Aunt who was currently chasing after the General of Rivendell.

    With no reasons left to stay at the place any longer, the Reaper summoned the Black lotus and mounted on it before ordering it to fly away.

    A few hours passed away. The sun is at its peak. Due to the hotter temperatures reaching as high as 90C (194F), the Elite or lower realm Arcana Masters (rank-5 or lower) couldn''t help but set up camps and take rest or just use the soul energy barrier to offset the heat and minimize their sweat.

    As for the Upper Elite realm experts (rank-6), they didn''t feel anything.

    But, all that has nothing to do with Azzy for he appeared to be comfortably resting under a huge Ash tree.

    He suddenly opened his eyes and sat in the lotus position before looking around at the surroundings. "Where am I?" He wondered. Eventually, he realized that he is in the middle of a park, which means he''s returned to the city.

    However, Izora was nowhere to be seen. God knows where she had disappeared. He thought of contacting her but before that, there was something that he needed to settle. He closed his eyes.

    His spirit reappeared at his mindscape. At the edge of the cliff, the Reaper is standing there with his skeletal hands back and staring into the horizon. Vajra is currently taking a rest. The wolf didn''t seem like it sensed Azzy''s presence. It didn''t wake up.

    Azzy walked forward.

    Before he was about to call the Reaper, the latter opened up his mouth, "I was waiting for you for a while. I guess you had a comfortable sleep. First, check your storage card. Then, we''ll start talking..."

    Azzy didn''t need to check it. He spent a lot of time with the Reaper. He knew the meaning behind his words right away.

    Nevertheless, to confirm his suspicions, he summoned the storage card and looked into it.

    "So, you acquired the Jewel of Earth, huh," Azzy commented slowly. After a brief silence, he asked, "at what cost?"

    "An inconvenience," answered the Reaper.

    "huh?"

 Chapter 326 A Rank-6 Can Operate His Arcana From Hundreds Of Kilometers Away?

    A couple of minutes passed away; Azzy was in his mindscape, watching the memory he received from the Reaper.

    He was inwardly surprised when he saw how easily the Reaper and Leah defeated the Sphinx. More than the display of strength, it had shown the Reaper''s wisdom and Leah''s accuracy.

    After that, he saw the demise of the spirit of the demigod. Azzy was sure that if he had been in the position of the Reaper, he would have probably allowed the spirit to escape from there.

    And then, he finally saw the face of the fatty prince of Rivendell. It was within Azzy''s expectations that this potato will seek revenge. So, he wasn''t surprised to see them at the pyramid. However, what surprised him the most is how the Reaper left him and his companions alive.

    Azzy thought that those five received a proper punishment, although, with the fatty''s incredible background, he would be able to repair his soul orb sooner than the others. Rivendell treasury would have several medicinal herbs anyway.

    After watching everything, Azzy didn''t blame the Reaper, rather thanked him for not killing anyone and also helping him with killing that fake Gideon. Azzy couldn''t kill him back then because he feared that he will do it for real if such a case arrives before him. So, he was grateful to the Reaper for that help.

    But the biggest issue is participation with Leah.

    First of all, it is in the senior division, where every Arcana Master below the age of 100 can participate. Exalt realm experts are common. What he fears is the possible participation of legendary realm experts.

    Secondly, he was 100% sure that Claire will not be happy with it. According to the rules, a candidate cannot participate in the same events of different divisions, which means, if Azzy and Leah register as a duo in the senior division, he cannot participate in the duo category in the junior division.

    He was originally planning to register with Claire but now, it cannot happen with the Reaper giving his word.

    Of course, she will be displeased but not because of the reason he thought it to be though.

    After preparing with enough reasons to convince Claire, the heir of the Death clan returned to the real world and contacted his biological mother to find her whereabouts.

    Her reply came off as a huge surprise to him. He didn''t understand how she could abandon him and her duty to go away on some urgent business.

    Then, an explanation arrived from the Reaper who stated that there was someone else who was looking after him.

    Azzy looked around. When he found no one, he activated aura sensing. There was something that is right behind him.

    He immediately rolled forward in instinct and turned around only to be startled upon finding a familiar-looking wooden staff with a cobra head, which is leaned to the trunk of the tree. Its eyes are glowing red.

    "I see, it''s the sorcerer who was keeping an eye on me, huh," Azzy mumbled to himself. While he confirmed who Izora''s replacement as his guardian is, he wasn''t sure whether the staff can follow on its own because it is not only a tool type Arcana but is also barely at gold grade.

    He stood up on his feet and walked a few steps. Surprisingly, the cobra-headed staff flew into the air and followed him.

    "Oh, now, that''s interesting." Azzy was amazed when he saw how it changed the directions according to his movements. "How about this¡­" A playful thought appeared in his head.

    Azzy suddenly charged forward. The cobra staff was alerted and it chased after him. He cut to the left, then, right, then, U-turn, jump onto the trees, etc¡­

    The cobra staff had tried its best to keep an eye on him but unfortunately, his speed was superior. Eventually, it lost him and then, the staff turned left and right, wondering where its target went. Azzy was hiding behind the bushes and watched it from far away.

    "This is fun. Should I try it again?" He grinned inwardly as the staff passed the bushes while looking everywhere, not expecting someone to be sitting behind him like a ghost. "What are you doing?"

    A familiar voice was heard behind.

    Azzy felt a jolt all over his body and he jumped forward, revealing his location to the cobra staff. As he turned around, he found a 6ft classmate with pointy ears with a foolish grin on his face.

    "Louis?" Azzy was taken aback. They were separated back when he left towards the pyramid. If he''s here, that means Uphiar is also here and not just his Arcana, the cobra staff?

    "It looks like you like playing hide and seek, Azrael. I didn''t expect you have this side too." Louis let out a comment, embarrassing Azzy a little bit.

    Azzy cleared his throat and looked away towards the horizon, quickly changing the subject, "what were you doing here, anyway?"

    "I was training, obviously," Louis answered him, shrugging his shoulders. But, very quickly, he understood what Azzy was trying to ask. He further said, "While Amara (cobra staff) is keeping an eye on you under the absence of instructor Crescent, I was sparring with the teacher about a couple of hundred kilometers away. Because of the constant winds, the sandy desert has an uneven surface. I thought training in such an environment will make me better.

    You woke up and left its sight; the teacher got panicked and ordered me to fetch you. Who could have expected that you are having fun here¡­

    Anyway, now that you are here, come with me. We have found something like a secret hideout nearby our training spot."

    Louis quickly created something like a portal, except that it is more like a door. The cobra staff skipped several times before reaching them and entering it.

    Azzy didn''t step in for he is currently frozen like a statue. "Azrael? What happened?"

    "A rank-6 can operate his Arcana from hundreds of kilometers away?" Azzy murmured in shock. "How is that possible?"

 Chapter 327 The Story Of A Bard

    "Either he''s a powerful demigod in disguise or it''s just his specialty." The Reaper casually informed Azzy and further advised him to not pay much attention as he had nothing to do with the homeroom teacher.

    Why doesn''t it matter?

    If Uphiar is some hidden demigod, then, his secret of time traveling and the death scythe would have already been known to him. Isn''t it quite risky?

    Still, the sorcerer never pointed it to him even in secret.

    That only means that either Uphiar doesn''t care or doesn''t have an idea. That''s why, whether Uphiar is a six-circle expert with unique talents or some hidden demigod, he wasn''t going to interfere in Azzy''s life anyway.

    Azzy listened to the deity and put his thoughts away. He then followed Louis into the portal.

    More than two hundred kilometers away from the city, in the direction of north, Azzy stepped out of the doorway and found the homeroom teacher who was waiting for them.

    The staff excitedly flew towards its owner.

    Catching it, Sorcerer Uphiar looked at Azzy, "student Azrael, I heard that you are ambushed by enemies. Instructor Crescent didn''t tell me who they are and I don''t want to pry into your personal issues so all I can say is that you should be careful, and until you are strong enough to protect yourself from Exalt realm experts, it''s better for you to not to venture into wild zones, alone."

    Uphiar''s statement threw away all the thoughts of Azzy that indicated that he''s a demigod. Or else, the latter would have already known that he''s a rank-6.

    "Yes, I know." Azzy nodded. Following that, he put attention on his surroundings.

    They were appeared to be in some kind of cavern filled with golden brown crystals. These elemental crystals are glowing brightly, illuminating the place.

    "Are they dual attribute crystals?" queried Azzy. Golden brown crystals mean that they contain the attribute energy of light and earth. Since he doesn''t have such attributes, consuming the energy from them will not benefit him much.

    Louis nodded with a smile, "Yes, we were sparring above, and while I was in escaping the attacks from the teacher, I stumbled upon this underground cave.

    But, these aren''t important. There''s something else you have to see."

    Louis walked forward, deep into the cave. Azzy and Uphiar followed behind.

    While they were on the way, Azzy found that the natural energy in the surroundings is only getting richer with every step. He activated Aura Sense. At the very least, apart from them, there''s no aura of life in 5 km surroundings

    "Hmm, I guess there might be something else that is the reason for this phenomenon."

    After taking several turns in the cavern, they reached a huge amount of space. The golden brown crystals were sprouting from all the ceiling and the walls as usual.

    The natural energy is quite dense here. It''s almost fifty times higher than above the ground. If there''s a civilian without any soul energy had been standing here, that person would have been suffocated to death.

    However, none of them are paying attention to it. Their attention was completely on something else.

    In the center of the cave, there are a series of large stone slabs rooted into the ground. All of them have something written on them with familiar characters but unfamiliar words.

    Being a rank-6, Azzy''s vision is good enough to read everything from 30 meters away but he couldn''t understand even a single word.

    "It''s in ancient Orlon." Uphiar said to him before adding, "The language is lost, long ago, and only a few had the knowledge. But, what can we make out of this is that these writings can either indicate a letter or some hidden history. It can be nothing too but the fact that someone took so much effort in carving these letters on the stone clearly indicates that this cannot be ignored.

    Azzy asked the Reaper as he was sure that this deity of time and death would know it.

    And just as he hoped, the Reaper acknowledged that he will read it for him but stressed that it was just a waste of time.

    Azzy walked forward towards the stone slabs and stood a couple of feet before the first one and started to read out loud while the Reaper translated for him, "After the collapse of the Empire of Arcana, the world was embroiled into chaos. Several new forces emerged and everyone is interested to own a piece of land.

    In such a situation, a small island kingdom of elves, safely located far away from the continent of Xynnar decided to join in this mess.

    I''m a bard from the kingdom of Emiya. With the world so disconnected, our mission is to travel from place to place, know what''s going on there, make stories out of it and recite it through poems elsewhere.

    But, in reality, we are actually spies, sent by our Queen. Along with doing as Bards and connecting with common folk and nobles likewise, each of us will keep an eye on the kingdom''s affairs and report it back to our kingdom.

    If there''s qualitative information of one kingdom, our higher authorities would secretly sell it to their enemies and vice versa.

    Of course, this job had risks apart from getting caught as a spy. I''m a half-elf who was wandering in the human and elven cities. People are us are often subjected to discrimination, neither been accepted in both communities.

    Only at the places where the humans and elves are coexisting together with neither of them is in the vast majority, I was welcomed by the public.

    But then again, the poor commoner folks are also very kinder compared to the richer ones.

    926 years, that''s how long I lived, leading double lives as a bard and a spy. One of the greatest achievements that I can brag to my descendants is that I saved three wars indirectly. And my greatest achievement is that I have never been caught.

    During my years of travel, I met the love of my life and started a family but due to my profession, I wasn''t able to give them something that they can call home.

    To this day, I deeply regret that.

    Unlike me, my wife and my daughter weren''t blessed with long life. By the time both of them left me, I was only 142 years old.

    Why were they only humans? Why is it that none of them got the bloodline of elves? Maybe, it''s because I''m a Half-Elf. I was disappointed with the heavens.

    I was also angry at my elf mother for choosing to marry a thief of a human and only ended up getting cheated in return. I never knew my father and never wanted to know him anyway. But, it doesn''t matter. Judging my soul energy, he won''t be some powerful Arcana Master. So, he would have already been dead by now.

    I only have one grandson. He''s a blacksmith by profession and I doted on him quite a bit as his parents died when he was only five. Maybe, because he''s my only kin, I have never left him alone. I always dragged him with my travels even after he got married.

    I know that it''s not right but I couldn''t help it.

    <strong>Year 663, 1st Epoch;</strong>

    This year has brought a change in my life. It was the year I was about to turn 200 years old.

    But the first thing in the early morning, I noticed that half of my grandson''s black hair was white.

    When I confronted him, he revealed the truth that he and his wife were regularly visiting a Divine Physician who was applying a de-aging spell on them to look younger.

    It was for my sake.

    I realized that it''s already been more than 60 years since he had been born. Time flies so fast.

    But, now, I''m deeply worried that my family tree will end before my eyes.

    I made my decision. I left them one morning leaving behind a letter and all my assets.

    I resumed my life as a bard once again. I traveled from Freyles in the North to Gora in the south. I traveled across the ocean and visited the far western kingdoms. Surprisingly, I''m quite popular there.

    Maybe, it''s because I''m a half-elf or maybe, it''s because they were completely disconnected from the mainland due to extremely large distance. For whatever reason, my stories and quite welcomed even by the kings.

    There''s only one place that I have yet to visit, Ars Goetia, the land of demons.

    And I sailed towards the south."

 Chapter 328 The Bard Meets The Yggdrasil

    Azzy finished reading the story on the first slab.

    He stepped aside and then continued to read out loud uninterrupted.

    The next five parts mostly contained his journey to Ars Goetia, the land of demons.

    At present day, it is called a forbidden region with the whole 8 million sq. km of landmass completely sealed up by the ancient Supreme realm experts after they witnessed the demonic energy is affecting the corrupting the people of the mainland.

    Only those who had the power of a demigod could break that seal. But, if you had such power, why would you care about the barren land that is devoid of life? You would rather go and venture into the cosmos.

    But, this was the time when there was no seal. This was during the first millennium of the first Epoch when only a tiny percentage of demons survived the Great War.

    The land, which was said to be the most chaotic and dangerous place in the world, is now available for the unnamed half-elf to explore.

    On the way, he claimed to have met the mermen and mermaids, fairies, giants, etc¡­

    Uphiar and Louis were listening to Azzy in pin-drop silence. Their concentration was at its peak and felt as if they have opened a new door to ancient history.

    Meanwhile, Azzy reached the seventh and last part of the story.

    "Year 724, First Epoch;

    I finally made it to the last stop before reaching Ars Goetia.

    It is an island kingdom of Triastal, once known as the home of high elves. But, more than eight hundred years ago, everyone perished under the onslaught of demons during the Great War.

    Now, it was being ruled by a queen. Maybe, Triastal was the first land I have saw a female human ruler. It''s really a surprise to witness such a change among humans considering the male domination in the undeveloped human civilizations.

    Originally, I was only supposed to stay there for a day or two before setting out to the destination but to my surprise, I stumbled upon an old ash tree, located in the center of the royal city of Leaf.

    It wasn''t that huge, just barely about 5 meters, and neither was it alive. However, it was given importance by the royal family as a way of showing homage to the lost souls who used to live in this land, centuries ago.

    People over there mentioned that this ancient tree is rumored to be there even during the age of apocalypse and dried up after the invasion of demons. Of course, I didn''t buy that. How could any tree live for millions of years?

    But, when I went there, a miracle happened.

    I heard the voice of the tree spirit. It introduces itself as Yggdrassil. It is a Celestial grade Arcana of an elf prince named Elwin Triastal who left his kingdom at a young age to serve King Arthur before he united all the human kingdoms and established the Empire of Arcana.

    It expressed its happiness to finally encounter an elf after so long. After all, only with elven blood could hear its voice.

    Yggdrasil said that it was separated from its master or rather abandoned before he ascended to the God realm.

    In return for giving me a mystical fruit made out of its energy, it requested me to find the other half, hidden somewhere out there.

    Reuniting both of them will make it become a divine grade Arcana and so, it could be reborn as the divine tree god at the Celestial realm.

    Yggdrasil then transformed itself into a simple wooden branch, so that it can travel with me.

    Maybe, it was destiny that led me there. How else, a half-elf like me who should be singing stories to others and sending information to his homeland will go on such a mission.

    Eating the mystical fruit also changed my constitution. With long pointy ears, a tall figure, emerald eyes, and a pale face, I look more like a pure-blood elf. Not to mention my soul power grew leaps and bounds, making me enter the Exalt realm.

    I started traveling to the places once again, continuing to be a bard, a spy, and a man on a mission.

    After failing to find it in our world of Gaia, I ventured into the world of Arcana. There, the cities are being developed, academies are being built, and young adults are learning to live in this dangerous environment. The change is happening rather fast. But then again, it is a good thing.

    It''s the Year 1255. It took me 500 years to finally complete my mission. Yggdrasil became whole and ascended to the Celestial Realm. Meanwhile, I was on the verge of becoming a demigod.

    The year 1389;

    It''s been more than a century. I have yet to make a breakthrough. I guess I have no choice other than to risk it. I need to kill a powerful rank-10 beast and forcefully breakthrough so that I will be qualified to enter the world of immortals.

    Today is probably the last day of my life. I''m going to the forest of death to face the void dragon.

    After today, either I will ascend to become a demigod or fall to death to go to the spirit realm.

    I really want to see my family for the last time but I was afraid to find out that my family tree had disappeared long ago. Sigh¡­"

    As Azzy finished reading the last part, Uphiar spoke his thoughts, "Until the end, he didn''t reveal his name. I wonder if he had become a demigod."

    "Who knows¡­" Azzy shrugged his shoulders in disinterest. Just like the Reaper mentioned earlier, the writings on the stone slabs are nothing useful to him except for the knowing familiar identities, General Triastal and Yggdrassil. Well, if he had to look into it deeply, he also found out that Claire''s home was once known to be the land of elves.

    Meanwhile, Louis was silent and fell into deep thoughts for a while. It is unknown what he was thinking though.

    Uphiar spotted it.

    "What is it, student Louis?"

    When asked by the teacher, Louis who, return to reality, simply changed the topic to the continuation of their sparring. He also asked Azzy to join in.

    Azzy refused it and said he needs to work on something.

    Since he should be constant on Uphiar''s watch under the absence of Izora, he requested the sorcerer to take him to the illusion realm where he could battle peak-rank-6 beasts.

    Uphiar agreed with it and quickly sent him to the illusion realm for training while the latter sat inside the cave. The cobra staff continued to watch while Uphiar sparred with Louis above the sandy region.

    Until the evening, Azzy mostly worked on his control just like how he had trained during the previous year.

    He would use his rank-6 strength but will make sure his speed, punches, and kicks will be controlled in a way the rank-6 beasts won''t be killed in one move.

    By the time, the sun is about to set, everyone returned to the city. Claire, Mia, Estella, and even Gideon, all of them improved their soul power by a marginal portion during the past 12 hours.

    The biggest improvement was seen in Claire, who entered the peak stage of rank-5. Mia was also close to reaching the peak stage.

    It is really a huge improvement considering both of them are only at the beginner stage, 12 hours ago. Both of them had to risk fighting a bunch of rank-6 beasts one after another to get such an improvement.

    Claire can also break through but because of the worry over losing control, she stopped there. For the next seven days, she plans on stabilizing the realm, back at the silver city.

    Uphiar congratulated everyone and said, "Okay, before we leave, there''s something student Azrael wanted to say to all of you."

    Everyone looked at Azzy who had already told it to Louis and Uphiar earlier.

    Taking a deep breath, he announced, "A week later, the world league preliminaries will start. As everyone already knows, I will have to attend the training at WAMO, every 3rd week of the month. So, we''ll part here and directly meet on the day of our first battle as a group. In my absence, I hope no one would lag behind.

    According to the rules, nine people can be registered as a team with five as the main and four as substitutes. We are only eight but everyone should keep in mind that it doesn''t mean all of us will be registered in the same team. After all, we aren''t the students of Aclein Academy but belong to the Aclein city branch of Eternal Institutions of Arcana."

    Everyone''s facial expression changed.

 Chapter 329 The Case Of Missing People & Livestock Part-1

    Azzy''s words gave a stern reminder of the reality they were going to face, very soon.

    Just like he said, they were currently the students of Eternal institutions, which have a lot of branches across the continent.

    With the presence of three children of heaven, rather than focusing on teamwork, the management would likely want to improve the team''s strength further.

    There are nine members in a team. So, they can simply select four or five out of this branch and the other four from others. Once the team is completed, there can be a few training sessions and further use preliminaries to improve the teamwork.

    This kind of possibility is quite there and everyone knew it. Of the eight students that are standing here, the bottom four in combat strength, namely, Lark, Gideon, Calder, and Mia felt the pressure.

    Azzy continued, "The names will probably be announced in one or two days. No matter who ended up on which team, all of us should remember that we are the students of Class Z. The reason we are allotted to a special class is that we have the highest potential among all the students of our academy. This possible minor setback cannot undermine our future.

    That''s all I would like to say."

    It was just something he had prepared beforehand. So, without stumbling on any word, he calmly finished the recital and looked at everyone who nodded seriously.

    "Is there anything else you would like to add?" Uphiar then stressed him to reveal the other important matter but Azzy shook his head, "nothing."

    He felt that he needed to inform Claire personally as she''s the one who might raise a ruckus.

    Soon, except for Gideon, Azzy, and Claire, everyone else returned to the Aclein city while the three of them went to a different portal point to teleport to Silver City.

    Upon exiting the portal point at the silver city, the three of them took a cab to WAMO headquarters for their one-week training.

    Three days later, morning;

    Azzy was sleeping soundly on his bed.

    *knock*knock* knock*

    A series of knocks were heard but he just rolled over to the other side and continued to sleep.

    *Beep* Beep*

    All of a sudden, emergency alarms in the room activated, forcefully waking up Azzy.

    As he slowly sat up on the bed, the door was opened automatically and someone entered the room in uniform.

    "What are you doing here, Neal?" Azzy was irritated to his face first thing in the morning. He has nothing against him but was obligated to stay away from the guy who betrayed their master, Barton.

    But, Neal was hell-bent on mentoring him and is always trying to get him on his team. This was something that Azzy doesn''t like.

    That''s why whenever Azzy sees him, he couldn''t help but openly show his animosity.

    This time was also the same but like every time, the latter was unfazed by Azzy''s behavior and said, "Did you forget that today, you had the final test? Get ready for the mission. I will be supervising you two."

    Azzy and Claire are currently third-tier cadets, who were in a sense, are deemed to be fit to be reserved members for Elite forces.

    They take up low-level missions and earn merits. Both of them had a 100% success rate so far and the Lt. Commander Hailey decided to promote them. To do that, each of them had to do one last mission under the supervision of a captain or higher-level officer.

    Neal was chosen for the job, or rather, he was the only one who volunteered for it. The others weren''t brave enough to test Azzy and embarrass themselves.

    After wishing luck to Gideon who was willing to take the test to pass the second trial and become a fourth-tier cadet, both of them set out with Neal in his flying car.

    Claire had atleast traveled in an airplane but Azzy only traveled on the black lotus. So, this was a new experience. However, he won''t appreciate it because the car belongs to Neal.

    As the latter boasted how he works as the brand ambassador for a popular automobile company, which had given the vehicle to him for free, he refrained from even talking with him.

    It is as the ancients say, ''if you dislike someone, you would dislike their actions no matter their nature.''

    After traveling for a couple of hours, they reached a mountainous area where a village is located on the border of Zuweth, a landlocked nation that is surrounded by five countries. It was always on the news due to the human rights issue.

    And right now, the flying car was going to a small village in such a country to solve a mystery.

    After landing on the ground, Neal put away his platinum grade storage card and started to walk with the two teenagers while finally briefing them about the first mission, which was Claire''s. Until she finishes the mission, Azzy will be her assistant. And during his mission, she will be his assistant.

    "We have the reports of the livestock constantly getting missing from the farms. So far, dozens of cattle, more than a hundred pigs, and hundreds of chickens have been gone without a trace. Your job is to investigate it and find the culprit. We are currently going to meet the village chief. From there, you two will be on your own."

    Azzy and Claire nodded in understanding.

    Usually, a village of just below 200 in population is quite united. Everyone will be familiar with each other. So, these three strangers immediately attracted the attention of every passerby.

    After asking a couple of natives, they made their way to the house of the village chief.

    As they entered the house, a crowd was gathered outside with villagers discussing the possibility of unraveling the mystery.

    Meanwhile, inside the house, a frail-looking old man was explaining the situation to the three of them.

    "Everything started about three weeks ago. My grandson and a few of his friends went into those mountains for hunting just like they have been doing for the past decade.

    Usually, they return by evening but that day, they didn''t. We waited for the next day. No news of them. The next day, it''s the same. Three days passed away. The nearby town authorities didn''t have time to search the whole mountain full of forests and caves for the sake of five young men of poor background.

    Some young lads of our village formed a search party and began to search for my grandson and his friends.

    After two days of search, they found a dead body with bite marks and scratches. A few parts of his flesh were torn off. It''s as if he was attacked by a carnivorous beast."

    "What about the other four?" As the prime investigator of this mission, Claire took the charge of asking the questions.

    "None of them have been found so far." The village chief let out a deep sigh before adding, "Including my own grandson."

    Claire then thought for a bit and asked the next question, "Did you see anything strange around the body? Unless it is a planned murder, shreds of evidence will always be left around."

    Neal nodded in satisfaction. He felt that it is the right question.

    The village chief answered, "Nearby the dead body, we have the paw marks. At first, we think it might be a gray wolf. They roam around the mountains but¡­"

 Chapter 330 The Case Of Missing People & Livestock Part-2

    As the village chief paused with a look of hesitation on his face, Claire urged him to continue.

    The village chief took a deep breath and said, "But we found a human skull, not far away from his corpse.

    After we brought Ansger''s body to the village and buried it, our cattle, pigs, and chickens suddenly started missing every night or fortnight. A few times, it happens even in daylight, although not inside the village.

    Our cattle herders, who leave for the hills for the feed, return with fewer animals. We aren''t sure whether it is the work of a beast or a human or a beast summoner."

    After finishing his story, the village chief fell on his knees, "I certainly want to see my grandson whether he is alive or dead but more than that, I want to catch the culprit to bring peace to our fellow villagers.

    For the past few weeks, our cattle herders are afraid of going to the mountains.

    Without feeding, our goats and buffaloes aren''t providing much milk; our pigs won''t grow, resulting in low income. Several villagers are moving to the town to become laborers so that they don''t starve.

    Please save our livelihood." The village chief started tearing up.

    Neal just stared at him calmly. Azzy couldn''t display his emotions but he felt pity for him and the villagers. Claire grabbed his shoulders and helped the old man stand on his feet, "I promise you that we''ll not only apprehend the culprit but will make sure to find the cause behind your missing grandson and the others."

    Neal''s facial expression hardened when he heard that but he stayed silent until they got out of the house.

    "Claire, you shouldn''t have done that. Their disappearances have nothing to do with your mission." He reprimanded her as they were on their way towards the house whose owner had lost the most number of cattle.

    "But, we are here to help them, aren''t we?" Claire argued back. "Since we came all the way here, we might as well find out those missing young men. What if they were the ones doing this?"

    "If they are the ones doing this, then, it would be fine but you have to remember that our organization isn''t obligated to help them. It''s the work of the police or this country''s government." Neal tried to make her understand that the Special Forces don''t interfere in civilian affairs unless in special circumstances.

    It was then Azzy came in support of Claire, "It''s true that we aren''t obligated to help these villagers but it''s cruel as well as cowardly to run away from the problem when we have the capability to solve it."

    Neal halted his footsteps and stared at Azzy for a few seconds. In the end, he let out a sigh, "Fine, but remember this, Claire. If anything goes wrong, our organization will not take responsibility for it. You alone will have to deal with it."

    "I understand. Now, let''s get going." Claire nodded and then, continued to walk.

    After a while, they reached the biggest house in the village. It reminded Azzy of the mansion he grew up in during childhood.

    There, a family of four along with a dozen servants welcomed them. Two of their kids were still young, about seven years old. Meanwhile, their father is an Arcana Master of rank-2.

    When he saw that powerful Arcana masters were visiting their house, he forgot about the loss of his wealth and focused more on providing hospitality to these guests.

    Azzy and Claire were served filtered coffee on their request while Neal had a cup of tea with the family''s head.

    "Mister, please tell us about yourself, your losses, and also any information that you think can help us," Claire said to him.

    "My name is Arvid. As you can already see, I''m also an Arcana Master, although not esteemed such as yourselves." He started explaining his little story, "My father used to be a cattle herder but thankfully, I have awakened an Arcana spirit." He summoned a spear to show it off to the guests before dismissing it.

    He continued, "With a red grade, I don''t have much potential but I was still better than others. I finished my education and made quite a bit of money in the town as a government official before returning to my village to do something for my people.

    About a decade ago, along with rearing sheep, I convinced everyone to invest in rearing cattle for milk, pigs for meat, chickens for meat and eggs, etc¡­

    We grew prosperous. You can see how good the conditions of the roads, public facilities, and our houses look like¡­

    Everyone can eat food three times a day; because of considerable profits, instead of becoming laborers, even youngsters would stay in this village and help their parents, later taking their work.

    About six months ago, some Arcana Master came to our village. He wanted to buy all the lands in the village. Naturally, we refused to sell our homes.

    After a few weeks, another person came. He was also an Arcana Master.

    He introduced himself as a noble of the Falcon family and stated that he owns a couple of mines. He offered jobs to our villagers who are below 40 years old and are fit. In return, he was willing to pay 35 Tolni per week (100 credits).

    It was good pay and the five men who went missing were the ones who accepted earlier but I convinced everyone to not take such an offer because unlike rearing domestic animals, the job in mines is quite risky to health.

    After that, no one disturbed our livelihood but my friend who was a constable at the town of Lempira informed me that there were more than a thousand missing reports just in Lempira town''s police station, recorded in the past decade.

    During the past six months, there were more than a hundred cases from the surrounding villages. Most of them would usually run away from their villages for better livelihood. So, that''s why the police don''t bother looking in the mountains just because the complainer said so."

    "You think those mysterious Arcana masters have to do with the missing cases and your livestock?" Azzy interrupted him with a question.

    Claire also had the same thought in her head but her boyfriend had already asked it, so, she couldn''t only look at Arvid for confirmation.

    Arvid nodded firmly, "I strongly believe so. People say that I was just influenced by movies but I think there might be something like rare materials sitting right below our village. To acquire that, someone wanted us to leave this place. Only through this logic, everything can be explained."

    "No, there was another possibility." Neal opened his mouth with a serious expression on his face, gaining the attention of everyone in the room.

    Feeling the gazes of Claire and Azzy, he looked at them, "this is your mission, Claire. I''m not supposed to assist you. It is for you to come up with various theories and draw the conclusions."

    Claire fell into thoughts. After a brief silence, she said, "The incident happens during the night. So, we can only wait for another incident to catch the culprit at the scene. In the meantime, we''ll investigate the missing cases. Let''s go to the place where the body has been found."

    "Please do stay at our house as the guests until your investigation is finished. We have enough rooms for all," Arvid said to the three of them as they are leaving the house.

 Chapter 331 The Case Of Missing People & Livestock Part-3

    At first, Claire expected that these thieves'' original aim is Arvid because of all the stolen cattle and pigs, half of them belongs to him.

    She thought someone had a grudge against him. So, that person stole the others in order to hide the purpose of harming Arvid and his family.

    ? But, after hearing the story from the biggest victim, she changed her way of thinking and put more concentration on the missing case. Maybe, the thieves will also relax and attempt once again after they pretend to leave without any leads?

    This is why she didn''t go to any other victim''s house and returned to the village chief''s house to ask for a person who can take them to the spot where the dead body was found.

    It took them three hours of trekking for everyone to reach the spot. They would have been able to reach faster but the villager who is showing the way isn''t an Arcana Master like them and neither had great memory power. So, it is bound to consume time.

    Upon finding the place, Claire sent him away and both of them get to the work while Neal silently watched them.

    "Rael, you go this side, and I will go the left. We''ll see if there''s anything strange in 1-2 kilometer surroundings." Claire said to Azzy.

    They split up. Since this is Claire''s mission, Neal followed her in reluctance.

    Azzy was roaming here and there while watching the ground in the hope of finding the clues. After 30 minutes of search, he returned to the same spot, empty hand but saw Claire was holding something in her hand. Meanwhile, Neal''s facial expression doesn''t look good.

    "Rael, I found something." She took out a severed head of a wolf from the cover.

    She pointed at the head with her other free arm and started making deductions just like what she was taught during the training. "The bottom of the head was flat and the blood wasn''t dripping as it was clotted. This states that an expert cleanly sliced its neck and considering how it''s¡­"

    "Wait for a second, Claire." Azzy hurriedly interrupted her. "That''s not a wolf''s head."

    "Hmm, what do you mean by that?" Claire observed the severed head for another time. "It''s clear that this is a wolf."

    "Just look at the neck." Azzy pointed the neck below its head. "It''s vertical."

    "Hmm? What do you mean?" She fell confused.

    Azzy immediately summoned Vajra. The celestial grade beast didn''t feel a thing when it saw the head of its kin. It just looked at its master and barked as if it was asking for the orders.

    He kneeled to its height and pointed the head, "if you severe it, it will be slanted. I don''t know why its head looks like a wolf but this beast is clearly a bipedal one and I have never heard of a wolf that walks on two legs."

    It was then Claire finally realized. She put back the head into the cover and asked, "Then, what is this?"

    "A werewolf," Neal finally opened his mouth with a serious look on his face. "The situation has now become above your ranks. It''s best if you focus on the missing cattle and leave this issue to the professionals. I''ll inform the HQ and they will send a team. If both of the cases are linked, then, the HQ will assign you another mission."

    "No, I don''t think this isn''t something we can''t handle," Claire refused to heed his advice. "I and Rael, each of us can go toe to toe against even rank-6 experts."

    "You don''t understand the seriousness of the situation, Cadet Claire." Neal furrowed his brows in displeasure. He explained in a stern tone, "Werewolves don''t exist naturally. They are created in a laboratory by experimenting on human beings. If that''s the case, then, there will be a possibility of having rank-7 in the enemy camp. If there is more than one rank-7 expert, even I wouldn''t be able to save you two.

    You aren''t true members of the organization. I''m only here as your supervisor and not obligated to save you. So, think twice before performing reckless actions."

    "Then, don''t. I''m there to protect her." Azzy replied in place of Claire. He was already annoyed with Neal but the latter''s behavior towards Claire irked him further.

    Even the dumbest of the dumbest could recognize the difference, when Neal was talking to Claire and when he was conversing with Azzy.

    Once again, Azzy went against Neal while supporting his girlfriend, "If there''s an enemy whom I can''t protect Claire from, then, your presence will not make any difference.

    You can continue to play as the supervisor like before and leave the investigation and its results to us."

    Neal was also human. He can tolerate disrespectful behavior from Azzy only for so long.

    He snapped at the both of them, "the two of you aren''t obligated to listen to my orders. You can do whatever you want. Like the warned before, the consequences will have been suffered by Claire if this goes wrong. Meanwhile, it''s my duty to inform the higher-ups. Whatever they do, and whatever you kids do, I will have nothing to do with it."

    Azzy felt like he had probably pushed Neal for too far that the latter decided to bounce back. However, he doesn''t care about it because he was confident that he did the right thing.

    "Claire, let''s go to the place where you found the head," said Azzy.

    Claire nodded and walked forward. Neal silently followed from behind.

    Azzy and Claire walked for a few minutes before reaching the spot.

    He activated Aura Sense and looked around to check the signs of life. Except for their three, a few land animals and birds, there were other auras in five kilometers of radius.

    Azzy became clueless. There''s the severed head of a werewolf but its body is missing. A whole body was dumped in the middle of nowhere, and there''s a skull surfaced beside it? He doesn''t feel like he is missing something.

    All of a sudden, something clicked in his mind. He looked at his girlfriend, "Claire, how did you find the head?"

    "Eh? What do you mean?" She asked. Neal also looked at him.

    Azzy asked, "I mean at what position it was when you find it. Was it lying on the ground or placed vertically on the ground?"

    "How could it be placed vertically on the ground? Obviously, it was on the side with the back of its head on the ground." Claire answered him right away, not understanding why he was asking such questions right now.

    "That means the blood will be spilled nearby, right? Even if it no longer stays fresh, there should be bloodstains around." Azzy looked around once again. It was pretty much barren land with little grass here and there. "No, there''s nothing here."

    "That means it was brought here and dumped?" Claire''s eyes were widened in realization, "come to think of it, when we found the severed head, there was minimum soil on it. This area is full of red soil. If there''s a fight and if the head was sliced away and rolled on the ground, its face and the other parts must have soil, right? Is this a trap?"

    "Not for us," Azzy shook his head. "Remember what the village chief said? There was a skull nearby the dead body of the villager. Perhaps, there''s some kind of technique they were using to lure in the villagers. Maybe, someone from the village will drag them there in the name of finding a severed head, one by one, and abduct them?"

    "What kind of bullsh*t analysis is that¡­" Neal thought in his mind. And he felt like spitting the blood when he saw how Claire agreed with his analysis.

    Thankfully, for him, there''s someone else who thinks the same way.

    "That means the culprit must have been a villager living there." As Claire was contemplating on the theory, Azzy finally heard a voice in his head, giving him crucial guidance, "Azrael, if you two lovebirds stop playing detective, use your god''s eyes and search everything one more time, this time, even the underground too¡­"

    "Underground? Is there something there?" Azzy wondered as the Reaper stressed on that word. Nevertheless, he followed the suggestion and unleashed the soul skill.

    "Soul skill: Eyes of God."

    As his eyes turned pitch black with no visible pupils, a trace of surprise appeared on Neal and Claire for they wondered what he is doing.

    Meanwhile, Azzy concentrated on the ground. He took a step back in shock.

 Chapter 332 Azzy Reveals The Death Scythe

    Somewhere on Mt. Sunderboia, a team of three was busy digging with shovels made of energy with the sun at its peak position.

    Around them, there were at least six skeletons without skulls.

    "Here, we go, another one was found without a skull." Neal took out a skeleton and placed it on the ground. Looking at Azzy, he asked, "how many more are there?"

    Azzy, who still had his God''s eyes, looked everywhere, "maybe about 100-150?"

    "Let me inform the government and they will send a professional team to handle this work," Neal said to Azzy. "This isn''t our job."

    "Then, don''t do it. Who asked you to help us out?" Azzy snarled at him. Neal kept saying that this isn''t their job. They aren''t obligated to this and that. With the sun on his head, he was incredibly annoyed.

    It was clear for Claire that her boyfriend was getting ruder with his words as time passed by. She could understand Neal''s point but cannot agree with it. She and Azzy had the same view, which is to get justice for the victims before them.

    Trying to find the middle ground between their views, she said, "Captain Neal, if we involve the government, then, there''s a high chance that the culprits get alert and leave this place.

    But, Rael, we don''t need to dig up everything to get their attention. I think we have dug up enough. So, now, we should spread the news all over the village. Once our mission is finished, we can inform the authorities about other skeletons."

    Since she''s the prime investigator for this case, both of them agreed with her.

    About half an hour later, the villagers saw the three of them back but not without empty-handed. Along with them, there are floating bubbles where each one contains a skeleton inside them. Meanwhile, their uniforms were dirtied with red soil.

    The news passed around the villagers faster than sound. Before they even walked a few hundred meters into the village, the village chief was seen rushing towards them.

    Taking continuous short breaths, he asked about it.

    Claire answered him, "don''t worry. These skeletons don''t belong to your grandson and his friends. It takes atleast a year to decompose into skeletons. However, someone is killing people and taking their heads while burying the remains in the mountains.

    An officer will be here within two days to collect the samples and send it to the lab to identify the skeletons but until then, we have to store them. Can you provide caskets and a place to store them? We''ll provide compensation out of our own pocket."

    "I will arrange it." The old man was visibly a little bit disappointed that his grandson''s mortal remains weren''t found. As for the possibilities of life, he had already lost hope. Now, all he wanted was to give a proper burial to his grandson before his health deteriorates further.

    After handing the skeletons to the village chief, the three of them went to Arvid''s house and cleaned themselves. Azzy was the last to take a shower.

    By the time he changed into casual clothes and came downstairs, the two 7-year-old kids were seen sitting on the ground and got themselves immersed in Claire''s story.

    "And then, I picked up my sword and dashed forward and cut down its head. And two more heads popped up again? I don''t know what to do. No matter how many times I cut off its head, two more getting popped up every time.

    What can I do? I can only try to cut their heads one more time. But thankfully, I had a reliable partner.

    Mia used her Oak Tree Arcana to capture it with its branches and this time, I did what she suggested and went for its abdomen, completely slicing it two parts, thereby successfully killing it. This is how we saved those two people¡­"

    As the kids were amazed to hear the story of Claire''s recent adventure in the desert, Azzy commented, "You should have gone for its vitals, Claire. My recent experience taught me that even a powerful rank-6 beast can be killed if we can locate its organs and damage them."

    "That kind of fighting doesn''t suit my style, you know," replied Claire, turning her head. She added, "I''m more suited with reckless attacks."

    "I know but still, you can''t take your recovery ability for granted. If you meet tough opponents who can do more damage than you recover, it will become difficult to win," Azzy countered her statement with a hypothetical situation.

    But, Claire didn''t worry about it. She said with a confident look on her face, "With you standing beside me, I don''t worry about the opponents we will face in the world league."

    Azzy didn''t reply this time. He was filled with thoughts, wondering whether to tell her now or not. Because they were in a village where almost no one understands the concept of Arcana, he thought it is the right time. He made his decision.

    After a brief silence, he opened his mouth, "There''s something I need to say to you. Come outside."

    "Hmm, what is it?" Claire looked at him curiously.

    As Azzy stormed out of the house immediately, Claire smiled at the kids, "Melton, Marine, I will be right back. After that, I will tell you even more of an amazing story of my adventure."

    Upon reaching the courtyard, Azzy stopped and waited for Claire to catch up. Once he reached him, he looked at her, "Claire, you have to participate in world league with someone else."

    "Why?" Claire furrowed her brows in response. Was he intending to participate with Estella or something? If that''s the case, she will never allow it.

    Azzy closed his eyes for a second, summoning his soul card. Taking a deep breath, he pushed his hands into the soul card and pulled out a handle, soon, a curved blade is also revealed. The weapon was twice his height and has a very intimidating appearance.

    "My third Arcana, which I kept hidden until now. It''s called the Death Scythe and it appears that I''m a descendant of Death Clan." At last, Azzy revealed the truth to Claire and waited for her reaction.

    To his surprise, she was very calm. "So, what does this have anything to do with not participating in the world league?"

    Azzy was taken aback by her response. Does she already know of his truth or was she unaware of what is a Death Clan?

    As he dismissed it, he asked, "Does this mean nothing to you?"

    Claire shrugged his shoulders, "why would it be? In fact, it would be a surprise if you belong to a commoner family. We have been known each other for nearly 1 and a half years and have been in a relationship for more than 8 months now.

    During this time, there are a number of incidents that occurred around you. After witnessing all of that, if I can''t even assume that you are a member of a hidden clan, I would be a fool. And Izora Crescent, she''s your guardian, isn''t she?"

    "Thank goodness." Sighing in relief, he replied, "I thought you will become angry or get confused or ask for further explanation about my secret. But, this makes it easier for me to explain.

    Claire, you aren''t the first person to know this secret of mine. There''s someone else who knows it, long before you. You know her and it''s not Estella."

    The image of a peerless beauty appeared in Claire''s head and suddenly, everything became clear, "Leah Pendragon. You are participating together with her, aren''t you?"

    Azzy nodded, confirming her doubt, "Yesterday, I and instructor Crescent went to a pyramid. There, we met¡­"

    Except for the cosmic gem, which he described as treasure, he explained everything in detail from how they coincidentally to how the Reaper made a deal with her.

    "Senior division? Was she crazy? Tell that you won''t participate in it." Claire was indeed upset that Azzy was going to fight together with a person whom she believed was a potential love rival but more than that, she was worried about his life.

    Azzy is indeed strong. There''s no doubt in that. However, the senior division will be filled with contestants who are below 100 years old. There will be rank-7 Arcana masters. How could a rank-5 like Azzy be able to face them? That''s why she readily told him to not honor his promise.

    Her angry outburst was within Azzy''s expectations. He grabbed her hands, "there was something else I was hiding from you. I was worried that you will get angry. So, I didn''t tell you yet. The truth is that I''m already close to reaching the peak stage of rank-6."

    "What?"

 Chapter 333 The Case Of Missing People & Livestock Part-4

    Azzy no longer hid his soul power. He unsealed the sixth planet in his soul and let his girlfriend sense his real strength.

    As Claire was only in rank-5, she couldn''t accurately guess his soul power but she could compare to other rank-6 experts that she knows and Claire realized that it is only slightly lower than their homeroom teacher.

    "It is true¡­" Claire took a step back in surprise. "From when?"

    "No, a couple of months ago," Azzy clarified her as he sealed a part of his strength once again.

    "It''s the time you went to that wedding and an alien invasion took place?" She asked.

    Azzy nodded, "I absorbed vast amounts of plasma energy."

    "Plasma energy?" Claire heard of it but possesses little knowledge on the topic.

    Azzy continued, "This is why I once said you to master the Decarune seal. Once you successfully complete the tenth seal, you can absorb various types of energies to increase your soul power."

    "Yeah, Agatha said the same thing but I''m not getting enough time to work on it." Claire let out a sigh, remembering how tough it is to form those seals on her soul orb. Adding on top of that, she had to fight her own soul energy''s resistance power and subdue it.

    Azzy suggested in a soft tone, "It will get more difficult as you get stronger. So, I urge you to work on it before you make a breakthrough."

    "I guess I have to do that." Claire let out another sigh, thinking about how hard she will have to work in the near future, now that the gap between her and Azzy widened by a whole realm.

    A day ago, she thought that she had greatly lessened the gap between them after reaching peak-rank-5 and was confident that she won''t drag him down in the world league even without depending on the adamantine gloves but now, the reality hit her. She realized that she still had a long way to go.

    In the end, with great reluctance, Claire gave her consent to Azzy''s participation in the world league with Leah.

    With everything cleared up, Azzy returned to the house along with Claire for the lunch without being unaware that their entire conversation was heard by Neal who was inside the house.

    However, when they returned, he behaved normally as if he was busy talking and listening to Arvid who was speaking about the current affairs of the country that was in the news.

    After having their lunch, the three of them went to the village chief to check upon the skeletons.

    They were neatly placed outside of the storage room as it was filled with grains and other items, and the village chief doesn''t want to keep dead bodies there.

    Azzy and Claire naturally understand his plight but since they were laying a trap, they cannot afford to keep them in the open. So, they requested the village chief to shift them to a place where they can be stored. Claire stressed that they were evidence.

    The village chief was quite cooperative. Since he was living alone, he permitted keeping them in one of the rooms despite being disgusted by the fact that he had to sleep with skeletons in his house.

    But then again, he knew that he won''t live for long and will soon turn into a skeleton too.

    He thought if he do a favor on some poor souls, perhaps, the god will listen to his prayers and fulfill his last wish. As long as he gets to see his grandson be it alive or corpse, he will be contented with it.

    Now that everything is done, the three of them decided to wait until midnight.

    Of course, they didn''t sit still until then. During the afternoon and evening, the three of them went to all the houses that became victims of livestock theft and consoled them.

    While giving them assurance of catching the thieves, Claire revealed the sensitive information of the discovered skeletons, like where they have kept it until they identify them.

    The sunset arrived, and soon, the darkness loomed over the village. It was midnight and almost everyone in the village was sleeping.

    About a couple of hundred meters away from the house of the chief village, Neal, Azzy, and Claire were sitting on the terrace of Arvid''s house. Thankfully, for them, the moon was in the form of a waning crescent. So, there was almost no light in the surroundings and it is almost impossible to detect them through the naked eye.

    However, right now, Claire was keeping an eye on the house of the village chief with her night vision binoculars. Meanwhile, the other two were looking elsewhere.

    At around 2 a.m., just when everyone thought that their suspicion might be wrong or their plan had failed, Claire detected the presence of four men, breaking into the house.

    In an instant, a smile appeared on her face. She spoke, "got them."

    Azzy, with his Aura sensing, scanned his surroundings. He said, "It looks like there was no one else."

    "Okay, let''s go¡­" Claire jumped onto the ground as the four of them came out carrying the caskets. Azzy and Neal also followed from behind. Everyone didn''t forget to equip night vision goggles so as to see the roads properly. They wouldn''t want to accidentally destroy the private or public properties of the village, right?

    As they maintained silence and suppressed their strengths, Claire thought they would be undiscovered but alas, they were wrong.

    Somehow, one of them sensed the movements of Claire and the other two even from far away. He spoke in rather a loud tone, "It''s a trap, run."

    The one who alerted the others left the casket he was carrying and started running on his own in a different direction. On the other hand, the other three tried to run by carrying the caskets.

    "I''ll go after him. You take care of those." Azzy said as he stormed forward. The night vision goggles don''t get a clear view as day but it was still enough for Azzy to chase after him.

    Azzy caught up him to pretty much quickly and just as he was about to land a controlled punch to the back of his target, all of sudden, gray-colored energy erupted from the latter and pushed Azzy away.

    Azzy was taken aback by surprise. He didn''t expect that his target is a strong Arcana Master. The earlier attack was as powerful as low-rank-5. His palms were bruised when he attempted to block it.

    When Azzy got up on his feet, the target was no longer in his sight. He instantly activated Aura Sense and unleashed the Eye of God soul skill.

    "He''s fast but not much." Azzy dashed forward with his maximum speed.

    Meanwhile, the person who was getting away furrowed his brows as he glanced at the back, "dammit. This kid is stronger than I thought. I guess I need to get serious or else, I won''t see the light of tomorrow."

    He closed his eyes for a second and opened them. His pupils turned yellow. They started to glow in the night too.

    It wasn''t just his eyes but his body also went tremendous changes.

    Gray fur appeared over his legs and hands. His canines turned into fangs. At the moment, he no longer appeared like a human.

    He bent his body forward to keep his hands on the ground and increased his speed.

    With the Eyes of God''s soul skill activated, Azzy saw his transformation clearly. "A beast transformation? Is it a skill or¡­"

    Azzy no longer took this lightly because of his suspicion.

    He poured soul energy into his legs and chased after him. At his present state, it''s even tough for rank-7 to catch up with Azzy''s speed. How could the target escape?

    Azzy caught up with the man quickly and this time, he attacked with a Protos Spear when he was about five meters away.

    A rank-4 Protos Spear cut through the air and pierced the back of the target.

    The man groaned in pain. The spear only left a normal wound on his back, which healed on its own pretty much quickly with his regenerative powers. However, the Protos energy that''s invaded his body caused him trouble.

    He couldn''t help but concentrate on expelling the foreign energy from his system.

    "Move¡­ move¡­"

    A shout from behind returned him back to reality but it was too late. Before he knew what was going on, his back was hit by Azzy who momentarily lost control of his speed.

    As Azzy''s body collided with the man''s back, the latter was pushed away forward with great force like a truck that is going at 200 km/hr.

    The man crashed onto an electric pole of all the places and broke it before falling unconscious. This time, the village plunged into darkness for real.

    "Well, what to do now¡­" Azzy scratched his cheek in embarrassment.

 Chapter 334 The Case Of Missing People & Livestock Part-5

    After causing a great deal of inconvenience to everyone in the village, Azzy looked around. "Okay, there''s no one spying on me."

    For a brief couple of seconds, he summoned the Hour Glass and unleashed soul skill: Chrono Rewind on the electric pole and the wires that were damaged.

    Within a fraction of a second, they were repaired as if nothing happened earlier and everyone had the power back. While some thought that it is just a power glitch and continued to sleep, others in the neighborhood who heard the sound outside woke up.

    Meanwhile, Azzy dismissed the hourglass and took out a 5-star healing card from his storage space card.

    As he healed the unconscious man, the latter''s skin returned to normal.

    Azzy was a little bit surprised and took a closer look at the man''s face through the night vision goggles. "This man is that village chief Albert''s grandson, right?"

    Earlier during the day, when he went to meet the village chief, he had seen the photo. So, he easily recognized it.

    "I wonder what kind of transformation is this¡­" Azzy mumbled to himself.

    His doubts were answered by the Reaper, right away. "It''s a werewolf, Azrael."

    "A werewolf?" Azzy was taken aback. He asked, "This man''s transformation is different though."

    The Reaper explained, "He''s not a full werewolf. Either his body couldn''t completely integrate a wolf''s DNA or he is a child, born from werewolf and a human."

    "So, one of his parents are werewolves?" Azzy suddenly thought of the village chief. Is it possible that his grandfather might also be one? Possibilities are there but he doesn''t know for sure.

    Azzy reached out his back and pulled out the walkie-talkie that is hanging in its pants. He tuned it to channel 3 and see if he can connect to the other two.

    Thankfully, Neal''s walkie-talkie is always on.

    Azzy told them to come to the village chief''s house.

    After informing them, he healed the unconscious man and carried him to the house of the chief of the village where the other two also brought the caskets and the three thieves.

    But, there, as soon as he stepped inside, he found the village chief rushed towards him, making Azzy stop.

    Albert stopped before Azzy and laid his eyes on the unconscious young man. His hands quivered and tears welled up in his eyes as the old man touched the face, "Evan¡­"

    Azzy already knew about it but for protocol, he asked, just in case, "Is this perhaps, your grandson?"

    "Yes," The old man nodded, confirming it.

    Azzy then said, "Don''t worry. He''s out of danger but we''ll have to interrogate him. He''s not only a culprit in attempting to steal the caskets but is also a suspect in other crimes."

    "No, he must have been blackmailed. Evan is a good fellow." The old man was visibly shocked, clearly in disbelief that his grandson can do something wrong.

    "And this good fellow isn''t human. He''s a werewolf. Forget about your grandson and worry about yourself. As you are his kin, you are also a suspect, now." Azzy replied right away in a straight tone. Because his face doesn''t contain a bit of emotion, it impacted the old man a lot.

    "No, a werewolf? That''s not possible¡­" The village chief stepped back in fear. His whole body is shaking uncontrollably.

    "It looks like you know what a werewolf is." Azzy caught his mistake and attempted to interrogate him on the spot without any compassion. "Even the people in towns and cities never heard of the term. But, a person from a tiny village hidden in some mountains knows of it. I feel like you are hiding something."

    It''s not that Azzy is trying to be cruel to this frail-looking elder, he had pity for him and his grandson but because of the late Galarian King that troubled his life a lot, his body wouldn''t listen to his heart.

    Claire who was sitting in the living room scurried towards them with a trace of surprise on his face, "I thought it he is only an Arcana Master but a werewolf?

    "Not a complete one, Claire." Azzy clarified her and then, explained how his transformation is only partial.

    After placing the young man on a cot, both of them looked at the old man for an explanation. As for the other three, they admitted that they were the ones who were stealing the cattle but were only following Evan''s orders.

    Taking a seat, Albert let out a deep sigh as he leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees, "Twenty-five years ago, our mountains are known for possessing ginsengs. People used to stop by our village before they go on a trek to find those treasures.

    My daughter, Nova, was abducted when she ventured into the mountains as a guide for a couple. I have searched for her, complained of a missing report but to avail.

    Two years later, she returned with Evan inside her. People thought she just eloped with her boyfriend and returned home after being cheated on. I too thought the same.

    But, it wasn''t the complete truth.

    Somewhere in the mountains, there''s a dungeon where experiments were being made on abducted humans.

    She was held a prisoner there for more than a year and experimented with by those cruel bas***ds. As a result, she indeed became stronger but lost her humanity.

    Every once in a while, she would suddenly storm out from the village and go to the mountains. Whether it''s a curse or a blessing, she wouldn''t remember anything during her transformation.

    Eventually, she gives birth to a boy and dies in childbirth. During childhood, my grandson''s eyes used to turn yellow like a wolf and he would possess supernatural reflexes and power but the ability slowly waned away.

    During the past 15 years, he never exhibited any unnatural symptoms, and neither did he harm anyone in his life."

    "Well, we know it when he wakes up," commented Claire before turning around to walk away.

    About a couple of hours later, the young man recovered his consciousness. His eyes fell on his grandfather and exclaimed, "Grandpa¡­"

    However, the surprise didn''t last a second as he discovered that he was captured by dark energy chains.

    Albert looked at his grandson in worry and spoke in a pleading tone, "tell them that you are innocent, Evan. These people from WAMO are telling you that they will take you to their headquarters to interrogate you. You didn''t commit any crime, right?"

    Then, Neal''s hand fell on the shoulders of his grandfather as he said, "sorry for interrupting your reunion but we have questions. Whether we treat your grandfather as your accomplice or not, depends on your answers."

    He struggled, "leave my grandpa, alone. He has nothing to with this."

    "Now, tell us everything. Why were you stealing the caskets? Why are there dozens of hundred dead bodies buried on the mountain? Who do you work for?" Claire asked sternly. Naturally, she was trying to act tough.

    After a brief silence, Evans answered, "a few months ago, I received an offer from a noble named Roan Falcon. I don''t know how he found out our family''s secret but I didn''t adhere to his blackmail of working for him.

    However, he refused to back away. Roan showed the power of his Falcon family, cutting off the aid to our village and throwing my grandfather into jail with charges of corruption.

    It forced me to work under him for there''s no police officer who would listen to my plea.

    My work isn''t that complicated either. Every week, I would have to venture into the mountains and go to the mine. I will be handed corpses without heads. I don''t know what will they do with them but my job is to bury those corpses.

    At first, it was out of no choice but as my payment is increased, I could only continue."

    "Do you know the location of the mine?" Claire asked him.

    As Evan nodded and promised that he will take them there, his grandfather pleaded innocence, "I know that my grandson cannot do any harm. He is innocent. I promise you that he won''t run away and will cooperate with your case. So, please free him."

    Claire''s expression turned soft as she looked at Azzy who was the one that trapped him with energy chains, "Rael, free him."

    Azzy didn''t release but said to the captured suspect, "I have but one question. Your three friends say that you are their boss and the fourth friend was killed by a wolf. Is it really the case? Or were you involved in it?"

    The room suddenly went silent. Four pairs of eyes were staring at Evan, waiting for an answer.

 Chapter 335 The Case Of Missing People & Livestock Part-6

    "I¡­ I¡­ I¡­" Evan started stuttering as soon as he was asked about the death of his friend.

    His reaction made Azzy almost confirm that he did it. He was holding to the last bit of compassion left in his heart for the young man. Once he hears the confession, it will be gone too. In Azzy''s view, the killers don''t need to be pitied.

    "Say it, properly." He spoke in a loud tone, making even Claire flinch in surprise.

    Evan tightly closed his eyes, "I didn''t do it but I know who did it."

    "Ha, thank goodness." Claire sighed in relief that this suspect didn''t commit the murder. Or else, she couldn''t imagine what Azzy would do, judging by his earlier outburst. Unprovoked bullying and murder were two things Azzy wouldn''t tolerate.

    In the past couple of months, they have solved a few cases. In one of them, there''s a female Arcana Master who killed her husband for money. After getting caught, Azzy didn''t hesitate to destroy her soul orb before handing it over to the police.

    That''s why she was relieved to hear that this person is not a criminal.

    Azzy was also calmed down a bit and asked, "Then, is it another werewolf?"

    Evan nodded, "Yes. Her name is Loren. She''s the one who usually hands me the corpses and makes the payments. And from my share, I used to make payments to my friends who are helping me. But, Lincoln turned greedy. He wasn''t satisfied with the amount.

    He tried to make a deal behind my back and got killed. I don''t know what happened but Loren handed me his body with his head attached, citing the reason that he was my acquaintance.

    She asked me to take his body back to the village for a proper burial but I was afraid of investigations and I was also afraid of her.

    At the same time, I also wanted the people to know about his death, rather than fooling them. So, I dumped his body at a random place and hoped that someone would find him.

    After that, I and others went into hiding. During the past three weeks, we worked as ordinary miners. We planned to go missing for a couple of months before returning to the village but didn''t expect that you found six of them. We were worried that¡­"

    "The others will also be found, right?" Claire finished the sentence for him.

    As Evan nodded and further pleaded that they didn''t actually harm anyone, Claire asked Azzy to free him.

    Upon freeing from the chains, he took a seat in the living room. His three friends were forced to sit at a corner while Neal kept an eye on the unconscious suspects as well as the investigators.

    Claire then said, "If you will help us catch those culprits, then, not only you will be pardoned of all the charges but we will also reward you with 10000 credits. We will wrap the case with this Loren behind the theft of the animals."

    Azzy was inwardly surprised by Claire''s offer. Meanwhile, Neal glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. He too didn''t expect Claire to choose this path.

    However, he didn''t object to it because Loren is now charged with atleast murder. Adding theft to those charges will not impact her sentence much anyway. But, he also wondered whether the reward is needed. He believed that just canceling the thievery charges are good enough.

    Claire, on the other hand, thought differently. She believed that if there''s no reward, Evan''s cooperation will be out of fear and he might make mistakes due to that. That''s why she added a small reward and decided to pay it out of her pocket. She''s rich anyway.

    10000 credits might be only 1000 Krocs for the people of Northern Qudour, but for a person from Zuweth, it is 3500 Tolni. 5 tolni per day is considered a great salary for these villagers. So, this was like receiving two years of annual salary. It is not by means a small amount.

    Evan looked like he was tempted by the amount. "When should we leave?" he asked after giving a brief thought.

    Claire stood up from the seat and replied, "right away."

    "Right now? But, it''s midnight¡­" Evan was taken aback.

    Azzy replied to him, in place of Claire, "we have night vision goggles and I know that you can see in darkness. So, there''s no problem. Moreover, we can take them by surprise."

    "What to do with these three?" Neal interrupted their conversation. After getting their attention, he further said, "Cadet Claire, you are the prime investigator of the case. You decide."

    "Free them," Claire announced her decision regarding the fates of those three and then, turned to look at the village chief, "Mt. Albert, we''ll leave them in your house. If they wake up before we return, tell them, not to stray off from the path of good for the sake of money. The next time, they will go to jail for sure."

    "Sure, thank you for the mercy, young miss." The village chief thanked her for not indicting charges on his grandson and his friends. Of course, he was worried about Evan''s safety but the fact that the villagers will not lose their livelihood anymore eased up his heart.

    Soon, the party of four left for the mountain. With Evan acting as the guide, they reached the east entrance of the mine within two hours. A dark path leads to the underground. Even with night vision goggles, none of them had seen anything.

    Stepping into the mine, Evan said in a low tone, "This way. "

    They followed him. All of them walked at a slow pace to not make a sound. Azzy activated his Aura Sensing ability to check up on the area. He could sense at least a thousand life auras. As they are too big in number, he couldn''t specifically point out who is a victim and who is a miner.

    On their way, they took a lot of turns, changed several tunnels in these coal mines. At first, they found a lot of miners, some are on night duty and the remaining is resting. But then, as they go deeper into the underground, the temperature rose while the miners also became less.

    Even in such a situation, Azzy could still see the auras of atleast dozens ahead.

    Now, as Evan halted his footsteps, he pointed at the dark tunnel standing before them, "I think this is the place. Usually, I wait here and send a message to Loren. She would come with the corpses."

    Azzy concentrated on the life auras he was looking at. As he observed, he found except for six of them, everyone else is in a sleeping position and that too, clustered at one spot.

    It was then Neal spoke in a hushed tone, "Apart from us, I can sense the presence of a peak-rank-6, low-rank-6 of 2 in number, and peak-rank-5 of 3 in number, from there. If anyone else hasn''t suppressed their strength, this is the enemies'' strength. It''s not difficult but not easy either."

    "That depends on your participation, Captain," replied Claire as she looked ahead.

    Azzy then said, "Nah, we can take care of this, ourselves. Leave those rank-6 experts to me and you finish off those rank-5, Claire."

    Neal and Claire glanced at him but didn''t say anything. One through direct reply and the other through spying, both of them knew that Azzy is a high-rank-6 Arcana Master.

    With Claire''s own soul power equals peak-rank-5, they didn''t feel that it might be a challenge.

    Claire agreed to it and looked at Neal, "Captain, how about you keep an eye on this fellow while we go inside. If we can''t handle it, I''ll call for help."

    After a brief silence, Neal nodded, "alright but make sure to switch on your communication devices, all the time. If this mission is successful, Azrael might not have to take the test to get the promotion along with you."

    Very soon, Azzy and Claire stepped inside the tunnel and disappeared from Neal''s sight.

    Staring at the dark tunnel, Evan said, "You shouldn''t have sent those kids. It''s too dangerous."

    "And you don''t know how dangerous those two are." Neal smirked in response before adding, "Those two couldn''t even be categorized as some geniuses like me. They are a step above."

    "No, I don''t mean that." Evan shook his head. He clarified his statement, "They are still kids and too kind to show mercy on me. I''m not sure whether they have seen the world or not, but I wonder about their mental state upon witnessing the place."

    Neal''s facial expression hardened as he replied, "Plants and flowers can be grown in greenhouses but not a forest, Mr. Evan."

 Chapter 336 Azzy & Claire To Battle The Werewolves Part-1

    The tunnel in the dark pathway is about a hundred meters long with various chambers on the left and right.

    With his Aura Sensing ability, Azzy could see that all of them are empty except for one chamber, but Claire wanted to inspect every chamber for some reason.

    Luckily for them, none of the chambers were locked. So, without making any sound, they managed to enter and inspect them.

    The first chamber on the left contained just stone slabs and blankets. On the corner, there was an unclean toilet. They could smell the urine even from far away.

    "This must be where the victims were forced to take rest," Claire mumbled as she looked around.

    "Let''s go." Azzy touched her arm.

    She nodded and left the chamber to go to the next one. It was also the same as before one.

    One after another, she continued to inspect the chambers and found all of them were just sleeping chambers. She thought there will be other chambers for experiments but she was wrong.

    In the end, after five-six minutes, they reached the main chamber with a large metal door. This one is closed.

    "Shall we knock or blast through it?" She asked.

    "Leave it to me," replied Azzy as he placed his palm on the door. First of all, the temperatures in a coal mine would already be very high, and if there''s a metal door, it''s natural that it will be very hot.

    But, Azzy didn''t mind this little temperature. After all, his body is tremendously tough like steel.

    He closed his eyes as he poured soul energy into his palm. Instead of trying it push away through force, he slowly tried to empower it as one does with swords or other weapons.

    As his soul energy is destructive in nature, the entire steel door that was covered by black energy turned into powder in just a moment.

    But, what welcomed them is a bunch of Arcana Masters who didn''t appear to be tense or so whatever. All of them are perfectly awake too.

    A woman welcomed the two of them with a smile, "I didn''t expect the two rats who intruded our place are just kids. I''m really curious about your identities."

    Azzy and Claire stepped inside calmly and looked around. Just like he had sensed earlier, there were six of them with the strongest in the peak stage of the Upper Elite realm.

    Inside the chamber, there were a series of tables arranged in the center of the chamber with at least six feet of gap between each of them. There were needles, scalpels, gloves, and other surgical equipment scattered around.

    At a corner, there''s a rack full of glass containers filled with some unknown liquid. Each of them either contained a pair of yellow eyes or a large brain that is at least two-three times bigger than an average human''s.

    If not for the fact that they didn''t resemble a human''s, Azzy would have thought that this is some organ trafficking, instead of werewolf experiments.

    However, the most disturbing scene wasn''t that. It was the cell placed on the right side of the chamber where about seventy-six subjects are clustered together. There was a barrier on the outside of the cell.

    Fortunately, the space is big enough for each of them to sit comfortably. However, right now, all of them are currently sleeping because it is around 4 o''clock, or maybe, unconscious because of some drug, who knows¡­

    Azzy''s hands shivered in fury as he saw dozens of Aura of deaths. So, unless he personally intervenes in the situation, their death is inevitable. More than that, with his Aura Sensing, he could see how chaotic some of their soul energy is behaving and is on the verge of exploding their organs. Maybe, this is the reason they have the Aura of Deaths.

    Azzy is no longer in a mood to analyze them.

    Even though Claire didn''t observe all the things as Azzy did, she was on the same page as him.

    Before Azzy takes action, Claire spoke first, "surrender yourselves in peace and free them."

    "Or else what?" The woman in charge smirked as she crossed her arms to the chest while leaning to the edge of the table. "I suppose great rank-4s like you two will put us into our place? You should have brought your other companion with you. A mid-rank-6 expert could at least put up some fight."

    Azzy and Claire glanced at each other before giving a nod to each other. They removed all of the seals on their respective soul orbs, revealing their real soul power.

    As a trace of surprise appeared on the woman''s face, this time, Claire smirked, "we aren''t adults but not fools either. Representing World Arcana Masters Organization, I ask you one last time. Will you surrender in peace or will we force you to do so?"

    Loren turned serious, "You fooled us for good but you are too na?ve to think that you could defeat us with just the two of you.

    Considering your high soul power, you two will make a great specimen for our experiment. Once the two of you will turn our race, you will join those five." She pointed at the five other guards while transforming into a new form.

    This wasn''t a full transformation. A partial transformation that is similar to that of Evan, except that her whole body and the sides of her face were covered by gray fur instead of just limbs.

    "Alice, Simeon, take care of the girl. The remaining will be on standby. The boy is my prey." Loren passed the orders.

    Just like puppets, two peak-rank-5 experts made their move as soon as they received the orders. They neither opened their mouth nor did they spare a glance at Azzy.

    Both of them attacked Claire, trying to finish their job. Claire charged forward towards them like lightning and gave powerful punches to their abdomen, one after another.

    Both of them crashed onto the wall and fell onto the floor.

    Summoning the divine sword, Claire glanced at the surprised Loren, "told you so. Now that you have already made your choice, you can only regret it later in the maximum-security prison."

    Meanwhile, Azzy summoned the helpers for it is difficult for him to keep an eye on everyone''s movements. Unfortunately, he already used Eyes of God, two hours ago. So, he could only wait for a couple of more hours before using it again.

    <strong>"Soul skill: Rise of the Undead"</strong>

    <strong>"I summon you, Hydra King, Aurora"</strong>

    <strong>"Wake up, Vajra"</strong>

    In a fraction of a second, a high-rank-6 Celestial grade black-lightning wolf, a low-rank-5 skeletal snake, and a peak-rank-6 platinum grade skeletal wolf appeared beside him.

    "You are a Necro-summoner!" Loren''s facial expression darkened. She was aware of the potential of necromancers who could summon the skeletons of beasts and humans that were killed by the user.

    But, even more, than them, the necro-summoners, who have the abilities to control the dead as well as summon another beast are even more troublesome. Fortunately for her, summoners are usually bad at close combat. So, she thought she would win if it is one on one.

    Looking at the other three who were on standby, she passed the orders without hesitation. "Trixie, Chase, and Stuart, you three kill those beasts."

    "Everyone, Choose the ones in your realm. Only single target soul skills are permitted to be used." Azzy quickly passed the instructions to the three of them and charged towards Loren.

 Chapter 337 Azzy & Claire To Battle The Werewolves Part-2

    If Loren had been a human, she would have been punched by now but as a werewolf, her senses were very keen, her reflexes were top-notch, and her sight was so that she clearly saw Azzy arrived before her within a fraction of a second and already threw a punch at her abdomen.

    She dodged to the side and attempted to slash at him with her claws but Azzy''s reflexes are also faster than her.

    He kicked his feet and jumped to the side. Unfortunately, unlike her, he hadn''t stabilized his realm yet. So, his footing went out of control and Azzy collided with a table, pushing it away.

    That gave an opportunity for Loren. She dashed towards him and successfully punched him in the side of his waist.

    He flew in the air and crashed onto the wall.

    "Hmpf, a brat dares to challenge just because he has a similar amount of Soul Power," Loren snorted as she looked at him, falling on the floor while making a crack on the sturdy wall.

    "Rael¡­" Claire screamed in worry, losing her concentration for a moment. Her two opponents, who made a hole out of the wall and fell outside, returned with full transformations. Both of them became bulkier.

    Meanwhile, Azzy got up on his feet. He was feeling a sharp pain at his waist but his expressionless face gave off the impression that nothing happened. That irked the female alpha werewolf. With about 20 meters distance between him and Loren, he mumbled, "good."

    "What do you mean by good?" Loren growled as she charged forward at her peak speed. It only took her two seconds to cover the distance.

    As she almost reached him, all of a sudden, three black energy needles of an adult human-sized appeared in her sight. All of them are in rank-6, reducing his soul energy by more than half.

    One of the Protos Spears flew towards her. Because of her extraordinary senses, she instantly sensed the power inside the attack. For some reason, her intuition says that she shouldn''t face it.

    As she attempted to dodge, the needle, which is as fast as a sound, pierced her.

    *Ugh*

    Loren groaned in pain with her upper left arm was wounded. Her recovery ability healed her but the Protos energy that is invaded her body troubled her a bit. She proceeded to expel it away.

    However, Azzy won''t give her a chance. He threw another Protos Spear at her. This time, Loren managed to dodge one but the Spear is a target-locked attack. After missing its target, the Protos Spear made a U-turn and pierced her back before she attempted dodging again.

    Azzy didn''t end his assault there. He threw the last one at her. The Protos-Spears are extremely lethal for lower realm Arcana Masters but for someone like Loren, they aren''t life-threatening. The worst that could happen is the destruction of her soul orb/core and permanent paralysis.

    That''s why Azzy didn''t hesitate to attack her with rank-6 ones. However, Loren proved to be a tough opponent.

    After experiencing the two of them, she realized that she could no longer hold back. She went into a full transformation into a gray wolf.

    In this form, usually, one will be the same as a beast, can only recognize whether it is a human or a fellow werewolf, based on their smell ability.

    However, she was different somehow. She was in full control for some reason.

    *Awooo*

    Letting out a howl, she used energy eruption just as the third one was about to pierce her chest, expelling the Protos energy from its body. She managed to destroy the remaining Protos Spear before it pierced her.

    Meanwhile, the energy eruption from her affected others in the room. Whether it is a friend or a foe, everyone who was hit by the energy got blasted away. Claire hit the barrier and landed on the floor.

    The two werewolves, who were just about to attack Claire, also got crashed onto the barrier. Seeing the barrier placed outside the cell remained undamaged, she sighed in relief. If they become casualties in this fight, she will be the one that will be blamed.

    She slowly got up on her feet but this time, she didn''t put off her guard and decided to focus on her own battle.

    But, to her surprise, the two fully transformed werewolves didn''t get up as both of their gray-colored energy flew out of their body and went towards Loren who absorbed it and replenished 20% of her soul energy almost instantly. They transformed back into their original human forms and fell unconscious.

    "Trixie, Chase, and Stuart," I permit you to go all out.

    After giving another order, Loren jumped into the hole and landed in the adjacent room where Azzy was fallen, earlier.

    The three Arcana Masters left behind fully transformed into wolves and started attacking their enemies without caring about defense.

    Meanwhile, Azzy dusted off his clothes and got on his feet. He waited for her without intending to recover his soul power.

    "You have unique soul energy, brat," commented Loren before standing on four legs like a normal beast. "But, you have no future left, any longer. You will face the consequences for trying to kill me."

    She charged towards him on four legs. Her speed reached peak-rank-7. Even for Azzy, she was barely visible. If he had activated the Eyes of God, it would be a different issue but for now, all he could do is depend on his senses.

    As Loren was focusing on killing him, this time, Azzy focused on trying his best to evade her attacks in the small residential chamber with a little bit of space to move around.

    Azzy was biding his time so as to get used to Loren''s style of fighting. He thought it will be a good practice before entering the world league.

    Of course, in the meantime, he was hoping to give Claire some time to defeat her opponents. After all, this is her mission. He doesn''t want her to feel like she contributed less.

    This way, once she was done with her opponents, she will assist his summons to take care of the rest while he will finish the boss.

    Little did he expect that he would have to return to the laboratory very soon.

    As Azzy was getting used to her attack pattern while slowly stabilizing his speed, Loren growled in anger, "I will rip you to shreds. Face me if you have guts, coward¡­"

    Azzy who was used to her speed successfully counterattacked with a powerful punch, almost in the next second.

    As she crashed onto the floor, he said in a straight tone, "If you want to defeat me, you have to be faster. Your speed isn''t enough."

    Maybe, his words triggered her. She suddenly let out a laugh, "There is another way to defeat you. I''ll show you a wonderful scene to remember for a lifetime."

    Loren stopped moving. Azzy wondered what is she doing but just a few seconds after, a scream escaped from the other room where Claire is fighting.

    "No, stop it. Vajra, help me¡­"

    Azzy hurriedly dashed forward and jumped from the hole, reentering the lab.

    The barrier has suddenly disappeared. Vajra and Aurora pinned respective werewolves. Hydra and Claire were blocking the last one.

    "Hahaha, it''s futile." Loren landed on the floor and snapped her fingers. All of a sudden, the dozens of unconscious hostages blew up, drenching Claire and the others in blood.

    Azzy was stunned on the spot with his eyes widened.

 Chapter 338 Azzy Kills For The First Time

    "Hahaha, how is that?" In her wolf form, Loren laughed crazily while observing Azzy and Claire. It looked she was very much pleased with their reactions.

    Azzy stood there in silence like a statue.

    The mass explosion of dozens of people was truly etched in Azzy''s mind. He never thought in his dreams that he would see mass murder so close. Azzy forgot to move.

    Taking this incident as an opportunity, the Reaper lectured him, "This is what you get for showing restraint, Azrael. Do you still think a person like her, who tortures people for pleasure, who kills people like Lincoln for talking back to her, who kills dozens of innocents just so to inflict mental damage on you, deserves to live?

    If you arrest her and even kept her in the maximum-security prison for all her life there, though not happily, but still get to live with food and clothing.

    Is this the kind of justice you want to get for the victims? Do you think their spirits will be satisfied with it?

    Answer me, Azrael. What is the sufficient punishment for a psychopath like her?"

    The Reaper wanted Azzy to act on his own, not influenced by Protos Energy. That''s why he made sure to completely suppress it.

    As the ancients say, ''The meaning behind the words changes based on who said what at which situation'', Azzy was influenced by the Reaper''s words. There was only one thing on his mind.

    Meanwhile, on the outside, Loren continued to provoke them while passing the instructions telepathically to the pinned werewolves on the floor.

    "Now what will you say it your superiors? That you failed to save the lives of 76 hos¡­ Hmm?"

    Before her words ended, a death scythe appeared in Azzy''s right hand. His gaze was cold as he raised his left arm towards her, <strong>"Soul skill: Soul Absorption."</strong>

    All of a sudden, the soul energy inside of her flew out of her body and was absorbed into his, followed by the damage of her soul orb.

    In just one instant, the situation and her expression turned around 180 degrees as she fell onto her knees. Surprisingly, not only did she manage to keep her wolf transformation but was even conscious.

    "You¡­" She roared on top of her lungs as she grabbed her chest.

    Azzy dashed towards her and slashed her neck with the death scythe, separating the head and body.

    "Rael¡­" Claire widened her eyes in shock. A moment ago, she didn''t directly witness the deaths of the hostages as her back was facing them. So, the effect was a bit less on her when compared to Azzy.

    But, then, now, as she saw Azzy killed someone, she was stunned on the spot once again. She even forgot about all the blood on her.

    The head of Loren rolled on the floor and the body collapsed on the ground.

    With a streak of blood on his face that was spilled while he sliced Loren''s head, Azzy slowly shifted his gaze towards the three werewolves that are struggling to get free.

    <strong>"Hydra, use soul skill: Fire Breath"</strong>

    <strong>"Vajra, use soul skill: Extreme Bite"</strong>

    <strong>"Aurora, use soul skill: Absolute Freezing"</strong>

    The three beasts are linked to Azzy''s soul and they could sense his feelings and intentions naturally.

    Vajra bite the werewolf named Trixie''s neck and crushed it, giving her a quick death.

    Aurora froze the werewolf named Chase and froze it under -250 degree centigrade temperature. Being a werewolf, he has a certain degree of resistance but eventually, he will face a slow death without any escape as the power behind the attack is at peak-rank-6. Under such low temperatures, even the soul energy will stop functioning after a while.

    As for Hydra which is trying its best to crush a peak-rank-5 werewolf underneath it after Claire backed away because of shock, one of its skeleton heads spew out fiery flames and gave quite a painful death to Stuart before the latter escape its grip.

    Without taking any more, Azzy dismissed his death scythe and the three beasts and slowly walked outside.

    Claire took a glance at the place around for once and hurriedly followed after him. "Rael, wait."

    She grabbed his arm when he refused to respond.

    Azzy stopped in his tracks for a second and said, "Claire, leave me alone for a while. I need to sort out my thoughts."

    She left his arm in understanding and quietly followed him in silence. She had a worried look on her face.

    After a while, Azzy and Claire met Evan and Neal. The former looked at the both of them in fear while the latter furrowed his brows as he asked whether they had killed the culprits.

    Azzy didn''t answer and just went past him.

    "Azrael¡­" Neal called him out but there was no response. He couldn''t help but look at Claire for an explanation.

    Claire explained everything from the start.

    "Dozens of them?" Neal clenched his fist in anger. "Death was a lighter punishment for someone like her, Cadet Claire."

    In the end, he let out a sigh and went for inspection to double-check whether there are any more survivors in some other facility. Claire, on the other hand, went after Azzy.

    Walking through the path, Azzy asked the Reaper, "Just where did it go wrong? Chronos, if I had unleashed soul absorption in time, would I be able to save them?"

    In response to his question, the Reaper dragged his spirit back to mindscape.

    Azzy found himself standing before the Reaper but for some reason, he couldn''t meet his eyes. Was he guilty of allowing so many deaths? Or was he guilty of breaking his no-kill policy?

    He doesn''t know. At this moment, his mind was too cloudy. He wanted the Reaper to shed some light.

    The Reaper replied in a stern tone, "You are too na?ve, Azrael. Why did you even think that the enemy plays a fair game? You have spotted the Auras of Death on them and yet, instead of focusing on securing the hostages, you gave priority to Claire''s feelings.

    You thought of improving her self-esteem by letting her help you instead of the other way and missed a simple fact that your girlfriend had already revealed your background. Anyone with a brain can easily realize how important will be hostages.

    This is your first mistake, Azrael.

    You saw how Loren controlled the rest of the five subordinates. With your Aura sensing, you should have already seen how identical their soul energies are. The woman had implanted her own soul energy into everyone. You failed to see it.

    This is your second mistake, Azrael.

    Your opponent is a killer and torturer, and yet, you never had the intention to battle seriously with her. As you haven''t stabilized the realm, you are so worried about losing control and killing her that you didn''t even fight with everything you have got.

    Of course, as a werewolf, while she doesn''t have any Arcana, you should have gauged her strength when she expelled the Protos Energy, which is next to impossible for people in the same realm as yours unless they have Celestial grade Arcana.

    This is your third mistake, Azrael.

    The 76 victims were destined to die even if you had never interfered but their deaths are on your head and you now had the opportunity to rectify your mistakes while giving them justice."

    Azzy stared at him, widening his eyes, "do you want me to turn back the time?"

    "Yes." The Reaper firmly nodded, "And you will have to kill them before they harm the hostages. This is the real justice."

 Chapter 339 Azzy Rewinds The Time

    "Chronos, I wish to go to the time when I caught Evan," requested Azzy as he was given permission to go back in time.

    Usually, the Reaper had a certain disregard for the lives of human beings because, for him, it is just temporary while the soul is immortal.

    So, he would always recommend Azzy to never use the hourglass to save strangers.

    However, the current situation is different. The Reaper doesn''t want Azzy to go into a dark path. All he wanted was his host to stop acting like a na?ve brat and learn to be a responsible heir of the Death Clan. He wants Azzy to kill people but only the sinners, not innocents.

    That''s why, to protect Azzy''s soul, the Reaper had recommended Azzy to change the destiny of those people who will die without his help.

    Meanwhile, on the outside, the darkness was still there and Claire was depending on night vision goggles.

    She caught up with Azzy only to see the latter stood like a statue. She waited until Azzy returned to reality and resumed walking.

    On the way, he summoned the hourglass while making sure to hide from Claire''s vision. As she was walking a few feet away from him, it helped Azzy to unleash the soul skill without getting caught by Claire or Agatha.

    The divine sword knew of the Reaper''s real identity but even she doesn''t know about the Reaper''s weapons. So, in Claire and Agatha''s view, Azzy now possessed three Arcana. He doesn''t want to give a reason to misunderstand that he had a fourth Arcana.

    After all, he already revealed a couple of secrets to Claire. He wishes to take his time to reveal, somewhere in the future.

    But, for now, his goal is simple.

    <strong>"Soul skill: Rewind"</strong>

    Azzy turned the hourglass upside down and unleashed the soul skill.

    The world stopped for a moment before his surroundings changed to the streets of the village where Evan was hanging on his right shoulder.

    Not only a few hours of the time was removed from the timeline but even the skeletons Azzy gained as subordinates for killing those werewolves were also disappeared from his mindscape.

    Azzy looked around and nodded in satisfaction, "Good, Thank you, Chronos."

    "Mention not, but you shouldn''t depend on me too much. You have to make time to train the hourglass," replied the Reaper.

    Azzy''s mastery of the Hourglass is quite low. He doesn''t want to go back to a whole day and go through everything. So, he sought the Reaper''s help and the latter obliged.

    "Okay, I need to follow the exact same routine until he confessed the truth." Taking a deep breath, Azzy continued to walk. After sending a message to Claire, he went to the house of the village chief and met them exactly at the same place.

    <strong>Sometime later;</strong>

    Claire offered Evan, immunity as well as a reward, successfully tempting him to take the offer.

    "When should we leave?" Evan asked the others.

    Just like before, Claire got up on her feet, and replied, "right away."

    But this time, Azzy changed the course of the timeline from before, "not now, Claire. We will go first thing in the morning. We don''t know what kind of opponents we will meet. So, we need to be in top shape, physically and mentally."

    "Hmm?" Neal and Claire looked at him. Both of them were a little bit surprised, not just because of his reply but also his tone. It was more of a commanding tone as if he was the leader.

    But, Claire was in-charge and she takes the final decision. So, Neal only waited for her response.

    Fortunately, she respects Azzy''s opinion and listened to him. Claire was given a separate room to sleep in at the house.

    The caskets were placed in Evan''s room while Evan, Azzy, and Neal were forced to sleep in the living room.

    <strong>About one hour later;</strong>

    Azzy opened his eyes and looked around. Everyone appeared to be asleep. While Evan was sleeping, he was tied by Neal''s energy chains like some animal.

    He didn''t care about it and got up.

    He slowly walked towards the door and opened it. It slightly creaked while opening. Neal who was very alert also opened his eyes, assuming that Evan is trying to escape.

    But, as he turned his head, he saw Evan but there was no Azzy.

    "Hmm? Azrael? Why is he going out?" Neal thought for a moment before shrugging his shoulders, "he''s strong enough to look after himself, anyway." Neal closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

    After leaving the house, Azzy rushed towards the mountain at his peak speed.

    It only took him about 15 minutes to reach the eastern entrance of the mine. He took out a skill card that he didn''t use last time.

    It has an image of a transparent cloak on it and six black stars behind it.

    He poured soul energy into it and targeted himself. <strong>"Skill card: Erasure."</strong> Azzy turned invisible.

    This was the first time Azzy had ever used it on himself. Usually, he uses it on either Vajra or the platinum grade undead beasts to hide them, but this time, he decided to hide himself to not give any opportunity for the enemies to escape and strike them.

    If he can use soul absorption once again, he wouldn''t have bothered with this but what can he do? The cooldown timer of the soul skills he already used before will not be reduced even after reversing the time.

    As this is his first assassination, Azzy thought he had to be careful to make sure in assassinating Loren before she blow up the hostages.

    Turning invisible, Azzy made his way, deep into the mines. He remembered the exact way. So, there''s no issue in reaching the dark tunnel.

    He activated Aura Sensing and checked the situation. Surprisingly, the hostages weren''t clustered like before.

    Azzy frowned inwardly, "they were inside their sleeping chambers? Why did it change?"

    "If your destination is changed, then, the road must be changed on the way, Azrael." The Reaper''s voice echoed in his head, "Do you get it?"

    Azzy fell into thought as the image of a young man appeared in his head, "Evan. Did he somehow send the information? If that''s the case, why did Loren get fooled by our suppressed strength? She should have already known about her strengths even before.

    Ah, right. She''s a werewolf, talented enough to expel away my Protos Energy. She must have sensed Evan''s presence with his smell and our presence with her senses from far away. It took a while for us to get there. That''s how she shifted them to the jail and put a barrier."

    After analyzing it and confirming with the Reaper whether there''s logic in his thinking so as to not get lectured later, Azzy walked into the tunnel.

    He ignored everything and went straight to the lab. Placing his palm on the steel door, he followed the same way as before.

    However, this time, Loren wasn''t prepared. She was taken aback by the sudden appearance of Azzy.

    "Who are you?" She furrowed her brows as she got up from the seat.

    Azzy glanced all over the room. There wasn''t a single hostage inside. He nodded and raised his arm. The death scythe appeared in his hand. He unsealed his soul orb at the same time.

    "I''m here to deliver the verdict, Ms. Loren." Azzy''s gaze turned cold as he stepped inside.

 Chapter 340 Revenge Is Not Justice

    "Verdict? Who sent you?" asked Loren in a serious tone.

    As Azzy didn''t bother to hide his soul power because she wasn''t holding the hostages like before, she had realized that a powerful assassin was at her doorstep.

    Combining with how she couldn''t sense his presence until the door was destroyed into powder, she didn''t take Azzy lightly at all.

    Azzy is neither in a mood to give her a reply nor does want to give her an opportunity to even attack.

    <strong>"Sealing technique: Decarune"</strong>

    Stepping inside, he unleashed Decarune sealing onto her before she give orders to her servants to attack him.

    Within just three seconds, the sealing technique was completed and hit her, sealing away her soul orb.

    Loren''s eyes are widened in shock. She screamed at him in anger, "My soul energy¡­ You¡­ what did you do?"

    Azzy didn''t answer and instead, he dashed towards her at his peak speed.

    Before she gets to her senses, he planted a kick into her abdomen. She flew backward and crashed onto the wall. Azzy stayed there, in the center of the room, and waited, not because he wanted her to fight back or anything. He wanted to make sure all the six of them be far away from the exit so as to zero their chances of taking someone hostage.

    The five servants of Loren immediately rushed towards Loren to guard her just like how a soul beast would act its master when the latter is in peril.

    "Ugh¡­"

    Loren groaned in pain and got up on her feet while clutching her stomach. Her soul orb might have been sealed but her physical strength and speed didn''t leave her body.

    Maybe, she was born special. Unlike others, she wouldn''t need soul energy for either the wolf transformation or controlling her servants.

    "Kill him." She roared at the five of them who rushed toward her. After that, she transformed into her beast form.

    Azzy who was waiting for her made his next move.

    He slammed the death scythe''s handle end at the floor, unleashing a soul skill of the Death scythe he never used before.

    <strong>"Soul skill: Cursed land"</strong>

    The floor of the entire lab turned pitch black, taking away 50% of the speed of his enemies. Everyone felt as if their legs became heavier by several folds. At the same time, the floor became as soft as watery mud.

    Fortunately, the Reaper is looking after him, making sure the range of the cursed land doesn''t affect others. So, without any worries, Azzy continued his assault.

    He raised his free arm.

    Several pairs of pitch-black hands rose from the cursed land and caught the legs of their targets.

    With no soul energy to erupt it, Loren depended on her claws to destroy them.

    On the other hand, her five servants couldn''t get free, so, they transformed into bipedal wolves to get free from the grip. However, none of them managed to get free and their bodies were slowly getting dragged into the cursed land.

    Loren, who freed herself, charged towards him on her four limbs. However, due to the effect of the cursed land, her speed was very slow, this time.

    Even without the Eyes of God, Azzy could see her clearly and so, he powered up his body with soul energy and also natural energy. By the time she reached him, two layers of energy, one is dark, and the other being translucent is seen covering Azzy.

    Upon reaching Azzy, Loren jumped at him while raising both of her arms to slash at his chest with the pair of claws.

    Azzy dodged to the side and slashed his death scythe, going for her leg.

    "Argh¡­"

    She roared in pain as a large cut appeared over her left thigh. A trace of panic appeared on her face as it wasn''t recovering. Her regenerative powers appeared to be gone.

    "Protos Spears"

    Azzy then summoned a couple of Protos Spears and threw one of them at her. Loren saw it but with one of her legs injured, combined with the effect of the cursed land, she couldn''t manage to dodge in time and had her upper left arm pierced by it.

    This time, there''s soul energy in her body to expel the invading Protos energy. To make sure she won''t get the time to use some life-saving treasure, Azzy threw the other Protos Spear too. The other one pierced her chest.

    Two large wounds can be seen on the point of impact. As for the inside, the Protos energy started to invade her organs too, forcing her to collapse on the cursed land.

    In her whole life, Loren never felt anymore helpless. Tears appeared to be filled in her eyes as she screamed at him, "Who are you? Why you are doing this? Just give me a quick death."

    Her breathing became a lot more difficult within just a few seconds. Her body was paralyzed completely.

    Azzy walked towards her. The memory of 76 deaths turning into a pool of blood replayed in his head. His hands shivered uncontrollably and his gaze turned extremely cold.

    He raised his death scythe, "Don''t worry, I planned to do the same. The earth doesn''t have any place for psychopaths like you."

    *Graaa* Graaa*

    The five servants were sinking slowly. Almost half of their body was submerged into the cursed land but they don''t have any care for their lives. It''s just that they couldn''t bear to witness their master is about to die.

    As Azzy was about to swing his death scythe to cut off her head, Loren shut her eyes as she knew that there was nothing she can do now. Maybe, the Protos Energy infected her brain. Her thinking ability was also affected.

    One second passed, two seconds, 3 seconds, and even 5 seconds passed but she felt nothing happened. She opened her eyes only to see the large curved blade was just an inch away from her neck while Azzy is frozen.

    He was talking with the Reaper.

    "Why did you stop me, Chronos?" he asked.

    "It''s because what you are doing is wrong. This isn''t how justice is done," replied the Reaper.

    "Wrong?" Azzy grew confused. Wasn''t Reaper the one who motivated him to kill her? Now that he had prepared his mind and heart to go for her head, the Reaper is saying that this isn''t justice. What is this?

    The Reaper understood Azzy''s thoughts. He explained, "The one who you have previously killed is a psychopath murderer but the one before you is just an accused, not proved a criminal yet.

    How are you sure that she killed humans before? How are you sure that Evan was telling the truth? Even if she killed, how many of the buried bodies on the mountains were her victims?

    Not just her, Azrael. Before giving a death punishment to anyone, you should first confirm their crimes. Only then, you can kill them.

    If you kill them without evidence, then, it is called revenge, not justice."

    "So, what should I do?" Azzy asked.

    The Reaper answered, "Use soul search. Her soul is powerful enough to resist its side effect. Confirm her crimes and deliver the punishment."

    Realization dawned upon Azzy. "I guess I was too rash."

    To Loren''s surprise, Azzy put aside the death scythe and stretched his arm towards her head.

    Why is he doing this? What is going on? Why am I here in the first place? Loren was losing her mind while struggling to breathe. Even if Azzy didn''t do anything, she looked like she would die any moment.

    Meanwhile, Azzy''s palm was on her forehead as he unleashed the fourth soul skill of the Reaper.

    "Soul skill: Soul search".

 Chapter 341 Daughter Of Fenrir

    A steady flow of memories appeared in Azzy''s mind like some movie. The Reaper blocked the memories which aren''t safe for a teenager like Azzy to witness and only let him see how she lived her life and how she turned out like this.

    Loren was an orphan who grew up on the streets of some city. There was no one to look after her.

    When she was only four years old, she killed an adult street dog to protect herself. She was too hungry back then, not having for five days straight. Having no choice, she attempted to eat its flesh.

    Naturally, she didn''t like it a bit but to fill her stomach, she gritted her teeth and started to eat it.

    However, the scene was witnessed by a couple of policemen who are patrolling the streets.

    Feeling disgusted by the scene, they attempted to take the dog away from her and thought of taking her to some orphanage.

    But, little Loren was too hungry. Seeing that her food was snatched away, her eyes set on the two of them. She attacked them.

    Each of the policemen is at least 6ft and weighs 70 kg and yet, both of them aren''t a match for her.

    One of them managed to escape with heavy wounds while the other one died.

    She then consumed the human''s flesh. This time, her eyes lit up and she started to eat it.

    From then on, for the next ten years, about 547 people have been killed and their organs have been consumed by her.

    Azzy couldn''t bear to watch anymore. At first, when he saw the little her, he felt a little pity, thinking that circumstances changed her into a killer but then, he realized that she was born a beast.

    The Reaper watched the rest of her memories and informed him, "a total of 2933 deaths on her head in the past 148 years of her life. You couldn''t see the memories of her first four years because she might have forgotten but I have found those forgotten memories.

    It appears that she''s the daughter of Fenrir, a reincarnated celestial grade wolf of rank-3. When this kid was 3 years old, her mother found out that the one she was living with, for the past four years was a wolf. She was disgusted that she slept with a beast and decided to inform the authorities.

    Fenrir ran away from home, leaving the mother and daughter alone.

    No one knows who leaked the information. A group of people decided that her mother is a social abomination and burned her alive.

    However, Loren unknowingly transformed into a wolf and escaped from there alive.

    That''s why don''t think that she''s nothing but a beast. Even the vilest of criminals were once innocent. The circumstances change them like that.

    But that doesn''t mean they are forgivable.

    You have to punish them for their sins but don''t give space to hatred in your heart for them. It''s tough to not hate the sinners but you have a long life ahead of you. You can slowly learn."

    Azzy took back his palm from her forehead and let out a deep sigh. Looking into her eyes with a mixed gaze, he said, "You indeed have a miserable beginning but I can''t abandon my hatred after watching your cruel actions, at least not very soon. All I can wish you to make right choices in your next life."

    He swung it down, decapitating her.

    *Awooo* *Awooo*

    Howls filled with grief escaped from her servants whose bodies were submerged up to their chests. Soon, gray energy enveloped them, and they started to roar, now trying their best to get free. It appeared as if they go berserk.

    Two of them in rank-6 were even successful in resisting the sinking. They were getting up.

    Azzy shifted his attention towards them and asked the Reaper, "what to do with them? I cannot use Soul search for a while."

    From Loren''s memories, he knew that they were once workers in the mines but later became victims to Loren''s experiments, turning into her slaves. After that, whatever they did, it was Loren''s fault.

    But, he doesn''t know their personal lives. So, he wasn''t sure whether to save them by taking them to WAMO or abandoning them like this.

    "They are beyond help. With their mind controller no longer present, they will forever stay as beasts. They cannot be saved, Azrael," replied the Reaper. "The best thing you can do is to kill them and free them from this suffering."

    Azzy nodded and raised his arm. His soul energy started to deplete at a rapid pace while the cursed land became stronger.

    As a result, none of them was able to escape and submerged completely. He cut off his supply of energy to the cursed land, ending the skill.

    When it disappeared after 30 seconds, the only thing that is left of them is the bones. Everything else has been gone.

    "My soul skills are really not suitable for friendly battles," Azzy mumbled with a long sigh while staring at them.

    "Well, you still have the wolf and the lotus," The Reaper commented casually, not taking it much seriously as Azzy.

    Half a day later;

    Azzy, Claire, Neal, and several young villagers were seen digging the last body buried within a 5-km radius from the lab.

    About 735 bodies were successfully dugout. Apart from a couple of dozens, most of them became skeletons, meaning they were buried long ago.

    Only after then, did the village chief inform the nearby town authorities. They were too many in number and it will cost a huge amount of money and time for the town''s council to identify each of them.

    In the end, the council''s representative informed Neal that they will be cremating the corpses altogether.

    Neal cannot do anything. It is out of their jurisdiction and not to mention, even if he took the job, it will take several months or even years to identify every corpse and return it to their kin. WAMO couldn''t bother to take such a task either.

    As for Azzy, he was only satisfied with the fact that 76 of them were saved and the souls of the people that were buried at the mountain ascended to the spirit realm.

    It was then Claire stepped forward. She didn''t hesitate to pay 10 million credits to purchase a huge land at the outskirts of the town to give them a proper burial according to the Church of Light''s traditions.

    Along with them, the corpse of Loren and the bones of her servants were also given a proper burial.

    As Loren died in her wolf form, people took her like a beast but at Azzy''s request, Claire insisted that Loren has to be given the same treatment as others.

    They stayed back another day to see all the process and only after that, Claire was satisfied and decided to leave.

    The three of them then flew towards the city of Leunar, located within the same country but was a few hundred kilometers away from the mountainous area.

    Little did they expect, the media will transform Azzy into a celebrity at Zuweth nation overnight.

 Chapter 342 Homicide Case Part-1

    36 hours ago;

    After eliminating the enemies, Azzy left the lab and went to the adjacent chamber.

    There, about six females were found to be sleeping. There was a switchboard right beside the door. He switched on the light.

    In an instant, they woke up and looked at Azzy. He was a stranger to them but they took him as a servant of Loren.

    Maybe, the death scythe in Azzy''s hand was looking damn intimidating, or maybe, they live in fear every moment. Whatever the case, they appeared to be afraid of Azzy.

    Before he even said anything, one of them spoke, "just give us a minute. We''ll change into our uniforms right away."

    Without minding the fact that there''s a male in front of them, the representative of them proceeded to take off her top to change into a full lab gown everyone is required to wear.

    Azzy hurriedly stopped her. "Don''t. Calm down for a second."

    "Hmm?" The women looked at Azzy in surprise because apart from Loren, no one to date had talked to them.

    Azzy said, "No need to panic. I''m not a foe. My name is Azrael, I''m from World Arcana Masters Organization and I''m here to save you all."

    "What! No¡­" The leader of the room screamed as she shivered in fear, "if we attempt to escape, we will face a punishment worse than death. Please go away and bring your higher authorities. Only rank-7 people can help us."

    Azzy was a little bit surprised to see how a normal civilian like this blonde woman know about Loren''s strength but it isn''t the time to think about such a thing.

    He said, "Loren and her servants are dead. You are free, now. I''m going to release the others. Follow me."

    The six females took some time to get out of the shock but soon, all of them burst into tears, thanking the heavens for showing mercy on their lives.

    Very soon, 76 people filled with young women and men, all between 20-30 ages, gathered at the exit of the dark tunnel.

    Staring at them, he spoke, "my colleagues will be here at any minute. Until then, please wait. It is still dark outside and the exit to outside these mines has a complex route. If you go now, I can''t guarantee your safety."

    All of them listened to him and just sat down in obedience.

    Looking at their actions, the Reaper couldn''t help but comment in pity, "poor children. They have experienced so much torture that they no longer hold the courage to talk back or resist."

    Half an hour later, Claire and Neal arrived together. Claire immediately hugged Azzy and scolded him for going out alone.

    After finishing the enemies, Azzy had already reported the matter to Neal and Claire. While Claire didn''t respond because she was in deep sleep, Neal was always on alert, so, he replied right away.

    He woke her up and left for the mountain, right away. As for Evan, they left him at the house because the case is already solved.

    Soon, the three of them took them to the village and placed them at the church until the morning.

    As the sun rose, Azzy and others started digging the mountain to finish the matter.

    At that time, neither Azzy nor his two companions know that the first woman Azzy saved at the mines is actually the niece of the king of Zuweth. She was a royal born.

    About three years ago, she ran away from the home as he father and her uncle tried to marry her to the playboy son of the prime minister.

    They thought that she ran away to some country or Arcana world but how would anyone expect that she would get abducted by a taxi driver and get sold to Loren.

    By the time the party of three arrived in the city of Leunar for Azzy''s case, Azzy''s name is being reported in every article and newspaper along with Linda''s interview.

    As for Claire and Neal, they were only mentioned as person A and Person B because of the following reasons.

    1) No one knows their names except for the village chief and the family of Arvid. Arvid was grateful that his cattle will no longer be stolen and the village Chief Albert was grateful that not only Evan and his friends were spared from punishment but Evan was also offered a place at WAMO''s general forces. This way, Evan holds a dignified position in society and WAMO can keep an eye on his werewolf transformation.

    2) While Claire indeed bought the land for a separate burial ground, only the town''s officials know of the matter. Since she wanted to keep the matter secret, no one from the media got the whiff of it.

    In the end, Azzy unknowingly stole all the limelight.

    <strong>Present;</strong>

    They finally realized how far the matter of the earlier case was spread among the public after reaching the Detective bureau, where one of the detective squads was supposed to brief them regarding the case.

    Even the chief of the detectives shook his hands with Azzy and then the other two, followed by praising them.

    Azzy almost regretted revealing his identity to the woman upon hearing the complete matter.

    But, then again, it wasn''t the time to think about the past. His current thoughts should be on the mission he was given.

    Soon, as the three of them took the seats, the detective squad of five briefed them. It is a homicide case that was reopened after 7 years.

    A couple was murdered and the wife''s ex-lover was thrown into prison when all the pieces of evidence pointed to him. As a result, he received a 14-year-old sentence as he was a civilian and not an Arcana Master.

    However, 7 years later, the sister of the culprit came to the police along with a private investigator and submitted two pieces of evidence that proved his innocence. He was granted bail and the case was handed to this squad-4.

    "What were those evidence?" Azzy asked the captain upon hearing the entire story.

    Captain Chester answered, "It''s the video footage from the international airport of Searvale. Orchard wasn''t even in this country when the murder happened."

    "But, one can easily travel through portal points as long as they have enough money," Azzy argued with him, feeling that evidence isn''t strong enough.

    Neal and Claire nodded in agreement and looked at the captain for an explanation.

    "Yes, it was also taken into consideration but the second evidence," Chester gave a pause before he eyed another detective named Leola.

    ? She handed a document with a hospital name printed on it. He gave it to Neal, instead of Azzy.

    As Neal read it, realization dawned upon him. "I see¡­ no wonder he was believed to be innocent."

    "What is it Captain Neal?" asked Claire.

    Unlike the detectives, Neal didn''t hesitate to divulge the details, "according to the initial investigation results, the woman was found to be raped but this man is impotent."

    As it was a little uncomfortable topic for teenagers like Azzy and Claire, the former tried his best to not go deep into the topic and be as calm as possible, followed by asking the captain to resume with the briefing.

    Captain Chester took the seat and continued, "Once we received the case, a week ago. We explored other possible suspects. If one is framed, then, either the real culprit must also have a grudge against the accused or they could be complete strangers.

    We proceeded with assuming the first case and our investigation results brought down to one suspect that has the motive, time, and was spotted at the hotel, about 30 minutes before the murder."

 Chapter 343 Homicide Case Part-2

    One of the detectives took out a photo from the case file and gave it to Azzy, this time.

    Captain Chester introduced him, "this is Jay Inkwell, the heir to the Inkwell family which owns several hotels, casinos, and clubs. In fact, Hotel Cycad where the homicide took place actually is his personal property, but there is something unknown to the public.

    Ten years ago, Jay, victim Holly, and Orchard were once classmates, studied in the same college and course. Holly dated Jay for six months and broke up with him. About a month after they broke up, she and Orchard became a couple.

    Maybe, he thought that she cheated on him and developed a grudge against both of them, who knows...

    As I have already told you, the couple checked in the hotel at 9:37 p.m. while the murder happened at 11:53 p.m.

    By a strange coincidence, Jay comes to the hotel at around 11:30 p.m. and leaves by 12:15."

    Azzy and Claire''s facial expressions changed immediately. Azzy asked, "How did the police miss this?"

    "Naturally, they didn''t." Captain Chester shook his head with a sigh, "But, they probably didn''t enter his name in the case records because of his family background. Not to mention, the police had nothing against him either and this was an open and shut case. If they drag his name unnecessarily, it will only bring them disaster."

    Neal then voiced her opinion, "but captain Chester, with new evidence, there''s nothing that can stop you from arresting him, right?"

    As the captain responded with a nod, Claire interrupted, "I''m sorry but if everything is solved, why are we needed here?"

    Something clicked inside Azzy''s head. Before the captain answered her, he asked, "Are we going to fight against the Inkwell family?"

    The Captain''s face darkened, "Yes, but they aren''t only the opponents we will face. The inkwell family won''t stop us from arresting Jay but they''ll create an accident on the way to protect their reputation. There''s a reason no one dared to take this case and why it was dumped on us."

    "So, in a nutshell, you want us to provide security to a culprit?" Neal furrowed his brows in displeasure. He added, "This wasn''t what we were told before."

    Captain Chester hurriedly waved his hands and explained to clear the misunderstanding, "No, Jay wasn''t the only one in danger. We will be too. Once the escorted police and the detectives along with the culprit die, this case will be closed by our higher authorities and a new case will be opened to investigate our deaths.

    It''s a classic technique used by the noble and rich families of this country. The media was aware, the public was aware, and even the police department was aware of it but no one can do anything.

    All I ask is to give protection to at least the policeman and the culprit until we present him at the court. One session at the court is all we needed where we can publicly present the new evidence that can turn this case around. After that, whether he lives or dies is none of our concern.

    "Alright," Azzy didn''t even take a second to think it through but not without conditions, "However, if an enemy accidentally dies while trying to kill us, we won''t go around the courts and waste my time to give an explanation."

    Previously, it happened in the mountains and they were Arcana Masters. But, it is different if an Arcana Master kills a civilian.

    "You don''t need to, Azrael. It''s our organization''s job to clean up that mess." Neal gave him the assurance.

    "Moreover, we will be there as witnesses, right. Even if you kill everyone, no one will question you because that will be self-defense." A detective added a statement, giving full support in killing those people.

    "Alright," Azzy nodded to them.

    Meanwhile, Claire glanced at her boyfriend from the corner of her eyes. She was surprised to hear how casually Azzy was talking about killing. For a person who condemns killing even in a weekly TV drama, it is indeed very strange.

    Is it because he experienced killing those werewolves? Or was this is his true nature?

    Claire doesn''t know what is going on with Azzy, but she felt he is different from before. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, only time will tell.

    Soon, the captain made his move to contact the prosecutor for the arrest warrant and once it was issued, a police SUV and a mini-van hit the roads.

    Meanwhile, at a certain villa, located in an affluent neighborhood in the city, a man had the look of panic with a feature phone at his ear. "Damn it. I need to leave this place, right away. But, how..."

    As he thought for a bit, the image of a tough-built man appeared in his mind. He then went to contacts and clicked on the number.

    On the third ring, the call was lifted from the other side. "Hello, Jay. What do you want now?" A deep voice was heard. It looked like the person was half-sleep.

    "Boss Sean, I need your help. Money is no problem."

    "Alright, tell me." The other person became interested.

    Jay Inkwell talked with him for a whole minute before starting to pack his bag to leave the country by a portal point. The only issue is that it is more than 30 kilometers away from his place. Will he be able to get enough time to escape? He was worried.

    So, he called his friend, the boss of a street gang who majorly dabbles in drugs and weapon supplying to stall the police in any way he can. While not powerful, they still had some rank-2 and rank-3 Arcana masters in the gang. So, Jay was hopeful that they will succeed.

    After packing everything, he dragged his luggage and opened the door. The car was parked outside. The gates were also opened by the servants.

    Just as he took three steps from the house, a person materialized behind him like some ghost. A large curved blade was seen before Jay''s neck, not only halting his steps but also alerting the servants.

    "Where are you going, Mr. Inkwell?" A voice belonging to that of a boy escaped from behind, but it sounded so cold like ice, unforgiving. "You have but two choices; face death while trying to escape or live while surrendering in peace."

    Jay raised his hands and kneeled on the ground. "No, don''t kill me."

    Seeing that the culprit surrendered without any resistance, Azzy mumbled, "it looks like Claire was right in her prediction."

    That''s right. Claire was the one who thought of this plan.

    She advised Azzy to go and keep an eye on Jay until the arrest order is issued. In the meantime, she and Neal will protect the police.

    Just like she had warned, Azzy, who was keeping an eye on Jay while using the Erasure skill card, saw that he was trying to escape. So, he revealed his presence and threatened him.

    Fortunately for Azzy, everything went well. Now, he needs to prepare for the next obstacle, which is to save Jay, the detectives, and the policemen from an unknown mob. Or so Azzy thought.

    But, he didn''t expect the arrival of media when the police and the detectives entered the compound of the villa, finding Jay on his knees.

    Azzy was forced to dismiss the death scythe quickly and waited until the police handcuffed Jay.

    It was then, he was suddenly surrounded by at least a dozen of them while the culprit was being questioned by two reporters.

 Chapter 344 The Eye Of Destruction

    "So, how did you manage to take out such powerful werewolves, singlehandedly?"

    "How were you recruited into World Arcana Masters Organization?"

    "Please share your experience regarding your training at the world''s biggest organization."

    "The Service Headquarters had decided to award you a gallantry award for saving 76 lives. How do you feel about that?"

    "Did you already expect that Mr. Inkwell will try to run away?"

    "First, you saved the missing people, and now, you have caught the culprit behind the homicide case of Cycad. What is the reason for choosing this nation?"

    "Mr. Azrael, what is your age?"

    "Mr. Azrael, are you going to participate in the world league?"

    Azzy was bombarded with questions after questions while he was still in a daze, trying to figure out how he ended up in a situation like this. What he was thankful for is that these people didn''t know completely about him.

    In the end, he decided to run away by using a teleportation card, randomly teleporting him 8 kilometers away from the current location.

    Azzy disappearance caused a little bit of surprise to the reporters but such occurrence wasn''t uncommon to them. In an instant, they shifted their attention towards the remaining two.

    Claire and Neal looked at each other and gave an awkward smile.

    Meanwhile, Azzy found himself on the terrace of a 15-floor building. He looked around, "where am I?"

    He heard faint screams from a distance, resembling more like cheering.

    He walked forward to the edge of the terrace and looked down. It was coming from a stadium. Two college students are playing tennis on a clay court. Adults and the other students are watching the game in the stands.

    Unlike usual tennis, the two players are using soul energy and the crowd isn''t silent. In fact, there''s even a cheerleading team dancing on the side.

    Azzy never watched even normal tennis in his life. So, he couldn''t help but be curious about the sport.

    Taking a seat on the wall, he watched the game through binoculars. It looks like one set is done, there''s a change of court.

    The player whose back is facing the building until now came into Azzy''s vision.

    He''s tall, muscled, has a ponytail, and is quite tanned. But, the most striking feature of this player is the presence of a third eye on his forehead.

    "Is he even a human?" Azzy wondered.

    "Activate your Eyes of God and concentrate on the eye." The Reaper''s voice echoed in his head.

    Azzy didn''t ask why and just followed his suggestion.

    <strong>"Soul skill: Eyes of God"</strong>

    As soon as he unleashed the soul skill with his eyes fixed on the young man, Azzy sensed some strange in that eye even from more than a hundred meters away. Sweat automatically started to pour down from his forehead, "what is that thing? It feels so chaotic as if his soul energy is going out of control."

    The Reaper then commented, "It must be a fate for you to come here at this time and witness the eye of destruction. I wonder what Moira is playing¡­"

    "Eye of destruction? Is this like Eyes of truth?" Azzy asked the Reaper about it.

    The Reaper explained, "There are six types of special eyes exist in this universe namely Eyes of Truth, Wisdom, Seer, Death, Mystic, and Destruction.

    The eyes of truth will show the user nothing but the truth. All types of illusions are useless for the user of these eyes.

    The eyes of wisdom will make the user the smartest person in the world. They will possess supreme intelligence, the ability to absorb any kind of knowledge, ability to decode any kind of puzzle.

    The eyes of Seer will let the user see the future. No, more than all the future possibilities, they could see an outcome that has the highest probability to occur.

    The eyes of Death will let the user see the death of a person. You possess those eyes but you are too young and it is too early for you to master them. For now, all you can see is the aura of death on one person.

    As for the eyes of Mystic, they will let the user see the spirits, ghosts, energies, etc¡­

    Lastly, the eyes of destruction are special eyes, which only have one purpose. To destroy everything in its path. They can also be called the Eyes of Power because the one who was born with those eyes will indeed become a Supreme Being.

    That eye will constantly absorb the natural energy from the surroundings and let the user release a tremendous amount of energy in the form of a concentrated beam to destroy the enemies. You have witnessed a similar power, not so long ago."

    "The Eye of Trias," Azzy replied him and took a glance at the college student once again.

    The memory of King Brian attempting to kill him by using Eye of Trias, a rank-10 skill card is still fresh in his head. Back then, Brian too possessed a third eye for a moment before he was killed by a lightning strike but this one appeared a lot real, rather than skill.

    The Reaper continued, "Some people like you will be born with those special powers in normal eyes while others like him will be born with a third eye where those powers are concentrated."

    With the Eyes of God, this three-eyed man''s strength is also clear to him. He was inwardly surprised upon seeing the aura of rank-6. "Out of all of them, he appeared to be the strongest. It would be a good experience to battle someone like him and face that power myself but let''s leave that to fate. If the Goddess of Fate brought me here to see that eye, then, I will surely meet him again if she wishes it. For now, the mission is more important."

    "Bloom, Ruby." He got on his feet and summoned the black lotus.

    Soon, he started flying away from the Leunar Academy of Arcana. As he passed above the stadium, a few spectators spotted it. For some reason, the 19-yr-old young man was distracted for a moment and stared at Azzy''s back, losing a point in the process.

    He furrowed his brows as he just stared at the sky, "what is that energy I felt just now? It felt more destructive than mine."

    As the chair umpire called his name and reminded him to serve, he got back to his senses and resumed playing the game.

    Meanwhile, the black lotus traveled at its maximum flying speed to reach the destination while Azzy constantly received instructions from Claire about her location.

    In no time, Azzy had seen the police vehicle, a minivan, and a few vans that belonged to TV channels.

    After informing Claire about his arrival, he kept following them from 200ft altitude while keeping an eye on the surroundings of the vehicles.

    Contrary to what the detectives feared, no attacks have been launched at the police.

    They safely reached the police station to keep Jay Inkwell in jail until the prosecutor uses his connections for a speedy trial. Azzy also followed them inside.

    However, as soon as he entered the police station, Azzy stopped in his tracks. He could only see the auras of death on at least half of the police officers. Fortunately, the detectives, Neal, and Claire didn''t have Death Auras.

    "Something is going to occur here."

 Chapter 345 Saving The Policemen

    Half a day passed away, yet, no lawyer came to the station with bail.

    Azzy, Claire, and Neal were waiting in the flying car, which is floating above the police station but is in invisible mode.

    Continuing to concentrate on the auras of the policemen down below, Azzy replied, "Until I''m sure that everyone is safe."

    "But, aren''t they safe, Rael?" asked Claire.

    "Police station is the most secured location in the city," Neal added, indirectly implying that he was worrying too much. "

    Azzy replied, "I get this feeling that an attack will happen tonight."

    He can see that the auras of death on the policemen had become a lot thicker compared to the morning.

    "Alright, let''s wait a little longer." Neal tried to be patient with Azzy''s stubbornness.

    Looking at the building through the window glass, Neal let out a sigh, "it would have been nice if they would have given us a chamber."

    Originally, Azzy planned to stay inside the police station with the excuse of helping out with menial tasks such as arranging the files, shredding away the useless papers, etc¡­

    But the police aren''t as welcome as the detectives. They were actually cold towards Azzy and the other two. Of course, it wasn''t without reason.

    Unlike the capital city and tier-1 cities, the towns don''t actually have detective bureaus. Every problem will usually be handled by the police, from investigation to arresting the culprit.

    So, apart from praising Azzy, the media bashed the entire police department for being negligent. Even though Azzy is an Arcana Master and couldn''t be compared to civilians like policemen, the newspapers mercilessly published that a 14-year-old kid is doing a better job at investigation than them.

    With negative feelings towards these from WAMO, the inspector kicked them out, stating that they are good enough to protect Jay.

    "Okay, it''s already the time of the dinner. How long we are gonna wait here?" Neal complained as he glanced at the mirror where Azzy was seen, sitting in the backseat along with Claire but has his eyes closed.

    But, Azzy couldn''t abandon them when he knew that they were going to die. If they are criminals, maybe, he would have turned a blind eye but as they are police, he insisted on keeping watch even if it is from the sky.

    After failing to persuade him, Neal and Claire also joined him with the former offering his flying car for help.

    Soon, midnight arrived. Neither of the three had eaten any dinner but thankfully, they are higher realm Arcana Masters. So, they could stay without food for even a week without any problem, although bound to feel hungry if they have a daily routine of eating two/three times a day.

    In the end, Claire took out a small pillow from her storage card and put it in Azzy''s lap. "I''m going to sleep. Wake me up when something happens."

    While she comfortably slept with a smile on her face, Azzy continued to keep his watch. As for Neal, he does seem uncomfortable sitting in the same position for several hours but he doesn''t seem tired. So, he too waited in patience.

    Roughly, about an hour later, with the entire city sleeping peacefully and half of the staff were still at the station, working a night shift, a burly man was dragged by two officers.

    Azzy, who was keeping an eye on the surroundings using an Aura Sensing, detected that this person isn''t a civilian but a rank-5 Arcana master who suppressed his strength to rank-1.

    Coincidentally, just like the policemen, he too had the aura of death on him.

    Azzy got suspicious because of the timing.

    He immediately woke up Claire and jumped down from the car as the person stepped inside the station.

    "Skill card: Erasure"

    He slowly landed on the land while in an invisible state and entered the police station.

    He found the thug was resisting quite a bit and threatening the officers. "Do you even know who am I? See this¡­"

    Upon freeing himself, he raised sleeves and showed the tattoo of a snake with a crown. "If you dare to put me in jail, my boss will see your end."

    The officers naturally weren''t afraid of his threats as his Crowned Serpent gang is no longer a strong gang and currently, they were only known to be collecting protection money from small vendors.

    However, the thug himself has a great physical strength that they weren''t a match for him.

    "Argh¡­"

    He pushed the two officers away, alerting everyone around. After using soul energy as a layer around him, he started to smash around the tables and chairs. About six officers were found to be injured but only lightly. Azzy thought that the thug has great control over his strength. It almost confirmed his suspicion.

    "What''s going on here?" The inspector shouted.

    "Sir, this man was destroying a fashion store for not giving enough protection fees and now, he was manhandling us¡­" An officer who was on the floor briefed him on what happened.

    "So what¡­ The streets are ruled by us, not you pus****s¡­"

    The thug hurled insults at him, trying to provoke him, further.

    It is past midnight and several officers including the inspector is sleepy. This trouble aggravated the inspector''s mood.

    The inspector pulled out his revolver and pointed at him, "now, shut the fu*k up and stay in the cell."

    All of a sudden, the thug started laughing crazily, "Do you think such puny weapons do anything to me?"

    Soul energy enveloped him and he released the aura of mid-rank-5. In an instant, almost everyone panicked and felt like their breathing became difficult due to the pressure exerted by an Elite realm expert, except for the Inspector. He summoned a hound, which is in peak-rank-4.

    "Calm down, Mister. Let''s not go too far." The Inspector also felt the actions of the thug suspicious but taking his subordinate into consideration, he decided to give up on the fight. He said, "You can just leave."

    "Now, it doesn''t matter. I will not leave you guys alive unless all of you fall on your knees and apologize." The thug appeared to be enraged. He took out a mysterious blood-red pill from his pocket and swallowed it, instantly raising his soul power to peak-rank-5.

    Followed by that, Azzy saw his soul orb is starting to bulge, going for the detonation.

    Is this a plan beforehand or was he just broken inside his head? Keeping that aside, how powerful that explosion is going to be? Is this the reason everyone dies? Azzy wondered.

    Whatever the case, he wouldn''t let anyone harm. He decided to take action.

    The inspector furrowed his brows, "what are you doing?"

    The inspector couldn''t clearly see like Azzy but he could sense the gathering of soul energy. He felt like the thug was going to use energy eruption. He took action right away, "Arry, knock him out."

    The inspected ordered the fire hound, which is his soul beast.

    Looking at the beast, the thug raised his fist and gave a solid punch to the hound, blasting it away. The fire hound crashed onto a wall and broke through it.

    "Arry¡­" The inspector screamed upon witnessing his Arcana died in just one move.

    "You¡­" He was also enraged by the thug. But, when he turned towards him, a trace of surprise appeared on the inspector as he saw some veins are getting popped from all over the thug''s body while it is getting burlier.

    "Soul skill: Soul absorption"

    Azzy unleashed his soul skill, revealing his appearance at the station. In the next second, the thug was not only returned to normal but fell unconscious after letting out a scream. His soul orb was completely destroyed.

    "It''s you¡­" The inspector finally saw Azzy and was bewildered, "What are you doing here, kid?"

 Chapter 346 Azzy And Estella As Substitute Members?

    Like several people who envy Azzy''s act of killing werewolves and saving the victims, Inspector Roy was also skeptical about it.

    He didn''t believe in the media and assumed that Azzy might have received help from his captain but had all the credit.

    And when he personally saw the thug fall on the floor after being ambushed by Azzy, Roy believed that the werewolf was also probably ambushed in the dark. His impression of Azzy didn''t change even as Azzy saved them.

    That is the reason he directly asked him how is he here. Entering the premises of a police station in secret is the same as a petty crime.

    Azzy was offended by his tone but he wasn''t doing the job for praises or something. He saved them because he was in a position to be able to.

    Now that there are no more auras of death on them, he calmed down and pointed the death scythe at the unconscious burly man, "I followed him in secret because he found suspicious. After all, a rank-5 expert cannot be dragged by officers who aren''t Arcana Masters."

    Inspector Roy furrowed his brows and glanced at the thug. He fell into thoughts for a moment and agreed with a nod, "It seems like he came here on purpose."

    Azzy then said, "He was about to detonate his soul orb to cause an explosion around here. I suspect it has to do with Jay Inkwell but you can only find it out through interrogation. Now that I destroyed his soul orb, he is no longer a threat."

    "Soul orb was destroyed?" The inspector was taken aback by Azzy''s statement. Using his senses, he found out the absence of soul energy in the thug. He widened his eyes in realization. "How did you do it?"

    "Soul skill," Azzy gave a simple answer. Just as he decided to leave the station, Neal and Claire arrived.

    Claire closed her eyes and stretched her arms wide. Streaks of light shot from her body and hit the officers, healing them instantly.

    Judging the situation, Neal looked at the inspector, "Mr. Roy, neither Cadet Azrael nor are we here. This man harmed the police officers and while the inspector is fighting the criminal to save his subordinates, the station''s CCTV cameras got damaged due to power fluctuations caused by the attacker''s soul energy.

    As a result, only half of it was recorded, which would be enough to throw him into jail and interrogate him even without a warrant.

    Inspector Roy saved the end of the day and every police officer is a witness to that. Consider this a kind of compensation from our organization for the harm we indirectly inflicted on the police department."

    Azzy and Claire glanced at him. The officers around are visibly surprised.

    Unlike the teenage couple, Neal was a genuine captain and has an authority almost equal to that of a city Mayor. That''s why he is in a position to order the police to change the story. The inspector also thought that Neal was doing a favor on them as this will save their face.

    However, do they need to resort to lying? The inspector doesn''t wish that but he is also a human who has aspirations.

    After a couple of hours, the thug woke up from unconsciousness and found himself tied to a table naked. The inspector didn''t hesitate in using third-degree torture on him to get the truth. Of course, there was his hatred towards the thug for killing his dear Arcana.

    Azzy and others didn''t care about it; they returned to the hotel as soon as Azzy saw the disappearance of the auras of death. As the thug revealed the truth, the next day morning, an elder of the Inkwell family who gave the order was arrested.

    About two days later, the court gave the verdict, punishing Jay with 35 years of sentence, 14 years per each murder and 7 years for rape.

    In this time, Azzy and Claire spent some qualitative time together, going on a movie date, watching baseball games together, etc¡­

    Once their job is finished, they returned to Headquarters to receive their promotion badges, followed by returning home to prepare for the world league with their team.

    One day before the start of world league preliminaries;

    Auditorium, Eternal Academy of Arcana, Aclein city;

    Seven seniors from class zero were standing at the stage along with the principal during the morning assembly.

    Adam and Lark were missing on the stage as they couldn''t make it to the team. There were no outsiders and the team purely belonged to the Aclein city''s branch. It looked like Azzy''s predictions became wrong as the academy focused more on teamwork, rather than strength.

    Addressing everyone, Principal Barton pointed them, "Give a round of applause to our champions who will soon represent our academy at the world stage."

    After ten seconds of applause, the principal raised his arm. As the auditorium became silent, he continued, "I''m going to announce the positions. Captain: Claire Lefeuvre."

    Claire stepped forward and was handed the captain badge from the principal. Estella''s facial expression didn''t look good as she would have to listen to her orders from now on if she wants to stay on the team.

    After a round of applause, the Principal continued by reading the positions one after another.

    "Vice Captain: Mia Leveret.

    Main 3: Louis

    Main 4: Gideon

    Main 5: Calder

    Substitute 1: Estella Moon

    Substitute 2: Azrael.

    That''s all¡­"

    When he finished it, this time, there were no cheers from the students. Almost all of them including their own team members are confused.

    Only Azrael and Estella were calm as they were already informed. Claire also heard from Azzy and has a mixed reaction. She was happy that Estella will be away but was sad that Azzy won''t participate in all the matches. But, what can she do? She can''t tell her boyfriend to go back on his Arcana''s promise.

    Meanwhile, the students started to murmur among themselves.

    If Estella is a substitute, then, it''s alright. They could understand because of her rude behavior but why Azrael, who was undoubtedly the strongest student who even studied at the academy during the past 250 years.

    Some seniors thought that the principal put the two strongest ones at the end so as to take the opponents by surprise.

    Later at Grand Arena;

    "Hydra, use rank-5 Quicksand soul skill. After that, use Tornado to separate your opponents"

    "Aurora, Gideon, and Calder are your opponents."

    "Ruby, use rank-5 Petal storm at Claire"

    "Vajra, stick to Louis and make sure to isolate him."

    Flying on top of the black lotus, Azzy was giving orders to his summoning beasts, one after another as he was battling against the main members of the team, all alone.

    Using the Quicksand, the four-headed skeletal serpent turned the ground into super soft, disrupting everyone''s footing. None of them could properly stay at one spot to not get submerged. At the same time, they were forced to use soul energy to expel the soil whenever their foot gets sunk.

    Meanwhile, the large skeletal wolf is attacking and defending against two opponents. Being a peak-rank-6 beast with no organs to get injured, it currently posed a great challenge to Gideon and Calder who are still in rank-5.

    Still, Gideon was hoping to use his lightning mode to fracture its bones one after another.

    It was at this moment, the Hydra unleashed the soul skill, which created a tornado and scattered everyone away.

 Chapter 347 A 300 Million Credits Bounty On Azzys Head

    In the middle of the Grand Arena, a hundred feet big tornado formed with Hydra as its eye. As the beast moved, the tornado also moved along with it.

    Mia shot an arrow but it failed to hit it due to the violent winds around the tornado.

    As for Louis, he was in a tight battle against Vajra. The latter was following him wherever he went. So, he could only try and defeat it.

    Ultimately Claire became the savior of the team. She, who was attacked by the black lotus, didn''t try to face it and put her focus on helping the team.

    Flapping her wings, she dived down at her fastest speed. She entered the tornado from above and her divine sword struck the red-colored core that is glowing in the middle of bones.

    Azzy and Claire, both of them knew that her attacks are quite effective on the former''s undead beasts. So, Hydra was never a match for Claire. As Azzy was momentarily awed by his girlfriend''s sudden move, Claire managed to injure Hydra, forcing Azzy to dismiss it. The two soul skills that are in effect were also disappeared.

    "You should have also summoned the child of Fenrir," The Reaper''s voice echoed in his head.

    Azzy disagreed with his suggestion, "No, I''m not comfortable using the human skeletons whether they are werewolves or not."

    Seeing the stubbornness of Azzy, the Reaper could only sigh and stay silent. He knew that he can''t push Azzy anymore. At the moment, he should only be satisfied that Azzy no longer views killing as sin and leave the remaining to the future.

    Upon finishing the Hydra, Claire once again flew back to Azzy at her top speed and launched an attack. Azzy used the absorbed natural energy to his defense and caught the sword with his hands. "Your attacks are too straightforward, Claire. You should learn how to¡­ Woah¡­"

    A feather from her wings shot towards him all of a sudden, taking him by surprise. Azzy backed away but due to close distance, it grazed his skin. A tiny cut appeared on his arm.

    Claire let out a mischievous grin, "oops¡­"

    "Hey, what was that?" Azzy glanced at his arm. There was no bleeding but seeing how it managed to penetrate even the layer of natural energy, he was indeed amazed.

    "It''s my secret technique that is still in development though," Leah vaguely explained to him as she flew forward and swung her sword. On Azzy''s orders, the black lotus focused on letting Azzy evade the attacks, this time.

    Azzy nodded in satisfaction, "good. Now, try others too."

    The sparring went on until the afternoon. Estella replaced him in the noon but she wasn''t as successful as Azzy in holding the five members for so many hours. She was defeated after 70 minutes into the spar.

    After her defeat, they sparred against Izora where Azzy and Estella joined once in a while, replacing someone of those five.

    As the sun slowly set down, they stopped their final sparring and Izora announced, "Okay students, we are leaving for Egrein city tonight. Everyone must be at the entrance by sharp 9 p.m. Now, dismiss."

    After parting ways with his friends, Azzy returned home with his mother where he found Prince Celus and some stranger having tea with Affea. His father and Oakley were still at the clinic.

    Izora wasn''t acquainted with either of them. So, she stared at Affea, asking for their identities.

    However, Azzy gave her the answer as he was greeted by the prince. "It''s been a while, Azrael."

    "Did Princess Leah ask you to pick me up, Prince Celus?" Azzy responded with a question. He added, "I can just teleport to there, at any time though."

    "No, it''s his majesty who ordered us to escort you to Camelot, Mr. Azrael," replied Celus in a little bit of polite tone. "You aren''t just a partner of my niece, Mr. Azrael. You are also representing Camelot. So, we cannot take any risks."

    "Azzy, think again for last time. Is it really necessary for you to sign up for this competition?" Affea asked a sudden question, taking Celus by surprise. She had a look of worry on her face as she knows how dangerous the world league is.

    If it is a junior division, it would still be fine because Azzy was far stronger than his peers but the senior division is entirely another thing.

    Now that he was going away, she tried one last time to convince him to opt out of the tournament.

    But, Azzy was adamant about his decision. "We have already talked about this, Auntie. I cannot forgive myself if I don''t honor the promise made by my Arcana."

    "And you don''t need to worry, Affea." Izora also pitched in to give her opinion. "Azrael is strong enough to even battle me, one-on-one, at my merged state. Unless a legendary realm expert was hell-bent on trying to hurt him, he will be good."

    What else could Affea do? She let out a sigh and prayed for his safety.

    About an hour later, Azzy left the house along with the two of them.

    Meanwhile, at the kingdom of Rivendell;

    A stranger in the hood was sitting before King Ragron. The latter looked extremely serious as he placed the suitcase on the table.

    The stranger took the suitcase and opened it. There was a simple note and a key.

    "The address is on the card and a total of 5 million Queros (100 million credits) is waiting for you. This is just advance. Once you successfully kill Azrael, I''ll give you another 10 million."

    "What if we never meet?" The hooded stranger asked him while closing the suitcase. "He is participating in the senior division. And even I don''t know who I was going to meet."

    Ragron fell into silence. After a ten-second pause, he opened his mouth, "In that case, you can only go on a suicide mission to assassinate him, outside the tournament, and pray that you will escape with your life intact."

    "Alright¡­"

 Chapter 348 A Team With Abnormalities

    <strong>Oct 1st, 1994;</strong>

    Just like every year, Silver city is seeing an influx of thousands of participants and hundreds of thousands of tourists.

    Police are patrolling everywhere. General and Special Forces are also deployed by the organization to make sure no one takes advantage of this situation and causes chaos within the city.

    At around morning 6, Team Twilight without Azzy left the hotel and managed to reach the Central Academy, which is hosting the league''s junior division matches.

    As the traffic police department is working their best to make sure the roads and skies stay clear, Claire and others managed to reach the place in just 15 minutes.

    They stepped down from their rented bus and walked towards the entrance. A huge translucent barrier was placed around the academy that blocks the entries of rank-4 and lower.

    Having 100,000 SP (soul power) is the minimum qualification to enter the world league. So, the ones with lower soul power could only either return in disappointment or temporarily raise their soul power by a berserk pill.

    There were only two guards placed outside the entrance but there was literally no commotion. Everyone is behaving as they should and enter the barrier in silence.

    Under Izora''s lead, Team Twilight walked into the barrier. With the unique looks of Louis and Estella, the young age of everyone, the high soul power of Izora, Estella, and Claire, and everyone wearing school uniform while Izora wearing a suit and shades, the team had indeed stolen the attention of the people nearby the entrance.

    As they left everyone''s sight, one of the guards spoke to his colleague, "I wonder which school that was. A while ago, some people wore the same uniform."

    "World league attracts all types of talents. It is unsurprising¡­" The other colleague commented in response while looking straight.

    Meanwhile, Team Twilight found several wall barriers placed on the school grounds with a fixed gap between each. Those gaps were filled by the teams and the individuals as they stand in line, slowly moving forward.

    At the end of the line, there is a 30ft-large machine, which is describing the age, soul power, potential, and number of Arcana of the individual who stands on the platform connected to it.

    A lot of people weren''t comfortable in revealing their potential and Arcana but the organization had no choice because they had to make sure the survival of high potential kids and also not to let match up two opponents who are in different realms.

    Of course, there will be VIPs and top scouts attending the league. So, it is a good opportunity for the kids to showcase their skills and get an offer from a top Arcana Academy or organization without going through any test.

    Izora led the team of six to the side and waited there without joining the line.

    For 20 minutes, several individuals are seen entering the barrier and glancing at the team before leaving to join the line. Because of Izora''s sharp stare, none dared to come toward them.

    But, the leader of a team, full of female members, took the initiative to greet them.

    "Hello," Izora greeted back coldly as if she was indicating to not bother them.

    But, the woman didn''t mind it and said as she looked at the rest, commenting, "I don''t see that monstrous genius boy, and instead, there were a couple of new faces. Oh, even a rank-6? It looks like Aclein Academy had upgraded the strength."

    "Look at their uniform and the logo, Miss," Izora looked annoyed as she pointed at everyone. "Aclein Academy no longer exists. We are a part of Eternal Institutions. And who are you, by the way?"

    It was only then the woman noticed Izora and felt that she was familiar. She sensed her soul power. In an instant, her facial expression became stiff for a moment but she managed to keep her cool and replied, "I''m Carmella Hearth, an instructor at Phoenix Academy. We fought you in the semifinals and got defeated but this time, these are our representatives."

    One of the seven females, who were standing behind her in silence, the youngest one stepped forward, "It''s been a while, Ms. Leveret. I hope your archery skills improved by now."

    Estella and Louis looked at the 11-yr-old Iphi, who was unnecessarily trying to provoke Mia. They wondered who she might be.

    Meanwhile, Mia calmly countered, "it looked like you hurriedly raised your soul power. You should be careful about damaging your soul orb. If you don''t stabilize your realm, you will harm yourself and others."

    "You don''t need to worry about her, Ms. Leveret. She''s a true daughter of heaven. You should worry about yourself." The captain of their team also meddled in their argument. 18-year-old Tiara is a student pursuing the advanced studies program and currently leading Team Phoenix. She wasn''t a warmhearted person to act nice to the team that humiliated them.

    Claire and the others, especially Izora furrowed their brows. Just as this instructor was about to say something, Estella let out a snort, "as if we would worry about a bunch of losers."

    Everyone stared at her. Members of Team Phoenix also frowned. This time, even Claire supported Estella''s statement with her silence. Maybe, she would have said something but even Carmella wasn''t on the team. Except for Iphi who was just sore in the eye, no one from the previous team they fought was in this new team. All six of them are college students.

    "You¡­ what did you say? Say it again¡­" Tiara clenched her fist in anger.

    Izora, who was already in a bad mood because of Azzy, went a step ahead and spoke rudely to them, "if you are done with yapping, all of you can get lost for registration."

    "I guess winning the Champions league made you look down on others." Carmella was naturally offended by Izora''s remark. "No matter¡­ since you are already here, very soon, you will realize how much of a frog in the well you are."

    "Let''s go, girls¡­" Carmella walked away while regretting greeting them. At the same time, her determination to win increased greatly.

    As they walked away from them, joining the line, Estella commented, "Excluding that instructor, the strongest is only mid-rank-6 and that woman is thinking of us as some frogs in well."

    "I wonder where Luci had gone," Claire wondered in the meantime.

    The team waited for another ten minutes before Azzy and Leah arrived together. The reception Leah received is far better than what Team Phoenix faced earlier. Although Izora was indifferent to her, Estella, who thought of her as an equal, conversed with her.

    Leah, being a well-mannered girl, responded accordingly. All of them then joined the line.

    After about 30 minutes of slowly advancing forward, Team Twilight got their turn. Azzy found some competitors stayed behind, on the side, probably to gauge their opponent''s strength or for curiosity.

    Azzy found three people sitting at a table.

    Izora first registered the team of seven by showing the students'' IDs to the third person.

    As the Captain, Claire was the first to stand on the platform to verify her qualification. As soon as the platform lit up, she felt an electrifying jolt all over her body for a second before her details were displayed on the screen.

    Age: 16

    Soul power: 942,655

    Arcana: 1

    Element: Light (????)

    Qualified: Yes

    "What is the meaning of that?" The panel members and the other spectators were a little bit confused to see question marks beside her element. It means that even the most sophisticated tech of humanity has failed to identify Claire''s element and is only suspecting that it is light.

    Only Azzy and Leah know that it is because of the divine energy imbued in her soul energy.

    At the same time, people also looked at her highly because of her age and soul power.

    The next to go was Mia as she''s the vice-captain.

    Age: 16

    Soul power: 900,418

    Arcana: 1

    Element: Wood

    Qualified: Yes

    "Oh, wood¡­" All the panel members reacted to it even stronger than when they saw Claire''s information as Wood is a very rare element. In their eyes, the soul power doesn''t matter because it can always be raised even by elemental crystals. However, the element is something Arcana Masters was born with. The rarer it will be, the higher their value to these captains of the General forces of WAMO.

    "Okay, next¡­" The panel member was now looking forward to seeing the rest of the team. Peak-rank-5 at such young age is indeed something worth watching out for.

    However, the next set of three only disappointed them. Gideon''s and Calder''s respective soul power was too low and their element is a basic one too. While Louis'' soul power was just above 1 million, indicating that he''s low-rank-6, his element turned out to be Wind, although there was also a question mark added to him.

    With only two substitutes left, they didn''t have much hope.

    Just when they were about to lose their interest, Estella stepped onto the platform.

    Age: 15

    Soul power: 3,459,770

    Arcana: 2

    Element: Water, Wind

    Qualified: Yes

    "3 million SP? Twin Arcana? Dual element?" In an instant, the three registration panel members got up on their feet in surprise. The others watching around were also started to murmur around.

    "It looks like your team is going to be formidable, Ms. Crescent." The panel member said to Izora as she saw the result on the machine.

    Izora responded calmly as she turned her head, "You have yet to witness our strongest team member, you know."

    "Hmm¡­" The panel member followed Izora''s gaze and stared at Azzy who stepped onto the platform.

    Age: 14

    Soul Power: 999,999 (???)

    Soul cards: 2

    Element: Dark (???), Lightning, Crystal,

    Qualified: Yes

    This time, the whole surroundings became silent for a moment.

    "Crystal?" Even Azzy''s own team members were taken aback this time. On the other hand, Claire and Izora fell into confusion, "2 soul cards, not three?"

 Chapter 349 Another Death Energy User

    <strong>Hotel Viceroy, Silver City;</strong>

    A few teenagers were playing arcade basketball at the play zone, trying to compete with each other in a knockout tournament style.

    "Everyone, information from Elder Alf," A 17-year-old girl entered the space and walked towards them at a fast pace.

    She''s the same Zona who graduated from Aclein Academy last year and later, joined the Abel Tower. And this is the team sent by Abel Tower for the junior division.

    As everyone placed attention on her, she said in a serious tone, "The winning team of the Champions League is here. And an initial test result is placing them as a contender for top 8 or maybe, even top 4, considering that they have two platinum grade users in the team."

    Upon hearing her, except for a couple of them, the remaining lost their interest.

    Returning to the game, the captain of the team was harsh in his reply, "Arcana grades don''t matter, duplicator. Ability is what decides one''s potential. You should be aware of that, already. If not for your ability to duplicate yourself, forget about this team, you wouldn''t even be in the Tower of Abel."

    Zona''s facial expression darkened when she was scolded as such when she didn''t even offend him. Thankfully, a teammate came in her support, "C''mon, Cap. Sister Zo is only warning us. Moreover, Azrael isn''t a simple one either. Everyone watched the footage of the finals. In one on one scenario, I cannot even imagine my win at all. Except for you, no one is confident in taking him on."

    The others also agreed with his statement.

    Meanwhile, the youngest of the team said to the 17-year-old while letting out a mischievous smile, "But then again, Sister Zo should have been looking forward to meeting your friends. By the way, what about your ex-boyfriend? Was he in the team?"

    Zona shook her head, "No, he isn''t and I don''t expect him to be. Anyway, let me finish the message. Elder Alf told me to inform you to not take them lightly because of the new teammate of them. Her name is Estella Moon, and she possesses not one but two platinum grade summoning beasts. It was said that one of those beasts is even bigger than this building."

    It was then that the members of team Abel finally took her words seriously. They understood that combining with Azzy, the opponent team indeed can give them tough competition.

    However, there was just one person who didn''t even take it seriously. Obviously, it''s the captain who was a high-rank-6 expert.

    As soon as her words ended, dark-colored soul energy erupted from his palms and covered the basketball, transforming it into a black stone before it turned into powder.

    "Even if there were a dozen Estellas, all of them will have to perish in front of my death energy and my death knight,"

    The others became silent. They knew that this youngest prince of Freyles is indeed very arrogant to the core. However, they could never refute his words as they feared his ability to kill effortlessly.

    Meanwhile, at the Central Academy, Team Twilight is chatting with Team Eternal. After the team completed their registrations and went through verification, the panel members told them that their team is allotted to Arena-B.

    After that, Claire contacted Snivy and found that they were in Arena-A. So, she took her team to meet the other team as they won''t be fighting each other anyway.

    Azzy might not be close to Snivy but he is at least acquainted with her as he regularly meets her at the WAMO Training Center every third week of the month. So, he wasn''t uncomfortable with this meeting.

    Gideon and Snivy were even partners and do training partners. So, they were a lot closer.

    As Snivy was catching up with her old friends, Louis was comfortably talking with his old acquaintances. Meanwhile, Arley Blood, who returned to the main branch and took up his old post, was trying to converse with Izora. Both of them were from the same clan and knew each other for a century. So, she doesn''t have any issue with talking with the Blood clan''s Elite member.

    Only Estella stayed silent. She was feeling out of the place, all of a sudden, with everyone ignoring her. She missed the presence of Leah.

    As the preliminaries of solo duels in the junior division start after the team matches and duo matches, Leah returned to the hotel. Not to mention, the senior league registrations will last a day. So, she will wait for Azzy and go to Arcana world, the next morning.

    In the end, giving an excuse to keep an eye on the competitors, Estella left them and went to Arena-B. Seeing that, Gideon also excused himself and went after her. Snivy couldn''t help but shake her head and comment that this four-eyed playboy needed some heavy beating.

    Slowly, the time passed. More and more teams & individuals registered their names for the tournament. Nearly a hundred of them were disqualified and kicked out of the location by the guards due to their age. The limit was, after all, only 18.

    When the sun is at its peak position, the registrations were closed. An astonishing number of 3257 individuals signed up for this tournament in the solo category but only 86 teams and 743 duo groups were registered.

    It''s really a surprise for the first-timers to realize that there are so many geniuses around when it was known that only 3-4 million Arcana Masters currently existed in the world. It makes one think that all the geniuses in the world had gathered in one spot.

    But then again, if one thinks carefully, it wouldn''t be a shock that so many are participating in solo. Almost half of the people who are in teams and duo groups also registered for the solo category. Even from Team Twilight, four of them registered themselves.

    Unlike the Champions League, which is a battle between the academies, the world league is different.

    Here, everyone would vie for different things like fame, proving themselves to the world, rewards, or attention from a large organization or top academies. And this will only get by achieving it alone as they get to show their capabilities to the full extent.

    Once the registrations closed, the screens on each of the four Arenas displayed the groups. Arena-B has a total of 20 teams and was divided into four groups of 5 teams each.

    Team Twilight is in group-3 with other four teams namely, Team Redwings; Team Westside; Team Dragon Riders; and lastly, Team Andromeda.

    Other prominent teams from other groups include a reserve team from Central Academy, Dragon Academy, Sun Academy, the main team of Light Academy where Izora used to be an instructor for a year, and finally, a mysterious team in which all of them are 18-year-olds and are in rank-6. Even their team name is called "Unknown."

    Soon, a man in a suit and shades arrived on the field.

    "Welcome to the preliminaries of World League, contestants." He greeted everyone in the stands and introduced himself. "I''m Harold, Captain of Squad 7, Special Forces. I''ll be your proctor during the preliminaries. Without wasting further time, let''s start the matches right away.

    But, before that, let me remind all of you about the rules.

    As you have seen on the screens, each of your teams is randomly allotted in separate groups. You will battle another team from the same group, two times.

    Each match will last 10 minutes. A win would give you 2 points. Lose will give you 0 and if drawn, each team will receive 1 point.

    The top 2 from each group will be advanced to the knockouts. The bottom three would be eliminated.

    As for the rules, even one deliberate kill will disqualify you and your team from the tournament, right away. Provocations are allowed but no cussing. In the case of using those inappropriate words, a warning will be given at the end of the game.

    If repeated again in another match, then, a penalty will be given. 2 points will be deducted from the team that has violated the rules.

    The third and final rule is that you cannot use activated skill cards no matter who the maker of them is. Once spotted by the proctor, you will automatically lose the match.

    The captain can announce the defeat. In case of unavailability, the vice-captain can make the decision. If both of them are out, then, the third member, and so on will get that right.

    Okay, that''s enough for the rules for the participants. Let''s get started.

    The teams of the first four matches¡­ please gather in the waiting room. That will be all."

    Claire got up on her feet, "guys, let''s go¡­" The others followed her.

 Chapter 350 World League: Junior Division Preliminaries (Part1)

    Team Twilight''s first match is against Team Westside.

    Their natural strong body and different color made it evident that they are from the mysterious Western continent of Zalfari.

    Zalfari is located on the other side of the world, spanning a little more than 8 million sq. kilometers, excluding the waters. Compared to the supercontinent of Xynnar, which has an area of over 78 million sq. km, it is indeed very small.

    Fortunately, the largest nation in the world, Freyles is only about 3 million sq. km. This is the reason it was given continent status about a few millennia ago even though the region was comprised of hundreds of islands.

    The continent of Zalfari has over 100 million population and yet, their importance to WAMO or the rest of the world for that matter is quite negligible.

    The commoners living on Xynnar treat the immigrants like barbarians.

    The officials treat them like second-class citizens.

    The police look at them as criminals, every time asking for ID and questioning their purpose of loitering around.

    The soldiers in a few countries wouldn''t even permit them to enter the portal points citing reasons of security.

    The governments weren''t interested to form diplomatic relations with the west.

    In the past, several kingdoms even colonized them. If not for WAMO, the people of Zalfari would still be slaves.

    With people from the west working in various fields and making name for themselves, the situation improved a lot but still, some countries wouldn''t want them to progress because they fear their strength. After all, it is believed that a common citizen who is an adult can easily beat up a rank-3 Arcana Master just through fists.

    And if it is some bodybuilder or wrestler, it is known that their physical strength would rival that of a rank-4. What if they were Arcana Masters? How strong they could be?

    It was such fear that made several nations put them away and make the west stay poor so that they wouldn''t get the necessary resources to become stronger. But then again, this kind of treatment made the countries from the west stay united. All of them have different rulers but they have a common military structure, currency, and everything.

    Team Westside is one of the teams representing the west. Each of them from a different place but their respective governments brought them together about six months ago and gave them rigorous training.

    With heavy responsibility riding on their shoulders, the team sent its strongest five to the field. On the other hand, Team Twilight sent its main members, leaving behind Azzy and Estella to only cheer from outside the barrier.

    Unlike with the Champions League, there was no habitat here. It is just a simple elevated platform made of concrete with 200 meters in length, 200 meters in width, and about three meters in height.

    The platform was covered by a translucent barrier, which does nothing but stay as a boundary. That means the attacks could even pass through it. So, in a way, there''s no security for the participants. Then, what''s the use of a barrier?

    It was only for the proctor to decide on which player is out of the battle. If one mistakenly exits the barrier, they can''t rejoin their teammates again.

    Both the teams entered the barrier and waited for the signal.

    As soon as the whistle was blown, everyone summoned their Arcana. Team Westside is full of summoners. Each of the summoning beasts looked like a behemoth. One is a giant rhino with three horns. The second one is a giant elephant but with four tusks. The third one is an armored crocodile. The fourth one is a giant turtle.

    And the last one is the biggest of them all, a fu*k**g dinosaur. The leader of them owns a Spinosaurus that looked very menacing.

    Even though each of them is only at peak-rank-5 except for the spinosaurus that is at low-rank-6, all of them looked absolutely dominating to the spectators. Compared to them, the Arcana of Team Twilight looked like a joke.

    Claire and Gideon are sword users, Mia has an Oak tree, Louis has a bow in his hand, and Calder''s Arcana is a shield. So, if one ignores Mia, it is more like a battle between summoners and weapon users. However, there wasn''t a speck of worry on Azzy as he was confident that his team would win. As for whether his teammates think the same, it is doubtful.

    Claire quickly passed the instructions to the rest of the team, "We''ll go with diamond formation. Louis, I''m counting on you."

    Louis nodded and took the central position. Claire moved to the front and Mia moved to the back. Gideon and Calder took the positions of right and left. Louis was in the center of the formation.

    Louis pulled the string and made the first move as the other team''s leader gave an order for the attack. It was actually a normal energy arrow that was conjured between his fingertips, although with a slight twist.

    The five beasts with an average size of 200ft started rushing towards them with their respective owners mounted on top of them. The concrete platform started to shake because of their heavy movements. Louis, on the other hand, had conjured an arrow but did not shoot it as if he was waiting for the right time.

    Claire and others were also staying in their spots and kept glancing at Louis from the corner of their eyes. It would be a lie if they say that they are completely calm. There was always this tension due to uncertainties in battle. And the Spinosaurus itself looks quite intimidating.

    The five beasts with their masters, lessen the distance between them by atleast 30 meters per second. In just five seconds, Team Twilight is already in their attack range.

    Leader of team Westside, Dannell Lowe ordered his dinosaur, "Spinee, shred her into pieces."

    *Kraaaa*

    It let out a roar and rushed towards its target, the captain of the opposite team. Dannell''s aim is clear. He wishes to kill Claire and inflict psychological damage on her teammates.

    Once they win the match, it doesn''t matter to him whether Team Twilight becomes stronger to take revenge or collapse due to the absence of the captain. He was confident that they wouldn''t likely meet again unless they end up in the top 8.

    Unfortunately for him, he doesn''t have any info on Claire or others except for basic details that were shown on the board, earlier.

    Louis finally released the magical arrow. The arrow traveled over Claire''s head and went towards the spinosaurus.

    Claire''s eyes widened in surprise and she couldn''t help but abruptly turn her head, "seriously?"

    Louis let out a mysterious smile and then, gave a nod.

    Meanwhile, sensing the power in the incoming arrow was only of low-rank-5, Dannell didn''t take it seriously and ordered his beast.

    "Spinee, destroy it."

    The spinosaurus raised its forelimbs, showing off the might of its powerful claws. It swiped at the arrow just when the arrow was about to hit it.

    Unfortunately, neither Dannell nor his beast tried to probe about the layer of dark energy coated over the energy arrow.

    ? As soon as its claws made contact with the arrow, the latter was indeed destroyed but in return, it unleashed a tiny portal out of nowhere and sucked the entire beast and its master into it like a black hole.

    By the time Dannell and his teammates understand what was going on¡­ the beast and its master were teleported outside the barrier.

    "What the hell¡­" The rest of the contestants got up on their feet in shock.

 Chapter 351 World League: Junior Division Preliminaries (Part-2)

    Louis'' space attribute itself doesn''t have any offensive skills that directly harm the opponent.

    However, his mastery over the attribute is profound enough to indirectly kill the opponents as he wishes. Of course, since his Arcana spirit was a pure wind attribute, he doesn''t possess any soul skills of space either. What he can use is to use space attribute to his soul energy and create special techniques.

    And Louis can create portals where he can deflect, reflect, and even teleport the incoming attacks, much less the opponents whenever he wishes. Although this has a limit in actual battle, right now, it turned out to be fearsome in the tournament.

    Louis wasn''t done with sending out the captain. Taking advantage of the shock Team Westside is experiencing, Louis conjured the same type of spatial wind arrows and shoot at the remaining four, one after another.

    "What are you spacing out, your morons? Dodge¡­" Dannell shouted in fury from the outside. But, it was a little bit too late as the distance between Louis and his opponents isn''t that far and due to the wind attribute, the arrows were as fast as bullets.

    One after another, the arrows struck each beast. Except for one, who managed to jump down at the last second, everyone was swallowed by the portal and was teleported outside.

    With only one guy inside the barrier, the match is as good as in Twilight''s hands.

    Claire broke away from the formation and charged forward with her sword. The opponent, who was the summoner of the giant crocodile, got prepared himself to face her head-on fearlessly. He took out his storage card and pulled out a rank-5 sword.

    Just as Claire was about to launch an attack, the whistle was blown by the Proctor, followed by the announcement, "Team Westside had accepted defeat. The winner is Team Twilight."

    Claire suddenly stopped in her tracks and looked behind. It looked like their captain Dannell thought that it is meaningless to fight against Team Twilight and unnecessarily reveal their skills.

    The remaining opponent in the Arena let out a sigh and walked away towards the exit while dismissing his beast.

    The entire Arena fell silent. They didn''t expect to meet such an invincible opponent in the preliminaries. Each of the teams, especially in the same group, had decided to form a strategy against Louis.

    The whole team is celebrating the win, giving Hi-fives to each other, but Claire appeared to be displeased. Claire turned around and walked towards Louis.

    Seeing her expression, they stopped their actions. She stopped before Louis for a moment and said to him, "If you can''t play in a team and never had the plans of following the orders of the captain, you shouldn''t have signed up with us."

    As Louis and others were stunned by her statement, she looked at everyone, "let''s go."

    She went past through them and stepped out of the barrier. Others may not understand it, but Azzy understood her thoughts. As she reached him, he patted her shoulder, "take it easy, Claire. We still have three matches to go."

    Claire let out a sigh, "I didn''t want to start the world league in this way."

    "Start doesn''t matter. How will we end it matters," replied Azzy using a soft tone so as to make sure she doesn''t feel like being lectured. He added, "now that Louis had attention from everyone, plan around it. You are the captain. You can do it."

    Maybe, Claire loves Azzy a bit too much that even though he didn''t say a lot, her mood turned around right away. "Thanks."

    Looking at her publicly displaying affection by grabbing his arm, Estella smirked as she thought, "go on and enjoy your last few days of life, Claire. Once you disappear, he will become mine."

    She followed the rest of the team to the stands during Gideon''s flirting.

    A couple of minutes later, the next match started.

    The match was between Team ''Unknown'' and Team Lightstreak. As soon as they stepped onto the platform, everyone stopped paying attention to Louis and shifted to the battle.

    As Team Lightstreak is the main team representing the Light academy, people were indeed more curious about the result. Are they just a bunch of Arcana Masters with only high soul power or is their fighting level also good?

    Amid the curious gazes of other participants, both the teams entered the barrier.

    The names and respective soul power of both teams are displayed on the screen.

    <strong>Team Lightstreak: Lacy Arbutus (C), Scott Sanders (VC), Julian, Noel, Jeanne, Gail Dorsey, Reginald Page</strong>

    <strong>Team Unknown: Ashoka (C), Mayura (VC), Agasthya, Veera, Amrita, Bharata, and Kranthi</strong>

    When everyone saw the names of Team Unknown, except for Azzy, Estella, Izora, and Claire, none of them could relate to it. They didn''t even feel like these seven belonged to the supercontinent of Xynnar.

    Whether it is their race, dress style, or skin tone, they were a little bit different from a typical person from the Xynnar continent or the western continent. Maybe, they are from some isolated island located on the vast ocean?

    The match started as the proctor blew the whistle.

    The leader of the Team Unknown was the only one who made the move. While the rest of the teammates just stood in the back, their leader summoned his bow.

    More than a bow, it looked like it was made of two Angelic wings attached to a string. Its appearance can only be described as heavenly.

    If a pretty girl had been the one that used this bow, it would have been a beautiful sight but unfortunately, the wielder of this platinum grade bow is a muscular young man with his abs sticking out due to his sleeves coat that was unbuttoned completely. So, the bow''s charm was reduced rapidly.

    But, the bow no longer matters as its wielder pulled the string and launched an attack while the rest of the team members took out industrial gas masks and equip them.

    Before he conjured the arrow, Azzy and others with keen sight spotted this archer mumbling for a few seconds. The others weren''t sure what it was but Azzy realized that it was some kind of mantra as the arrow was conjured with the help of natural energy.

    Azzy activated his Aura sensing and confirmed the existence of a layer of natural energy around the archer''s soul core. The entire process looked quite similar to when he launches Buddhist attacks.

    While the spectators wondered about their actions, the arrow turned into some sort of poisonous gas as it rapidly spread all over the surroundings. Its range was atleast 100 meters.

    The members of the Light Academy who were on their way to meet their opponents were hit by the poisonous gas.

    Had there anyone been a user of platinum grade, they would have resisted its effect but unfortunately, there was no one. The gas spread through their lungs very quickly, making them fall unconscious.

    By the time the gas is dispersed, the audience could only see the main members of Team Lightstreak lying on the platform.

    "Team Unknown wins the match." The Proctor announced the result and the instructor as well as their two substitutes rushed into the barrier to check up on their teammates.

    "I''ll return in a minute." Izora then said to her team before she floated in the air and flew towards the field.

 Chapter 352 Defection Of A Hidden Clan From Its Founders Oath

    Amid the gazes of the other participants, Izora landed on the platform.

    "Instructor Crescent." The two substitutes greeted her. She had worked as a combat instructor at Light Academy during the last year. So, the students knew her.

    "Instructor Aimee," She nodded to the other instructor and further said that they were fine. So, there''s nothing to worry about.

    Aimee was also a peak-rank-6 expert. So, her senses weren''t that poor. She nodded, "I know. But, it was quite humiliating to be defeated like this."

    "Then, would you like your kids to be killed, instead?" A voice was heard from the side.

    Both of the ladies turned their heads to find the representative head of the Team Unknown who stepped inside the barrier while his teammates are returning.

    "Karna¡­" Izora called out his name.

    "It''s been a while, Ms. Crescent." The charming young man greeted her with a smile.

    He looked around the same age as the other seven members of Team Unknown but he is already an Exalt realm expert. Considering he was only 20 years old, one can consider him a peerless genius and place him in the same category as Azzy.

    "I never expected that your clan is interested in the world league," Izora said to him, almost ignoring the Light Team.

    "Well, we no longer wish to stay hidden," Karna replied without hiding the truth.

    Izora''s facial expression changed as expected. Furrowing her brows, she warned, "You should be careful of your words, young lord Karna. Saying wrong words at the wrong time will only bring disaster."

    Karna didn''t take her words seriously. "Look, Ms. Crescent, I''m thankful that you saved me in the past but that doesn''t mean that you can think your clan can dictate the terms. Whatever it is, we will¡­"

    The heir to the Kuru clan, one of the nine hidden clans, Karna wanted to relay this matter to the death clan through Izora in advance to pay back the favor. But, he chose the wrong place to do so. The Proctor, who was patiently waiting for them to clear the field, had interrupted them.

    "Excuse me, the two of you can leave and chat elsewhere. There are a lot of matches left." Captain Harold is weaker than both of them but at present, he was representing the world''s strongest organization and has the highest authority in Arena-B. He won''t be afraid of anyone under Supreme Realm.

    As he looked at them calmly, Izora and Karna glanced at him for a second before leaving the field. Izora then helped with transporting the unconscious students of Light Academy.

    Meanwhile, Azzy was listening to the Reaper.

    "You were told about the history of creation but your future self didn''t tell you about the celestial weapons. Just like the gods, cosmic entities, and the cosmic gems, the celestial weapons are also born from the creation.

    Whether it is Vajra, Agatha, or this Gandiva, all of them are born in the form of weapons with spirits intact. Some of them are acquired by the gods, some are lost in the cosmos, and some weapons became Arcana spirits either by their free will or by force.

    The wielders of such weapons are destined to become demigods. But from there, they can either become gods and dominate the realms or turn to dust and reincarnate.

    You have to remember one thing though. People like you can only become friends or enemies. There''s no neutral region there. If this wielder of Gandiva isn''t your ally, then, you can only treat him as an enemy because he will do so¡­" The Reaper knew that Azzy had already passed the stage where he will take his words for granted.

    If he is such a person, then, the Reaper wouldn''t have to resort to manipulation at all. So, all he was hoping was that Azzy remembers his warnings so that it will become easier for him to make the right decision in the future.

    "I understand." Just like the Reaper expected, Azzy didn''t take this matter seriously and quietly stared at the members of Team Unknown, especially at their captain. In the future, if they turned out to be the opponents, Azzy knew that he will have to substitute for either Calder or Gideon.

    Since Captain Ashoka knew how to control the natural energy, Azzy felt the need to watch all of his matches but he knew that he couldn''t. So, he asked Gideon to record Team Unknown''s matches through the camcorder.

    Video recording is allowed and there are a few instructors who are doing that already. Izora was too proud to do that. So, he cannot ask her.

    Once Gideon promised him, Azzy relaxed a bit.

    The matches continued until the evening. Twilight''s second match was against Team Andromeda, which is basically a weak team with the strongest one barely reaching high-rank-5. The rest were either low-rank-5 or mid-rank-5.

    This time, instead of sending everyone outside, Louis used them to send away only three of their strongest while the rest of the two ended up fighting. The result was naturally in Twilight''s hands.

    Many felt that the tactic was cowardly to use on such a weak team. But, Claire could care anything about their feelings. Since Louis had already shown his special ability, she decided to make him the star of the team and let everyone underestimate the rest of the team.

    By the end of day-1, the group rankings are as follows.

    <strong>Group-3: Matches/Won/Draw/Lost/Points</strong>

    Rank 01 ¨C Twilight: 2/2/0/0/4

    Rank 02 ¨C Dragon Riders: 2/1/1/0/3

    Rank 03 ¨C Westside: 2/1/0/1/2

    Rank 04 ¨C Redwings: 2/0/1/0/1

    Rank 05 ¨C Andromeda: 2/0/0/2/0

    *

    In the evening, everyone returned to the hotel. Since it is only preliminaries and there are six matches to go, they didn''t celebrate much and just spent the time resting or preparing skill cards.

    The next day morning, Azzy and Leah departed from the hotel, making their way toward the portal point. They were followed by six knights of Camelot.

    From there, they were teleported to the Central City of Arcana World. It is where the senior division matches are taking place.

    After traveling on a rental horse carriage for nearly 70 minutes due to the restriction on flying, both of them reached the entrance gate of the Heavenly Academy, the oldest and the largest campus in both worlds. On the way, Azzy really missed the modern vehicle as he stared at the city with ancient architecture and horse carriages.

    Despite the fact that the academy is as big as a town, it has only two official entrances, a northern entrance, and a southern entrance. People can infiltrate the academy through other places like the mountains or the woods but security guards will usually patrol around and one must be careful to not get caught.

    If one goes through the northern entrance, they would reach the grounds and academic buildings. And the south leads to the dormitories, Arenas, Auction house, gardens, etc¡­

    Azzy and Leah took the southern gate. After all, they didn''t have the time or mood to tour around.

    Compared to the junior division, the senior division''s security arrangements were rather tight.

    As the academy management had instructed the guards to only allow the participants through the southern gate, a team was stationed there, where they will check the battle passes.

 Chapter 353 World League: Senior Division Preliminaries (Part-1)

    Battle passes are like one''s identification card in the league. Each pass has a unique identification number, which will be linked to a candidate. Of course, one can impersonate another candidate using a disguise card as long as they can acquire the battle pass. In that case, they can only try their best to not get caught because it can result fine or even jail as punishment.

    After several millennia filled with such incidents, people rarely try to do that.

    Azzy and Leah joined up the line. Neither of them had any intentions to pretend like a pig to eat a tiger. So, both of them didn''t suppress their soul power.

    There are several Arcana Masters who looked young. So, no one gave them too much attention until they reached the verification zone, where a high-level official is checking their battle passes. This guy is a peak-rank-7 expert. So, usually, no one dares to argue with him.

    A trace of surprise appeared on Edward as his eyes fell on Leah, "Princess Leah?"

    "It''s been a while, Deputy Commander Edward," she just smiled in response.

    "But, what are you doing here? This is senior division." It was a little bit hard for the deputy commander to believe that she was participating in the senior division where the mortality rate is quite high.

    "I''m here to participate in the duo category. This is my partner, Azrael," She replied to him. Her words might sound a little bit off if one thinks in a different manner but Edward was already in great shock. How would he be able to think of anything else?

    He could only see Azzy and fell into trace because Azzy also looked young. He highly suspected that this person is a teenager or atleast around Leah''s age because his soul power isn''t in Exalt realm.

    If she had to choose an adult, why would she bother choosing a guy in rank-6 and that too, a commoner? She can just choose one between her paternal uncle and aunt who are below the age of 100, rank-7, and are of high status.

    It only makes sense if this guy is a son of the heavens.

    Edward then composed himself and greeted Azzy, "A pleasure to meet you, I''m Edward Fawley, Deputy Commander of heavenly academy''s security, and one of the combat instructors at the academy."

    "Hello," Azzy gave a simple nod.

    The lack of expression and enthusiasm displeased Edward but the latter had to keep up his appearance before the princess. He no longer paid attention to Azzy and looked at Leah, "I wish you the best of luck, Princess Leah."

    The exchange of words indeed attracted the attention of the others standing behind her. They started murmuring.

    "Thanks." Leah smiled and showed the battle pass as a formality. Azzy also followed the suit.

    Soon, both of them entered the academy leaving behind the knights. As they weren''t participants, they were forced to make a round trip to the northern gate while Leah and Azzy proceeded toward one of the Arenas.

    A day ago, Azzy had visited the academy for registration but he entered through the northern gate and didn''t get to see the buildings in the southern sector.

    Since they didn''t have a lot of time left, Azzy didn''t get to go on a tour and just walked directly towards the Battle Arena-6 where their group was allotted to battle.

    Unlike the junior division, the senior division didn''t prioritize one category over the other. All of them will happen at the same time, although in different Arenas.

    The solo contestants will battle in Arena-1, 2, and 3; the duo groups will battle in Arena-4, 5, and 6; and the teams will battle in Arena-7 and 8. As for the Grand Arena which has over a million-seat capacity, it was saved for the top-8 rounds.

    So, that means the schedule can clash if one registered for more than one category. That''s why a lot of people will try to focus on one category unless one is crazy about acquiring fame and rewards.

    Like the other arenas, Battle Arena-6 has 75 waiting rooms where it is mandatory for the contestants to stay there instead of watching from the stands.

    After their battle passes have been scanned and verified once again at the back entrance of the arena, Azzy and Leah stepped inside. A young woman greeted them with a smile and she escorted them to the waiting room which is already occupied by four people. Two of them looked young while the other two looked like middle-aged men.

    "Oh, great, another set of kids." One of those middle-aged-looking men complained as soon as Azzy and Leah stepped inside the room.

    "Hey, check out the girl. She''s damn beautiful, isn''t she?" One of the young men whispered to the other while staring at Leah.

    "Shh, both are in the Upper Elite realm. Their identities might not be normal." The other young man shut up his friend''s mouth.

    Maybe, the middle-aged men also heard his comment. They instantly tried to sense Azzy and Leah''s soul power.

    It terrified them a little bit. "Peak-rank-6 and High-rank-6?"

    Quickly, the room became silent. Leah and Azzy didn''t talk to them and just took their seat in the corner. None of the four dared to speak out for a while before a young man stepped forward and introduced himself. "Hello, I''m Edwin Light and this is Therald."

    Azzy raised his brows as soon as he heard the name. However, he was here just as the supporting character. So, he refrained to talk and let Leah speak everything.

    Leah was also a little bit surprised for a second before she smiled in response, "I''m Leah Pendragon and this is my partner, Azrael."

    "Pendragon?" The middle-aged men freaked out a little bit. The young men, on the other hand, behaved normally. "Nice to meet you."

    After introducing herself, Leah asked, "I''m sorry but do you know someone named Theodore Light?"

    This time, it was Edwin''s turn to get a surprise. "Do you know my brother?"

    "He is my friend," Leah replied to him. Just about a few days ago, Camelot received an invitation to Theodore''s coronation ceremony. So, acquainting with his brother is a good thing for her kingdom. It was nothing personal and just purely business.

    Seeing that there''s a connection between those two, Edwin got a little bit excited. He tried to converse more with her, using his brother as a topic. "So, how do you know my brother?"

    Leah instantly replied, "We were classmates from grade-3. Coincidentally, we graduated almost at the same time due to our respective family situations."

    "Eh? You were classmates?"

    It was then he finally realized that this heavenly beauty is only 17 years old and lost his interest. After all, there is a solid 13-year gap between them, and in his eyes, she isn''t even a full-fledged adult. So, it is morally wrong to flirt with her.

    "I see¡­" With a crestfallen look on his face, he was forced to end the conversation right away, "well, I pray for your luck and hope to meet you again at my brother''s coronation ceremony."

    "Thank you. I wish the same to you." Leah maintained her smile, not showing even an ounce of her true thoughts on her face.

    Soon, the last pair arrived in their waiting room and introduced themselves.

 Chapter 354 Battle Royale

    "Hello, we''re Sentinals," a pair of twin brothers introduced themselves loudly as soon as they entered the waiting room. Even though they were only at peak-rank-5, the young twins looked energetic and they comfortably took the seats.

    As if they came on some picnic, both of them took out chips packages from their storage card and even offered them to the others, taking everyone by surprise. However, as the tournament is about to start, everyone is wary of their behavior, thinking that it can contain things like poison.

    Maybe, they were just optimistic. Neither of them didn''t mind anything as their hospitality was refused and just started eating by themselves.

    The crunchy sounds slightly disturbed the other participants in the room who were trying to calm their minds.

    Meanwhile, Azzy and Leah joined their palms, practicing one of the abilities that came along with the Soul Amalgamation technique, which was given to them by the spirit of Demigod Amerys, a while ago.

    With their souls linked to each other, not only they can converse with each other but even their respective Arcana can also chat with each other as long as Azzy and Leah''s palms were connected.

    Unlike last time, when they used the hollow tunnel that linked their mindscapes and lose their consciousness in the real world, here, they don''t even need to close their eyes and just talk through telepathy.

    "So, Lord Tezca¡­ I mean, does Lord Chronos think the same?" asked Leah.

    "Yeah, it appears so. But, I''m not sure about killing them just because they are from the demon race." Azzy replied to her, expressing his discontent with the plan proposed by the Reaper. Not surprisingly, Excalibur also advised Leah the same.

    He further said, "Beasts are different because they don''t have the ability to think or have any strong willpower to resist their urge to kill and eat the humans. They just view humans as enemies and will not coexist with us either.

    However, the demon race is different. They are an intelligent race just like humans. Sure, their ancestors once invaded the humans and caused havoc on the continent before getting exterminated. However, that was them. And these two might not have committed any sins to face the death."

    As the Reaper thought about how Azzy still thinks about ideals even after encountering the werewolves'' incident, Leah made him realize something with her argument, "how are you sure that they are innocent? It is okay to think that not all scorpions would be venomous but it is foolishness to stand its path and think that it won''t sting you. Whether it''s you or a six-month baby, the scorpion won''t show any bias. It''s in its nature to sting the person that is bigger than its size, i.e. threatening its life.

    The demons might not have done any bad but we shouldn''t also forget that it''s in their nature to cause destruction. It is something we shouldn''t forget. And once we spot their madness and their intent to kill, neither you nor I should hesitate to take their lives."

    Azzy contemplated her words and for some reason, he felt like she was right. Perhaps, it is because he no longer thinks killing is a sin like before. He thought it is okay to kill if they weren''t innocent as they seemed on the surface.

    In the end, he agreed with her, making the Reaper sigh as he watched them. "It would have been nice if these two become a couple but Azzy was unfortunately fated with Claire. And there was the curse of Eros too. Changing his fate would require a lot of groundwork."

    A little more than half an hour passed away. As the clock hit 7, a young man in a suit entered the waiting room and greeted everyone with a bow before he gave them a piece of shocking information regarding the ever-changing tournament format of the senior division that is conducted every 5 years.

    This time, there are a total of 3263 duo teams are participating in the tournament. They were divided into four batches based on the time they registered.

    Azzy and Leah were in the first batch of 816 teams. And those teams were further allotted to each Arena. Overall, 272 teams were currently waiting in their respective waiting rooms with 4 teams in each room.

    And according to the new format, the ones in the same room will participate in a battle royale. The winner will proceed to the next round and from there on, it will be knock-out rounds.

    The respective winners of these 272 teams will once again fight in one vs one. Whenever there are an odd number of participants, they will draw a lot and 1 duo team will proceed to the next round without any battles. So, luck also plays a huge role here.

    Eventually, from each Arena, a winner will emerge. That means from three Arenas, there will be three winners.

    The fourth and final participant will be selected based on the three-way battle royale between the runner-ups of each arena.

    Once four winners were done, the preliminaries of the second batch of 816 will start.

    After the second batch, it''s the third, and then, it''s the fourth. During this time, the winners of earlier batches can get to rest or prepare for the upcoming battles.

    In the end, four batches will give rise to 16 winners.

    Like with the duo category, once the top 16 emerged from both solo and group, one after another, top-16 and top-8 battles will be conducted in the Grand Arena on one day.

    After a two-day break, the semi-finals and finals will be conducted, ending the senior division world league.

    Coming to the present, the announcement of the Battle Royale style during the very first round surprised almost every duo team in the three Arenas. After all, everyone was prepared to battle another team, not three teams. Only a few teams that have insiders in the core committee know about this.

    But, why the surprise? It''s not like this is the first time WAMO had put such a type of battle before everyone.

    Even during the past few preliminaries, there were battle royale style rounds but the problem here is that it''s almost been half a century since they last used this style right at the starting round.

    What''s scary about battle royale style round is that not only people would gang up on one duo to kick them out of the tournament, but there''s also a high risk of betraying temporary allies at any moment. Not to mention, the risk of death also rises significantly.

    Before leaving, the staff member didn''t forget to remind everyone that they are prohibited to leave from the waiting room until they were called to the Arena. Only after they finished the match, they are allowed to leave.

    As they can''t leave yet, Leah contacted the General who was leading her knights and ordered him to take notes of the winners and their abilities.

    In the meantime, silence filled the room. No one is in the mood to have a friendly conversation with others. However, they need to ally with someone for sure in order to survive. But who is the best choice? That is something that they have to think about.

    If one goes by soul power, Azzy and Leah have an advantage over everyone but they were young and inexperienced, at least in everyone''s eyes. As for the energetic twins, they appeared to be too weak.

    So, the two middle-aged men approached Edwin Light and Therald. The two young men were actually in a dilemma on whether they should approach Leah or not.

    But then, as these two veterans made their first move while doesn''t look like she was interested in teaming up with anyone, he got up on his feet and asked others to follow him to a corner so that they can discuss their strategy.

    It was obvious for the other two teams but they only focused on talking with their respective partners. The peak-rank-5 experts of Sentinals were discussing nonsensical things that have no relation to the tournament. Meanwhile, Azzy and Leah were communicating through telepathy to discuss the new developments.

    Roughly 15 minutes after the staff members left the waiting rooms, four duos entered the field where the audience and the proctor were waiting for them. Because there are too many Arenas and the preliminaries will go on for a while, the audience barely reached 500 in number when it started.

    As a heavenly academy located in the Arcana world, there were no TV screens or electronic equipment. Neither could anyone record it with camcorders. So, the people in the waiting room could only wait for their anxiously while increasing their senses to the maximum.

    Two more hours passed away and the number of deaths in the tournament reached 18 already.

    With Leah''s General providing her information, which was then passed to Azzy, the latter was also learning about the developments and gets displeased every time death occurred. He couldn''t understand why these people don''t think that life is something that is very easy to throw away.

    But then again, he knew that he too signed up for death when he registered for the tournament. So, he could only put away all those distractive thoughts and focus on his upcoming battle.

    At around 9:20 in the morning, the same staff member entered the waiting room no. 15 and informed everyone, "It''s your turn."

    Everyone got up on their feet.

    "Let''s go, Azrael." Leah was the first to walk towards the exit. Azzy followed her. Neither of them looked even behind until they step inside the field.

    Just like with the junior division, there was a platform and a barrier here too, except that there''s quite an amount of blood spilled all over the platform. It wasn''t cleaned at all.

 Chapter 355 World League: Senior Division Preliminaries (Part-2)

    The four duos stepped onto the platform from four directions, and the proctor, who is in the legendary realm (mid-rank-8), informed the four teams just like he did in the previous matches, "Now, all of you know the rules. No activated skill cards, no re-entry once you leave the barrier, and no attack on the participants who admitted defeat. All of you have one minute to prepare yourselves but remember one thing. No one should make a move until the whistle is blown."

    Not even Azzy has the confidence in challenging the strength and authority of this Proctor, who can be considered his superior, considering this guy is a member of Squad Zero.

    Everyone just silently summoned their Arcana.

    Edwin Light summoned a giant red beetle while Therald summoned a spear. On the other hand, the two middle-aged fellows summoned a machete and a club respectively. With those weapons and their haggard appearances, they looked like barbarians at first glance.

    Meanwhile, the twins just took out a pair of sabers from their respective storage cards. It had surprised the audience and even their opponents as these two are considered the weakest and yet, they aren''t even trying to go all out. Are they confident or were too conceited? Only the result of the battle will tell.

    Now, everyone''s attention was on Azzy and Leah who were just standing straight with both of their palms connected.

    Almost for 50-55 seconds, neither of them made any moves. Just when everyone thought that the two teenagers were looking down on their opponents too much, their respective soul cards were summoned.

    Azzy summoned a black lotus while Leah summoned the Excalibur.

    Everyone immediately sensed the intensity both of them giving out. As the existence of celestial grades is something only known to hidden clans, ancient royal families, and organizations, except for the proctor, everyone else put them into the category of platinum grade with Excalibur regarded as a mutated one, i.e. a top tier.

    However, even that was scary enough for the opponents to put their attention on them with their Arcana getting restless. The new development even forced the young couple to become serious for a moment.

    The other two teams that teamed up decided to take out this threatening teenage couple first before kicking out the weaklings.

    *Whistle*

    As soon as the whistle was blown, two of the three teams rushed toward Azzy and Leah.

    Leah made her move by raising the sword, "Kneel before the King."

    The Excalibur glowed brightly and the Arcana in the form of weapons started to shiver. They left their owners and fell on the floor, paying their respects to the absolute lord of soul weapons that are gold grade and below.

    Even the normal sabers that don''t have any spirit tried to leave their respective owner''s hands but failed to do so, for some reason. The smiles on the happy-go twins were long gone and they were struggling to keep their sabers under control.

    As Edwin Light was a summoner, the celestial grade sword didn''t affect his Arcana.

    Looking at the scene where the middle-aged men along with his partner Therald were trying to pick up their Arcana from the floor, Edwin commented, "I heard the rumors about the legendary Excalibur, which can rule over every gold grade weapon type Arcana spirit and below. It looks like it is true."

    He then looked at his partner, "Therald, your Arcana will be of no use from now onwards. Take out the skill cards."

    He wanted to say the same to his temporary allies but Azzy didn''t give him such an opportunity. He summoned a Protos Spear but he didn''t throw it at the enemies. Instead, he grabbed it and dashed towards Edwin Light at his peak speed.

    Within just a few seconds, he covered the distance and reached his target, the giant beetle.

    "Kenurel, dodge," Edwin shouted.

    As the giant beetle attempted to dodge by flying, Azzy pushed his leg against the ground and jumped high, and pierced its thorax with the Protos Spear.

    The giant needle-looking thing disappeared after leaving a hole in its body while the energy invaded its core.

    *Trrrrrrrr*

    For a couple of moments, the giant beetle screamed while flapping its wings, and eventually, it collapsed on the floor and died. Its body disappeared and its spirit returned to Edwin''s mindscape.

    Even if the Light family is no longer the same as before, Edwin was still a member of the royal family and he had access to resources that ordinary man cannot hope to earn in a lifetime.

    Naturally, he had expensive resurrection cards in his possession and wasn''t afraid of using them to revive the fallen Arcana.

    But the only problem is that his opponent might not give him that time. So, he can only do what he can.

    "Therald, cover me¡­" He roared.

    Although his partner was shocked by Azzy''s speed and power, he was a little bit calm because of his experience in battles. He ignored his Arcana and took out a skill card, pouring his soul energy into it, almost at the same time as the beast died.

    The skill card released an enormous amount of fog, shutting off the visibility of Azzy within a fraction of a second.

    "Hmm, what is this?" Azzy activated his Aura sensing.

    While the fog had spread to over 20 meters in radius, perfectly enough for them to not only retreat but also plan their next move, neither Edwin nor Therald could also spot each other. But for now, all they need is to move as much as away from their current spot.

    However, the fog couldn''t stop Azzy''s Aura sensing. As long as they don''t suppress their soul energy, it was easy for Azzy to spot them.

    And just as he thought, Azzy spotted the auras, one at his 2 o''clock and the other at his 11 o''clock.

    "Okay, this can work to my advantage." Instead of repelling the fog away with energy eruption, Azzy just stared at the 2 o''clock direction where there was an Aura of a human as well as the Arcana spirit that was revived.

    The proctor also heightened his senses to the maximum to confirm whether everyone is following the rules. After all, someone could take fog as the cover and use activated skill cards. So, the legendary realm proctor is careful.

    Meanwhile, the black lotus found its way toward its master. Azzy passed an order as soon as it caught up with him.

    "Ruby, use Whirlwind towards your 10 o''clock, 13 meters away."

    The black lotus unleashed its first soul skill.

    The black lotus tilted its body to 90 degrees before it started to rotate vertically, generating powerful wind in cylindrical form.

    Ruby doesn''t know where its target is but it just blindly trusted Azzy''s judgment and unleashed the wind in the direction he ordered.

    The thick fog around them swirled around the whirlwind as it traveled towards Therald at a speed of 190 km/hr. It only took a fraction of a second for the whirlwind to hit its target.

    "Argh¡­"

    Therald spits out a mouthful of blood as the wind hit head-on, blasting him away. His ribcage was fractured, his lungs were damaged, and his stomach was pulverized.

    With just one hit, he passed through the barrier and crashed onto the ground. Soon enough, he lost consciousness and the healers, who were on standby, rushed toward him and healed his body.

    "Therald¡­" Edwin was taken aback by the unexpected move from his opponent.

 Chapter 356 World League: Senior Division Preliminaries (Part-3)

    As soon as Therald was ousted from the battle, Edwin took a leap onto the beetle and ordered it to fly higher.

    He decided to join the other two who were currently being overpowered by Leah and help them in defeating her.

    He wasn''t underestimating Azzy at all. It was just that he was at his wit''s end and doesn''t have the confidence to deal with Azzy and his platinum grade Arcana, all by himself.

    Fortunately, he was even able to escape the fog and flew toward his allies. However, Azzy didn''t chase him. He stayed inside the fog.

    Azzy doesn''t want to deal with Edwin directly, fearing that he might kill him due to his hatred for Edwin''s father, the late king of Northern Qudour. It is also the reason why he went after the beast, instead of its owner.

    He thought that Edwin would admit defeat once his soul beast and his partner would be out of the battle.

    But, he didn''t expect that Edwin would revive his beast and even tries to run away towards the other team. He took out a message card and sent his plan to Leah.

    After he was done, he comfortably sat down and closed his eyes. Natural energy in the surroundings rushed toward him and absorbed into his body.

    Once he collected enough natural energy, he unleashed a grand technique, the Gigantification.

    Gigantification works in a similar way to the Embodiment of the Heavens, except that this skill would increase his size from two times to even hundred times. At the current stage, Azzy can manage 10 times at best.

    Of course, this skill wouldn''t give him any additional strength. So, usually, it is quite useless other than for a showoff but here, at this moment, he felt like it not only helps him to kick the opponents out of the barrier but also serves as a distraction.

    As the fog covered only 15 meters in height, Azzy''s head was visible to everyone. It drew the attention of the spectators as well as his opponents. Even Leah halted her strikes against the weaponless opponents and glanced at her partner''s transformation.

    Upon remembering the contents of the message she just received a few moments ago, she backed away from them.

    Meanwhile, Edwin, who was on his way to help his allies, turned his head and found Azzy. "What the hell¡­" His eyes widened.

    In his giant form, as Azzy got out of the fog barrier and went towards the middle-aged fellows, Edwin didn''t hesitate to make his move.

    <strong>"Kerunel, use soul skill: Fire beam."</strong>

    The fire beetle opened its mouth and shot a concentrated beam of flames. Its aim is clear.

    Azzy raised his hand and shot a death energy sphere at the incoming fire beam. 2 million of his soul power was consumed right away.

    The fire beam and the energy sphere collided with each other. Everyone braced to see an explosion but the fire beam was completely suppressed by a normal energy sphere and the latter advanced towards the source of the fire beam, the beetle with its power reducing every time some of its energy was chipped away by the fire beam.

    Edwin jumped away from the top of his soul beast to save himself. The fire beetle tried its best until the very end. It managed to reduce the incoming attack by almost half but in return, its safety was compromised.

    But then again, it was sure that this power will not kill it like the previous time. The fire beetle was prepared to get injured.

    Azzy glanced at Edwin who was trying to get away and then at the two barbarians who intended to try and retrieve their soul weapons that are still on the ground. "Unfortunately, you don''t get such an opportunity." "Burst." He clenched his fist.

    *Boom*

    The energy sphere, which was about to hit the fire beetle, got suddenly exploded.

    Despite having the same amount of power, the size of the energy sphere was ten times larger than a normal one, owing to Azzy''s Gigantification.

    Because Azzy can control the death energy, he was able to use the soul energy eruption technique from far away and let it explode like some sort of bomb. And now, its giant size also increased the range of the eruption.

    As a result, all three of his opponents including their Arcana were blasted away by the energy eruption while Leah barely escaped the range.

    Seeing the three of them fly in the air, Azzy shouted, "now."

    Leah put down the Excalibur and took out a skill card.

    <strong>"Skill card: Tetralimbs, activate."</strong>

    Upon activating the skill card, purple-colored arms erupted from her back. She charged forward at her peak speed while they were still in the air.

    After reaching the place where the impact had taken place earlier, she controlled the energy arms and stretched them towards the three of them as they were about to crash to the floor.

    The arms caught them by surprise. And before they use energy eruption to destroy the respective arm that captured them, Leah swung the energy arms, throwing them out of the barrier.

    "Ugh¡­" Edwin groaned in pain as he slowly got up to his feet. His injured fire beetle also got up and looked around. It found its master was out of the barrier and is only slightly injured.

    As their eyes met, Edwin gave a suicide order through telepathic connection. The fire beetle abruptly turned towards Leah, instead of Azzy because he wasn''t confident.

    The fire beetle flapped its wings and charged toward Leah. Edwin saw that but he didn''t stop the beast. As he was already out of the tournament, nothing else mattered to him, now.

    Leah stood there calmly with the two pairs of extra arms wobbling behind her. Azzy motioned his arm to punch at the space before him, creating a fist of energy.

    But, before he got an opportunity, the proctor landed in the way and raised his hand. Streaks of energy beams escaped from his fingertips and pierced the fire beetle in five different places, instantly killing it.

    For a moment, everyone stared at the Proctor in awe. He glanced at the remaining contestants, "don''t mind this. It''s my job to clean up the miscreants. You can resume your battle."

    The middle-aged Arcana Masters immediately dismissed their soul weapons that are currently groveling inside the barrier.

    The Proctor disappeared from there and reappeared outside of the barrier. Through his extraordinary vision, Azzy found that it wasn''t teleportation but pure speed. It was blurry even for him but it doesn''t matter to think about it deeply, at the moment.

    Leah and Azzy then stared at the remaining two contestants, who gave the impression of being the weakest with their peak-rank-5 soul power. Everyone thought that the match is as good as over but this pair of teenagers made a surprising move.

    Azzy returned to his normal size and regrouped with Leah. As the duo of the team named Sentinals slowly started to walk towards their final opponents with the sabers, Azzy and Leah joined their palms once again.

    Both of them shouted together. <strong>"Soul Amalgamation: Merge"</strong>

    The aqua girl and the black lotus moved toward each other quickly. A blinding flash of light halted the opponents'' steps for a moment before revealing the aqua girl except that the water turned pitch in color and a crystal made tiara appeared on top of her head.

 Chapter 357 World League: Senior Division Preliminaries (Part-4)

    Maybe, their souls are really compatible with each other that it barely took a few hours of practice for them to master the advanced fusion skill, which usually takes a pair of ordinary geniuses about a year to do the same.

    However, neither Azzy nor Leah knew of the result of the transformation. So, along with the audience, it was also the first time the both of them saw this appearance of the fusion Arcana.

    While it appeared like a high-rank-6 platinum grade Arcana, its true strength is somewhere between mid-rank-7 to high-rank-7 platinum grade Arcana spirit. Not to mention, it can use the soul power of both Azzy and Leah.

    The only problem is the control. As the merged Arcana spirit will obey both of their orders, if their opinions clash even on a little strategy, it will be difficult for it to follow the orders.

    So, that is why Azzy had already come to an agreement with Leah.

    He gave up on controlling Izaru (''Iza'' from Izarok and ''Ru'' from Ruby) and stepped back for this last bout.

    The spectators don''t know how they merged without the use of any skill card but every Arcana Master would be able to realize that the merged beast is always stronger than either of the individuals.

    So, rather than the appearance of Izaru, they were largely surprised by the actions of Azzy and Leah. After all, it isn''t necessary to go out all against these rank-5 Arcana Masters unless Azzy and Leah have some feud with them.

    One of the twins named Braxton spoke as they stand just a few meters apart from Leah, "It looks like you are taking us quite seriously, Princess."

    The other twin named Taylor then added, "It is indeed an honor. We won''t feel any regrets even if we lose against children of heaven like you two."

    However, in the next moment, everyone''s confusion disappeared when Leah responded to their statement with a serious expression, "Drop your act. You can fool others but not us. Now, stop hiding your true strength before you get the chance to."

    At first, both of their facial expression stiffened, wondering whether their identities were exposed but Leah''s latter sentence made them believe that their opponents probably were talking about their soul power.

    The Decarune seal might allow one to hide their soul power from even a Supreme Realm expert but the celestial grade Arcana spirits were different.

    Both of them instantly unsealed their soul power, revealing their low-rank-7, and high-rank-7 respective soul realms, shocking the audience.

    Staring at them, the Proctor mumbled, "no wonder they are confident and didn''t summon their Arcana." He then glanced at Azzy and Leah, "It''s a pity that their journey is going to end too quickly."

    Meanwhile, Azzy and Leah took a glance at each other. "We will not change the plan." She said. He nodded and raised his arm. Four Protos Spears were conjured above his head, consuming almost all of his remaining soul energy. However, he didn''t bother to use a recovery card to refill his soul energy.

    On the other hand, the twin brothers of team Sentinels were no longer smiling and had serious looks while tightly gripping their sabers.

    Leah made the first move. "Izaru, let''s go." She and the fusion Arcana spirit dashed towards the high-rank-7 opponent, leaving the weak one to Azzy.

    It looks like the opponents were also on the same page. They decided to separate Azzy and Leah so that they don''t get to cooperate. The appearance of the merged Arcana forced them to follow this strategy.

    Azzy grabbed one of the Protos Spears and clashed with his opponent''s sword. Taylor protected his saber by covering it with his soul energy. Looking at the dark red-colored energy that is resisting the Protos energy quite well, Azzy thought, "So, this is the demonic energy, huh. It is quite stronger than I expected."

    The Protos spear and the saber clashed quite a few times. Every time they collided, the demonic energy around the saber would be disappeared while the size of the Protos energy would be reduced along with its power.

    As Taylor has three times the soul power of Azzy, he wasn''t worried about getting burned out and continued to pour the energy into the saber. Meanwhile, Azzy also found that his opponent was able to keep up with his speed quite well.

    Azzy took the second Protos spear into his hands and resumed his battle. In the meantime, he started absorbing the natural energy from the surroundings and storing it around his soul orb.

    Taylor sensed it too and he thought Azzy would become a giant just like earlier. He unleashed his skill right away.

    Azzy saw his opponent''s brown pupils turn into red slits as the demonic energy covered his body.

    All of a sudden, Azzy stopped moving as his consciousness was pulled into a powerful illusion.

    A smile escaped from Taylor as he raised his saber and aimed at Azzy''s chest area. He intended to stab his heart and kill Azzy quickly before helping his brother who appeared to be in disadvantage under the relentless attacks of Leah and Izaru.

    Azzy found himself standing on top of a tall and thin rock, surrounded by a sea of lava on the bottom. Screams echoed in his ears and the source of those sounds appeared to be coming from the lava.

    For a moment, his heartbeat raised a lot, and the beads of sweat were seen on his forehead. His body was shivering on its own despite the fact that the temperature in the surroundings is hot. "Is this fear?" He looked at his shivering hands.

    "Calm down, Azrael." The familiar voice of the Reaper was heard in his mind. The Reaper then blocked his senses to not develop fear and said, "This is a region of the hell called the Tartarus Sea. Below this contained the prison of Tartarus where the demonic spirits were imprisoned as a punishment so that they won''t get a chance to reincarnate.

    And this clearly tells that atleast, he isn''t a surviving member of demon race or a descendant of demon but a demonic spirit from hell who took over the body of a human."

    Azzy was taken aback by the new piece of information. "Are you serious?"

    "And in the outside world, he is now planning to kill you. If you don''t make up your mind, then, you will die and everything you have done will become useless. I''m going to send you back. The rest is your decision." The Reaper knew that Azzy won''t die, or rather, the Protos energy will not let him die. It will shield him if he goes to the brink of death.

    But, he wanted to motivate Azzy to kill. The more he kills the evildoers, the stronger he will become. Not to mention, there''s a secret about the Night clan''s assassin that the Reaper was still hiding. To reveal the truth, the Reaper must confirm that Azzy had clarity regarding the death punishments. And that only happens when he kills without feeling any hatred towards the sinner.

    Fortunately, Azzy wasn''t the same person he was before he killed the werewolf. His view regarding death has already changed. That is why, as soon as he heard that the human was actually possessed by the demon, he already made his decision in his heart.

    Chronos sent his consciousness back to reality and Azzy found the saber almost piercing the place where his heart is located. He twisted his body in reflex and the saber pierced his shoulder.

    "Damn it, this brat is already back? How did he escape the illusion of hell so quickly? Even a person with a strong soul, it will take a while to resist that environment." Taylor felt frustrated and he pulled back the sword. Azzy''s blood could be seen on a part of the blade.

    Meanwhile, the demonic energy invaded Azzy''s body. Of course, it was eliminated right away.

    Now that Azzy saw the intention of his opponent with his own eyes, his determination only grew stronger.

    <strong>"Soul skill: Soul absorption."</strong>

    As soon as Azzy unleashed his most powerful soul skill, all the soul energy from his opponent escaped from his body and entered Azzy, shocking the spectators.

    All of a sudden, Taylor became so weak that his legs couldn''t even support his body and he fell to his knees for a moment while his saber fell on the floor.

    "Goodbye, demon."

    Giving a cold gaze to the fallen opponent, Azzy didn''t waste any time in launching the remaining two Protos at his opponent. One pierced the skull and the other pierced the throat.

    *Thud*

    The body fell to the ground lifelessly. There was a look of shock on the face of the dead body. The spectators including the Proctor turned speechless to see that it was over too quickly.

    "Drazzan¡­"

    Braxton screamed as he spotted him, addressing him with a different name.

    "Good," Leah nodded with a smile before turning towards her opponent, "now, it''s your turn."

 Chapter 358 World League: Senior Division Preliminaries (Part-5)

    "Drazzan!"

    The death of the brother shocked Braxton. He never expected that his twin would die in the battle.

    He immediately used energy eruption to push away Leah and Izaru before rushing madly towards the dead body of the other twin.

    Leah planned to obstruct him but Azzy surprisingly took a leap to the back and moved away from the body and gestured for her to stop. Azzy began to refine the absorbed energy and recovered his soul power by about 2.5 million.

    As the both of them including Izaru gathered at a spot, Braxton wailed as he grabbed his brother''s corpse. For a moment, Azzy and Leah became the bad guys as the audience felt pity for the Exalt realm expert.

    Normal human beings were usually good in nature. Even after knowing the rules very well, the spectators couldn''t help but blame Azzy in their hearts for being ruthless with his opponent.

    On the other hand, Proctor was truly indifferent to the deaths of contestants and was rather happy that he had found a gem. In his opinion, if Azzy can kill a rank-7 expert with such ease and that too, at such a young age, it indicates his potential to become a pillar of the humans. Such people can never lose their lives.

    He decided to inform the President of WAMO before taking on the decision on whether he should closely watch both of them keep them alive.

    Back to the battle, an enraged Braxton stored the body in his storage card and got up on his feet. A thick layer of demonic energy covered him while his body went under transformation.

    His eyes turned into red slits just like his brother except that they were horizontal. However, he wasn''t done there. He grew bat-like wings and goat-like horns protruded from his forehead. Meanwhile, his soul power grew to peak-rank-7.

    Braxton put away the saber and stretched his arms. Spheres of demonic energy were conjured at both of his palms in just a couple of seconds. Nevertheless, Azzy and Leah were long prepared for it.

    "Izaru, contain the damage." Leah passed the order to the aqua princess whose current form is a compressed water volume of 25000 km3 or 25 quadrillion liters.

    In an instant, her body transformed into a formless water body and expanded by ten times, swallowing up the two demonic energy spheres.

    However, Braxton was calm. He raised his arm and made a tight fist, "kaboom."

    Originally, the sphere should have exploded, destroying the core of Izaru, thereby killing it. But, to everyone''s surprise, including Leah, the explosion never occurred as the spheres never detonated.

    Why?

    The Protos energy inside Izaru clashed with the corrupted demonic energy and eliminated it. If it had been soul energy mixed in, maybe, the outcome would have been a bit different but the Protos Energy will never allow the positive cosmic forces like divine and demonic energies, which were born at the dawn of the universe to exist. They are considered hostile entities.

    As a result, the attack was nullified completely, giving a huge surprise to Leah who glanced at Azzy and then asked the Excalibur, "Old man, what is that black lotus? How did it boost Izarok''s ability to this state that even an attack from a peak-rank-7 is nothing? Is this the so-called death energy''s ability?"

    Excalibur refused to divulge the details for some reason, "lass, sometimes, it''s better to ignore the things rather than dwell on the matter. At present, Azrael is your ally and it is better if you put aside your curiosity about his powers and just enjoy the benefits."

    "Hmpf, so, secretive," Leah puffed her cheeks as she complained in a mumble.

    Meanwhile, the failure only enraged Braxton further.

    "Let''s see how long will you hold for." He sent another two spheres of demonic energy.

    "Izaru, contain."

    Once again, the spheres entered the water body of Izaru but neither could they get out nor could they explode. They were eaten up by Protos Energy. However, it didn''t escape unscathed either. Leah could see the shade of the thickest black-colored Izaru started to get lighter. She doesn''t know what it means but Azzy knows.

    He realized that the Protos energy is also getting consumed. Since Ruby is only a platinum grade Arcana, it will take a long time for it to recover its Protos energy.

    Azzy turned his head and quickly said to her, "Izaru might not handle too many attacks. Let''s go with big attacks."

    "Alright," She came to her senses and nodded.

    Leah then ordered, "<strong>Izaru, unleash the soul skill: Water dragon Prison."</strong>

    As soon as her words ended, the huge water body of Izaru transformed into a whiskered water dragon without any wings and flew towards its target at a high speed.

    Braxton launched an energy beam at the incoming dragon. The beam pierced through the dragon and made a hole in its head. But then, within a second, the hole was refilled by the water and the dragon looked like it wasn''t harmed at all.

    "Fool, water cannot be destroyed. It can only be vaporized." Leah mumbled as she proceeded to raise the Excalibur, <strong>"Soul skill: The raging torrent of Lightning."</strong>

    Almost all of her soul energy is consumed by the attack.

    As the sword in the stone started glowing, the clouds gathered up in the sky, blocking the sunlight. The clouds started to rumble very loudly. It was as if Zeus got angered. For a moment, the spectators looked up at the sky. People thought it is going to rain.

    Braxton, on the other hand, didn''t care. His attention was on the incoming dragon that is getting closer. Maybe, the anger clouded his judgment. He didn''t even bother to think for a second and launched a series of demonic energy beams from his palms, piercing the black water dragon.

    Azzy also took a glance at the dragon and then, at the clouds, "I wonder if the combo will be strong enough to take down the demon. Anyway, I need to prepare for my task."

    He resumed his absorption of the natural energy from the surroundings.

    Meanwhile, the water dragon reached Braxton. As it opened its mouth to swallow him up, he felt danger. He evaded the attack by flapping his wings. His eyes fell on Leah and Azzy as he continued to fly upwards. After he flew like 50 meters, it stopped following.

    Braxton fell at ease when he saw that. "I guess it can no longer go on¡­"

    Instead of attacking the dragon, he launched a demonic energy sphere at Leah and Azzy because they were the controllers and his enemies who killed his brother.

    "Azrael," She shouted, not being able to move from the current spot due to not wanting to interrupt the process of the soul skill.

    "I''m on it." He dashed forward and stood before Leah and launched energy palms at incoming attacks. These energy palms contained only the attribute energy of death and Protos energy, but even the natural energy was also added to match the power.

    He was so precise that his energy fists and the demonic energy spheres collided perfectly, creating a small set of explosions as a result.

    "You¡­" Braxton''s rage was at its peak as he was getting failed again and again. "I''ll destroy you¡­"

    In between the horns, all of his energy started to gather.

    "Once again, you proved that demons are too full of themselves, after all." Leah shook her head with a smile. She then glanced at the black water dragon.

    All of a sudden, the black water dragon stretched his neck at a rapid pace and coiled around Braxton when he had lowered his guard against it.

    "What the¡­" He didn''t expect the sudden ambush and dismissed his attack to get out of its grip. However, the black water dragon was faster. In just a fraction of a second, it enveloped him completely and imprisoned him. A huge water sphere was seen floating in the air. Because the color is black, the spectators couldn''t see the guy.

    Naturally, Braxton wouldn''t allow himself to be confined but the Protos energy inside will not let him leave. It invaded his body and tried its best to eliminate all the demonic energy. The black water sphere started to get lighter. It was now light gray in color.

    But, none of it matters to Leah who successfully achieved what she needed.

    "Now," She swung the sword.

    In an instant, a torrent of purple lightning descended from the sky without any warning and struck the water sphere, one after another. There were atleast six continuous strikes. Each strike is as powerful as a strike from a high-rank-7 expert. Even Azzy was shocked for a moment as he expected only one.

    Flashes of light were seen inside the sphere and screaming was heard for a while before the clouds dispersed from the sky and the sunlight fell on the place. The water sphere was filled with a pool of blood but Azzy and Leah clearly sensed the life inside it. So, the demon was still alive.

    It was indeed a surprise because even the legendary realm Proctor expected that Braxton would die. Leah forced herself to be calm and looked at Azzy, "are you ready?"

    Azzy nodded and dashed forward.

    Just as he covered half of the distance, Leah dismissed the prison. Izaru retained its form and landed on the ground while Braxton was slowly falling to the ground. However, this time, his disfigured body was no longer human. His body and face had turned into a fleshy figure, not because of the lightning strikes as others thought but it''s the demonic full transformation. Alas, it could only help him stay alive, although not for long.

    To ensure his death, Azzy launched the Divine Palm using all of his absorbed natural energy.

    Before Proctor even got the opportunity to intervene in the match, the divine palm landed on the unconscious Braxton, blasting him away.

 Chapter 359 Leahs Heart Fluttering Moment

    By the time the disfigured body of Braxton (real name unknown) fell on the ground, his life is already lost.

    And now, both of the lives of the demons were claimed by Azzy.

    This is what Azzy and Leah came to an agreement on beforehand. Back during their time in the waiting room, when they are discussing the strategy, Azzy insisted that he will have to be the one that finishes the demons.

    Leah knew that he is a necromancer and his necromancy ability will let him gain two skeleton bodies with rank-7 physical strength. So, she made a deal that she will control the Arcana born from the fusion of Vajra and Excalibur in the future, and in exchange, whenever, they intend to kill someone, Azzy will take care of the last attack.

    As a result, Izaru ended in Azzy''s control but just for this match, he gave it up for Leah because he knew that he was getting a better end of the deal. After all, she was only getting temporary control while he was receiving permanent benefits.

    "The winner is team Camelot." The Proctor announced at the top of his lungs, earning a loud cheer from a large section of the audience. The others just clapped while feeling bad for the twins who died. But then again, they weren''t the first ones who died. During the past couple of hours, a lot of deaths have occurred.

    As Leah and Azzy made their way to the exit, the Proctor placed the corpse in a separate storage card. In the space, there were 18 more of them who died in the tournament in this arena.

    With their battle is over, they didn''t leave for the waiting room but directly exited the Arena and went for a tour. Of course, both of them didn''t forget to expel the opponent''s blood spilled on their bodies using the cleansing skill card. It is only a 1-star card but is quite usable.

    As Leah is an alumnus of the academy, she acted as the tour guide. Azzy followed her.

    <strong>About an hour later;</strong>

    "That is the legendary tea house I mentioned before." Leah pointed at a normal-looking wooden house, which is located on the top of a hill. Both of them were standing in the outer garden where the visitors are allowed to roam around.

    Unfortunately, the inner garden and the tea house are currently restricted to everyone. So, Leah couldn''t take him up there. But then again, the place is pleasant enough to relax around.

    Both of them took a seat at a coffee shop and chat for a bit while having a beverage. Although Leah prefers tea, just for today, she went with Azzy''s taste and tried iced coffee.

    "So, what do you think of the academy?" She asked him and took a sip.

    "It''s nice. Whether it is the buildings or even a garden like this, everything has a history. More than an academy, it looked like some kind of tourist destination. Our academy cannot even be compared to it." Azzy praised the Heavenly academy as he was genuinely impressed by it. However, he didn''t rule out the bad things too. "If only the modern facilities were allowed here, it would have been nice. Unfortunately, any type of electronic equipment is banned in Arcana world."

    Leah let out a sigh in response, "well, we can''t do anything about it. The union of Xynnar is quite adamant on this."

    For a while, they talked about this and that. Both of their cups were empty and it is time for them to go to the Arena to watch the rest of the matches from the audience section.

    Just as they left the bench and were about to return, Azzy spotted something above her lips.

    "Um, Leah¡­ The cream¡­" He pointed at her.

    "Hmm?" She wiped it with her hand. There''s nothing.

    "Not here, it''s here¡­" Azzy pointed at her upper right part of the lips.

    As she failed to wipe it off again, contrary to her perfect girl image, Azzy just stretched his hand and wiped it off casually and continued to walk as if it is nothing. "Okay, let''s go."

    However, for Leah, it caused a little bit of disturbance in her heart. Usually, when seeing such a scene in a movie, she would feel cringed as a viewer and even term it as nonsense but upon experiencing it herself, it ended up as a heart-fluttering moment for her. Maybe, it''s because it is Azzy or maybe, it is because no one dared to do that act to her until now. The reason might be anything but she couldn''t help but stare at Azzy''s back for a few seconds. "Now that I think about it, his shoulders are quite broad."

    "What are you doing? Let''s go." Azzy turned around and said to her.

    Seeing Azzy behaving normally, Leah shook her head to throw away unnecessary thoughts and followed him.

    Time passed away. By the end of the evening, only about 42 matches were finished.

    Now, the 43rd match is going on. Judging by the time, it will be the last match for the day. So, the remaining 26 matches will be concluded on the next day. That means Azzy and Leah will get enough rest until the Afternoon before they go on to fight their next opponents.

    ***

    <strong>World of Gaia;  </strong>

    <strong>Central Academy, Silver city;</strong>

    Unlike the senior division battles, the junior division, specifically, the group category, the format is quite simple due to the fact that only 86 teams registered themselves.

    86 teams were divided into four Arenas with 20, 20, 20, and 26. The teams in the last batch fell to a disadvantage with more competitors. But then again, nothing can be done about it because they were the ones who registered late.

    For Twilight to get to top-8, all they have to get to the top 2 of the table. Because there are six other winners from different groups allotted to the same Arena, Twilight then had to win two battles in a row.

    The top two teams of each Arena will go to top-8, which will only be conducted once duo and solo category matches were over. They will get a lot of time to prepare. As for whether Azzy gets to participate with his friends, it depends on his own schedule and the opponents Twilight had to face. But with Estella on the team, he was more relaxed about their chances.

    Coming to the present, the last match of the day is going on at Arena-B. It was between Team Twilight and Team Dragon Riders. This is the 6th match for both of these top 2 rankers, although it is a second battle between them.

    In the first battle they fought during the morning, Dragon Riders barely managed to drag the battle until the 10-minute timer and draw the match.

    That''s why Claire made a decision that she didn''t like. She replaced Calder with Estella, boosting up their offense.

    Surprisingly, the Dragon Riders also replaced one of their main team members with a substitute who had yet to battle until now. Everyone only knows that this guy is a mid-rank-5 and possesses only one single attribute of darkness. So, no one put special attention to him and treated him like an extra.

    Both of the teams entered the barrier and the 1-minute timer for the preparation had started on the screen.

    Claire formulated the strategy, "Louis and Mia, both of you will team up; Gideon, you and me will be the vanguard. And Estella, take care of the enemies from the skies."

 Chapter 360 World League: Junior Division Preliminaries (Part-3)

    Louis and Mia took a glance at each other. The latter said, "We take the position on ''Okie'' (The Oak Tree Arcana)." Louis agreed with her.

    Gideon felt a bit of pressure this time as he no longer has any trump cards left to surprise the opponents. Meanwhile, Estella replied, "I''ll do you one better. The safety of Louis and Mia is my Levi''s responsibility. It doesn''t make any sense to hide it, anyway."

    As the countdown timer reached 30 seconds, both of them teams summoned their respective Arcana.

    On one side, everyone from Team Dragon Riders had dragons of different attributes.

    Surprisingly, this substitute guy had a dragon that is constantly changing its colors like disco lights. Everyone was confused as their eyes fell on it. "What dragon is that? Shouldn''t he summon a black dragon?"

    On the other hand, Estella furrowed her brows as she spoke out loud, "I have seen this in the books. This is an Elemental dragon."

    "Elemental dragon?" Everyone including Claire turned toward her.

    Estella explained, "According to the ancient records, the divine dragon chooses a descendant of the Dragon clan every 10,000 years and blesses him/her with the ability to change an attribute.

    The chosen warrior had the potential to change the attribute of his/her dragon with a simple thought. The elemental dragon has a set of seven soul skills per rank.

    Of course, if one of those soul skills has been unleashed, the rest of the six soul skills will also enter the cool-down timer.

    It looks like he has over 35 soul skills but he can only use 5 of them like every rank-5 out there, except that he has options to choose from. So, it is nothing to worry about. Not to mention, this poor guy had only awakened a gold grade Arcana. He isn''t a threat, well, atleast for platinum grade users like me."

    Once her explanation is over, Estella turned back her attention toward him and thought, "It''s strange that the Dragon clan is exposing such treasure to the public. Are they too desperate for attention? Putting that aside, which family he was born into? Judging by the dragon''s properties, he should belong to the unorthodox family, right?"

    Yup, that''s right. Team Dragon Riders are none other than the member of the Dragon Clan, which is facing a deep crisis along with the Sun Clan due to the stance of their respective leader on siding with the aliens and going into public. With their leaders gone, the fate of their clans will depend on the next hidden clans meeting.

    So, the Dragon clan had sent a few teams to junior and senior divisions of the World League to gain some recognition from WAMO and gain protection status in case the other hidden clans give them some unfair judgment.

    As for this team, Dragon Riders, they were the members of various branch families, forming a reserve team. The Dragon clan''s division was a bit little different from the Death Clan.

    More than the ancestors, the awakened bloodlines are what makes them a family.

    The whole clan was divided into ten families (or sub-clans) such as the Red Dragon, Blue Dragon, Green Dragon, Yellow Dragon, Brown Dragon, Metal Dragon, Black Dragon, White Dragon, Unorthodox, and Outcasts.

    The first seven families were close to each other and often cooperate in missions. There''s no such thing as a main family here. All the members of these seven families are eligible to become the clan head.

    While the white dragon family also stays in the same space as the other clans, the members will have to stay neutral and never interfere in the politics of the clan. For some unknown reason, every user who awakened the white dragon is a girl.

    As for the unorthodox family, it consisted of people who were considered to be impure blood by some and mixed-blood by others. While their status is low when compared to others but still, geniuses aren''t ignored by the elders. Those who have awakened gold grade or above dragons will still be given respect.

    The metal dragon users are also in a way, unorthodox, considering their bloodline is a mixture of various attributes but due to their extraordinary strength, tens of thousands of years ago, they were sorted into the separate family by the council of elders.

    As for the outcasts, these people might belong to the dragon clan but awaken other Arcana due to their ancestors. Not every dragon user will marry another. Some will fall in love with others and their descendants might even awaken a dragon. As a result, they will be treated as outcasts.

    The children with potential will be sent far away from the clan to grow up in a normal world like the rest of the Arcana Masters. Sometimes, these people will work as spies for the hidden clan.

    Apart from these, there are a tiny amount of geniuses within the Dragon clan who had awakened twice. They can choose to join either of the families on their 13th birthday.

    Thankfully, there''s no such thing as family compounds and everyone just lives together harmoniously, well, except for those elders who always politicize even the normal issues.

    ***

    Back to the match, the countdown timer is nearing zero. Everyone from team Twilight is calm while everyone from team Dragon Riders appeared to be dead serious as if their life depends on the outcome of this match.

    As soon as it gets to zero, Claire looked at Gideon, "let''s go."

    He nodded and in an instant, the sparks of lightning started to dance all over his body without the accompaniment of soul energy. It is pure attribute power.

    On the side of team Dragon Riders, the leader named Kenneth Ravillon glanced to the right side, "Harvey, only you can handle that guy."

    Harvey Ravillon, the user of the wood dragon, gave a nod in agreement. "I got him."

    Even in the last match, his wood dragon managed to suppress Gideon due to its obvious attribute advantage.

    But, will Gideon make the same mistake as last time? Obviously, no.

    Claire charged toward the leader just like before. She charged forward with her sword and clashed with the Fire Drake.

    Drakes are a sub-dragon species with shorter arms and legs compared to pure dragons. Their scales weren''t tough as dragons and their appearance will be quite slimmer. As a result, they are more agile but could be injured easily.

    However, Kenneth, who experienced a terrible defeat in their previous clash, decided to avoid her. Continuing to mount on the Fire Drake, he passed an order, "fly."

    The Fire Drake flapped its wings and flew into the sky to face the giant eagle where Estella was mounted on.

    In his stead, the substitute named Ainsley Ravillon faced her. He ordered the rainbow dragon, "Lenny, stop her."

    The rainbow dragon let out a low growl and stomped onto the platform. In an instant, a mud wall was erected from the ground.

    Ainsley then looked at others who are beside him, "Gideon will probably come from the left. So, Harvey, you better get ready. As soon as the wall is destroyed, let''s bombard Claire with everything we have got."

    Even though he was a substitute, his teammates listened to his words and nodded in agreement.

 Chapter 361 World League: Junior Division Preliminaries (Part-4)

    The appearance of the mud wall had successfully blocked the vision of Claire and Gideon and they looked at each other.

    "It''s faster to go around¡­" Gideon made a quick suggestion and changed his direction to the left with a sharp cut to pass around the wall that is about 10 meters wide and 20 meters high.

    Claire, on the other hand, increased her speed.

    Instead of following the same path as Gideon, she raised her divine sword, poured soul energy into it, and slashed at the empty air, creating an arc of energy.

    The mud wall was cleaved into two with an opening in the middle. However, their movements were already predicted by Ainsley Ravillon.

    As Claire was about to pass through the opening, she realized that it is a trap.

    "Attack¡­" Ainsley shouted and the three dragons bombarded Claire with their respective soul skills.

    Ainsley''s rainbow dragon changed its attribute to dark and blasted flames tinted with a shade of black around the edges which is much stronger, powerful, and hotter than regular fire.

    Meanwhile, the water dragon had shot a concentrated beam of water and the copper dragon exhaled a stream of acid.

    Just as all of them were about to strike Claire, the latter closed her eyes and crouched on the ground. Her golden wings suddenly erupted from her back and covered her body, shielding her from the attacks.

    <strong>"Skill card: Holy ground, activate."</strong> While staying in the crouched position, she also managed to take out a 2-star card from her pocket and threw it on the floor.

    The wings couldn''t handle the combined power of the three incoming attacks and the feathers were burned away before revealing Claire. Just when Ainsley and others thought that their plan worked, the wings were resurrected by the divine power of the Holy Ground and shielded Claire.

    The wings were destroyed once again and resurrected. By the time it repeated this process four times in a row, the attack was ended.

    Claire got up on her feet and retracted her wings to look at the opponents that tried to gang up on her. Brandishing her sword like a whip, she spoke, "Your execution is good but it was lacking in power and coordination. There''s no synergy between your soul skills. Anyway, it''s our turn."

    She raised her left arm above her head and shot a concentrated beam of light towards the sky. It barely contained any power and wouldn''t have even killed a bird if it hits it by coincidence but for her teammates, the signal was enough to act.

    At the north edge of the platform where a large Oak Tree had rooted itself into the ground while being coiled by a gigantic serpent''s tail, Louis and Mia were standing on the top of a branch with bows in their hands. While Mia had a man-made bow, Louis had a bow Arcana.

    Both of them saw the signal.

    <strong>"Okie, unleash the soul skill: Forest of Spikes."</strong>

    The leaves rustled and the trunk shook for a moment, vastly spreading its roots all over the platform.

    Meanwhile, Louis took out a skill card and activated it, conjuring a special energy arrow, and shot towards the mud wall.  It cut through the air like a flash of lightning and struck its target.

    But, the wall wasn''t damaged at all. Instead, the arrow just passed through the wall while distorting the space around it and then, struck the floor nearby Claire and others.

    In the next second, something similar to an appearance of a black hole emerged below their feet. Before they get to escape by flying away, the enormous suction force dragged everyone into it. Even Claire wasn''t any exception. However, unlike the rest of those three, she had a way to break free.

    Claire unleashed her strongest soul skill, the Descent of Heavenly Guardian, which removed all the pressure on her. She flapped her wings and flew into the sky, letting her opponents be sucked by the black hole prison.

    "Use energy eruption to escape. Don''t worry about your teammates." Ainsley said to his other two teammates. From the start, they intend to do that to cancel this trap force but only hesitated because they might injure their teammates. Now that Ainsley had already said it, they used energy eruption.

    The black hole was destroyed but at the same time, the soul energies of the three of them clashed, resulting in an explosion, blasting away each other.

    Meanwhile, Gideon was engaged in a battle with Harvey, a wood dragon user. However, he wasn''t interested in defeating him. Gideon was on complete defense. He was evading the attacks of the wood dragon while separating Harvey from his teammates.

    *Boom*

    The explosion caught my attention of Harvey. As he turned away his attention for a moment, Gideon took advantage of it and stretched his palms. All of the electric sparks dancing on his body gathered at his palms.

    "Take this¡­" He shot concentrated beams of electric charge from his palms. It''s because of this unique finishing move, that Captain Kenneth of Dragon Riders had appointed Harvey to take care of Gideon.

    Because of its extreme speed, the wood dragon couldn''t stop it and tried to twist its body. "Eh?" Harvey was alerted.

    Unfortunately, a momentary distraction had cost him the match. The electric beams struck him in the back and electrocuted him.

    Fortunately, he didn''t lose his life but was severely injured with third-degree burns all over his body. Gideon, here, showed his humanity by further activating a healing card on his unconscious opponent as soon as the wood dragon disappeared. His action drew a lot of praise from the spectators who were watching his battle. Of course, some scoffed that his heart is weak.

    At the same moment, three of the opponents and their dragons crashed in different places on the field.

    Before they even got up, team Twilight made their next move.

    Mia, who had unleashed her soul skill even before Louis'' skill card attack, delayed the timing and acted as soon as they were injured by the attacks of their own teammates.

    "Ugh¡­" Ainsley groaned in pain as he slowly tried to get up on his feet. All of a sudden, a huge and sharp wooden spike pierces his stomach. Followed by that, a couple of more spikes pierced his body. "Argh¡­" He screamed. The wooden spikes disappeared and he fell to the ground.

    The rainbow dragon let out a roar.

    Just for a moment, all over the field from the mud wall was filled with wooden spikes erupting from the ground, some are large while some are small. The bodies of the dragons and the humans were pierced all over their bodies.

    The ambush lasted only for a second but everyone''s situation turned drastically. As the members of Team Dragon Riders were careful enough to protect their important organs with their soul energy and used the remaining energy for the eruption technique, the other parts of the body were damaged. One can clearly see holes in several parts of their bodies.

    Out of the three, only Ainsley was still conscious as his dragon changed its attribute to light and quickly unleashed a soul skill, healing all of his injuries in a second. Along with him, the rainbow dragon also healed itself.

    Ainsley then looked around to access the situation. Three of his teammates are down. In the sky, his captain was frozen like a statue and was being captured by the giant eagle. As for the firedrake, it wasn''t even there. When did it die?

    As Gideon dashed towards him and Claire landed on the ground, he shook his head. "This time, we were soundly defeated in a mere minute of time."

 Chapter 362 Leah Wants To Steal Azzy From Claire?

    With everyone else not in any condition to battle, Ainsley, who doesn''t want to display his secret techniques for foolish pride, made the decision of giving up the match and walked down from the platform along with his teammates. Their representative instructor, who is an elder of the dragon clan, carried the unconscious teenagers with an energy technique.

    The day ends with Team Twilight topping the group standings once again with 12 points. With only 2 matches left to go, their advancement into the knockouts was pretty much guaranteed and all of them had a comfortable sleep at the hotel.

    By the following noon, they have completed the remaining matches with wins.

    Upon learning that Team Twilight has 3 platinum grade users of which the strongest one didn''t even participate until now, some of the prominent teams that got allotted in the same arena started to get worried.

    The rest of the day was given a break for the participating teams and so, Claire decided to surprise her boyfriend. With Mia tagging along with her, both of them went to the portal point and teleported to the Arcana world''s central city.

    <strong>Heavenly Academy, Central City, World of Arcana;</strong>

    In the stands of Arena-6, Azzy and Leah were watching the remaining preliminary battle royale matches. The death toll reached 47. That number only belonged to this Arena. The overall number had already crossed 200. Every five years, hundreds of deaths will be seen in this tournament, and yet, neither the governments nor the organizations would even bother about stopping this.

    Maybe, this is why there won''t be exclusive coverage on any newspaper or news channels. Except for the tournament results, nothing is permitted to be published anywhere. WAMO takes strict measures to prevent it. Of course, truth always comes out somehow but the organization simply states that the participants are Arcana Masters who risk their lives every day in the wild zones to improve their strength. So, they knew what they are signing up for.

    Fortunately, WAMO makes sure there won''t be deaths in the junior division, considering they are minors. As a result, the organization doesn''t face much ire from the public. Regarding accidental deaths, nothing can be done about it.

    As the 48th and 49th deaths occurred simultaneously, ending the match, Leah commented as she got up from her seat, "It looks like we are going to face tougher competition than I expected."

    Azzy responded with a question, "How far are you aiming, Leah?"

    "The Grand Arena," answered Leah with a serious look on her face. Azzy abruptly turned his head in surprise as he didn''t expect her goal would be so high. Getting to the top 16 means they would have to defeat several Exalt realm experts on the way.

    While he had earlier killed rank-7 experts, they were possessed by demons and didn''t have any Arcana to support them. Not to mention, they have been holding back from the start to hide their identities. However, battling a genuine Arcana Master who will go all out for victory is going to be different.

    Once or twice can be possible, but it is very difficult to keep the winning streak without revealing the trump cards.

    He was hoping to keep his necromancy abilities hidden to not attract unnecessary hate, but it appears that he had to go all out, after all. As he intends to keep the promise made by the Reaper, Azzy said, "I''ll try my best to support you."

    "I have said it before but let me say it again." Leah looked straight into his eyes, "Whatever the result we might face, I and our Camelot will be behind you. I will also take the responsibility for the safety of your loved ones. So, you don''t need to worry about anything and give your best. I''m confident that we will pull this off."

    Azzy nodded in agreement.

    Soon, both of them left the Arena along with other spectators and started walking toward one of the cafeterias to have lunch. While Leah went with the healthy option of cucumber tomato avocado salad, which Azzy found weird because Arcana Masters can burn their calories even with soul energy if they have enough control over it.

    But then again, it''s her choice. Azzy forgot about it and ordered a BBQ Chicken Pizza, garlic bread, mozzarella bites, zucchini fries, and lastly a beverage.

    While waiting for the dishes, they started talking.

    "We have rest until tomorrow. Do you have any plans?" She asked.

    Azzy nodded as he leaned back, "I''m thinking of visiting the Silver City. My friends were done with the first round and were free for the rest of the day like us."

    "Ho, it looks like you are missing your girlfriend, eh. How sweet¡­" Leah tried to tease him but the lack of expression on his face while nodding in agreement made it no fun for her.

    Since the topic was unknowingly started by Leah, she decided to continue by asking him, "Azrael, you have been dating Claire for the past eight months. So, I guess you must have been completely familiar with her personality, her mood, likes, and dislikes, etc¡­

    Tell me something. What do you see in her? Why do you like her in the first place? I''m curious."

    Azzy fell into thoughts for a while. He questioned himself many times. To date, he couldn''t understand whether it was because his older self showed his future with Claire or whether it was because of his own feelings. He likes her for sure and she has a special place in his heart but he doesn''t know the exact reason why he fell for her in the first place.

    Seeing the dazed look on Azzy, the princess of Camelot was taken aback. Her question was quite simple. What is there to think so much? She couldn''t understand at first but then, she thought about whether this partner of hers is in a delusion that he likes the princess of Triastal. Leah knows that Claire loves Azzy but now, she started doubting Azzy''s feelings towards his girlfriend.

    If that''s the case, then, shouldn''t it be better if she just steals him from her? Then, Azzy would be her boyfriend. Then can just spar together, spend time together, go on dates¡­

    Ehhhh? Wait for a second¡­

    All of a sudden, Leah realized what she was thinking about the flow.

    Originally, Leah had thought of him as a potential candidate for a husband, not out of love or something but because of Camelot''s future. She pushed those thoughts away after she realized that he was already taken by Claire.

    Now, as those thoughts returned to her mind just because Azzy stayed silent, Leah felt deeply ashamed of her corruptive thinking. Since when she had fallen so low to even think about breaking up couples?

    Just as she was about to change the topic, Azzy opened his mouth after deep thinking, "When I arrived at Aclein city, I had no one, Leah. Suddenly, I got a family who loved me dearly and made me feel like I''m not alone. But, it was short-lived. Due to certain circumstances, Aunt Affea, Uncle Oakley, and Avia were forced to go into hiding and I was left alone again."

 Chapter 363 Leah Challenges Azzy

    "In those moments, Gideon and Claire never left my side no matter how I treated them. My family members might have returned to my life but these two didn''t leave my heart. Maybe, this is why I accepted Claire''s love when she proposed to me.

    To me, at first, she was a good friend, a beautiful girl, a clever person with a straightforward character. But, now, she''s a person that I cherish. Yes, sometimes, she does behave a bit obsessive and gets jealous a lot of times but she never does something that I will be upset about. You can see that it''s hard to tell what was I feeling when you see my face but she could accurately guess it.

    It''s not that she has only positives. Just like any other human, Claire also had negative qualities but despite all of that, she is a good person."

    For a moment, Leah was touched by Azzy''s sincerity. In her view, he wasn''t an emotional person like others. Her opinion was probably influenced by his actions and a blank face. Now, she felt like seeing a new side of him.

    But then again, she remembered something important. His side is clear but was that really love? She never fell in love or even had a crush on a male or a female in her life. So, she doesn''t know it for sure but she felt like Azzy was just trying to save his friendship with Claire rather than loving her.

    Moreover, what about Claire? Why does she like him? It''s not like Azzy did something for her. Perhaps, looks and strength?

    It''s possible considering Claire was a teenager and so was Azzy.

    Well, Leah wasn''t an adult yet but still, she was three years older than him and knew for sure that most female teenagers date guys with either powerful backgrounds or high soul power. It is a common thing all over the world.

    More than half of those couples will break up after they graduate from the academy and get into high studies. Some will study together and some will keep distant relationships.

    But, eventually, once they become adults and get into society, only 2-3% of them would still continue to be in a relationship.

    She knew that Azzy will get to meet a lot of people in the future and his personality will also be shaped by the society he is going to enter. She was neither against Claire nor does have any designs on him but as a friend, Leah wanted to help him. However, she cannot touch his nerve with her words.

    So, she carefully chose the words as she asked, "everything is good and all but I still have one doubt, Azrael. What about trust issues? Do you truly trust each other?"

    "Hmm?" Azzy was actually going down a memory lane as he explained his feelings, which he didn''t even tell Claire, but when he was asked about trust, he returned to reality and firmly defended their relationship, "of course."

    "This is purely hypothetical. Just imagine that you are separated from Claire for a couple of months due to some special mission assigned by WAMO. Then, the day of the reunion arrives. You wanted to surprise her. So, without giving prior notice, you will go to meet her at the school. Upon enquiring with the friends, you will hear that she is in the cafeteria.

    But, when you go there, you will see Claire was having lunch with a boy alone, for example, that student named Louis or that guy with the shield in your team. Both of them appeared to be laughing together in happiness. How would you feel then? Will you think of it as nothing because you trust your girlfriend or will you suspect that your girlfriend''s love had waned?"

    Leah''s motive behind such a question is quite simple. She wanted Azzy to understand his own feelings properly.

    Unfortunately for her, Azzy had already gone through a similar experience during the trial at the tomb of Demigod Amerys. In front of that scenario, her question was nothing.

    He calmly answered with a nod, "I might feel a little bit jealous but that''s it. Forget about 2 months, even if I disappear for 20 years, I''m confident that she''ll wait for me. In case Claire breaks my trust someday, I still won''t hate her."

    "This guy had already prepared his mind for a breakup even at the start of the relationship?" Leah couldn''t understand how Azzy was prepared for a worst-case scenario and still loves Claire at the same time. A sudden thought came to her mind.

    She let out a mysterious smile, "Okay, you are good. But, what about Claire? Does she trust you the same as you trust her?"

    Azzy also nodded this time without thinking much, "Of course, or else, why would she accept a beautiful girl like you as my partner? Fully knowing that I''ll spend my time a lot of time alone with another girl like this, she still gave her consent without being worried. Why? She trusts me that I will not have any thoughts about any girl other than her."

    "Oh, is that so?" Leah felt as if he was bragging about his devotion. She doesn''t know why she even continued the matter but before she thinks too much, the words escaped her mouth, "How about you go on a date with me? I want to see if there''s any truth in those words. Since we have a lot of time, we can go to an amusement park and spend there for a couple of hours. After that, you can leave for Silver city. How about it?"

    "Eh?" Azzy was taken aback by her proposition. He didn''t expect her of all the people would ask him for a date. Maybe, he was really loyal that his heartbeat didn''t even change for a bit when such a fairy-looking girl wanted to go on a date with him. Instead, he scolded her, "Don''t you think you are going too far, Princess Leah? Moreover, why should I prove it to you this way? Whatever the matter is, it is between me and Claire."

    Leah had probably expected Azzy to react like this or perhaps, she was only maintaining her expression on the outside. Whatever the case, Leah didn''t flinch a bit and countered him with a provocation, "Why? Are you afraid that your heart will flutter for me just because you had fun at an amusement park? If you are that confident in your love, why fear? And if you are worried about Claire''s feelings, you can just inform her beforehand and explain everything before taking her consent. I have no problem with it."

    Azzy could clearly imagine the scene where Claire will lecture him to death if he had done. Back when he was invited to Camelot, she was very much disappointed. The memory was fresh in his mind.

    However, if he doesn''t accept this, then, it is the same as admitting that he doesn''t trust his own feelings towards Claire. Not to mention, he wasn''t a person who would cower before a challenge.

    As a result, Azzy gave a nod, "alright but it is just a friendly date, I''m telling you."

    "That''s obvious. Why would I act all romantically towards you just for a challenge?" Leah replied in a casual tone.

 Chapter 364 Azzy Goes On A Date With Leah (Part-1)

    <strong>Play city, Tartalonia;</strong>

    Tartalonia is a tiny country located in the northern region of the supercontinent of Xynnar. It is landlocked by two large countries like Freyles and Zostyria, and a small-sized but wealthy kingdom of Creiland.

    Fortunately, its powerful neighbors are quite peaceful and have good relations with each other, so, Tartalonia is safe from military conflicts.

    The country doesn''t have any great landscape but tourism thrives due to its odd-shaped skyscrapers, various manmade structures, underwater restaurants, etc¡­

    And Play city is known for its theme parks, arcade centers, and toy stores. As a result, the city was always bustling 24/7.

    At the moment, Azzy was dragged to this city by Leah after he accepted her challenge. After getting out of the portal point, they rented a horse carriage as flying is banned in the city.

    Some people wouldn''t care about the rules, and if they have powerful backgrounds, the authorities would also turn a blind eye but why bother attracting unnecessary attention? Not to mention Leah wasn''t the type of princess who was arrogant about her wealth and status. So, she followed the rules.

    Because it is peak hours during noon, the traffic appeared to be quite high. With a temperature of around 12 degrees, it was quite cool as they selected a horse-drawn carriage that has no roof.

    But then again, everything within the city is a tourist attraction. No tourists are in a hurry and they were either chatting with their companions while taking photographs of the buildings while the horses were walking slowly. Of course, the city traffic police were trying their best to make sure the tourists don''t have any dissatisfactory experience due to busy traffic.

    Like others, Leah also used the time to chat with Azzy, although their conversation was completely through telepathy, intending to strengthen their Soul Amalgamation technique, further. As for the content, it was filled with strategies for the upcoming battles.

    Fifteen minutes passed but they have yet to reach their first destination.

    "But, a merger between a Celestial grade Arcana and a platinum grade Arcana won''t show the desired results, right?" Azzy complained upon hearing her strategy of merging his black lightning wolf and her aqua girl. He further said, "In such case, the personality of the new Arcana will not be perfect. It will tilt more towards Vajra. As a result, it won''t listen to your orders."

    "That''s true." Leah agreed with his statement but she has her own logic for the argument.

    The princess then asked, "what if we do the same with my Excalibur and the black lotus at the same time, and go with another merger between these merged Arcana to form an ultimate Arcana spirit with 24 soul skills?"

    Azzy felt into thoughts. He couldn''t help but imagine the scenario and later, ask the Reaper whether it is possible.

    As the Reaper gave a nod to the plan, Azzy replied, "I guess it will take a while to master two-stage merging. It won''t be easy as it sounds."

    Leah nodded, "Yeah, I agree but if we spend more time on training the skill, we can achieve it sooner than we expect. It''s best if we train whenever we have the time. Sleeping takes 8 hours of our time. I think that''s the best time to train."

    "Eh?" Azzy was stunned by her plan. He couldn''t help but blurt out instead of continuing with telepathy, "I have to sleep with you?"

    The horse carriage stopped for a moment and the driver glanced behind. The other tourists nearby appeared to hear his words and murmured among themselves.

    Leah blushed in embarrassment and she slapped his forehead, "Hey, choose your words wisely, will ya. People will misunderstand your words."

    When Azzy realized it, he too felt embarrassed and wondered why they didn''t just take the coach one.

    After calming himself, he connected his palm with hers and connected to her mind once again, "sorry but I was surprised. But, still, how can you suggest such a thing?"

    In response, Leah tried to tease him, "You speak as if you have experience in such things. Don''t tell me you went that far with Claire? You aren''t at an age where you should be doing such things, kid. Even an adult like me never dared to think about it. So, refrain yourself from now onwards. Or else, who knows Claire would suddenly become pregnant and you¡­"

    "No, we aren''t at that stage. Let''s stop talking about it¡­" Azzy hurriedly interrupted her.

    Maybe, it''s because she felt free with Azzy, or maybe, it''s because she was an adult. Leah had no problem talking about adult things but Azzy wasn''t comfortable. He was too embarrassed to even think of such a thing. After all, Azzy is still a 14-year-old, no matter how powerful he is.

    After putting a stop to this topic, he changed it to something else, like the politics of Camelot.

    Another 20 minutes later, they finally reached a water theme park, the largest one in the city. There were two counters, one on the left side of the gate and the other on the right.

    Leah went to the right side and showed some kind of blue pass, which was issued at the portal point. It was a prepaid play city card, which can be used all over the city. It appears that this wasn''t the first time she had visited this city, considering she had the play city card already.

    They got inside just like other civilians. As the users who mastered the Decarune seal, both of them sealed their soul orbs in order to enjoy the rides. After all, if they were strong like superhumans, they couldn''t enjoy the things that theme parks have to offer.

    As soon as he entered, the first thing his eyes fell on was the giant structure located in the middle of the water park. Its appearance resembled a demon with horns and bat-like wings but the most important thing here is that it is nearly 1000ft big. Even before he entered the place, he saw it from the outside.

    From the mouth of the statue, the water slide starts. It goes around its body in a spiral path until the bottom. Just like its name, Devil''s slide, for a civilian, it does look intimidating. Azzy, on the other hand, got excited.

    Other than this, there''s another interesting water slide, which stretches from one side of the park to the other side. It was atleast 500 meters big but has several turns, making the ride as long as 1 kilometer. Adding on top of that, it is mostly an open water slide.

    And because of that, there''s always a risk of falling down. For safety, a large pool was constructed down below, which looked more like a lake. The only thing that makes reminds the tourists that it is indeed a pool is the fact that it is a perfect rectangle in shape, although the length to width ratio is nearly 8:1.

    Soon, both of them changed into swimsuits.

    Azzy is still in his growing stage. However, Leah was already 17 and she already has the body of an adult female. And with a peerless beauty combined with a perfect body, she attracted the attention of everyone as she came out of the changing room in a one-piece swimsuit.

    Looking at her, he mumbled, "She sure looks hot. I wonder how she would look in a bikini." For a moment, as his eyes wandered over her body, something clicked inside his head and he quickly turned around before slapping both of his cheeks, "come out those thoughts, you idiot. You have a girlfriend. What are you ogling at another girl for?"

    "Shall we go?" She grabbed his hand upon reaching him and let out a smile, earning curses from nearby males in jealousy.

    Azzy could feel several pairs of eyes around him but attention is something he had dealt with for a few years now.

    He entered the devil''s statue through the entrance at the foot of its body. From there, an elevator took both of them up to the head. Soon, both of them got their turn and sat together in a bumper boat. Both of them were enclosed in a glass chamber before a button was pressed. The glass opened as a jet of water pushed them forward, letting the boat enter the slide at a high speed.

    "Ooooh!"

 Chapter 365 Azzy Goes On A Date With Leah (Part-2)

    For the next hour, Azzy and Leah went for several water rides. As Vajra loves swimming, it had joined them, which displeased Leah at first as it was supposed to be their date. But then again, as Azzy appeared to be forgotten about the challenge, she let out a sigh and tried to enjoy the water rides with the boy and his wolf.

    Once they were done with the water park, Leah took Azzy to the zoological park, forgetting about the time limit. Maybe, Azzy had also forgotten about it. He simply followed her and visited several animals.

    More than the water park, Azzy liked this one more because of varieties of animals. Usually, in the wild zones of Arcana World, he only sees the beasts, which are hostile to humans and vice versa. But, here, even the lion appeared to be quite docile.

    After that, they visited a historical theme park, which entirely covers the 100 million years of history of Tartalonia, starting with the fossils of dinosaurs and other ancient era beasts that are as powerful as rank-6 beasts even during the absence of soul energy, then the pre-apocalypse era where the human civilization at their peak, and finally ending up with the formation of the nation by acquiring independence from Freyles, roughly about 7256 years ago.

    Some of them are just projections, some are real fossils, and some are manmade constructions to preserve their history. Just strolling around this entire place took a couple of hours for them.

    By now, it was already evening. Azzy had lost track of time as he was absorbing the knowledge of new things. On the other hand, Leah realized that they spent a lot of time than she expected.

    However, as Azzy didn''t complain a bit, she decided to continue their date. After they strolled around the ever-popular Disneyland, she finally took him to the Horror theme park, which she had never visited before.

    Standing at the entrance, she gulped a bit in nervousness as she stared at the gloomy atmosphere, "I heard that they employ the real ghosts."

    Azzy knew that lost spirits exist like that Demigod Amerys but ghosts? He had only seen them in movies. He doesn''t really believe them.

    But, based on speculations, he knew that he can''t dismiss such a fact. So, naturally, he turned to his trusted Arcana for clarification. Unfortunately for him, there was no response. From his silence, Azzy understood that the answer is quite complex.

    He doesn''t know what it was but since he was already here, Azzy put away his doubts and entered the theme park.

    Because it will be opened after the sunset, they were one of the first customers to enjoy what the park had to offer. Of course, before entering, they made Azzy and Leah sign a form, in which the staff will not be responsible for anything that happens to them.

    Whether it is real or just trying to scare them is something to think about. After all, they aren''t adults who sealed their soul orbs. For others, Azzy and Leah are just normal teenagers, probably a campus couple. So, they should be warned if it is really dangerous.

    Soon, Azzy and Leah stepped inside and the surroundings changed to that of a forest. The hootings of owls and howlings of hyenas were heard in the surroundings. Azzy couldn''t guess how big the forest was. It looked endless.

    To enjoy the feeling of the horror, Leah grabbed Azzy and changed the directions from the other customers who entered with him. The moonlight dimly lit the surroundings. So, the customers could atleast see.

    Before entering, the staff told them to find one of the exit doors to escape the first place and to enter the real fun part.

    For Azzy and Leah, it was a simple task but neither of them bothered to use the powers that come with Arcana Masters as they decided after coming to the city. But then again, they can''t do anything with the alertness that was instilled into them.

    As a result, when something brushed past Azzy''s back, he unknowingly caught the arm and swung it down without thinking.

    "Ugh¡­"

    A man dressed in wolf''s fur groaned in pain as his back hit the ground. Just from that exchange, he already realized that Azzy is an Arcana Master. Lying on the ground, he pointed in a direction as he begged them, "Don''t hurt me. The portal is that direction."

    "Oops, sorry about that," Leah gave him a helping hand. The staff got up on his feet, "It''s alright. I was the one at fault, I guess¡­ Ugh¡­"

    Grabbing his back, he slowly left the place, making Leah stare at him as she put hands on her waist, "Azrael. You took away all the fun."

    "Did it in reflex," Azzy looked away in embarrassment. Well, technically, it wasn''t his fault. So, there''s nothing to apologize for.

    Letting out a sigh, she said, "let''s go." They started walking in the direction the staff member pointed.

    From time to time, both of them felt that something has gone through behind their backs. But, the earlier incident with the staff member made them lose that eerie feeling around.

    Soon, they found the portal and got outside of the forest only to end up in the middle of a graveyard with disfigured humans roaming around. The other customers were screaming in fear but Azzy didn''t feel much.

    "Why do I even enter this stupid place? I should have spent more at the museum." Azzy found the historical theme park more fun than this. The staff members might have transformed themselves with zombie makeup but he had witnessed so many ugly-looking monsters that these zombies don''t even appeal that much.

    On the other hand, Leah started shivering. Azzy had realized her state only after she grabbed his arms tightly. Feeling softness at the tip of his elbow, Azzy saw it and blushed in embarrassment. He wanted to free his arm but Leah grabbed it very tight and spoke in a high pitch, "they look disgusting and scary."

    Having no choice, he decided to not think about it and just focused on something else instead.

    Seeing how she shut her eyes, Azzy felt like he had witnessed a new side of Leah.

    "Cute," a thought appeared in his head, and because of complete suppression of his soul orb, he had emotions unlocked and unknowingly let out a laugh, "the mighty princess of Camelot fears manmade zombies?"

    She raised her head to look at him. As they were standing close, their faces also became closer. Her cheeks and ears turned red in embarrassment. She jumped away in reflex, only to bump into someone.

    "Ah, I''m sorry¡­" She turned around and apologized only to find a zombie, which looked like many parts of its skin were peeled off.

    "Kyaaa¡­" Like a scaredy-cat, she jumped back to Azzy and grabbed him again. She looked like a completely different person, right now. One should laud makeup artists who did it. It looked so real that as long as one doesn''t look very closely, the customer will feel as if their fleshy skin was real.

    It wasn''t that Leah was a coward or something. It''s just that she had nightmares since childhood upon watching horror films along with her mother. She wanted to take this opportunity to remove that fear but even with Azzy''s presence, it was difficult to win over it, although to some extent, she felt better when grabbing Azzy''s arm as support.

    She was here as a part of the challenge to make him fall for her but instead, she only showed her cowardly side to him.

 Chapter 366 Leahs Warning To Claire

    <strong>Hotel Lunaris, Central City, Arcana World;</strong>

    Claire and Mia were waiting in one of the rooms as they wait for Azzy. According to the hotel staff, both of them left in the morning and never returned, although they haven''t officially checked out yet. The rooms were booked for several weeks in advance.

    Both of them arrived at the hotel at around 2 p.m. and waited for an hour before they left for Heavenly Academy to search for Azzy.

    Mia kept on telling her to message Azzy but Claire wanted to surprise him. As a result, she stubbornly searched for him for a couple of hours before returning to the hotel and learning that they haven''t returned.

    They toured around the city for the next couple of hours and returned only to hear that Azzy still hasn''t returned. Claire then booked two rooms, paying a little bit extra to stay on the same floor as Azzy and Leah.

    Hours passed away and her boyfriend is still yet to arrive. Her insecurity once again increased and she started becoming anxious. Seeing the look on her best friend, Mia no longer sat still.

    She immediately took out her message card and sent audio to Azzy.

    <strong>Play City, Tartalonia, World of Gaia;</strong>

    With Leah tightly grabbing Azzy''s arms, both of them were looking their way out of the underground labyrinth.

    From time to time, ghosts and zombies popped up, scaring the hell out of the Camelot''s princess. The sound effects around only scared her more.

    For Azzy, watching her reactions appeared to be more fun. He couldn''t help but wonder why she recommended this theme park in the first place when she is a bloody coward.

    In the meantime, he also realized that the so-called ghosts in the labyrinth are different from malevolent spirits.

    These are artificially created by some talented Arcana Master. While they appear to have an appearance of a human, Azzy remembered seeing a couple of them who were acting as zombies at the graveyard. It was then he realized that they were not real.

    There are certain rules of horror themes like one shouldn''t know what''s going to happen next, one cannot see the ghost right at the beginning, and the viewer should believe in them. Only then, one can truly enjoy the feeling of getting spooked.

    And when any of those three things happens, it loses its effectiveness against people with a strong mentality.

    When Azzy realized that even the ghosts in the labyrinth aren''t real, the fun was over for him. On the other hand, Leah couldn''t realize the reality and because of her reactions, Azzy played along and urged her to finish the labyrinth.

    As Leah continued to scream and even tear up, Azzy was grinning like a fool while they get deep into the labyrinth.

    Just as they reached the center, all of a sudden, an envelope made of energy popped up before his eyes. It went straight into his forehead and disappeared, letting him hear an audio message from Mia.

    Azzy stopped in his tracks with his face stiffened, "Claire was waiting for me since noon? That means if I had gone to the hotel right away, I would have met her, right?"

    Realization dawned upon him and a considerable amount of guilt filled his heart upon imagining his girlfriend. Why he was here in the first place and what is he doing now? Azzy couldn''t stand his own behavior.

    "Hehehe hehe¡­" With a peal of hysterical laughter, a ghost in white robes and horns over its head flew towards him.

    "Let''s get out¡­" Leah continued to bury her head into his chest and scream the same thing she was screaming for the past half an hour.

    However, this time, Azzy''s response was different. The chains over his soul orb were broken altogether and soul energy surged into his right palm.

    A sphere made of soul energy was shot from his palm. It struck the ghost and destroyed it right away. His voice turned cold once again, "I''m sorry Leah but this is the end of our date."

    "Eh?" His words brought her senses back and she looked at his face. As she stepped away, Azzy said, "I can accept the defeat but cannot accept the fact that Claire gets disappointed. I''m returning to the hotel where she was waiting for me. I''ll make it up to you somehow for leaving you behind but I need to go now."

    After informing his decision to her, Azzy activated his soul skill: Eye of God. He discovered the exit in an instant. As he rushed away, Leah stared at his back, stunned at the spot.

    She then grabbed her chest where it slightly hurts for some reason, "but I don''t feel happy. No, it''s more like all the fun had disappeared in an instant. Claire is really lucky to have this boy."

    Letting out a sigh, Leah shook away her thoughts and followed him from behind.

    <strong>Hotel Lunaris, Central City, Arcana World;</strong>

    After Mia received the reply from Azzy, Claire and Mia came downstairs and waited in the hotel lobby.

    Roughly about 30 minutes later, two streaks of flash stopped right at the entrance of the hotel, revealing Azzy and Leah.

    Azzy then looked at her, "Don''t leave anything. I want to put this matter behind me once I wake up tomorrow."

    Leah forced out a smile as she patted his shoulder, "I already told you that I will take care of it. After all, I was the one who created this issue."

    As Azzy nodded, Leah calmly stepped inside.

    There, she saw the two girls. She greeted them right away. Claire was expecting Azzy but was surprised when she saw Leah instead.

    A few minutes passed away. Claire''s expression changed several times from surprise to anger, then, to frustration, and then disappointment, and finally returning to calmness.

    Meanwhile, Azzy was waiting outside being all nervous. He wanted to enhance his senses and listen to their conversation but was too afraid to do it.

    He might have faced Claire''s illusion back during the trial of Demigod Amerys and he was always prepared for anything but he still doesn''t want to break his relationship just over something like this.

    After a while, Leah came outside. She looked very calm on the surface.

    "What happened?" He asked anxiously, although his emotionless face made it appear like he doesn''t care about the outcome.

    Leah answered, "I did what I have to. The rest depends on your girlfriend''s choice. Anyway, the royal knights might also be tired and hungry after secretly following us for a long time. I will have dinner outside. You go and spend time with your friends."

    After saying what she wanted to, she brushed past him and continued to walk along the street.

    On the other hand, Azzy became curious. He didn''t place attention to her and climbed the steps before entering through the entrance.

    When Azzy reunited with Claire, the latter just hugged him and told him that she understands his situation, making him wonder what Leah might have said to her. Azzy was curious but due to a worry about how Leah might have lied, he became afraid to ask her.

    Whatever the case, Claire appeared to be happy and Mia doesn''t seem like she was angry at him either. That was enough for him to put away his worries.

    But, it didn''t go as he thought. Claire was only smiling on the outside. As they directly went to the third floor where the restaurant is located, she couldn''t help but remember Leah''s last words before she left the hotel.

    "I like Azzy but I''m not some cheap girl to break someone''s love. It goes against my ethics. However, if you ever broke up with Azrael in the future, I will be in my right to try to claim him as mine. Even if you two marry in the future and then, get a divorce for some reason, I won''t hesitate to propose to him if I''m single at that time. After all, I believe that he is the perfect guy to be my partner and he too deserves someone who could even live with him for ten millennia"

    Leah said that to her after briefly telling her about the date challenge in which she agreed that Azzy is indeed devoted to his girlfriend.

    At first, Claire was indeed angry at Azzy for taking her for granted but then, her opinion changed by the time Leah was done with her explanation. She now felt like Azzy was too gullible, and rather than complaining, she decided not only to improve her strength even higher but also to keep him close to her than before so that no girl even dared to even think about snatching him away from her.

 Chapter 367 World League: Senior Division - Round 68

    The evening passed away and both of the girls returned to Silver city by midnight as group knockouts going to start in the morning.

    Meanwhile, Round-68 started for Azzy and Leah. Even though Leah was behaving the same as usual, Azzy was a little bit uncomfortable while having physical contact with her.

    After the previous day''s incident, Azzy, who realized that he can have fun even if he goes a date with a female friend other than Claire, felt guilty and ashamed of his feelings. As a result, he kept his conversation minimum with Leah. Unless there was an absolute need, he kept silent as much as possible and also decided to keep their relationship more professional.

    It means that he will not share any personal things with Leah from now onwards. Maybe, Leah also grasped the truth after chatting with him for a bit. She restrained herself from getting too close but still maintained her calm personality as if she was unaffected.

    Coming to the battles, as there are only 34 battles to go, Azzy and Leah got their turn just a few minutes before noon.

    Both of them stepped into the barrier and found their opponents were already waiting for them on the opposite side with their summoned Arcana.

    Azzy and Leah''s opponent team consists of two guys who have similar features to some extent. Both of them were paternal cousins. The elder cousin was a Spear user and the younger one uses a Saber.

    Unfortunately, both of their Arcana were only in purple grade.

    Despite such a massive disadvantage, the cousins had not only made a breakthrough to the Upper Elite realm before they turn 100 years old but they also survived the battle royale earlier. That itself indicates that they can''t be taken lightly.

    If only they have different opponents, they would have been underestimated. And somehow, the cousins will try to take advantage of the mistakes made by the opponent team.

    To their bad luck, they had to match up with Azzy and Leah of all the people. While their performance sure made an impression on several participants along with the Proctor, this pair of cousins didn''t know the extent of their powers and only took them as geniuses.

    In fact, the match was ended the moment it began but Leah thought differently. She felt like they are the perfect guys to experiment with the new technique.

    As a result, just like in the previous match, Azzy summoned Ruby, the black lotus; and Leah summoned Excalibur along with Izarok.

    Both of them also joined their palms like before.

    "Soul Amalgamation: Merge"

    Seeing that their opponents are doing an attack, the cousins tightly gripped their weapons and rooted to their spots. Rather than taking charge, they decided to counterattack. They were rather good at it.

    However, to their surprise, the sword in Leah''s hand was merged with the black lotus, resulting in the Excalibur''s blade turning black and tiny lotus flowers sprouting at its hilt.

    As Leah and Azzy expected, the sword retained its personality rather than creating a new one because of unbalanced powers or each Arcana. It''s more like the Excalibur just got an upgrade.

    With the addition of new soul skills, Protos energy, and crystal attribute, the Excalibur might have a weird appearance but its strength has considerably increased.

    Azzy then took a step behind and Leah took control of the match. She raised the sword, "Kneel before the Queen."

    As soon as the words escaped her mouth, the purple grade Arcana that are in the form of weapons, which belonged to the opponent team, flew from their hands and fell on the platform, taking them by surprise.

    Taking advantage of their momentary confusion, Leah made her next move.

    "Izarok, transform into formless."

    The aqua girl collapsed onto the floor before expanding all over the platform. Within just five seconds, everyone found themselves standing in a pool, although with 3ft depth. Threatened by a possibility of an unknown attack, the two cousin brothers summoned a flying card and took a leap while abandoning their Arcana, which is submerged in the water.

    "Chris, it looks like that sword''s control over our Arcana is too powerful." The Elder cousin said as he controlled the flying card to fly away from the still water.

    The younger cousin nodded in agreement while taking out a pair of skill cards and handing one of them to his cousin, "Yeah, let''s use energy weapons just in case."

    Upon activating the skill cards, an energy saber appeared in the hands of the younger cousin and an energy spear was wielded by the elder one. Maybe, they have been through several battles. They were a lot calmer as they tried to adapt to the situation.

    But, no matter how hard someone works, some people cannot catch up to extremely talented individuals.

    The current situation is something similar to that.

    Neither of their experience, calmness, or wits helped them once Leah made her third move.

    Raising the decorated black sword, she unleashed one of the soul skills of Excalibur to test how much its power had increased.

    "Soul skill: The Queen''s Domain"

    Ripples of energy erupted from the sword and formed a dome-shaped illusionary barrier within the main barrier that was created by WAMO for the sake of the tournament.

    At first, no one felt any difference. But, then, everything changed as the princess of Camelot motioned down the sword and announced loudly, "except for worthy ones, all must respect the Queen. Kneel."

    All of a sudden, an enormous amount of pressure descended on the cousins. They collapsed onto the pool without being able to resist. On the other hand, Azzy didn''t face any pressure as he was excluded by her.

    Meanwhile, a trace of surprise appeared on Leah, "Hmm, it looks like the maximum range of the domain was increased to as far as 500 meters and the time limit also increased to 90 seconds. That''s an almost half-a-fold increase on both. This terrifying negative cosmic energy is indeed marvelous. I wonder what will happen if Excalibur is merged with either the black lightning wolf or the Death Scythe."

    Putting away her thoughts, she focused on the struggling opponents who were trying their best to get free but to no avail. This is the domain of the Queen. When activated, she becomes the absolute ruler against weaker targets, but against stronger people, it will be useless.

    Of course, this also had a weakness. It''s the massive consumption of her soul energy. To make sure the future opponents don''t realize it, she acted quickly.

    "Izarok, Water Prison."

    The huge volumes of water then gathered around the opponents, forming a huge water sphere while imprisoning the targets. Adding to the enormous gravitational pressure they were facing, both of them were also being affected by water pressure from all sides. Not to mention, the breathing only became tougher. The Proctor felt like they were going to die at this rate.

    However, before he acted to save them, Leah raised her sword and pointed straight, "go..."

    The water sphere rose in the air and flew out of the barrier, carrying the prisoners before it was dismissed. The two men slowly fell to the ground, ending the match.

    For a moment, silence filled the audience as they were shocked by how Leah alone took care of her opponents.

 Chapter 368 World League: Junior Division - Race To The Top 8 (Part-1)

    "The winner is team Camelot." The Proctor announced their win, making the audience cheer loudly as the both of them exited the field.

    In the audience section, a hooded guy was sitting in a corner as he watched the battle. He bit his finger, feeling annoyed, "tch, it looks like the targets are far more troublesome than I thought. To eliminate them, I need to go all out without dragging the battle. Let''s hope I never have to break the rules and risk my life."

    After a minute, the next participants came to the field. It was an intense battle between duos with almost equal strength. It roughly lasted 15 minutes before the winners emerged by gravely injuring one of their opponents and killing the other.

    Within the next couple of hours, all the battles were finished. By the end of the last match, the current day''s casualties at Arena-6 were 9 in number.

    Meanwhile, in the junior division league, Team Twilight won the battle against their opponents and proceeded to the next round. They were just one battle away to make it top 8. However, their next opponents turned out to be the members of Team Centro, which is a reserve (2nd best) team of the hosting academy.

    All of them are third-year students with the strongest one being at mid-rank-6. A couple of them are at low-rank-6 and the rest of them are at peak-rank-5.

    Usually, such a team wouldn''t be a cause of worry for the team that has 8 consecutive victories, a couple of which were even at the same level as Team Centro.

    But, the problem arose when Estella informed her teammates that she had to leave for a day or two due to urgent personal issues at home.

    While the matter is about the upcoming meeting between the hidden clans, she wasn''t necessary to participate in the discussion of the clan elders. However, Estella decided to return after realizing that she might be able to battle alongside Azzy at all while continuing to battle under Claire''s leadership.

    Losing her interest in the world league, Estella left the place as soon as their match is over. When their match is over, the time is only around 9:30 in the morning.

    There are still more than eight hours left till the end of the day. That means they will likely have their next battle on the same day.

    Claire and Mia who didn''t have a good relationship with Estella didn''t request her to stay after they saw Estella firmly reject Louis'' request with a sarcastic remark that the team doesn''t need her to get to the Grand Arena.

    But, this is where the heiress of the Moon clan had made a mistake. She thought that Azzy will be too busy with his tough battles at the Heavenly Academy. The fact that Azzy never visited Silver city once during the past few days strongly made her believe that.

    Even Claire also thought the same after she got a reply from Azzy at 10 o''clock that his battle has yet to come.

    With no substitutes left in the team, she was preparing a strategy where they had to go all out. Luckily for her, around noon, she received a message from Azzy. She immediately changed her strategy, one that includes Azzy in it.

    However, to surprise the opponent team, she doesn''t let Azzy join their group right away. Instead, she told him to wear a mask and hide from their opponents until she gave the signal.

    Soon, the first battle started.

    It was between Team Unknown and Team FireBreath. The former team represents the hidden clan of kuru while the latter is a reserve team from the Dragon Academy.

    Without any surprise, members of Team Unknown wiped off the floor with their opponents. In fact, it didn''t even last 30 seconds. In the end, they confirmed their berth in the top-8 of the group category.

    Now, only one other match is left. Team Centro vs Team Twilight.

    Seeing only five members enter the field, Team Centro also thought that their opponents don''t have any powerful substitutes. They felt lucky.

    Just as they were about to step onto the platform, Calder stopped in his tracks. In the next second, a blurry figure dashed from the northern entrance and leaped into the barrier, landing beside the rest of the teammates.

    "Oh, it''s this kid. I thought someone unlawfully entered." The Proctor sighed in relief upon seeing Azzy on the platform. He was ready to apprehend the brat who tried to break the rules but it turned out to be a participant of a qualified team.

    ? For a moment, the members of Team Centro were stunned by the appearance of Azzy. Even though it was their first time seeing him in person, they had watched his battles. So, they knew the extent of his strength.

    With the 100-second preparation timer started on the screen, the captain of Team Centro hurriedly called his teammates to gather.

    Meanwhile, on the other side, Azzy''s teammates welcomed him with a smile and became laidback for a bit.

    Claire had informed them about his arrival but they couldn''t meet him until now because of her strategy. They didn''t know the full extent of Azzy''s strength but at the very least, they knew that he is the strongest in the team and he also made it to Round-34 in the senior division''s first batch.

    As a result, none of them felt any pressure. In fact, the atmosphere at Team Twilight looked as if they were celebrating the win in advance.

    "Okay, there''s still 40 seconds. So, I will brief the strategy. Listen carefully." Claire then went into her captain mode, explaining what positions they take and who will be their opponents.

    Azzy and the others nodded before proceeding to summon their respective Arcanas. Azzy only summoned his black lotus and kept Vajra out of this battle for he believed that the black wolf was too strong for the opponents.

    Several of the spectators sitting in the stands also paid special attention to the new kid who was participating for the first time in the junior division league. His earlier display of extraordinary speed only increased their curiosity.

    As the timer reached zero, the Proctor blew the whistle.

 Chapter 369 World League: Junior Division - Race To The Top 8 (Part-2)

    Unlike previous matches where Mia always stayed in the back and attacked from far away, this time, she joined the rest to charge forward.

    Team Centro was surprised by her actions.

    Neither the opponents nor the spectators know that Mia originally trained in close combat fight until Azzy had shown her the path of the bow. She later picked up the gun just a couple of days before the start of the semester.

    Dashing forward at full speed, Mia pulled out two custom-made handguns from her storage card. She charged them up with her soul energy before speaking to her teammate, "Claire, I''m ready."

    Claire, who was leading everyone, nodded and raised her sword, unleashing her strongest soul skill, right from the start.

    <strong>"Soul skill: Descent of the Heavenly guardian"</strong>

    After transforming into a divine Angel of the Heavens, Claire shot an orb of light from her palm. Its size is almost similar to that of a tennis ball but the power it was holding inside isn''t something to be ignored.

    This isn''t the first time Claire had used such an attack. So, the opponent team''s captain, Cyrus knew how to counter this light orb that will explode as soon as it touches something.

    The 6ft tall who looked like a female bodybuilder gave the orders as soon as she saw the orb. "Willie, block it."

    Willie, the only member of the team who is a beast summoner, ordered his metal golem to protect everyone.

    The 18-foot Golem stood in front of Team Centro to take it head-on. Looking at the actions of the opponent team, Claire shook her head with a smile, "You are forgetting that I can control every part of my energy when I''m in this mode. Every part¡­"

    As the orb of light almost reached the golem, Claire shouted, "Capture." The divine energy inside the light orb became violent all of a sudden.

    Instead of hitting it straight head-on, the light orb transformed itself into a fishing net of light energy, capturing the golem and its owner who was standing behind it.

    Gideon couldn''t help but whistle, "look at that."

    Once the golem was temporarily down, Mia clicked the trigger of the left handgun. Consuming her soul energy, a laser beam was shot from the barrel and pierced the forehead of the Golem and made a hole before escaping from the back of its head.

    "Now, aim for its chest area, about 23 centimeters from the center." Azzy, who was running at others'' pace, passed the instructions. His eyes were pitch black at the moment as he already activated the soul skill, Eyes of God.

    Without wasting any time, Mia shot another laser beam.

    Captain Cyrus came to his rescue by throwing an explosive grenade and a smoking grenade at her own teammate.

    While it didn''t cause much damage to Willie or the Golem due to their tough skin and protective gear, it sure made them lose their balance and both of them fell down, escaping the path of the laser beam.

    It missed them and went past the team members of Team Centro, striking the barrier. At the same time, the smoking grenade released an enormous amount of smoke and covered over a 30-meter radius. Except for Azzy, none of the team members of Twilight could spot their opponents.

    "tch, they were well prepared¡­" Mia''s brows twitched a little. The others stopped in their tracks.

    Maybe, Claire had already expected this outcome or maybe, she doesn''t care. Whatever the case, she wasn''t ready to back off from this challenge.

    Azzy then spoke, "I think it''s time for you to use that card. And Claire, you can go wild."

    Claire nodded and created another light orb while the others took out a skill card, which was handed by Azzy just before the start of the match. Those are not activated skill cards. So, the users must use their own soul power to activate them. As a result, it is allowed according to the rules.

    While the others activated the unique skill card, which was crafted by Azzy, Claire launched her orb of light into the smoky area where the Golem was earlier fallen down.

    *Boom*

    The explosion of energy could be seen because of the flash of light but as it disappeared in a moment, the thick smoke reappeared and continued to hide the presence of Team Centro. However, the audience didn''t care about it. All of their attention was on Team Twilight because of a wonder they have witnessed.

    Meanwhile, Claire, with her soul energy refilled almost instantly, no longer held back her strength and threw light orbs one after another, targeting the area within the smoke.

    Some turned into Swords, some turned into nets, and some just exploded. However, Team Centro still managed to evade all of them. It''s because everyone was wearing special goggles to have an infrared vision. Coupled with the fact that they were skilled athletes and everyone is only focusing on dodging, Cyrus and her teammates gave an impression as if they can indeed take on Team Twilight.

    Soon, the smoke dispersed into the air and everyone''s vision became clear. As they kept on evading the attacks one after another, they didn''t have the time to think but now that the vision is clear, Cyrus and others saw that only Claire is present. None of the others could be seen even through infrared vision goggles.

    She was about to throw another smoke grenade earlier but now, she and the others could only look around and above to find the opponents.

    "Everyone, use your senses." She ordered and activated her sensing abilities. While she couldn''t sense Azzy and Louis because of their high soul power, she managed to find the location of Gideon and Mia.

    Along with her, the other teammates, Cliff and Willie were also successful in finding the presence of the two Elite realm experts who used the Erasure skill card of 5-star grade.

    As the effect of the Erasure skill card disappear due to the usage of energy, Mia and Louis didn''t make any movements other than waiting for an opportunity to strike while evading Claire''s random attacks like their opponents. On the other hand, Gideon used his lightning attribute power and powered up himself before attacking the weakest one.

    Rosendo Wool is the third son of the noble Wool family, hailing from the Everon nation, which is home to the royal family of Magnolis.

    Like his other members of the family, he awakened a healing type Arcana in the form of Parsnip.

    Parsnip is a plant-based Arcana that typically looks like a carrot, although in off-white color. Its Attribute is light and therefore, he can heal himself and the others.

    Based on the previous matches'' footage, he was known to be quite aggressive and reckless like Claire without caring about possible injuries.

    That''s why the team decided to target him while he was still busy evading the attacks.

    At his full speed, Gideon rushed towards Rosendo Wool who had no idea about the incoming attack. But, the captain had sensed something is moving. Judging by the high speed, she immediately guessed that it was Gideon.

    Just as she was about to warn him while evading another explosion of the light orb, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, a powerful kick was planted in her abdomen. She blasted away.

    "Captain¡­" The others panicked a little bit but just a moment later, Rosendo also crashed onto the ground as Gideon gave a powerful punch to him in the abdomen, followed by a knee strike to his chin.

 Chapter 370 World League: Junior Division - Race To The Top 8 (Part-3)

    It is popularly known that Central Academy, during the past millennium, had completely transformed into a military-style academy. As a result, the students over there were trained in modern weapons.

    No matter what kind of Arcana one awakened, the students of Central Academy will focus on mastering modern weapons because their headmaster believed that modern weapons are the future.

    Unlike the other top academies that divide students with high potential based on their Arcana grade, Central Academy has a system of survival, atleast in the advanced studies program. Every division has limited spots and one can only earn them by showcasing how good they are with their gun techniques.

    Of course, it''s not that Arcana training is being ignored. It''s just that they take more of a support role.

    As the rest of the participants were using skill cards, item cards, and soul skills, the students of the Central Academy stockpiled weapons and explosive devices of different kinds including the ones that don''t run on soul energy. Of course, nuclear weapons are strictly controlled by the government. Possessing even one of those weapons will incur severe punishment for any individual or organization.

    These senior students of Central Academy never thought that they had to reveal their trump cards this early in the tournament. Cyrus always wanted to showcase the might of their modern weapons in the semi-finals or finals against the main team.

    However, the current situation had forced her to release the command.

    Captain Cyrus was getting kicked and punched left and right without even getting an opportunity to evade or counterattack.

    The healer Rosendo Wool was in a state of unconscious.

    The Golem user Willie who escaped from the net of lightning somehow got injured by the explosions. If he hadn''t protected himself with a soul energy shield, he would have been gravely injured by now. As for his Golem, it wasn''t seen anywhere on the platform. It was probably died by the explosions from Claire''s mysterious light orbs.

    Of the remaining two, Cliff, the one with twin handguns like Mia was engaged in a close battle against Mia who he could sense her presence.

    On the other hand, Jessie, the one with an assault rifle, was too focused on dodging whether it is Claire''s reckless attacks or invisible Louis'' punches. She was in a bad state indeed.

    Understanding the situation of her team, Cyrus purposely let down her guard and got kicked by Azzy.

    As she was flying in the air, she clicked on the button of the left earbud, "Everyone, I''m initiating Code S. Get ready."

    As soon as they heard it, those who were able to move reached out to their backs and first dropped a smoking grenade right at their feet.

    It didn''t hinder Azzy''s vision because of his soul skill but others couldn''t spot the opponents like before. Because of her teammates who might be harmed due to her carelessness, Claire could no longer act recklessly like before. Instead, she too decided to go invisible by using the Erasure skill card.

    But, never in the world did she expect the opponents would pull off a huge trump card.

    Once the members of Team Centro found themselves free, each of them took out a special item card and activated it.

    Soon, the smoke swirled around due to powerful winds generated by something. Eventually, everyone''s vision became clear as they saw Cliff, Jessie, and an injured Willie piloting helicopters, which were equipped with powerful cannons and missiles.

    As the attack helicopters rose in the air up to 10-15meters, Claire and others raised their heads with a look of surprise on their faces. However, they weren''t the only ones that were surprised. Even those three who were piloting the attack helicopters were taken aback to see their captain was down. In fact, their captain''s vehicle was equipped with even superior armaments.

    Sensing the changes, Azzy powered up his fists and used soul energy to increase the output of his strength.

    While this dismissed the effects of the skill card, he managed to send her away out of the barrier. He then stared at the helicopters, which looked very much different from the civilian helicopter he once traveled on, when he was moving to the Death Clan village.

    Azzy was still a cadet at WAMO and has yet to formally enter the special forces of Northern Qudour. So, he was clueless about these weapons. At the very least, based on their appearances, they didn''t look normal.

    Meanwhile, Cliff, the vice-captain took the lead. He passed the instructions to the other two after observing the situation on the ground, "Captain is down. Rosendo is also in an unconscious state. Let''s first remove him from the field. Then, we will take care of others. You two block the princess of Triastal."

    "Roger." Both of his teammates replied at the same time before grabbing the weapon controls as they focused on Claire, waiting to make her move.

    Then, a hook was released from the bottom of the helicopter that Cliff was piloting.

    Looking at it, Claire passed the order, "Louis, Mia, get ready to shoot."

    Immediately, the pair summoned their Arcana and dismissed the invisible effect. Meanwhile, Azzy stood still and proceeded to absorb the natural energy and store it as fast as he can.

    The hook successfully pierced the unconscious healer''s shirt, although slightly grazing his back and leaving a scratch in the process.

    Once his teammate was caught, Cliff controlled the wire that attached to the hook, and instead of dragging him back to the safety, he threw away the teammate with great force. Rosendo also got out of the barrier and fell to the ground. He ousted his own teammate, surprising Team Twilight once again.

    At the same time, Claire flapped her angelic golden wings and flew into the sky. She was faced by Jessie while her other teammate Willie, the golem user was focused on applying a healing skill card onto himself.

    *Trrrrrrr*

    Jessie was trying to take down Claire by shooting with 30mm cannon, which was installed in the chin turret, and a 20mm autocannon pod which was installed in the inner hardpoint of the attack helicopter.

    Claire, who is in the state of instant recovery of injuries and soul energy for the next few minutes, didn''t care about it and flew straight toward her opponent.

    Seeing that Claire was easily recovering from the damage done by the ammunition from cannons, Jessie launched an air-to-air guided missile without giving an opportunity for her opponent to counterattack. At least, she thought it was that way.

    Unfortunately for her, Claire was actually waiting for this chance.

    Claire raised her hand and a beam of light shot from her palm, perfectly piercing the missile and triggering an explosion. Because the point of impact was closer to the helicopter, it was caught in it. The helicopter was set into flames and went out of control. Louis shot an arrow and sent it a hundred meters above before it exploded into pieces.

    Meanwhile, Jessie acted quickly and jumped out of the vehicle only to be caught by a golden rope.

    "Bye, bye¡­" Claire swung the rope with all of her strength, throwing her out of the barrier. It happened about the same time when their vice-captain threw the unconscious healer. As a result, only two from Team Centro left.

    "Go all out¡­" He roared as he was about to shoot all the missiles at once. Just then, he received a response from his remaining teammate, "Uh¡­ Cliff¡­ Behind¡­"

    A 17 m (56ft) giant Azzy was standing behind the helicopter before catching the tail of the helicopter that was being piloted by Cliff.

 Chapter 371 The Buddhist Monk Of Abel Tower

    Before Cliff got the opportunity to launch all the four missiles and two unguided rockets onto the battlefield, the attack helicopter was caught by a giant Azzy before he poured Protos Energy into the vehicle through his palms.

    As soon as the corrupted energy from the cosmos touched the tail of the helicopter, it spread all over the vehicle in an instant, turning everything but the living human into black powder.

    It was a shocking scene for Cliff, Proctor, as well as the audience.

    In the stands, a baldy old man in saffron-dyed robes was watching the battle just like others. His name is Alf, an elder at the Tower of Abel.

    Ever since the Twilight team registered for the tournament, he somehow felt that they will be a force to reckon with.

    And once he watched the first match, he somehow managed to figure out that it isn''t a simple platinum grade sword but a sword imbued with divinity.

    His interest in the team only grew.

    As a result, he watched every single match of Twilight no matter who participated in it. Along the way, he developed an interest in Louis'' abilities and felt like he is extremely suited for the organization.

    In the present day, just like every time, he came to Arena-B and started watching. Azzy''s appearance took him by surprise but he was calm.

    At first, his attention was on Claire. However, his face turned serious when Azzy started absorbing natural energy before turning into a giant.

    And when Azzy used his Protos energy to destroy the helicopter and its missiles without even triggering an explosion, he could no longer sit still properly. In fact, he was actually sweating like crazy.

    Very soon, the match was finished and he didn''t waste any time leaving the Arena. Walking at a quickened pace, Alf was thinking about the match. "That cosmic energy is mightier than the divine energy and more sinister than the death energy. It is terrifying to see such a person have an affinity with natural energy. If that child doesn''t receive proper guidance, he will bring nothing but destruction. Okay, just take a deep breath and calm down yourself." He took out a bracelet made of stone beads and wore it over his right wrist. The beads glowed for a while, calming his nerves instantly.

    "Amitabha." He put it back into his storage card and continued to walk.

    Meanwhile, back at Arena-B, members of Team Twilight were surrounded by the media personnel. Just like the last time when Azzy solved a homicide case and became popular all over the nation of Zuweth, he used a teleportation card and escaped from there, leaving those hungry journalists to his teammates.

    Sometime later, he met them again at the hotel. The six of them (including his mother) looked like they were drained out of energy. Azzy could only laugh inside and apologize to them.

    That afternoon, Izora threw a grand party for Team Twilight for she truly was happy for them. She was watching them closely for the past few months. She knew how they worked hard to reach this stage. In fact, she was confident that the group would make it to the top 8 somehow even if Azzy and Estella wouldn''t help them.

    After having a sumptuous meal, Azzy parted ways with his friends and returned to Arcana World.

    One week passed away in a blink of an eye.

    Azzy and Leah continued their winning streak and reached the finals of the first batch''s Arena-6 without facing many troubles.

    Maybe, it''s because they are lucky, or maybe, WAMO had lent them a hand by sneakily giving them an easy route. Whatever the case, after the battle royal preliminaries, they didn''t meet any rank-7 or a platinum grade user as an opponent, not that there are too many of such experts in number. Forget about rank-7, they didn''t even get to battle a rank-6 Arcana Master who is at peak stage.

    All of their opponents are in rank-6 of high and below stages, the same as them but the large difference between their Arcana made their battles easier. Adding on top of them, their team was even picked up byes a couple of times to make it to the next round without any fight.

    Obviously, some people don''t acknowledge them but in any case, their ages of 14 and 17 drew the attention of big shots. They sent their best subordinates to the Central City.

    Apart from that, there''s another good thing that happened to them. Maybe, it is a coincidence or an event that occurred because of their participation in the league.

    The kingdom of Camelot signed a trade deal with Northern Qudour for the acquisition of 32 Rank-5, 8 Rank-6, and 1 Rank-7 Battle robots. It''s a 10-billion credit deal.

    If Northern Qudour claims to be 2nd in robotics and IT, no country can claim to be at number 1, although the main contributor to this was one woman, Dr. Mac, who created the Super Android Aria and the one that gave the adamantine gloves to Azzy back when he escaped from the onslaught of the ancestor of the light family.

    After that incident, people started recognizing the potential of Battle Robots that can replace Arcana Masters. However, the influential people of various organizations have different opinions. They didn''t have human tech in the first place. How could they like Robots?

    As a result, they pressurized their own governments to not show interest in the battle robots and keep trust in Arcana Masters. Not to mention, there are high purchasing costs. So, no one came forward except for WAMO, which was already collaborating with the government, and the researchers over there are trying their best to reverse engineer them.

    Several months passed since that incident and Camelot is the first one to show interest in them.

    However, none of these things mattered to either Azzy or even Leah at the moment. It''s because only one match left for Leah''s dream to be achieved.

    The winner of this match would be selected for the top-16 but the hurdle Azzy and Leah must cross is a lot tougher.

    Calling themselves the Maestros of the Void, the freelancers Blair and Docia, who aren''t tied to any organization or company, were the runner-ups of the last tournament.

    Both of these traveling musicians are quite popular all over the world, not just for their music but also for their battle prowess. Of course, Exalt realm experts are respected everywhere in the world. As for legendary and the Supreme realm experts, they were usually positioned as leaders of top companies, academies, organizations, or guilds. They won''t step out into the public unless it is necessary.

    So, it''s natural for the couple to be known by common citizens.

    While people are thrilled about this match, because Azzy and Leah never fought opponents of such level, neither spectators nor the Proctor has an expectation of their win. What everyone was looking forward is how they would fare against veterans.

    The day of the battle arrived.

    Because the solo battles in other Arenas have a long way to go before a winner (top-16) will emerge and group battles are already over, the spectators flocked to Arena-4, 5, and 6 where only one duo category battle is left in each.

 Chapter 372 World League: Senior Division - Battle For Top 16 Spot (Part-1)

    While all of the Arenas are completely filled, the majority of the top-level scouts and representatives of several organizations are present in Arena-6. They wanted to see what kind of performance will Azzy and Leah show.

    And those who knew the existence of Celestial grade Arcana were even more excited to witness the collaboration between Vajra and Excalibur.

    As this is a very important match, especially for Leah, her whole family is there to cheer for her. As for Azzy, only Gideon had attended because the others were busy with duo battle preliminaries of the junior division. Unfortunately for him, Estella didn''t return from her home, making him disqualified because of the lack of a partner. It indeed disappointed him very much as he was looking forward to fighting with her and thereby, spending more time alone with her even if it is to discuss battle strategies.

    As a result, he was left with only one choice. To return to the school and continue to attend classes until all the preliminaries of junior division are concluded. But then, Claire made a strange request to him.

    She asked him to go to Arcana World and live with Azzy in his free time as others cannot go. While her aim is to make sure Leah stays away from Azzy, Gideon thought that perhaps, he might be able to learn something from watching the high-level battles of the veteran Arcana Masters.

    So, for the past week, while living with Azzy at the same hotel, he attended the matches in Arena-B to show his support. Not only did he learn a lot of things that could help him become stronger but he also realized the gap between him and his best friend.

    It wasn''t just the strength that is different. When he was watched from the stands, he felt like the chemistry between Azzy and Leah is perfect like each one is drawing the best out of the other. On the other hand, when Azzy fights alongside them, he felt like his buddy would struggle very much. It might be because none of the teammates bothered to take Azzy''s strength into consideration when planning the strategy.

    Because he was too strong, he tried to fit himself with whatever the captain or the instructor planned.

    Anyway, back to the present, both of the duo teams stepped into the barrier and wait for the signal.

    The Proctor blew the whistle and the four of them summoned their Arcana.

    On one side, Azzy summoned Vajra and Ruby, and Leah summoned Excalibur and Izarok. Azzy and Leah didn''t waste time in joining their palms and connecting their soul orbs.

    And on the other side, Blair summoned a flute while Docia summoned a Zither. That''s right. Both of these musicians also have musical instruments Arcana instead of a weapon or some soul beast like other experts.

    The spectators as well as the opponents knew what would happen after Azzy and Leah joined their palms.

    "Honey, take the charge," Blair said to his wife.

    Docia caressed the strings of the Zither and played a melodic sound. Contrary to how pleasantly the sound came out, it generated a violent wind.

    Everyone expected Azzy and Leah to go ahead with the merging technique. During that couple of seconds, they were actually vulnerable to attacks.

    The gust of wind that was traveling at 160 km/hr didn''t give Azzy or Leah to even dodge.

    Or so they thought.

    But, to their surprise, they never merged the Arcana. Instead, both of them raised their arms and shouted at the same time, "Reflect."

    The violent wind that was about to hit the two of them suddenly got absorbed by an invisible mirror, which then reflected back to the musicians with double the speed, almost equal to the speed of sound.

    This wasn''t the first time Leah displayed her passive ability but it was definitely the first time both of them used it like this.

    As the reflected wind took Blair and Docie by surprise and they hurriedly used their soul energy as shields to block the incoming attack, the Proctor mumbled with a trace of surprise, "It didn''t look like a modified fusion technique. I thought it was all about merging their beasts. But, this is something else. Just what ancient technique these kids mastered that even doubled a passive ability of one user?"

    Except for a couple of spectators who had the knowledge of Soul Amalgamation, everyone else was also confused. But then again, it is obvious.

    The Proctor was a member of Zero Squad of WAMO and he is a mid-rank-8 expert. If he doesn''t have any idea, how could others understand?

    Instead of harming the opponents, as their own soul power was consumed by a lot to block the reflected attack, Blair and Docie turned serious, looking at each other before sealing up their sense of hearing.

    Meanwhile, Azzy and Leah rooted on the spot, refusing to move forward or go ahead with the merging. If that''s the case, why did they even bother summoning their Arcana? Only the two of them had the answer.

    Blair then picked up the flute and started playing a gloomy tune. Docie''s play was melodious as before.

    As he continued to play, depression spread among the surroundings. The ones sitting in the front seats suddenly remembered their past memories that are sad.

    Unfortunately for the musician couple, Azzy and Leah were the hosts of Celestial grade Arcana. They weren''t of platinum grade as Blair and Docie thought they would be.

    The effects were reduced drastically and the remaining effects that were generated because of the gap in their soul powers were squashed away by their strong will. As a result, Azzy and Leah were perfectly fine.

    "You know, I feel like we were worried for nothing. We might not be revealing our trump card in this match," spoke Azzy when he was unaffected by the enemy''s attack.

    In response, Leah shook her head, "No, we cannot underestimate them and become careless. Not yet. Let''s see what they are planning."

    Blair and Docie continued to play a gloomy tune for a whole minute while Azzy and Leah were waiting for something to happen.

    1 minute turned to 2 minutes and by the end of 3rd minute, Azzy started getting impatient while Leah stayed calm and silent. Even the audience felt like the battle is getting ridiculous. Because of the entire gloomy atmosphere, some of them got up from their seats to go to the next Arena that has an exciting battle to go on.

    On the other hand, Proctor was frowning for some reason.

    "Let''s get over with this match," An annoyed Azzy suggested to his partner.

    Just as Leah was thinking about changing the battle strategy, switching to offense, a deep voice was heard in both of their heads simultaneously. "Kids, activate your Aura senses and observe your surroundings."

    It was the first time Reaper had intervened in the battle, giving a suggestion. Either way, both of them don''t have the time to care about it and followed his instructions.

    At first, they sensed nothing around but then, as another voice (Excalibur) suggested them to look beneath the ground, Azzy and Leah saw concentrated patches of energy forming one after another, only about 30 meters deep into the ground.

    "What happens next?" asked Azzy. He wanted to know what kind of attack is that. As his Aura sensing somehow turned out to be a bit more special than others, he manage to distinguish those energy patches. Some are dark and some are blue, indicating dark attribute and water attribute respectively.

    "You can wait another 70 seconds to see the full effects. Or attack them right now to see the immediate effects." The Reaper replied to both of them.

    Leah nodded and raised the sword before swinging it. As an arc of energy generated from her sword, the opponents made their move. One of the dark patched turned into a dark energy beam, going straight at them.

    Azzy grabbed Leah''s waist and dashed to the side, evading the attack.

    "Again," Docie hollered as she brushed her fingers past the strings. This time, huge volumes of water erupted from where they landed. Azzy jumped back to evade it again and said, "Freeze it."

    As they were attacked by another powerful beam of water and Azzy once again evaded it while continuing to hold Leah, the latter raised her sword and unleashed, "Soul skill: Amalgamation of Ice and Fire."

    "Ice"

 Chapter 373 World League: Senior Division - Battle For Top 16 Spot (Part-2)

    In a moment, the entire platform was frozen in ice, blocking the concentrated beams of dark energy and water effectively.

    Every second, the ground below the participants would shake and then become calm down, shook again, and go on¡­

    Blair and Docie didn''t expect that their hidden attacks would become completely useless.

    Meanwhile, Leah made her next move.

    "Fire"

    The couple saw the ice below their feet turn hot but still didn''t melt it. It was just for a few milliseconds but in that time, they experienced extreme cold and extremely hot at the same time.

    Having sufficient information on her soul skills, both of them readily moved away. As they left the place, flames rose in that spot. It was similar to their attacks, although she doesn''t need any long preparation to unleash it.

    Their reflexes saved them from getting crisp but the ice below them made it slightly uncomforting because of their sneakers. Anyway, they are rank-7 experts. Such minor things don''t need to be worried about. With soul energy covering their feet, they can even walk on water.

    For a while, Leah kept attacking them with bursts of flames and they dodged them skillfully one after another.

    Her onslaught went on for a whole minute. Azzy doesn''t know how long she can do it because she kept that crucial piece of information a secret but what he realized is that the gap between each attack started to increase. On the other hand, her soul power wasn''t being consumed at all.

    If Azzy can realize it, then, veterans like Blair and Docie can also realize the same. They felt that Leah took 1 second for each attack when she started and now, it is nearly 4 seconds.

    Considering how Azzy wasn''t coming forward, the duo wanted to test her limits. As a result, they kept on dodging for the next two minutes. Now, the interval between each attack was more than 10 seconds.

    "Fire"

    The burst of flames once again rose from the ground.

    As soon as they evaded it, the musician duo counterattacked at the same time.

    A dark wisp was generated from the flute and then transformed into a shield, covering Blair and his wife. Meanwhile, Zither produced three wind spears one after another.

    After being covered by a dark barrier, they suddenly started to play a fast melody.

    All the energy patches hidden deep in the ground released the beams before combining to form some kind of creature.

    On the surface, Azzy and Leah joined their palms once again. After reflecting the three spears back to the opponents with six spears, Leah asked him, "how much longer?"

    "I was actually done a while ago," Azzy replied.

    "What!" Leah was taken aback. She couldn''t help but shout at him, "Then, what the hell are you doing? Go and attack."

    "Aren''t you the one that told me to not underestimate them?" He countered using her own statement.

    "Then, you stopped thinking like you can win this easily?" She asked, continued to bicker.

    "Nope, I still stand by my words," Azzy replied with a straight face.

    "Argh¡­ you are unbelievable. Alright, just get to work. Go, go¡­" Leah acted a little bit frustrated on the outside but she loved bickering with Azzy like this. The fact that Azzy letting act like this made her feel like they were friends once again.

    After the date incident a week ago, at first, Azzy was a lot uncomfortable getting close to her.

    But during the past week, as Leah tried her best to be friendly despite his reluctance to reciprocate the same, he eventually decided to get things between them how it was before the date. After all, he will soon return to the present timeline and everyone except for Excalibur will forget him anyway.

    After that, Leah will live her princess life at the Camelot, helping her father while he goes to Claire wherever she will be to make her remember the past and get back together. Then, why should he bother acting all distant? So, he tried to act the same as before.

    Back to the battle, the three wind spears reflected back with a double in number pierced the dark barrier. Five of them destroyed the barrier and the remaining one pierced the Zither lady. A blood wound appeared on the stomach.

    Docie didn''t bother to heal herself and neither did Blair reapply the barrier. Both of them fastened their pace.

    "Incoming, be careful," Azzy warned his partner before using his stored natural energy to turn into a bacterium-sized person. To everyone including Leah, it looked as if he turned invisible.

    Azzy rushed forward at his peak speed. At the same time, following their master''s orders, Vajra jumped onto Ruby, the black lotus before the latter flew into the air. A few of the petals wrapped over the wolf, making the spectators wonder what they might do.

    As soon as he left the place, suddenly, the frozen ground cracked and some beast shrouded in energy broke through it and landed before Leah.

    The beast looked like a beast with the head of a shark. It has twin attributes of water and dark.

    The Princess of Camelot still didn''t remove the effects of her soul skill. Continuing to wait for the cooldown timer, she ordered the Aqua girl to make the move, "Izarok, Restraint it."

    She planned to restrain the energy creature and then destroy it with flames.

    As for Blair and Docie, while couldn''t spot Azzy who disappeared from their view, they sensed his presence. They knew that Azzy is rushing toward them and were also aware of the presence of two powerful Arcana in the sky.

    Knowing that Azzy doesn''t have the ability to reflect the attacks, Docie sent concentrated wind attacks in the direction she sensed Azzy. The latter skillfully evaded every incoming attack and reached them.

    Upon reaching the two of them, Azzy kicked the ground and jumped high.

    "Ruby, unleash the soul skill: Whirlwind"

    Upon receiving the order, the black lotus tilted in the direction of its targets and started rotating at a terrifying pace. The black wolf, which was wrapped by its petals, was perfectly fine and its gaze was fixed on the man.

    At a speed of 190 km/hr, the whirlwind attacked the couple. However, it wasn''t just the wind. As the black lotus unleashed the soul skill, it let go of the wolf, and Vajra was pushed by the powerful wind. It raised its claws.

    Docie hurriedly caressed the strings and sent a gust of wind that is even more powerful than the soul skill.

    Previously, she only tested the waters with a rank-6 attack. Now, her attack power is in rank-7 and the wind was over 225 km/hr, capable of not only countering the incoming whirlwind but also blasting away the wolf.

    Unfortunately, all of this was just a giant distraction for keeping her occupied and getting Azzy enough time.

    Azzy who reached the peak point started falling down. Taking advantage of the gravity, he falls towards Docie. By the time she nullified both of the attacks, he was only a few meters above her.

    "He''s here¡­" Docie sensed his presence but it was too late to realize it as he unleashed a giant palm known as the Divine Palm of Buddha using all of the natural energy he stored.

    It was twenty-five meters in size, filled with translucent natural energy, making the couple realize the power of a beginner stage of the legendary realm (low-rank-8) inside it.

    In reality, it was close to mid-rank-8.

    "Shit, he got us." It''s the only thing that came to the couple''s heads as the divine palm hit them from the top.

    They released all of their soul energy to form shields and protect themselves but the divine palm flattened the both of them, destroying the ice followed by making a huge crater.

    At some other place on the battlefield, the creature, which appeared to possess the power of a platinum grade rank-7 beast, was biting Izarok''s water tentacles and ripping them off to get free.

    Izarok is completely made of water and is invincible until its core was damaged. Once a tentacle goes off, she can recreate it again and again as long as she wasn''t evaporated. As Izarok tried its best to hold down the beast, Leah rushed forward with purple-colored soul energy dancing around the Excalibur.

    But, before she reached the target, the beast exploded, releasing all the energy.

    Leah blasted away and crashed onto the ground with the ice floor disappeared. For the first time in the tournament, she spits out a mouthful of blood as she tried to stand up on her feet only to see the mighty divine palm straight ahead.

    "He did it¡­" She lies on her back and took out a healing card with a smile on her face while the Proctor announced their win.

    "Team Camelot wins the match and proceeds to the top-16."

 Chapter 374 An Invitation From The Moon Clan

    Amid cheers of the audience, Azzy and Leah left the field, leaving behind two unconscious musicians.

    Docie and Blaire were the runner-ups five years ago and as they came back stronger, everyone expected them to win but this poor married couple didn''t get to showcase their whole strength as they underestimated Azzy and Leah and made a wrong approach.

    Azzy and Leah showed the world that they didn''t get to top-16 by being lucky. It was through their own skills that they achieved it.

    A few months ago, when the Twilight team won the Champions League, only the top academies and some organizations had shown interest but now, all the top organizations were interested to recruit Azzy. Some of the ancient organizations now even planned to steal him from WAMO during the next few weeks when he will be free until the other batches will be finished.

    Unfortunately for them, Azzy never had any intention to join any organization. He joined WAMO only for Gideon. He promised to join the Special Forces of Northern Qudour only to acquire the ancient Buddhist techniques.

    So, he didn''t take it much serious when Leah warned him. He also refused the security provided by Camelot''s Royal knights and a rank-8 General, stating that he will be either at home or at the academy.

    Leah also knew that Izora Crescent and Vesyrn Garcia were also living with him. Not to mention, there''s his foster mother, Affea Snieca.

    And at school, there are rank-7 robots and a legendary realm expert to protect him.

    So, she wasn''t worried that something unfortunate can happen to him under their watch.

    But, in reality, he will be protected by a Super Android who is strong enough to protect him from anyone under the Demigod realm.

    After parting ways with her, Azzy returned to Aclein City, not wanting to disturb Claire''s concentration by staying by her side.

    As he planned to surprise his family, he didn''t inform any of them and just quietly returned home.

    But, little did he expect that a surprise is waiting for him as soon as he entered the mansion.

    "Oh, Hey Rael," A greeting with a smile from an unexpected person greatly surprised him.

    "Estella?" Azzy stopped right at the entrance and took a good look at everyone in the room. Along with a few mysterious experts in suits (bodyguards), Estella Moon paid a visit in advance.

    "Azzy, you are home." Affea got up from her seat and walked towards him.

    As Azzy hugged her, she congratulated him on his achievements in the world league. In response, he glanced at the doll-looking girl and complained, "I wish you have heard this news from me. All my surprise had gone to waste."

    "Oops, sorry about that," Estella apologized right away, although letting out a grin as if she made a silly mistake, "Anyway, congratulations and also thank you for filling my absence and taking the team to top-8."

    "My friends are strong enough to win the match even if both of us are absent." Azzy shrugged his shoulders, stating it as if it is the most obvious thing.

    While Estella respects Azzy''s opinion, she didn''t like to admit defeat that easily. She countered him using her own logic, "Of course, they might have reached top-16 through collective efforts but it gets impossible from now onwards with just them alone. You know that."

    "It''s not like they are aiming to become champions. Top-8 in the world is already an accomplished task. And from here on, I will be there for the team." Azzy stated his resolution before asking about her intentions to visit his house, "So, I''m assuming that you aren''t here just to congratulate me in person. Is it?"

    If she had come alone, he would have assumed that but the fact that there are guards around her indicates that it is something else. For some reason, he remembered Leah''s visit to his home during the annual holidays.

    Just as he suspected, Estella was indeed for another purpose. She took out a letter of invitation and handed it to Azzy, "The Moon Clan invites you to the upcoming Lunar Festival held at Clan village. The invitation is from our Matriarch. With the invitation, you can bring two people along with you whether they are bodyguards, friends, family members, or mere acquaintances. It doesn''t matter who they are but you will be responsible for their actions. So, just be careful when picking and when you do that, make sure¡­"

    "Woah, wait for a second." Azzy interrupted her as she was getting carried on with her explanation. When she stopped, he asked, "When did I say that I accept your invitation in the first place? I''m tired from all those battles and returned home to rest and spend time with my family, not to go on a tour to a foreign country."

    Maybe, Estella had already expected that reaction from him. She replied right away, "But, your family is also invited. Auntie has also accepted it."

    Azzy turned his head towards Affea who nodded in confirmation. After a brief silence, he slowly said, "I''ll think about it."

    "I''ll look forward to your arrival," Estella let out a pleasant smile, and very soon, she left the place, stating that she has to invite others in person.

    Once she was gone, Azzy stared at his foster mother, "Aunt, why did you accept it?"

    Affea helplessly smiled, "what could I do in this situation? I''m still indebted to Scarlet Moon for her help at Graena City when we were ambushed by my brother''s subordinates. I had to accept it unless there''s a genuine reason."

    Azzy sealed up his soul orb and then, let out a sigh as he sat, "I don''t like to visit the places filled with those people from hidden clans, Aunt Affea. I had enough trouble last time."

    Affea stared at him and blinked a few times in silence before she said, "then, don''t go. It''s not bad to run away from a problem when you can''t face it. If you want to save your pride, then, you can always prepare a good excuse like having an important mission from WAMO or visiting Special Forces HQ or visiting that childhood friend of yours or going to Arcana world to improve soul power. As long as you think, reasons can be created. There''s still a week left anyway."

    "Ah! That''s it," Azzy''s eyes lit up as he got the idea. Why lie when he can make it true. "Thanks, Aunt. You are the best."

    After having a satisfactory lunch, Azzy went to his room and collapsed on his bed with a smile, "Ah, no matter how luxurious that hotel room is, sleeping at home is the best."

    He quickly fell asleep and woke up during dinner time. He had a shower and then had dinner with his family members except for Izora who was with the team for their safety. Since her husband is there to protect Azzy, she could do her instructor job without any worries.

    However, Azzy was a little bit guilty toward his parents. They were just married and should be on a honeymoon trip but were stuck with him all because his identity was leaked to Pierre Garcia and possibly the clan head Qridus Garcia.

    Either way, he can''t do much about it other than try to become strong enough to reject their protection.

    Of course, there''s another reason for him to become strong. The upcoming battles in the senior division will be a lot tougher than before.

    Azzy doesn''t want to go to the wild zone to improve his soul power at the moment. So, that leaves him to work out three things. First, improve the level of the Invincible Divine body. So far, he has yet to start any training.

    For the moment, his body was at the 7th tier. It used to be 6th tier when he received the knowledge of the technique but later automatically broke through to the next level when he absorbed huge amounts of plasma energy.

    Azzy''s current aim is to make a breakthrough to the 8th tier. He doesn''t know how long it takes but he should try his best, right?

    Anyway, coming to the second thing that he needed to improve, is his mastery of sealing techniques. From time to time, Barton had given him advice but now, he felt like he needed strong lessons.

    And the third thing is to train with Ruby as much as he can. He wanted to master the soul skills. At present, he can only unleash three of the six. So, he felt like mastering six would give him an edge in the battle. As for Vajra, the black lightning wolf is a mutated celestial grade Arcana and is nothing to be worried about.

 Chapter 375 Gravity Manipulation

    "C''mon Chronos, can''t I just practice here at home? There is an abundance of natural energy here anyway." Azzy complained as the Reaper suggested making a visit to the densest forest in the world and practicing the technique of Invincible Divine technique.

    As forests are super rich in natural energy, he would have an easy time there. However, Azzy is against it because it isn''t convenient and he doesn''t want to stay away from his family.

    The Reaper didn''t take no for the answer as he explained, "Then, you can just forget about making a breakthrough to 8th tier. Within a week, it is impossible for you to attain such a level at this place. Remember your last match. How long did you take to refill your natural energy?"

    Azzy thought for a bit and answered, "About 90 seconds I guess."

    The Reaper then said, "If you go to the Pelican Rainforest, it will only take 7-8 seconds in comparison. Not to mention, you won''t find any Spirit Beasts to worry about. Some of the animals lurking at that place might be a danger to mortals or Arcana Masters below rank-4, it is nothing for you."

    Azzy felt like it isn''t a bad idea but the idea of leaving his family again made him reluctant. He then asked, "Isn''t there any place in Arcana World with an even denser environment? Can it be finished in 3 days?"

    "Forest of Death," The Reaper answered him right away, "The natural energy is so rich there that you might even get to the ninth tier within a week."

    "Uh, no thanks," Azzy wasn''t a fool to commit suicide. A rank-5 region like that will be full of rank-9 beasts, which can be handled by only Supreme Realm experts. Because of the no emergence of Demigods in the past 100,000 years, who knows how many rank-10 beasts are taking rest at that place.

    In the end, he decided to follow the Reaper''s advice but with a slight twist. Instead of leaving right away, he thought of visiting the place when Affea and others depart for Athledon, the island country where the Moon Clan village is located.

    The next day morning, Azzy left for the academy, not for classes or anything as he was still on a leave. He went to the Principal''s office to meet his master.

    Soon, both of them started walking towards the Training Grounds-Zero, which was allotted only for Class-Z. The students of Class Z were called the super elites of the academy.

    If he was alone, Azzy would have probably been approached by the students to congratulate him but since he was with Barton, everyone just admire him from far away. The girls couldn''t just stop giggling and murmuring among themselves as they stared at him.

    Azzy was now at rank-6 and his ears are sharp enough to hear them. As Barton smiled and commented how he became too popular, Azzy couldn''t help but get embarrassed, although inwardly. On the outside, his face was the same as if he was unfazed by the gazes or their murmurings.

    After a seven-minute walk, the master and disciple reached the indoor training facility where classes for the rest of the students of Class-Z were going on.

    They didn''t go and visit the class zone and just directly went to the gravity chamber and increased it to the maximum, 10g. Azzy was naturally unaffected but he doesn''t why they came to a gravity chamber for practicing sealing techniques.

    Barton then spoke, "Your comprehension of sealing techniques isn''t at a level where you can be taught advanced techniques but keeping your shortage of time in mind, today, I will teach you a special sealing ability that I created. I call it ''Gravity Suppression''. To achieve it, first, you must grasp the essence of gravity. That is why you are brought here.

    The first step in mastering the sealing technique is to discover the graviton particles present in the gravitational energy.

    The second step is to connect these graviton particles with your soul energy. But, you cannot absorb these particles as you do with the natural energy, although I still wonder how you were able to do that.

    Everyone has their own secrets and I respect that. Anyway, once you connect with the graviton particles, you go to the third step, which is to form the seal using the runes I will provide you.

    The fourth step is the right combination of runes.

    The fifth step would be collecting the gravitons into the seal you have formed.

    And here, the seal will be formed successfully.

    The sixth and final step would be applying the seal on the target. It can be anything from a normally inanimate object to a living body. When you gained enough mastery, you can even apply it to your surroundings and control the gravity within the applied area."

    Azzy didn''t need a lengthy explanation to realize its potential. He could already imagine the variations of this ability.

    Comfortably sitting on the floor, Azzy started to meditate. He used his Aura Sensing ability to sense the gravitons. In the past, he used the same technique to identify the natural energy particles.

    Upon eliminating everything that he can recognize like the natural energy particles, his master, or even the sunrays, Azzy sensed them right away. If the natural energy particles appeared like bubbles, the gravitons are more like rain drops.

    He let out his micro-sized thin threads of soul energy to connect with them and here''s where something strange happened. The soul energy was supposed to contain the gravitons and bring them back to the seal.

    But, Azzy couldn''t even get bothered to perform the seal as the gravitons that got contact with his soul energy were readily absorbed in his body just like the natural energy as he tried to contain them.

    The Protos energy was awakened all of a sudden and Azzy called for the Reaper''s help as he could see thousands of energy threads erupting from Azzy''s body followed by greedily absorbing all the artificial gravitons present.

    The gravity chamber was equipped with machines that actually store original graviton particles and were then multiplied within the reactors before releasing them into the isolation room according to the level one chosen. When required, they will release the particles and when not required, the gravitons will be absorbed and stored.

    Barton just watched in a daze as his student absorbed every graviton released into the room in just 10 seconds of time, transforming a gravity chamber into a normal room.

    *error* Error* *Auto Shutdown initiated*

    The artificial intelligence issued a warning before reporting the malfunctioning of the machines and shutting down the system.

    Azzy wasn''t aware of his surroundings as he was in a deep meditative state, completely concentrating on the trillions of gravitons that are being absorbed into his soul orb, disrupting the balance inside. With the Reaper''s assistance, all of them were pushed into the back of his neck, forming a mole but in the shape of a star.

    It was also big enough to look like a tattoo.

    Once the process was completed, the Reaper''s voice echoed in his head, "Congratulations kiddo, you received a blessing in disguise. It looks like the Goddess of Fortune Tyche is looking after you."

    Azzy didn''t understand it, "What do you mean?"

    The Reaper explained, "The gravitons that you absorbed are artificially cultivated ones using a futuristic technology that doesn''t exist in this era. Maybe, that alien woman scientist was behind this technology. Anyway, The Protos energy is a bit sensitive to things that aren''t natural, so, I guess that''s why it acted, although it should have tried to destroy them on contact.

    But, instead, it swallowed them up. Anyway, I managed to store them in your body and sealed them up."

    "Okay, what now?" Azzy still couldn''t understand what the Reaper was trying to say.

    "Now, my host, you will cultivate those particles with the aid of natural energy and I will slowly assimilate them into your cells instead of soul orb." The Reaper sounded a bit happier as he explained it, "Once the process is completed, you can manipulate gravity around you. Of course, this will take time."

    Azzy absorbed all the information and asked, "So, in the search for gold, I stumbled upon a diamond mine?"

    "More like a meteorite rich in Adamantium," The Reaper confirmed. "Anyway, gravity manipulation is far away. You should focus on the current situation. "

    "I see¡­" Azzy smiled inwardly and then, opened his eyes to find a dazed old man.

 Chapter 376 Azzy Goes To The Pelican Forest

    Azzy got up on his feet and bowed, "I apologize, master. I made a big mess."

    Barton returned to his senses and he waved his hands with an awkward smile, "it''s alright. I will make a call to Lord Aegis and see if he can do something about the repairs."

    As the master of Azzy, he was responsible for the mess caused by his disciple. With a simple apology, he can convince Aegis to send their skilled technician to repair the chamber but the only issue is the repair cost. Considering he has billions of credits in his bank account which he earned by selling the academy to Eternal Institutions, he wasn''t worried about a high cost.

    But, still, paying tens of millions of credits will cause pain in the heart.

    "What about the sealing technique?" Azzy asked Barton who was wondering about the repair cost as well as the possibility of improving it or creating another chamber.

    Barton told him that he can only practice the technique in a normal environment. The process is the same except it will be slow with original gravity.

    "I understand." Azzy nodded and then, contacted the Reaper to see if he can use those gravitons sealed in his body could be used to make the Gravity seal. As the Reaper gave him affirmation, Azzy was satisfied.

    However, Barton wasn''t feeling good.

    Feeling bad for his disciple, the Sealing taught him an intermediate seal. It is not a high grade but very useful. The seal wasn''t his creation but is a popular one among the sealing experts, the storage seal.

    This sealing technique follows the same principle as the SP recovery card except that it can only be applied to oneself.

    Depending on the mastery, one can store soul energy and use it for later purposes like when they aren''t in any position to use SP recovery cards in the middle of battle.

    Barton knew that Azzy is stronger than his peers. So, rather than giving some offensive or defensive sealing technique, he thought this skill is most useful.

    Azzy then went to one of the combat rooms and started his training.

    Five days passed away in a blink of an eye.

    Over the past few days, Azzy had gained significant mastery over the storage seal, able to store 15 million SP (soul power). It is equivalent to almost two times his maximum soul power.

    At the same time, he also practiced the Buddhist technique of Invincible Divine Body.

    He wasn''t even halfway through to the next tier but was sure that his bones and skin are tougher than before.

    After having dinner, Azzy packed up his luggage and started his journey to the Pelican Rainforest, which is shared by the nations of Southern Qudour and Llyne. It is about 1228 kilometers from Aclein.

    He wasn''t alone. The Super Android Aria was also traveling with him except that she was in her hidden bodyguard mode. He told her to travel alongside him but she refused to adhere to his request.

    Azzy didn''t care anymore and boarded the train that is going from Ecrin city to East Ocean City.

    After a journey of 14 hours, he stepped down from the train at the station of Deloris town of Llyne nation. The town is said to be one of the closest points to the forest.

    From there, he took a taxi to the edge of the forest. He was dropped at a tourist point where cabs to return and forest guides to enter are available.

    He didn''t hire anyone as he wasn''t for a tour and just charged into the forest at his fastest speed, surprising the people nearby. Aria followed him while maintaining the distance.

    The rainforest is currently the densest forest on the planet of Gaia, spanning over 1 million sq. km, and is home to thousands of varieties of animals.

    The main specialty of this place is that it rains atleast 20 hours per day in all the seasons. So, Azzy had to depend on ''Eyes of God'' soul skill to go deep into the forest under heavy rainfall.

    Following the Reaper''s instructions, after running nonstop for more than an hour, Azzy finally stopped in the middle of nowhere, which was just surrounded by tall trees. Despite being a day, it was quite dark in this place, not that Azzy would care about it.

    Azzy then pulled out a table from his storage card before placing it on the muddy ground. After that, he sat on top of it in a meditative pose and closed his eyes, proceeding with absorbing the natural energy.

    "Wow," He couldn''t help but open his eyes and exclaimed in surprise as he felt the gush of natural energy enter his body. More than 10% of his natural energy storage capacity was filled in just a second.

    He closed his eyes again and concentrated on absorption. Contrary to the Reaper''s claim of 7-8 seconds, it took little more than 10 seconds to fill up to the brim. Even Azzy knows the real reason for his capacity increased because of the practice.

    Anyway, once he absorbed as much natural energy as he can, Azzy proceeded to refine it and spread it all over his body, strengthening his bones, muscles, organs, and everything.

    Three more days passed away like this. He had stored food to eat and a tent to sleep-in in his storage card. So, he was fine living inside the forest. The tent wasn''t a normal one. It was the same one Sapphire Magnolis gave him back as compensation for letting go of the fatty son of King Ragron, unharmed.

    There was an entire mansion filled with furniture inside the tent. So, he didn''t suffer even for a moment whether it is physically or mentally. But, to place it, he needed a place. Since he couldn''t find a flat ground with enough space, he destroyed several trees and made a place for the tent.

    Meanwhile, at the nation of Athledon, Affea was currently participating in a fishing activity as a part of the Lunar Festival. In the lake of Xerad, two boats were being rowed manually while a significant number of people gathered at the shores.

    This fishing contest was created because of the challenge made by a princess of the country''s royal family, which was founded by a direct descendant of the Moon Clan more than fifty thousand years ago.

 Chapter 377 Fishing Contest And The Arrival Of The Judge

    Princess Maia Moon''s eldest son Prince Craig Moon was not only the heir to the throne of Athledon but also eligible to fight for the position of the next clan head. He was a direct competitor to Estella, although the latter looks down on him because of his purple grade Arcana, which mutated to gold grade during the rank-4 breakthrough.

    On the other hand, their mothers were known to be quite competitive since young and see each other as rivals.

    Just like other times, as soon as Maia and Scarlet encountered each other during the festival, they competed in several games. The record was 5-5. To get a proper result, Maia challenged Scarlet.

    Here, the rules are simple. The time limit will be 60 minutes and the venue will be the Xerad Lake, which is known for its clear water and has a maximum depth of over 100 meters.

    Within the time limit, the two of them will catch the fish. Due to how transparent the water looks, it is easy to find them. But, there''s a small twist. They can only catch rainbow carps, which are a mutated species of gold fishes.

    At the same time, each one can choose a partner. As Estella is too impatient to help with fishing, Affea ended up as Scarlet''s partner. On the other hand, Princess Maia had her husband helping her, purposely trying to rile up Scarlet by acting all romantic.

    Scarlet Moon lost her husband several years ago and it would be a lie if she wasn''t envious of them but then again, she came to terms with the reality a long time ago. So, she put her attention entirely on the task.

    As soon as the gunshot was heard in the air, the wooden boats started moving. About half an hour into the race, Maia Moon appeared to have fished more of them.

    From the shores of the lake, Estella was watching it blankly, wondering what she was even doing there. Prince Craig approached her and then tried to provoke her, "it looks like your mother is gonna lose."

    "Not that I care," replied Estella.

    "You would if there had been some kind of wager like, for example, you forgo your claim for the clan head." Prince Craig let out a sigh, feeling that his mom let go of a nice opportunity.

    Estella snorted in response, "Only weaklings can think like that. Congratulations, you once again proved that you are trash."

    "You¡­" Prince Craig came to provoke her but he got provoked in return by her remarks.

    It was at that moment something shocking happened.

    A gigantic portal opened in the sky where a gigantic whale descended from it. The beast was atleast 10 kilometers long and probably more than a kilometer in height.

    Everything stopped a moment as a part of the city was plunged into darkness.

    Meanwhile, the tourists in other parts of the Lunaris city got scared, fearing an attack and they don''t want to become casualties in the battle of powerful forces. On the other hand, the citizens were a lot calmer and kneeled right on the spot. They appeared familiar with it.

    Looking around the people and then at the beige ceiling that covered the sky, Avia tugged her father''s shirt and asked, "Papa, what happened?"

    Oakley was shivering in fear at the moment. He returned to reality because of Avia. Clearing his throat, he said, "I don''t know but it seems more powerful than even Lord Qridus."

    Avia''s heart skipped a beat when she heard them. She wasn''t daring enough to sense its power and tightly hugged her father.

    The whale disappeared, returning the light to the people around, and a handsome guy who looked like he is in his early twenties was seen in its place as he slowly landed on the water.

    A smile appeared on Scarlet as she rose to her feet. Princess Maia also stopped fishing and flew towards the mysterious visitor. Her husband stayed behind as he didn''t have the royal bloodline. So, he was not qualified.

    Landing before him, Scarlet greeted him with a bow, "Welcome to Lunaris City, Your Grace."

    The princess also followed the suit.

    "Are others ready?" The mysterious fellow asked Scarlet without any change in his expression. It is hard to read what he is thinking.

    Scarlet answered politely, "Yes, Your Grace. The representatives of the Sun and Dragon clans were already here, staying as guests at our clan village. However, there''s a small issue with the Angels and Asgardians. They informed us that their leaders cannot participate and their successors will replace them."

    While Scarlet is answering his question, Princess Maia just looked at the two of them in a daze as she couldn''t hear a thing. There''s an invisible barrier around the kid and Scarlet Moon that is blocking her hearing sense.

    The mysterious visitor then nodded, "It is alright as long as they were responsible for their actions."

    "And there''s another thing." Scarlet briefly hesitated for a bit and then, asked, "It''s a request from me. Can my daughter witness the meeting? She will not interfere or even talk and will be nothing but a spectator."

    "Estella?" The mysterious visitor thought for a bit and said, "She''s a twin platinum grade user and is a future demigod. If nothing goes wrong, she will become the next Matriarch of the Moon clan. I guess it is acceptable."

    "Thank you, Your Grace." Scarlet bowed once again with a huge smile on her face. Princess Maia wondered what is going on.

    Soon, the invisible barrier was removed and Scarlet directly told Maia that the latter has won the contest and congratulated her. She then escorted the guest, leaving behind a dumbfounded princess.

    Sometime later;

    In a dim-lit chamber, there''s a round table with ten thrones placed around it. Each throne has a unique insignia dedicated to each hidden clan.

    The respective elders of the Dragon Clan and Sun Clan were seated in positions reserved for clan heads. Meanwhile, 15-yr-old Estella stood behind the current Matriarch of the Moon Clan and her ancestor, Elyssa Moon.

    *Clap*

    "Okay, let''s summon the others." The mysterious guy spoke to Elyssa who in turn unleashed a secret technique only known to other clan heads and their successors.

    In an instant, projections of several people appeared on the thrones. They looked around at others.

    Qridus was the first to greet him, rising to his toes and bowing to him with respect, "Greetings, Saint Ravens."

    "It''s been a while, Qridus." The guy surnamed Ravens spoke casually towards him. He further added, "You are at the end of your lifespan. I hope you focus on making the breakthrough."

    As the others stayed silent, Qridus replied, "I can only dare to think about it after a worthy successor replaces me. I don''t want history to be repeated. Moreover, I have lived for nearly 9000 years. I will be content with my life as long as there will be a worthy successor."

    Even though his reply appeared to be humble, in fact, he was criticizing the hidden clans who conspired together with other Supreme Realm experts in killing Aelius Crescent all because he aimed to become a Demigod.

    A brief silence filled the room because everyone knew that their previous clan heads were also involved in the matter.

    Seeing that no one is responding, the guy slowly got up on his feet and changed the subject, "Since everyone is here, let''s start without waiting any longer. With the authority as the judge of the round table, I hereby commence the 319th Hidden clan meeting."

 Chapter 378 Hidden Clan Meeting

    <strong>"Sun Clan''s representative ¨C Qin Liuxian,"</strong> The elder of the Sun Clan got up from his seat and gave his attendance, following the rules. No matter what will be the topic, as the clan that represents the Fire, the attendance always starts with them.

    After he was finished, the Matriarch of Moon Clan rose to her feet, "Moon Clan''s representative ¨C Elyssa Moon."

    <strong>"Dragon clan''s representative ¨C Kaye F. Ravillon"</strong>

    <strong>"Representative of Asgard ¨C Kvasir"</strong>

    <strong>"Kuru Clan''s representative ¨C Agasthya"</strong>

    <strong>"Representative of Angels ¨C Raziel Blair"</strong>

    <strong>"Minamoto clan''s representative ¨C Tachibana Shuzo"</strong>

    <strong>"Representative of Elves ¨C Druindar Heletris Triastal"</strong>

    <strong>"Death Clan''s representative ¨C Qridus Garcia"</strong>

    Because the clan heads change over time and some clans will send representatives as they did now, the saint felt the attendance/introductions were necessary and this rule was implemented by him during one of the meetings between the original founders of the hidden clans.

    As for the identity of this mysterious guy, no one knows his real name except for his surname. For a hundred thousand years, he was with the hidden clans, never involved in either their matters or the affairs of the world. He only makes an appearance whenever the hidden clan meetings take place.

    Except for the Death clan head, no one knows where he lives either.

    The reason?

    It''s because he used to be the master of the founder of the Death clan but still, he never takes the sides and judges impartially.

    As the clan heads were all rank-9, they speculated that he was a powerful Demigod from the First Epoch or maybe, he was born at the end of the apocalypse era. Either way, no one cares about his origin as they couldn''t afford to challenge him.

    Just like how 9-star Arcana Masters were addressed as Venerable, a 10-star Arcana Master is addressed as a Saint. But, this term hasn''t been in use for a long time because of the lack of Demigods. So, this guy might be pretty much the only official Saint.

    Back to the present, Saint Ravens took the seat and told Elyssa to speak about the agenda of the meeting. Only after she was finished, others can speak. It is the privilege of a host.

    Elyssa Moon started speaking, "I would like to raise three issues, which are linked to each other.

    First is the invasion from outer space.

    A while ago, a spaceship from outer space crashed onto our planet without any warning. The invaders claimed themselves as the descendants of the original inhabitants of this planet before the apocalypse area.

    The invaders belonged to an empire named ''The Federation of Arcturian'' and we have no idea about their full strength but if we believe the words of the leader of those invaders, they have occupied several worlds and have a mighty army enough to squash ours. I call for the preparations for a possible upcoming invasion.

    Second, the invaders discovered our planet accidentally as they were searching for someone who escaped with some sophisticated technology, long ago. She was here in our world hiding somewhere and we have no idea about it. Whether her intentions are good or bad, she doesn''t belong here and brought trouble to our world. I call for her capture and find out about the Federation of Arcturian.

    And finally third. The leaders of the Sun Clan and Dragon Clan have openly supported the invaders to harm our planet stating they no longer wanted to be a part of hidden clans and wanted to share power with outsiders by eliminating the hidden clans. I and Lord Qridus are the witnesses.

    I call for their suspension from the round table as well as an additional punishment on the grounds of betraying the oath of our founders as well as the humanity."

    Saint Ravens then looked at the representatives of the accused, "Do you have anything to say in your defense? Before you speak, I will have to remind you that lying will lead to severe consequences." His eyes glowed dark red for a second, making the elders of Dragon Clan and Sun Clan gulp in fear. Meanwhile, the Patriarch of the Kuru clan fell into deep thoughts as their clan is also thinking of going public lately.

    Kaye of the Dragon Clan rose to her feet and explained, "The Dragon Clan denies the accusation of our entire clan is involved in siding with the alien invasion. Only our late Patriarch has been involved in it and he received the punishment of death. I hope Venerable masters will take this into consideration."

    After her, Qin Liuxian of the Sun Clan said, "I also have the same statement as Miss Ravillon."

    Saint Ravens didn''t comment on that and just stared at the projects, "Any questions?"

    Qridus Garcia was the first to act as soon as he saw the opportunity, "I have but one question. Do the Elders of both of the clans have the knowledge of invasion prior to the incident?"

    Kaye and Qin Liuxian fell silent before the former slowly nodded while the latter tried to defend himself, "But, we are helpless. Once a Patriarch takes the decision, it becomes final."

    His statement brought criticism from the Minamoto clan''s leader who looked like he is of a completely different race compared to the people of the Xynnar continent. "So, if one day, your Patriarch decides to commit genocide like in the same level of Aelius Crescent, you won''t stop him or even inform other clans, correct? How is this anything different from aiding an evil act?" Tachibana Shuzo sounded cold while giving his opinion.

    One after another, each one voiced their opinion on the matter.

    Looking at how the clan leaders were asking the Saint to give a harsh punishment as a lesson without showing any mercy, Estella thought that it was amazing that they stay united for a period of a hundred thousand years.

    After hearing everyone''s opinion, Saint Ravens announced, "Here''s my verdict. The Sun Clan and the Dragon Clan will be released from the burden of protecting humanity from the shadows. At the same time, all the elders along with the leaders of both the clans will be imprisoned for a period of 100 years as a punishment.

    The clans are also no longer permitted to stay in pocket dimensions. But then again, the creations of the founders of the hidden clans cannot be destroyed. So, it was up to both of the clans to make the choice.

    In the first option, the elders will be imprisoned somewhere else. Another hidden clan must volunteer for this job. In this scenario, the rest of the clan members can continue to stay at their homes as usual. But, their actions have to be monitored every now and then.

    In the second option, the elders will be imprisoned in their respective pocket dimensions for 100 years. I will personally seal those pocket dimensions so that none could escape or even contact outside. The rest of the clan members will have to settle somewhere else but will be free to do whatever they want.

    I will make a visit to the Dragon Clan and the Sun Clan after 3 days of time. By then, I need an answer, or else, I will just seal everyone and cut their contact with the outside world.

    As for the invasion and finding the woman, I will not involve in this matter and let you decide for yourselves.

    Okay, now, it is the turn of the other clans. Speak your agendas."

    "I want to speak something." Qridus once again lift his hand and took the opportunity to act first, "The removal of the two hidden clans will only reduce our strength. I call for the replacements."

    "Replacements?" Everyone turned their heads to look at Qridus in surprise.

 Chapter 379 8th Tier Of Invincible Divine Body

    After a lengthy discussion and arguments, a few names were added to the list like the Blood clan, the almost extinct Dinosaur Clan, the Aqua clan, WAMO, the Abel Tower, The Temple of Horus, The Temple of Aries, Origin guild, Valkyrie race, and Dwarf race.

    Out of these, only two will be finalized by Saint Ravens in the next meeting.

    Valkyries and Dwarves were living in Asgard. Blood clan is nominated by the Death Clan. The others were pretty much independent and aren''t under anyone''s rule. So, even if they were chosen, there''s no guarantee that they will join because of not letting go of the fame and staying in the shadows like the other hidden clans.

    After the meeting is concluded, Saint Ravens disappeared along with the projections. The elders returned to their respective clans to recount everything to their new clan heads and other elders. Those who fought with everyone to become the head will surely regret it.

    But anyway, none of this mattered to Affea or her family. They just enjoyed everything the lunar festival has to offer for the next couple of days and returned home. Obviously, Azzy wasn''t there to welcome them.

    In Arcana World, the second batch of all the categories was completed and the third batch started. At the same time, in the Silver City, the duo category was over. Claire and Mia successfully entered top-8 after a long battle. The entire credit goes to Agatha, Claire''s divine sword spirit whose assistance made this possible.

    As for Louis and Calder, they couldn''t make it because Calder wasn''t a match for his opponent and Louis doesn''t want to reveal all of his trump cards. As a result, they lost an important match against the duo from the Central Academy.

    The solo battles start. Leah enters the junior division. She became the favorite right from the beginning. Surprisingly, Claire was also participating in solo battles. Even her teammates didn''t know that she registered for all the categories courtesy of Leah. If not for the Camelot''s princess registering for solo, she wouldn''t have bothered for it.

    And now that there''s an incident occurred between them (Leah''s date with Azzy), Claire was even more motivated to win against her in front of the whole world. Of course, it goes without saying that she plans to take Agatha''s help in the worst-case scenario.

    <strong>Three more days passed away;</strong>

    <strong>Pelican Rainforest, Nation of Llyne;</strong>

    It is the end of the 11th day since Azzy arrived at this location for the training. For the past 11 days, he was doing nothing but sleeping for 6 hours, eating one meal every evening for a period of 30-45 minutes. The rest of the time was spent on training. It was indeed rigorous.

    It was about 8 o''clock in the evening and Azzy was in a meditative pose as usual. The natural energy was continuously gushing into his body before getting refined and strengthening his body parts.

    As it was dark, neither Azzy nor the tent could be seen normally. But, a large python, which coiled itself on a branch of a tree, was staring at him in silence. It wasn''t a spirit beast but has keen senses. It was clear to the snake that this human boy is dangerous. So, it didn''t dare to approach him.

    At the same time, the intelligent python also grew curious about what this guy doing sitting all day. The translucent natural energy present around him also made him appear friendlier to all the animals of the wild. As a result, it continued to observe him from far away for several days.

    And now on the 11th day, it finally spotted something strange. Underneath the translucent natural energy layer, his skin was glowing, giving off radiance like a sun.

    Not only did the glow from his body illuminate the surroundings but also attracted their attention. All the tiny animals ranging from insects to monkeys and the python surrounded him and just stared at him in silence. They found it extremely peaceful in his presence for some reason.

    However, soon, the glow disappeared and they became confused. Suddenly, they sensed the terrifying oppressive dark power, which is quite the opposite of the earlier divine radiance, and they fled while making sounds. It disturbed Azzy''s concentration but he was about to open his eyes either way. So, there''s nothing lost.

    As he opened his eyes and look at his hands, the Reaper''s voice echoed in his head, "8th tier finally. You did it. Congratulations, Azrael."

    Azzy clenched his fist and mumbled, "Amazing. I could feel the strength in my bones and muscles. My capacity to store the natural energy was also increased by several folds. But, it really took a long time to break through the last step, eh."

    "Well, I already admitted that I didn''t take it into account that you are a beginner," commented the Reaper. He added, "Anyway, there''s still a lot of time left for your next battle. So, you might as well spend two weeks to break through to 9th tier."

    "No way," Azzy rejected his advice right away. "8th tier is enough for me and this isn''t the time to train but to spend with family. I''m returning."

    "Did you already forget about the girl of the Crescent clan?" The Reaper then asked him.

    Azzy rose to his feet and stretched his body, "Barbara? I originally thought of meeting her if I finished the training in a week but it has already been 11 days. So, I guess I will meet her, later."

    "You will really miss a good opportunity if you don''t meet her in the upcoming few days. The rest is your wish." The Reaper naturally didn''t reveal the future but only hinted that something good will happen to him if he go and meet her.

    Azzy knew that the Reaper never speaks nonsense too. After thinking for a bit, he decided to go, although not alone. Of course, it wasn''t Claire. She had battles to worry about.

    He had a good sleep that night and on the following morning, instead of journeying back home, he directly messaged Gideon to meet him at the Moon City, early in the morning.

    The next day morning, Azzy visited the nearby city of Blackburn and used the Portal point to teleport to Moon city, later meeting his friend outside of the Portal zone.

    Then, both of them boarded a horse carriage to go to the Moon Academy. Since they came uninvited and Azzy didn''t have any bad intentions, he couldn''t force himself into the academy and informed the security guard about his intentions.

    The guards have no idea about the world league but he can sure see that Azzy''s soul power is far higher than theirs. As Azzy was here for a teenage girl, one of the guards took a cautious approach and first escorted the both of them to the Deputy Headmistress of the Academy.

    Because it is class time, Azzy didn''t encounter any students on the way and directly saw the Deputy Headmistress named Myrtice. She is an 8-star Arcana Master, a legendary realm expert.

    Myrtice was having tea on her own as she was looking at some files. The knock on the door disturbed her quality time but she maintained her coolness, "Come in."

    Just as the door opened and her eyes fell on Azzy and Gideon, she put down the tea on the table right away and rose to her feet, "Azrael of the Aclein city?"

 Chapter 380 Azzys Warning To Barbara

    The guard was visibly surprised by the Deputy headmistress'' reaction and he hurriedly informed him of everything that Azzy told him a while ago.

    "Oh, I see¡­" Myrtice nodded with a smile. "Please come in and take a seat." As she invited them in, she ordered the guard to go and fetch the girl from the Elite division in normal studies.

    As he left, the Deputy Headmistress then introduced herself and asked them to take the seats.

    Once they did that, she congratulated both of them before asking about their future plans without wasting any time. Her eyes were especially on Gideon instead of Azzy.

    "Future plans?" Gideon was slightly surprised as he immediately realized what she was hinting at. It might be a common thing for Azzy but not for Gideon though. Being scouted by a top academy is something to be celebrated for someone like him, although whether he wanted to join it or not is a completely different matter.

    But then again, he can''t give a direct answer. So, he thought for a bit and answered, "I haven''t actually thought about it until now. I have joined WAMO. So, if I couldn''t get into any desired academy for the advanced studies, I guess I will try to complete the training and become a full-fledged member of the organization."

    "That''s nice. You guys must be the youngest people to be recruited by an organization like WAMO." Deputy Headmistress Myrtice smiled as she picked up the teacup once again. After taking a sip, she said to Gideon, "So, what do you think about Moon Academy?"

    "It''s one of the best." Gideon gave a simple and straightforward reply before asking, "I''m sorry for being direct but will you accept me if I apply? You know I have an eye disorder that can''t be treated."

    Gideon was born with an untreatable eye disorder. Without special lenses or glasses, the whole world will become blurry for him. Azzy also knew this fact. So, he too looked at the woman for the answer.

    However, Myrtice was completely calm as she replied, "not an issue. We are an academy, Mr. Gideon, not an organization. Our job is to train and make potential students stronger in all the fields. And it''s not like you will stay here for a decade that we have to think about the costs for the training program.

    You have potential, Mr. Gideon. I have watched the footage of your matches. Able to use the power of attribute is a gift present in only a few individuals.

    If you are interested, we will accept you at any time and include you in the merit scholarship program where the academy will bear all the expenses for your accommodation, training, tuition fee, etc¡­ This will extend up to the graduation from advanced studies."

    Azzy had mixed feelings about how the Deputy Headmistress is trying to poach Gideon to join the Moon Academy. He was happy for his friend but he was also disappointed because he was being ignored completely.

    It''s not like he was jealous of Gideon or something.

    For the past few years, He was used to being the center of attention wherever he goes. So, there was this slight discomfort in his chest. That''s all.

    As Azzy became a spectator, Deputy Headmistress Myrtice continued to offer all kinds of incentives and all if Gideon joins them. She was even ready to talk with Barton to transfer him in the middle of the year.

    Maybe, she had also sensed that she was ignoring Azzy too much. She also offered the same thing to him but in response, he simply replied that he wasn''t interested in advanced studies.

    Myrtice couldn''t argue that and gave up on him right away. After all, she could see that he was already at high-rank-6 and was powerful enough to take out even rank-7 experts. So, there''s no academy in the world that is worthy of him. Perhaps, only ancient organizations could offer something.

    After a while, Barbara came to the office. Her face was full of smiles as she reunited with her cousin.

    Myrtice only knows that they are childhood friends and didn''t know beyond that. What''s stranger is that both of their background stories are shrouded in mystery. Just like Azzy, Barbara''s story before 1993 has no proof at all. It was as if both of them popped out of thin air.

    Anyway, whether they are friends or lovers or something else, it doesn''t matter to Myrtice. Since they came all the way to meet her and Barbara is also willing to communicate with them, she gave her permission to take leave from the classroom.

    Soon, both of them were seen roaming around the campus while Gideon left to tour the city. Barbara didn''t leave the campus. So, her personal guards didn''t invade her private space and just stayed outside the gate as they should be.

    For a while, both of them spoke about personal things, especially about their love life, academic life, or how backward this timeline is¡­

    But, soon, the situation turned around.

    Upon confirming that no one is spying on them, Azzy finally stopped sightseeing and came to the matter while taking a seat on the bench under the tree.

    "The time we might need to return is near, Barbara." Azzy opened up the topic, "Your boyfriend won''t remember you. Perhaps, even you might not remember anything. I don''t want to say this but it is best if you break up."

    Barbara was all smiles until now but suddenly, her expression changed. "No, three months ago, when I accepted his proposal, I already decided to stay back, cousin."

    Azzy took a glance at her and she appeared rather serious. The Reaper stayed silent and only acted as a spectator.

    In response to her statement, Azzy then took out a message card and wrote a message on the empty letter through soul energy before sending a text message instead of audio as he cannot risk someone listening to the conversation without his knowledge. "If you stay behind, you might be killed by my future self."

    "Future self?" Barbara was taken aback when she saw the message pop up in her head. She looked at him and asked, "What''s going on?"

    He responded with a message card once again, explaining how his encounter with his future self had happened.

    Barbara was shocked at first but then grew confused as she pointed at him and asked, "Your future self is you, right?"

    In response, Azzy shrugged his shoulders, "I can change. No guarantee."

    "Because of this so-called anomaly in the timeline?" She asked. There was a clear confusion written on her face.

    He nodded and then rose to his feet, "Within a few months probably, I will visit you once again. You can give me your answer after thinking thoroughly. Since we registered our soul signatures in message cards, if you want to meet me, then, send one when you are ready."

    After dropping a nuke on Barbara''s hopes, Azzy could no longer change to a normal topic and felt like he should leave her alone, not knowing how to console her.

    He then patted her shoulder, "I''ll be leaving, Barbara. Drop by our home when you have time."

    "Bye," Barbara managed to squeeze those words from her mouth while looking down.

    Azzy felt bad for his cousin but he was also helpless in the situation. He walked away from her and exited the academy.

    Letting out a sigh, he looked at the clear sky, "Okay, let''s not think much. I did what I should do. The decision lies on her shoulders. Anyway, let''s contact Gideon¡­"

    He then took out his message card and sent an audio message. A blinding flash of light covered the message card but nothing happened afterward. It returned in the form of an envelope.

    "Hmm?" Azzy sent one more time. The result was the same. "Did this card malfunctioning or did Gideon seal his soul energy?"

    The latter is highly improbable as Gideon doesn''t have the knowledge of the Decarune seal. And even if his master, Ramiel Crescent has the knowledge, he wouldn''t pass such an ancient sealing technique to Gideon just like that because it has only been a few months since they even know each other.

    Azzy checked with the message card. It is working just fine.

    That only means one thing¡­

    The possibility turned Azzy''s eyes cold, all of a sudden, "if my suspicion becomes true, then, whoever it is, they will pay dearly."

 Chapter 381 Gideons Coincidental Meeting With Estella Moon

    <strong>An hour ago;</strong>

    After Gideon left the academy, he went on a city tour. At one of the tourist attractions, the Castle of Maria, he encountered a tour guide who appeared to be looking around for the customers but couldn''t find one.

    Feeling pity for her, Gideon hired the woman for 1000 credits. Of course, he didn''t hide his soul power in case she might think of duping him later.

    Eventually, about 15 minutes ago, they came to the most popular tourist destination of Moon City, the Crescent flea market also known as the Thief''s market.

    It is a place where second-hand or smuggled goods are being sold almost at half of the cost of the first-hand ones. Such markets are also located in other places. But, what makes this special?

    It''s because of the antique stores that sell unidentified items at a cheap price. Several individuals over thousands of years became lucky in acquiring relics, meat & bones of platinum-grade beasts, and powerful weapons. That''s why people visit here from all over the place to try their luck.

    Of course, some stores do sell identified relics and meat at a reasonable price. So, there will be customers who would want to buy them without trying to gamble.

    Because of the sheer number of tourists, the security is also tight but from time to time, some guys manage to steal things from the vendors and successfully escape.

    Like countless visitors, Gideon was also here to take a look around and try his luck. He bought a few unidentified items like a sword, an amulet, and a bracelet before he stumbled upon a rundown store, which says that it is there since the third epoch. That means more than seventy thousand years old.

    Despite how amazing it sounds, there were no people outside the store at all. The tour guide stopped him from entering. "Mr. Gideon, this shop is dangerous. I don''t recommend going in there. If you don''t believe me, look over there."

    Gideon looked where she was pointing the finger. There was actually a board placed on the left side of the door. On the board, a notice was written in big letters that this store sells cursed items and the owner will not be responsible for anything.

    He thought for a bit and waved his hands with a smile, "Thank you, Ms. Grace but it is not like I planned to buy anything. The temptation is too hard to fight. I will be only looking at them."

    From their conversations, the tour guide learned that Gideon is a high school kid and thought that he might not know what he is signing up for. So, she tried to warn him once again but as Gideon was stubborn in his decision, she stayed outside the store while he stepped inside.

    As soon as he stepped inside, a surprise was waiting for him in the form of a doll-like girl.

    "Ella?" Gideon let out a scream of surprise.

    "Hmm?" Estella and some old guy (probably the owner) looked in his direction. "Gideon? What the hell are you doing here?" She furrowed her brows in displeasure.

    Seeing that she was alone without any guards at the moment, Gideon let out a grin and walked towards her, "Just looking around for the tour. I didn''t expect to meet here of all the places. We must really be destined together."

    Estella rolled her eyes as she heard that nonsense so many times. She could no longer bother herself to even scold him once again and placed her attention back on the golden necklace displayed before her. "So, where were we? Yes, 16.5 million credits." She asked the owner.

    "No, as I have already mentioned to you, I won''t take less than 20 million." The owner was firm on his stance.

    "18 million. This is the highest I can over. The overall price will be 50 million. Deal?" Estella continued to bargain.

    It was the first time Gideon saw this side of Estella. She was rich enough to pay such an amount with her eyes closed. So, it was a surprise for him.

    What he didn''t know is that Estella loves bargaining from a young age. Her wealth doesn''t matter here. It''s a hobby, which will make her feel better when she gets it at a price she quotes.

    "No means no," As the owner of the store continued to be stubborn, Estella pulled out her trump card. She nodded, "Alright, I won''t be buying them."

    Next to the cursed necklace, there are two boxes placed. One of them contained a cursed dagger that she earlier bought for 28 million after bargaining for 10 minutes to reduce it from 30 million. The other contained cursed earrings, which she bought for 4 million credits.

    Now, because of the necklace, she put off the entire deal and prepared to walk out.

    The moment she turned away and stepped towards the exit door, the owner panicked and hurriedly stopped her. "Wait. 20 million including removing the purification."

    Gideon saw a smile appear on Estella''s face. She was facing him. So, only he spotted it. And it only lasted a second. She controlled her expression before turning around to face the owner, "Removal of curse from all the three items."

    The owner fell into silence for a moment before he reluctantly nodded, "alright. But, it will take time."

    "Not a problem. I can wait," replied the moon clan''s heiress as she shrugged her shoulders. She handed him a badge with Moon written on it, and the Espurr beast was craved below the name. It was a fiery red cat with a crescent moon gem embedded in its forehead.

    Surprisingly, the Sun City also has the same overlord in the region, although this Espurr beast has a gem in the shape of a sun embedded in its forehead.

    Anyway, the badges given at the entry of the cities at Arcana World were a little bit different from the ones issued at the portal points in the world of Gaia.

    For example, Estella comes from the nation of Athledon. When she used a portal point at Lunaris city to travel to the Arcana World, she was issued a badge with a one-legged crane engraved on it.

    In that badge, she can use the credit card or prepaid cards to store the credits in that iron badge before entering the portal. And in the Arcana world, as modern technology is banned, the governments thought of a new method where they could use that universal digital currency here.

    As a result, each city has separate badges that are issued at the offices located at the entrances. In that office, the manager would have the authority to transfer credits from the iron badges of the countries to the copper badges of the Arcana world''s cities.

    Once entering the city, Estella could freely transfer credits from her copper badge to other identical copper badges belonged the same city.

    The only risk here is that, unlike the iron badges, the copper badges are ownerless and are completely identical. So, if one steals the badges, then, all the credits in it belonged to the thief and the owner couldn''t even prove that it is theirs.

    Back to the present, Estella transferred 5 million credits to the owner in advance and took the receipt with the names of the items along with the stamp and signature recorded on it.

    Ignoring Gideon, she exited the store and started walking. Gideon followed her from behind after transferring 1000 credits to the tour guide and sent her away.

    "C''mon, Ella. Don''t you think you are too much?" Gideon started complaining as Estella refused to speak. He then brought out the topic of her desertion, "We were supposed to participate in the world league as a duo but you blew me up and left without even apologizing. For an heiress of the Moon Clan like you isn''t a big thing but for a poor guy like me, it is a missed opportunity."

    Gideon''s strategy worked and she stopped in her tracks to look at him. She''s arrogant and might even have evil thoughts from time to time regarding Claire, but she still knows when she was wrong. Looking at him, she said, "Alright, It''s my fault."

    Gideon let out a big smile, "Then, as compensation, for the next hour, I need you to treat me equally and let me tag along with you."

    "Eh?" Estella was a little bit taken aback and stared at him suspiciously, wondering what is going on in his head. In the end, she felt that it doesn''t matter and nodded.

    "Okay then, where are we going?" He asked with a pleasant smile.

 Chapter 382 Falling Into A Trap

    Both of them stopped at several stores while talking about different things. Well, it cannot be considered a proper conversation as Gideon did the most talking and Estella just gave short replies from time to time.

    It might be just walking but Gideon felt like they were on a date, although he wouldn''t reveal his thoughts.

    Nearly 45 minutes later, they finally stopped at the end of the Black market zone. It was another run-down store without any people.

    Gideon wondered out loud, "does this store also sell cursed items?"

    Estella shook her head and replied, "No. It''s just an old store that sells antique items."

    "It looks like you really antique items," commented Gideon letting out a grin. He wasn''t wrong though. She did buy so many of them during the past hour. Gideon was happy that he gets to see Estella''s different side from the one she behaves usually.

    "If only she tries to talk cute, it will be great," He couldn''t help but fantasize about her talking like an anime character.

    As his ears flushed in red while his fingers are twitching in excitement, Estella gave an elbow strike to his abdomen, "What are you thinking, you pervert?"

    "Pervert?" Gideon felt like his chest was pierced by an invisible arrow. He quickly calmed himself and cleared his throat, "nothing, let''s go."

    Both of them walked towards the store named Origin. It is stated since 1951 of the 11th Epoch on the sign board. So, it''s like the store has only been here for 43 years. Gideon mumbled, "It seems the business is going well here. She might get scammed."

    Estella was nearby and heard it clearly. Without turning around, she stated, "I dare him to scam me and live to tell the tale."

    Gideon didn''t say anything as he was aware of her personality. He followed her as she walked into the store.

    It was rather a simple store, appearing like any other one in the market. There are items displayed on the wall behind the long wooden desk that separate the customers and the owner. Gideon observed them and felt like they don''t look impressive.

    On the other hand, Estella wasn''t even sparing a glance at those displayed items and directly talked to the owner who appeared to be busy with the customers. There are like a dozen items on the desk.

    "I heard that a certain pendent found its way here," said Estella, interrupting his business.

    As soon as the words escaped her mouth, the two customers glanced at each other and then, nodded slightly to the owner as if they gave some sort of signal to him.

    The owner of the store appeared like a young man in his 30s. Considering his soul power appears to be only at rank 2, it might be his real age.

    He ignored the customers and gave attention to the heiress of the Moon Clan. Letting out a smile, "Do you wish to buy it?"

    "Obviously, or else, why would I be here?" Estella snorted in response.

    The young man kept his smile and raised his index finger. Gideon thought that it is 10 million or maybe 100 million but the owner shocked him as he quote the price, "1 Billion. No bargain."

    "Billion!" Gideon cried out loudly while Estella furrowed her brows. Strangely, the two customers didn''t change their expressions.

    Gideon then asked, "Ella, what kind of object is that it costs that high?"

    "It''s the Pendant of Selene," replied Estella. She then took a glance at the young man and added, "But, I''m not sure about its authenticity."

    The young owner then explained, "According to the seller, this pendant has a fascinating history. It was originally created by Zeus for one of his lovers, Selene, the Moon Goddess during their relationship.

    Later, Selene fell in love with a mortal man named Endymion and even married him. Unfortunately, he couldn''t live longer than 80-odd years. After all, this was the time before the age of Arcana.

    Eventually, it was buried along with Endymion after he died due to old age. No one knows how powerful the object is but considering it belongs to a Divine being, its price can''t be low."

    "I see," Gideon was satisfied by the reply and nodded.

    On the other hand, Estella doesn''t appear to be impressed.

    From the start, she never had the expectations of acquiring the real thing because the elders of the clan have already confirmed its price.

    Unfortunately for them, only Leviathan, who met the Moon Goddess in person when it was a Celestial grade beast in a past life, can authenticate it by tracing that divine energy of Moon Goddess left on the pendant.

    That means Estella is necessary. The problem occurred when the elders told her that it was sold for only 1 Billion credits, which is way below their expectations. If it was a real one, it shouldn''t be less than 10 billion.

    Of course, 1 billion is also not a small amount. They cannot just pay such an amount for a fake. It is why Estella''s presence is necessary.

    And Estella, who wasn''t that excited to buy the object, just said, "Show it."

    "Alright," He nodded.

    The owner took out a red-colored brocade box and carefully placed it on the desk. Surprisingly, he wasn''t a little bit cautious. After all, he is a 2-star Arcana Master and the customers are far more powerful than him.

    What if they stole him or worse, kill him and take the precious object by force? Gideon couldn''t help but be taken aback by the owner''s behavior.

    Unfortunately, Estella didn''t possess such awareness. She just wants to verify it and be done with the task as fast as possible.

    But what if it turns out to be real? Even then, it doesn''t matter to her because she can''t have it. The other items were bought with her saved pocket money but this one was paid for by the clan funds.

    "Here it is¡­"

    Soon, the young owner opened the brocade box, revealing a pendant inside.

    The chain was made of pure platinum or silver but the pendant itself is in the form of a full moon made from black colored metal (adamantine?). Well, more than a moon, it appears like a thick and large ring for it was hollow inside. Thankfully, the hollow space was filled with a yellow colored gem. It was glowing brightly as if it contained some divine power.

    At a glance, because of the mismatched color combination of silver/platinum-black-yellow, the pendant looked anything but attractive. Well, atleast for the mortals and low-rank Arcana Masters.

    But, for people like Gideon and Estella, it was a tremendous attraction, especially the gem. Even those two mysterious customers couldn''t help but glance at the pendant with greedy looks.

    "This¡­"

    It made Gideon remember the Jewel of Life that he witnessed during the royal feast auction, which happened after the Champions League. As he enhanced his senses, he felt a tremendous amount of energy within the gemstone that almost suffocated him. He was forced to stop sensing it. Estella was almost in the same condition as him.

    Meanwhile, the Leviathan, which was sleeping inside Estella''s mindscape, suddenly opened its eyes and let out a roar.

    Estella''s eyes widened in shock. Sensing how the beast was going crazy, wanting to devour the object, she assumed that it is a real deal. At the same time, she couldn''t keep her eyes off the gemstone embedded inside the pendant.

    The young man closed the lid and let out a smirk, "Now, does the customer believe its authenticity. Or would you like to take a closer look? You can feel it and check it yourself. Once the transaction went through, I won''t be refunding the money at any cost."

    He opened the lid of the box once again to tempt her.

    Just as he expected, Estella, who was attracted by the gemstone, stretched her arms and touched the gemstone before trying to pick up the pendant. However, the moment she touched the chain, strange energy invaded her body before transforming into a mystic seal and attacking her soul orb.

    "Argh¡­" Estella shrieked in pain, all of a sudden, and collapsed on the ground. The chain was about to fall on the ground but was caught with a thread of soul energy by one of the mysterious customers who returned it to the brocade box.

    Everything just happened in an instant.

    "Ella!" Gideon hurriedly picked her up with a look of worry on his face. It was then something clicked in his mind and he raised his head to find those two customers along with the owner were smiling big.

    "He''s at rank-5 and will be useful for energy extraction. Capture him too." The supposedly weakling owner ordered the two customers.

    "A trap? Who the hell are you?"

 Chapter 383 Gideons Lightning Mode

    About 6 hours after the kidnap; the sun is about a couple of hours away from setting.

    Three middle-aged men came out of a cavern somewhere on the mountain.

    One of them ordered the other two as they entered the jungle, "Search every nook and corner of the jungle. Kill every beast that you encounter. I need them."

    "But, haven''t we sealed their soul energy? How will we trace them?" A subordinate who is in rank 6 voiced his opinion.

    The leader gave a tight slap at his cheek in response and snarled at both of them, "Who are the idiots that let them slip away? You are a 6-star Arcana Master for god''s sake. How did he manage to escape even without the aid of soul energy?"

    "He could use lightning attribute power," answered the other subordinate.

    Their angry leader gave a knee to this guy, "Do you think I wasn''t aware of that? Why do you think I left them out of the prison card and imprisoned them in the cave? It''s because I couldn''t take my chances against Arcana Possession and attribute power when I''m leaving them with you. I specifically warned you to pay attention before I left. Both of you trash can''t even keep an eye on them for two mere hours."

    As the subordinates apologized right away, the leader took a deep breath, "Okay, I will search from above. One of you takes the east and north; the other takes the west and south. Let your Dragons free in the sky. That guy must not get far away with injuries.

    If we don''t find them soon and they get back the Moon Clan, we will be damned."

    The two of them are none other than the mysterious customers who easily knocked out Gideon after Estella fell unconscious. They were the elites of the Dragon Clan.

    Their leader, who looks middle-aged, was actually the same young owner of the ''Origin'' store, although it is just a disguise. He''s a rank-6 expert and one of the heirs to the Dragon Clan who is an expert with disguises.

    With the disappearance of elders and the vacant position of the Patriarch, the Dragon Clan was divided into three factions.

    The families of Blue Dragon, Green Dragon, and Yellow Dragon are in one faction.

    The Red Dragon allied with Black Dragon and the Unorthodox family.

    The White Dragon family is neutral as always and Outcasts have no right to involve in the clan matters.

    That leaves the alliance of Brown Dragon and Metal Dragon. And Cedar Ravillon is the young master of the Metal Dragon family. His Arcana is a Steel Dragon.

    To secure the position of the clan head, Cedar Ravillon chose to use the ancient heirloom of the family that was passed down to him as bait because it is cursed and ownerless.

    No one in the Dragon Clan had any idea who placed the seal on the pendant but whenever someone touches the pendant with bare hands, a sealing technique will be unleashed upon them. Not only their soul orb will be sealed but even their whole body will be paralyzed.

    Luckily for him, the pendant is linked to the Moon Goddess. So, he baited the Moon Clan''s heiress.

    He planned to use it as a bargaining chip for the support of the Moon Clan. He knew that a daughter of heaven like her is very important to the clan. He even planned to put forth a proposition where the Moon Clan will have a say in the decisions of the Dragon Clan once he becomes the Patriarch.

    As for Gideon, he''s just an unexpected bonus. Instead of killing him, he decided to use him for secret experiments usually conducted in the clan. Cedar wanted to extract his soul energy and let the researchers study his body to find out how one unlocks the attribute power without using the soul energy.

    Why does he know Gideon''s ability? It''s because of Twilight''s matches against the Dragon Riders in the world league.

    After Cedar successfully captured Gideon and Estella, he placed them in a cavern and left the elite experts with them before returning to the city to meet informants. When he returned, he learned that the boy got consciousness and escaped with the girl after having a battle with the two of them.

    What''s more, it happened only ten minutes before his arrival.

    And at the moment, they were searching for Gideon and Estella who somehow managed to escape from them.

    Meanwhile, at the foot of the mountain only about five kilometers away, an injured Gideon was carrying a motionless Estella as he sat against the tree. Estella wasn''t exactly in the state of unconscious.

    She regained consciousness but her whole body is paralyzed. She can only blink her eyes and couldn''t even speak.

    "Don''t worry. we will get out of here. I promise," Gideon continued to carry her in his arms. She blinked twice.

    As his soul energy was also sealed, he cannot use any healing skill card to heal his injuries and neither could send a message to Azzy or his master for help. He was also physically tired. Escaping from Upper realm experts (rank-6) is by means not an easy task and that too, when carrying a burden. Adding on top of this, the jungle is full of rank-5 and rank-6 monsters. Naturally, he had to fight and escape from them too.

    *Roar*

    Upon hearing the roar of a dragon, Gideon rose to his feet and resumed moving. Their soul energies might be sealed but the Dragons are different from the monsters in the wild. They could still smell the humans even if Gideon smeared his body and Estella''s body with the blood of monsters to escape their attention.

    He ran from here to there and from there to somewhere without caring a bit about the direction.

    Meanwhile, at the Moon City, Azzy reached the black market along with the Vajra and is visiting all the stores they have previously visited.

    Originally, Azzy wanted to rewind the time and save his friend but the Reaper was against the plan and told him to not do that because it might make him miss the good thing that was waiting for him.

    The Reaper refused to divulge the secrets of the future and Azzy could only turn to Vajra as it is a Celestial grade black lightning wolf. Its senses are at the top of the world.

    Being familiar with Gideon, Vajra started to search for his smell like a hunting dog. After running all over the city for three hours, they finally came to the black market. Surprisingly, at one of the stores, Vajra also identified the smell of Estella left by her hours ago, almost coinciding with Gideon.

    When the store owner said that Estella never came back to take her items or handed over the remaining money, the investigation slowly became clear to Azzy and he followed both of their traces.

    Because the market is packed with tourists and Gideon was missing for hours, it took a lot of time for Vajra to trace it to the final location. From there, it appeared to be missing.

    The Reaper informed him that they were still alive. So, Azzy was sure that they were abducted. Now, how to proceed from here onwards?

    It was then the Reaper suggested him of using one technique, "Aura tracing."

 Chapter 384 Azzy Finds Gideon

    Aura tracing is a technique derived from Aura Sensing where one can trace the location of the person from the aura left behind at a place.

    Azzy had used it a few times in the past like finding Claire or his friends when they were supposed to meet at a place for casual outings.

    But, the problem is that the auras of Estella and Gideon were gone. Even in the peak concentration, where he can scan a maximum range of a 100-kilometer radius, he cannot find them. Isn''t it why he took the help of Vajra in the first place?

    The Reaper understood his thoughts and further said, "The auras of Estella and Gideon are gone. But, not their abductors. You can find their auras in this place, can''t you?"

    Realization dawned upon Azzy and he started his work, eliminating all the auras that were in the store before 10 o''clock.

    Of course, this wasn''t an easy task for an inexperienced Azzy.

    It took several hours for him to finally single out two auras that also slowly disappeared right after the disappearance of Gideon and Estella.

    Along with that, he also found out that the aura of the person behind the desk was also disappeared right then. Either he was also involved in this abduction or he might also be abducted or worse, killed.

    Anyway, after that, several different auras entered and exit the store. But, with no owner, the displayed objects have no security. Naturally, the missing items could be explained, although Azzy would be in trouble if the real owner comes in now and frame in for theft.

    Fortunately, nothing sort of that happened and Azzy used the teleportation skill card to randomly landed five kilometers away from the place after scanning the entire city with no results.

    Azzy ventured into the wild zone that lies in the east of the city.

    Roughly about half an hour later, after scanning the east and the western regions to the Moon City, he sensed three of the auras at the same place, somewhere in the jungle, which lies in the north.

    "Let''s hope my suspicions are right and Gideon is with them." Azzy poured soul energy over his legs and picked up his speed. On the way, he didn''t forget to absorb the natural energy and continuously use it to enhance his speed further. Moving at mach 2.8, he was almost as fast as one of the fastest jet aircraft in the world, crushing every tree, rock, or monster in his path.

    <strong>Meanwhile, somewhere inside the jungle;</strong>

    Gideon was bathing in lightning sparks; somehow they are red in color, which is more powerful than the usual lightning attribute. However, the injuries on him were too high.

    Estella motionlessly sat against the tree but tears could be seen dropping down her cheeks. She was arrogant but not a heartless person. How couldn''t she be touched by Gideon''s action when he was fighting for her when he has the choice to leave her and escape?

    She wanted to scream out loud, tell him to save his own life but the words couldn''t escape her mouth.

    She was helplessly watching Gideon fighting against three rank-6 experts while depending on nothing but lightning attribute power, which looked like he was about to hit the limit.

    In a way, Gideon was a little bit lucky as he was in the jungle where huge beasts like the Dragons couldn''t enter. Even if they could, they will be restricted by the movements. Of course, the two subordinates never thought of going all out because their young master wanted to capture him alive.

    Meanwhile, the defeated Cedar Ravillon was sitting on the ground. He spits out a mouthful of blood and growled, "Brier, Eldwood, restrict his mobility. Cut off his limbs. I just need him breathing."

    He then glared at Gideon in hatred, "Once I take you back to the clan, I will torture you so much that you will beg for death."

    Gideon let out a heavy laugh, "Good luck, Mr. Whatever your name is. I will neither faint nor will I let you cut off my limbs. To take her away, you will have to kill me. But, it doesn''t matter. My friend will avenge me for sure. Before that happens, I will make sure to take one of you with me to the spirit realm."

    "Cut him down." Cedar passed an order without caring much about his words.

    The two rank-6 experts charged forward once again with soul energies covering their hands. They controlled the soul energy to make energy blades.

    Gideon, on the other hand, stood on the spot knowing that he can''t waste his energy by making excessive movements.

    As the two opponents reached him and thrust the energy blades, Gideon took a step back and ducked to evade their attacks, and threw consecutive punches on the both of their respective abdomens, pushing them back.

    "Aren''t you ashamed of not being able to defeat a mere rank-5 who cannot even use his soul energy?" Cedar harshly scolded the two of them while he continued to take a rest on the ground.

    The two subordinates rolled their eyes as this guy was also a rank-6 but had his ass kicked. Unfortunately, they cannot say anything back to him because of his position. Not to mention, they were also a bit embarrassed for not being able to secure victory.

    They charged forward once again.

    It was at that moment they sensed something. They instantly jumped back away from Gideon and glanced behind them. Even Cedar could sense it.

    "Young master, something is coming." "No, someone is coming in our direction."

    There were continuous screams of the monsters in the jungle; there was the destruction of the trees, and they could sense the speed of the incoming human in the legendary realm. How could they not be panicked?

    "Probably some elder from the Moon Clan," commented Cedar before giving his next order, "Guys, we are leaving right away. Forget the brat and grab the girl."

    He then rose to his feet and charged toward a motionless Estella.

    Gideon instantly went to her protection and grabbed her before he did.

    "No!" Cedar roared in anger and threw an energy spear at him. Because of the less distance, as soon as Gideon lifted her, the spear pierced his back. It contained the power of peak-rank-6.

    "Ack¡­" Gideon screamed in pain with a huge wound on his back. Maybe, he was really at his limit. The lightning sparks over him disappeared and he suddenly lost strength in his legs, making him collapse to the ground. Estella also fell to the ground.

    "Haha, I win," shouted Cedar in happiness and ran forward. Just as he went past Gideon to grab Estella from the ground, Gideon used all of his strength to move his hand and grabbed onto its leg.

    Due to the obstruction of movement, Cedar tripped on his feet.

    He stopped Cedar''s advancement for only a second but it was enough.

    "Grab her¡­" Cedar roared and kicked Gideon in the chest and rose to his feet.

    A streak of flash struck him on the back without any warning. Cedar crashed onto several trees one after another before hitting the ground.

    The other two subordinates stopped in their tracks and looked at the new person who came just in time.

    It was only for a fraction of a second but they saw an hourglass in his hand. Azzy had used it to Time Stop when he was about a few hundred meters away and saved Estella in time.

    But, at the moment, they aren''t in a situation to care about it as it disappeared already and its owner put his attention on the injured Gideon.

    A trace of surprise appeared on Gideon before a pleasant smile appeared on his face, "You are here, Azzy."

    He closed his eyes and lost consciousness right away.

    Azzy observed Gideon''s body and took out a six-star healing card before applying it to him. Gideon was recovered in an instant, although still out of consciousness.

    Azzy then shifted his attention to the two men who rooted on the spot with their legs shaking in fear. They wanted to escape but their young master was knocked out, a dozen meters away. What should they do? Should they leave Cedar to his fate and try to escape? Or should they plead for mercy?

    Before they made the decision, Azzy opened his mouth while giving them an extremely cold gaze, "I don''t care much about Estella but you have crossed my bottom line by harming Gideon. For that, you will face the consequences."

 Chapter 385 Is Azzy Fated With Cosmic Gems?

    First, their pride was already hurt because of Gideon. Cedar Ravillon''s hurtful comments didn''t help either.

    And now, Azzy arrived at the scene.

    Feeling that they were being looked down on by another kid, they felt frustrated. They aren''t weak. Why do they have to receive such treatment?

    Out of disbelief at the reality, both of them got the same thought, "Maybe, they should fight this kid who is also at rank-6?"

    Then, what about the extraordinary speed he displayed earlier? What about his strength that knocked down their young master in one hit?

    Maybe, he used some activated skill cards to enhance his speed. And Cedar was probably knocked down because Azzy took advantage of that earlier speed, converting it into an attack as he stopped. Not to mention, their young master is weaker than peak-rank-6 experts like them.

    When they thought about it, everything made sense. But then again, there''s also small doubt that lingered in their hearts. What if they were wrong? Then, they will die for sure.

    Finally, one of them made the decision, "Brier, I will hold him back. You take the young master to safety."

    "Eldwood," The other person looked at his partner who was with him for decades. He doesn''t know why but he strongly felt like Eldwood Ravillon will not get alive. He wanted to stay there and fight alongside him but the safety of Cedar Ravillon is necessary. If they fail to protect him, then, their families will also be implicated.

    If not for that, they would have long abandoned this sadistic master of theirs. With their soul power rank, they would be welcomed at any organization.

    Everyone has something to protect. The guards have their own reasons to fight like Gideon earlier did and Azzy had his reason to punish them, and neither had the patience to care about each other''s lives.

    All it down to who wins in the end.

    Unfortunately, for Brier and Eldwood, Azzy doesn''t want to show mercy. As soon as he found one of them charged forward in the direction of where the third guy was crashed, Azzy raised his hand, unleashing a soul skill of the Reaper.

    <strong>"Soul skill: Spear of the Death"</strong>

    A dark Spear was summoned in his hands. Aiming at the back of the target, he threw it.

    "Brier, careful," Eldwood alerted his partner with a shout and dashed toward Azzy.

    Brier stopped in his tracks and turned around. He pushed soul energy outside and formed a shield over himself to protect the incoming spear with some kind of corrupted energy as it was too near to him already.

    Unfortunately for him, he had no information about the Spear of Death soul skill. As a result, he underestimated it, thinking that he can block it. However, the spear pierced the shield and then, into his body.

    The death energy instantly spread all over his body in an instant, eating up everything.

    His body turned into a black-colored statue before it collapsed into powdered form.

    Meanwhile, Eldwood reached Azzy and threw a punch powered up by soul energy. Azzy simply raised his left hand and caught the fist. With his physical body in the 8th tier of Invincible Divine Body cultivation, the attack was like a baby''s fist to him.

    At that moment, Eldwood saw the death of his partner. "Brier¡­"

    He then glared at Azzy who stood in front of him like an immovable rock. "You bas**rd."

    In response, Azzy clenched his right fist and punched at his opponent''s abdomen with all of his strength.

    The force behind the punch was so high that it made a hole out of Eldwood''s stomach, destroying everything inside.

    Before his death, Eldwood''s eyes looked as if they came out of the sockets. While Azzy wasn''t even flinched by the gory scene even though it is the first time he killed someone with his fist, his shirt was smeared by the blood of Eldwood who involuntary spit a mouthful of blood before the death.

    Of course, that isn''t a matter of concern. With a thought in his mind, Azzy poured soul energy over his shirt and spotlessly cleaned it by absorbing the blood before he fires it to a nearby tree.

    Azzy then proceeded to walk straight.

    Quite coincidentally, Estella''s head was on her left, thereby, letting her become the spectator of everything that happened from the moment Azzy arrived. Until now, she thought that Azzy was quite merciful but the scene made her realize how ruthless he is.

    Well, even Azzy would never imagine that he can kill a human without batting an eye but then again, he doesn''t regret it either.

    On the way, he constantly observed the situation through Aura Sensing. Estella stayed motionless while his heavily injured friend was shielding her against three rank-6 experts; Azzy wouldn''t need more evidence than to term as the sinners.

    After going past the girl, Azzy went towards the unconscious Cedar.

    Upon reaching him, he summoned his soul card and then raised his hand. The Death Scythe appeared in his hand. However, he didn''t attack the enemy and held back himself.

    He then contacted the Reaper, "Chronos, this man is unconscious. I''m not sure whether it is moral to kill an enemy in such a state. Tell me."

    "You aren''t supposed to kill someone, Azrael. You are only liberating the souls that became impure due to their sins," replied the Reaper. He then added, "And yes, it is immoral to kill an unconscious sinner. But, you can inflict a far worse punishment."

    Azzy understood what the Reaper is hinting at. Dismissing the death scythe, he stretched his hand toward Cedar.

    <strong>"Soul skill: Soul Absorption"</strong>

    Upon unleashing his most powerful skill without trying to restrain his death energy, a gush of soul energy escaped from Cedar''s body and absorbed into Azzy. Once the soul orb became empty, cracks appeared on it before it was completely destroyed. His Arcana spirit also returned to the spirit realm.

    As Cedar Ravillon became a mortal without knowing, his storage card appeared on the ground, beside his body. It became ownerless.

    The Reaper then said, "I''m getting a strong feeling that something is there inside that card. Check the contents inside."

    Azzy followed the suggestion and picked up the storage card, which appeared to be of gold grade. As he sent the soul energy into it, he saw the 500 cu.m space was filled with a lot of items, ranging from clothing and food to weapons.

    Out of those, Azzy''s attention was grabbed by a dagger, more specifically, its golden sheath, which was adorned by diamonds. He felt like this is the one.

    Just as he was about to take it out, the Reaper''s voice echoed in his head, "Not that one. Look for that red box in the corner."

    Azzy shifted his attention to a seemingly normal-looking brocade box. He took it out.

    As soon as it left the storage card and fell on his hands, he instantly felt its weight. His eyes widened in surprise, "<strong>This is made of Adamantine."</strong>

    "No, I''m not getting the feeling from the box. Take out the one that this box is protecting," said the Reaper.

    Azzy opened the box and voila, the Pendant of Selene was revealed to him. His attention was naturally grabbed by the gemstone embedded inside.

    "What a surprise, indeed," the Reaper sounded cheerful all of a sudden, "Life, Water, Earth, and now, lightning. Four of the elven cosmic gems are hiding in this tiny world of the entire universe. It looks like you have a fate with them, Azrael."

 Chapter 386 Seal Of Gluttony

    "Fate?" Azzy didn''t in the same line as the Reaper for a second. He questioned the coincidences that happened to him until now. "Chronos, are you sure that some god is using me to collect the cosmic gems so that they will acquire them at once?"

    The Reaper threw away that possibility right away, "No, that''s not possible. Until I saw it, even I don''t know that a cosmic gem was inside the box, Azrael. The cosmic gems share the same divinity as the other gods. Not even Zeus has the ability to track them. Maybe, it is possible for only two beings."

    "Life and Space?" Azzy wondered as the Reaper admitted that he can''t trace them.

    "No, you are right about Space but the second being is not Life. It is the missing soul of the creator." The Reaper corrected him.

    "Missing soul?" Azzy only had more questions.

    The Reaper gave a brief explanation, "Remember the day of the royal feast where the auction is being held and you first heard of the cosmic gem? I told you about something about the history."

    Azzy recalled his words and said, "You said that the creator''s soul was divided into six parts of which, four are Life, Space, Time, and Death. A part was the cosmic gem, which was forcefully split into 11 parts based on attributes. That means the sixth part of the soul is¡­"

    "Yes, it is the creator''s soul which was lost in space. However, it wasn''t the complete truth," The Reaper confirmed it.

    After a brief silence, the Reaper proceeded to reveal the cosmic secret, which only the true gods have the knowledge of.

    "At the dawn of the universe, the creator''s soul was only split into five equal parts. The four of us entities had powers of a certain thing but that fifth part appeared to possess all of our powers, although not to the extent we have.

    At first, we thought of co-existing with it but the creator''s soul remnant had the intention to absorb us and reform its soul once again.

    As it attacked Life, Death, and Time came to her rescue, and the three of us worked together to split the soul into two parts. One formed the cosmic gem, which was handed to Zeus for protection. And the other sought the help of Space to protect its existence.

    Except for Space, no one knows its location, and neither that guy would reveal it because he gave his word. Officially, it is a missing soul. Or maybe, the soul has already taken the form. No one knows.

    Well, even if the creator soul''s remnant acquires all of the cosmic gems, it cannot defeat me. So, there''s no risk to the universe but still, the being would become powerful enough to topple down the heavens and perhaps, even replace Zeus as the King of Gods.

    But, it doesn''t matter. Once you attained the status of a god, I will guide you in absorbing all the cosmic gems you gathered to put the risk to an end for once in all."

    Most of Azzy''s memories of his future self are still locked. He doesn''t know that the future Azrael had completely absorbed the Protos energy and the powers of Reaper, and maybe, including Vajra and Ruby too.

    And the Reaper intended to slowly change the timeline without harming the world so that he may be stuck with Azzy until he becomes the God of Death, replacing Thanatos.

    So, the clueless Azzy really believed that the Reaper is trying to help him. After digesting all the information that he received from the Reaper, he then asked, "Is there any chance that this remnant soul might have been reincarnated into a human again and again like the other souls?"

    The Reaper understood Azzy''s crazy theory.

    If Azzy is really connected to the cosmic gems, maybe, his soul is that creator''s soul remnant? Of course, he doesn''t seriously believe that but it just came across his head and he couldn''t help but ask it.

    The Reaper quickly crushed away those thoughts, "No, your soul is indeed very special but it isn''t the creator. Anyway, you have been standing there for a while. There''s an ancient seal placed on the chain. Let me take over your body for a moment. I will remove it for you. That Moon Clan''s girl should also be rescued right."

    "Ah, that''s right. I almost forgot about them." Azzy remembered where he was. For a moment, he was lost in thoughts due to the presence of a cosmic gem.

    The Reaper then possessed Azzy while sending him to the mindscape.

    Looking at the pendant, he poured death energy into the creation of an ancient mystic seal known as the Gluttony seal. As soon as the seal was formed successfully, it took the shape of a strange beast. The beast has no eyes or nose or limbs. It''s like a black-colored slime but has a large mouth with teeth as well as a tongue.

    The Reaper carefully controlled the skill and let it only devour the seal placed on the pendant. After its job is done, the Reaper stopped feeding the Death energy to the beast and it disappeared right away. This task consumed almost 30% of Azzy''s soul power in the process. But, anyway, it is worth the reward.

    "This is Azzy''s payment as his share of the spoils of war. It''s not stealing. The rest of the items can be given to someone else as compensation. Not to mention, he must pay a price for keeping his life intact," The Reaper justified his actions to himself as he closed the lid of the box and kept it in Azzy''s storage card.

    He then turned around to walk toward Estella who was facing the other side and has no idea what happened behind her back.

    The Reaper then applied the same Gluttony Seal onto the girl. The gluttony beast entered her body and went straight to her soul orb and ate away the seal in the same manner. Of course, it was only because of the Reaper''s complete mastery over the sealing technique. If it is Azzy or someone else, the moment they make the mistake, the Gluttony will out of control and eat something else along with their target. After all, the beast can eat even the material things except for divine objects like a cosmic gem.

    Azzy, who was watching from the mindscape, became fascinated by the effects of the skill. He decided to learn it in the future.

    Soon, Estella became free of her paralysis as well as her soul orb restriction and the Reaper returned his place, letting Azzy stand in front of her.

    "Thank you," spoke Estella softly as she rose to her feet.

    Azzy simply nodded in response and walked to his friend. Unlike Estella, his soul energy was sealed by a normal sealing technique. There were chains all around his soul orb.

    Fortunately, Azzy knows how to deal with it. All it needs an outside interference to break those chains. Placing his hand on Gideon''s chest, Azzy poured death energy into his body and freed him before taking back the death energy.

    As Azzy picked him up, a concerned Estella reached them and caressed Gideon''s cheek, "He was only trying to protect me. If only¡­"

    Without looking at her, Azzy cut her off, "I don''t think Gideon regrets what he did for you. It''s because his feelings are sincere. Just for that reason alone, I won''t blame you.

    For the help I have done to you, I ask you to repay me with something. From now onwards, please do treat him like an equal, not a person beneath your status because of the difference in your Arcana. I think he deserved that, atleast."

    Estella didn''t say anything and stared at Gideon for a while before letting out a mumble, "reckless fool."

    Soon, both of them returned to the Aclein City. Azzy brought Gideon home. Estella also followed him, intending to stay by Gideon''s side until he woke up.

    ? As Estella stayed upstairs, Azzy briefly explained the situation to his family like how he trained in a forest, then, left for Moon City to meet his childhood friend Barbara, then, Gideon and Estella''s abduction happened, they escaped, and he saved them in time. He left the important details like the cosmic gem, his 8th tier breakthrough, how he killed those abductors, etc¡­

    The others also didn''t pay too much attention to the matter, atleast Affea and Oakley. They were happy with the fact that their foster had finally returned home safely.

 Chapter 387 Gideons First Kiss

    In one of the guest rooms of the Affea mansion, Gideon was sleeping on the bed for a while. It''s past dinner time but she didn''t even move from the spot, forget about eating.

    Azzy was working with her at the Disciplinary Committee. He had also watched her close enough to understand her personality. She was stubborn to the core. Once she decided on something, she would stick with it no matter the consequences.

    So, he didn''t bother to ask her again after she refused to join the dinner until Gideon regains his consciousness.

    As a result, Azzy returned to his room to sleep after giving her Gideon''s spectacles and the contact lens that he removed from his friend as it isn''t safe for the eyes to keep them on while he is resting.

    Time passed away and midnight arrived. Gideon was still sleeping and Estella still didn''t move from the spot like a rock; fortunately, not for long.

    Roughly around 00:35 hours, Gideon slowly opened his eyes and he was hit by the bright lighting in the room.

    His vision was all blurry. So, he couldn''t help but become alerted and stretched his hands to the side to touch the things and feel them.

    Estella hurriedly grabbed his hand, "Don''t worry, you are safe. We are at Azrael''s house."

    "Ella? Is that you?" Gideon recognized her voice and he sighed in relief, "Thank goodness you are safe."

    "First, take this." She handed him a bottle of water to quench his thirst and clear his throat. After that, she patiently handed him the glasses to restore his vision.

    Once Gideon finally saw her and appeared to be in good spirits, Estella raised her hand and suddenly gave a tight slap to his cheek.

    Because it is rather quiet until now, the sound of the slap was rather loud, enough to reach the other room.

    With a fine handprint appearing on Gideon''s cheek, he let out a groan, "Ugh¡­"

    He didn''t understand her sudden reaction. But, before he responded anything, Estella suddenly started crying and lightly punching him on the chest, "You reckless ba*t**d. Why did you have to risk your life for something like that? Do you think it''s cool to throw away the life for a girl? If Azrael hadn''t come on time, what would have happened?"

    Gideon was stunned and stared at her. Once again, he saw another side of this prideful heiress of the Moon Clan.

    In response, he let out a smile once again and proposed to her, "I like you. I would do the same even if it happens again."

    Gideon might have told the same words to her a dozen times but she blushed for the first time. Out of embarrassment, she slapped his forehead this time, "stop spouting nonsense. This is only one time and you won''t be doing that again. Let''s just say I owe you one. If you have anything to request, you can say it. I don''t want to feel indebted. Money, skill cards, weapons¡­"

    Gideon doesn''t know what took over him but he got into the mood to joke around even more and interrupted, "How about you reward me with a kiss?"

    "Eh?" Estella was taken aback by surprise. "I told you to stop fooling around." As she raised her hand again to slap, Gideon hurriedly grabbed her hands, "I''m just kidding, alright. I don''t dare to make such a request to a person I have never had a chance to be with, in my life. So, I''m wondering whether I should ask you for a date. Hmm, you might not agree to that too. So, how about¡­"

    Before he finished his words, all of a sudden, Estella lowered her head and planted her lips against his, surprising the hell out of him.

    She quickly got away and spoke while looking at the door, "Here, I gave you my first kiss as your reward. You should be satisfied with it." She was flushing red all the way to her neck in embarrassment and cannot look at a stunned Gideon. Her heartbeat was also at its peak.

    "I¡­ I¡­ I''m going back to my room." As Estella attempted to escape, Gideon caught her once again. "Hey, this is my first too. You cannot take away my first kiss and say that it is my reward."

    Maybe, it is because Estella is resisting or maybe, Gideon''s strength had increased miraculously. He pulled with the remaining strength he has in his hand and Estella just fell on top of him with her face just a couple of inches away from his face.

    Gideon felt her heartbeat and his heart started beating fast too. They stared at each other for a few seconds before closing their eyes involuntarily. Just as they were about to kiss again in the heat of the moment, a knock on the door disturbed their moment.

    Followed by it, a third person''s voice brought them to reality. "You know¡­ I would say get a room but you are already in one. So¡­"

    Estella opened her eyes and moved away as if she were a cat whose tail was stepped on. "I will be going¡­" She scurried off from the room without looking back.

    Meanwhile, Gideon complained as he stared at his friend, "Azzy, can''t you come a bit later. You interrupted such a beautiful moment."

    Azzy walked to him with a bowl of chicken soup. "You have removed the limiter for a while, Gideon. Your body isn''t a condition to waste energy on things like this. If she likes you, there will be opportunities in the future. But, now, focus on getting back to the peak."

    "Eh?" Gideon closed his eyes. In an instant, he saw a crack on his soul orb. The soul energy is constantly leaking from his soul orb in tiny amounts in the form of electrical sparks, which are flowing all over his body.

    His expression changed to that of panic, "my soul orb was damaged? And what''s with these sparks?"

    He couldn''t dismiss them for some reason.

    Placing the bowl in Gideon''s hands, Azzy explained, "Don''t worry about it. It is only slightly cracked and can be recovered quickly. The sparks were a side effect of you going over the limit. I have already contacted the organization to inform your master. I got a reply that he will be arriving here tomorrow morning and will take you away for special training. As for how long it takes, we can hope that you will get back to normal before the Quarterfinals. Maybe, who knows¡­ you might even return stronger than ever."

    Gideon fell silent after listening to Azzy''s words. One on hand, he was grateful but on the other hand, he felt like he will lose a great opportunity to woo Estella who at the moment looked like she can accept his proposal if he tries hard enough in the upcoming days.

    He knew that he should make the decision by the morning.

    After Gideon drank the soup, Azzy then gave him the ownerless gold-grade storage card, which once belonged to Cedar Ravillon but was taken away by the Reaper to present it to Gideon as compensation.

    Naturally, Gideon was visibly surprised by the gift for it contained so many things inside. He commented that he was really lucky to have Azzy as his friend.

    Azzy patted his shoulder and left him alone.

    Meanwhile, Estella started to roll on the bed left and right, not being to sleep because of the kiss. "Stupid¡­ stupid¡­ stupid¡­"

 Chapter 388 World League: Junior Division - Quarterfinals (Part-1)

    Until today, she always had the plan to marry Azzy. As Claire is standing on her path, she planned to kill her once the league is over despite how her mother was completely against it.

    But, now, her heart suddenly started to beat for someone else who was clearly beneath her status or strength.

    Trying to hypnotize herself that everything was a dream, she fell into sleep at around 5 in the morning.

    As a result, she woke up in the afternoon.

    After freshening up and changing her clothes, which she had in her storage card, she then came downstairs to find Affea alone watching the television.

    She greeted her. "Afternoon, Auntie¡­"

    Affea responded with a smile, "Oh, you are up. The food is still warm. Go and have lunch first. You didn''t eat anything last night."

    "Um, where is Azrael?" Estella slowly asked her.

    "He went to the academy to meet his master," replied Affea.

    Estella hesitated for a couple of seconds and then asked her, "what about Gideon?"

    "Oh, he was picked up by his master, early in the morning, for some special training." Affea didn''t hide anything. He told her everything that Azzy told her.

    Estella fell into silence for a while. The disappointment was clearly written on her face and Affea caught it quickly. She asked, "Are you alright?"

    Estella shook her head and forced out a smile, "nothing. I just remembered that I need to return to Moon City for an urgent matter." She left quickly without having lunch.

    <strong>About half a month later;</strong>

    More than two weeks passed away since that incident. During this time, Estella returned to her home. At first, she was lost in thoughts, constantly worried about Gideon''s situation.

    But, as she couldn''t send any messages to him and Azzy claimed that he wasn''t in touch with Gideon either, she decided to train with her clan elders.

    As for the Pendant of Selene, she informed her mother that it is a fake that is used by the Dragon Clan to abduct her. Poor Cedar, whose life was spared by Azzy and turned into a mortal, was killed by the Dragon Clan''s elites to appease the Moon Clan.

    The other factions of the Dragon clan also took this to an advantage and officially threw away the Metal Dragon family out of the race. Eventually, Red Dragon Clan''s heir, a 67-year-old Moldof Ravillon became the Patriarch of the clan.

    In the meantime, Team Unknown, which is also one of the top-8 teams, withdrew from the competition as the Kuru Clan decided to postpone the plan of exiting the council of Hidden Clans to the next century.

    As a result, the organizing committee allegedly did a favor to the hosting academy, making Team Silver the opponent of Team Unknown. This means that Team Silver, which is the main team of the Central Academy will go straight to the Semi-finals without any battle.

    There are some who also think that it might be a coincidence but none of the top-8 teams cared too much because all of them wanted to become the champion. Because Team Twilight is a team with new faces and ages below 16, most of the scouts were naturally interested in them.

    In the meantime, Leah made it to the top 8 in the solo category, and Team Miare (Claire &Mia) also made it top top-8 of the duo category.

    After giving a 6-day break for the contestants of the junior division, Top-8 battles of all the categories are going to be conducted at the Main Arena of the Central Academy. As for the senior division battles, they will only start after the junior division world league is concluded.

    <strong>November 4th, 1994;</strong>

    <strong>Central Academy of Arcana, Silver City;</strong>

    By 9 in the morning, the main arena was completely filled with more than 250 thousand spectators. Of them, there are elite scouts, VIPs, several powerful individuals who are curious, and even a few kings and princes of royal families all over the continent.

    To support Azzy''s team, his master, his foster family, biological father, and some students from the academy managed to buy tickets and sat somewhere in the crowd. There are also professors from the Eternal institutions who attended to witness the win of their team. The more Twilight does better, the more publicity their academy will have.

    Surprisingly for Azzy''s supporters, Neal appeared on the battle platform with a mic, "Hello, Welcome to Quarterfinals of the World League Junior, 1994."

    With a smile on his face, he introduced himself, "My name is Neal and I''m the Proctor of today''s match."

    His good looks surely attracted the female audience for sure. But, that isn''t the main point anyway.

    Neal then continued, "Before we proceed to the matches, let us see the Quarterfinalists who will battle for the top-4 spots."

    The large screens displayed the names of the teams and the match fixtures, which were kept secret until now.

    <strong>Group Category:</strong>

    Team Twilight vs Team Rebirth

    Team Abel vs Team Dragoria

    Team Unknown vs Team Silver

    Team Helios vs Team Freyles

    *

    <strong>Duo Category:</strong>

    Team ACT vs Team Red Spider

    Team Ash vs Team Abnormal

    Team Miare vs Team Sunrise

    Team Hercules vs Team Drake

    **

    <strong>Solo Category:</strong>

    Prince vs Ashoka

    Leah Pendragon vs Laurel

    Velez Garcia vs Thyme Shrew

    Evan Lyptus vs Luciana Hearth

    ***

    Looking at the fixtures from one of the waiting rooms where television screens were installed for the Quarterfinalists to watch, members of Team Rebirth became serious.

    Their Captain still remembered the humiliation they faced during the time of registration. She clapped twice to gain the attention of her teammates and spoke, "Guys, this is it. Today, we are going all out and crushing them no matter what. Everyone knows what to do."

    Meanwhile, in another waiting room, Azzy found some familiar names like Luciana Hearth, who was the captain of the Phoenix Academy''s team in the junior Champions League. Then, there''s Prince, who is runner-up in the 1992 edition World league and the winner in the 1993 Edition.

    Apart from those two, there appeared to be someone else with Garcia''s surname. Azzy recognized the name. During his training period at the stairs, his master Avia Night (older version) had once mentioned that originally, before he came to the clan, there were several contenders to become the heir of the Death Clan but of them, only two were at the forefront.

    One is the Crescent clan''s Gredor who had the support of many clans. The other is Velez Garcia, the second prince of Freyles who also had Death Energy. However, unlike Gredor Crescent, he wasn''t liked by anyone in the clan because he was born outside the clan and so were his ancestors. Then, there is Avia''s personal hatred against him. Azzy doesn''t know the details though.

    Anyway, Azzy wasn''t participating in solo battles. So, it doesn''t matter to him. Not to mention, he was confident that Leah would win in the end.

    After a while, their names were called and the staff member entered the room to inform the team.

    "Let''s go¡­" Claire led everyone to the battle platform. By the time both of the teams got there, the barrier was already erected over the platform.

    Looking at both of the teams from above the sky, Neal announced, "same rules as before. Activated skill cards of any type and modern weapons of mass destruction are prohibited. Deliberate Killing is prohibited unless a participant refuses to admit defeat even though his/her situation becomes obvious to everyone.

    But, here is where the rules will be different from the previous round."

    The new rules weren''t a secret to either participants or the spectators except for clueless first-timers.

    As everyone stared at Neal, he continued to speak, "Usually those who get outside the barrier will be out of the battle. If an Arcana beast/tool/plant knowingly or unknowingly exits the barrier, the user must dismiss it in ten seconds, or else, the Proctor will take the action and kill it.

    This rule will be slightly modified from now onwards.

    As soon as the participants don''t touch the ground, if they can return to the barrier within ten seconds from the moment they exited the barrier, they can rejoin the battle.

    While this applies to their Arcana too, their time limit is five seconds. However, the Arcana spirit is considered out of the barrier only if its entire body is outside.

    The next rule is that a participant can exit the barrier only three times. But, Arcana doesn''t have any limitations."

    Feeling that she was the one who benefited from this rule, the most, Estella nodded with a satisfactory smile on her face.

 Chapter 389 World League: Junior Division - Quarterfinals (Part-2)

    "Lastly, at any moment of the match, a substitute can enter the battle and save their team members but within five seconds of time, a main member of the team should voluntarily exit or else, the highest-ranking team member recorded at the time of registrations will be out.

    However, this rule can only be implemented when there are equal numbers on each side.

    Okay, that''s the rule everyone should keep in mind.

    Now, without further ado, let''s proceed to the first Quarterfinals of the world league Jr, 1994.

    Both of your teams have 100 seconds to prepare. However, you cannot summon your Arcana until the final 30 seconds. Your time starts now."

    As the countdown timer started, both of the teams went into a staring contest for a few seconds before Tiara tried to provoke them as she glanced at Azzy who was standing outside the barrier. "You are either a risk-taker or a foolish girl, Princess Lefeuvre. Without Azrael and that lightning guy, your team doesn''t have a chance against us."

    Team Rebirth has two platinum-grade users and others with higher soul power as well as more battle experience. So, she was correct in her own way to think like that.

    But, Claire doesn''t want others to insult her teammates either. She let out a smirk and replied, "You should have convinced Luci to join the team. Then, maybe, your team might barely stand a chance against us. But now, with just you five, letting Azzy participate is like bullying you."

    Tiara wanted to provoke Claire but she got provoked instead. Pointing her finger at Claire, she challenged, "Let''s see if you still have the same expression after being defeated by my twin swords."

    "I planned to battle you, anyway," replied Claire as she crossed her arms to the chest. She added, "after all, you are the only sword user in your team."

    Then, a girl with dreadlocks stepped forward and challenged Mia, "You are my prey, Leveret. Let''s see if your wood can resist my poison." Her name is Lilie and she has a rare poison attribute.

    Mia stayed silent and didn''t respond to her provocation.

    As two members of Team Rebirth issued a challenge, the others didn''t stand still either. They too expressed their wish to battle a certain opponent. For example, Iphi wanted to battle Estella. Vice-captain Savannah wanted an archery battle against Louis.

    And lastly, Evelina Crow, who looked like a bodybuilder and had more muscles than any other male in Team Twilight, stepped forward, "I planned to take on Azrael but since he isn''t here, I will crush you, weakling." Her gaze was on Calder.

    He took a deep breath and responded with determination clearly written on his face, "I will give my best."

    Calder is at low-rank-5 and possessed a shield Arcana, which is useful for nothing but defense. He was prepared for offense in other ways but everyone knew that he wasn''t as talented as his teammates.

    It''s highly possible that he might not ever reach the top 8 with other teams in the future. That means this is his last battle. As for why Azzy had sacrificed instead of Mia, it''s because he felt a tiny debt to him.

    Back then, when Team Twilight was selected for the Champions League, Calder had given up his position for Azzy so that Aclein Academy can shine. Azzy now decided to repay him through this important match, giving him the opportunity to battle in the Quarterfinals of the World League. Of course, if the team is in trouble, Azzy would surely step in and rescue them but he will replace Mia or someone else. It is what everyone had decided behind Calder''s back.

    But then again, he isn''t a fool either. Calder knew that he won''t be able to participate in the upcoming two battles. For Semis and Finals, the team''s strongest lineup would have to go to the stage. As a result, he was determined to go all out and contribute to the team''s victory.

    The time continued to tick and the participants finished their preparation with skill cards. Mia pulled out her dual handguns.

    On the other side, Vice-captain Savannah had taken out an exquisite composite bow of rank-7 quality, which means she can atleast store her soul energy up to 10 million and launch it as energy arrows, covering as far as 250 meters distance.

    While she is only at peak rank 5 and only has about 932k SP (soul power), she can just pour everything and recover with Soul energy recovery cards again and again as long as she gets enough time. As a representative of Phoenix Academy, there was no question about her mastery too. The additional range is a bonus.

    There''s a similar ranking armor Claire possessed. She got it from Leah back when she participated in hunting the Draco-Galarian King. However, she has yet to use it until now because of her high self-regeneration. And because of Azzy-Leah''s date incident, she let it rot in her storage card away.

    Soon, the timer reached 30 seconds on the screen and everyone summoned their respective Arcana.

    On the side of the Team Rebirth, Captain Tiara of the Cycad noble family summoned dual swords, of which one is bathing in flames and the other blade was being covered by lightning sparks. It is a set gold grade Arcana, belonging to one soul card but having two attributes that made her very special.

    Vice-Captain Savannah summoned a lightning squirrel. It is also a gold grade.

    Number 3, Evelina Crow, the strongest of the team summoned a Brown Bear, which is atleast 15 meters (49ft) in height even if it is on its four legs. The bear was a platinum-grade Arcana of Earth Attribute. So, one should really worry about its defense.

    Number 4, Lilie summoned a man-eating plant, which uses its roots as legs to move. It is also nimble too. She then took out a bow and quiver full of special arrows from her storage card.

    Finally, Number 5, Iphi Magnolis, the youngest of the tournament had displayed her mighty Arcana. Everyone''s attention was on her

    <strong>"Burn my enemies to Ash, Pyro."</strong> Iphi summoned the flaming eagle, which looked like it was bigger compared to the one from the Champions League.

    After Iphi broke through to rank 5, somehow, her eagle also grew in size. It was now about 9m-10m big (30ft) and has a wingspan of about 25m (82 ft). At one glance, it is indeed a giant eagle.

    She immediately mounted on her Arcana and flew into the sky, taking the position.

    For a moment, Team Rebirth grabbed the attention of the spectators who were watching for the first time. As Claire was quite far away from the stands, her holy sword just gave the impression of a light attribute sword to most of the spectators who couldn''t sense its power. Perhaps, only rank-7 and above experts had their attention on the holy sword.

    But, soon, everything changed once Estella summoned her Arcana. <strong>"Come out and have fun, Oh the lord of the seas, Levi."</strong>

    The moment Leviathan was summoned, every giant beast of Team Rebirth appeared like an ant compared to this behemoth that was as long as 240meters long (790ft).

    Its giant cyan-colored dragon head had slowly lowered to the floor and let her mount on top of it and then, rose high. Both of them almost reached the ceiling of the barrier. As Estella lowered her gaze and looked at her opponents, she really appeared very arrogant, which only increased Tiara''s anger.

    However, Estella wasn''t done yet. She raised her hand, <strong>"Come out, oh the mighty ruler of the sky, Garuda."</strong>

    Just like the Leviathan, the sky eagle is also like a behemoth of birds with a size of 122m (400ft) and has a wingspan of 304m (1000ft). Fortunately, it has the ability to shrink its size, unlike Leviathan. To have enough mobility within the barrier, Estella never summoned in its original size until now.

    But, the change in rules for the knockouts made her take this decision. As a result, every time it was flapping its wings, they were going outside the barrier for a second and then enter. At the same time, she also wanted to intimidate her opponents with its gigantic size.

    Just like she had expected, the opponents were spooked enough even if it is for a couple of moments.

    Meanwhile, the members of Team Twilight were in extraordinary spirit. It''s not just because they have reached the top 8 but it is also because the prideful Estella had apologized to them for the first time. After apologizing to Claire for leaving them at a crucial match, Estella told that she would make it up with her sincerity.

    "Twilight" "Twilight" "Twilight" "Rebirth" "Rebirth" "Rebirth "Rebirth"

    Even before the match started, the cheering was at its peak as the audience got wilder.

    "Wow" "Dad, look at that snake and eagle" "So big" "The eagle is bigger than in previous battles, right?" "That instructor looks pretty" "Isn''t that Camelot princess'' partner?" "Team Twilight looked so mighty" "What school they are from, again?" "Where is that four-eyed fellow?" "Who is that little girl from Team Phoenix? She''s so young." "Wow, so many platinum grade Arcana at one spot" "This battle is going to be epic"

    Some spectators murmured among themselves, some are on the Twilight side and some are on the side of the all-girl team.

    As the timer reached 10, the audience collectively shouted

    "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1¡­"

    *Whistle*

    Proctor Neal blew the whistle and at the same time, everyone screamed, "Go"

    As soon as the countdown touched zero, except for Iphi, the remaining four of Team Rebirth launched an attack using identical skill cards.

 Chapter 390 World League: Junior Division - Quarterfinals (Part-3)

    As the four of them raised their heads, facing each other, the four skill cards turned into beams of energy and collided at the center. Instead of acting against each other, they merged into forming an energy sphere, which was then fired at the members of Team Twilight.

    While the energy sphere of peak-rank-6 appeared to have been aimed at Claire who was standing at the front, it was actually an energy bomb that will explode as soon as it touched something.

    Team Rebirth''s strategy is to make the opponents disperse in different directions.

    Little did they expect the weakest one would crush their plans.

    "Let me take care of it," said Calder with a shield. He grabbed the shield''s handle with his two arms and stood before Claire. He then launched his most powerful soul skill, which he only uses in tough situations.

    <strong>"Soul skill: Invincible Barrier"</strong>

    "Arghhhhh¡­." He slammed the tip of the curvilinear-triangular-shaped shield into the floor, enlarging it to dozens of times big, thereby protecting everyone.

    The energy bomb hit the shield and exploded, pushing him back. But, he refused to budge and dug his foot into the floor, and stood there.

    Looking at the scene from the top of Leviathan, Estella turned serious, "He''s not gonna make it." She couldn''t help but glance at Claire, "what are you doing?"

    Claire was standing behind him but is refusing to lend a hand and so were the rest of them.

    In a couple of seconds, the shield started cracking while Calder''s veins popped up everywhere as his body turned. Eventually, millions of joules of energy released by the explosion dispersed and Calder managed to hold on.

    With his hands bruised heavily, Calder no longer felt sensation in them. Still, he had a big smile on his face. He turned his head, "Captain, I did it."

    "Yes, you did it," replied Claire with a nod as she finally placed her hand on his back. Her soul energy entered his body and made him return to his peak condition as before the match except for half of his soul power that was consumed earlier. The shield was also repaired.

    While Team Rebirth was indeed surprised by his move, they didn''t waste the time. From the moment their combined attack was dissipated, Tiara already instructed them to attack.

    As Calder''s shield shrunk back to its original size, Claire and others found the opponents charging toward them. However, none of them panicked and just rooted to their spot in silence.

    Upon covering half of the distance, Tiara raised her dual swords above her head to launch an attack from far away as the previous one failed.

    Looking at it, Claire nodded and raised her holy sword. People thought that she would attack but to everyone''s surprise, the attack came from somewhere else. Claire was only sending a signal to Estella.

    Now, with the opponents less than a hundred meters away, Estella made her first move, going big by unleashing the soul skill.

    <strong>"Levi, use Soul skill: Stairway to Hell."</strong>

    *Hisssss*

    Leviathan let out a powerful hiss as its eyes shot invisible beams of energy and struck the opponent team''s captain. Before she gets to show her true strength to her opponents, the eighteen-year-old fell to the floor and lost consciousness, getting trapped in a powerful illusion.

    Everyone from Team Rebirth was stunned for a second, not expecting such an outcome.

    Claire shouted, "Let''s go."

    Team Twilight finally moved from their positions.

    This was actually the first time Estella had ever shown this soul skill in the competition. So, the opponents were flustered for a moment before the flaming Eagle in the sky let out a powerful screech. "Substitute, hurry¡­" Iphi shouted at top of her lungs while she was in the middle of a battle against the Sky Eagle Garuda.

    Carmella Hearth, Team Rebirth''s representative instructor acted quickly and urged one of the substitutes to replace the unconscious Tiara.

    But, will Team Twilight let go of this wonderful opportunity? Obviously, they don''t.

    By the time the new substitute entered the barrier, Team Twilight had put their plan into action.

    Garuda, which was aggressively attacking a flaming eagle that''s tenth its size, retracted its talons and spread its wings. Louis kicked the floor as much as he can and took a great leap, landing on its back and pointing his bow at Iphi. He took a glance at Estella from the corner of his eyes and mumbled, "She has let someone else mount on her Arcana. I wonder what happened during the past few weeks."

    "Here, catch it, Calder," said Mia as she threw one of the handguns to him. Calder, who recovered his soul energy, joined her as he caught the handgun. Both of them rushed forward together with enthusiasm. Their target is the strongest opponent, Evelina Crow as well as her Giant Bear.

    As for Estella who just finished an opponent, she had taken out a rank-6 bow from her storage card that has a 100-meter attack range and then passed an order to the Sea Serpent, "Levi, stretch forward." With the beast long enough to cover every inch of the battlefield, she doesn''t need a longer-range bow, and neither does she feel the necessity to stock up energy for a higher realm attack.

    *Hisss*

    The beast let out a powerful hiss and stretched its upper body toward Savannah, the one who challenged Louis for an archery battle.

    As for Claire, she charged forward to cut down the poisonous girl Lilie, the one with a man-eating plant Arcana.

    Now, all of a sudden, Team Twilight is fully mobilized against a team with a big hole in their offense and defense.

    As the vice-captain, Savannah wanted to take charge but Estella and Leviathan were so fast that she couldn''t pass any instruction and busied herself to dodge the attacks of Estella''s cyan energy arrow and Leviathan''s bite.

    Savannah''s lightning squirrel charged forward at a beast that is hundreds of times bigger than it. Because of its tiny size, Estella and Leviathan missed it. The tiny beast thought that it can take this opportunity to teach the snake a lesson.

    Charged in the lightning, the peak-rank-5 beast attempted to pierce Leviathan in its neck and planned to kill it from inside. It even managed to destroy that dragon scale and entered its neck.

    Once it has successfully entered the Leviathan''s body, the lightning squirrel started moving down from the neck and aimed to destroy its core. Once its core gets destroyed, naturally, Leviathan will die. This tactic was employed by its master a lot of times against large wild animals. So, it followed to do the same.

    Little did it expect that something terrifying is waiting for its arrival. Due to the darkness, at first, it couldn''t see its exact appearance, but as Leviathan attempted to bite Savannah, the sunlight entered its body and the squirrel spotted a clone of Estella whose body is stuck to the wall of Leviathan''s neck but there was no life in her eyes.

    *Squeak*

    The lightning squirrel panicked as a terrifying amount of energy was released by this clone of Estella in the form of a concentrated beam, killing it completely in the process.

    Once it was dead, the Estella clone retracted her hand and stayed there like a statue.

    On the outside, the sudden drop of her soul power took Estella by surprise, "Hmm, something triggered it? Ah, I see¡­ that squirrel." A smile appeared on her face as she nodded in satisfaction, "I guess I did a good thing in creating the defense. However, I''m still lacking in mastery. I could kill an ally if I''m not careful with it."

    In reality, this isn''t exactly a clone of hers but a secret technique she developed over the course of time after she was defeated by Azzy in the battle, months ago.

    Not wanting to face the same type of defeat, she placed a couple of defensive mechanisms inside, which uses her soul power automatically to remove any type of threat, whether it is in the form of energy or a material object that came near to its core.

    Estella was happy that everything worked out and she continued her battle with the weakened opponent who was in a dilemma whether to use a precious resurrection card to revive her squirrel in this pointless match or not. After all, she already realized that they have no chance from the start.

 Chapter 391 World League: Junior Division - Quarterfinals (Part-4)

    *Swoosh* *Swoosh*

    Two energy arrows collided in the sky, releasing a hundred thousand joules of energy toward Iphi and her flaming eagle, pushing them back.

    Garuda, the giant sky eagle flapped its wings and covered the distance before Louis shot another energy arrow. Iphi shot the arrow at the incoming attack.

    Once again, she and her flaming eagle were pushed back. The Sky eagle goes forward again and restricted the path.

    After this same thing happened several times, eventually, Iphi and the flaming eagle were cornered. They were only a few feet away from the exit of the barrier. Realizing that she cannot handle him head-on, Iphi ordered, "Pyro, look for a way to get over to the other side."

    The flaming eagle let out a screech and flew to the left. It planned to fly under the sky eagle''s giant wing and escape to the other side. However, Louis had no intention of letting her go.

    He drew the bow and unleashed the soul skill. It was quite similar to Azzy''s whirlwind soul skill except that the arrow was the center of the horizontal tornado.

    Iphi tried to defend by ordering the flaming eagle to unleash the soul skill of a flame wall but Louis'' attack didn''t have any casting time. It was quite instant. As soon as the arrow was fired, the powerful tornado formed with it as its eye and it engulfed both of the targets before Louis motioned his hands. The tornado arched towards the sky after exiting the barrier so that Iphi won''t be able to return within the 5-second time limit.

    Once she was out, he controlled the arrow''s path to arch downward, thereby making her crash to the ground along with the eagle. As he dismissed the tornado, Iphi rose to her feet with a darkened expression. "Damn it. One day, I will stand on the summit for sure."

    The audience couldn''t help but feel pity for the 11-year-old girl who lost terribly but compared to the other teammates, she fought more valiantly and they lauded her for her efforts.

    Iphi then shifted her attention to the rest of the battles. There were already three unconscious figures on the battle platform.

    Along with the captain, Vice-Captain Savannah, as well as the poison user Lilie, are out of battle, leaving only two members against five opponents.

    Evelina Crow is currently engaged in a tight battle against Mia and Calder. The former appeared to be at a disadvantage.

    As for the substitute Cecilia who was the summoner of a giant centipede, she is almost on the brink of defeat with her summon getting crushed under the weight of the leviathan while she was getting bombarded by arrows one after another.

    Watching it from the stands, like several other scouts and experts, two old-aged-looking men were having a discussion about the ongoing battle. Both of them are the elders of the Temple of War, an ancient organization similar to that of the Church but the members are more battle-crazed.

    If Azzy had seen them, he would have recognized at least one of them. Elder Gedalya of War Temple had attended the auction where he had acquired the Djinn from Principal Barton through a three-way transaction.

    The other one is a fellow elder named Aviran Bach, an 8-star Arcana Master.

    As Gedalya was praising Team Twilight, Elder Aviran nodded, "I agree. Team Twilight had chosen their strategy perfectly. First, they had taken out the captain. After that, they have rearranged their positions, sacrificing their weakest members to hold against the opponent''s strongest, then, using their strongest against the remaining opponents."

    Gedalya then commented, "We expected the moon clan''s descendant to have something up her sleeve but it appears that we have underestimated her. But then again, it is a pity that I didn''t get to see that boy''s battle." He momentarily shifted his eyes toward Azzy.

    Both of these old men were interested to recruit Azzy like several other organizations. However, as Azzy was already claimed by WAMO, poaching him would be a tough task. They need to think of the benefits their temple can offer him that WAMO couldn''t.

    Anyway, back to the battle, after the substitute also had fallen to Estella''s attacks, the rest of the three gathered at a spot and cheered the remaining two who were fighting Evelina. Surprisingly, her rank-6 platinum grade giant bear was actually being held down by the Oak Tree, which is of gold grade and peak-rank-5.

    "Mia, go from the left and punch below the armpits where she was wounded." "Claire is there to help your tree. So, don''t need to worry about that and focus on your enemy" "Calder, just focus on shielding Mia and only attack when you see the opening."

    While cheering for them, Estella also acted as an instructor while Claire provided healing from far away. So, Evelina felt like she was battling four people at once.

    Because Claire kept on healing the Oak Tree, it went all out, using all the branches to tightly imprison the bear. While it captured its target, the tree was also absorbing the bear''s life force and strengthening its grip.

    On the other hand, the tired giant bear had already used all of the soul skills and could only depend on its basic strength or the interference from its master who was trying her best to battle her opponents.

    "Oraaaa"

    In her final struggle, she used all of her remaining soul energy in her right fist and threw a punch at Mia. Calder came to his teammate''s rescue as he was doing for the past few minutes. He used the shield to block her punch and was blasted away at least a dozen meters and crashed onto the floor.

    As Claire once again healed him and his Arcana while Evelina takes out her energy recovery card to refill her soul power, Mia licked the trigger of the handgun and held onto it.

    All the soul energy she slowly stocked up in her rank-7 weapon during the past few minutes was released from the barrel in the form of a concentrated beam. However, it was a bit too strong for a lower-ranked Mia.

    As the beam of energy struck her opponent, Mia was pushed back at the same speed. Calder charged forward and stopped her while taking the support of the shield.

    Evelina blasted out the barrier and crashed onto the ground with a hole through her stomach. Her team''s instructor, Carmella Hearth hurriedly used a healing skill card on her and saved her life.

    *Graaaa*

    The bear roared in anger, going into a berserk state. As a superior platinum-grade beast, it could move even if its master is unconscious.

    With Mia using almost all of her soul energy, her Arcana didn''t have the support it needed to continue restricting the bear''s movements. Now that its target went into a berserk mode, the Oak Tree''s branches couldn''t stop its escape.

    Once it escaped, the giant bear charged at Mia to kill her. Neal turned serious. He raised his hand to kill it right away but before he made his move, Louis shot an arrow at it. As soon as his attack struck the target, a portal opened up and swallowed the bear, teleporting it outside the barrier to near its master.

    There, Carmella quickly restrained it with energy chains and spoke loudly, "your master is safe and sound. Now, calm down and leave, or else, I will be forced to kill you."

    The platinum-grade beast usually understands the human language of someone other than its master. It glared at Mia and Calder for a moment and then disappeared.

    "The winner of the match is Team Twilight. Congratulations to the members of the winning team on entering the semifinals."

    Amid cheers and huge applauses, Azzy and others cleared the field and made their way to the waiting rooms to take a rest or watch the next matches as the seats are pretty much filled out there.

    After a couple of minutes, the next pair of Quarterfinalist teams were called to the field.

    While Team Twilight''s performance surely captivated the audience, the next match made them almost forget the previous match.

    Team Abel consisted of seven people, where the weakest of them have a soul power of 920k (peak-rank-5) and the strongest of them has over 8.2 million (high-rank-6).

    But, their soul power isn''t the special thing here. The fact that they won the match even a Quarterfinal match without even one of them summoning their Arcana was something that attracted the attention of spectators and made them the favorites of the tournament.

 Chapter 392 Moving To Finals Without A Battle

    The Quarterfinals continued with Team Silver getting into the semifinals without a battle as Team Unknown withdrew from the competition.

    After that, Team Helios representing Sun Academy fought an intense battle against Team Freyles which is representing the Freyles academy. The end result was quite shocking. One death and one heavy injury (damage to the soul orb) occurred to Team Freyles because of a frustrated substitute from Helios Academy.

    18-year-old Curteis is a sophomore at the Sun Academy and is at the peak stage of the Elite realm (peak-rank-5). Originally, he isn''t that talented as compared to his peers but ended up on the team courtesy of his great-great-granduncle, who is the Vice-principal of the Sun Academy.

    But, just because he''s got a position doesn''t mean he would also get to participate. The team members, who were dissatisfied with his method of getting in, didn''t give him even a single opportunity.

    And when he finally saw an opportunity to substitute one of the injured teammates in the quarterfinals, he jumped into the barrier ignoring the orders of his representative instructor who asked for the other substitute.

    He confidently stepped into the battle to face off the opponent only to get beaten black and blue without being able to fight back.

    After being mocked by the opponent, Curteis, who was overwhelmed by anger, went on to unleash the activated skill card of 7-star rank. It was supposed to protect him from life threats out there in the wild, but now, it was used in a friendly tournament and caused a loss of life.

    As soon as he witnessed a deliberate killing of Team Freyles'' vice-captain, Neal stepped in and stopped the match.

    He not only declared Team Helios is disqualified from the tournament for the violation of rules but also apprehended Curteis on the grounds of criminal activity after knocking him out.

    The representative instructor of Team Helios tried to protest but Neal''s aura combined with Team Freyles'' representative instructor''s intervention to seek justice made it impossible for him to save the guy. For now, he will be put into jail and the Arcana court will decide what to do with him at a later date.

    Once everyone cleared the field, Neal didn''t waste the time announcing the next set of battles as if killings were a common sight in the league. However, his real intention is to distract the spectators and improve their mood.

    As a result, the Quarterfinals for the duo category started earlier than one expected.

    The first match was won by Team ACT. The two members of the team were master archers from Southern Qudour''s Special Forces.

    The second match was easily won by Team Ash, the twin siblings of the Ash clan, Irene Ash and Albin Ash who were recruited by WAMO but never visited the organization to register themselves because of the order from their clan.

    The third match was Team Miare''s victory. Mia and Claire who were in high spirits nailed their battle and proceeded to the semifinals.

    The final match was won by Team Drake, which is representing the Dragon Academy.

    Once the battles of the duo category are over, Neal announced a 10-minute break before the solo battles began.

    The respective battles of Leah Pendragon and Velez Garcia didn''t even last a minute and proceeded to the semifinals and will likely meet each other in the finals if Velez could win against the last year''s champion, Prince.

    As for the fourth semifinalist, Luciana Hearth of the Phoenix Academy, no one is optimistic about her chances against Leah. Still, the spectators were excited to see which child of heaven will emerge as the winner.

    8 hours later, the stadium lights were on, and the audience section was filled with people once again for the semifinals.

    Neal once again appeared as the Proctor. He proceeded to announce the battles.

    <strong>GROUP CATEGORY:</strong>

    Semi-finals 1: Team Twilight vs Team Freyles

    Semi-finals 2: Team Abel vs Team Silver

    DUO CATEGORY:

    Semi-finals 1: Team ACT vs Team Drake

    Semi-finals 2: Team Miare vs Team Ash

    SOLO CATEGORY:

    Semi-finals 1: Prince vs Luciana Hearth

    Semi-finals 2: Velez Garcia vs Leah Pendragon

    *

    When fixtures were announced on the screen, the audience cheered in excitement while the experts were surprised to see Velez and Leah were meeting in semis. They had expected the tournament organizers would make those fight in the finals but it looks like they were in favor of sending the last year''s champion to the finals.

    Neal raised the mic and continued to speak, "Now, without further ado, let''s start the first semifinals of the group category. Give it up for Team Twilight and Team Freyles."

    From the northern pavilion, Azzy and his teammates along with Izora arrived into everyone''s view. However, from the southern pavilion, only the representative instructor and a dispirited-looking captain walked into the Arena. Neal immediately flew towards them.

    "What''s the meaning of this?" asked Neal as he landed before them.

    Captain Elliot Silver of the Death clan gave his answer and then turned around to walk away. His representative instructor patted his back while walking along.

    Neal then flew into the sky and looked at the spectators, "Team Freyles forfeits the match. Team Twilight moves into the finals."

    Taken aback by surprise, the spectators started murmuring among themselves. Almost one-third of them didn''t witness the quarterfinals and they only heard the news of a death. They didn''t know the exact details but many of them thought that Team Freyles would be even more ready to fight their next battle for the sake of their lost friend. Even if Team Freyles don''t win the championship, as long as the team goes to the finals and wins a silver medal, it can be considered as a tribute to the one that passed away.

    But, the majority of them had no idea that the quarterfinals match had their morale hit the bottom.

    Except for the captain, none of the other teammates wanted to proceed with the battles where there is a risk of life. All of them are future Exalt realm experts and might be able to live for two thousand years.

    Adding on top of this, without their vice-captain and one of the main members, they also knew that couldn''t fight a strong team like Twilight. So, all of them agreed with the fact that going out there doesn''t benefit any of them.

    As a result, Team Twilight had no opponent in the first semifinals and directly went to the finals without a battle.

    Claire and others felt lucky and returned to their waiting rooms while Neal proceeded to call the next participants.

    The seven members of the Team Abel were oozing with confidence as in all of their previous matches. On the other hand, Team Silver was completely different or one should say their outfit is different. They were wearing some kind of futuristic-looking armor, although with crude designs.

    While they looked impressive as if they were coming straight out of a sci-fi movie with rocket launchers and all, members of Team Abel don''t have any change in their expressions.

    Soon, the battle started and everyone from Team Silver raised their arms and shot an 80mm rocket at the opponents who were in an inverted V formation. Moving almost at the speed of the sound, the HEAT projectiles didn''t even take a second to reach their targets.

    Looking at the collective incoming attacks, Velez Garcia didn''t move from his spot. He continued to stand as the vanguard with his hands on his back.

    Just as the five of those rockets were about to hit him, Velez Garcia widened his eyes and all of them disappeared one after another, confusing everyone including Neal because this was the first time it happened.

    But, before they even wondered what kind of ability is this, all of a sudden, those disappeared five rockets appeared behind the members of Team Silver.

    *Boom* Boom* Boom* Boom* Boom*

    Collective explosions were seen one after another before blasting away the members of Team Silver, making them disperse in different directions. Everyone crashed onto the floor but Team Abel didn''t take it as an advantage. Instead, only one person made the move.

    That''s right. It''s Velez again. But, this time, he had done something that surprised the spectators.

    "Come out and slay my enemies, Ansel." He summoned his soul card for the first time.

    A humanoid figure jumped from the soul card. He was about 9ft in height and bulky with black armor all over his body except for his hands. The skeleton fingers were visible to everyone. If not for that, people would have mistaken him for a human knight or general of some kingdom.

    Without wasting any time for others to admire his power, Velez made his next move.

    <strong>"Soul skill: Spikes of Death"</strong>

 Chapter 393 World League: Junior Division - Semifinals (Part-1)

    The Death knight pierced the floor below him and unleashed his soul skill on the enemies. Black-colored spikes emerged from below the opponents. The attacks were so precise that only five spikes appeared in everyone''s sight and every one of them pierced an opponent.

    Following the attack, the spikes released the death energy into the bodies of the targets and corrupted the soul energy of four of them. Only the healer was able to resist the energy and recovered himself because of his extremely powerful light attribute.

    But, what can one guy do? Unless he is in the same league as Velez or Azzy, he was helpless. So, as soon as he got free, the healer named Joel threw smoke bombs, releasing an insane amount of smoke and covering all of his teammates. With his infrared glasses, he spotted his teammates and proceeded to use his soul skill to help everyone recover from their state by expelling the corruptive energy that invaded their bodies.

    However, unfortunately for him, the Death Knight can even see in the darkness, much less smoke.

    Upon receiving the order, he charged forward in the cloud of smoke. The spectators couldn''t see what happened inside but as they saw the Death Knight exiting the cloud of smoke and returning to his owner only after ten seconds, they realized that the match is already over.

    Neal, on the other hand, was waiting for the smoke to dissipate. Velez then turned his head and spoke loudly, "the match is already over, Proctor. You can make the announcement without wasting the time."

    Velez''s impolite tone made Neal frown at first, but as he cannot take it personally, he flew into the barrier to check the situation.

    Soon, he flew out of the smoke and announced the win.

    Central Academy''s representative instructor stepped in and forcefully dispelled the corruptive energy from the bodies of the students. After that, he carried them away on a flying card while hanging his head down in shame.

    After the smoke was completely dissipated, the battle platform was repaired and Neal proceeded to announce the next battle, "Now, it''s time for the first semi-finals of the duo category. Team ACT versus Team Drake."

    Unlike the earlier one-sided battle, this one was quite intense and tight, and went on for at least 20 minutes before Team Drake of the Dragon Academy had moved onto the finals.

    The next battle was between Team Miare and the tournament favorite Team Ash.

    While Claire was a lot calmer, Mia appeared to be slightly tensed. Upon spotting it, Azzy thought of easing her up with some cheering but Louis beat him to it. He even went the extra mile to grab Mia''s shoulders and said, "Win or lose, doesn''t matter. You just have to do your best out there and also make sure to not risk your life. To me, your life is much more precious than some medal."

    Just like Estella, Louis kinda looks different from an average human. If the moon clan''s heiress looks like a doll, Louis'' face is similar to that of an anime character. So, when people like those does something out of their usual character, it appears seriously weird to the spectators. Azzy and others also thought that it appeared too unnatural. Only Claire managed to read between the lines.

    She also knew her best friend. Mia usually acts cold all the time. She warms up to her friends but she never blushes or gets embarrassed. In a way, she''s similar to Azzy. Seeing that Mia turned shy for a moment, Claire locked her arms with Mia''s and let out a mischievous smile, "Ho, I didn''t know that our Mia''s life is that precious to you."

    Louis suddenly backed away and cleared his throat, "I don''t mean that way."

    As Mia blushed, even more, Claire further teased her, "Okay, let''s not waste time any longer with these speeches. If your heartbeat becomes unstable, it will be bad for us."

    "What are you talking about?" commented Mia as she puffed her cheeks as she was being dragged out of the room.

    Soon, both of them entered the field where the twins are waiting for them.

    The timer reached zero and the battle started. Claire and Mia went with their full strength right from the start. However, it just wasn''t enough to face Irene Ash and Albin Ash.

    After defeating Mia, both of them kept on pushing Claire out of the barrier. After several tries, Irene Ash finally managed to hold down Claire with her sand for more than five seconds outside the barrier and won the match.

    Mia was dispirited for not being able to support Claire and apologized to her but the latter only praised her that she was strong or else, they wouldn''t reach the semifinals.

    Upon returning to the waiting room, both of them only received applause from their teammates. Mia let out a sigh as she sat down, "Well, there are still a couple of years left until I get disqualified from participating in the junior world league. I guess I have a lot of time to improve."

    Meanwhile, the semifinals of the solo category started.

    The first battle wasn''t a surprise to no one. Prince is a sealing master and the host of a platinum-grade Cyclops. The most popular and probably overused soul skill of Prince is the Berserk mode. Upon unleashing the soul skill, the Cyclops would receive an enormous boost to its strength that lasts atleast 15 minutes.

    As the one with high-rank-6 soul power, the Cyclops strength would reach high-rank-7 and it would be tough for any opponent in a junior league to face it. It was the same for Luciana Hearth. She was defeated and exited the field in disappointment.

    Claire wanted to go and console her, but Azzy stopped her by stating that it would be the same as rubbing salt on someone''s wound if an acquaintance like her would go and try to cheer up. As a result, Claire stayed behind and thought of meeting her once Luciana recovers from disappointment.

    Meanwhile, Velez and Leah entered the field.

    As the 100-second timer started, both of them summoned their Arcana. If the last match is the first time Velez summoned his Death knight, this is the first time he summoned it during the preparation time. He was also serious, shedding off his usual careless attitude.

 Chapter 394 World League: Junior Division - Semifinals (Part-2)

    Instead of staring at each other for a whole minute, Leah thought of engaging in a conversation. She knew that Azzy and Velez belonged to the same clan and possesses the same death energy, although with different levels of powers. Considering that Azzy is already claimed by Claire, this guy could become one of the suitable candidates who can be her future husband.

    There''s no love in this situation. For Leah, the future of Camelot and her descendants holds much more importance. At first, Azzy was also the same but slowly over time, she grew to like him after spending time with him, although not in a romantic way, yet.

    But then again, Velez would inherit the throne. Even though the king of Freyles, like other democratic nations, doesn''t hold any real authority, he still can influence the government''s decisions.

    As the future queen of the Camelot, she would eventually encounter him sooner or later. Even if they won''t be destined, being friends with him wouldn''t be a bad idea for diplomatic relations between the kingdom of Camelot and the Republic of Freyles.

    Since they have no personal enmity, Leah felt like there was no need to be all wary from the start and wanted this to be a friendly battle. Not to mention, she was confident that she would win.

    "I''m curious, Prince Garcia. Why are you participating in this tournament?" She asked with a smile. The spectators don''t know what she was talking about but her smile melted the hearts of several men. They just couldn''t help but stare at his heavenly beauty.

    On the other hand, Velez furrowed his brows in response, "why shouldn''t I?"

    Claire answered, "I heard that Abel Tower rarely involves the matters of worldly affairs."

    Velez nodded in response, "That''s true but I''m afraid I cannot reveal the reason to a stranger I cannot trust."

    "That means there''s something going on after all, huh," commented Leah while nodding in understanding. Since she had already opened the topic, she thought of clearing her suspicions too, "Is it about some rare treasure that will appear in the World Auction? But, even if you don''t participate, you guys are going to get an invitation either way. So, you aren''t planning on stealing something or assassinating someone, aren''t you?"

    Velez flinched at first and narrowed his eyes, almost glaring at her. He neither confirmed her suspicion nor denied it. Standing silently at his place, he glanced at the screen. As the timer is below 30 seconds, he spoke, "Look, young lady, if you want to chat with me, we can talk later but now, it is time to battle."

    "I wonder if you reveal it if I win?" Leah probed the matter, further. She was actually telling it half-heartedly as she was too bored to wait. Leah was already thinking that this match is hers. She was also right in thinking so. Apart from higher soul power, her opponent almost has no obvious advantage against her.

    Velez then stared at her a few seconds before giving a reply, "if you win, that is."

    *Ting!

    The timer hit zero and both of them stopped talking immediately and got into action.

    Velez''s Death Knight clashed with Leah''s Aqua girl.

    The Death knight tried to vertically cleave the water Arcana into two but those two halves quickly reattached themselves to get its original form once again and she showed a strong resistance before he cut her completely.

    As a result, the sword was stuck inside the Aqua girl''s chest. He tried to pull it back but it couldn''t come out.

    Having no other choice, the Death Knight used the death energy without waiting for his host''s order and continuously poured it into his weapon before releasing it into the Aqua girl.

    In an instant, the death energy spread all over her body and tried to eat her core. As a fellow platinum-grade Arcana who was born from the Jewel of Water, the Aqua girl isn''t that easy to defeat.

    She just moved the core to a part of the body and split herself from the original body. All of a sudden, the original body became nothing more than a water body. She controlled the water body to envelop her opponent.

    The Death Knight raised his free hand and released concentrated death energy in the form of a sphere and exploded it.

    *Boom*

    An explosion occurred, making the water body explode into thousands of pieces. The Death Knight was finally free and his eyes wandered around. He found the Aqua girl good and well. However, she appeared much smaller than before, trying to recover. He charged toward the figurine-sized opponent.

    Meanwhile, on the other end of the battle platform, Leah and Velez were engaged in some sort of volleyball-style fighting.

    Earlier, Velez took the initiative to shoot a normal energy ball. Instead of cutting it down with her Excalibur, Leah reflected the attack using her passive skill. Velez Garcia''s passive skill is looping.

    It means that he can create a space loop at a place, normally around the target. So, when the target attacks him. The attack will have to pass through the boundary of the space loop instead of going further. The attack will be teleported to another boundary and take the enemies by surprise.

    So, when Leah reflected the attack, Velez used the loop, and the reflected attack returned to her from her behind. She then reflected it again back to Velez, who used the loop again back to her.

    While it seemed like they were playing a nonsense game to see who will come victorious in the end while letting their respective Arcana fight somewhere else, in reality, both of them are thinking the same thing.

    Both Velez and Leah wanted to exhaust each other''s passive abilities because those abilities are too much of a headache for the opponents.

    After several minutes, Leah became the first one to put a stop to this by slicing the energy ball upon realizing that Aqua girl is down with her soul finally got corrupted by the death energy.

    As Leah dashed forward while the Death Knight is returning to his host, Velez recovered his soul power on one hand and took out a rank-7 shield from the storage card, and held it in another hand.

    "There''s nothing that my Excalibur cannot cut," mumbled Leah as she sliced the shield into two. Velez hasn''t recovered his soul power completely. He didn''t expect that a 34% Mythril-made armor was destroyed just like that. Leah then punched his cheek upon finding an opening.

    With his face bruised, Velez crashed onto the ground. A look of surprise appeared on his face before it turned furious.

    Not intending to give him an opportunity to fight back, Leah jumped high in the air with flames dancing all over her sword.

    "Enough," Velez roared in anger. A gust of death energy erupted from him and pushed away Leah for at least a hundred meters. As she managed to land without losing her footing, the Death Knight reached his master.

    Leah raised her sword above her. The intensity of the flames increased. She was preparing to execute a sword technique she developed on her own.

    She spun around a couple of times and released a spiral beam of flames.

    Meanwhile, Velez rose to his feet. His eyes suddenly turned pitch black with no visible pupils just like how it was for Azzy.

    <strong>"Seal of Libra, Unlock."</strong>

    All of a sudden, his soul power was pushed to 12 million, putting him in the same league as a low-rank-7.

    <strong>"Hidden Skill: Merge"</strong>

    Before the flames reached him, Velez and his death knight merged together. The final transformation looked like a Death knight but with human hands. And instead of the knight''s helmet, Velez''s head could be seen, although his eyes appeared to stay pitch black as earlier.

    He raised the sword and pointed at the incoming flames. "Absorb"

    As soon as the word escaped, the spiral that supposed to burn him now being absorbed by the sword. Continued to hold the sword, he stared at Leah who was preparing for the next attack.

    Just then, suddenly, Leah felt like something pierced her chest and she coughed out a mouthful of blood. It was the first time Leah ended up in such a state.

    "What''s going on?" Leah felt confused for a second. Velez was still standing more than a hundred meters away and there was nothing around.

    It was then a warning echoed in her head, "Careful, incoming attack."

    "Where?" She sensed her surroundings but she couldn''t find anything. She could only trust the Excalibur and dodge to the left before her leg and her shoulder were pierced by an invisible attack once again.

    "Argh¡­" She screamed in pain.

 Chapter 395 World League: Junior Division - Semifinals (Part-3)

    "There are about 6 invisible liches around you with swords. Let me take over." The Excalibur advised her. However, Leah refused to take the assistance, "No, I had to win this one by myself."

    She closed her eyes and increased her senses to the maximum. Through Aura Sensing, she could see the auras of the invisible things that surrounded her.

    As they tried to stab her at the same time, Leah perfectly avoided it by leaping forward and rushing toward her opponent. They followed from behind but her speed outpaced them. So, they couldn''t catch up to her. Or, she thought.

    But, Velez''s next move checkmated her.

    Looking at his opponent that crossed the halfway, Velez unleashed his soul skill that even his teammates weren''t aware of. And it is something that Azzy is too familiar with.

    <strong>"Soul skill: Rise of the undead"</strong>

    Before she reached him, Velez''s army blocked her route. From silver to platinum grade, Leah saw more than fifty rank-6 undead beasts standing before her. Along with them, numerous human skeletons are also standing in her way. Just the sheer number of humans that Velez killed disgusted the audience. After all, people despise the necromancers.

    Leah expected that this guy might be a necromancer like Azzy but she didn''t expect that he had killed so many people.

    "You have no chance against me, Princess of Camelot," said Velez as he stood behind his army. This is the first time he opened his mouth after the start of the battle

    Letting out a smile, Leah responded, "You should have done more research about my abilities. What a waste of soul skill¡­"

    She raised her sword.

    <strong>"Soul skill: Amalgamation of Ice and Fire"</strong>

    She unleashed the soul skill, seeing the opportunity. "Freeze"

    In an instant, all the undead were frozen in ice and became ice sculptures. Even the liches weren''t spared. Strangely, Velez was completely fine. The ice did nothing to him.

    The experts in the audience section finally discovered why Leah had earlier spits out blood. They couldn''t help but praise Velez for having such a wonderful ability

    Meanwhile, Leah frowned in realization and then pointed her sword at him, "Fire"

    A burst of flames erupted from the floor beneath the feet of Velez. However, he didn''t move from the spot.

    Once the flames disappeared and Velez remained unaffected, he said, "this armor is indestructible, Princess of Camelot. No kind of energy can harm me. Anyway, get ready to face my next trump card."

    Velez made his final move as Leah proceeded to dash forward.

    He raised his hand to release the threads of death energy and struck the ice sculptures. "Fusion"

    Leah was only twenty-odd meters away from her target but something strange happened. The ice sculptures behind her exploded one after another and all the undead creatures flew toward him at a high speed.

    The princess of Camelot couldn''t help but take a giant leap backward and stood on the ice floor. She saw all the skeletons merge together to form a giant undead skeleton with a crown on its head and a large-sized black core in its chest visible to everyone like how it was with the other undead creatures earlier.

    Azzy''s eyes widened as he watched the 65-inch screen like his teammates.

    Mia looked at him and asked, "Can you do that?"

    "No." Azzy shook his head in response and asked the Reaper, to which, the latter answered, "You are still in the phase of learning how to control the soul skill, until now. You can do it when you master it. I should say that this kid is really good. He wasn''t blessed with powerful Arcana like you but he has higher mastery."

    "Who will win if we fight?" asked Azzy right away.

    The Reaper answered with a simple question, "Do you even have to ask?"

    Back to the battle, Leah fell to a complete disadvantage against a two-front assault from Velez with high-rank-7 strength and the undead king with low-rank-8 strength. Adding on top of them, the new invisible liches are created by Velez and they were attacking her whenever there is an opportunity.

    Within no time, all of her soul skills were displayed to the audience and met without any success. The energy attacks weren''t doing any damage to Velez and she couldn''t get closer to him because of the skeleton king who could change his size with just a thought. So, her skill cards also became useless. Her sealing skills might have helped her but this fast-paced battle didn''t even give her an opportunity to showcase her sealing abilities.

    "Final Strike¡­" Velez made a tight fist and the liches exploded altogether.

    "Reflect" In the final struggle, she reflected the explosions away from her but it appeared that her opponent had already expected it beforehand. As soon as she used her passive ability, the skeleton king detached its arm and shot it at her.

    The heavily injured Leah received a powerful blow to her abdomen and she flew away, crashing to the ground and losing her consciousness. Excalibur could possess her body and resume the fight but he didn''t as she doesn''t want to take his help.

    Landing beside her, Neal announced Velez as the winner of the match. She was taken on the strength to the infirmary by the authorities. Her father, the King of Camelot left his seat and made his way to the infirmary.

    Meanwhile, inside one of the waiting rooms, everyone from Team Twilight became silent. Except for Azzy, everyone including Claire had the same thoughts but no one wanted to admit it aloud that they don''t want to face Velez because it is a sign of cowardice. After watching the match, even Estella, the host of two mighty platinum-grade beasts didn''t have the confidence of taking him head-on.

    In the end, Azzy saved them from embarrassment with a simple statement, "I will take care of him."

    Everyone, almost at the same time, sighed in relief and Claire then addressed everyone, changing the topic, "Guys, we still have three days to prepare for the finals. If we train in a higher gravity environment, even 1 hour of our training will amount to 12 hours on the outside. Instead of focusing on improving soul power in hurry, it''s best to train our fists and reflexes. Even the strongest attack is useless if it cannot hit."

    "But, didn''t the Vice Principal Sahara tell that the gravity chamber isn''t working due to some technical issues? It hasn''t been repaired yet." Louis voiced his opinion.

    Claire shook her head, "No, I wasn''t talking about that."

    "Is there another place you know?" asked Estella in wonder.

    Claire glanced at her while feeling extremely weird to hear Estella in a normal tone. When she doesn''t display arrogance, the Moon Clan''s heiress sounds very cute though.

    As she was about to reply, Mia opened her mouth, "you were talking about that place, Claire?"

    "Yup." Claire nodded with a smile.

    Mia then shook her head, "The circumstances might not be that different last time but uncle was currently at Arcana world, training somewhere in the wild zone to breakthrough. We cannot contact him."

    Calder, Estella, and Louis watched them curiously, wondering what they were talking about.

    "But, there was someone else who can give us entry," replied Claire as she turned her head in the direction where her boyfriend is standing.

    Mia''s eyes lit up in realization, "Yes, that''s right. After all, he has the access code."

    Azzy stared at both of them for a brief amount of period and then finally nodded, "Alright, I will make the request."

    "Okay, stop keeping us in suspense. What is this amazing training ground that you are talking about?" Estella asked again in patience. This time, even Azzy confidently felt like he was looking at a different Estella. While the others might not know the exact reason, he had a strong suspicion that it has something to do with Gideon. When he thought of his best friend, he couldn''t help but miss him. After all, it has been more than two weeks since he last had contact with him.

    In response to her question, Claire and Mia answered together, "Mt. Animus."

    That day, five of them collectively disappeared from the public''s eye. The press reporters, news journalists, scouts, VIPs; everyone wanted to meet the finalists of the world league but Team Twilight was nowhere to be found.

 Chapter 396 You Owe Me Thirty Two Kisses

    <strong>18 hours before the finals;</strong>

    <strong>Special Forces HQ, Mt. Animus, Northern Qudour;</strong>

    In a special training room with about 20x gravity, members of Team Twilight are sparring against a team of battle robots (rank-6).

    Due to his enormous strength, Azzy stayed on the sidelines and assumed the role of an instructor while the others were sparring without the aid of their Arcana or their soul skills or skill cards. They were only allowed to use soul energy and man-made weapons.

    Fortunately, the Berserk/killer mode was already deactivated in the robots. So, no matter how strong their opponents are, the robots won''t go for the kill. Their eyes stayed blue from start to end.

    As the 20-minute sparring was finished, the battle robots gathered and went into standby mode. Team Twilight, on the other hand, collapsed on the floor while sweating from top to bottom.

    Azzy reset the gravity and walked toward his teammates who were feeling very relaxed due to the reduction of the gravitational pressure.

    Upon reaching them, he proceeded with his evaluation, which was rather harsh for most of them, "Louis, don''t just evade the attacks and focus on saving your teammates. The offense is also important."

    "C''mon Calder, I told you many times that you can''t match your strength with a stronger battle robot. Don''t fight head-on. Try to think of smart ways to defeat it"

    "Claire, you did a great job in pushing back your opponent and also saved your teammate but I say the same thing again. You should stop being reckless, taking advantage of your super regeneration. Your aggressive battle style worries me the most."

    "As for you, Estella, I can''t complain much. You aren''t cut out for close combat. So, you should just stick with the bow and arrow. That''s all I can say."

    "And finally, Mia, you have improved most of all. As long as you can change your style from close combat and ranger, you will be an asset to the team."

    Being extremely tired from the sparring, they could only nod and just lie on the floor.

    After a 10-minute break, they went for another round of 20-min sparring. Like this, they did a few more sparring matches until 2 o''clock in the morning before going to their rooms to sleep.

    Unlike them, Azzy didn''t work out much. So, he wasn''t as tired as them. As a result, several thoughts disturbed his mind as he lie down on the bed.

    He was thinking about Barbara''s refusal to return with him to the original timeline. He was thinking about his best friend who will miss the glory the team will receive the next day. He was also thinking about Leah''s state of mind.

    "Ugh, let''s go and drink tea to get some peaceful sleep." Azzy left his room and went to the cafeteria. As he was about to go toward the counter where a cute-looking robot is standing, he spotted Estella sitting alone.

    "One Chamomile tea please," He said to the robot and then walked toward Estella. "Not getting enough sleep?" He asked.

    She took a glance at him and let out a sigh, "I was just worried about him. It''s been 18 days. I wonder if he is alright."

    Azzy was a little bit taken aback by her words, not expecting Estella would still worry about Gideon.

    Taking a seat on the opposite side, Azzy then consoled her using a soft tone, "Gideon will be alright. He is the disciple of Ramiel Crescent, the Vice President of the largest organization in the world. Nothing will happen to him."

    "But, you said that his soul orb is getting eaten by the lightning. If it is that easy to save him, he would have returned by now," replied Estella, almost raising her voice.

    Upon realizing it, she lowered her voice again, "He went into that condition because of me. Unless I see him with my own eyes, I couldn''t stop the guilt that is eating me."

    Remembering Gideon from the future timeline, Azzy confidently said, "I''m sure that nothing will happen. Vice President Ramiel promised me that Gideon will return by the finals. I''m sure he will keep his word."

    "And there are only 15 hours left till the finals. I''m not sure whether he would be able to make it," replied Estella and let out a deep sigh once again. She added, "I should have participated with him in duo battles."

    "Go and sleep, Estella." Azzy didn''t know what else to say. So, he changed the topic, "you have to be at full strength, both physically and mentally, to face the opponents."

    "What about you?" Estella asked him in response.

    "Well, I''ll go too after I have the tea," replied Azzy, trying to force out a smile. However, he realized that he hasn''t sealed his soul orb yet. And just when he sealed it to regain the expressions temporarily, the robot spoke out loud, "Mr. Azrael, your order is ready."

    "Ah, Yes, coming."

    As Azzy started walking toward the counter, the heiress of the Moon Clan rose to her feet and started walking before waving her hand, "Goodnight, Azrael."

    "Ah! yeah, goodnight." Azzy nodded and took the cup calmly. He returned to the table and took his seat, started drinking the tea. Once Estella is out of sight, he then spoke, "alright, you can come out, sweetheart."

    A figure materialized right before him. Claire let out her tongue cutely, "you found me out."

    Azzy put down the tea cup and stretched his hand toward her face.

    Claire thought that he was trying to caress her face. She closed her eyes with a smile. Suddenly, a knock was given on the top of her head.

    "Ouch¡­" She opened her eyes while rubbing her head.

    "What are you doing, trying to use the skill card for spying on your boyfriend at this hour?" He scolded her, although using a soft tone.

    "Well," She looked away in response, not intending to tell him that she became insecure once again upon spotting them together by great coincidence as she was returning to her room from a shower.

    Azzy shook his head with a smile, "You are one jealous girlfriend."

    Claire blushed in embarrassment. She pouted her lips and complained, "If someone hadn''t gone for a date with another girl, I wouldn''t be jealous."

    "C''mon, you already know the real story behind it." As Azzy helplessly defended himself, Claire acted as if she was angry at him.

    "Whatever, I''m leaving. You go and sleep and don''t wander at night." As she got up from the seat and was about to leave, Azzy grabbed her arm and pulled it toward him. She somehow fell into his lap before he put his arms around her waist, "In fact, I too have a complaint against you."

    "Hmm?" She appeared to be perplexed for a moment because she never personally disappointed him with her actions as far as she knows. The battle is another story.

    Keeping his chin above her shoulders from behind, he said, "You have yet to compensate me for those 16 days you kept me away because of your duo battles. Considering you used to kiss me atleast twice a day, you owe me 32 kisses you know."

    Claire was pleasantly surprised at Azzy''s behavior. He rarely gets into a romantic mood and gets the initiative to kiss her or be intimate with her. However, she felt like she shouldn''t give in, that easily either. Turning her face to look at him, she replied, "You too left me for 7-10 days to go and fulfill your Arcana''s promise with Leah. You even went on a date with her and didn''t even tell me beforehand. I think those two cancel each other."

    "Why should they?" asked Azzy without accepting defeat. Grabbing her tightly and letting out a smile once again, he closed the gap between their faces and whispered, "Since it was my fault, how about I owe you 30 kisses? So, you kiss me thirty-two times and I will kiss you twenty times."

    As he was about to kiss her, Claire shyly commented, "You are acting like a dog in heat."

    "Can you blame me? You are the one who made me this way." Azzy freed one hand and grabbed the back of her head, inching closer to her and planting his lips onto hers.

    Azzy even doesn''t know why but he was in the mood and he just continuously kissed her. Claire didn''t resist at all. For anything, there''s nothing more than a happier moment for her to have intimate moments with her boyfriend.

    As a result, they are just lost in their world, continuously kissing for a whole minute before they were interrupted by a robotic voice.

    "Kissing isn''t allowed in public places. Please go to private space."

    As it announced it three times in a row, Azzy and Claire separated. Both of them are a bit embarrassed, realizing that they forgot where they are.

    "I¡­ I¡­ I¡­ I''ll go and have sleep. Yes¡­" Claire rushed away from there, flushing red from ear to neck.

    On the other hand, Azzy let out a big smile once again as he stretched his arms, "now that was really amazing. Somehow, I feel like I will have a night of good sleep now."

    He too went ahead and returned to his room.

    The next day, around noon;

    Team Twilight has once again visited the gravity chamber for one last spar before they leave for Silver city via portal points.

    But, to their surprise, someone familiar is waiting for them in a commando suit.

    "Gideon?" Everyone including Azzy reacted at the same time.

    The four-eyed commando smiled, "Hey, guys. Missed me?"

 Chapter 397 World League: Junior Division - Finals (Part-1)

    <strong>November 8th, 1994;</strong>

    <strong>Evening 6:30, Central Academy of Arcana, Silver city;</strong>

    It''s the day of the finals and the audience is naturally excited. Of course, it isn''t just about the matches. WAMO has invited global stars to perform at the joint concert.

    Firecrackers were dancing in the sky and people were cheering and dancing around as if they were in a music festival. It lasted more than an hour.

    Popular actress Amelia along with a famous TV personality Wester acted as the host for the finals. After that, the Mayor of Silver City, the organizing committee head, and finally WAMO''s Vice President (Ramiel Crescent) gave formal speeches for the next fifteen minutes.

    Once the stage is clear with only the hosts standing together, they directly went to announce the battles following the guidelines from the organizing committee. Unlike with the Champions League or any other international tournaments, there was no short interview with the finalists held before the battle.

    Now, usually, the Group category final match was always the first to be held but an exception arrives when a finalist in the group category also made it to the finals in another category. After all, there would be substitutes in a team if a finalist got injured in a solo/duo match but the match is as good as done if the finalist gets heavily injured in a team battle.

    As a result, the Group final was pushed to the end and the Duo final match was pushed forward. Of course, before that, the bronze medal winners should be decided in a match between the loser semifinalists.

    With Team Freyles dropping out of the tournament, Team Silver, the representative group of the hosting academy was automatically awarded the 3rd position.

    And now, in the duo group, Team Miare will be against Team ACT. Claire was cool and all but Mia appeared to be fired up.

    Watching the girl, who was aggressively fighting in close combat, Louis commented, "Today, Mia is very fierce, eh. She must be determined to get that medal."

    As soon as the comment left his mouth, Azzy, Gideon, and Calder abruptly turn their head and stare at him.

    "What?" Louis was taken aback, "Did I say something wrong?"

    Estella also wondered the same and looked at them curiously.

    "Don''t you know who her father is?" asked Gideon.

    As Louis and Estella wondered whether her father has some history with the opponents, Azzy then said, "She''s the daughter of the Ex-president of Northern Qudour and they belonged to the special forces of Southern Qudour."

    Northern Qudour and Southern Qudour are enemies and everyone knows it. Unlike Azzy who just hails from the south, Team ACT basically serves the nation. There''s no more explanation required other than that one sentence from Azzy to make Louis understand.

    Back to the battle, as the Oak Tree was just standing at the end while extending its roots below the battle platform, Mia was throwing punches at one of the archers without letting him gain the distance and shoot the arrow. At the same time, Claire was doing the same with her aggressive swordplay.

    Maybe, the past three days of hard work really paid off. After spending almost 60 hours in a room with 20g, they became hella faster and until the end, they didn''t give any opportunity for the opponents to properly injure them once.

    The final strike was done by the Oak Tree, piercing the remaining opponent with its root spikes.

    "Victor was knocked out. Team ACT is in no condition to continue. Team Miare wins the bronze medal match. Congratulations.

    The Proctor announced the results.

    This time, it wasn''t Neal who was supervising. As he couldn''t stop the death of a participant in the quarterfinals, the organizing committee felt that a stronger Proctor might be needed for the finals.

    As a result, an expert with high-rank-8 soul power was selected. This man is none other than the vice-captain of Zero Squad, Leaf.

    Anyway, at the moment, his identity is of no use to anyone other than to keep the finalists or the outsiders in check.

    The battles continued with Leah''s win against Luciana Hearth. Originally, after facing the loss, she was a little bit ashamed to even show her face to the public as she never expected to lose in the first place. But then, she had to swallow her pride for the glory of Camelot. Eventually, she won it, easing up slightly because of all the cheers.

    Now, she had hoped that Velez wins the finals without trouble. It was so that the people back at Camelot won''t question her decision to join the senior division and continue to look at her as a strong princess. The more Velez appears stronger, the more people think that she did great in making him go all out against her. In fact, she was even secretly hoping for non-participation in Azzy and Team Twilight''s loss.

    One can''t blame her to think that way as the image is everything for people sitting in high positions like her.

    Anyway, after the conclusion of the bronze medal matches, it''s time for the finals.

    Just as Leah hoped it to be, Velez had completely overwhelmed Prince''s attacks right from the start, making it an extremely one-sided battle.

    But, even then, he couldn''t gain the cheers from the majority of the spectators. Being a necromancer has already put him at a disadvantage because of the stereotypic society. His ruthless attacks only made him look like a villain. People were cheering for his opponent ''Prince'' until the end but the latter couldn''t live up to their expectations.

    In the end, he was fallen and Velez was declared the champion of the world league.

    After his battle, the Ash clan siblings put up a spectacular performance like usual and win the finals.

    In the audience section, a guy was seen shaking his head in disappointment, "I thought finals would be filled with most intense battles ever. But, so far, even including the bronze medal matches, all of them are one-sided. Did I pay 50,000 credits for this?"

    There are several others like him thinking the same. They came from far away, stayed in a queue all night, and paid a high ticket fee. However, all they could feel was that they came here to watch the joint concert, instead.

    The girlfriend who was sitting beside this guy then pointed to the screen, "Hey, the last match won''t be boring. It''s Team Twilight. They have like three platinum-grade users. I''m sure that they will go all out in this match."

    "I''m not sure." The guy let out a sigh of disappointment, "that Velez guy is too strong. Not only his powers are great, but he was also the sole rank-7 in the competition. You saw how even Prince was defeated with ease. Only Camelot''s princess gave him the trouble. And we don''t even know how powerful his teammates are. They didn''t even show their Arcana until now."

    Upon hearing him, the girlfriend stayed silent.

    Without any expectations, the guy watched both of the teams enter the barrier.

    "Hmm?" A trace of surprise appeared on his face as Estella stayed behind along with Calder as the rest of the five stepped onto the platform. "They left one of their strongest outside. Are they idiots?"

    The opponents were as surprised as several spectators when they saw it. However, they didn''t bother to give a remark because of Azzy''s presence. He killed rank-7 experts. So, even a person like Velez wouldn''t underestimate him.

    With Zona standing outside as a substitute, there are no words exchanged between them and everyone from Team Twilight quietly summoned their Arcana. Azzy summoned the black lotus.

    As for Team Abel, just as in the semifinals, only Velez had his Death Knight out but he no longer hid his soul power either. The audience couldn''t help but feel that members of Team Abel are too arrogant for their own good and secretly hoped that they would be taught a lesson, although not having expectations of Team Twilight''s win.

    *Ding!

    As soon as the timer reached zero, Louis conjured an arrow and drew the bow before landing on the black lotus; Mia took out her dual handguns; Claire unleashed her soul skill, the Descent of the Heavenly guardian, making her theoretically invincible against the peers; Azzy stood on the spot, absorbing the natural energy from the surroundings at a terrifying pace; and Gideon just brandished his lightning sword Raiga.

    On the other hand, everyone from Team Abel stood still on the orders of their leader.

    "C''mon, let''s see what you have got." Velez gestured for them to attack. He planned on using his passive skill to throw everything back at the opponents.

    But, to his surprise, no one made their move and they just took their positions. That''s all.

    After a 20-second of silence, Velez opened his mouth for the first time, "If you aren''t going to attack, then, I will."

    It was at that moment that Azzy suddenly made his move. His soul energy along with the natural energy formed a dual-layer over his body, alerting Velez. "I guess I spoke too soon, huh."

    Azzy charged forward at his maximum speed. In just a fraction of a second, he covered the distance between, taking the others by surprise. Velez didn''t expect such a high speed but as he was prepared to receive the attack earlier, he activated his passive skill without hesitation.

    The team members of Velez expected Azzy to be just stuck in a loop but they only saw Azzy''s punch hit their leader''s stomach, instead.

    Velez spits out blood as he blasted away. A couple of his teammates who were standing behind him were pushed away by Velez''s body as it flew at a blazing speed.

    The whole stadium fell into silence for a moment.

 Chapter 398 World League: Junior Division - Finals (Part-2)

    Crossing the barrier, Velez''s body continuously flew without any stop. Before he crashed onto the wall, the Proctor caught him and put him on the ground. Velez had already lost his consciousness and the Death Knight glared at Azzy for a second before disappearing on his own.

    "What the hell just happened?" The guy in the audience section who was complaining earlier looked like his eyeballs popped out of the socket. Everyone just rose to their feet in shock to see an all-powerful Velez end up knocked out by one punch.

    And it wasn''t just a simple knockout. Velez''s insides were completely punctured by Azzy''s one punch.

    After applying a powerful healing card on Velez and saving his life, the Proctor glanced at the battle platform, specifically at Azzy, "The power behind the punch is atleast equivalent to that of a mid-rank-8 expert. So, this is the real strength of the talent that Commander Kruger wanted to bring into the Z squad, huh."

    The Proctor then looked at the unconscious Velez, "this is what you get for being overconfident."

    In his eyes, Velez wasn''t prepared and took Azzy lightly. But, he didn''t know that Velez was prepared. It''s just that his loop didn''t work on Azzy''s soul energy which is powered up by the natural energy, which made Azzy break the invisible barrier and strike the target.

    Back to the finals, once Velez was out of the battle, the rest of the members of Team Abel were fully alerted to the situation and everyone summoned their Arcana right away before attacking Azzy collectively without any hesitation.

    Marcus is the vice-captain of the team and in Velez''s absence, he took charge for the first time. His Arcana is a dual attribute sword (Fire/Wind). He is the first to attack Azzy by unleashing soul skill.

    The flames took the shape of a large bird as it flew toward its target.

    Meanwhile, Saffron, the youngest of the team and the owner of a double-headed golden cat, also unleashed a soul skill at the same time. However, she didn''t aim at Azzy but her teammates. As a light/dark attribute, the golden-furred cat can act as an aggressor or a healer. To protect others, Saffron made protective barriers around others. Once she saw that her teammates are safe, she then unleashed a beam of darkness through her palms, aiming at harming Azzy.

    The fourth member, Jesse had summoned her fire/wind/light bow staff and unleashed a fiery wind, supporting the flames released by Marcus'' sword and increasing its intensity.

    Lastly, the fifth member of Team Abel, Noah of the Blood Clan created a blood spear and threw it at Azzy.

    At that instant, Azzy couldn''t help but inwardly praise their coordination of attacks and their split actions. "They lost their backbone but still could fight without hesitation and still might be able to pull such stunt while withstanding pressure. No wonder they were the favorites of the tournament. But then again, Abel Tower is said to be a powerful ancient organization. So, it is expected."

    And at the same time, Azzy also didn''t fight back or back away. Instead, he just took their attacks directly, testing the strength of his defense. Of course, he didn''t forget to continuously absorb the natural energy from the surroundings and pumped into his body to increase sturdiness.

    "Rael" "Azzy" "Azrael"

    His teammates who were earlier in a daze now went into a panic. Gideon was about to rush forward but Claire controlled her emotions and raised her hand, "Stick to the plan."

    Azzy''s teammates then stood in their spots and just stared at the dark flames and the blood that enveloped their teammate. It lasted for ten seconds.

    At first, they were indeed worried because Azzy was hit by several attacks but then a couple of seconds later, they realized that their teammate wasn''t even moving from the spot. It eased up them a lot.

    As the flames and the blood disappeared, everyone saw an invincible 14-year-old Azzy who stood there like a steel wall with his hands to the back and silently gazed at the opponents.

    This shook the hearts of the four of them. No matter how strong they are, no matter how talented they are, it is impossible to not be shaken up by this. They felt like in front of absolute strength, everything is useless. Even the spectators couldn''t believe their eyes for a moment as only a person in the legendary realm will be able to block those attacks with ease. Either that or Azzy might have used some technique to nullify all the damage.

    Even Azzy''s friends have no idea about the passive skill that he was born with. So, they couldn''t help but assume that this might be his passive skill.

    Vice-Captain Marcus also assumed the same. He was in denial that Azzy was too strong for them to even leave a scratch on him. Losing his cool, he shouted, "Guys, don''t fall for the trick. Keep on attacking."

    His comment made Azzy realize that he had shaken up his opponents. It disappointed him a little bit as he was praising their mental strength earlier.

    Anyway, he achieved what he wanted. He no longer needed to entertain the opponents.

    As the opponent was about to go for round 2, Azzy made his next move. He raised his palms and shot a sphere of concentrated soul energy toward Saffron but actually didn''t aim at her. Instead, he exploded it in the mid-air, throwing away everyone a dozen meters away.

    Luckily, everyone from Team Abel had protective barriers. As a result, no injuries were inflicted upon them but those protective shields were destroyed in the process.

    Looking at it, Claire conjured a sword made of divine energy and raised it, "There''s our signal. Team Twilight, attack."

    "Okie, capture her," Mia ordered her Arcana. The Oak Tree extended its branches toward Jesse, the bo staff user. The black lotus then flew up a few meters and Louis shoots an arrow at Jesse at the same time.

    Meanwhile, Claire, who already activated her soul skill, flapped her wings and flew toward Marcus, the vice-captain of the opponent team.

    Gideon, who was normal until now, activated his lightning mode. However, to everyone''s surprise, instead of ordinary blue lightning sparks, there were red sparks. It took him less than a second to reach Saffron who was on the floor and stab her back with the sword.

    More than a hundred million joules of energy were released by the red lightning sparks and almost electrocuted her to death. However, he was also quick to launch a healing skill on her, right away. As a result, Saffron only went into an unconscious state.

    Azzy didn''t stand still either. He took care of the remaining opponent by reaching the exiled member of the Blood clan and planting a powerful kick in the chest. Just like with the prince of Freyles nation, Noah also flew away for a couple of hundred meters before crashing onto the ground, losing consciousness right away.

    Within a minute, only Marcus was seen fighting from Team Abel''s side. However, individually, he was no match for Claire who had the power of instant regeneration from her injuries and the instant recovery of the soul power. As a result, he kept on getting pushed back.

    Claire was slashing left and right.

    *Cling* Cling*

    At first, he could parry her attacks but slowly, her attacks got more robust and faster. Due to the fact that he was alone and used all of his soul skills, Marcus'' mind also took a hit. So, he couldn''t think straight.

    "Get down¡­"

    After managing to push him to the edge of the barrier, Claire then put all of her strength into the sword and pushed him further before spinning around and giving a roundhouse kick. Her leg struck his chin.

    Marcus flew up and crashed onto the ground. He had the strength left to stand and go inside the barrier but feeling that it is useless, he just stayed on the ground until the five-second limit is over.

    "Team Abel is out of battle. Team Twilight wins the gold medal match. Congratulations." Proctor Leaf loudly announced.

    "Twilight" "Twilight" "Twilight" "Twilight" "Twilight"

    Once the announcement was made, the spectators rose to their feet and cheered loudly. Everyone from Team Twilight started hugging each other. Even Izora couldn''t help but join the celebrations of her students at the battle platform.

    Meanwhile, Claire looked around in a daze and then clenched her fist, raising it above her head. "We did it, guys."

 Chapter 399 World League: Junior Division - Closing Ceremony

    As Azzy patted her shoulder, Claire, who was overwhelmed by joy, jumped into his arms and kissed him without minding the surroundings. Azzy also didn''t mind her bold action and just spun her around once before keeping her down and hugging others.

    Somewhere in the audience section, a certain hooded man was biting his nails in frustration, "Dammit, this Azrael is far stronger than even me. It''s impossible to kill him. I guess there''s only one choice left. I need to risk it and erase his existence with that anti-divine crystal that I have stolen from the Temple of Fire. But, 300 million credits won''t be enough. I should demand atleast a billion from King Ragnor."

    As the team started leaving for their waiting room and the battle platform transformed into that of a stage for the closing ceremony, the mysterious assassin rose to his feet and left the arena.

    At the same time, in one of the waiting rooms, Leah was in deep thoughts, "No wonder Azrael is too strong. He has command over natural energy. I think this is what I need to improve my strength. Unless I master the art of natural energy and level my strength similar to that of Azrael, people would only think that I borrowed his strength."

    Then a deep aged voice interrupted her, "Being determined is good but there''s this thing such as time. Do you think three days are enough?"

    Leah spoke, "If I enter the ancient time chamber, I will get 30 days. I think it will be enough."

    "Lass, you do know that you can only enter that place once a year and that too for only a week. Do you want to waste it on such a thing?" asked the Excalibur. The mystical sword in the stone wasn''t that enthusiastic about his host''s plan.

    Leah didn''t hesitate to nod, "I think it is worth it. Everything is for the sake of Camelot. After all, I don''t think Azrael can ever become my knight."

    "No, my prophecy cannot be false." The Excalibur shook his head, affirming to her that Azzy is indeed her destined knight.

    Leah let out a sigh as she stared at the tv where Team Twilight was seen walking toward the northern pavilion. "Azrael''s teammates were shown a lot of improvement. I wonder what training they went under."

    <strong>15 minutes later;</strong>

    On the large stage, where the battle platform originally was, the medalists were standing together. Team Abel didn''t attend the ceremony. In their place, their representative instructor, Elder Alf of Abel Tower was present to receive the medals and corresponding rewards.

    Just like every year, Vice President of WAMO, Ramiel Crescent appeared on the stage to award the prizes as one of the hosts, Actress Amelia announced the names while looking at the cue card.

    <strong>"First, solo category. Congratulations, Leah Pendragon on winning the bronze medal. Please come forward and accept your reward."</strong>

    Leah stepped forward and stood on the podium. After putting the bronze medal over her neck, Ramiel Crescent handed her a box filled with a prepaid card with fifty million credits, a platinum grade storage card, a memory item card that contains the knowledge of a unique skill, and finally, a lab-made energy crystal that double''s the user''s absorption rate for 30 minutes. The last one was extremely useful when absorbing the Spirit Core of the wild beasts.

    After she returned to her position while receiving congratulations from other participants, the host continued.

    <strong>"Congratulations, Prince on winning the silver medal."</strong>

    <strong>"Congratulations, Velez Garcia on winning the gold medal."  </strong>

    Once the solo category rewards are over, it was the turn of duos. Team Miare, which ended up in 3rd place, also received the same rewards as Leah did. Fortunately, both are rich. So, they managed to keep their emotions in check upon receiving such exorbitant rewards.

    One after another, Ramiel continued to present the rewards. And at last, it was the turn of Twilight.

    With a big smile on her face, the host announced, <strong>"Congratulations, Team Twilight on winning the gold medal of the junior world league, 1994. Captain Claire Lefeuvre, please come forward and take your reward."</strong>

    This time, Claire calmly walked ahead once again and took the exquisite-looking box filled with a prepaid that has a variety of items.

    <strong>I) 500 million credits</strong>

    <strong>II) Five memory item cards that contain the knowledge of different unique skills</strong>

    <strong>III) Five lab-made energy crystals</strong>

    <strong>IV) Rank-8 Armor set (Armor, bracers, boots, and helmet)</strong>

    <strong>V) An invitation card to Squad-Zero training (7 days)</strong>

    <strong>VI) A slab (1kg) of Mithril that is used in forging rank-7 to rank-9 skill cards</strong>

    <strong>VII) Five platinum grade item cards of different types i.e. Storage card, flying card, Satellite card, message card, and Night vision card.</strong>

    Of all the rewards, usually, the invitation card is said to be the most precious because of the reputation Squad-Zero holds among the masses and Arcana Masters alike. However, for Claire, the reward of unique skills holds much importance.

    And with this, the presentation ceremony came to an end. The participants and the guests cleared the stage, letting the host announce for one last time.

    "Ladies and Gentlemen, it''s time for the final event of the closing ceremony. Give it up for Eclipse."

    About 10 minutes later, the lights were switched off and the display of fireworks started in the sky once again, mesmerizing the audience.

    Soon, all of the champions are surrounded by media. As the leader and the spokesperson of the group, Claire gave them an interview while Azzy escaped from the media as usual. While Izora stayed with the princess of Triastal, the other members of Team Twilight also returned to the hotel.

    At first, the questions were mostly about tournament-related stuff but soon, the journalists started bringing up personal topics.

    Celebrities from the Entertainment world or business world usually ignore them but Claire didn''t belong to either of those worlds. She openly admitted that she and Azzy are dating, considering her family already knew about it.

    She didn''t hide the details about the werewolf incident either and when asked about how she felt about Azzy''s necromancy, she simply blinked her eyes and replied, "so what?" She lectured them that powers don''t define a human''s character but their actions are important.

    After a series of questions, when Izora finally told them that this is the last question and pointed to a journalist, she was asked, "As a girl, how do you feel your boyfriend participating as a partner for Princess Camelot in the senior division?"

    A couple of others sharply stared at her for asking such a dumb one. After all, it is common to have relationships and partner up with someone else for work. One often sees everywhere.

    However, Claire''s answer stumped them and the journalist smiled in happiness for getting a scoop. She created a little bit of controversy and a headache for Leah as she said four simple words, "I don''t like it."

    Izora realized that this girl was too direct despite being the spokesperson of the team. In the end, she had to grab her and fly away from there, quickly before the journalists will attempt to state the reason.

    On the way to the hotel, Izora told Claire that she shouldn''t have admitted it that way. However, Claire simply smiled in silence. Only she knew what she was thinking.

    Anyway, the kids needed to enjoy the present and Izora didn''t want to spoil it for them. So, she just kept silent upon returning to the hotel and let them party all night.

    Two days passed away quickly.

    There''s only 1 day left before Azzy''s top-16 battle at Senior World League. Azzy, his family, his team along with the Principal and Vesyrn were staying at the hotel at Central City in Arcana world.

    It was early morning and Azzy was sleeping soundly in his room without any worry about the next day''s match.

    *knock* knock* knock*

    His door was knocked on hurriedly, waking him up from his sleep.

    Azzy lazily got down from the bed and opened the door, only to see his girlfriend standing outside a bit nervously. "Morning, Claire."

    "Um, Rael, can you wash up and get ready?" asked Claire. "We need to go out somewhere."

    "Hmm? This early?" Azzy glanced at his wristwatch. It was only around 6 a.m.

    "My mother is here and she wants to meet you," said Claire, taking Azzy by surprise.

    "Eh?" Azzy suddenly lost his drowsiness completely.

 Chapter 400 The Daughter Of The King Of Angels

    Azzy followed Claire to the top of the terrace of the hotel, which somehow allowed them despite the fact that it is a restricted zone.

    There, he saw a middle-aged woman, who kinda looks similar to Claire and Syllia, silently staring at the rising sun. Alongside her, there''s also an old man who appeared to be at peak-rank-8.

    Maybe, he was worried about her opinion. Azzy was nervous as he greeted Claire''s mother. His nervousness only increased as he saw a stern look on her face.

    Without bothering to hide her displeasure, Queen Ingrid nodded and then said to her daughter, "Claire, I told you that I will have to talk with him, alone. You aren''t needed here."

    "But Mom!" As Claire tried to reason with her, Queen Ingrid sharply glared at her. Claire immediately backed down and left Azzy alone.

    Queen Ingrid didn''t stop there. She then asked the old man beside her to set up a sound barrier so that no one could listen to their conversation. After creating an invisible barrier on the terrace, the old man left them alone.

    Azzy waited for his future mother-in-law to speak first as he doesn''t know what to say.

    Fortunately, Queen Ingrid didn''t take up much time and came to the point right away, "I will be direct, Azrael. I have heard about you a lot from various sources. If those weren''t exaggerated, then you would most likely become a Supreme Realm expert. If luck favors you, then, you might even become a Demigod in the far future. In comparison, my daughter isn''t even a match for you if I had to be brutally honest. However, you can''t be with my daughter."

    From the start, Azzy was prepared for the possibility that Claire''s mother would reject him based on his background status or his attribute incompatibility with Claire.

    Claire told him that her mother approved of their relationship, a long time ago but he didn''t believe her back then, feeling that she might have lied to him to not disappoint him. And that seed of doubt was buried in his heart.

    But, when that fear became true, it kinda hit him hard. He quickly asked her, "May I know the reason?"

    To his surprise, Queen Ingrid didn''t give either of the reasons that he had expected. Instead, she replied, "The people of Triastal know that I had Syllia with my husband and had Claire with my unknown lover, two decades after my husband passed away. But, to this date, not even my daughter knows who her father is. I''ll tell you who it is. When you learn his name, you will begin to understand why I''m against your relationship."

    "Who is it?" asked Azzy. He couldn''t help but wonder whether this father is some powerful leader of a Hidden clan. If it is, then, it would not be a problem at all.

    Little did he expect that Queen Ingrid will give him a name that makes complete sense.

    "He is the King of Angel race, Archangel Michael. But, don''t misunderstand it. We aren''t lovers. Archangels are pure beings. They can''t have such a relationship with humans. You can think of it as a blessing of the divine energy that I received from him.

    I''m a half-angel. So, Claire can''t be considered a pure angel. However, still, she''s the daughter of Michael and was born as an immortal. The sword she uses for battles isn''t exactly supposed to be an Arcana spirit. Agatha is the divine sword of Archangel Michael himself.

    He loved her so much that he even left it inside her body in order to protect her in his absence. Do you think he would leave you alive if he finds out that his precious daughter was in love with a mortal?"

    Azzy was stunned by her explanation. He always felt like her regeneration is weird but he termed it as a passive skill. And when the Reaper informed him that Agatha is the sword of Michael, Azzy thought that the sword might be the source of her life attribute powers.

    But, he never thought she would be the daughter of the most powerful Angel in the universe.

    As he was trying to digest the information, Queen Ingrid continued, "Claire told me about you in the summer. Back then, I didn''t think too much and felt like she should also experience love when she was still a teenager. However, two days ago, she publicly declared your relationship. And now, everyone in the world is aware of her relationship.

    This is what forced me to meet you despite knowing that you have an important match tomorrow. As I have told you earlier, you can become a Supreme Realm expert and become the pillar of humanity. If something happens to you, it is a terrible loss to this world. On the other hand, sooner or later, Claire will have to leave for the Celestial Realm to unite with other angels.

    So, there''s nothing to gain for you, staying in this relationship. I told you everything I want to say. Now, the rest depends on your choice."

    Azzy stayed silent as he looked down at the floor. Honestly, her background didn''t even matter to him. He likes her and he saw that his future self married her. That means there''s no need for him to back down from the threat. But, at the same time, he doesn''t want to try to separate mother and daughter either. So, he sought the help of the Reaper.

    The Reaper, who had his secret plans for his host''s future, readily agreed to help him out by taking possession of his body, at first. Just as Queen Ingrid was about to dispel the barrier around them to walk away, the Reaper spoke to her through Azzy''s mouth.

    "Ingrid Lefeuvre, the descendant of Maxence Lefeuvre, I need to speak my opinion regarding this matter."

    The deep voice from Azzy while his eyes turning pitch black made her realize that he was possessed by Arcana at first glance.

    Furrowing her brows, Queen Ingrid asked, "You are¡­"

    "The name''s not necessary, child," replied the Reaper before adding, "Let''s just say I''m a spirit who is as old as this universe. And I''m also knowledgeable enough to remove one of the seals on the divine sword which was placed by her former master."

    "A celestial grade spirit?" Queen Ingrid was taken aback. She thought Azzy is the owner of two platinum grade Arcana, not a celestial grade spirit.

    Of course, she mistook the Reaper as a celestial grade but he didn''t bother to clarify her.

    He proceeded to say, "This boy standing in front of you isn''t the same as other genius mortals. Forget about the Supreme realm or Demi god realm, Azrael has the potential to stand equals with Archangels and True Gods from the Celestial Realm. And I don''t think Michael will refuse him. I''m sure that he will gladly accept him as a son-in-law."

    "Eh?" This time, it was Ingrid''s turn to get shocked. She cannot even believe her ears for a moment. "I''m afraid I heard something wrong. Did you just say that this kid will become a True God? How is that possible? During the past hundred thousand years, not even a single Demigod arose from mankind. Above the Demigod, there is a junior god, then, Elder God, and finally, a True God. A mortal of the human race can achieve such heights? I''m sorry but even if you are a celestial grade Arcana, it is difficult for me to believe your words."

    The Reaper didn''t offense to her disbelief and calmly said, "It is entirely alright if you think of me as a pretentious liar but you don''t have any issue with their relationship, correct? So, why not accept it and continue to watch over them? You aren''t losing anything here and the risk is entirely borne by Azrael anyway."

    Queen Ingrid silently stared at Azzy for a whole minute before she nodded, "Alright. But, I should remind you that Claire will have to leave for the Celestial Realm before she turns 35. This fate is something that even I can''t change."

    "As I have said earlier, there''s no need for that. But, anyway, we''ll deal with it when the time comes." The Reaper replied to her as she left the terrace.

    Meanwhile, Claire was nervously moving back and forth in her room, wondering what they might be talking about. As her mother''s expression didn''t look good, she couldn''t help but worry.

    Soon, the door was opened her mom entered alone.

    "Mom, I¡­" Before Claire gets to say anything, Queen Ingrid patted her shoulder with a smile on her face, "Bring him to our house sometime."

    In an instant, Claire''s face glow like a light bulb and she hugged her mother, "Thank you, Mom."

    Soon, Ingrid left the city, returning to the Triastal kingdom.

 Chapter 401 World League: Senior Division - Top 16 Battle

    <strong>November 12th, 1994;</strong>

    <strong>Arena-0, Heavenly Academy of Arcana;</strong>

    Top-16 battles of all the categories were conducted in the same Arena-0, the one with a million-seat capacity. With 8 battles per category, there are 24 battles for the day.

    Aiming to finish all of them in one day, just like every previous tournament, the top-16 battles started right in the early morning at 6 o''clock.

    Fortunately for Azzy, it will start with group battles. So, his turn will probably come around noon.

    But still, he couldn''t help but woke up at 5 o''clock and reach the stadium before that time as he experienced short battles lately. Leah arrived around 7, wearing her long white flowing dress. Well, at a glance, she was looking very elegant as always. Her soul power didn''t improve at all but Azzy felt like something was changed. He just couldn''t put his finger on it.

    Anyway, at around 10:30, the duo battles started. Just like with the group battles, the fixtures weren''t announced for duo category matches either. So, Azzy didn''t know who they are gonna fight.

    Having nothing else to do, they could only wait for half an hour until a staff member stepped inside the room and informed them that it is their turn next.

    As they got out in the field, Azzy finally saw his opponents. One looked like he is in the middle ages while the other is quite young. He instantly recognized the young man with a ponytail and a vertical third eye.

    "Chronos, he''s the same guy I encountered back at Leunar City, right?" asked Azzy.

    The Reaper confirmed it immediately, "Yes, the holder of the Eye of Destruction."

    Azzy didn''t actually meet the opponent but back when he solved a homicide case at Zuweth nation, the media surrounded him for the interview. He then escaped and coincidentally landed in a college where he saw this college student playing tennis in some kind of official tournament. Since they have nothing to do with each other, Azzy got out of there, back then.

    Little did he expect to meet him as an opponent.

    Leah had her subordinates research all the top 16 participants during her free time. So, she knew the abilities of these two. However, even she was taken aback when Excalibur confirmed to her that the third eye is indeed far more special than she expected.

    In an instant, Leah and Azzy connected each other palms and closed their eyes as the Proctor announced a 2-minute preparation time.

    "I guess you know what his third eye is, right?" asked Leah.

    "We need to make this a quick battle," replied Azzy.

    Leah then said, "Well, according to Excalibur, he needs to store huge amounts of natural energy before unleashing it. And this place didn''t have such abundance. Not to mention, the two of us are also there to absorb the natural energy. It will take a long time for him to gather sufficient energy. So, there''s nothing to worry about. Not to mention, he has yet to display that power in this tournament either."

    At first, Azzy agreed with her but suddenly, he felt something amiss. Upon recalling her words, he pointed out, "Did you just imply that you can also absorb natural energy?"

    "Is it that much of a surprise?" asked Leah, confirming her partner''s suspicion. She then added, "Honestly, if only I had more time, I would have completed the second technique, which could turn into a trump card if used wisely."

    Azzy assumed that she was telling that 3 days weren''t enough but she was actually talking about 30 days she spent in the ancient time chamber of Camelot that is only known to the Royal family.

    But then again, Azzy had the assistance of Buddhist scriptures to achieve it instantly, and that too because of the Reaper but Leah didn''t have such luxury. While she had the spirit of Excalibur who mentored her, it was still tough to even be able to integrate natural energy with the soul orb. After all, the energy from nature is in unrefined form and is quite wild. Taming is a tough task. The fact that Leah even managed to create one technique is amazing.

    The Reaper was indeed in awe of her talent but he knew that Azzy will get depressed if he praises her. In the current situation, it isn''t recommended. So, the Reaper stayed silent and let the time pass away.

    Meanwhile, the Proctor was staring at his pocket watch. As the timer passed, he picked up the whistle and blew it. As the sound reached every corner of the stadium, the participants summoned their Arcana.

    Azzy summoned the black lotus and the black lightning wolf. Leah also summoned her Excalibur and Aqua girl.

    On the side of Team Zee, three-eyed Rudra (20-year-old) summoned a trident while his partner, Ajakava (96-year-old) summoned a giant green red-colored scorpion. While both of those Arcana are in platinum grade, only the trident was a natural platinum grade. The giant scorpion, on the other hand, double mutated, once at rank-3 to rank-4 breakthrough and the second time at rank-6 to rank-7 breakthrough.

    Usually, natural platinum grade beasts are stronger than ones that mutated from a lower grade. However, in this case, the scorpion is stronger because its master is just a step away from reaching the legendary realm (peak-rank-7) while Rudra was at the peak stage of the Upper Elite realm (peak-rank-6).

    Either way, Azzy, and Leah weren''t worried about those Arcana. After summoning the four of them, they went on with the merge, which became the focus every time someone talked about this couple.

    <strong>"Soul Amalgamation: Merge"</strong>

    It wasn''t any special merging; just the usual one between the Aqua girl and the black lotus, turning Izarok into a Protos Aqua girl with a tiara on her head. As for Vajra and Excalibur, they were themselves.

    Giving control of Izaru to his partner, Azzy rushed forward. In just a second, he was already standing before Rudra.

    Azzy launched a punch. However, Rudra ducked it skillfully and pierced Azzy''s abdomen with his trident before throwing him over the shoulder. It was probably the first time someone weaker than Azzy had bested him in the very first bout.

    As Azzy was about to crash onto the ground, Ajakava took advantage of the opportunity and launched a kick while his opponent was still in the air.

    Just as he was about to be kicked in the abdomen where he was wounded, Azzy caught Ajakava''s leg at the perfect moment and used it as a support to control his body in the air before counterattacking his opponent with a powerful dropkick on the face.

    Ajakava''s nose was hit very hard and the blood started trickling down from his nose. As Rudra caught the middle-aged fellow and hurriedly applied a healing skill on him, Azzy landed on the ground and raised his hand, shooting an energy ball.

    Rudra and Ajakava know that the ball can explode too. So, they cannot let it near them. So, Rudra spent a little bit of his soul power, raising the trident and shooting a fire beam at it.

    The fire beam and the energy ball collided and destroyed each other. But, Azzy never had the intention to use it to harm the opponents. Instead, it is a signal for Leah and Vajra who were on standby.

    Once she received the signal, Leah went with a big move, following their strategy.

    Raising her sword, she unleashed back-to-back soul skills. As her soul power is only around 6 million. So, using three rank-6 soul skills reduced her reserves by two-thirds.

    <strong>"Soul skill: the Queen''s Domain"</strong>

    <strong>"Soul skill: Amalgamation of Ice and Fire"</strong>

    <strong>"Izaru, take the form of a giant. Then, use soul skill: Multiply"</strong>

    Following the orders, the black Aqua girl expanded her side by spreading her concentrated form of water and then, unleashed the soul skill, multiplying herself into 6 more. It was like having six physical clones at the same time. In fact, her winning chances would have gone up had the Aqua girl not fallen to the Death Knight during the semifinals of the junior world league.

    As seven black-colored water giants gained the attention of the opponents, Leah made the entire battle platform her domain. She then made her first order, which consumed 1 million SP, "Those who are unworthy shall kneel."

    While Azzy and Rudra were fine, Ajakava felt an invisible pressure on his legs, trying to force him to kneel. However, he managed to resist it.

    "Tch, I expect them to resist but not like this." Leah got a little bit annoyed that her skill turned out to be useless once again. "Well, then, how about this."

    ? She passed the next order, which consumed another million soul power worth of soul energy, almost reducing to zero. "Those who have less potential than me shall not remain in my domain."

    Once again, Azzy felt nothing, but this time, both Rudra and Ajakava felt an invisible pressure on their body and mind, making them walk out of the barrier on their own.

    Rudra and Ajakava were trying their best to resist it while the giant scorpion started running toward the exit of the barrier. Within a few seconds, the three-eyed young man managed to nullify the mental skill but it was a lot harder for Ajakava.

    Without giving their time to think of any counterattack, Azzy suddenly took out a mysterious skill card and poured soul energy into it. Almost 90% of his soul power was consumed.

    <strong>"Skill card: Gravity Suppressionx100 times."</strong>

    All of a sudden, an invisible barrier was erected around Azzy with about 50 meters in radius.

    Ajakava and Rudra just fought the strange mental skill forced onto them. And now, both of them were helplessly forced onto their knees.

    Leah, who already activated her soul skill, attacked both of the opponents while forcefully forgetting her embarrassment of the earlier failure. "Freeze" "Fire"

    "Argh" "Argh"

    Screams were heard for a while before they became silent, falling unconscious.

 Chapter 402 Five New Unique Skill Cards Of Azzy

    <strong>"Team Zee is incapable of continuing the battle. The winner is Team Camelot."</strong>

    As the winner was announced, Azzy and Leah walked out of the field amid the cheers of three hundred thousand spectators.

    "It looks like your strategy worked perfectly," commented Leah as they were leaving the stadium before going toward the audience section where the families of Azzy and Leah are sitting together.

    Azzy shook his head while staring at his stomach. The wound was healed by the Healing card but three holes remained on the t-shirt. "He got me back then."

    "Well, it''s common in a fight. I couldn''t even fight against Velez Garcia. Compared to that, what you faced isn''t even a problem." Leah snorted in response before she added as an afterthought, "either way, you did great in picking the memory item cards as your reward. Your Gravity Suppression greatly helped us to finish them rather quickly."

    Two days before the finals, Azzy and his group mates gathered in one room to share the rewards they received for becoming the champions.

    As they have seven types of rewards, instead of splitting everything between them, each of them took one type of reward as their share.

    For Azzy, only skills are precious and everything else is useless but he was reluctant to choose it. After all, he only fought two battles in the junior league. It wouldn''t be fair for him to take them. So, he told them he would want just one or two memory item cards.

    However, Claire suggested that he should take five of the memory item cards because he deserved them. Surprisingly, everyone agreed with it. They strongly believed that Velez''s defeat is the reason they won the finals.

    As a result, Azzy ended up taking all the five memory item cards that have different types of unique skills.

    Claire chose five lab-made energy crystals as she wanted to catch up to Azzy in terms of soul power.

    Mia chose the rank-8 armor set (Armor, bracers, boots, and helmet) as she was lacking in defense.

    Estella chose the Mithril slab (1kg, enough to forge 100 rank-7 to rank-9 skill cards)

    Louis was given the invitation card to Squad-Zero training (7 days). He was genuinely happy with the reward.

    Calder was then given the choice to pick up one of the remaining two. Feeling that he didn''t make any contributions to the team, he picked up the least precious reward (five platinum grades ¨C storage, message, flying, satellite, and night vision).

    Gideon ended up once again with the money, although this time, he earned 500 million credits, which is like 50 million krocs in Northern Qudour''s currency. The money was enough for him to buy a large villa in the affluent neighborhood of Egrein city (capital of Northern Qudour). Heck, he could even buy an apartment at a prime location in Silver City.

    Everyone is happy with what they got but Azzy still felt a little bit guilty for hoarding five of them. So, he promised his teammates to make those skill cards for them after he gained certain mastery.

    And for the past couple of days, Azzy didn''t sit still in the hotel. Because of the upcoming match, he absorbed the knowledge from the memory item cards and started practicing one of the skills, Gravity Suppression.

    The other four are called Aura of Elementalist, Heavenly Push, Meteor Shower, and Metal Armor respectively.

    <strong>Aura of Elementalist:</strong> After activating the skill card, the user will temporarily gain the access to all the seven basic attributes (Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Lightning, Light, and Dark). They could use soul energy and one of the attributes, creating a skill on their own but it is the hardest to master.

    <strong>Heavenly Push:</strong> Upon activating the card, everything around the user will be pushed away from him. Unless the opponent is someone far more powerful, they will be pushed away. It doesn''t have any power and it will also affect enemies and allies alike.

    <strong>Meteor Shower:</strong> Upon activating the skill card, a bunch of meteorites will appear in the sky and the user can control them to launch a grand scale attack.

    <strong>Metal Armor:</strong> Upon activating the skill card, the user''s body will turn into that of nearly indestructible metal. It can help the user in blocking the attacks that are far higher than what one''s body could take on. However, the downside is that one cannot move in such a state.

    Of all these five, Azzy thought that Gravity Suppression is the best one as it will not only aid him in the tournament but also help him in an understanding of gravitons. The Reaper sealed them at the back of his neck, which formed a star-shaped mole (seven-pointed).

    And the result didn''t disappoint him either. As Leah said, it greatly helped him. Of course, Leah also gained a memory item card but she didn''t have the time to master it as she focused on training Sage techniques (natural energy).

    Back to the present, as the next battle started, Azzy and Leah joined the others in the stands. Some recognized both of them and congratulated them while the others were focused on the battle.

    By 4 o''clock in the afternoon, all the battles were finished and Azzy returned to the hotel.

    The next day was a rest day for all the quarterfinalists. So, Azzy thought of going on a date with Claire as it''s been a while. Both of them discussed what to do during the previous evening so that there won''t be any confusion later on.

    At around 8:45 in the morning, Azzy and Claire left the hotel, together. As they reached the portal point, Azzy hesitated a little bit before speaking of the location and paying it.

    Both of them disappeared and reappeared at their destination. After exiting the portal point, Azzy and Claire hired a horse carriage like other tourists. After 30 minutes of travel, they finally reached a water theme park, which was too familiar for him.

    Staring at the board from outside, Azzy let out a sigh and looked at his blonde-haired girlfriend, "Do we really have to start with this?"

    Claire raised her eyebrows in response, "Why? Do you have precious memories or something?"

    "Stop talking bullsh*t." Azzy argued back, "Why would I have one?"

    "Alright then, let''s go." Claire gave a peck on his cheek and dragged him while locking her arms with his.

    Azzy shook his head as he thought, "I shouldn''t have agreed with this location."

    That''s right, they were exactly at the same place he came with Leah, a while ago, on a date. In order to wipe off Azzy''s memories of his date with Leah, Claire purposely chose Play City as their destination.

    Both of them revisited every place Azzy visited with Leah. He doesn''t know what Claire is thinking but Azzy wasn''t happy with this date. For a while, he forced himself to smile but very soon, he decided to unseal his soul orb and kept a poker face.

    Claire was naturally observant. At first, she didn''t complain and tried to enjoy what the theme parks had to offer but if her partner isn''t enjoying the rides, how could she be happy?

    Feeling that she might have taken it too far, she even dragged him to locations that he didn''t visit previously but she felt like Azzy isn''t enjoying it at all. When pointed out his poker face, Azzy just lied to her that he was being wary of the ambush by unknown enemies.

    She kept asking him to relax and he kept giving her the same excuse. They were dating for several months. So, she knew whether he was displeased or happy even if he had his poker face switched on. Just from the touches, she could see the truth.

    In the evening, just as they get to the horror-themed park, Claire asked the question for the 12th time, "Rael, are you really happy? We could just go for a movie instead."

    Maybe, it''s because she asked too many times. Azzy finally decided to be truthful to her. At the entrance of the horror-themed park, he looked into her eyes and admitted, "I''m sorry but I guess I''m not happy from the start."

    "So, you can''t forget your date with Leah, after all." Claire brought up the topic again. Usually, she uses the sentence as a part of teasing him but this time, it was serious.

    Suddenly, the atmosphere turned tense between them. Azzy thought that Claire will be mad but still, he felt like being truthful is more important.

    After a brief amount of silence, Azzy apologized once again, "I''m sorry."

    With a disappointed look on her face, she then said, "I thought that I would get rid of that damn date from your head but it looks like I only evoked it. Okay, it''s my fault. Let''s go back."

    She started walking away without bothering to wait for Azzy. He didn''t know what to say to her and just followed her in silence. Azzy truly regretted responding to her provocation. Wasn''t it almost the same with Leah too? Why did he make the same mistake twice?

    After walking at a slow pace for almost an hour, they reached the outskirts of the city. The portal point was just a couple of kilometers away. Because it is outskirts, there was nothing but lampposts on either side of the road. As the sun set, there was little light around. As most of the theme parks will be closed during the evening, there were fewer visitors.

    All of a sudden, fog spread in the surroundings. Azzy vision was blocked and he couldn''t see Claire''s back for a moment. He called out her name immediately, "Claire."

    But there is no response from her. And the Reaper was also silent.

    Thinking that she was still mad at him, Azzy activated aura sensing instead to locate her. To his surprise, there was no trace of her.

    As panic enveloped Azzy, the fog was cleared as if someone commanded it. And before him, there is a dark portal opened. And above the portal, two words were written by energy.

    "Come in"

 Chapter 403 The Enemy Is Revealed

    Azzy was shivering in anger as he found his girlfriend abducted in front of his eyes. More than anger directed at this unknown enemy, he was angry at himself for not protecting her.

    For the whole day, he was yapping that someone might ambush them and now, his excuse became true.

    Azzy could feel that it is a trap set for him. He doesn''t know who the enemy is but the fact that his girlfriend was abducted smoothly indicated that the enemy is well prepared.

    Unfortunately, he wasn''t a fool to walk into a trap. He could just reverse the time and get them before Claire was even abducted. Maybe, he can just reset the day and go elsewhere?

    He had thoughts but needed to know whether his chosen path is right or not. So, he contacted the Reaper who didn''t bother to warn him beforehand.

    "Chronos, should I go inside or should I reset the day?" He asked.

    The Reaper answered, "The result won''t change no matter what you choose." He didn''t tell Azzy what was going to happen but told him enough that he can make his choice.

    "Okay then, it''s alright." Azzy made his choice. He summoned the hourglass and turned it upside down, unleashing the soul skill without any hesitation.

    <strong>"Soul skill: Rewind"</strong>

    <strong>8:30 A.M., Central City, Arcana World;</strong>

    Azzy and Claire were lining up at the portal point. The Hourglass suddenly appeared in Azzy''s hand but he quickly managed to dismiss it. The people standing behind him weren''t experts. How could they have known that it is an Arcana? So, Azzy was fine at the moment.

    On the other hand, Supreme Realm experts and Celestial grade Arcana sensed the fluctuations in the timeline, although they couldn''t remember the day that was wiped off from existence.

    Anyway, it isn''t the first time Azzy did it. So, he didn''t put too much focus on that and shifted his attention to other matters.

    He grabbed Claire who was standing in the front, "Hey, come with me for a second."

    As she was dragged out of the line, a trace of surprise appeared on her face, "what happened?"

    Taking a deep breath, Azzy said, "Let''s not go to Play City. It''s been a while since we went on a date. Let''s go somewhere else."

    "Eh?" Claire was naturally surprised. After all, they had already had a discussion. First, they are going to visit certain theme parks, and have lunch in between. After the horror-themed park, they will go for dinner and finish the date with a movie. They will return to the hotel by 11:30 P.M. and Azzy will go back to the Heavenly Academy, the next day morning.

    But, now, Azzy suddenly decided to change the plans. She asked, "Why?"

    Azzy then answered, "I think our mood will be spoiled if I remember my date with Leah. You know that I have to see her again tomorrow. If anything goes wrong, things can become awkward with her. What if we lose in Quarterfinals? Let''s go there after this tournament is finished, okay?"

    Claire was a thoughtful girl. She easily understood what Azzy was trying to say. Not to mention, her mother even gave her permission to live with him at Affea Mansion until she graduates in March.

    So, Claire was a lot happier. Not intending to destroy her mood, she decided to accept Azzy''s suggestion, which is simple. They will go to a random place without any prior planning and enjoy the date there.

    They exited the portal point that is linked to the nations of Tartalonia and Freyles and entered the portal point that is linked to the cities of Llyne instead. The nation from the far south is not much special but at the very least, no one would recognize the two of them.

    After teleporting to the city of East Ocean (capital of Llyne), Azzy and Claire spent some qualitative time, trying things like shopping, arcade center, street food, having lunch at a pizza joint, amusement park, then, going to the circus, dining at a luxurious restaurant, and movie in the end.

    "Hahaha, I can totally imagine Estella''s face." Claire laughed out loud as she heard the story of Gideon and Estella''s first kiss.

    Azzy defended his action, "I felt a bit guilty for disturbing their moment but Gideon wasn''t in a situation where his heart can accept a spike though."

    "C''mon, you should have atleast acted like you haven''t seen it like coughing out from outside."

    While talking about this and that, Azzy and Claire reached a street with almost no passersby. There were a few stray dogs though.

    It was then a familiar thick fog appeared in the surroundings once again. This time, Azzy hurriedly grabbed Claire''s arm and warned, "Something is strange. Don''t get panicked and stay with me."

    "What''s going on, Rael?" asked Claire in worry. She tried to sense the surroundings but her senses failed in the fog. She then commented, "It feels like Deja Vu."

    As soon as her comment ended, a portal appeared out of nowhere and dragged both of them with great suction force. By the time Claire even screamed, she found her surroundings already changed. Fortunately, Azzy, who tightly grabbed her, didn''t lose her at all.

    Both of them inspected the surroundings. It looked like they were inside a brightly lit hall that seemed like a chapel based on the interior gothic-type architecture.

    And when Azzy saw white-robed people surrounding them, he confirmed who his enemies are. Claire also realized the same, "Church of light?"

    "It looks like they have been following us for a while and created a trap, forcefully luring us in," replied Azzy calmly as if it was within his expectations.

    As the rest of the priests stayed silent, an old man stepped forward. His clothing was different from theirs. Instead of white robes, he was wearing a black plush hat and a scarlet cassock.

    Azzy and Claire recognized him. It was the same rank-8 expert who tried to capture Azzy after the Champions League finals. "Cardinal Ophanim," Azzy and Claire spoke out the name at the same time.

    But, how is he here? Wasn''t he supposed to be serving his sentence in jail?

    After being defeated by the Djinn, the Cardinal''s soul orb was sealed by WAMO and he was sent to Black Citadel, an invincible prison that is guarded and has a 0% escape in its history of a hundred thousand years.

    Ophanim was sentenced to 74 years of imprisonment for neglecting his duties as Cardinal, attempting to kill an innocent child of heaven with the potential to become a Supreme Being, and endangering the lives of several students.

    But, it looks like he somehow got spared from the punishment, seeing that it has only been a few months.

    Looking coldly at Azzy and Claire, the cardinal spoke, "It''s been a while, the spawn of Satan. You have indeed grown stronger in a short time."

    Azzy ignored him and put his attention on the hooded figures that are in rank 7, "are you the ones who dragged us, here?"

    While Ophanim furrowed his brows, one of the hooded figures opened his mouth, "You might possess the power similar to that of a low-rank-8 but you are still at the Upper Elite realm. It was easy for us to teleport you in."

    Azzy calmly nodded in understanding, cursing himself for not trying to just break it with soul energy instead of going in alongside his girlfriend. After all, he only thought of one or two opponents, not this many.

    He knew for sure that he might be able to protect Claire for sure. So, he looked at the cardinal and said, "Your enmity is with me. Let her go."

    "No," screamed Claire, grabbing his arm with her other free hand.

    Before Azzy tried to convince her, Cardinal Ophanim let out a peal of laughter, "You must think of me as a fool. We know that she loves you and both of you are in a relationship. The one who loves a devil is nothing more than a sinner of mankind. She''ll have to be executed alongside you. Not just her, but your foster family will also join you in the afterlife. This is the price your loved ones must pay."

    Ophanim was a peak-rank-8 expert and was obviously confident enough to kill him. However, he will not underestimate a necromancer who had taken the lives of rank-7 experts.

    He was aware that Azzy could summon those undead people. If he let Claire go, Azzy might try to escape by using those powerful skeletons. The cardinal doesn''t want to take any chances. In fact, this was one of the reasons he never trapped Azzy alone.

    However, because he was too happy with the fact that his plan worked, he unknowingly crossed Azzy''s bottom line in an attempt to provoke him.

    Azzy was usually a merciful being. He would even leave enemies alive but ever since he had his first kill, he no longer sees it as a sin.

    And now that Ophanim threatened to kill his loved ones, Azzy flared up. He right away summoned black lotus and Vajra before speaking to his girlfriend, "Claire, I need you to switch to Agatha, right now."

    "But, I can¡­" Claire tried to speak something but feeling Azzy''s emotions by how tightly he grabbed her arm, she closed her eyes.

    In an instant, she was possessed by the Sword of Michael.

    "You can leave her hand, Azrael. I can protect Claire," said Agatha as soon as she switched places with her host. After a brief silence, she added, "I recommend escaping though. He appears to be stronger."

    Releasing his grip, Azzy raised his arm above his head, "You wanted to kill me? Fine, let''s see if you kill us or if I massacre everyone and return to my home. Those who love their lives can leave."

    <strong>"Soul skill: Rise of the Undead."</strong>

 Chapter 404 Azzy Battles A Cardinal Of Church

    A total of 48 members, comprising priests (rank-5) and Bishops (rank-6), alongside 5 Archbishops (rank-7) were gathered by Cardinal Ophanim for a sole reason. It is to create a rank-9 holy barrier capable of blocking Azzy''s escape.

    Everyone was confident that this barrier could even withstand Azzy''s corruptive energy as it is once again used in imprisoning the demons, thousands of years ago.

    So, when Azzy warned them, none of the priests cared about it and went on collectively unleashing the huge barrier.

    Just as a large golden barrier formed around Azzy, Claire, and Ophanim, the soul skill was activated, summoning undead creatures before Azzy.

    Two rank-7 skeletons, five rank-6 human skeletons, three rank-5 skeletons, a Rank-7 Skeletal werewolf, a rank-5 Skeletal Hydra, and a rank-6 Skeletal Snow wolf king were summoned.

    Of all the humans and creatures that Azzy killed, these stood at the top. However, even Azzy was surprised about the number, for a moment. After all, he was aware of the humans that he killed so far.

    The two rank-7 skeletons were killed by Azzy during the battle royale match in the Senior World league. Their bodies were possessed by demons and were killed as a result.

    Two rank-6 skeletons belonged to the guys who abducted Gideon and Estella, a while ago.

    Two rank-6 skeletons and three rank-5 skeletons must be the werewolves, the servants of Loren. They were killed in human forms. So, the skeletons also looked like humans.

    Loren, the daughter of Fenrir, on the other hand, was killed in her werewolf form. So, that explains her rank-7 skeleton, which looked like a wolf standing on two legs.

    As for Hydra and Snow Wolf were pretty much being used for several months. There''s no surprise here.

    Then, what about the remaining rank-6 skeleton? Where did that come from? Azzy didn''t have the knowledge of it and was confused for a second.

    But, he also knew that it isn''t the time to probe into its origins and get on with the battle.

    Meanwhile, the Cardinal stared at them in silence, inspecting their strength. Just like Hydra and Aurora (snow wolf king), the human skeletons also have a visible core behind their ribcages.

    While these human skeletons can''t retain the soul skills that they possessed before their death, they could still launch energy attacks by consuming Azzy''s soul power.

    As a result, an 8-star Arcana Master like Ophanim could roughly sense their strength. Despite the fact that there are three rank-7 opponents he had to deal with, the Cardinal was delighted.

    He let out a small laugh and said, "As expected of the devil spawn, you sure have the blood of humans on your hands. If you are like this at the age of 14, I wonder how many people you will kill during the next millennium. By killing you, I''m doing a favor to the world."

    Until a moment ago, the Cardinal was only accusing Azzy based on the latter''s necromancy abilities and corrupted soul energy but now, he got the perfect excuse to eliminate him once in for all.

    Meanwhile, Azzy ignored his rambling and ordered them to attack.

    Azzy''s powerful skeletal army charged forward to take on their opponent who was a step away from reaching the Supreme Realm (rank-9). Vajra also joined them while the black lotus stayed behind.

    After sending them forward, he didn''t stand still either. He started absorbing the natural energy by maintaining peak-level concentration. The holy barrier could only stop physical bodies, not the abundant natural energy from the surroundings. From several kilometers, the energy rushed to the place where Azzy was standing and absorbed into his body.

    It only took a mere 11 seconds for Azzy to absorb his maximum capacity of natural energy but by the time he opened his eyes, all the rank-6 and rank-5 skeletons were destroyed by the fists of holy energy launched by the Cardinal.

    Even the mighty four-headed Hydra and Snow wolf king weren''t seen.

    Only Vajra, two rank-7 skeletons, and one rank-7 skeletal werewolf were left as they were aggressively attacking the Cardinal from all sides. However, Azzy was calmer. "Okay, I''m fully prepared. Now, it''s time to kill him."

    He glanced behind at his girlfriend who was possessed by her sword spirit, "Agatha, I need your assistance with restricting him."

    Agatha immediately understood what Azzy is intending to do. She readily accepted his request, "Sure."

    As the overconfident Cardinal easily overpowered the bunch of skeletons without bothering to disrupt Azzy''s preparations, the latter took out a 6-star card from his storage card and then, charged forward with a dual-layer of energies covering his feet.

    "Get down, you damn creature."

    Ophanim gave another solid punch to Vajra, blasting it away for a few meters, and then raised his eyebrows as he glanced at the gap of two skeletons in the front that have several bones destroyed. He spotted Azzy who was rushing at him at mach 2.8 speed.

    "Oh, he''s here." Ophanim then spun around with his palms stretched, blasting the three skeletons away once again.

    As a peak-rank-8 expert, the Cardinal could see him very clearly. So, he was calmer compared to the priests outside the holy barrier who were taken aback as they watched the blurry figure reaching as near as 20 meters to their Cardinal so quickly.

    It was then that Azzy suddenly activated the skill card that he was holding in his left hand.

    <strong>"Skill card: Gravity Suppression, 100x"</strong>

    An invisible gravitational pressure descended onto Ophanim. The Cardinal suddenly fell onto his knees, taking everyone by surprise.

    "What the¡­ Oh, it''s the same one from his yesterday''s battle¡­" The Cardinal instantly recognized it. "So heavy¡­"

    In the eyes of Archbishops who are the only people that could follow the battle, Azzy now had an opportunity to deliver the blow. But, the Cardinal acted quickly in just a fraction of a second.

    "Argh¡­" Ophanim let out a roar of anger as he used the energy eruption technique. An insane amount of holy energy from his body by the time Azzy almost reached him. Azzy was struck by the powerful energy alongside his skeletal puppets and Vajra, which were in 100-meter range.

    Vajra blasted away for another dozen meters and turned into a bloodied figure. No matter how much of a Celestial grade Arcana it was, in the end, the black lightning wolf is only a rank-6 beast at the moment. Not to mention, its body didn''t have a defensive build either. So, it couldn''t fight off a sudden peak-rank-8 attack that has holy energy, which is a nemesis of Protos energy.

    At the same time, two rank-7 skeletons were destroyed, leaving only a skeletal werewolf in the race and that too, missing an arm and several bones in the rib cage.

    As for Azzy, he spits out a mouthful of blood while flying away. However, he doesn''t appear to have any injuries, owing to his 8th-tier invincible divine body.

    The Archbishops were smiling big as Azzy was hit by the powerful attack. The Cardinal managed to resist the 100xgravity and slowly rose to his feet before raising his hand to shoot a beam of concentrated holy energy at Azzy who is still in the air.

    It was just at that moment a pillar of golden divine energy passed through the holy barrier and struck him. His eyes widened in shock, "Pure divine energy?"

 Chapter 405 The Bounty Hunter Ambushes Azzy

    Divine energy is a type of energy that is unique to only pure Gods and pure Angels.

    As for Holy energy, it is actually a diluted form of Divine energy that belonged to the Goddess of Light. Usually, it was given by the Church of Light''s Supreme Pontiff who was regarded as the representative of Goddess Thea. But it can also be passed down to the descendants.

    When Claire displayed her power in the international tournaments, due to the low density of her soul energy, the Church regarded her as the descendant of some Cardinal.

    But, the Pillar of Light is something that is purely made of divine energy. A Cardinal often gets contacted by the minions of the Goddess of Light and would be aware of it.

    As a result, Ophanim went into a trace for a while as he tried to resist in vain. Instead, all he could only move his head to take a look at Claire who was standing a couple of hundred meters far away. "What is a celestial being doing in this world?"

    It was the last thought that appeared in his head before a death spear appeared before his sight.

    Of course, it wasn''t just any normal death spear that Azzy used to kill beasts or people. There''s a thick layer of translucent energy surrounding it. With the Reaper''s assistance, Azzy somehow managed to pour all the natural energy he absorbed into the Death Spear after summoning it.

    And once he landed on the ground, Azzy threw it toward the Cardinal who still appeared to be in a trance.

    As soon as the Death spear struck the target, the energies of the Death and Protos invaded his body, eating up everything. Even his so-called holy energy couldn''t fight it and his body turned into black-colored stone before collapsing into powder form after Agatha dismissed the Pillar.

    Originally, Azzy would never let Agatha summon those pillars and gain unnecessary attention from the Angels but upon learning that she is the daughter of Michael, he brought her into his strategy.

    Watching the mighty rank-8 expert had fallen just in 30 seconds, everyone''s mind was instantly occupied by fear. Some Priests even started running away, abandoning their positions. The two 7-star Arcana Masters who brought Azzy and Claire to this place were the first ones to flee for their lives.

    Azzy then placed his sight on the people who were standing outside the barrier. One of the Archbishops mustered up the courage and shouted, "Everyone, stay in your positions and hold up the barrier. I will inform the Headquarters and ask for help. Until then, don''t let them escape. We can''t let the death of his grace in vain."

    Azzy''s eyes turned cold once again, "Originally, I planned to leave you guys if you ask forgiveness but I guess you guys don''t deserve my mercy."

    He dismissed the remaining skeletal werewolf and Vajra before stretching his hands wide, <strong>"Soul skill: Soul Absorption"</strong>

    Within a few moments, people started falling unconscious one after another without being able to resist it. Priests who are below the 6-star realm had their soul orbs destroyed. Bishops who are below the 7-star realm had their soul orbs cracked.

    And three of the five Archbishops who are in the 7-star realm only had all of their soul energy leave their body, temporarily draining their stamina and making them fall on their knees.

    Only an Archbishop with a platinum grade spirit and another Archbishop with 95 million SP managed to resist the effects of Azzy''s overpowered soul skill. The peak-rank-7 expert, who tried to keep everyone together, no longer dared to stay there after seeing everyone''s state. He escaped by using a random teleportation card, abandoning his subordinates.

    The other Archbishops also followed the suit, not intending to commit suicide by staying there.

    Azzy then used the absorbed soul energy to create a bunch of Protos spears one after another, throwing them at the barrier. Upon contact with the Protos energy, the holy barrier started to disintegrate into specks of light. Eventually, it was gone and both of them started walking.

    As they confidently exited the place without caring whether there is an ambush lying in wait or not, the cold air hit Azzy and Claire. The snow is falling from the sky and there''s an abundant amount of snow everywhere.

    Azzy then saw a familiar tower, located far away.

    "Hey kid, that tower looks familiar somehow." Agatha commented as she too stared at the ''W'' shaped building.

    "You must have remembered seeing in the examination paper," replied Azzy causally before adding, "It is the headquarters of Westro group and we are right in the middle of Snow City, Freyles. Anyway, let''s go. Before someone arrives at the scene, we should hurry up to the Portal point."

    Both of them started to fly with Azzy on the Black lotus and Agatha using her wings. Without facing any more issues, they returned to Central City. Once they got out of the portal point, Claire and Agatha swapped back to their places. Claire immediately hugged Azzy very tightly.

    Caressing the back of her head, Azzy tried to cheer her up by praising her instead of consoling her, "I should actually thank you for the assistance. You have been a lot helpful. If Agatha couldn''t summon those Pillars of light, I would have thought of escaping from the place instead of defeating him."

    Claire''s mood improved a lot and she said with determination, "Agatha once told me that I could do it too when I break through to rank-7. At present, I have no choice but to depend on her but one day, I will surely help you with my own hands."

    Azzy nodded, "Sure, I will be looking forward to that day. Now, let''s go. I have a match, tomorrow."

    Soon, they boarded an Arcana taxi, which is a carriage pulled by a blue grade (second-lowest grade) Rhino of rank-1. They reached the hotel in about half an hour.

    "Here, we are." The carriage stopped and both of them got down. Once the carriage left, Claire let out a sigh of relief, "We finally returned. Can''t believe that we just went through that."

    Azzy just grabbed her hand in response. They started walking toward the entrance.

    After a brief amount of silence, Claire once again spoke, "You know what, when Agatha summoned that pillar of light, I remembered my father. I mean not exactly his face because I don''t know what he looks like.

    My mother once told me that he is a handsome man and I got my blonde hair and blue eyes from him. From time to time, I try to imagine him when I was conscious of my dreams. However, today, I just thought of him unconsciously. Maybe, I thought subconsciously that we will die? Is that why? Sigh¡­ who knows¡­ Anyway, it doesn''t matter¡­ Hmm?"

    Azzy suddenly stopped walking and freed her hand. Claire turned around and looked at him, "what happened?"

    "I need to tell you something." Azzy wasn''t sure how Claire would take the news but he, for some reason, felt like he should tell the truth, now.

    Claire looked at him curiously, "What is it?"

    "Your father¡­" Azzy was about to reveal Claire''s birth story to her but before he even started, he stopped speaking and turned around swiftly, sensing some strange but familiar power. He furrowed his brows, "Hmm?"

    "Rael?" Claire called him out.

    Azzy looked around warily but found no one. He activated Aura sensing and instantly, he raised his head to look in the direction of the tallest building, located more than 1500 meters far, where a hooded figure is standing with something on his shoulder that looked like a smoothbore cannon.

    Claire followed his sight and asked, "What is it? Is it an enemy?"

    Just as Azzy was about to answer her, the hooded figure clicked on the trigger, shooting a projectile. Seeing that it was coming in their direction, Azzy immediately warned, "Claire, careful."

    He was about to create a shield made of soul energy but then, the Reaper''s elated voice echoed in his head, "No, don''t try to resist it. Embrace the power."

    "What power?" Just as he wondered what the Reaper is talking about, something like a metal ball appeared in his sight, going straight for him. Azzy sensed great danger from it but he didn''t move from the spot.

    Just before the metal ball accurately struck his chest, it disintegrated into nothing, revealing a shiny black crystal, which is the size of a fist.

 Chapter 406 Breaking Through To 7-Star Realm

    More than 80 years ago, Ferguson was born to a wealthy landlord of the Snieca kingdom. When he was only 6 years, his father was thrown into prison on charges of funding a terrorist organization named the People''s army, which was formed to overthrow the monarchy.

    After sentencing Ferguson''s father to life imprisonment, the royal palace took away all of the assets belonging to the prisoner. After a year, due to mental and physical harassment from soldiers and other haters, Ferguson''s mother committed suicide, leaving a 7-year-old Ferguson at an orphanage.

    Fortunately, Ferguson didn''t turn out to be a simple kid. He awakened a gold-grade Arcana. As a result, he was taken in by an adventurer

    20 years later, Ferguson became a 6-star Arcana Master with a great reputation among Arcana hunters, the ones who kill the wild beasts and sell their corpses to earn cash.

    Eventually, he managed to join the Fire Temple. Even in that place, his job is unchanged except that he would hand over the raw materials to the temple and earn merits, which will be used to buy things from the temple.

    And at the age of 72, Ferguson is finally a 7-star Arcana Master and managed to become an elder.

    While his position is always low because of his age, the genius earned the trust of the Patriarch of the Fire temple and even became his disciple.

    It was at that time the temple''s Patriarch somehow managed to get his hands on an anti-divine crystal, which is potent enough to hurt even a rank-9 just by the touch. Just by description alone, it appeared to be expensive. He used everyone''s trust to steal the object and went into hiding, using his disguise technique.

    While the Fire Temple never stopped searching for him, Ferguson decided to join an organization for bounty hunters with an alternate identity named Conceal.

    Working as a bounty hunter, he mostly took the jobs that are related to the Snieca kingdom because of his millennium-old hatred. In fact, he almost assassinated Affea when she was still a teenager, although failed because of the intervention from her royal guards.

    And more than a decade later, he was contacted by King Ragron. The latter personally requested for Ferguson as his assassination records clearly tell that he has something against the Snieca kingdom.

    At first, Ferguson never planned to take a mission that isn''t related to the Snieca kingdom no matter what the cost, but after learning that Azzy is the foster son of Affea, he agreed to 300 million credits that Ragron offered as a bounty reward.

    As part of the plan, he participated in the senior world league using his new face and identity. As for his partner, Ragron also somehow managed to arrange a peak-rank-7 expert who qualifies for participating in the league (age <100).

    Surprisingly, his partner turned out to be very strong. Together, they even made it to the pre-quarterfinals (top-16), although eventually lost to their opponents while Azzy and Leah made it to the quarterfinals.

    Being frustrated by the result, he decided to ambush him with a trump card that he couldn''t sell on the black market in the fear of getting caught. However, he cannot reveal the existence of the anti-divine crystal to anyone at all. So, he only told his client that 300 million is too less for a person like Azzy.

    After assuring him that Azzy will be killed for sure, Ferguson demanded ten times the original amount, although he planned to reduce it after a round of negotiation.

    Fortunately for him, King Ragron was already terrified of Azzy after watching his battle against Velez. He doesn''t want the kid, who humiliated him and even destroyed his only son''s future, to live any longer.

    Without negotiating, King Ragron agreed to the demand, right away.

    Now that Azzy''s bounty was raised to 3 billion credits, Ferguson kept his distance and kept his eye on the hotel. He planned to ambush him at that location.

    Through the telescope, he saw Azzy and Claire going out for a date but didn''t follow them, feeling that he might alert his target.

    All-day, he patiently waited for the appearance of his target who returned to the hotel during the evening.

    Upon seeing Azzy, he then used an activated rank-8 delayed disintegration skill card, which he purchased from the organization, onto the metal ball and fired it.

    One should say that he was actually gambling. After all, what if that metal ball never gets disintegrated by the skill card? What if his master had lied to him back then? What if it isn''t even the anti-divine crystal that he thought it would be?

    There are risks but Ferguson took it for the sake of hurting the Princess of Snieca and also for the sake of money.

    Fortunately for him, it just went as he wanted it to happen. The metal ball was disintegrated and released the anti-divine crystal.

    The black crystal, upon being exposed to air, released energy familiar to Azzy, although unrefined, in the surroundings and almost suffocating Claire in the process.

    Fortunately, it only lasted one second as the Reaper quickly acted by making Azzy catch the crystal and begin the absorption.

    The crystal turned to dust as the terrifying energy invaded Azzy''s body.

    "Say, Chronos, isn''t this Protos Energy?" asked Azzy as the foreign energy spread all over his body, trying to destroy everything.

    "Yup, it is. The concentrated amount isn''t much but it would be enough for you to make a breakthrough." As soon as the Reaper gave the reply, Azzy felt a sharp pain in his head as if thousands of needles struck his brain.

    He screamed, "Argh¡­"

    "Rael¡­" Claire hurriedly caught him in worry.

    As Azzy lost his consciousness, Agatha then said, "You don''t need to worry about the kid. It''s a blessing in disguise. Take him to rest."

    Following her advice, Claire lifted him and rushed into the building as there are people inside who can protect him from this unknown attacker.

    Meanwhile, Azzy appeared in his mindscape.

    The Reaper was standing beside him with a sphere of Protos energy in his hand. He managed to collect all of it that invaded Azzy''s body earlier.

    "Azrael, I''m now going to refine it in your soul orb and feed it to your Black lotus instead of merging it with the existing Protos energy. The rest depends on your fate.

    "Is there anything that I should do?" asked Azzy, not wanting to stay as a spectator. If he had to be honest, he wanted to make a breakthrough on his own, considering Rank-6 to Rank-7 is always hailed as a special breakthrough by society.

    The Reaper answered, "The best thing you can do in this situation is to stay connected with that newly born Black crystalline lotus and give mental support. If it couldn''t handle the foreign Protos energy and lose its control, I will reseal it in Vajra. However, if you are lucky, you might witness something truly incredible."

    "Alright, if you say so," Azzy nodded and telepathically sent a message to the black lotus.

    As if it was waiting for his call, the black lotus jumped down from the floating island and landed beside him while rustling its petals in happiness.

    Soon, the process started. Within half an hour, the energy was completely refined by the Reaper before it enveloped the black lotus. As a newborn, it couldn''t shout but only express it by shivering continuously.

    "Ruby, don''t lose to it" "You can do it" "The Protos energy might be corruptive but you also have some of its properties. Use it to your advantage and overwhelm it" "You are strong" "It is just nothing but energy. You are more precious"

    As Azzy continued to chatter with whatever that comes to his mind, the thickness of Protos energy around the black lotus slowly started to get thin. Meanwhile, the numbers on the bottom of Azzy''s soul cards started rising rapidly.

    Soon, everything is absorbed into it and a blinding flash of light enveloped the lotus. At the same time, Azzy felt the changes in his soul orb. A new planet was taking its shape.

    Looking at it, the Reaper let out a laugh, which appeared to be creepy in one glance, "Congratulations, Azrael. Congratulations, Ruby."

    "Is it mutating?" Azzy''s eyes lit up in excitement. He realized that this is the thing that the Reaper was earlier talking about.

    He then shifted his concentration to the inside of his soul orb for a while.

    As the process appeared quite slow, his spirit returned to the mindscape and the blinding flash of light is still there.

    For the next three hours, he went back and forth before he finally witnessed the completion of the 7th planet in his soul orb.

    A satisfactory smile appeared on Azzy''s face, "Never expected I would attain this realm, so quickly. Okay, let''s see the progress of Ruby. I guess she would have completed her mutation successfully."

    Azzy closed his eyes and concentrated on returning to the mindscape. However, when he reopened his eyes, the scenery was completely different. There''s no Reaper, no cliff, no undead creatures roaming on the barren land, no black wolf that is sleeping, and certainly, there''s no presence of the black lotus either.

    What greeted him is the sight of an endless white corridor that has an infinite number of doors on either side.

    As if that wasn''t shocking enough, there were hundreds or maybe thousands of his doppelgangers roaming like puppets; all of them were just passing through each other like ghosts without even conversing with anyone. And everyone is also ignoring him.

    "Where in the hell am I?" Azzy rubbed his eyes, feeling that he might be hallucinating due to the effect of Protos energy injected into his body.

    "Welcome to the Time Stream, Azrael." A familiar voice was heard from behind, prompting Azzy to turn around.

    The Demigod Azrael from the Year 2124 was there, standing with a smile on his face.

 Chapter 407 Time Stream

    "What''s going on here?" "Where am I?" "Are they all me?" "Why can''t they see me?"

    Azzy fired questions nonstop to his older self as he wasn''t able to connect with the Reaper.

    The Demigod Azrael opened his mouth after his younger self finished with the questions. "Okay, if you are done, then, let me explain what''s going on, Azrael."

    As Azzy nodded, his older self continued, "This is called Time Stream or Time Corridor, a place in the null dimension where the creation of this universe happened.

    The doors you are seeing are the gateways to various timelines. The right ones are to the past and the left ones are to the future. I wouldn''t recommend the left ones though. After all, there are stronger versions of you who will take care of it.

    And it is not that they can''t see you, but they just cannot see anyone. If you ever visit this place later, then, you won''t see anyone too and will feel like you are alone.

    Anyway, as time passed, you will slowly get to learn how to become the guardian of the timeline but first things first, let me remove those couple of memories that Chronos locked away."

    "Eh?" Azzy was naturally taken aback by his words. The Reaper usually does such things only to protect him. So, he couldn''t help but wonder whether it is okay for him to unlock them. Should he ask the Reaper, just in case? After all, the Reaper did warn him to be a bit wary of the older Azrael.

    However, before the thought even escaped his mouth, the older Azrael removed the seal on Azzy''s memories with a snap of his finger, and Azzy remembered a couple of things he don''t remember having in the conversation he had last time with the older self.

    The first thing he learned about was the death of the Night clan''s assassin, which explains the presence of the extra rank-6 skeleton.

    The second memory is about the knowledge of having a one-time use mystic seal imparted to him by the older Azrael. It is a trump card that has an unknown purpose.

    The third memory is about how his older self consumed the powers of Reaper and Protos energy.

    The fourth memory is about how his older self met several versions of him, who for some reason, never made it to the original timeline.

    The final missing memory is about his emotions that are actually locked away by the Reaper on purpose, right from the beginning, not because of the side effect of awakening.

    If Azzy was the same guy from the Champions League final, he would have gotten angry but now, it''s different. The bond between him and the Reaper is far stronger and Azzy was more understanding of this divine grade Arcana''s actions.

    Trying to be calm as possible, he said, "You imparted me the knowledge of invoking this mystic seal but I have no idea when to use it or what will it happen when I unleash it onto the enemy."

    "It''s good that Chronos never got the opportunity to use this seal. That means you haven''t attracted trouble from any Supreme Being (peak-rank-9)," commented the older Azrael in response before he went on to explain the seal and its properties.

    "The mystic seal basically contained a portion of my power, which will make you experience the strength of a Demigod for a brief period of 60 seconds. However, the seal doesn''t represent just power.

    You see, for a Demigod to attain the status of godhood, one of the requirements is to master all the twelve laws of the universe. And if you experience the strength of Demigod, you will start experiencing it. That means you can have a head start compared to other Demigods. This is why it would be better for you to experience it rather than letting Chronos use that strength to defeat your enemies."

    "Twelve laws of the universe? What are they?" Azzy turned curious.

    ? The older Azrael answered, "The twelve laws are something that is known to mankind from the very beginning but people just fail to understand them properly."

    First: Law of Oneness.

    Second: Law of Aura Frequency.

    Third: Law of Repetition.

    Fourth: Law of Attraction.

    Fifth: Law of inspiration.

    Sixth: Law of Perpetual transmutation of energy.

    Seventh: Law of Cause and Effect.

    Eighth: Law of Compensation.

    Ninth: Law of Neutrality.

    Tenth: Law of Polarity.

    Eleventh: Law of Rhythm.

    Twelfth: Law of Gender.

    *

    "Under the influence of Chronos, you have already begun to master the second law and ninth law without knowing its exact purpose. But, you are too inexperienced to understand them properly. Anyway, even I have a long way to go. So, no need to worry about it.

    Is there anything else you wish to know?"

    Azzy thought for a while and said, "First, tell me the rules of using this time stream. I mean like how do I access this place, how to tell which timeline is which, etc¡­"

    "I have already informed the rules of time travel. So, there''s not much to say about this place. If you still like to hear, I will explain a thing or two," replied the older Azrael.

    Without waiting for Azzy''s approval, he then started to explain, "As you already know, this place is called Time Stream. It is like a time record. The stronger you are, the more access you will have. At your current strength, you can''t access the records but you will be able to travel for 27 years back and forward from your original timeline."

    "Wait a second¡­" Azzy interrupted his future counterpart and asked, "That means, if I use the hourglass, I cannot go back past? The last time you told me that my original timeline never stops and is constantly moving forward whether I time traveled or not."

    "Not exactly but your assumption is correct." The older Azrael then clarified the matter, "Generally, you can only time travel when you are in the original timeline. Since you are already in an interim timeline, you cannot use it to go back to the past or future, although you can still erase the timeline by using the ''Rewind'' soul skill as you have done on a few occasions during the past 22 months."

    "I see," Azzy nodded in understanding. "Well, I don''t have any reason to go back to further past anyways. So, no big deal¡­"

    The older Azrael then raised his hand to conjure a pocket watch out of thin air, "this is called time messenger. You would acquire it eventually at some point in the future. I can''t say how. It will be decided by fate.

    Anyway, once you acquire it, you will finally start your job as a time guardian. Our job is simple. Keep the timeline intact. How should it be done will be explained when you are qualified. Regarding this job, you have no choice but to accept it.

    If you don''t, then, you will unnecessarily create several branches of the timeline of Gaia, which will only consume her divine energy to maintain those worlds. When much of her concentration will be on this planet, all the countless planets with lives will go into the path of destruction.

    Okay, let''s not go into those complex things and finish this conversation. As I have already mentioned earlier, this time corridor is actually located in the null dimension. That means there is no time flow here.

    At your present condition, you have no use of this place except for traveling through time but once you make a breakthrough to rank 9, you will get access to a time chamber, which you can use for training purposes.

    And according to my master, after I enter the realm of god, in theory, I could open a gateway to the Null dimension of the parallel universe through the zero point. But, even I have yet to reach that level. You have a long way to go. So, no need to worry about it and just train harder.

    Before you leave, I will once again warn you to not go to the future. It is not just because you are useless to a stronger version of yourself but it is also because of protecting your mind.

    If you see the future, you will want to change your present, and that creates several anomalies in the timeline. If we can''t fix the timeline, then, we will be forced to eliminate you to reset the timeline until you take the correct path, following the law of repetition."

 Chapter 408 Making A Request To Demigod Azrael

    "Let''s meet again, Azrael. Before that, take this with you." The older Azrael threw his pocket watch toward Azzy.

    As the latter caught it in reflex, the older Azrael then said, "Press the top button if you ever wanted to see me. And when we meet again, I will adhere to one request of yours."

    "Thanks." As Azzy looked at it curiously, the demigod added as an afterthought, "I''m sure that our meeting will happen, a lot sooner than you think. Then, I will take back my tempus."

    "I''ll be waiting, Lord Garcia." A voice escaped from the pocket watch in response to its master''s words, startling Azzy for a moment. Azzy then saw a cartoonish face appear on the dial. Its eyes were blinking and its mouth was moving on its own. "Hey, kiddo. Nice to meet you, I''m tempus, the most awesome being in the entire universe."

    As Azzy flinched at the sudden surprise, the older Azrael waved his hand, "you don''t need to pay attention to that thing."

    "Hey, I''m not that thing. I''m tempus. I have 142 billion years of time record of all the¡­" As the pocket watch appeared to be flared up by the older Azrael''s comment, the latter snapped his finger, "shut up."

    The cartoonish face disappeared from the dial and it appeared like a regular pocket watch from the analog era.

    Soon, Azzy''s surroundings changed to a familiar cliff and a floating island. The Reaper was still there, but instead of the black lotus, there was a little girl that have a near-human appearance except for her hair, which was formed by its black petals. She also doesn''t have any pupils and her eyes her pitch-black.

    "Pui Pui Pui¡­"

    Upon seeing Azzy, she made her usual ''Pui'' sounds, scurried forward, and hugged his legs. Azzy felt like his connection with Ruby became stronger than before. He picked her up and observed her for a moment. His eyes widened in surprise, "A celestial grade?"

    "It looked like Ruby''s familiarity with the Protos Energy had helped her to make the foreign energy, a part of her own." The Reaper commented, being happy with the situation. He then added, "However, we shouldn''t forget that she is still a newborn and doesn''t have the capability of holding back the Protos energy. From time to time, she will be influenced. Hence, there are possibilities of going out of control. You should be careful."

    While cautioning his host of the side effects of this enormous power boost Ruby just received, the Reaper also accessed the memories of Azzy and found out what happened in the Time Stream.

    Seeing that Azzy isn''t blaming him in the near future, the Reaper refused to give any sort of explanation for locking those memories. Fortunately for him, Azzy wasn''t also silent about his meeting with the future counterpart.

    Azzy proceeded to tell everything to the Reaper, who patiently listened until the end despite already being aware of it.

    Once Azzy was finished with the story, the Reaper finally said, "Well, now that you are at 7-star realm, isn''t it the time to return?"

    Azzy didn''t respond to that. He stayed silent.

    From the start, he was prepared for it but just didn''t know that it will come this sooner. In fact, he expected to spend with his family, his friends, and Claire, maybe, a couple of years but the invasion from outer space pushed his soul power to high-rank-6 and the unexpected ambush from an unknown person now pushed his soul power straight to mid-rank-7. Even his Invincible Divine physique received a significant boost.

    How could he just say goodbye to everyone, all of a sudden, knowing their memories of him will also be erased?

    The Reaper understands Azzy''s reluctance but he cannot let him do what he wants. Hence, he tried to convince him by reminding him of a few facts, "I know what you are thinking but you don''t belong to this timeline. And did you forget your future self? Do you think he will show sympathy for you and let the timeline gets damaged? Moreover, your original intention was to save your parents, wasn''t it? After spending with their past selves, did you forget them too? You are the heir to the Death Clan, Azrael. You shouldn''t let your emotions affect your path."

    Each statement or question from the Reaper struck him deeply. Azzy didn''t have anything to defend. He was only thinking that he will miss them deeply, especially Claire. It hasn''t even been a year since they became a couple.

    It was at that moment the Reaper thought of something. He pulled out his trump card to convince this stubborn kid, "how about this? Didn''t your older self give you that tempus? Contact him and ask him for help. I cannot remove the secondary seal placed on Agatha but he can.

    Once the sword of Michael returns to her prime, she would be able to help out Claire in retaining her memories of yours. Additionally, you could meet her once in a while now that you can time travel freely. It won''t affect this world''s timeline."

    Azzy''s eyes lit up immediately as he found the solution to the biggest problem that is bugging him. "No wonder that guy said to me that we will meet again sooner than I expect. I guess this must be it."

    He clicked on the top button on the pocket watch as he was instructed and the surroundings changed to the Time Corridor once again with hundreds of his versions roaming around. As the Demigod appeared before him, Azzy asked, "You knew that I was going to use this?"

    "Of course, as the guardian of time, there''s nothing that can''t escape my eyes." The older Azrael nodded in response. He then added, "But then again, you can make a different choice. Your actions won''t bring any significant changes to the timeline. Anyway, now that you are here, speak."

    Azzy then took a deep breath and requested, "Please remove the last seal on Agatha."

    "The request is accepted," replied the older Azrael and took back the pocket watch. "Once you return to your original timeline, I will do my job."

    "Thank you, Azrael." Azzy thanked his older self before returning to his mindscape.

    The older Azrael then stared at the watch and let out a sigh, "do you have to make the same choice as me? You should have used it to pry into the history and future of the timeline instead of asking me to help her. It''s really a pity¡­"

    "Tch, I''m back to you again." The cartoonish character returned to the dial and displayed its annoyance before adding a statement, "By the way, a new branch of time was created in 2798."

    "2798? Is it Viridia, again?" asked the Demigod.

    As tempus confirmed it, the older Azrael mumbled in displeasure, "That damn host of Time beast Znuvo is really causing a lot of trouble for us, lately. I wonder when that future version of mine will return to his post. This time stream cannot track the moments of Demigod and higher versions of me. It is not only a blessing but also a headache for me."

    He then left the place to tackle the new problem.

    Meanwhile, the spirit of Azzy sat in a lotus position and closed his eyes, trying to stabilize his realm. Due to the abrupt boost of soul power, his soul energy was running rampant in his soul orb, trying to escape his body.

    An unknown amount of time passed away.

    Azzy finally opened his eyes, returning to the material world. His surroundings were completely dark but he could feel the spongy mattress beneath him. He was sure that he was in the hotel, probably in the room he checked into.

    Upon stretching his hand to the left, he touched the lamp. He switched it on, illuminating the room. "Okay, I was brought into my room, alright. Let''s see how long I was out."

    In his digital watch, the time was showing 2:48. The Arcana world might have been trapped in a different dimension but that dimensional creator made sure that time moves the same as on Gaia, down to the second. So, his digital watch is showing the accurate time.

    "Everyone must have been sleeping by now. Let''s rest." Azzy closed his eyes and slept for three more hours before freshening up and getting out of the room.

    *knock* knock* knock*

    He knocked on the door before it was opened by Claire who widened her eyes as soon as she saw her boyfriend standing outside the room. "Rael¡­" She immediately jumped into his arms. Stroking her silky blonde hair, Azzy said, "I''m back."

 Chapter 409 World League: Senior Division - Semifinals (Part-1)

    <strong>November 14th, 1994;</strong>

    <strong>Arena-0, Heavenly Academy of Arcana;</strong>

    As the quarterfinals and semifinals are being conducted on the same day, hundreds of thousands of people rushed to Central City during the past couple of days, forcing WAMO to hire almost all the guilds and organizations to deploy Arcana Masters for security.

    While this wasn''t the first time the central city has seen the influx of tourists, it has still been three decades since Heavenly Academy hosted the senior world league.

    Because of the academy''s million-seat capacity Arena, people were now hopeful about getting tickets and watching the battle with their own eyes rather than reading the results in newspapers and magazines.

    As a result, it became a little bit tough for the hired security personnel to make sure everything go smoothly.

    It was about 1:45 in the afternoon. The Quarterfinals finished over an hour ago, luckily without any death, and people started returning to their seats after the lunch break.

    The proctor came onto the field when almost two-thirds of the stadium is roughly filled. It was the same rank-8 expert, Leaf, who acted as the Proctor for the junior world league finals.

    Applying a voice enhancement skill card onto himself, Leaf announced to the audience, "Welcome to the semifinals of the Senior World league, 1994."

    "Without further ado, let''s go right into the group matches. Give it up for Team Raiders of the North and Team Zenith Warriors."

    One after another, both of the semifinals were concluded within 25 minutes. After a 10-minute break, the duo battles commenced. In midst of all this, new spectators continued to fill the seats.

    By the time Azzy and Leah entered the field, they were greeted by cheers from almost 720 thousand spectators. In that crowd, neither Azzy nor Leah could spot their respective families but their expressions tell that they weren''t caring about their surroundings.

    Once they got into the barrier, all the sounds from outside were blocked. Azzy felt that the atmosphere was quite peaceful without any noise.

    Meanwhile, Team Camelot''s opponent team entered from the northern pavilion.

    Team Starlight consists of a pair of middle-aged-looking fellows who were actually celebrities in a sense. One of them, Jacob Laurence, was the bronze medalist of the 1989 edition of the senior world league. However, he participated in the solo category, back then.

    As for the other guy, Nilmar Keydove, he is the silver medalist of the 1964 edition, and gold medalist of the 1979 and 1984 editions. Soon after the tournament, he founded a guild named Elysium instead of accepting the offer from WAMO or any other organization. He was busy for the past ten years developing his guild and return to the scene at the age of 97 because he was reaching the age limit.

    The pair of peak-rank-7s was one of the favorites of the tournament but no one underestimate Team Camelot. After all, Azzy and Leah did upset so many opponents on the field and bookies outside the field.

    Even the Quarterfinals were finished by the same combination as the top-16 battle. It goes like Azzy rushing forward and activating the Gravity suppression skill card, followed by kicking one of the opponents while Leah''s soul skill: Amalgamation of ice and fire was targeting the other opponent.

    While the possibility of team Camelot winning this match is no considered longer a miracle, the odds are still in favor of Team Starlight. Well, at least, several experts believed that way, mostly due to the medal record of Jacob and Nilmar.

    *Whistle*

    Soon, Proctor Leaf blew the whistle, signaling to start the battle.

    Not intending to give any opportunities to their opponents, Nilmar and Jacob went on unleashing their hidden soul skills. Every three out of four summoners unlock the same hidden skill, "Merge" after they make a breakthrough to rank 7. These two veteran medalists weren''t any different.

    Nilmar merged with his Arcana, the Blazing Beetle, gaining the armor and wings. Jacob, on the other hand, gained the suit of armor made by brownish dragon scales, owing to his Terra Wyvern Arcana.

    Meanwhile, Azzy only had his black lightning wolf out, and Leah, as usual, summoned both of her Arcana. However, they were standing apart, instead of connecting their palms. Naturally, it gave a clear indication that they weren''t going with their signature move, Soul Amalgamation.

    "Change of plans. Mr. Keydove, you go after the princess while I''ll take care of the kid," said Jacob as he clenched his fist.

    Their strategy makes sense if one thinks about it. First of all, both of them are solo fighters that focus on overpowering their respective opponents instead of relying on teamwork.

    Secondly, Leah is a sword user and is known for freezing the ground along with those who stayed in contact with it. Nilmar could fly and attack her from there.

    As for Azzy, he is known to possess a far greater physical strength compared to his realm. And Jacob had dragon scales protecting him from powerful attacks.

    Unfortunately, even with those preparations, they underestimated Azzy and Leah just like the previous contestants. As soon as both of them unleashed the hidden skills that last for atleast ten minutes, Leah took out a skill card and activated it right away.

    A clone of her, although with a 5-star realm, appeared beside her. Handing over the Excalibur to the clone, she pushed her arms forth and closed her eyes. Mysterious symbols started to appear one after another. The Aqua girl and Leah''s clone acted as a guard for Leah until she was done with her seal.

    Meanwhile, Azzy charged forward toward the opponents, taking the center of the battle platform in a flash before Jacob and Nilmar even crossed halfway to the center.

    Both of these veteran medalists have no idea what Leah was going to do but their source of worry was Azzy, not her. With an obvious realm advantage, both of them felt that they can deal with Leah but not her partner.

    Now that Azzy is standing alone, far away from his partner, Jacob and Nilmar changed their plans once again and went after him, together.

    And without any surprises, Azzy activated his skill card, the Gravity Suppression, increasing the gravitational force around him by 100 times.

    As Jacob and Nilmar were already aware of the skill and were prepared to face it from the start, as soon as they entered the invisible field and felt the enormous pressure, in an instant, both of them fired a ball of energy onto the ground, toward each other.

    *boom* Boom*

    A couple of explosions were seen at the spot before they were thrown away by each other''s attacks.

    They managed to land outside the range. However, Azzy and Vajra didn''t budge from the spot.

    "Ugh¡­ that gravitational field is no joke¡­" commented Jacob as he rose to his feet. In response, Nilmar raised his head to take a glance at the Proctor and complained in a low tone, "WAMO gives powerful unique skills to teenagers as a reward for a tournament that is held every year but for us, they only give money and treasures."

    Shifting his attention back to Azzy, Nilmar then said, "Let''s attack him from far away, then. I''ll take the skies and you attack from the ground."

    As Jacob nodded, Nilmar flapped his beetle wings and flew upwards. Azzy glanced at him calmly and raised his hand. Four Protos Spears were conjured around him, one after another.

    "Those must be the infamous long energy needles that temporarily seal the target''s soul orb as soon as they were struck. I need to be careful." Nilmar acted cautiously and flew higher than 100 meters instead of the 50 meters that he originally decided earlier. It was so that he could have enough distance to act in time.

    A similar thought was also running in Jacob''s mind. However, Azzy was unconcerned about what his opponents are thinking or planning their next move.

    After summoning the Protos Spears, he went on taking out a couple of 6-star skill cards and activated them.

    *He hehe hehehe hehe he*

    A peal of infamous laughter echoed within the barriers as two purple-colored skulls appeared in either of his hands.

    Azzy had used this technique several times but this was the first time he used it in this tournament. Naturally, the opponents were alarmed.

    Jacob and Nilmar didn''t waste time any longer and launched their attacks of 7-star caliber. While Nilmar threw a fireball, Jacob activated a skill card and bombarded Azzy with a dozen energy arrows.

    Looking at the incoming attacks, Azzy passed an order to the wolf that is patiently standing beside him, "Vajra, unleash the soul skill: Chains of Lightning"

    *Woof*

 Chapter 410 World League: Senior Division - Semifinals (Part-2)

    Four black chains of lightning erupted from Vajra''s back and swirled around rapidly to create a shield momentarily, blocking the incoming attacks. As soon as the line of sight became clear for Azzy, he threw the laughing skulls at the targets.

    "He he hehe hehehe hehe he"

    The eerie laughter from the purple skulls spooked the opponents for a moment but they were veterans, after all. They knew how to react to the situation. Both of them shot concentrated energy from their respective palms to destroy the skulls.

    However, each of the skulls was of 6-star rank and appeared to be too strong even for a low-rank-7 energy attack.

    As a result, neither of the energy balls from the opponents managed to destroy the laughing skulls, which continued their way. This forced the both of them to hurriedly move away and attempt to block those incoming attacks, this time, using their soul skills.

    Jacob exhales a stream of mud and Nilmar shoots a beam of concentrated flames, destroying their respective targets.

    Unfortunately for them, the skulls weren''t the only attacks they must face. Azzy was already prepared with the Protos spears that are hovering around his head. As they launched their soul skills, he threw the four Protos spears successively, two at each of them.

    Soon after Jacob destroyed the laughing skull, he found the black long needle coming in his way. As his soul skill hasn''t ended yet, he redirected the mud stream at the incoming spear.

    Obviously, it was only met with failure because the power of the mud stream was greatly reduced by the earlier collision with the laughing skull.

    The Protos spear started piercing through the mud stream without showing any signs of slowing down.

    Seeing that the incoming attack would strike him at any moment, Jacob hurriedly threw out a skill card on the ground, unleashing a 2m thick, 10m wide, and 25m big deep-red granite wall just in the nick of the time.

    The Protos Spear struck the granite wall and disappeared. The spectators who don''t have the knowledge of this energy attack thought that the wall was indeed sturdy. However, that thought only lasted for a mere four seconds as the entire granite wall turned pitch black before collapsing into powder.

    Knowing the properties of the Protos spears from his research, Jacob already started moving away as soon as he conjured the wall.

    He wanted to gain enough distance and throw a couple of energy attacks from far away but didn''t expect that the wall would only stay for a mere 4 seconds.

    As the wall disappeared, the second Protos spear appeared in his sight. Jacob knew that it is useless to dodge and there isn''t enough time to unleash another soul skill in his situation. Not everyone is like Azzy who can unleash soul skills within a fraction of a second.

    Hence, Jacob pushed ether energy out of his body, forming a defensive energy wall. The Protos spear was naturally stopped but at the same time, the energy shield was also rapidly corrupted and disappeared, leaving the opponent with low reserves of soul power.

    Jacob thought of recovering his soul power and summoned his storage card. However, before he even took out the SP recovery card, two black chains of lightning extended toward him at a speed of sound and captured him in a fraction of a second.

    Seeing that Vajra captured him from atleast 70-80 meters away, which is actually more than its range according to his research, a crazy thought appeared in his head, "7-circle? No, how''s that possible? He''s just a 14-year-old brat. Ugh¡­ this corrupted energy¡­ I''m getting dizzy and I''m losing consciousness. C''mon Jac, concentrate¡­"

    Unfortunately, it was too late to even think of any further strategy. Why?

    The black lightning chains were also filled with Protos energy alongside the lightning attribute energy. The moment the two chains captured him, his system was already invaded.

    As Jacob''s mediocre-density soul energy was already no match for the invading energy, he might need greater amounts to expel it from his body.

    But, his soul energy reserves were running low at the moment.

    As a result, his soul orb was corrupted and he started to feel like his entire body started going numb.

    Meanwhile, in the sky, at 60-70 meters altitude from the battle platform, a Protos Spear was chasing after Nilmar, who was flying around while launching energy attacks at the spear.

    This Protos Spear appeared to be special compared to the other two that were thrown at Jacob.

    Rather than just keeping it in an auto-mode, Azzy was also remotely controlling its direction and making it dodge the normal energy attacks aimed at it. As for the ones aimed at Azzy, the black lightning wolf was protecting its master with the remaining two chains whipping those energy attacks.

    With the speed of the Protos spear vastly faster than the flying speed of Nilmar, the latter was barely trying to evade it.

    In fact, just like his partner, after destroying the laughing skull, Nilmar also tried to block the first Protos spear by unleashing a skill card of 7-star rank and miserably failed.

    Fortunately, he was able to act quickly as the golden energy barrier has a self-repairing ability. That gave him enough time.

    But, for how long will he continue to evade the second Protos Spear while trying to attack Azzy from so far away without getting any breakthrough?

    Nilmar has no idea but his partner''s current condition only made him more focused on not getting struck by that. Of course, at the same time, he was also paying attention to the black lightning wolf, which was currently defending its master but those lightning chains do appear threatening.

    In spite of all of this, Nilmar had a hope that will turn around the battle but do that, he might have to rescue his buddy. But, before that, he needed to ensure that he will go there unharmed.

    An idea popped up in his mind.

    Flapping his wings, Nilmar started to fly toward the ceiling. The Protos spear, as usual, continued to chase him.

    As he almost reached the 180m altitude, Nilmar stopped flying and went on in using the energy eruption technique.

    He didn''t make the same mistake as his partner did. Instead of erecting a defensive shield using all of his soul energy, he expelled it and completely destroyed the Protos Spear.

    Once the threat was gone, Nilmar proceeded to instantly refill his soul orb with soul energy using the SP recovery card and then dived toward Jacob at his peak speed.

    While descending, he unleashed a soul skill, creating a flaming ax. The flames were burning blue. Looking at it, Azzy mumbled, "Its power is touching the legendary realm; not strong enough to hurt me but Leah and Vajra are different. Hmm¡­ He is heading toward his partner. Does he want to severe the chains?"

    In an instant, Azzy thought of something and gave an order. "Vajra, slow down your attacks for a moment¡­"

    As soon as Nilmar entered the 100-meter range, Vajra then shot the two black lightning chains toward him. For some reason, the attack speed wasn''t that fast as compared to earlier. Why is there a speed reduction of as much as 70%?

    Is it because of the altitude? Or is it because the remaining chains were grabbing the target and that made the wolf slower to attack the other target? The opponent couldn''t but wonder.

    Nilmar didn''t know the exact reason but he felt that this is an opportunity. He planned on throwing the ax to cut the chains but now, it felt like he doesn''t have to worry. Well, atleast of those intimidating lengthy chains erupted from Vajra''s back. He would still have to be wary of Azzy''s movements.

    However, Azzy simply stood there until Nilmar reached the ground and forcefully cut two of the chains. And then, Azzy gave his next order, taking them by surprise.

    <strong>"Vajra, use soul skill: Lightning Net"</strong>

    The last time he used this soul skill in an official battle was with Vann Hildegard. Neither Nilmar nor Jacob has any idea what was gonna happen as the thunder rumbled in the sky. Nilmar only thought of retreating. As his part, he grabbed his partner in one hand and the flaming ax in another hand before flapping his wings to get away.

    But, the attack came sooner than he expected. A large lightning net that looks similar to that of a fishing net fell upon both of them, releasing millions of volts of electricity.

    "F**k"

    In an instant, as their bodies went numb, Azzy ordered Vajra to use the remaining two chains to capture them.

    But, before the celestial grade wolf made its move, Azzy''s remaining reserves were reduced to zero and a giant seal appeared in the sky enveloping the entire battle platform.

    <strong>"Great Seal of Lightning"</strong>

    Once again, the thunder rumbled in the sky but this time, it didn''t cause by Azzy or Vajra though.

    Upon unleashing the great seal, she started levitating in the air with a layer of soul energy protecting her body. Her whole eyes turned blue in color without any visible pupils.

    As she motioned her right arm, a lightning bolt descended from the gigantic seal and struck Jacob. It was too fast and no one below the demigod realm is that fast enough to dodge it from a mere 150-meter distance.

    "Argh¡­"

    He let out a painful scream before falling unconscious with his dragon scale armor destroyed while having third-degree burns all over his body.

    The spectators, Nilmar Keydove, Proctor Leaf, and even Azzy were taken aback to see that attack. As an Arcana Master who was a lightning attribute user, Azzy could sense that it is natural lightning, although much diluted in power because of only 40 million SP of consumption.

    Before they got out of the first shock, Leah motioned her arm once again, striking Nilmar down.

 Chapter 411 Marriage Proposal To Azzy?

    "That was some powerful attack, Leah," commented Azzy as he started walking alongside her to the exit amid the cheers from hundreds of thousands of spectators.

    Leah bitterly smiled in response, "It takes a lot of time and needs all the soul energy needed to unleash it. It''s almost impossible to invoke the great seal of lightning in a battle."

    "I see¡­" Azzy can understand why she took this risk. It''s because she doesn''t want the people to think that Azzy was contributing too much to the team''s victory. And of course, there''s also her competitive side that doesn''t want to lose to her partner either.

    Soon, both of them joined the audience to watch the next semifinal. The winning team was a pair of sisters who are in their late 80s. They were nothing special when compared to the opponents Azzy and Leah fought until now.

    From top-16 to semifinals, these sisters of 7-star-realm (low-rank-7) only depended on earth-grade armor to defend themselves and use powerful illusions to trap the opponents before dealing the finishing blow with offensive-type skill cards. Rather than skilled Arcana Masters, they gave the impression of a pair of rich girls to the audience. Even Azzy was no different. He too thought the same. And so were the Reaper and the Excalibur.

    Being confident in winning, Azzy and Leah didn''t strategize on how to defeat them but instead, enjoyed the battles like normal spectators.

    Once all the battles are concluded, Azzy and Leah met with their respective families directly at the hotel they were all staying in.

    The King of Camelot appeared to be very satisfied with the results of the world league.

    As soon as they met, he grabbed his daughter''s shoulders with a big smile on his face, "Congratulations, Leah. Today, you made us proud. I never imagined that you would actually complete one of the Ancient Elemental Seals left behind by our ancestor."

    Leah felt embarrassed as she was praised by her father in the presence of others. She tried to be modest, giving the entire credit to Azzy who was standing beside her, "if not for Azrael, it wouldn''t have been possible to execute at all. Not only did he give me enough time but he also provided me enough soul power to complete the seal."

    "Of course, Azrael also did a commendable job." The King nodded in agreement as he turned toward Azzy and then showered praise on him too, "I don''t want to admit but I might have to depend on my divine treasures to defeat you if we ever battle against each other. At the present stage, that is. You are just 14 years old and will only become stronger in the future. In fact, if for your young age, I would have already talked to your family about making you my son-in-law but I guess, that''s a thing for the far future. Hmm, maybe, after you turn 18, we can talk about the engagement."

    "Wait, What!" Azzy continuously blinked at him in silence, being taken aback by his last sentence. The others around were just as shocked as him, especially Leah.

    Before anyone else butted into the conversation and makes a mess, she quickly responded to it. Dragging her dad to the side, not far away but just a few feet away from others, "Dad, what the hell are you talking about? I already told you that he has a girlfriend and we were already been through with this matter, long ago. Don''t embarrass me in front of everyone."

    Lucas Pendragon didn''t look like he realized his mistake. Instead, he said with a look of surprise on his face as if he was taken aback by his daughter''s reaction, "What if he has a girlfriend? It''s not a big deal. Camelot is a polygyny society. The gender ratio in our kingdom might have been reduced to 0.67 (608 males per 1000 females) but still, the law hasn''t been amended yet. A man can still marry up to three wives."

    While his voice was barely a whisper, Azzy and others were Arcana Masters with enough listening prowess to hear things from more than 100 meters away, much less a couple of meters. Naturally, everyone heard his words clearly.

    Leah''s mother, Zinnia Arbutus apologized to Affea right away, "I''m sorry. My husband tends to be eccentric sometimes. Don''t take his words seriously."

    "Ah, it''s alright." Affea didn''t have any words to comment on this. She couldn''t help but glance at Claire who was standing beside Avia. Surprisingly, her face appeared to be a lot calmer than she expected. Claire was simply staring at Leah and Lucas.

    Meanwhile, Leah was scolding her father, "Dad, even if it was true, you don''t have to speak it like this in public. Did you think about my position for once? I still have to participate in finals alongside him. Now, apologize to Azrael and also to Claire. Or else, I will abandon my next battle."

    "Ah, is that so?" Lucas Pendragon still didn''t think that he was wrong, but keeping his daughter''s battle into consideration, he apologized to Azzy as well as Claire for making statements without thinking too much.

    Claire waved her hands and forced out a smile, "I don''t blame you, King Pendragon. My boyfriend is strong enough to get all the attention from the world."

    Keeping Lucas'' position in mind, she didn''t speak as she will never hand over Azzy to anyone else or something along the lines. However, she stressed the word ''boyfriend'' to remind Leah that Azzy is hers.

    And she wasn''t also worried by Lucas'' words now that her mother, the Queen of Triastal even gave her permission to move into Azzy''s house and live with him. So, she was cool about the matter, displaying her maturity.

    However, Azzy wasn''t as cool as was. By staying silent, he doesn''t want to let them misunderstand that he was comfortable with the arrangement that Lucas spoke of.

    Instead of a direct reply, Azzy gave a simple statement, "If someone asks who built the Tower of Abel, people would say that it is King Cain, not the architect or the laborers."

    "huh?" The majority of the people around didn''t understand the meaning behind Azzy''s unrelated statement but Leah and her father understood what he was trying to say. Azzy clearly indicated that he is nothing more than a hired guy and might not hold any relations to the Camelot once the final is over. Lucas felt like all the earlier talk about possible son-in-law and polygyny has now, gone to the gutter.

    Leah was the one who was saddened the most. She thought they became close friends lately but only to realize that Azzy was only keeping his end of the deal she made with the Reaper. She doesn''t know how to react for a while.

    Fortunately, Izora came to her rescue by reminding everyone that they are standing outside of the hotel for a while.

    Soon, everyone left to their own rooms to take a rest.

    Being embarrassed by the whole situation, Leah didn''t eat dinner with Azzy and his family and friends that evening. She went out with her parents to eat elsewhere.

    As two days passed away, things became normal between them.

    It is the afternoon of the day before the finals, and Azzy was in Leah''s room, both of them were discussing the battle strategy for the finals.

    While both of them decided that a strategy is not needed against those weak opponents, two days ago, but still, there''s always an element of surprise and Leah wants to make sure that the gold medal falls in her hands.

    Both of them were now arguing about the way of approach.

    "No, our Soul Amalgamation needed our soul realms to be in sync for the maximum benefit." Leah disagreed with Azzy''s suggestion of letting him reveal his real strength to the public. She further added, "Don''t you want to showcase the ultimate beast to everyone?"

    Azzy nodded, "Of course, I want to see it too but it just isn''t possible anymore. I told you that Ruby has evolved and is still in the stage of controlling her prowess. The opponents will die if she goes out of control. You know that I cannot display the Death Scythe in front of the public unless it is absolutely necessary. So, if I can only summon Vajra, then, I don''t see the point of using merge."

    "What if we merge the three of them? Your wolf, and my Excalibur and Izarok." Leah''s eyes suddenly lit up with a thought in her mind. "I will be the one who will control the merged beast anyway. Not to mention, you could just use Soul Absorption in your suppressed state and no harm will be done to the opponents'' soul orbs.

    And you should also think about the complications that will arise from the reveal. You are just 14 years old and have necromancy abilities. The stronger you are, the more assassinations you will face from hostile forces. At the moment, you aren''t a threat to those strong organizations as they have Supreme Realm experts at the top.

    Revealing your 7-star soul realm is the same as giving them a strong reason to remove you. WAMO might have your back for now but note that the organization isn''t controlled by a single person. And in case, WAMO decided to deeply protect you from everyone, you might have to compromise your own freedom.

    Why take such unnecessary risks when you have the power to defeat our opponents using the rank-6 soul realm. You can always use natural energy anyways. Think about it for a moment."

    "Hmm¡­" Azzy briefly fell into thoughts and realized that Leah wasn''t wrong. But, the biggest question here is whether Leah was convincing him for his own sake, or was she doing all this to prevent him from gaining all the attention?

    Azzy was thinking of all the possible scenarios. And before he made the decision, the door was knocked on continuously.

    *knock* knock* knock*

    "Hmm?"

 Chapter 412 Match-Fixing

    A man and a woman in suits entered the room alongside Prince Celus Pendragon, who was somehow too busy to even attend his niece''s important matches. Obviously, Leah was surprised by his appearance and yelped immediately, "Uncle? What are you doing here?"

    Celus greeted both of them with a wide smile, "Hey Leah. Hello Azrael. Sorry for crashing on your privacy but this is important."

    This Prince of Camelot wasn''t a stranger to Azzy, although not close enough to greet informally. He could only stand on his feet and bow slightly. "Hello, it''s been a while."

    After greeting him, Azzy then looked at the other two. The man looked like he is in his late sixties, considering his soul realm is only at 2-star, it is safe to assume that his age is appropriate.

    As for the young woman with a pretty face and hot figure, she is a mortal, and Azzy guessed that she''s more likely an assistant judging by how she stands a step behind him while holding a file.

    Without apologizing or congratulating either of them, Celus proceeds with the introductions, "This is Charlie and she''s his assistant. Mr. Charlie is an old acquaintance of mine and he wishes to talk to both of you regarding the upcoming finals."

    Before Leah or Azzy reacted to him, the man named Charlie opened his mouth, "I''ll be quick and direct with the both of you. I want your team to lose the finals by any means necessary.

    The winner of the tournament will receive an armor set that becomes equivalent to Earth when wore the four pieces of the set (torso armor, bracers, boots, and helmet) and 5 billion credits.

    If you agree to this deal, we will pay double i.e. 10 billion credits and two armor sets of earth grade. Well, if you aren''t interested in money, we can also provide earth-grade weapons with atleast 90% mithril and 2-3% adamantine. From swords to spears, all types of major traditional weapons are available to us.

    Along with that, you will receive runner-up rewards from WAMO. So, losing will benefit you more than winning.

    Take your time and come to the decision before the finals. We''re staying at 712. So, it is easy for you to contact us. Just say the word and we will even hand over complete payment in advance."

    After proposing the deal, the stranger didn''t wait for a reply. He turned around to leave in a hurry as if he has some other engagements.

    Just as he was about to leave, Leah stopped them with a surprising question, "How much money is involved in the whole?"

    "Hmm?" Charlie turns around once again to face Leah, who then said, "I need that answer before we even start thinking about it."

    After a brief amount of silence, Charlie replied, "Total amount involved in the betting is confidential and I don''t have the authority to reveal it but I will tell you this. There are far more people bet on your team so far and it won''t change anything even until the end of the day."

    "I see." Leah nodded in understanding then said, "I need to discuss this with my partner and we''ll give you our reply."

    "Sure. Now, if you excuse me¡­ I have a few other appointments to attend to."

    Charlie and his assistant left the room, leaving behind a puzzled Celus at the doorstep. Once they were gone out of his sight, he said, "I thought you will reject the deal."

    "Well, our team doesn''t only contain me, uncle." Leah reminded him about Azzy, who was just standing there in silence.

    Celus suddenly remembered Azzy''s background. Even if he is a foster son of Oakley Night and a disciple of Barton Everglade, he is still a financially dependent teenager. Even if Leah wasn''t tempted by the deal, Azzy might be.

    "So, what do you think, Azrael?" asked the prince of Camelot.

    Azzy gave a nonchalant shrug as he replied, "I don''t care. Leah will make the decisions for our team. Any weapon that isn''t made out of adamantine cannot handle my corruptive energy. Those earth-grade weapons are useless to me. I don''t seek glory and neither am I interested in wealth. So, whether I win the tournament or not, it won''t change anything.

    However, if we chose to lose, then, I would prefer not to attend the finals. I will never purposely lose a fight against strangers. You have my opinion. The rest lies in Leah''s hands."

    "Leah?" Celus turned his head toward his niece. He looked like a person who had all of his stamina drained in just a second.

    And Leah surely disappointed him.

    Now that she confirmed Azzy''s opinion, she doesn''t have any reason to hold back her opinion. She gave her answer to her uncle without any hesitation, "You should have already known what my answer is going to be. I won''t yield the gold medal now that it is within my reach."

    "Can''t you think once more?" Celus didn''t completely give up on convincing her. He attempted to change her decision by speaking about the deal he was offered. "Mr. Charlie is an executive director at 247 Holdings, which has dozens of subsidiary companies under it. If you agree to this deal, he promised that the company will invest atleast 100 billion credits in Camelot over the next decade.

    Think about how many jobs will be generated for our people. Think about how much revenue Camelot will earn from the taxes, later. It will only benefit our people."

    Celus tried his best to drag the people of the kingdom into the conversation but unfortunately for him, Leah was unmoved. After patiently listening to all of his nonsense, she simply said, "No."

    "Alright, I will inform them in your place, I guess." Celus excused himself and exited the room without talking about anything else.

    Leah walked forward to the door. Azzy thought that she would look outside, feeling bad for her uncle, but instead, she just slammed the door and locked it before turning around. "Azrael, shall we continue?"

    While both of them continued to discuss the battle strategy, Celus caught up to Charlie who was on his way to meet other final contestants.

    He stopped them and informed him of everything that his niece told him. However, Charlie was unsurprised. The old man in the suit nodded calmly, "I expected that much. It is useless to offer money or some earth-grade weapons to the heiress of your Camelot. So, we should work from Azrael''s side."

    "But, Azrael clearly said that Leah will be the one that will make the decisions. And if you intended to use force, then, I should warn you that he is as powerful as a legendary realm expert," replied the prince of Camelot in a serious tone.

    Charlie then let out a smile, not taking his warning seriously, "We just need to make sure that he will be absent during the finals. That will automatically do the job. And I have the method to do it but I need your assistance that doesn''t involve any battle. And those rewards I promised to your niece and her partner, I will just give it to you as a token of appreciation."

    "Sure, I will do whatever you say." Celus didn''t hesitate to agree to his plan even before hearing it. He further said, "That brat brought his girlfriend and her sister to our Camelot and broke my sister''s marriage. This can be considered a minor payback for that incident."

 Chapter 413 Search For The Missing Family

    <strong>November 18th, 1994;</strong>

    It is the day of the finals and the Heavenly Academy was crowded with the people who came to watch the gold medal and bronze medal matches.

    Early in the morning, as usual, Azzy left his room and went to Affea''s room where she and Avia were sleeping.

    Surprisingly, the door was kept open and neither of them was in the room.

    "Hmm? Where did they go? Perhaps they were in grandpa''s room (Oakley Night)?"

    The hotel has only two types of rooms, single and couple. According to the rules, a couple''s room can be occupied by 2 at maximum. Due to the past cases of Avia''s abduction, the princess of Snieca didn''t let her daughter sleep in a separate room. So, she stayed with her daughter while her husband slept alone.

    Azzy thought that Affea and Avia went to Oakley''s room to wake him up or something. But, when he went there, even that room was also empty.

    It was as if the family of three went somewhere in a hurry. But, where?

    Azzy had no idea and he sent an audio message to Affea through the Message item card.

    The message was sent successfully but there was no response from his foster mother.

    After waiting for like two minutes, he sent a message to his foster father/adopted grandpa, Oakley Night. And even he was unresponsive.

    Thinking that they were busy, he walked down the stairs and waited at the lounge on the ground floor.

    2 minutes became 5 minutes, 5 became 10, and when 10 minutes became 20 minutes, he couldn''t help but become anxious. Just a couple of days ago, he was ambushed by a mysterious stranger. Maybe, the person was back? Or it is the church that sent people after them for taking revenge on him?

    If that''s the case, should he reverse the time?

    What if it is nothing? He would have to go through the same day again. Maybe, it is better to ask other people. Someone must have seen them.

    As Azzy''s mind was filled with several thoughts, the Reaper gave him a suggestion, "Why don''t you search for them using the Aura Sensing?"

    "Ah!" Azzy suddenly felt how foolish he was, forgetting such a basic thing and thinking of directly resetting the day instead.

    <strong>"Aura sensing"</strong>

    He scanned his 5 km surroundings to check their auras.

    After a few minutes, Azzy shook his head, "No, it''s not enough."

    From 5 km, he directly expanded his range to 100 km, covering the entire Central city.

    Because of the influx of millions of tourists in the city, for a moment, Azzy felt a strong headache, which was reduced as he started eliminating every unfamiliar aura.

    Soon, the locations of the familiar auras became clear. Most of them reside within the hotel except for three.

    "Still, no clue¡­ If the three of them aren''t in Central City, then, where are they? Either something happened to them or they might have returned to the Aclein city. Hmm, wait a second¡­"

    As something popped up in his head, Azzy abruptly raised his head to look at the receptionist at the desk, talking with a couple who wanted to check in.

    He rose to his feet and walked toward the desk while the couple was escorted by a staff member.

    "Good Morning, Mr. Azrael. How may I help you?" The receptionist greeted him with a smile as soon as she spotted him. He was staying at the hotel for a while. So, she was aware of his details. Not to mention, she reads the newspapers where the front page articles were covered by him and Leah, lately.

    Azzy enquired with her right away, "Hi¡­ uh, I wonder if you have seen my family, um¡­ parents leaving the hotel? They checked in 401 and 406 but their rooms are empty at the moment. Oh yeah, they should have a 9-year-old kid with them."

    "Mr. Oakley and Mrs. Affea Snieca?" The receptionist quickly remembered their identities as soon as he addressed them as family. The articles about them were all over the newspapers too.

    Anyway, it appears that she has no clue about their departure from the hotel. So, she could only apologize in response.

    Hitting another dead end, Azzy now only had two choices. One is to reverse the time. And the other is to use aura tracing just like how he traced Gideon and Estella when they were abducted, back a while ago. He decided to consult the Reaper. "Chronos, what should I do?"

    Surprisingly, the Reaper offered a suggestion that doesn''t involve either of the methods.

    He suggested to Azzy that he should forget about finding them and focus on the finals instead.

    Naturally, Azzy was taken aback, "Are you serious? My family could be in a dangerous situation, Chronos."

    The Reaper calmly replied, "Remember what I told you about Galarian King when you wanted to kill it as it transformed into Leonard Light, the fifth prince of Northern Qudour?"

    Azzy went back into his memories and remembered that the Reaper didn''t let him do it. Instead, he just told him to focus on his own mission of getting to the 7-star realm and return to the timeline. After that, Azzy could just travel back in time and take out the Galarian King.

    The memory made something click in his mind as his eyes widened. "Do you mean that if I actually travel back in time, then, one of my future counterparts was already on that job?"

    "Either that will happen or that Demigod version of yours will take care of it. After all, in your original timeline, Oakley Night is alive. And Aspen hasn''t been born yet. As the guardian of timeline, he is bound to save them." The Reaper casually replied as if this had nothing to do with Azzy.

    Azzy couldn''t help but complain, "Hey, stop talking as if he and I were different. We are the same, you know."

    "Not exactly," countered the Reaper right away. He further explained, "He is outside of time, Azrael. The timeline has no effect on him. Even if you die, he will stay alive. Anyway, you have a long way to go to understand the mysteries of time and death. For now, just focus on what you have to do at the present."

    Azzy didn''t find his explanation unacceptable as they weren''t some strangers like Galarian King. The Reaper might be logically right but Azzy was emotionally connected with them, well, rather deeply one should say.

    He replied, "The match is nothing, Chronos. As long as I get to the stadium in time, I will defeat them in a blink of an eye. And at the moment, my family needs me if they were in danger."

    Azzy ran upstairs and visited every room of his friends and acquaintances that came to support his team, gathering all of them at the terrace of the hotel.

    At first, they didn''t take the matter seriously because Affea herself is a high-rank-7 Arcana Master. But then, as Azzy revealed his encounter with the Church of Light''s cardinal, everyone became serious.

    Claire was also with him during the incident and she confirmed the truth, although she didn''t say anything about Cardinal Ophanim''s death or the destruction of the soul orbs of dozens of priests. Since Azzy only talked about escape, she hid the complete truth too.

 Chapter 414 Tolemacs Identity (Part-1)

    Some were surprised to hear that Azzy went through such a thing and some felt sad that they weren''t told about it but either way, they knew that those things don''t matter now. What''s important is to locate Azzy''s family.

    Hence, keeping away all of their doubts aside, every one of them started working on it by contacting the people they know in order to track down the family of three.

    In the meantime, Azzy started aura tracing. After hearing the details of the technique, Barton volunteered to tag along with him just in case an unlikely ambush occurred. However, he refused the protection as it will attract unnecessary attention.

    Leah, on the other hand, left for the stadium to give him constant updates on the tournament.

    Azzy first visited Affea and Avia''s room. He sat there and closed his eyes. After eliminating all the traces of the aura that were here before 12 hours, he found there are four distinct auras. Three of them are familiar. One isn''t. When he concentrated on that aura, it has the shape of a young teenager, almost exactly as the same measurement as himself, and has a 7-star soul realm but instead of a pitch-black, it was a midnight-black, indicating that it is a dark attribute user.

    Azzy was greatly surprised as realization dawned upon him, "someone disguised as me and entered this place."

    <strong>Snow City, Republic of Freyles;</strong>

    Five people are trudging along the snow field as the icicles continued to rain down on them from the sky.

    Three of them are carrying each of the unconscious people with powerful energy chains around them alongside seals that repress their soul energy, one who looked like Azzy from top to bottom was following them, and a priest in a hood and mask was leading the bunch.

    The unconscious persons were none other than Oakley, his wife, and their daughter, and as for the doppelganger of Azzy, his identity remains a mystery as of now.

    As they reached the Cathedral, they stopped, and the priest extended his hand toward Azzy''s doppelganger, "thank you for your assistance, Mr. Tolemac. We''ll take it from here."

    The doppelganger raised his eyebrows, "Hey, you promised me that you will let me meet the Supreme Pontiff. Now that I''m just at the doorstep, you are turning me away? Are you serious?"

    The priest was taken aback by Tolemac''s words. Even if they already reached the territory of the Church of the light where his life is secured, the priest didn''t act arrogantly toward this 7-star Arcana Master.

    First of all, he is nothing but a priest, who isn''t protected by the Church''s authority all the time. Since he has no idea who this Tolemac really is, he was worried about a possible assassination in the future.

    Secondly, Tolemac represented 247 Holdings, the largest contributor to the church. The company sends billions of credits every year as a donation.

    And thirdly, the Supreme Pontiff himself will not like the fact that he went back on the promise.

    Why should he risk his neck over such a promise he carelessly made? The priest let out a sigh, "alright but, if his grace doesn''t want to see you, then, that will be the end."

    "That''s fine with me." Tolemac shrugged his shoulders.

    The priest left the group and returned to them after a minute. He said, "Mr. Tolemac, his grace gave the permission. Follow us."

    A smile appeared on Tolemac as he nodded, "great. Let''s go."

    They entered the Cathedral and walked for a while, reaching the Prayer Hall where only four beings were standing together.

    Three of them are wearing identical attire, one that is different from a normal priest. As soon as Tolemac saw the scarlet cassock and a black plush hat, he realized that they were the three remaining Cardinals of the church.

    As for the Supreme Pontiff, he is easy to recognize with that three-jeweled crown that is shaped like a cone, and there''s the staff of Thea in his hand. Both of them are heaven-grade relics (rank-11) and are imbued with divine energy.

    These types of relics are usually used by gods in the celestial realm but for now, they are in the hands of a mortal. With the crown acting as the shield and the staff amplifying his powers, the Supreme Pontiff is pretty much considered one of the strongest humans alive.

    But then again, the gathering of the strongest experts within the church at a location where a cardinal died is something that needed to be taken note of. And Tolemac indeed caught that as soon as he saw the four figures.

    Affea and Oakley weren''t that important for them to gather like this. Not even the real Azzy should be a match for them. After all, he is only a rank-7. In his opinion, a Cardinal would be enough to deal with them.

    Tolemac doesn''t know that Azzy killed Ophanim and was under an impression that the fourth cardinal was still in the prison. So, there''s nothing wrong if he thought it like that.

    Anyway, all of this had nothing to do with him. He came here for a purpose and will leave once he was done. Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward and greeted him on one knee, "Your Grace, thank you for allowing me to meet you. And I apologize for meeting you in this disguised form. But, I can''t get back to my original form for the next 24 hours."

    While the Cardinals stayed on their spots and quietly observed the guy that looked like Ophanim''s killer, the Supreme Pontiff walked forward at a slow pace. Tolemac stayed in that position until the old man reached him and said, "Rise, child."

    He said only two words but they appeared to be soothing to Tolemac and the other spectators. It was as if they found peace in his presence. When he felt the same, Tolemac assumed that it might be a powerful mental skill. Nevertheless, it isn''t harming him. So, there''s no reason to resist it. At the same time, he was also nervous to stand near a Supreme realm expert.

 Chapter 415 Tolemacs Identity (Part-2)

    After taking a deep breath, as Tolemac rose to his feet, the Supreme Pontiff observed him for a couple of seconds and spoke, "I don''t sense the faith for Goddess Thea inside you. So, there must be another reason for your vision. Speak your mind, child."

    Tolemac summoned his storage card and took out a scroll. Handing it directly to the Supreme Pontiff, "this is from our Chairman."

    "Oh, Mr. Galler sent a message?"

    A trace of surprise appeared on the Supreme Pontiff as he knew that whenever a letter is sent by Forrest Galler, it is always an important task.

    The Supreme Pontiff read the letter. He was visibly surprised once again, "More than 600 billion credits of betting on the line? Hmm¡­"

    After burning the scroll with his soul energy, he said to Tolemac, "Return and tell him not to worry about WAMO. 247 Holdings will not be dragged in this matter and our Church of light will take care of everything."

    Now that his job is finished, Tolemac is ready to leave. But, just before he passes through the bishops who were carrying the unconscious hostages, Tolemac took a glance at them, especially at Avia, and thought, "She''s just 9 years old. I wonder whether I did the right thing. No, their lives have nothing to with you. It is their fault for taking Azrael into their family. And whether you are involved in this matter or not, they are bound to bear the brunt of Azrael''s actions anyway."

    Convincing himself that he was correct in his own view, Tolemac left the cathedral and summoned a flying card to leave for the portal point.

    However, before the flying card even rose higher, the ground below him turned into pitch-black mud kinda thing and he suddenly started to sink in as a pair of hands grabbed his flying card and dragged it down.

    "An ambush!" Tolemac became alerted and pushed forth his soul energy, taking a huge leap away from the Cathedral while wondering whether it is the work of the Church in order to silence him.

    He then surveyed his surroundings but found no one. The pitch-black ground also disappeared. "Hmm? Who it might be? Should I battle or escape? Is the assassin still here?"

    As Tolemac was wondering about his next move, an energy spear struck him from behind without any warning.

    "Argh¡­" He let out a painful scream, although it only lasted a couple of seconds before his body broke down into a powder. Just like that, a rank-7 expert died without knowing who killed him.

    A figure then materialized out of thin air, turning out to be Azrael with a small vase in his hand. He appeared to be slightly older than the present one but younger than that Demigod version. As he crouched down and collected the ash along with the soul in the vase, he mumbled in surprise, "It''s Prince Celus?"

    Standing on the ground filled with snow, future Azrael, who is in the 8-star realm, stared at the vase in silence.

    His mind is filled with thoughts.

    "Wait a second¡­ Tolemac¡­ the reverse would be Camelot. Now, it perfectly made sense. No wonder he was missing for decades. Why? It''s because he was killed by me. Man, this is so messed up.

    But I didn''t expect that he would like to plot the downfall of his own niece.

    So, what should I do now? I have collected his soul already. There''s no way I can reverse it or else, I would have to answer those death guards of Thanatos.

    I guess I should tell her the truth but I don''t want to know how she will react."

    Letting out a deep sigh, Azrael closed down the lid and dismissed the vase.

    "Either way, he got what he deserved for trying to plot against my loved ones for the sake of money. And I will bear the brunt of my actions. The rest will depend on Leah.

    But, at the moment, I need to save them. Everything else can be considered later."

    Azrael walked forward.

    ***

    <strong>Sometime later;</strong>

    <strong>Egrein city, Northern Qudour;</strong>

    At the portal point of Egrein city, 14-year-old Azzy was standing there on the side with his eyes closed. He was wearing a cap, a face mask, and sunglasses to hide his identity for he was as famous as an A-list actor within the Northern Qudour.

    For a few minutes, he scanned the surroundings using aura tracing but found nothing. "They didn''t come here too. Which city they might have gone to?"

    "You should go back, Azrael. This is nothing but a waste of time." The Reaper tried to convince him but a mentally tired Azzy lashed out at him in return, "then, why don''t you just tell me the future and report me their safety?"

    For the past half an hour, Azzy visited at least 15 different cities from four different countries.

    Through aura tracing, he sure found out that they went to the portal point at Central city at around 4:45 a.m. but didn''t know where they traveled to. He enquired with the staff members there but they claimed that they have no idea about it because someone else is on the shift during that time.

    If it was any other day, Azzy would have patiently waited for the staff member and conducted an investigation but due to incidents that happened to him just a while ago, he became so worried that he left that job to Gideon and others while he went on visiting other portal points.

    As a result of being mentally tired, he spoke rudely to the Reaper. Thankfully, he realized that very quickly and apologized to his Arcana.

    The Reaper didn''t take to his heart, "it''s alright but just never forget that the future is never set. I can see billions and trillions of futures. In some of them, your foster family is safe, and in some of them, they die. So, how could I lie to you that they are safe? All I can assure you is that they will stay safe because I have confidence in your future counterpart that he will keep the timeline intact. Hmm¡­ wait a second¡­"

    While trying to explain Azzy, the Reaper suddenly felt the changes in the immediate future of the timeline. "I think you shouldn''t worry. They were probably saved by now."

    "Do you mean¡­" Azzy spent years with the Reaper and knew of his habits. The moment the Reaper changed his wording, Azzy got a strong feeling that something good is going to happen. In this case, it will be the news of his family.

    Just like he expected, within ten seconds, he received a message from Affea, although the content doesn''t have any explanations or so whatever. She only spoke three lines in a firm tone.

    One, they are safe and sound. Two, Azzy should hurry up and go to the stadium and finish his finals. Three, they will talk after the closing ceremony is over.

    Azzy didn''t know what happened with him but since they appeared to be alright, he returned to Arcana world and joined Leah at the Heavenly Academy.

    As the bronze medal matches start at 9 o''clock in the morning, Azzy didn''t miss anything and Leah also sighed in relief that nothing went wrong. After all, her goal is also at stake here.

 Chapter 416 World League: Senior Division - Finals

    Until noon, they stayed in the waiting room, had their lunch provided by the organizers, and finally got out into the field when it was scorching hot out there and thousands of Arcana Masters in the audience section were warding off the heat with their soul energy.

    Meanwhile, the pair of sisters was entering from the opposite end, fully prepared with respective earth-grade armor and accessories.

    As the two duos entered the barrier, they observed that their respective opponent teams were standing far away than it appeared on the outside. Looking around, Azzy mumbled, "So, this is the space expansion technique, huh."

    For most of the audience, the two teams were standing apart like 180 meters or so. However, for Azzy, the opponent team is more than 500 meters away. Through naked vision, he could barely see them. It was the same for the sisters. They had to empower their eyesight using soul energy and took a clear look at the couple at the other end.

    Of course, the earlier matches also made the audience get used to this arrangement and everyone was cool with it since they were able to see the range attacks a bit more slowly.

    It also goes without saying that except for Exalt and higher realm experts and the ones on the first few front rows, almost everyone else will have to depend on the special binoculars (80x zoom) that come with purchasing the ticket in order to watch the match properly. After all, it is a million-seat capacity stadium with 96 rows.

    Anyway, the audience or the opponents don''t hold much importance for Azzy. He just wanted to finish the match as quickly as possible and meet with his family. Affea might have told him that she is safe but there''s a seed of suspicion in Azzy''s mind that they might not be telling the complete truth so that he can focus on the match. It will only be cleared once he sees them personally.

    Meanwhile, within a certain part of the audience section, an old man was brimming in anger as soon as his eyes fell on Azzy. "Damn, this guy¡­ No, those bast*rds from the church are to blame. How the hell did they let his family escape?"

    He''s the same guy named Charlie who offered the deal to Leah and the same guy who contacted the Church to abduct Azzy''s family.

    His plan is simple. He will keep Azzy''s loved ones hostage until it is almost the time of the battle.

    Then, his men will inform Azzy about the location of the hostages along with a warning such as he will have to save them in a few minutes or something along the lines.

    Since the guys who will inform Azzy will be just hired civilians while the church is going to claim the credit for the abduction, Charlie would be safe from getting traced back to him.

    But, never in the world did he expect to receive a reply from the Church instead from Celus aka Tolemac that Azzy''s family was freed by the Supreme Pontiff.

    Now, Charlie could only put his hopes on the opponent team. Fortunately, before visiting Azzy, he made a visit to Team Ark and sold a couple of earth-grade accessories that will boost their attack strength.

    Taking a deep breath, he stared at the pair of sisters through his binoculars and mumbled, "Win this, girls. Hundreds of billions of credits were at stake here."

    Just like him, there are at least a hundred thousand people who were hoping for Team Ark''s win and they cheered at top of their lungs. The supporters of Team Camelot didn''t fall behind either. They too rose to their feet and shout either Azzy or Leah''s name.

    Unfortunately, none of these cheers reached the contestants because of the noise canceling barrier. They too focused on their battle.

    Proctor Leaf, the 8-star realm expert, then ascended into the sky and announced the preparation time of 100 seconds.

    Hershey and Holly of the prestigious Ark family, which is the wealthiest noble family in the kingdom of Sturin, summoned their Arcana and a bunch of offensive and defensive skill cards.

    Meanwhile, Azzy summoned his usual Vajra and Leah summoned her two Arcanas. Both of them then joined their palms and were prepared to merge them.

    100¡­ 50¡­ 20¡­ 10¡­ 5¡­ 4¡­ 3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­

    *Whistle*

    The Proctor blew the whistle, signaling the start of the final match.

    <strong>"Soul Amalgamation"</strong>

    <strong>"Merge"</strong>

    Azzy and Leah went with the fusion right away, merging the Excalibur and Vajra. But, they weren''t done with just that. Leah threw the Aqua girl into the mix too.

    Soon, the blinding flash of light disappeared to reveal a Black lightning wolf with a horn over its forehead and an additional tail. One looks like a compressed form of black water and the other looks like it was made of black flames.

    It wasn''t just its appearance that was changed. Even its size grew by ten times, becoming a new beast called Varokex (Va from Vajra, Rok from Izarok, and Ex from Excalibur).

    Azzy looked to the side, "Leah, stick to my plan."

    "Alright," replied Leah with a nod before taking out her own earth-grade sword, which she didn''t have the opportunity to use until now, and she jumped onto its back.

    "Varokex, let''s go"

    *woof*

    Letting out a menacing bark, Varokex charged forward to meet the opponents who were already on their way to reach the range of 200 meters and attack from far away.

    Azzy closely followed behind it while summoning the Protos spears of 6-star rank. The Proctor, the spectators, the VIP experts, and even the opponents expected that Leah will launch the first attack as the vanguard while Azzy ambushed one of them with those long and pointy needles made of cosmic energy.

    But, just after four seconds of time, when both of the teams were about 100 meters away and the pair of sisters were about to launch offensive skill cards, Azzy suddenly accelerated, going ahead of the wolf.

    Looking at the opponents, he then stretched his arms forward and unleashed his most powerful trump card.

    <strong>"Soul skill: Soul Absorption"</strong>

    In an instant, the pair of sisters collapsed on the floor without being able to resist the absorption of all of their soul energy as well as the draining of their stamina and strength.

    As soon as they fell onto their knees, he threw the Protos spears, one at each opponent.

    The earth-grade armor didn''t let the Protos spears pierce their users and blocked them. But, in return, they no longer appeared as exquisite as earlier. Instead, they started turning pitch black. However, 16% adamantine mixture in them started to resist and try to absorb the invading energy.

    Azzy expected it and didn''t give an opportunity to recover. He threw the remaining two, destroying their armors.

    Once his job was done, he slowed down and let his partner take over the battle for the finishing strike.

    <strong>"Varokex, use soul skill: Volcanic Eruption"</strong>

    *Boom*

    A powerful explosion was detonated right below Hershey and Holly, blasting both of them into the sky.

    Being closer to the targets, the sound was thunderous to Azzy''s ears and it took at least ten seconds for him to get free from that buzzing in his ears. "Ugh¡­ I forgot to protect my eardrums."

    By the time his ears became normal again, the Proctor landed on the battle platform and checked the two ladies who have second-degree burns all over their bodies, owing to their tough skin and bones.

    "Team Camelot wins the match and earns the gold medal." The Proctor announced loudly after exiting the noise-canceling barrier and handing them to the healers, who were on standby.

 Chapter 417 Azzy Decides To Return

    <strong>The same day evening;</strong>

    After having a group dinner with Azzy, his friends, and family, Leah was about to return to her home along with her parents.

    Shaking Azzy''s hands for one last time, Leah reminded him once again, "Make sure to come to the party. And don''t forget that Camelot will always be on your side. So, don''t hesitate to call for help when you need it."

    Azzy neither replied Yes or No as he knew that he might not be able to attend the grand party at Camelot which will be arranged a week later. After all, he will be returning to his original timeline.

    At the same time, since he knew that Leah, as a user of Celestial grade Arcana, won''t forget him, Azzy treated it as a normal farewell.

    Once they parted, Azzy and others returned to the hotel. While others slept in their rooms, Azzy''s foster family gathered in his room to talk about the thing that they have been postponing all day.

    "So, what happened with you guys?" as Azzy, taking his seat like the other three.

    Affea let out a deep sigh, "Last night, while we are in deep sleep, someone knocked on the door. When I opened it, I saw you standing outside with a panicked expression.

    Well, at that time, I thought it was you as he possessed a strikingly similar aura to yours. He said that he was created by a unique skill known as the fragmentation technique, which will allow one to split a fragment of their soul to create a whole new body. I have seen it before. So, I believed it.

    Of course, there was also a tiny suspicion in my mind as to why you need to risk your life to create a fragment but when he informed me that your uncle was abducted, I panicked.

    And after reading the ransom letter, my brain stopped working and we rushed out. I had to bring Avia with me because of safety issues.

    But, in the moment of carelessness, I was knocked out and when I woke up, all three of us were lying at the Cathedral. There, we saw him again, although he appeared a bit older and taller. Most importantly, he is in the legendary realm. That''s when I realized that it wasn''t you and tried to confront him.

    That bas***d said that he was trying to play with our minds for fun. If not for the fact that I''m no match for him, I would have beaten him to death. What else can I do other than let him disappear right in front of our eyes? Sigh¡­"

    As Affea recounted the whole story to Azzy, the latter understood that somewhere in the near future, he will return to this exact day to save his family.

    He didn''t know who that imposter is or what happened at the church but one thing Azzy realized was that his existence will constantly bring danger to his loved ones.

    Feeling guilty about the incident, Azzy apologized to the three of them. "I''m sorry."

    With no expression on his face, his straight tone only made it appear like an insincere apology. However, Affea could somehow sense Azzy''s feelings. She hugged him and said, "You cannot blame yourself when you have done nothing wrong. In fact, we should apologize to you. Even if he was an 8-star realm expert, I should have seen through his disguise. You are my son and yet, I didn''t manage to tell the difference between you two. On top of that, I only troubled you for a while, making you run here and there."

    "But¡­" Azzy tried to shed a light on the truth to clear their misunderstanding but the words didn''t escape his throat, fearing that it might eventually lead to the reveal of time travel. Since they were fine, he decided to stay silent.

    Once they left the room, he lies down on the bed, "first, a cardinal of the church, then, an ambush from a mysterious assassin, and now, the abduction. The attacks become more frequent, lately. I guess I should ask Vice President Ramiel, a favor. See if he can influence the church to stop going after my loved ones."

    *Sigh*

    The next day morning, everyone returned to Aclein City to continue their daily lives once again.

    Azzy and his family returned to their home while his friends went to their dorms. Claire didn''t waste any time to start packing her things so that she can move into Affea''s household on the very same day.

    Now that she had gotten permission from her mother as well as Affea and Oakley, the second princess of Triastal was on high clouds as she left the academy.

    Meanwhile, Azzy was in his room, thinking deeply. "Is it really okay to leave without telling them? Whether I tell the truth or not, no one will remember me anyway. And once I return to the original timeline, even if I come back to the same time period, everyone will see me as a stranger.

    But, what about me? I will have to live with their memories, right? Then, how could I act like a stranger when we meet in the future?

    At least, my future self promised me that he will make sure Claire will remember me.

    Barbara, on the other hand, will not be able to reunite with her boyfriend. And I will be the sole reason for their forceful breakup.

    If she remembers it, she will resent me but if she doesn''t, then, I won''t even get an opportunity to ask forgiveness. Whatever the case, I won''t feel good in the end. Sigh¡­"

    <strong>Sometime later;</strong>

    "Ugh, can''t I live in that other guest room on the first floor? This was too far from Rael''s." Claire complained as she stared around the large bedroom on the ground floor. It is practically the room, next to Avia''s.

    "Nope, can''t do that." Affea shook her head in response. She further explained, rather in a strict tone, "Both of you are too young to even think of doing naughty things in the house. When both of you become adults, I would permit the two of you to live together if you want to move into a separate house but for now, you will follow the house rules.

    When you are here, neither of you will visit each other''s room after 10 p.m. And in other times, when both of you are together, the doors will not be locked. So, that means there''s no privacy for you.

    Since you live here, I''ll start to think of you as my family rather than a guest. Hence, my behavior toward you might be different from the past. Just so you know¡­"

    While Affea started listing the house rules like a dormitory warden to give clarity to Claire on how her life is going to be at the mansion from the next day, Azzy was watching them from the living room in sadness.

    After a while, he walked into the room and interrupted them, "Aunt Affea, can I talk to you for a second?"

    "Azzy, I''m not lecturing her. Certain things happen when a couple lives together under one roof." Affea thought that Azzy was trying to side with his girlfriend and make her compromise on some of the house rules but the 14-year-old doesn''t seem like he is interested in that topic.

    He replied, "No, I want to talk to you about something else. You too, Claire."

    "Okay, what is it?" asked Affea. Claire also looked at him curiously.

    Azzy answered, "I wish to go on a three-day vacation with all of you."

    "Hmm?"

 Chapter 418 Parting With Claire

    <strong>November 22, 1994;</strong>

    <strong>Eden city, Republic of Searvale;</strong>

    At a nation that''s located in the central region of the supercontinent, Azzy and his companions were sitting on the deck of a cruise ship as it sails in the Great Lake of Eden, the largest lake in the world.

    His companions included his foster family, his future biological family, and teammates except for Calder.

    It''s not that he wasn''t invited or something. Azzy asked him to join them but Calder refused to come on a vacation citing the reasons of being homesick. Whether it is a genuine reason or just an excuse is something Azzy didn''t bother to think about too much as he wasn''t close with him either way.

    Anyway, during the past three days, away from all the attention of the media, Azzy traveled to the most popular tourist destinations in the world.

    On the first day, he covered Novaria, the city of forts and palaces.

    On the second day, he covered Wheldrake, a neutral region under the control of WAMO. It is roughly a ten thousand sq. km area but known to contain 172 world heritage sites, which are highly protected by the largest organization in the world.

    And finally, on the third day, Azzy came to the nation of Searvale. It used to be a land of elves but now, just another democratic country ruled and inhabited by humans.

    While everything on the land that is related to the elves disappeared over the passage of time, the sunken Eden city was still preserved. Hence was the presence of many ships in the Great Lake.

    To further make it a tourist attraction, glass tunnels in the form of a maze, spread over 3 sq. km, were constructed at the bottom of the lake bed.

    A tiny artificial island was constructed at the center of the lake. After docking at the shore of the land, Azzy and others went on their way to take the tickets and venture into the Great maze of Eden just like normal people.

    By dusk in the evening, the eleven of them returned to the hotel to rest for a while before planning to go on for the fountain show, indoor ski resort and followed by dinner at the cruise.

    However, the plans changed when Avia started experiencing stomach pain due to indigestion. Not intending to disturb the others, Affea and Oakley stayed behind at the hotel and urged everyone to continue with the plans.

    As a result, the rest of the eight divided themselves into four pairs to go on their respective dates. Izora went on a date with her husband. Gideon, Estella, and Mia, Louis went for a double date as all of them are too shy to go on date with their respective partners alone.

    This gave Azzy an opportunity to spend some alone time with Claire. He didn''t plan it this way but since it happened, he used the time to the best of it.

    Instead of going for some movie or Arcade games, Azzy and Claire just walked hand in hand, roaming the streets at a slow pace, chatting together about a number of things, shopping around, and eating street food from time to time.

    Within no time, more than four hours passed away.

    Azzy and Claire were in a dolphinarium, watching the last show of the day. There were screams from left and right as the dolphins performed several feats.

    All of a sudden, Azzy''s eyes were blocked by an envelope made of familiar energy. It was only sighted by him and no one else. "Hmm? Aunt?"

    He raised his index finger and pressed on the envelope. It zoomed into his forehead and an audio message echoed in his head. She was asking about his whereabouts.

    Azzy sent a text reply through the message card and continued to watch the show.

    Ten minutes later, as the show ended, Azzy and Claire started walking back to the hotel instead of taking a cab despite the fact that it was like 4 kilometers away. Surely, it wasn''t going to be a short walk.

    As they were on their way to the hotel, Claire was talking about how she likes to have her own dolphinarium. Meanwhile, Azzy stayed silent, contrary to how much of a chatterbox he was, until a while ago.

    Soon, they reached an empty street and Azzy halted his footsteps.

    "Hmm, what happened, Rael?" Claire also stopped walking and looked at her boyfriend.

    Azzy took a deep breath and said, "I wish to tell you something important, Claire."

    "What is it?" It was then she finally realized that something is wrong with Azzy''s behavior. The last time she saw this kind of reaction from him is when he revealed the death scythe. Is he going to reveal another one of his secrets?

    After a brief amount of silence, Azzy took a deep breath and spoke as he looked into her eyes, "Remember the words I said when I accepted your confession on Valentine''s Day?"

    "Hmm?" Claire suddenly felt her heartbeat spike up as she recollected the memory.

    Suddenly, something else clicked in her mind. She remembered Azzy''s decision to go for a 3-day vacation with everyone.

    Her eyes widened in shock and her voice quivered as she asked, "Rael, please tell me that you aren''t leaving or something like that."

    "I''m sorry." Azzy hung his head down to look at his feet as he apologized, "I think I have to leave, Claire."

    Claire felt like her entire world turned upside down all of a sudden. Barely controlling herself, she asked, "For how long?"

    This time, it was Azzy''s turn to get surprised. He kinda expected her to get to the bottom of this matter but she only asked the time.

    Nevertheless, he planned on telling her the whole truth. So, instead of simply replying, he raised his head and looked at her once again before raising his hand.

    An hourglass with white sand appeared in his hand. "It''s time that I tell you everything, Claire."

    As Claire was taken aback to see the hourglass, which looked like a normal one as she can''t sense anything, her divine sword spirit, Agatha, on the other hand, cheerfully commented in her host''s head, "The Hourglass of time. I knew it. Azrael is the true heir to Lord Chronos, not just a selected individual."

 Chapter 419 Betrayal (Part-1)

    Claire didn''t understand her words properly but she didn''t need to ask her the explanation as Azzy already started speaking about it, "Claire, this is the Hourglass of Time, it is a part of a set with my Death Scythe. Its work is to control time. Through this, I can momentarily stop the time, reset the whole day, and even travel through time."

    "Time Travel?" Claire was already stunned by his words. If it is anyone else, she would have thought that it is bullshit and asked them to prove it but she trusts Azzy. If she doesn''t trust her boyfriend, who will?

    And when she put all the pieces together from Azzy''s arrival into her life to the present, she came to the conclusion in an instant, "You are from the future, aren''t you?"

    "Azzy let out a sigh, "When I was 12, during my second awakening, due to some strange coincidence with the hourglass, I was unexpectedly stranded in this timeline without a way back. Now that I have broken through to the 7-star realm, I can go back to my present."

    Claire stayed silent and was trying her best to digest all this information. For one moment, they were all happy, and now, her boyfriend is telling her that they need to be separated.

    After a long silence, she asked in her shaking voice, "What timeline you are from? How long will I have to wait for our reunion?"

    "I will be born on June 18th, 2008," replied Azzy. He further said, "When I return, I will be in the year 2021 on 30th November. That''s 27 years, 8 days from now. But, I decided to time travel to every first day of the month for your sake. So, you will see me once a month."

    "Once a month?" Claire eased up a lot when she heard that. She expected like he is from hundreds of years away. When she proposed to him, Azzy asked her whether she would wait for him even for a hundred years in case he went missing.

    But, it was just then Agatha spoke in her mind once again, "Girl, when he returns to the present, you will forget everything about him. That''s the basic rule of time travel. Ask him how he plans to make you remember."

    "Eh?" Claire was taken aback once again. With a panicked expression, she hurriedly asked Azzy what her Arcana just told him.

    Azzy let out a smile and answered, "The Celestial grade Arcana has the ability to resist the time alternation. After I was gone, the remaining seal on Agatha will be released and you won''t forget me."

    "Then, what about the others?" She fired a quick question.

    Azzy shook his head. "No, they won''t. However, I will meet them during my childhood and have fresh memories with them. Grandpa Oakley was the one who raised me. And¡­ sigh¡­"

    Claire felt silent. Azzy don''t know what she was thinking but he patiently waited for her reply.

    After thinking for a long time, she leaned her head forward and kissed him deeply. While kissing her, Azzy could feel that his cheeks got wet from her tears.

    A minute later, she backed away and turned around, "We will meet again in 2021, Rael. Don''t come back to see me once in a while. I will wait for you. Goodbye, my love¡­"

    As she started running away, Azzy rooted to the spot. He didn''t chase after her and with a determined expression, he took out his message item card and sent a message to his cousin.

    <strong>Meanwhile, at the Arcana World;</strong>

    ? <strong>Female Dormitory, Moon Academy, Moon City;</strong>

    Barbara''s sleep was disturbed by her platinum grade Arcana, Neko. As soon as it saw the envelope floating above Barbara''s face, the spirit of the Black Sabertooth hurriedly informed its master.

    After reading the message, Barbara''s sleep was gone, and her facial expression changed immediately. She sent a reply to Azzy and then, a message to someone else before getting down from the bed and escaping from the dormitory without making any sound.

    Roughly about half an hour later, Azzy and Barbara met at the outskirts of Moon City, where only two of them were standing within a 1 km radius.

    "So, what is it that is so important to talk about, cousin?" She asked him.

    Azzy didn''t hesitate a bit as he answered, "We are leaving right now, Barbara."

    Barbara didn''t appear to be surprised for some reason. She asked calmly, "I understand that you should return for your survival. But, is there a need to rush to the original timeline, cousin? Here, you have friends, family, and a girlfriend. You can also see your parents every day. There are still more than 13 years till your birth, you know."

    "It is for their sake that I''m leaving, Barbara," replied Azzy. He further said, "The world needs to forget my existence so that my loved ones would be safe. It is the only way for me to protect them from the Church of Light. The enmity between us had reached the point that those Cardinals will try to harm my family at every opportunity."

    "My master can protect your family though." Barbara didn''t appear to be convinced. She tried her best to prove her point, "I told you before. He is at the peak stage of the Supreme Realm. No one in this world can harm you or your family if we tell him the truth and ask for his assistance. He will surely do that for me."

    Azzy gave his farewell and had already made up his mind to return. How could he accept her suggestion?

    Obviously, he retorted with a statement, "Firstly, I''m not comfortable with someone else knowing our secret as there''s a high possibility that they will use our knowledge of the future to fulfill their gain and mess up the timeline.

    And even if he is a trusted fellow who will protect my family, he cannot protect himself from my future self. I already told you in our last meeting. That Demigod version of mine isn''t a kind person. He will eliminate everyone that endangers the timeline. He will rather eliminate me and erase this timeline to preserve the original."

    "Then, I guess that leaves me with no other choice but to do this," responded Barbara as she took out a skill card, taking Azzy by surprise.

    "Hmm? What do you mean?" Azzy looked at her and then, at the skill card with nine golden-colored stars on the back. "What is that card, Barbara?" He wondered what she was going to do with it. She suddenly won''t kill him, right?

    Nope. Azzy didn''t think that as he knew that even Barbara was aware that eliminating Azzy would only erase the interim timeline, which won''t change anything.

    Barbara then activates the skill card. It shines brightly for a couple of seconds before turning into numerous golden chains, which appeared to contain a trace of divinity in them.

    In the next instant, Azzy''s whole body was captured by the golden chains and he felt a great suppression on his soul orb. His Death energy is actually struggling to resist the effect.

    His eyes widened, "You¡­"

    "Sorry cousin but it seems like we have a conflict of interest." Barbara looked at him coldly as Protos energy formed a layer over her skin. "I don''t want to sacrifice my relationships for the sake of your family."

 Chapter 420 Betrayal (Part-2)

    Azzy might have spent far less time with Barbara when compared to any of his friends but he trusted her as much as he trusts Gideon or Claire. It has never crossed his mind that she of all people would even think of betraying him.

    As Azzy stared at her in a daze, the Reaper''s voice then echoed in his head, "What will you do now, Azrael? She has turned against you."

    "No, I believe that it''s just the work of Protos energy." Azzy refused to accept that she chose to harm him on her own because if it is that way, then, he will be forced to kill her.

    The fact that she''s currently bathing in Protos energy only helped his theory. He attempted to converse with her in his own style, "Barbara, you don''t know what you are doing right now. These actions of yours will have disastrous consequences."

    "Ah, please stop threatening me with those empty words, will ya." Barbara didn''t take his words seriously, and with great confidence, she further explained, "You are currently being captured by chains made of divine energy, which is the antithesis of Protos energy. You won''t be able to get free and neither would you be able to do anything to me.

    You see, while you are so busy in the tournament, I and my master studied my corrupted energy. It appears that it is none other than anti-divine energy that is hated by the Celestial Empire of Heaven.

    To your bad luck, my master happened to be a descendant of a celestial being and he called in for favor with the junior gods there to capture anyone that breaches the time.

    So, your future self, even if he is a demigod as you claimed it to be, will not be able to save you. And after we destroy your soul orb, you will be imprisoned for more than 14 years so that you won''t be born in the future.

    As a result, all of your future selves will be erased from the timeline and you will be nothing more than so-called a time remnant. You have reached rank 7 and can live for 2000 years even after you lose your soul energy. You can then live with your family forever. Their memories will stay intact. So, you can live quietly with them for as long as you like. With no powers, you aren''t a threat to anyone. I''ll make sure no one will be harmed.

    Now, you should have understood that I know what I''m doing pretty much well."

    Barbara''s explanation stunned Azzy. The fact that she planned all of this only implied that she not only leaked his secret but also decided to harm him. And more than that, he could no longer see that cheerful girl from a year ago. Instead, there was a person standing in front of him with a look of indifference on her face. It was as if she was looking at a different person.

    Is it really the work of Protos energy or did he make a bad judgment regarding her personality? He wondered.

    The Reaper then interrupted his thoughts once again and gave him clarity on the matter, "Azrael, as I have already told you, she''s lost. And your suspicion is also correct. She was influenced by Protos energy. But then again, it should be obvious.

    After all, unlike you, she has nothing to protect her mind against the Protos energy. Now, she reached a point of no return. Had you been close to her, there might be a slim chance of convincing her with words but you are not. You have no choice but to free her soul. Or else, she''ll not only harm herself but also the others around her."

    "But, there must be a way to save her, right?" Azzy felt a bit guilty upon confirming that it is the work of Protos energy, which came from him. In his view, he was indirectly responsible for her actions against him. Hence, there was no hatred instead, he was still looking for a solution to get that cheerful girl back.

    The Reaper answered, "There''s only one way. Destroy her soul orb. Once you do that, she will be free from the influence of Protos energy but at the same time¡­"

    "She will lead a life of a mortal, the same thing she earlier desired for me." Azzy finished it for him.

    Taking a deep breath, he then looked at his cousin and said, "Barbara, I''ll ask again. Release me on your own and come with me. I''ll overlook your actions."

    "It seems that you still don''t understand your situation, cousin." Barbara was under the impression that Azzy was trying to buy his time to escape from the chains. She was confident that he wouldn''t be able to. So, there''s no sense of hurry in her. "Since I have already made my move, there''s no going back from here. You have no choice but to accept your fate."

    "So, what''s your decision?" The Reaper put pressure on his mind once again to do the right thing.

    Feeling that Barbara would regret it once he gets free from the divine chains, he asked the Reaper to let the Protos energy take over his body for a moment.

    However, before the Reaper unsealed it completely, a figure materialized beside Barbara. She cupped her fists and greeted him, "Master!"

    The old man nodded to her and then looked at Azzy, "So, you are the time traveler of the Death Clan, huh! I heard a lot about you. It''s a pity that an extremely talented individual like you is going to disappear but then again, you reap what you sow. Today, my prized disciple, Vann will finally get his justice."

    "Senior brother?" Barbara was visibly surprised by his statement. This was a new thing for her. She asked right away, "Master, was Azrael responsible for Prince Vann''s missing?"

    Furrowing his brows, the old man shook his head, "He didn''t go missing. He was killed by a Galarian King. It happened because this great guy here decided not to report to authorities and let it freely roam for several months in the disguise of the fifth prince of Northern Qudour, Leonard Light."

    "Really?" While Barbara started to feel less guilty about her betrayal as her cousin indirectly aided the murder of her senior brother, the old man then shifted his attention to Azzy and continued, "As the owner of a Celestial grade Arcana, I''m sure that you have known about its existence, all along."

    Azzy stared at the two of them in silence. He realized that there''s no use in trying to reason with these people. He decided to beat them first and then talk.

    But, how can he defeat someone, who is as strong as his great grandfather and additionally possess divine energy?

    Azzy only knows one way and he implemented it right away.

    As he closed his eyes, mystical markings started appearing on his forehead, startling Barbara and her master.

    "What is he doing?" asked Barbara.

    The old man was also in wonder but he wasn''t alarmed as his disciple, "I have never seen those symbols but it appeared that someone imparted a life-saving technique inside him. He was probably activating it. But, there''s nothing to worry about. My divine chains cannot be broken by even a demigod. So, the chances of the kid escaping are¡­ No way¡­"

 Chapter 421 Azzy Returns To The Original Timeline

    The royal guardian of Hildegard looked like his eyes popped out of his eye sockets. He was stunned by the disappearance of the divine chains.

    As Azzy opened his eyes, they appeared to turn into black with no visible pupils and a thick layer of Protos energy was covering his body. It appeared to be similar to Barbara''s but far denser. It was so dense that the chains didn''t even last a few seconds. They were consumed quickly by his body.

    If it was just that, the Supreme realm expert wouldn''t be too shocked. However, he sensed the strength of a Demigod from Azzy.

    Meanwhile, Azzy went into a deep subconscious state. His spirit was floating in the air and his childhood memories started to play like a dream. It was like he was looking at his 14 years of life from a third-person view.

    He saw a handful of memories with an older version of Claire where the latter was there by his side when he was crawling on the floor; when he started to walk; when he started seeing the auras of death around him, and when he started to play the slide and other things at the park.

    She disappeared when he was around 4 years old. He then started his school life. Then, it is the time of awakening, the meeting with Avia, going back to the death clan, time traveling to 1993, meeting Affea and Oakley, forming a friendship with Gideon, accepting Barton as master, meeting Barbara once again, accepting Claire''s love, gaining a bunch of cosmic gems, and finally getting betrayed by Barbara.

    Azzy didn''t know how long he spent in the dreamland. Was it 14 years? Or was it just 1 minute? The concept of time didn''t exist here just like our dreams. However, one thing that came out of this event is that a few things just became too clear for him to understand.

    He realized what things he did good, and the situations where he was too na?ve in his approach. The law of neutrality automatically gets absorbed by his mind and Azzy now knew what he had to do with the both of them.

    As he made up his mind and took control of his body, he saw that both of them were trapped in black chains already, possibly done by the Reaper.

    "Chronos, I will take it from here." He said to the Reaper.

    To which, the deity replied, "You came back more quickly than I thought. I guess it is because you have only lived 14 years. Anyway, you roughly have 26 seconds before you go back to normal. I''ll leave their fate to your decision, although I recommend freeing their souls."

    Maybe, it is because Azzy is temporarily in the demigod realm or maybe, it is because this power belongs to the future Azrael, who absorbed the power of Protos energy as well as the Reaper. Whatever the case, the Reaper cannot penetrate Azzy''s mind at the moment and doesn''t know what he is thinking either.

    Hence, he urged Azzy to make his move whether it is killing them or running away before the power runs out.

    At the same time, he was also curious about Azzy''s next actions. Knowing that Azzy cannot possibly master the law of neutrality with so few life experiences, the Reaper was a little bit worried that his host would forgive the betrayer and her master.

    However, he didn''t expect that Azzy would surprise him through his actions directly.

    As soon as he returned to reality, he calmly spoke to the old man, "I admit that I''m partly responsible for Vann''s death and I don''t blame you for trying to take revenge on me. Anyone in your position would do the same. However, everyone must face the consequences of their own actions. I don''t need to remind you of that simple thing to a person like you who has probably lived for thousands of years.

    Whether it is the Galarian King, the daughter of Fenrir, or a cardinal of the church, none of them escape the consequences of its actions.

    And you devised a plan on trying to turn me into a time remnant and erasing my entire existence from this timeline. For that, you will face the consequences."

    <strong>"Soul skill: Spear of Death"</strong>

    As Azzy raised his hand and summoned a 2 m long spear bathing in death energy, the Supreme realm expert''s eye widened, seeing an illusion of a Reaper behind Azzy. He gritted his teeth and tried his best to get free from the suppressing chains.

    "I guess I have no choice."

    When realized that it was of no use, the old man proceeded to use the energy eruption without caring about the life of Barbara, who might be killed by the technique.

    A tremendous amount of energy erupted from the old man but all of it was immediately sucked by the Protos chains that enveloped him.

    "No, it''s impossible. Just how strong are you?" The old man was stunned by the scenario. He was prepared to even sacrifice his disciple to escape from death but didn''t expect that it would turn into failure.

    Usually, divine energy in his body would be able to fight against anti-divine energy (Protos energy). However, their relationship is like fire and water. If the fire is stronger than water, then, water will evaporate. And if water is stronger than fire, then, the fire will be put off.

    Seeing too much of a difference in strength, the old man let out a bitter smile, "I underestimated your future self."

    "Yes, you did. Now, go and reincarnate." Azzy thrust the spear and drove it into the old man''s chest without even a little bit of hesitation.

    As the old man turned into stone and collapsed into black powdered ash, fear crept over Barbara and she started shivering. Due to the heavy suppression, forget about fighting back, she couldn''t even move her mouth to speak something.

    After killing the 9-star Arcana Master without batting an eye, Azzy then focused on his cousin and apologized to her, "I brought you to this timeline and I gave you the Protos energy. Even if I didn''t do it on purpose, it is true that I''m responsible for your situation. For that, even if you tried to take revenge on me, I would forgive you.

    Unfortunately, I have only one way to bring you out of this misery and you are not going to like it. One day, in the future, I will surely find you in your next life and will make it up to you. I''m sorry and goodbye, my cousin."

    With a heavy heart, Azzy raised his hand and stabbed her with a Protos spear, killing her instantly.

    Leaving behind the ashes on the ground, he collected her dead body into his storage card to give her a proper burial in the original timeline and then summoned the hourglass once the power of the demigod faded away from his body.

    <strong>"Hidden soul skill: Time Travel"</strong>

    Azzy turned into specks of light and disappeared from the spot.

    <strong>Eden city, Searvale;</strong>

    At the hotel, Affea was walking back and forth in her room while Oakley and Avia had already gone to sleep.

    "It''s taking a while for the both of them to return. It''s taking a while for Claire and¡­ Hmm¡­"

    Suddenly, she felt like she had forgotten something important, "Claire and who? Why can''t I remember it?"

    <strong>Meanwhile, somewhere in a random street of Eden city;</strong>

    Claire was weeping hard while she was sitting on the bench. Quite coincidentally, there was a light rain pouring down from the sky. "Why should it turn like this? What sin did I commit that heaven is punishing me like this? Why is that... Hmm¡­"

    All of a sudden, the raindrops stopped falling and just floated in the air. Claire raised her head to briefly take a glimpse at a hooded fellow with a skeleton face before a change happened in her body.

    She was shrouded by her divine energy and she heard the laughter of Agatha in her head. It appears that the divine sword of Michael is screaming in happiness, "Yes, finally, I''m back, woohoo¡­"

    The rainfall resumed once again, throwing her into momentary confusion.

    <strong>Garcia Palace, Death clan village;</strong>

    Qridus Garcia was lying on his bed. Just as he was about to sleep, he widened his eyes and sat on the bed, "timeline has cemented, all of a sudden. Did the kid return? Kid? Wait a second. Why can''t I remember the name and face of my descendant?"

 Chapter 422 Landing At Whale Island

    <strong>November 30th, 2021;</strong>

    <strong>Mt. Estrya, Whale Island;</strong>

    At the foot of a dormant volcano, a group of teenagers was battling a Volcanus beast. It is in the 4-star realm and is of gold grade. There are carcasses of beasts lying around.

    "Navi, look for its injured parts and strike when you see the opportunity." "Alia, you just focus on the healing" "Stella and I''ll take care of its attention."

    A 13-year-old girl, who was acting as the leader of the group, passed down the instructions to her teammates and rushed forward with a spear in her left hand and a shield in her right.

    *Roar*

    The maroon-colored beast let out a roar and curled itself into a giant ball of spikes before attacking the teenagers.

    "I got this¡­" shouted the leader as she raised the shield while continuing to rush forward.

    "Soul skill: Barrier of the¡­ Eh?"

    Just as she was about to launch a soul skill, she saw a blinding flash of light before her, followed by the appearance of a young and handsome teenager who has some sort of hourglass in his hand.

    And in the next second, the large spiky ball crashed into the boy and was stopped by his other hand. Azzy caught it in reflex.

    "Thank goodness. It''s only in the 4-star realm. I guess not a bad landing spot," Azzy let out a sigh of relief before he swung his hand, casually throwing the beast, atleast a hundred meters away.

    Once it was out of his sight, Azzy took a glance at his surroundings. "Hmm?"

    He sensed people behind him and turned around while dismissing the hourglass. They appeared to be rooted in their spots, staring at him with widening their eyes.

    "Uhhh¡­ are you in the middle of a battle with that monster?" He asked with a bit of embarrassment, remembering his first encounter with Iphi and her friends back when he was 12.

    One of the girls responded with a question instead of answering him, "Who are you?"

    "My name is Azrael and I''m a traveler," answered Azzy and then asked, "Can you tell me what is the present date?"

    It''s easy for people to forget the day for an Arcana master when one trains in the wild for a long time. Hence, none of them felt strange and the girl named Navi answered, "30th November."

    "Year? Is it 2021?" Azzy probed once again. This time, they got surprised. Alia couldn''t help but comment, "of course, it is 2021. Did you lose the perception of time after training in seclusion or something?"

    Azzy knew that they misunderstood him. As he cannot reveal his time traveling ability to just anyone he met, he decided to play along and replied, "It''s been a while since I saw a human. So, where is¡­ Hmm¡­"

    *roar*

    As Azzy was about to ask them where he was, the roar of the Volcanus beast interrupted him. His attention shifted toward the beast, which was charging toward them with its spikes glowing hot red.

    The girl became alerted.

    "Well, how about I do a small favor as thanks to your answer." Azzy raised his hand and performed a seal. All of them recognized the technique.

    Upon completion of the seal, Azzy pushed forth his hand, releasing energy chains from the seal and binding the Volcanus beast.

    It was a basic sealing technique, known to several elementary sealing masters.

    However, the fact that Azzy captured the ruler of the whale island from more than 50 meters away clearly indicated that he was definitely a lot stronger than they imagined him to be.

    Meanwhile, Azzy, who was satisfied with the outcome, took a leap to land before the beast and took a closer look at it. He was a little bit surprised, "wait a second. You are a Volcanus beast, native to the whale island. That means this is Mt. Estrya?"

    He glanced around to see igneous rocks everywhere. His eyes finally fell on the familiar volcano, "The lava lake has been dried up? What happened here?" He wondered.

    "Graaaaaa"

    The Volcanus beast''s scream brought him back to reality. It was trying its best to get free but wasn''t able to.

    Ignoring the beast, Azzy looked at the girls who are staying in their spots without moving, and he gestured for them to hurry up.

    As the four of them reached the beast without letting their guard down, Azzy said, "Whoever wants to kill it can go ahead. Gold grade beasts aren''t that difficult to come by, anyway."

    "Not difficult?" The girls looked at each other in confusion before Navi spoke, "Mister, this is a level-2 region. Here, Gold grade beasts are the absolute rulers. There''s only one such beast per region."

    This time, Azzy felt confused instead, "only one gold grade per region and they are the kings?"

    As something clicked in his mind, he pointed at the trapped Volcanus beast, "Don''t tell me that this is a Volcanus King, the absolute ruler of the whale island."

    "Yes, of course, it is." Navi and the other girls nodded. The leader of the group appeared to be in deep thoughts for some reason.

    "I guess I was mistaken earlier." Azzy didn''t know what was going on but he tried to act cool as if everything is normal. "Anyway, discuss between yourselves and decide on who wants to kill it. I''m going to take my leave."

    Without waiting for the reply, he dashed away like a flash, disappearing from their sight in a fraction of a second. They felt as if he teleported away.

    While he was going to the portal point, Azzy contacted the Reaper to clear his confusion.

    Fortunately for him, the deity of death and time has the answers.

    In fact, the Reaper answered immediately as if he already knew about it, "It''s because of the incarnation of my counterpart, Thesan, the Deity of Life."

    "Incarnation of Thesan?" Azzy asked for the details.

    The Reaper then explained, "I don''t know which world she was born on, but usually, whenever a god incarnates into intelligent form, changes will occur around him or her.

    Now, those changes depend on which god has decided to incarnate and for what purpose. The greater the realm of the god, the greater the changes will be.

    As Thesan is in rank-12, which is higher than true gods, you can believe that all the planets in the Galaxy with living things were affected.

    Due to that, the fertility rate in Gaia and Arcana world increased tremendously, thereby, increasing the population of all types of living things.

    The population increased but the amount of spiritual energy present on the planet is limited.

    Hence, there is a decrease in the quality of Arcana spirits in soul cards and beasts in the wild.

    You can safely assume that there are no more platinum-grade monsters in almost all the regions of level 3 and under. Fortunately, you are already in the 7-star realm and have the powerful undead army to survive even at the perimeters of level-5 regions. You won''t need to worry about the current situation."

    "I see¡­" Azzy nodded in understanding. He was indeed surprised by the changes in the world, but then again, he wasn''t the one that is responsible for it. So, he was a lot cooler with accepting reality. "Anyway, now that I''m here, my first stop should be reuniting with Claire again. Wait a second¡­"

    As the thoughts of Claire came to his mind, Azzy remembered something important and stopped in his tracks.

    He took out the message card from his pocket, intending to send her the message of his arrival.

    To his surprise, every soul signature was erased as the side effect of time travel.

    "Dammit¡­ What should I do now?"

 Chapter 423 The President Of Northern Qudour

    Within a few minutes after the disappearance of Azzy, the girls managed to strike down the Volcanus King and they chose their leader to give it the final blow so that she may absorb its spirit core.

    While she was refining the core to raise her soul power, the remaining collected carcasses into their respective storage rings to submit them to the academy as proof of mission completion.

    Once the leader was done and rose to her foot, one of the teammates, Stella asked her, "So, what now, Serestia? It is only noon but we have already finished the mission. Should we explore around or should we return?"

    Serestia thought for a bit and replied, "I have something to do at home. So, I''ll have to return to Egrein. You girls can fool around if you want."

    "You are going home?" Navi, the girl with purple-blue hair color, expressed her surprise. She further asked, "Is it a family dinner or something?"

    Serestia shook her head, "I don''t dare to have such lofty ambitions. I just remembered that I need to talk to my mother about something."

    As the rest of the three returned to the Emerald City, a place in the level-3 region where the Emerald Academy is located, Serestia teleported to Egrein city''s portal point and then took out her electric skateboard gifted by her Granduncle on her second awakening.

    This skateboard, specially made for her, can be considered the fastest skateboard in the world with a top speed of 250 kmph. That''s as fast as a sports car.

    Of course, it isn''t just a skateboard. It contained an automatic defense mechanism that releases defensive barriers to protect the rider in case of unexpected crashes. There''s also a flight mechanism installed in it along with a bunch of other features.

    Anyway, after riding on such a skateboard for nearly 15 minutes, she reached a mansion with heavy security outside the gate.

    As she reached the place, the security guards moved aside and respectfully opened the gate.

    Serestia nodded to them and then entered the compound, only to see a couple of dozen guards spread all over the place.

    She shook her head with a sigh, "I seriously don''t understand mom. Grandpa is a 6-circle realm Arcana Master. What can these civilians do to give security to him? It''s just a waste of public funds."

    After criticizing her mother once in her head, Serestia went inside and saw a middle-aged-looking fellow with gray streaks of shoulder-length hair, sitting there in the living room and watching the television alone.

    Sensing the presence of an Arcana Master nearby, he turned his head only to see the 13-year-old girl walking into the living room.

    His face glowed in happiness and he got up on his feet immediately, "Sera!"

    "Grandpa, I''m back." The teenage girl scurried forward and gave him a hug.

    Taking a seat, the man asked her, "So, what''s with the sudden surprise, Sera? Did something happen at home or school?"

    "Not really." Serestia shook her head and then said, "I''m here to see mom''s pictures from the academy. Do you know where she kept the albums?"

    "Eh? All of a sudden? Why?" Her grandfather was visibly surprised by her request.

    Serestia didn''t reveal her real objective and just vaguely answered, "It''s nothing, I had free time and was curious."

    "Alright¡­"

    The man went upstairs and returned five minutes later with a thick album. Serestia took it and started turning the pages as if she was in a hurry. He wondered who might be she was looking for.

    After a while, she stopped turning the pages and her eyes became fixed on the photo.

    There were seven people in the photo with gold medals hanging around their necks. It''s team Twilight that won the world league.

    She took a closer look at the photo and mumbled with her eyes widened, "It''s the same guy."

    Meanwhile, the grandfather peeked at it and commented, "Ah, those people, huh. It''s your mother''s teammates."

    Looking at the trophy, he bragged about the past achievements of his daughter, "Those were the golden days of your mother. She won the annual tournament, then, Champions league, followed by the world league."

    "I know." Serestia nodded and then pointed at Azzy, "Who is this person?"

    "Hmm, that guy¡­" Her grandfather went into a daze for a while as he stared at Azzy''s picture. No matter how much he thought, he couldn''t recollect it despite the fact that he met the boy in person. In the end, he gave up and answered, "I''m not sure. It''s been a while and I don''t really stay in contact with any of her past teammates."

    "Can I take this?" asked Serestia.

    As he nodded, she took the photo and stared at Azzy once again, "this guy is a vampire or what? This picture is from more than 27 years and he hasn''t aged a bit. Maybe, he is in the wild for years. That can explain why he asked what year is this."

    "What are you thinking, Sera?" Her grandfather suspected that she might have met with one of his daughter''s teammates, perhaps the guy that he has no memories of. Her actions clearly indicated that he was correct in his assumption.

    "Nothing. Just a second¡­" Serestia didn''t say anything once again and just took out her smartphone, dialing her mother''s personal number.

    When there is no response, she dialed her mother''s personal assistant.

    ? "Hello?" A sweet voice was heard from the other side.

    Serestia spoke, "Ms. Anne, it''s me, Serestia. Can I have mom on the line?"

    "Um, sorry but Madam President is busy in a meeting with Southern Qudour''s ambassador. It will take a while," replied the person from the other side.

    Serestia let out a sigh, "alright. When she''s free, inform her that I have some news on her missing friend Azrael and I''m currently at grandpa''s house."

    "Sure, I will." The personal assistant disconnected the call and Serestia finally decided to speak to her grandfather about his encounter with Azzy.

    <strong>Meanwhile, at the Presidential office;</strong>

    "Ma''am, our President is ready to even release Edmund if you are ready to drop all the charges on Mr. Coil." Southern Qudour''s ambassador made the proposal on behalf of his government.

    The one who is sitting before him is none other than Mia Leveret, the current president of Northern Qudour.

    She rejected the proposal, giving a reason, "Look, Mr. Wells, I understand that Harvest Coil is an important figure to your government but his company is involved with tax evasion of roughly 6.7 billion Krocs (67 billion credits) to our country. Not to mention, the investigation of the past financial records hasn''t finished yet.

    Once it was done, I have no doubt that the Supreme Court will sentence him for atleast two decades. So, exchanging him for just Edmund is a loss for us."

    Crossing her hands to the chest, she leaned back and continued with the negotiations, "how about our Captain Axel and Captain Cayenne along with their units? And of course, Mr. Edmund is necessary. If you include all of them, we can think about the exchange."

    "Those captains?" The ambassador''s face darkened a little bit as he knows that it is almost an impossible task. He tried to explain to her, "Ma''am, you do know very well that our civilian government has no authority over the military. We cannot order them to release the prisoners of the war."

    "Well, that''s your problem, not mine." Mia didn''t back down an inch. She further spoke seriously, "I''ll be direct. Neither of our countries has a great trade volume nor do we have any military alliance. I don''t see any reason to do a favor on the South without getting anything more in return."

    The ambassador''s expression turned darker and cursed her inside his head. "Damn, this bi*ch is a dictator, indeed."

    It isn''t a secret that Mia is more like a dictator rather than a two-time democratic elected president of Northern Qudour. With the powerful robotic army on her side, she had wiped out several rebellious forces and even won a small war against the western neighbor, occupying 45 sq. km of land from the Gesian kingdom.

    Seeing that the negotiation isn''t going anywhere, he decided to make a call.

    As the ambassador walked away a bit and talked with his President, Mia, who freed up a moment, took out her smartphone.

    There was a missed call from her daughter and there''s also a message, according to the notifications.

    She opened the messenger and there was a message along with a photo where Azzy was circled by a sketch pen.

    "Azrael?" Mia was stunned by the message.

 Chapter 424 Mom, Are You Spying On Dad?

    <strong>Leveret Mansion, Egrein City;</strong>

    Roughly 15 minutes after Mia read her daughter''s message, atleast a dozen cars stopped before the mansion in a straight line and the President stepped out with all of her so-called Praetorian guards.

    These special bodyguards are 32 in number and they always follow her to public places to prevent possible assassinations. All of them are Arcana Masters, highly trained in almost every type of weapon. Together combined, they can erect a special 8-star realm barrier around Mia in emergency situations.

    With 12 of these 32 Arcana Masters being in the 6-star realm and the remaining 20 in the 5-star realm, one can say that she is quite intimidating to citizens.

    And yet, people voted for her twice in a row.

    Why?

    It''s because she has the best results in every policy her government implemented so far.

    Anyway, 43-year-old Mia stormed into the Leveret Mansion while leaving her guards outside.

    She saw her father and her daughter playing some sci-fi shooting game on the television, connected to a gaming console. Both of them were so engrossed in the game that they didn''t even sense Mia''s presence and continued to chat around.

    "Seriously? Dad was into video games? I never knew that." Mia was a little bit taken aback but she kept her composure and called out to her daughter, "Sera."

    Serestia and Wesley Leveret turned their heads to look at the source and were visibly surprised to see Mia standing there.

    "Mom?" "Mia?"

    "You arrived so fast," exclaimed Serestia in surprise. She further asked, "You aren''t really in a busy meeting, are you?"

    Mia didn''t bother to answer her and directly came to the point, "Where did you see Azrael?"

    Serestia answered, "At the whale island."

    Mia then strode forward with heavy steps and grabbed Serestia''s shoulders with a serious expression, "Are you sure that it is him? Or it is just one of those tricks of yours?"

    "It is him. I''m sure of it." Serestia first appeared confident in her reply but after a second, she corrected herself, "Well, maybe, it can be his son who took the same name. He could be Azrael Junior as he doesn''t seem to have changed a bit. He just looks like a 13 or 14-year-old kid. Even his voice didn''t sound like an adult."

    "I see¡­" Mia loosened her grip and nodded, "Okay, Sera, I need to leave. You can stay here for the night but make sure to get back to the academy by tomorrow. You have exams coming."

    Without waiting for Serestia''s reply, Mia kissed her forehead and said goodbye to her dad before leaving in hurry.

    "But, mom¡­" Serestia tried to say something, but as her mom was already out of her sight, she threw away the controller in anger and complained "It''s been more than two weeks since I last saw her. She didn''t even ask me how I was doing."

    Wesley couldn''t help but look at his granddaughter in pity. As a former president, he knew the life that his daughter is going through.

    Hence, he cannot criticize Mia and could only console his granddaughter, "Your mother''s mind was preoccupied with other things, Sera. How about I take you to meet the research facility?"

    "Ah, really?" Serestia''s mood suddenly improved upon hearing the word research facility. "You are the best, grandpa. It''s been a while since I saw Dr. Mac. Let''s go right away."

    Wesley shook his head with a smile, watching the joy on his granddaughter''s face.

    Little did they expect that they will encounter Mia within just a couple of hours after she left.

    Both of them are at the underground research facility for different purposes and it goes without saying that Sera and Mia were surprised to see each other at the secret facility, which is the source of the robotic army and cutting-edge technology of Northern Qudour.

    "Mia, didn''t you have a meeting with the Southern Qudour''s ambassador?" asked Wesley.

    Mia shook her head, "I canceled the meeting, dad. Finding Azrael is more important now. What about you guys?"

    "Nothing, Mom. We just came here to check if there are any interesting toys Dr. Mac developed lately." Serestia answered her before her attention was stolen by the 150-inch computer screen. She pointed at the live feed of a person on the corner of the screen, "Is that dad?"

    "Eh?" Mia appeared to be startled by her daughter''s remark and she immediately turned around to look at the screen with several live feeds of high-profile people running at the same time.

    And in the corner of the screen, Serestia saw the guy in his early forties who was sparring with an 8-year-old kid. He was neither tall nor short. He was neither handsome nor ugly. He had his extremely common-looking face that one can find anyone in the Northern Qudour. However, this 5-star realm Arcana Master is still the current first gentleman of the Northern Qudour.

    As Mia hurriedly switched off the live feed, Serestia narrowed her eyes, "I thought you only spy on high-profile targets. Mom, are you spying on dad on regular basis?"

    Mia looked away and gave an excuse, "not really. Dr. Mac was already working on locating my friend, in the other room. So, I was just fooling around."

    Serestia stared at her in silence. Clearly, she didn''t believe her. At the same time, she wondered whether she was wrong in thinking that her parents were completely estranged from each other. If that''s the case, then, should she try once again for a family vacation?

    Unfortunately, that''s not possible given how busy a President of a nation can be. So, atleast family dinner?

    As the teenager was trying to think of a way to bring her parents together, Mia cleared her throat and changed the topic to hide her embarrassment, "Anyway, Sera, Dad, both of you can go and look around. In the meantime, I guess I will work remotely from this place. There are important files that I need to look at."

    After sending them away, Mia turned on the live feed from their satellites once again, clicking on her husband''s image for one last time. Looking at him engrossed in his job, she nodded with a smile, "I guess he is working hard."

    She closed his live feed and continued with her work while wondering whether Azzy would use the portal point to travel to Gaia. As the Arcana World was located in another dimension and cannot be put under surveillance by any modern tech, Mia''s only hope is for Azzy to get into the human world and gets captured on some CCTV.

    Never in the world did she expect Azzy to be standing in the streets of Aclein City at the moment while Dr. Mac was searching his whereabouts in every other nation.

    <strong>Evergreen Street, Aclein City;  </strong>

    Inside the compound of a century-old mansion, Azzy was staring at the grave that says the name Affea Snieca. He was filled with sadness, "If I had the power to change her fate, I would have traveled back in time once again to keep her alive. Alas, she died during childbirth. I cannot kill an innocent Aspen Night to keep her alive."

 Chapter 425 Azzy Meets Calder

    After going through his life''s memories back when he temporarily attained the Demigod realm, he also gained enough proficiency regarding the law of neutrality. As a result, he could see things more clearly like from a bystander''s point of view.

    It is why he could only do nothing but offer his sorrow to Affea''s grave.

    Wiping off his tear drops at the corner of his eyes, he turned around to walk away. After exiting the mansion, he proceeded to scan the entire city to check a familiar aura so that he can find out something about Claire''s whereabouts.

    To his surprise, he couldn''t sense the aura of his master, Barton, Vice Principal Sahara, or his friends, except for one person.

    "Calder? I can sense his aura at¡­ Hmm, it''s coming from the academy. Was he an instructor there or something? In any case, he might have some knowledge. Let''s start with him and see what I can find."

    Azzy took a bus like a civilian and traveled to the academy. However, as he neared the academy, he spotted no familiar buildings inside. There was no administration building, which could be usually seen from the entrance.

    Instead, all he could see are various habitats all over the place where kids are sparring with their trainers. Apart from that, there is one five-story building in the place where the auditorium was once located.

    "Is that perhaps the new school building?" Azzy wondered at first but then, as his eyes fell on the large characters engraved on the curvy entrance wall, he realized that he was wrong. Forget about the name change, it isn''t even an academy anymore.

    "Hmm, Aclein training center for Arcana Masters? Just what in the hell happened here?" Azzy couldn''t help but go into a daze for a moment as the entire familiar place turned into unfamiliar territory all of a sudden.

    For others, 27 years have passed, but for Azzy, it''s only been a few weeks since he last saw the academy. So, everything is kinda weird to him.

    Azzy entered the place. To not get much attention, he made sure to suppress his soul power, posing as a 3-star Arcana Master.

    Since Calder has no memories of him, Azzy didn''t want to barge in through force and decided to take the help of someone.

    He interrupted a trainer, who is teaching a couple of 8-year-old kids on a rocky habitat. "Excuse me¡­"

    "Yes?" The trainer walked toward him, thinking that it is a new student.

    "Hello, my name is Azrael. I''m here for Mr. Calder. Do you know where can I meet him?" Azzy introduced himself and spoke his intentions.

    Since Calder''s aura was coming from the third floor of the building and this is a training center, Azzy assumed his former teammate is in a higher position.

    And the trainer''s reply confirmed his assumption. "Mr. Chairman is in his office. Please come with me."

    The trainer told the kids to work on their own until he returns while he takes Azzy to the chairman.

    "Hi, I''m Bradley, by the way. You can call me Brad." The trainer introduced himself.

    "Azrael."

    As Azzy shook his hand, Brad enquired about the purpose of Azzy''s visit as they walked forward. "I haven''t seen you around here. Are you a new member or are you interested in joining the training center?" He asked.

    Azzy replied, "I will take the decision once I talk to Mr. Calder."

    In order to make sure to get a new member for the training center, Brad continued to engage in the conversation, "So, Azrael, you are a local?"

    "You can say so," replied Azzy with a nod.

    "And how old are you?" "14"

    "If you don''t mind answering, may I know what academy were you attending?" "Nah, I was mostly homeschooled."

    "Your parents are Arcana Masters?" "Yeah"

    Azzy gave short and direct answers as the questions were only basic ones.

    "You must have already found it on the internet but let me introduce our training center. Here, we are¡­"

    As Brad, the trainer is explaining the perks of joining the training center as a VIP member and how their training will work, and everything, Azzy quietly listened to him while looking around.

    On the way, he saw several habitats where kids from as early as 6 years to even middle-aged people were training under the experts. The trainers are mostly in the 5-star realm such as Brad. However, there are a couple of them in the 6-star realm too.

    At a water habitat, which is more like a pool with a few ships and boats, two women were sparring. One is in the 4-star realm (low) and the other is in the 5-star realm (peak).

    All of a sudden, a huge volume of water shot up from the pool, blasting away 4-star realm Arcana Master into the sky. Perhaps, the female trainer forgot to hold back her strength. The young woman in her 30s flew as high as 150 meters and started to freefall.

    "Kyaaaa"

    She screamed out in fear. The female trainer froze on the spot and panicked that she is going to get sacked.

    "F***k." Brad cursed out and charged forward to catch her in hurry.

    Just as he was about to step inside the pool, he saw energy chains swooshed by like a flash, catching her in the mid-air.

    Brad turned around in surprise to see a seal floating before Azzy as the latter motioned his arms. Soon, the woman slowly landed on the ground.

    The woman thanked him while the female trainer apologized to her. Brad scolded the female trainer and then apologized to the customer once again.

    As the client forgave them, Brad sighed in relief and continued to escort Azzy to the chairman''s office. Despite the fact that Azzy had used only a beginner-level sealing technique, the accuracy and the range he displayed earlier had impressed Brad, very much.

    As soon as he met Calder, the trainer praised Azzy and stressed that they cannot let such a talented kid go away.

    Calder didn''t ask his name and just told Brad to send Azzy in.

    Brad then got out of the office and informed Azzy, "Mr. Chairman is waiting for you. And I will be there at the rocky habitat nearby the entrance. Once you took the membership, you can meet me. I''ll take you on a tour to the inner sectors."

    Azzy didn''t bother to clear up his misunderstanding and just nodded in response. As Brad started leaving, Azzy walked towards the door, looking at the guy who had grown up into a middle-aged fellow.

    "Man, it will be tough to get used to this." Azzy shook off his thoughts and opened the door. "Mr. Calder¡­"

    "Eh?"

    Unexpectedly there''s a look of shock on Calder''s face as he got up from his seat and exclaimed, "Azrael."

    This time, Azzy was the one who was surprised. "You remember me, Calder?"

    "No way¡­" Calder started to search the drawers like he is in a hurry.

    Soon, he took out a photo frame and stared at Azzy and then at the photo. "It''s you. How is that possible? You didn''t age at all." He displayed his shock.

    "It''s a long story," replied Azzy as he took the seat. He almost confirmed that Calder had only recognized him because of the photographic evidence he left behind. To confirm it, he asked, "I guess that you don''t have memories of me?"

    "Yeah," Calder admitted the truth.

 Chapter 426 Calder And Mia Were Married?

    Since he didn''t have any memories of Azzy and didn''t know whether they are close or not, Calder don''t know how to react to him and tried to be formal and a little bit casual as he explained, "For two decades, I, Mia, Principal Barton, and everyone always wondered who this guy is¡­ Just what happened? How come you didn''t age at all? Where were you for the past 27 years? And why is that no one has any memory of you? Even the authorities of WAMO have no clue why your name is in their system but no one has any memory of promoting you to Tier-3 cadet."

    "I''ll tell you some other time but I''m in a bit of a hurry at the moment." Azzy dodged the question and went into the matter directly. "I want to know the whereabouts of Claire. Do you have any idea?"

    "Claire?"

    Calder fell into thoughts after hearing Azzy''s request. He put aside his questions aside and answered, "No, after the world league, she dropped out of the academy. After that, we never met. I only heard that she returned to her kingdom."

    Azzy didn''t have expectations of finding her whereabouts from this guy. So, he was cool with the answer and then asked, "Then, do you know Mia''s contact? She must have known Claire."

    "Mia''s contact?" At this request, Calder appeared to be slightly taken aback. He asked in return, "You never been here during the past two decades, aren''t you?"

    "Why?" Azzy asked. Did something happen to Mia as well? He wondered.

    Calder then took out his smartphone and showed a picture of a couple in the wedding dress.

    As Azzy took a look at the picture, his eyes widened, "Both of you are married? Seriously?"

    "Fate is really mysterious, I guess." Calder was smiling big as he took back the phone and looked at the picture. "It''s been 11 years since we married," He mentioned as an afterthought.

    "Wow¡­" Azzy was really amazed at the development.

    He never imagined Mia would fall for Calder. He thought the girl had something going on with Louis but it looks like he was wrong.

    As if that wasn''t shocking enough, Calder showed another picture on the smartphone, introducing his family member, "This is our daughter, Serestia Leveret. She took her mother''s surname as you know that I''m a commoner."

    Azzy recognized her right away as it has only been a few hours since he encountered her. "I had to appear in front of Mia''s daughter of all the people. What a coincidence. Wait a second¡­ it''s been 11 years since they married?"

    While Calder might be just an acquaintance, Mia is a friend to him, and he cannot ignore his curiosity.

    He proceeded to say, "I actually met your daughter in Arcana world, at the whale island. She appeared to be already in the 4-star realm. How old is she?"

    Azzy doesn''t feel like Serestia is below 11. She appeared more like 13 or 14 years old. Either she was born before their marriage or she went through puberty too early.

    Calder answered truthfully and then bragged a little bit, "She turned 13 recently on Oct 4th. She''s currently studying at Emerald Academy, top of her grade, you know.

    Mia actually wanted to send her to the Phoenix Academy but I was worried about the competitive nature of the students in that top-tier academy. So, I sent her to Emerald academy.

    Who could have expected that she would be taken in by the headmistress of the academy as a disciple and that will lead her to awaken for a second time?

    I don''t want to brag but she was a twin Arcana master.

    In this age where silver or purple grade Arcana is considered awesome, she awakened top-tier gold-grade Arcana, two times. She''s just like her mom, a pseudo/stepdaughter of Heavens."

    Emerald Academy is an all-girls school like the Phoenix Academy and almost has the same rules as the latter it was established by a student of Phoenix Academy about two millennia ago.

    However, the key difference between them is that the Phoenix Academy is considered an S-tier Academy while Emerald Academy is rated a one-tier lower, the A-tier. In comparison, the Aclein academy in the past used to be rated as a C-tier. So, yes, it is an elite academy with enough reputation.

    Hence, Calder has every right to brag about his daughter when she''s at the top of her class.

    After patiently listening to all that bragging, Azzy asked only one question in return, "So, you had her before the marriage?"

    Perhaps, Calder went through that question several times in the past. He wasn''t surprised or offended in the least and calmly explained, "At that time, Mia wasn''t ready for marriage as she was busy with her political campaign. She was in the lead but had to withdraw from the Presidential elections because of me.

    She was angry at me for doing this to her, and at the same time, doesn''t want to abort the baby either. So, our relationship took a great hit. In the end, she finally accepted me into her family."

    "I see¡­" Azzy nodded in understanding, although being uncomfortable talking about those things that are reserved for adults. Calder thinks that Azzy is a 41-year-old man with a teenage appearance but only Azzy knows that he is still a 14-year-old.

    He then thought, "So, Mia''s daughter is one year old younger than me? I must be the youngest uncle in the world. Great¡­"

    Being a friend to Mia, Azzy already started to think of her daughter as his niece or maybe, younger sister, considering the age difference. He decided to give her a present when they meet again.

    At the same time, he also wondered what others have been doing. However, he didn''t ask Calder. He thought it would be better to ask Mia when he meets her later. Well, the only concern is whether she will put the time to talk to him or not. He hoped she would act as nice as her husband even though she is a President of a country, now.

    <strong>Meanwhile, at the secret research facility;</strong>

    Following the orders of Dr. Mac, while Aria was working on hacking all the CCTVs of a particular country one after another to check the whereabouts of Azzy, in the adjacent room, Mia was going through some documents.

    "Hmm, I received the mercy petition from Daniels'' family, once again, this time, on the grounds of his age. So what if it has been 33 years since he committed the crime? What if he is 78 years old? There''s no mercy for a child rapist in my country. Let him rot in the prison until he dies. In fact, they should be thankful that I didn''t seize their assets."

    Mia stamped reject on the document and turned the page. "Declaring Stripes'' clan as an anti-nationalist organization? Ugh¡­ Theodore Light must be the one behind this. Stripes family isn''t really a threat to the country and neither do I want to get in the affairs of the royal family."

    She rejected it once again and went on reading the other documents. "The farmers'' bill must be passed no matter what. It will upset the conglomerates but will ensure our party''s victory in the west and south. And then, there is the demand for the pension increase for policemen. The elections are only 16 months away. Hmm¡­"

    As she was thinking about her next move, an envelope made of energy appeared in her sight, before going into her forehead. It was from Calder.

    As soon as she heard the message, the file dropped from her hand and she rose to her feet, "Azrael is in Aclein?"

 Chapter 427 Azzy Meets Mia

    A couple of hours later, Aclein City''s entire police force was in the training center, making sure of the security arrangements.

    Eventually, a helicopter landed on open ground and Mia got down alone before walking toward the lone building. Her dad and daughter didn''t appear to be accompanying her.

    Azzy patiently waited for her at the chairman''s office.

    "Azrael¡­" She called out his name in a rather loud tone as soon as she entered the office but stopped right there at the door, stunned by his teenage appearance. A while ago, when she talked to her husband on the way, he told her that she will be shocked.

    Mia didn''t know back then. But, now, she realized what he meant. "You didn''t age up a bit." She commented.

    Upon seeing his teammate, who is all grown up into an adult woman, Azzy couldn''t help but chuckle, "Hello, Mia."

    He was happy to see his friend but it appears that it wasn''t the same for Mia. Atleast, it was what Azzy thought at first as she suddenly pulled a futuristic-looking gun out of thin air and pointed at him, "I apologize if you are the real deal but prove your identity, Azrael."

    "Eh?" "Huh?"

    Calder and Azzy were taken aback by her actions.

    Calder tried to defend Azzy, "Honey, there''s no reason for someone to disguise as Azrael. It is him."

    "But, we don''t have any memories of him, Dear," replied Mia in a serious tone. She further said, "For the sake of Claire, it is important for me to know his identity."

    Upon hearing her name, Azzy immediately asked her, "Do you know the whereabouts of Claire? Did something happen to her?"

    "First, prove yourself." Mia was stern in her reply.

    Azzy was familiar with her cold personality. Hence, he didn''t take it to his heart and said, "Well, since you don''t have any memories of me, then, I guess I will tell you a few things I know about you."

    "Go on¡­" Mia didn''t flinch a bit and continued to point the gun at Azzy. As the President of a nation who faced enough assassination attempts, she never let her guard down. If it wasn''t for her husband, she wouldn''t have even entered the office alone.

    Azzy didn''t know why she was being so wary but it isn''t his problem. Claire is important to him and if he had to prove himself to know her whereabouts, then, so be it.

    He then started with their first meet, "I saw you for the first time during the last week of combat training. Your team had a sparring session with Snivy and her team when she blasted your teammate too high in the air and you revealed your Oak Tree''s ability to extend its size and catch her."

    Mia went on a trip down memory lane. As the memory wasn''t that significant, she couldn''t remember it properly. However, she didn''t voice it out and gestured for him to continue.

    Realizing that it wasn''t enough for her to trust him, Azzy then spoke of a couple of things that only his teammates were aware of, "I was the one who advised you to pick up archery. Before the finals of the Champions League, your father took our team to Animus, which is an underground secret headquarters of Special Forces.

    And before the finals of the world league, we went there once again, except for Gideon. He joined us on the day of the finals."

    By the time he was finished, Mia already put her gun down but there was a look of hesitation in her eyes.

    She replied, "It''s true that not every person can know of these things but if you have any piece of information that can strongly prove your identity. It would be nice."

    "Damn, she was too cautious." Azzy thought for a bit and spoke, "It will be embarrassing for you if I say it aloud. So, can I say this in your ears instead?"

    "No need. There''s no stranger here. Not to mention, I don''t have anything to hide."

    As Mia insisted on letting him speak out aloud, believing that all of her secrets are known to the public, Azzy glanced at her husband and hesitated to voice it out. In the end, he let out a sigh, "just give me the damn paper and pen, Calder."

    Calder didn''t know what Azzy wanted to reveal, nevertheless, he complied with the latter''s request.

    Azzy then wrote something on the paper and handed it to Mia.

    Mia took the paper curiously and looked at it. Immediately, her ears turned red in embarrassment as she pointed the gun at Azzy once again with a shaking arm, "You ba*t**d. How the hell did you know that?"

    Azzy scratched his cheek as he answered, "Claire told me. She might have also told me that you didn''t attend classes for the next 3 days because of embarrassment."

    "What is it?" Calder couldn''t help but turn curious. Is it some past secret of his wife that he didn''t know?

    Putting down the gun, Mia revealed her secret as it happened a long time ago for her, "When I was in 6th grade, I went to the boys'' toilet as it was urgent. I didn''t get caught or anything but the toilet paper was actually over at that time. So, I used my underwear to wipe it off¡­ Ugh¡­ it was too embarrassing¡­"

    Mia covered her face, remembering her past, and she immediately scolded Azzy, "Damn you, Azrael. Can''t you just summon the black wolf and prove your identity? Your battles are recorded anyway."

    "Ah! That''s right." Azzy only realized it as she reminded him. He apologized right away, "Sorry about that."

    "Come out, Vajra"

    Summoning the black lightning wolf, he asked, "Anyway, now, you will believe that it was me, right? Or should I summon the undead too?"

    "Yeah, I believe you." Mia nodded as she stared at the celestial-grade Arcana, "After all, only Claire knows of the incident and she wouldn''t reveal my secrets to even a normal friend much less a stranger. Sorry for doubting you but it was necessary for me to confirm your identity. It concerns the job Claire gave to me, after all."

    "Job? What job?"

    <strong>Sometime later;</strong>

    Azzy was sitting alone inside a room with a laptop in front of him. A video was playing and he watched it intently with headphones over his ears so that only he gets to listen to the message Claire saved for him.

    An older Claire, who looks like she is in her 20s, narrated the things she experienced ever since his disappearance.

    "So, this is why I decided to leave for my ancestral homeland. I know that it is going to be tough for you, but for the sake of living together for thousands of years, a few dozen years of parting is worth it. Sorry for taking the decision without consulting.

    And I also hope that you won''t travel back to the time to convince me otherwise. It took a great deal for me to go through everything and get to the conclusion. I will be waiting for the day to reunite with you once again. Love you forever, Rael."

    The video ended but Azzy stayed on the spot for a long time, digesting the fact that his reunion with Claire won''t happen unless the latter becomes a Demigod.

    With Agatha being a Celestial grade spirit, and combined with the spiritual richness in the Silver City at Heaven, Azzy didn''t think it won''t be too long before she achieves it.

    So, in order to stay with her, he also needed to become Demigod too. Thankfully, Azzy knows that he does become one, although has no idea when he becomes one.

    Whatever the case, the matter with Claire was cleared, and he needs to deal with other matters like searching for his missing parents, reuniting with his foster uncle/adopted grandpa, returning to the clan, burying Barbara''s body at Crescent Clan''s graveyard, bringing justice to his dead master, and then, draw a plan for the future.

    ? Azzy left the room and went downstairs with the Pendrive in his pocket. At the lounge, Mia was waiting for him with Calder and her bodyguards, although at the moment, she was in the middle of a video call with her daughter.

    Upon seeing Azzy, she disconnected it and rose to her feet, "What did she say?" She asked anxiously. Despite holding the Pendrive for nearly a decade, she didn''t watch it once, staying true to her promise.

    Azzy replied, "She will return soon. Or I will bring her back for sure."

    Mia stared at him for a brief moment of time and nodded, "alright." She didn''t know what was on the file but she decided to trust him.

    "Before I leave, I want to visit my master. Can you tell me where my master and Ms. Sahara are resting?"

 Chapter 428 Grandpa, Im Home

    <strong>Public cemetery, Aclein city;</strong>

    While security personnel waited outside of the compound, Azzy, Mia, and Calder were standing in front of two graves built beside each other. Obviously, their expressions were sad.

    "There was really no clue of their murderers?" asked Azzy in a soft tone. His eyes are fixed on his master''s grave.

    Calder replied, "As I have said before, all we know is that they were after the Jewel of Life."

    "Yeah," Mia agreed with his statement. She further said, "The autopsy of their bodies showed that those bastards tortured Vice Principal Sahara for several days before slicing her veins, leaving her to die a slow death.

    On the other hand, Principal Barton was killed instantly with a stab to the heart though. It happened in Arcana world, so, we didn''t have any way to identify the murderer."

    Letting out a deep sigh, Azzy asked them to leave him alone for a while.

    As they left the cemetery, he sat down and stared at his master''s photo, "Aunt Affea died, Claire left me, you and Ms. Fauns were killed, mom and dad are missing, Barbara was killed by my hands, Louis also went missing, the academy was gone, and most surprisingly, Mia and Calder were married.

    I never expected to see this kind of future when I traveled back to my original timeline. Master, first, I will find the murderers and punish them. Then, I will go back in time and save you and Ms. Fauns. Until then, please don''t reincarnate, alright?"

    Azzy rose to his feet and then walked away without turning back to glance at the graves again.

    <strong>Sometime later, at Portal point;</strong>

    "Okay, Mia, Calder, we''ll meet again." "Take care, Azrael"

    Azzy gave a hug to both of them and parted ways with them, entering the portal point to teleport to the Central City at Arcana world.

    From there, he traveled to the City of Larnwick. It is a tier-1 city located in the far east of the Southern Qudour nation. His former native place, the town of Sliya was just 30 kilometers away from this city but he never visited it.

    During the first 8 and half years, he spent in the town. He was supposed to study in this city but his awakening of the Reaper as Arcana forced him to spend the next 4 years in the Death clan. The following two years were spent in Aclein. So, one can say that he''s basically new to this city.

    But then again, he wasn''t that concerned about it either. After all, he traveled to several cities. Traveling in this place is no big deal. Or so, Azzy expected when he teleported into its portal point.

    Never in the world did he expect the guards stationed there would ask for his identification documents as soon as he arrived.

    Azzy was taken aback at first as there was usually no checking at the portal points in the human world where there are CCTVs everywhere to capture one''s image. He found several kids and adults were detained on the side.

    Assuming that it is mandatory in the Southern Qudour, he took out his two identity cards. One of them is a school identity card. And the other is from WAMO.

    Since the Aclein city branch of Eternal institutions no longer existed, he showed his identity card from WAMO where his designation is registered as Cadet.

    The guard looked at the ID and furrowed his brows, "Born in 1980?"

    He pointed the gun at Azzy right away, "How dare you try and enter our country through fake ID?"

    "Eh?" Azzy didn''t understand what was going on. Did the Identity card design change during the past 27 years or something? he wondered.

    Meanwhile, the guard called his captain and handed him the ID.

    The captain, who is in the 5-star realm, observed the Identity card and commented, "It looks identical to the original."

    "Kid, stay aside with them until we confirm the authenticity and get some answers from you," said the captain before gesturing for the two guards to take him away.

    Azzy cannot explain the secret of his date of birth and decided to go on with that lie, "That ID is genuine, mister, and you can confirm my identity with the Presidential house of Northern Qudour."

    "You shouldn''t have said that, Azrael." The Reaper''s voice echoed in his head.

    As soon as the Reaper''s words ended, the captain also raised the gun and pointed at him, "Presidential House of Northern Qudour? Now, get on your knees and put your hands behind the back of your head. You need to come with us for questioning, right away. Any resistance will force us to take action."

    "What the hell is going on?" Azzy fell into confusion. Why was he being nabbed? He was aware that there is a problem between the North and the South but did the situation escalate into pure enmity or something?

    Had Azzy known that this tight security arrangement is because of the recent bombings in the capital city, he would have probably entered the city in disguise and then use the teleportation card to fly away to escape all this nonsense.

    Unfortunately, he didn''t understand the situation properly. But, at the same time, he didn''t plan on letting them do whatever they want just because of some misunderstandings either.

    Hence, Azzy felt that he was left with two choices. One is to leave the place without waiting for their permission. And the other is to simply force them to leave him alone by posing as an Exalt realm expert who didn''t age properly.

    Not wanting to put a brand on him as a spy or a criminal over some misunderstandings, Azzy decided to opt for the second route.

    <strong>"Decarune Seal, unlock"</strong>

    He unsealed his soul orb and then released his aura. As a 7-star realm Arcana Master, he knew that this captain or the other guards wouldn''t be able to move under the aura suppression.

    However, he didn''t know that the instant he released his aura, every person within a 1.5 km radius also suddenly felt enormous pressure and was forced to collapse on their knees. The captain and the guards in the surroundings were no different.

    "Argh¡­" The captain''s facial expression was completely changed from a moment ago. The fear paralyzed his whole body and he couldn''t even open his mouth to speak something.

    Retracting his aura, Azzy stared at him, "I don''t care what happened here and I don''t even want to care. I''m only here to visit a relative of mine. There''s nothing less or more to it. So, let me go in peace. You have my photo. You can report your higher-ups for the inquiry but don''t bother me at the moment. Now, are we clear?"

    The captain continued to kneel on the ground and nodded repeatedly.

    Azzy took the Identity card from the floor and used a random teleportation card to teleport five kilometers away.

    Once Azzy disappeared, the captain wiped off his sweat, "A true Exalt realm expert. I guess I was lucky to be alive..."

    Roughly about 30 minutes after Azzy''s disappearance, an old man appeared in the sky and stared down at the city where thousands of unconscious citizens were being transported to various hospitals. With a serious look on his face, he mumbled, "that dense aura, it was unlike anything I have felt until now."

    He then closed his eyes for a while and scanned the life forces of the collapsed citizens, "No lives were lost but he will have to pay for his irresponsible actions. He was probably captured by the CCTVs at the portal point. Once we get the picture, it will be easy to track him down."

    Soon, he disappeared.

    Meanwhile, Azzy was traveling toward the town of Sliya like a normal human in a taxi. On the way, he was reminiscing about his past.

    The person he was going to is not the same Oakley he lived together in the same house. Azzy was clear on that but it could be a little tough when faced with the reality. After all, he faced it with Mia and Calder.

    But then again, Oakley is different from them. He is someone who knows his past, like from childhood. So, he hoped he won''t be uncomfortable. Now the only thing he needed to worry is perhaps the reaction of his grandpa after learning the truth.

    Because of traffic on the highway, it took nearly two hours to reach the town. From there, he guided the driver to reach the destination, Oakley''s mansion.

    On the way, he didn''t forget to scan the city through Aura sensing and found the auras of his grandfather and the butler, Ethar Night.

    As soon as he got out of the taxi, Azzy hurriedly gave him a 1000-Kroc note (10k credits) and rushed into the compound without bothering to take the change.

    Entering the house, the first thing he witnessed is a middle-aged-looking Oakley Night having tea with Ethar.

    Both of them naturally sensed the appearance of an intruder when Azzy crossed the gate. However, by the time they turned their heads, Azzy was already standing at the entrance door.

    "Hmm? Who are you?" asked Ethar, furrowing his brows. He didn''t recognize Azzy but felt his 7-star soul realm. Hence, he couldn''t help but turn wary.

    Oakley narrowed his eyes to look at Azzy, feeling that he looks a lot familiar.

    It was then Azzy opened his mouth, "Grandpa, it''s me."

    "Az¡­ Azzy?" Oakley''s voice shook in surprise and he immediately rose to his feet. "Eh? Young master?" Ethar was also shocked by Azzy''s sudden appearance. It''s been six years since he has last seen him after all.

    Azzy sealed his soul orb and let out a smile, "I''m home."

 Chapter 429 It Was An Accident Time Travel

    ? "What happened to you? Where have you been for the past two years?" "I heard from Avia that you suddenly disappeared during your second awakening alongside Crescent clan''s Barbara." "Do you know worried I am?" "Why didn''t you return to see your grandpa?"

    "You were just a kid when you left the house. Now, look at you. You were all grown up" "But, why couldn''t I sense anything from you now? Just a while ago, I sensed the presence of an Exalt realm expert. There''s no way it can be you. Did I mistaken?"

    Oakley continuously spoke whatever came to his mind without letting Azzy talk for a while. As for Ethar, he silently observed the grandfather and grandson pair from the side.

    Azzy felt a bit strange as he had only seen him a while ago but he kept quiet and let him finish.

    Once he was done, Azzy responded with a question, not intending to hide the truth, "Grandpa, first take a deep breath. I''ll tell you everything but first answer me something. Do you remember your life from the Year 1994?"

    "Eh? 1994?" Oakley was taken aback by a weird question. "I do but why?" He didn''t understand what Azzy was trying to do.

    Azzy then summoned his storage card and took out a wooden box. There were names carved on it, Oakley-heart symbol-Snieca. It looked familiar to Oakley, "where did you get this?"

    "Aclein City," replied Azzy before handing it to him. "Open it and you will understand."

    Naturally, Azzy''s words didn''t make any sense to Oakley, nevertheless, he did as his grandson said and opened the box to find a pack of photos. Affea didn''t like to place them as albums and would like to see one after another. So, they were placed there.

    Remembering his wife, Oakley felt a bit sad and took the photos into his hand. The first photo was their wedding photo.

    "Grandpa, can you tell me the stories behind the photos, please?" Azzy placed a sudden request.

    "But, why?" Oakley couldn''t just understand Azzy''s thoughts. They were reunited after six years and Azzy was missing for the past two years. But, the first thing his grandson asks him to tell his love story?

    But then again, he was too happy to see his grandson once again, and he doesn''t want to disappoint him. Whatever Azzy asked, Oakley decided to do it.

    Letting out a sigh, he then explained to Azzy, "Your grandmother was a believer of Hercules. We married at the Temple of Hercules according to her wishes. Back then, we¡­"

    As he walked through a memory lane, Azzy patiently listened to him while maintaining a smile on his face, like this feeling of spending time with his original grandpa once again.

    Of course, Azzy liked the past Oakley too but he never attempted to get close to him so that the image of his grandpa from 2015 stays in his mind like that.

    And now that he was back, he felt like he was chatting with Oakley that he was familiar. Not to mention, there''s depression because of the deaths of Barton, Affea, and the missing Claire.

    Hence, listening to his grandpa''s stories made him happier.

    Just like that, a whole hour passed. The grandson and the grandfather had lost track of the time as the latter was telling the stories behind each photo and Azzy was learning new things that he failed to learn when he was with them.

    Soon, the story came to the mid-80s. "This is when my firstborn came into my life. Avia Night, I heard that she has taken you as her student?"

    "Well¡­" Azzy didn''t know what to say to that. At present, he was probably stronger than her and after spending with a child Avia, and treating her like his sister, it is tough for him to accept her as his master.

    In the end, he said, "She taught me the basics of body tempering."

    Oakley didn''t read into his words too much and continued.

    Sometime later, the photos from the 90s arrived. In the year 1991, Oakley and his family went on a trip to Snow city. He grinned as he said, "Your grandmother seriously beat me up with the paddle after Avia caught a cold. She didn''t let me in the house for two days as punishment." It''s not a good thing but every bit of those memories was precious to him now that he no longer has his family beside him.

    In the Year 1992, they went to a concert. Oakley bragged to Azzy how he got a picture with a global pop star, Eclipse.

    Azzy remembered her. She was the same singer who performed at the opening ceremony of the Champions League.

    However, he didn''t comment on it and let his grandpa continue to go to the next photo. He was waiting for the moment when Oakley gets shocked.

    And very soon, that moment arrived.

    Oakley was explaining about the night of January 8th, 1993.

    "I still remember that day. After the tour of Sea Park is finished, we went for a movie and were returning to our house late at night. It was then, all of a sudden, a boy appeared in front of our car and was hit, losing his consciousness. Later on, he started living with us, becoming a family member.

    It''s been a long time ago. So, I kinda forget him, although I remember his name. His girlfriend told us that our memories were erased by him in order to protect us from his enemies. I wonder what happened to that boy¡­ Sigh¡­ Anyway, if he is still alive, he will be doing great."

    "Then, didn''t you ever think of looking for him?" Azzy didn''t know what happened after he left the timeline. So, he was a bit curious. After all, Calder could remember him through the photos. Then, why not Affea and Oakley?

    If that''s the case, wouldn''t Oakley recognize him as the past Azzy as soon as he looked at him? Then, he would have directly asked him about the time travel. None of this happened. So, Azzy wanted to know whether they just decided to forget him altogether. If such is the case, then, he would be disappointed, although it wouldn''t change the nature of their relationship.

    Oakley then explained to Azzy, "We would have done it had we remembered our memories of him but we didn''t. Adding on top of this, Avia contracted a rare heart disease and Affea couldn''t cope with sudden losses, one after another. As a result, she had a heart stroke.

    No matter how strong she is as an Arcana Master, she was still 120 years old back then. It shows how fragile a human heart is. It took a while for her to return to her normal state and we decided to not bring Azrael''s name up ever again.

    Yeah, he shares the same name as you. In fact, your parents decided on your name because of him. He saved them from¡­"

    While continuing to talk about the past Azzy he didn''t remember, Oakley proceeded to flip to the next photo.

    "What!"

    All of a sudden, Oakley''s expression was frozen and his hands started shivering as he picked up the photo dated the year 1994 directly.

    In the picture, there was Affea, Oakley, and a 13-year-old Azzy celebrating Affea''s birthday. Avia was nowhere to be seen as she was still at the Death clan.

    He looked at the photo carefully and then at his grandson. "Azzy, this is¡­"

    "You asked me where am I for the past two years. Well, I''m there with you, Aunt Affea, little Avia, back in 1993 and 1994, Grandpa. It was an accident time travel."

 Chapter 430 Grandpa Oakleys Past

    ? "This is why we went to Dad and mom''s marriage" "My birthday photos" "This is Dad, mom, you, Aunt Affea, little Avia, and me" "My team" "And she''s¡­ Sigh¡­ my Claire. Mia told me that she returned to her dad''s hometown. I don''t know whether I will meet or not."

    "You remember, Gideon, right? My best friend¡­ He''s actually from the Crescent Clan. Before I went back in time, I only saw him once. But, who could have expected that I would meet him again and that too, in Aclein city?"

    Once Azzy revealed himself as the time traveler who spent with Oakley''s family in the past, he spoke of the things that he experienced back there. Of course, while leaving out some important things like the enmity with the Church of light, killing Barbara and her master, meeting his own future self, acquiring cosmic gems, etc¡­

    Oakley doesn''t even know how to react to all of this. It is already incredibly difficult for him to digest the fact that his grandson had traveled back in time and even lived them. The photograph evidence only made it worse as he couldn''t just remember Azzy''s face from the past timeline.

    For a second, he even wondered whether his grandson was trying to prank him or something but since he got to meet him after so many years, Oakley chose to trust Azzy''s words completely. After all, he was aware of the hourglass with the sands of time.

    After Azzy was done with his story, he then asked Oakley to tell him what happened in the family after his disappearance.

    Oakley explained his life.

    "On the day you disappeared, Avia fell ill. I think you know that.

    Everyone thought it was indigestion at first but when checked with the doctor, we found out that Avia had a rare heart disease known as Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy. Its usual symptoms will be shown in adults. We never saw it coming.

    The next six months were a hard thing for us. Affea got a heart stroke, Avia is ill, and our Clan''s Matriarch had only one way to cure her. It is to reconstruct her body once again.

    As a result, Avia had to separate from us.

    Seeing your grandmother, who was devastated by the loss of memories of you and Avia''s state, I had to do something. So, I convinced her to have another baby. I thought that she would be happy by showering love on our new baby and watching him/her grow up in absence of Avia.

    But, I didn''t expect a war to be broken out between the North and the South, triggered by a row of assassinations of the North''s important officials. I had a choice to make. Taking Affea out of the country and living somewhere else in peace or helping out the North as a healer.

    Your grandmother was kind. She made me choose the second option as a way of repaying the debt to the country that sheltered us for two decades.

    Thankfully, your mother is on Affea''s side. So, I and Vesyrn were able to go out there and help the wounded citizens and soldiers.

    The war went on for several weeks and Affea''s due was also getting near. When she''s on the 34th week, one day, your mother received a mission from the clan to nab a key member of the dark organization.

    Look, I don''t blame Izora for following the clan''s order. She informed me about it too. Since there is still time, we didn''t take the matter seriously. And as if the God of misfortune was waiting for the time to strike our lives, Affea had gone into labor. I was in a situation where I cannot return to her.

    She sure gave birth to Aspen but the doctors couldn''t save her life. I don''t know whether my presence would change anything but I couldn''t be with her when she took her last breath. Perhaps, that''s what changed me.

    Later on, the doctors told me that they told Affea that they can only save one life and she chose to save Aspen.

    But, that darkness inside me continued to eat me inside out.

    I blamed myself and Aspen for Affea''s death. I even blamed you, I mean, the past you for her death. In the end, I was addicted to alcohol and stopped paying attention to my kids who aren''t even proper teenagers to look after themselves. I even became an abusive father.

    I still remember that day. It was Aspen''s 4th birthday, but for me, it was my wife''s 4th anniversary. I didn''t celebrate his birthday for years and Avia thought that it is a better time for us to move on.

    However, I made a mess out of the event, clearly not interested in celebrations. I blamed Aspen and made him cry. Had Avia not caught my hand at the last second, I would have even slapped my son.

    I guess I really broke Avia''s heart. She told me that she had it enough and took away Aspen with her to the Death Clan.

    The foolish me went there to take back my children by force and was defeated naturally. The Matriarch sealed my power and exiled me from the clan as punishment.

    After that, our relationship changed permanently.

    To become a new person, I left Aclein city and settled down in this small town. To repent my actions, I decided to open the clinic and serve the innocent citizens of the country who I once went against in the war.

    It took me several years to get back to a normal person and the Night clan slowly unsealed a part of my soul orb.

    And 13 years ago, you came into my life, making me a grandfather, all of a sudden. At first, it was a duty that Lord Qridus gave me, but slowly, you became family to me.

    You know the rest."

    Maybe, it is because his proficiency in learning the Law of Neutrality has improved, Azzy neither felt pity for his grandfather nor did he feel angry. What''s important is that the present Oakley is a good man and he deserved another chance to prove himself.

    Does that mean that he is getting more mature or getting more emotionless? Only time will tell.

    Anyway, after digesting all the information from his grandpa''s story, he responded with a simple yet complex series of questions, "What about my parents? I heard that they died in the Forest of Death. When did it happen? Why did they even try to go to such a dangerous place when they aren''t strong enough to survive in a level-5 region?"

    If it was a couple of years ago, he would have used some excuses but seeing that his grandson is in Exalt realm, Oakley wondered if he should take a chance and answered, "They didn''t die, Azzy. Everyone lied to you on Lord Qridus'' orders."

    Azzy was promised by his future self that he would see his parents in the original timeline. So, he was confident that they didn''t die and probably has a complicated story to it. But, all of that actually doesn''t matter at all. As long as he can meet them, then, the past doesn''t matter. He can forgive them and give them a second chance even if they abandoned him due to circumstances.

    "What is it?" He urged his grandpa for the truth, intending to face the truth.

    Taking a deep breath, Oakley then said, "In simpler terms, I should say that they are in a coma, but the situation is far more complex than that. I''m not an expert in sealing techniques. So, I''ll try my best to speak in common terms. You see¡­ their souls are trapped in their mindscape while their soul orbs are completely sealed. This mystical seal was placed in such a way that their mindscapes and soul orbs were linked together.

    As a result, we cannot destroy the soul orb and forcefully bring them back from their respective mindscapes. If we do that, their souls will also perish. It has been thirteen years and even Lord Qridus hasn''t found a solution to save them."

    Azzy was slightly surprised by the information but not depressed. He quickly contacted the Reaper to check whether the latter can save them.

    And thankfully, the Reaper gave him the good news, "You already know a way to save them. The Gluttony seal can eat up any kind of seal from the body."

    "Ah, that''s right." Azzy''s heartbeat spiked up a bit and he tried his best to show calmness as he further enquired about the matter with Oakley, "As long as they were alive, we can always find a solution, grandpa. Can you tell me how and when it happened?"

    Azzy''s calmness took Oakley by surprise but then, his words clicked something else in his mind. The latter asked, "Do you plan on traveling to the past to save your parents?"

    Even though it is his grandpa with whom he shared his secret of time travel, Azzy, for some reason, held back himself to not reveal everything. But, at the same time, he doesn''t want to lie either.

    Hence, he shook his head and answered, "That was an accidental time travel. I don''t know how to travel on my own. Maybe, in the future when I can do that, I will probably save them if a solution wasn''t found. But, I would rather not do that unless it is necessary because a change in the past will bring a lot of changes in the future."

    Oakley sighed in relief upon hearing his response. He might not know the secrets of time travel but he does know that time is mysterious. He was worried that his grandson would irresponsibly use his power and get into trouble. The last user of the hourglass did some terrible things and had to be killed by his own brother (Qridus).

    "I guess I did the right thing, after all." Oakley felt like his mind was at ease.

 Chapter 431 There Is A New Clan Heir?

    Azzy''s answer satisfied his grandpa and the latter continued to explain the story behind the misfortune of Vesryn and Izora.

    "I don''t know the exact details as I didn''t contact any of my acquaintances after I returned here.

    But, according to what Ethar gathered information from the Night clan, they were ambushed by the assassins sent by Mystic. The member who was captured by your mother during the North and South war belongs to the same organization.

    Perhaps, it is out of revenge or for another reason, but whatever the case, there were a series of assassination attempts on our clan members.

    Our Night clan''s Matriarch, Pandora Night was assassinated along with a few other important members who were in the outside world for their respective missions. There were losses from the Crescent Clan, Smoke Clan, and Silver Clan too.

    It turned out that an elder of the crescent clan turned out to be working as a mole for the Mystic. That bas*ard killed himself and it took more than six years to uproot the entire organization from existence.

    Anyways, if you want to visit your parents, you have to ask Lord Qridus for help. Only he knows where they were kept."

    Since the perpetrators were killed, there''s no reason for Azzy to look into the matter anymore. At least, that''s what he thought and said, "Once we return to the clan, I will ask the monarch."

    "We?" Oakley was visibly surprised.

    Azzy looked at him, "of course, it''s us. Don''t you want to return to the clan?"

    "Azzy, I can''t return to the clan." Oakley reminded him that his banishment from the clan hasn''t been removed yet. He added, "It''s because of your awakening that Lord Qridus lifted the seal on my soul orb, letting me gain my peak strength. There''s a reason I have never visited you during your stay at the clan."

    "I know," Azzy remembered it but he didn''t care. In the past, he requested his great-great-great grandfather to lift the banishment from Oakley once. So, he was confident about doing it again. But, as he doesn''t want to bring up the past, Azzy replied, "I''m the heir to the clan. Surely, the monarch will be able to do that much for me."

    "Well, actually, you are no longer the heir." Oakley dropped a nuke on him, all of a sudden. "Someone else was already chosen."

    "Eh?" Azzy was naturally taken aback. "But, it has only been 2 years."

    Oakley then explained the past events that transpired in the clan. After his mysterious disappearance, Qridus has mobilized almost every expert in the clan to search every nook and corner of both of the worlds (Gaia and Arcana world).

    However, after they failed to find him for a whole year, everyone concluded that Azzy didn''t teleport away but was probably erased from existence because of the second awakening.

    The reason they conclude that way is the existence of such similar situations in the past. According to the data gathered by WAMO, for every 1000 Arcana Masters, one could die in the process of awakening, although there hasn''t been any report of just being erased.

    Everyone in the arena also witnessed the mysterious energy shot from Azzy and struck Barbara before their disappearance.

    And now, since Barbara also couldn''t be found out and Qridus cannot prove to the elders that Azzy is alive, he was forced to announce the tournament of the heirs where all the eligible descendants can participate.

    "So, who is it?" asked Azzy, wondering whether it might be Gredor Crescent, the son of his maternal granduncle (Kylan Crescent) and the next leader of the Crescent clan.

    But, to his surprise, Oakley gave another name, "It''s someone named Velez Garcia. He is the second prince of Freyles nation."

    "Velez?" Azzy went down into memory lane and remembered Velez''s victory against Leah in the junior world league. "I know who he is, grandpa. I defeated him in the junior world league, although in a team battle. After returning to the clan, I will challenge him and get back my position."

    "Ah! That''s right. Team Twilight won against those kids from the Abel Tower back then." Oakley also remembered it as his grandson reminded him. He then added, "But, the one you fought is different from the one in the present. Avia must have taught you the rules of the clan, right?"

    Azzy waved his hands in an uncaring manner, "It doesn''t matter."

    There''s an ancient rule in the clan that in a case where a new clan heir is appointed, the former clan heirs of any generation can challenge him to a battle at any time to reclaim the position whether he was been exiled, dismissed, or voluntarily stepped down in the past.

    However, there are conditions attached to it.

    The first is that it required approval from the majority of the pavilion masters/elders (min: 4 out of 7).

    If the first condition isn''t fulfilled, then, the former clan heir can take permission from the Monarch of the Death Clan. In this case, it is Qridus Garcia.

    Secondly, the current clan heir must accept it. Only then, the challenge will become valid. If the current clan heir has no intentions to battle, then, it is useless. Thankfully, no one in the right mind would do that unless in dire circumstances as it would give a message to the other clan members that the current clan heir is a coward.

    Thirdly, a former clan heir can only challenge once against the current clan heir. If they fail, then, they can only wait until a new heir was appointed.

    And finally, the challenger cannot kill the new clan heir even on accident while the latter can try to kill the former.

    In a way, the conditions are completely favorable to the clan heir but those were the traditions followed for a hundred thousand years.

    Azzy wasn''t worried about those conditions as he was extremely confident in defeating Velez, who was once knocked by a single punch in the finals.

    However, his grandpa Oakley couldn''t help but worry. After all, Azzy just returned home. He would rather stay far away from him knowing that he is alive rather than letting him risk his life.

    Oakley tried to convince Azzy, "just think about it once again. The last time I know, he is only one step away from the legendary realm. I also heard that he not only possessed the Death energy like you but also went through so many life and death battles."

    However, Azzy didn''t see Velez as a threat. With the undead skeletons of Cardinal Ophanim (peak-rank-8) and Guardian Vangelis (peak-rank-9), he doesn''t fear anyone except for the clan leader and that mysterious grave keeper.

    He replied, "Just trust me on this, grandpa. Or you just inform Avia and tell her to visit the house. She can evaluate my current strength personally before reporting to the clan."

    "Well, if you say so¡­"

    Since his grandson is too stubborn about his decision, what can Oakley do? He only hoped that his daughter will convince him.

    After some time, he asked Ethar to contact Avia and inform her about Azzy.

    Meanwhile, at the pocket world located in the Northern Qudour, a middle-aged-looking fellow in a floral patterned shirt, a hat, shades, and shorts, entered a chamber filled with futuristic tech. It''s as if he was at some beach, not at a research facility.

    "Dr. Mac, I''m here. What is this important thing that you wanted to tell me?" The Supreme realm expert (low-rank-9) asked her.

    The woman, who doesn''t look like she belongs to the mainland, responded by pointing at the empty seat before her, "Please, sit down first, Commander Aegis."

    As Aegis Light, the commander of the special forces of the Northern Qudour sat down, Dr. Mac opened a file on the giant computer screen. It belonged to Azzy, whose image was captured by CCTVs at the Portal point.

    "Azrael, or should I say, Azrael Garcia¡­ He''s spotted at Larnwick, a tier-1 city at Southern Qudour," She said.

    Aegis furrowed his brows as he stared at the picture, "He didn''t change a bit in 27 years. I guess your suspicions are right. He is the time traveler."

    Dr. Mac wanted to say that it wasn''t her suspicions and she had evidence to prove her point. But, she swallowed those words down her throat and calmly said, "I need your authorization to reactive Aria, once again. She is supposed to be his guardian, after all."

    Aegis thought for a bit and finally asked her, "are you sure you want to pin your hopes on the kid? We only have 80-90 years until a full-scale invasion reaches the planet."

    "Yes, I believe he''s the key to completing my research on anti-matter weapon technology. And without that technology, we don''t have any chance against the Arcturian Empire (United Federation of Arcturian)." Dr. Mac nodded firmly.

 Chapter 432 Avia And Velez

    <strong>Disciplinary Hall, Death clan village;</strong>

    In the courtroom of the disciplinary hall, a man was kneeling down before the high table where the judge is reading a document.

    "Lady Night, I never intended to kill him. Claus was two-timing with two innocent ladies and I wanted to teach him a lesson. It was an accident." The man was pleasing for mercy while defending his actions.

    The judge at the high table, Avia Night, didn''t appear to be convinced. Looking at the document in her hands, she spoke, "Mr. Stanzler, according to our investigation reports, neither the ladies nor the victim seemed to have any kind of relationship with you. It indicates that you are either stalking one or both of the ladies or you have some personal feud with the victim that we are unaware of.

    Whatever the case, you don''t have the right to interfere in their lives, and, therefore, you don''t possess any grounds to ask for mercy. Finding you guilty of the murder of a civilian named Garfield, I hereby sentence 114 years of imprisonment. In the meantime, your family, relatives, or friends can submit any relevant evidence that proves that you aren''t completely guilty or mercy petition from the victim''s family to reduce your sentence."

    *Tap*

    She slammed down the hammer and made the final judgment.

    "No¡­ no¡­ no¡­" The man was dragged away by two guards and Avia flipped the document for the next hearing.

    And just as she was about to call the guards to bring in the next criminal who is a part of the Death Clan, a handsome young man in his forties, although looks like he is in his mid-twenties, entered the courtroom and everyone around got up onto their feet in respect.

    Avia raised her eyebrows as she saw him. She didn''t stand up and spoke coldly as if she doesn''t welcome him, "what are you doing here, Prince Garcia?"

    Velez Garcia is the second prince of the royal family of the Freyles nation and he is also the current clan heir. But, Avia usually addresses him with the former identity rather than the current one.

    Velez didn''t appear to mind her tone and just smiled in response, "I must say that you look quite beautiful in that seat, Avia."

    "And you looked like an idiot, trying to interrupt my work, Prince Garcia," replied Avia without wasting any time. Displeasure is clearly written on her face.

    Contrary to his image in the clan, he continued to ignore her rude behavior and acted nicely, "C''mon, it''s not like you have hundreds of convicts waiting for the judgment. The work can be done tomorrow. Anyway, I''m here to pick you up. We are going to be late for dinner."

    "I never said that I was going to come for the dinner with your family." Avia hit back at him in her usual cold tone. She further threatened him, "Now, if you leave, I will have to get back to the work. Or else, it will be treated as if you don''t respect the judgment hall and a formal case will be filed against you for trying to misuse your authority as the temporary clan heir."

    Velez silently stared at her, narrowing his eyes. Avia stared back at him unblinkingly.

    After twenty seconds of staring contest, Velez said, "Alright, I''ll wait at the Merits hall. Meet me once you were done with this."

    Avia didn''t reply to him and Velez turned around to leave the place.

    There were guards and other few high-level officials in the judgment hall, and everyone just stayed in silence and stood in their spots like statues. It was a familiar scene they have been watching for several months and everybody got used to it.

    Roughly about half an hour later, Avia left the judgment hall and started moving toward the Night Clan compound.

    On the way, outside of the park where there are no people around, she saw Velez sitting on a bench in silence. He had two cans of beer.

    Avia let out a sigh and walked toward him. "I thought you were waiting for me at the Merits Hall." She said as she sat beside him and took one of the beer cans.

    Velez shrugged his shoulders, "I figured that you won''t come to the Merits Hall either way. So, I had to cut your way like this."

    Taking a sip of beer, Avia then asked in her usual cold tone, "So, what is it that you want to talk about? Don''t tell me that you are still persistent about the dinner with your family."

    "Well, I had to try," replied Velez with a smile on his face. He then spoke of his objective, "Today, I got a marriage proposal. My parents gave me an ultimatum to either back together with you or marry the daughter of Azure Electric''s Chairman."

    "Congratulations. You have my wishes," replied Avia as she got up from the bench immediately in order to leave.

    But, Velez caught her arm, "C''mon, listen to me for a second, will you?"

    As she sat down, he further said, "Look, Avia. I really think you should stop worrying about that dead kid and focus on your life. Six years ago, when Lord Qridus announced Vesyrn''s son as the heir, you broke up with me, saying that we can''t be together unless I become the clan heir; all because of those stupid rules of your Night clan.

    Now, it has been over six months since I ascended to the position. I have no competitors anymore. Four clans are directly supporting me. And once I break through to rank 8, then, my position will be cemented completely. Why don''t you think about getting back together with me?"

    "I think we have already talked about this longtime ago." Avia didn''t appear to be moved by his words. She continued, "I don''t think you are that much of a fool to not even realize that the monarch only announced the Clan tournament as a temporary measure.

    You have legitimately won the tournament and became the clan heir but the illusion will disappear once Young Master Azrael returns."

    Velez took a deep breath to not show how annoyed he was. He then stated, "He is dead, Avia. And if he survived that awakening and teleport to somewhere far away, he doesn''t have a chance against me. By the time he grew strong enough to challenge me, I will be already sitting on the throne."

    "You don''t understand." Avia shook her head, not convinced by his words. She explained, "The monarch clearly believes that Azrael is the reincarnation of the founder. During the second awakening, everyone saw Azrael awakened the lightning sphere of Aelius Crescent.

    Your strength doesn''t matter here. Once he returns, all the pavilion masters will turn against you. I highly doubt if there''s a clan leader who will support you. And if you can''t become a clan leader, then, following the traditions of the Night clan, I can only marry a person whose bloodline quality is far less than mine.

    Only this way, my Night Clan''s bloodline can be preserved in my future generations and I would be able to repay my debt to the clan, which gave home to me and my brother.

    So, I ask you once again to not bother me ever again."

    Her tone might be cold as she explained the situation to him but she couldn''t stop the tear glands to produce tears. However, she didn''t let him see her and looked away before evaporating them with soul energy.

    Meanwhile, the clueless Velez, who was treating this conversation as some sort of argument, didn''t back down either. "If that''s the case, then I will make sure to enter the Supreme Realm. For thousands of years, the clan has had only one 9-star realm expert, and if I become the second, then, nobody would be able to force me down. Not even Lord Qridus."

    Avia clenched her fist and released it. After doing this for a few rounds, she calmed herself and replied, "You don''t know Azrael at all. His potential is something no one in the clan can match. Ever seen an 8-year-old kid with almost little to no soul power walk up that stairway to the violet pavilion? When he first arrived here and Lord Qridus assigned his training to me, I made him climb it in the name of body tempering all so that he runaway back to his home.

    He persisted.

    To hamper his growth, I made him climb the stairs for nearly three whole years and another year at the violet pavilion. He was only at 3-star realm at the age of 12 but his death scythe could destroy a rank-7 skill of Evelyn. The most troubling part is his Hourglass, which can even reverse the time.

    So, Supreme Realm isn''t that big deal. If you want to defeat him, then, you should become a demigod. But, can you? Tell me."

    Velez stayed silent. He cannot answer that. There''s a vast difference between the Supreme realm and the Demigod realm. According to what he learned so far, only one demigod currently existed in the world and he is the one who organizes the meetings between the hidden clans.

    He had an excellent track record in the Abel Tower and people hailed him as once in a millennium genius. But, he was defeated in the World League finals with just one shot by a person named Azrael.

    Velez didn''t remember Azzy''s face like everyone else but he doesn''t know how the young Azzy looked either. For him, they are obviously people with the same name, and he hates both of them with passion. After all, one stopped him from attaining glory and the other forced his lover to break up with him.

    Little did he know that in just 12 hours, his path toward greatness will be once again get blocked by the same person.

 Chapter 433 Choose Your Execution: Would You Like To Be Stabbed Or Would You Like To Get Whipped?

    "I''m home."

    Avia returned to the place she was currently living with her younger brother in the Night Clan compound. The house was rather silent, possibly Aspen is sleeping, thought Avia as she closed the door.

    But, just as she exited the foyer and entered the living room, her footsteps halted and her eyes widened in shock.

    There was a young man lying on the floor with his body dyed in blood.

    "Aspen!"

    Avia rushed forward immediately and grabbed him. She immediately took out a 7-star healing card and applied it to Aspen''s body. However, strangely, it did nothing to the injuries. The fresh blood stayed and she could smell it from up close.

    "Why isn''t just working?" Avia panicked and she put her ear to his chest. As she feared, there was no heartbeat. Tears formed in her cold-looking eyes and just as they were about to stream down her cheek, a voice was heard, "fooled you, sister."

    "Eh?" Avia looked at the body with her fat tears blurring her vision. Aspen suddenly opened his eyes and then sat on the floor, looking at the corner of the room, "And as you can see, my prediction is correct. My sister first would use a healing card and only then check my heartbeat. This is how I successfully pranked my¡­"

    He suddenly stopped talking and became as stiff as a wall, feeling a powerful aura behind him. The pressure was quite high. If not for his 6-star realm, he would have been suffocated but for now, he couldn''t get up on his feet.

    Aspen turned his head to look at Avia, who appeared to be very angry. "Umm¡­ sis?"

    "How about you die for real?" Avia raised her hand to summon a dagger in her left hand and a whip in her right hand. "Choose your execution. Would you like to be stabbed or would you like to get whipped?"

    "Ummm¡­ how about fists?" Aspen played along and said in an unsure manner.

    Avia quickly dismissed her Arcana and cracked her knuckles, "good choice."

    The devilish smile on her face made Aspen gulp in fear.

    "Ahhh¡­." "That''s just a harmless prank for Vispen (A popular video-sharing website)" "I don''t do it again, ahhh. That hurts" "I''m sorry"

    For the next five minutes, his screams could be heard all across the street and no one bothered to take a look, knowing that this 27-year-old surely have angered his sister with another prank.

    After a thorough beating, Aspen had bruises and handprints all over his body, which were healed right away as she used a healing card.

    Forcing him to kneel on the floor, Avia let out a deep sigh and said in a soft tone, "Don''t do such acts, okay? All I have is you. If something happens to you, what would I answer to mom?"

    As Aspen apologized to her once again, Avia asked him about the dinner. To which, he spoke with a smile, "today''s special is the Kuru clan''s indigenous dishes. Tandoori chicken, Garlic naan, butter chicken, palak paneer, and frozen yogurt."

    "Okay, that''s cool but did you order from outside?" Avia''s mood became a little bit better as she liked these exotic dishes that aren''t usually available in the outside world.

    Aspen shrugged his shoulders, "naturally. Do you think I can make those things?"

    "Well, thank god that you haven''t attempted it." Avia sighed in relief and further added a harmless insult, "the last you tried to make those things called potato parathas, ugh¡­ you burnt them completely and the potato had some strange spices that made it so bitter¡­"

    "Ugh¡­ you don''t need to remind me, sis." Aspen doesn''t want to remember the day after his last year''s birthday, which turned into his nightmare. He had a crush on this girl from the Kuru clan, one of the nine hidden clans. She looks very beautiful, although not blessed with talent.

    Being friends with her friend, who belongs to the main branch of the Kuru clan, Aspen invited her for his birthday and tried to impress her with his cooking on the following day only to make her and other clan members feel like he was mocking their food culture and blew out his chance.

    Anyways, back to the present, the brother and sister were having dinner while talking about how their day went along with other things. Avia was just about to go to the main course but a sudden message from Ethar Night gave her another shock of the day, even bigger than the one she experienced earlier.

    "Aspen, something came up. I need to leave right now and might return late. You enjoy the dinner."

    Not intending to take the matter as a joke, she left the house alone in hurry, leaving behind the clueless Aspen to wonder, "Was she summoned for an emergency mission or something?"

    He then looked at the dishes on the table and groaned, "Ugh¡­ I cannot eat all of this food. What should I do with this?" After brief thinking, an idea popped up in his head and he let out a grin, "Hmm¡­ that''s right. If she doesn''t return, it means that I will be alone for the night. Should I put these dishes in a storage card and call for the gang to have a party until dawn? Not a bad idea¡­"

    ***

    The town of Sliya, Southern Qudour;

    "Here, you do like this¡­ See¡­ how convenient the world has become?" The 64-year-old Oakley was teaching a young Azzy how to operate a touch screen smartphone and tablet.

    Azzy was familiar with those devices but he never operated as whatever cartoons he wanted when he was a child, he would have been able to watch on television. Not to mention, 2021''s smartphones were quite advanced compared to the 2015 models that he was familiar with. Adding on top of that, there are various devices that he never even touched in his life.

    Azzy could only be amazed by the rate technology was developing. Neal''s flying car was supposed to be a technological wonder in 1993, but now, there were even flying taxis in top-tier cities. "The population boom really has changed the world. It''s not even 30 years¡­" He concluded by letting out a deep sigh, not knowing whether it is a good thing or a bad thing.

    Oakley agreed with his statement, "Yeah, back in the 90s, we thought 3 billion was too many people, but now, it is 5.28 billion and still growing. In the new generation, 24 out of every 1000 kids are awakened when it used to be 0.98 out of 1000. The quality, on the other hand, dropped.

    Do you remember the guy who tested you? After we returned home, he called me and told me that you were a genius, awakening a purple grade Arcana. Had he known that it is a platinum grade, he might have fainted." He let out a grin, imagining the situation.

    Azzy silently shook his head with a smile. He knows that his grandpa wasn''t aware of the real truth of his Arcana and he thought it is better to keep it that way. Some things should be revealed to the family but some are better to keep a secret.

 Chapter 434 Lets Spar A Bit

    Azzy continued to immerse himself in trying out the apps and games while waiting for the arrival of Avia.

    Roughly thirty minutes later, Avia finally reached the entrance of the gate. At first, she hesitated to enter, wondering whether it is a cheap ploy created by her father in order to see her.

    Adding on top of this, when she tried to sense the presence of Azzy, she couldn''t find him.

    Of course, she isn''t Azzy. She cannot see the aura of a human being from far away. Only Azzy can do that.

    What Avia was depending was on her logic. It hasn''t been even 2 years since Azzy''s disappearance. Hence, in her opinion, he must not have gotten much stronger.

    He must be in either 4-star or at best in the 5-star realm. That''s what she thought but she couldn''t sense any Arcana Master in that realm.

    Hence, her suspicion got stronger.

    But then again, she cannot miss the opportunity of finding the truth. The return of Azzy is nothing but a piece of bad news for her. After all, it would mean that her ex-lover loses the opportunity to become the clan head. So, she was hoping to be fooled by her father and Ethar.

    Unfortunately for her, fate hasn''t been that kind.

    Taking a deep breath, as she entered the compound, walked toward the house, and entered the living room, her eyes spotted the boy who was playing a martial arts fighting game on the smartphone. Oakley was having headphones over his ears and he was watching something on the tablet and Ethar was arranging the dishes on the dining table.

    "Young Master Garcia?" She spoke out loud, earning the attention of Azzy right away.

    Azzy got up on his feet with a smile, "It''s been a while. Nice to see you again, Avia."

    Until two years ago, he used to address her as Master. So, when he spoke her name directly, Avia got an inkling that something changed with this disciple of hers.

    The biggest surprise to her is that she couldn''t sense anything from him. It is as if he was a normal human. "What happened to your soul energy? Are you really Azrael Garcia?" She furrowed her brows, wondering whether her father is playing a joke on him. She was also seeing Azzy smile for the first time. It was also suspicious.

    Meanwhile, Oakley also realized that his daughter is in the room and his face glowed in happiness before it died down because of her expression. "What happened?"

    "It''s nothing, grandpa. She was confused why she couldn''t sense my soul realm," replied Azzy as he waved his hand. He then looked at Avia, "It''s a technique I learned from someone. I can erase my soul power at any given time I want. As for my identity proof, I think you will recognize these two."

    Azzy unsealed one chain, increasing his soul power to 10 in number before proceeding to summon the Death Scythe and the hourglass to prove to Avia that he is Azrael Garcia, not an imposter.

    As he dismissed the weapons of the Reaper, Avia wiped off that disappointed look on her face and went on one knee, bowing to him formally, "Welcome back, Young master."

    "No need for formalities. Be at ease, Avia."

    Azzy handled it like a clan heir rather than a friend or sibling as he was about to do something that will make her angry. But, it is a question of priorities and he had to choose his grandpa who raised him.

    Obviously, Avia felt the personality change as well as unapproachability from the teenager and she couldn''t help but be curious about what happened in the past two years.

    Azzy didn''t reveal to her like he did with his grandpa and he just gave her a vague reason that he was lost in the wild. He didn''t explain her anything and Oakley understood that he wanted to keep the time traveling, a secret. The exiled heir of the Night clan then diverted the topic to dinner.

    He asked her whether she had dinner. To which, she lied that she did.

    Azzy believed her and went to the dining table while asking Avia to accompany them. She sat down and was served coffee as per her request while the others were eating. This way, Avia suppressed her feelings of hunger and appetite.

    Once the dinner was finished, Azzy then came to the real topic. And without any surprise, Avia objected to it. "I''m sorry but he cannot return to the clan. He was being forgiven by the clan but his suspension wasn''t removed."

    Azzy didn''t take no for an answer either. He directly said to her, "Then, he won''t come to the clan as Avia Night and Aspen Night''s father but as the adopted grandpa of Azrael Garcia. I will talk to the monarch and grandpa will live with me at the palace. The Night clan won''t have a problem with him."

    Just as Azzy expected, Avia furrowed her brows in displeasure. There was a lot going on in her mind and she couldn''t express it to the teenager who returned as a fellow who can argue in return and not follow others'' words blindly.

    In the end, she nodded with great difficulty, "Lord Qridus has the ultimate authority in the clan. He can lift the suspension from anyone. If you have his permission, then, I have nothing there to speak."

    "Good." Azzy nodded with a smile. "We''ll return early in the morning. There was no need for a helicopter or vehicle like last time. We can go to Freyles through portal points and we can go on a flying card from the nearest one to the clan''s location."

    "I understand." Avia agreed unwillingly.

    Oakley wanted to say something in the matter so that his daughter won''t be displeased, but to date, he never said no to his beloved grandson''s wishes. Not to mention, he would be able to see his family members more often if he will stay at the clan. Hence he stayed silent and became a spectator.

    After a brief amount of silence, Avia then spoke, "I wonder if you know the situation in the clan."

    "Yeah, I know." Azzy nodded in response and then said, "Don''t need to worry. That Velez won''t stay as clan heir for too long anyway. The position will return to its rightful owner by legitimate means."

    "You want to challenge him?" Avia was taken aback upon understanding the hidden meaning. She added, "He is almost at the doorstep of the legendary realm, you know. At present, only four people in the clan have the ability to defeat him. No one in the right mind would give their approval for your challenge."

    Azzy let out a mysterious smile and responded with a challenge instead, "How about we do this? At the dawn, let us spar for a bit. Perhaps, you will grow a little bit of confidence in me."

    Avia didn''t know whether her former disciple wanted to show off his two years of training or whether he was really serious about taking on Velez, but at the very least, she knew that would be able to understand how long Azzy will take in order to surpass Velez.

    She agreed to it, "Alright."

 Chapter 435 Avias Spar Against Azzy

    The night passed away with everyone but Avia sleeping comfortably in their respective rooms.

    At around 6 o''clock in the morning, when it is still dawn outside but has enough light for people to go to their work, Azzy was sleeping peacefully in his room.

    *Knock* knock* knock*

    The knocks on the door disturbed his sleep and he was forced to wake up. As he opened the door, Avia was standing outside.

    Letting out a yawn, Azzy greeted her, "morning."

    "Young master, we are getting late. Everyone must be waiting for us," replied Avia in her usual tone.

    Without opening his eyes completely, Azzy then said, "No need to worry. You can just use an excuse that there is a long line at the portal points."

    "But, we have yet to finish the spar either." Avia reminded him about the challenge he spoke about, during the last evening. She was curious about his strength in order to estimate his growth rate. So, she doesn''t want to skip this.

    Azzy stretched his body casually as he spoke, "For a high-rank-7 expert like you, it shouldn''t take long to analyze my strength anyway."

    "Eh?" A trace of surprise appeared on her usual stoic-looking face. "How do you know that?"

    She had a minor breakthrough a while ago but continued to suppress her strength to mid-rank-7 and didn''t tell anyone about it. Clearly, it is impossible in her eyes that Azzy could become a Supreme realm expert. So, she wondered how he knows.

    In response, Azzy continued to speak casually as if it is not a matter of concern, "I have developed a wide variety of skills. Anyway, let''s go to the courtyard and be done with it."

    Azzy spent a lot more time with her older self compared to her younger self. Hence, he was comfortable with her. However, it wasn''t the same case for Avia. In her eyes, Azzy''s behavior changed a lot.

    And as if that wasn''t enough, as the both of them went downstairs, Oakley, who was waiting for them, asked Azzy to go easy on her. What''s more, Azzy even nodded to it.

    Avia didn''t know how to react to it. But, at the very least, he knew the characteristics of the Death Energy and she wouldn''t underestimate him too much.

    Soon, Azzy and Avia were standing a few meters away, facing each other while Oakley had a look of worry on his face.

    Oakley then spoke, "Okay, if both of you are ready, we will start in 3, 2, 1¡­ go."

    However, neither of them moved from their spot, staring at each other. "hmm? What happened? Attack," said Avia.

    Azzy answered without bothering to go into any battle stance, "First, you can test my defense, Avia. We can go to offense, next. You win if I fall down." He didn''t remove the seal on his soul orb and intended to battle with pure strength.

    Avia nodded and charged forward. Since she wasn''t battling him but testing his strength, she suppressed her soul realm to rank 4. But then again, they were standing apart for only ten meters. Even in such a state, she only needed a second to cover the distance.

    Upon reaching him, she threw a fist at his abdomen. However, before she hit the spot, Azzy''s arm blocked it. Within that contact, she felt the toughness of his skin. It was as if she had punched a wall. She continued her attacks, this time, including another fist.

    She launched about 12 attacks within a few seconds but all of them are blocked by his left arm while Azzy hasn''t moved an inch from his spot. At the same time, Avia is starting to feel subtle pain in her wrist.

    As she jumped back and stared at him, Azzy commented, "Too weak."

    Avia raised her soul realm to 5-star and attacked him the same. The result isn''t that different. No matter from which direction she attacked him, he calmly blocked it with his arm. And some attacks from the blindspot managed to hit him but couldn''t move him from his spot. It is as if he glued his foot onto the floor.

    ? Adding on top of that, his tough body only caused her more pain in her arms and legs.

    "Too weak." He commented again, hurting Avia''s ego a little bit.

    She raised her strength to rank 6 and attacked once again in seriousness. She no longer tried to test him but intended to defeat him. Alas, the result was exactly the same.

    "Not strong enough," Azzy commented once again, forcing Avia to stop suppressing her strength and attack him in full strength. She was furious in her heart and wanted to beat up the kid standing before her. At that moment, Avia didn''t even think about the logic of Azzy''s displayed strength that far surpassed her imagination.

    She turned into a blurry figure in Oakley''s eyes and then threw a powerful punch in Azzy''s chest. When it was blocked, she poured soul energy into her fist, increasing its might.

    This time, he didn''t block it. Instead, he perfectly caught her fist with his same left arm and finally stepped forward a bit, giving a knee strike in her stomach.

    With her arm tightly grabbed by Azzy, she just fly vertically into mid-air before falling near his feet as he freed her. Oakley knew that his daughter will be defeated but watching it in person is really different from the imagination. He was stupefied like a rock.

    As Avia has a stunned look on her face, Azzy calmly stepped back and looked at the woman who trained him when he was a kid, "Now, you must understand the reason behind my confidence, right? If you didn''t, then, we can proceed with the offense test where I will start attacking."

    "No need." Avia closed her eyes and let her arm slide over her face, covering it in shame, "I admit defeat. Young Master, tell me one thing. What realm you are in?"

    "The same as you, 7-star," replied Azzy as he crouched down. He further said, "But, that isn''t the source of my confidence. I trained my physique to the extent that all the attacks below the legendary realm will be useless against me whether you use soul energy or not. In a way, I should thank you for that. If you hadn''t trained me three years at that Gravity stairs, I wouldn''t have learned the importance of tempering one''s body."

    Avia felt that the training she gave to Azzy to slow down his growth had come down to bite him in the end. She let out a deep sigh and said, "8-star physique, eh? With such strength, it makes sense that you managed to reach the 7-star realm in just two years. After all, you are born without limiters. I''m so foolish to ignore it."

    "Hmm, limiters?" This time, Azzy was the one who had questions. "What are you talking about?"

    Slowing getting on her feet, Avia explained, "Every person in this world has maximum limits to their strength. Usually, people call it potential. We can only find out our potential based on the Arcana that we awakened.

    When you were in your mother''s womb, Lord Qridus was assigned to protect Lady Crescent. It was probably on the 22nd or 23rd week; your parents visited a tarot master. He said that their kid would be born without a limiter, a once an Epoch (10,000 years) genius who doesn''t have any walls in his way of soul realm development.

    At first, no one took it seriously as tarot masters sometimes exaggerate things. But, Lord Qridus believed it for some reason. Maybe, it is because he hoped that a descendant of his would no longer awaken light attribute like him.

    When we finally learned that you have awakened the Death Scythe and the Hourglass, Lord Qridus was under a strong impression that you are the reincarnation of the founder. And he was also the one who was most disappointed by your disappearance.

    Honestly, even if you don''t showcase your strength, he would have made you the clan heir once but I think you did the right move. Now, I''m starting to believe that you really had the potential to become a demigod. All that is left is to convince the others that you can replace Velez as the clan heir through strength alone."

    Azzy patiently listened to her explanation and contacted the Reaper to confirm whether it is true. The Reaper answered with a statement, indirectly admitting that it is true, "It isn''t a coincidence that you were chosen by me and Vajra. Never in history, has there been an Arcana Master who was chosen by both of us."

    "Then, what about this reincarnation?" Azzy asked the second question, which he actually wondered when he was reading the Book of Death for the first time. Due to the similarities of the Arcana, he thought the same.

    And now that Avia was saying that even Qridus had the same thoughts as his, he couldn''t help but ask the Reaper.

    To which, the Reaper calmly answered, cleanly dodging the question, "only the cosmic souls, which were formed after the death of the cosmic beings who were born at the beginning of the time, no soul is special. It is the physical body that is more special compared to those eternal living things that don''t have any identity by themselves.

    This body of yours is the one that is born from Izora Crescent, making you her child. This body of yours is the one that contained the soul energy worth more than 10 million SP, making you the Exalt realm expert.

    So, you should stop worrying about pointless things like past lives, which has nothing to do with you, and just focus on the relationships that were formed by this body of yours."

    The Reaper didn''t say it clearly but how difficult it is for Azzy to read between the lines, understanding that his suspicions were true.

 Chapter 436 Returning To The Death Clan

    <strong>Somewhere in the snowy mountains of Helenus range, Freyles nation;</strong>

    Two men were standing at the shores of the frozen lake for the past 30 minutes with their eyes fixed on the sky.

    "When will Lady Avia arrive?" asked a young man of the Crescent clan.

    Aspen Night shook his head with a sigh, "If I know that, would I bring you with me for the company?"

    "Are you sure this she isn''t getting back at you for your prank?" asked the young man.

    Aspen shrugged his shoulders, "You know my sister. She is not the funny type. She would rather whip me in public than do things like these."

    "Ugh¡­ I wonder how much longer we have to wait for her." As soon as the young man complained, his eyes fell on the flying card in the sky, coming towards them.

    Soon, the flying card and the people standing on it became visible. Aspen was taken aback by the appearance of his father. But in the next instant, he spotted Azzy standing straight behind them.

    "Young master Azrael?" Aspen immediately recognized the teenager, who was supposedly missing for the past couple of years. The other person has never seen Azzy, Oakley, and Ethar before. So, he wondered who they were.

    The flying card landed on flat ground and Azzy stepped down before greeting Aspen without any sort of expression as requested by Avia, on the way. "Hello, Aspen. It''s been a while."

    Aspen immediately fell on one of his knees and saluted, "Welcome back, Young Master." The other young man was taken aback and followed the suit while still wondering who the boy is.

    Azzy walked forward as the both of them rose to their feet. Avia then ordered, "Aspen, open the gate."

    With a thrust and a counter-clockwise turn from the mysterious card, the massive door opened. Azzy couldn''t help but remember the first time he enter this place. He was in awe back then. But now, he doesn''t care much.

    After entering the clan village, Avia, Oakley, and Azzy flew on the flying card, leaving behind Ethar Night with the two young men to report to their respective clans.

    Since it is pretty early in the morning, there isn''t much traffic in the sky. Just a few flying cards were seen here and there. No one spotted Azzy either until the flying card landed right outside the Garcia Palace compound.

    The entrance guards were familiar-looking ones for Azzy. He remembered them and they too remember him. Hence, recognizing Azzy, they kneeled on the spot, "Welcome back, Young Master."

    Azzy solemnly nodded and walked through the gate.

    As the three of them were walking away, the two guards whispered to each other. "Hey, how come I couldn''t sense anything from Young Master? Did he lose his soul energy or something?" "Who knows¡­ But, he is too late anyway. Prince Velez has already been appointed as the clan heir."

    For a while, the three of them continued to walk straight at a steady pace before entering the palace. On the way to the throne hall, Azzy saw several guards who he was familiar with, and everyone was damn surprised by his appearance. At the same time, the presence of Avia scared them the most. Hence, they can only kneel for a moment until he passed them.

    Eventually, he reached the throne hall, which is currently closed at the moment. These guards appeared unfamiliar to Azzy. Were they new? Perhaps.

    They stopped the three of them. They didn''t recognize Azzy and one of them directly spoke to Avia. "Elder Night, the monarch is having a chat with Lord Francis Blood. Please come by another time."

    Avia calmly replied, "Report to the monarch that I have returned with Azrael Garcia."

    "Eh?" "Eh?"

    Both of the guards were surprised just like all the others Azzy met on the way.

    Before they reacted to it, a voice was heard. It was faint but everyone felt like someone whispered in their ears. "Let them enter."

    The doors opened and Azzy saw the two old men standing side by side, facing each other.

    Azzy took a deep breath and entered the throne hall, walking forward as calmly as possible. The other two followed him, half a step behind.

    Upon reaching the center of the hall, Azzy greeted with his left knee on the floor and his right fist hitting his chest. "Greetings, Ancestor." It''s been a while but he hasn''t forgotten the etiquette. Avia and Oakley followed the suit.

    The frail-looking man let out a rare smile, "I knew that you aren''t dead and will definitely return home, my descendant."

    Francis Blood, the 8000-year-old fellow, yelped in surprise, "Kid, where is your soul energy? Did something to the soul orb?"

    For a man who lived for so long, 2 years isn''t that long, and for him, it was as if he saw Azzy very recently. Hence, he was cool with his return. The only thing that he didn''t get is the lack of soul energy inside Azzy.

    Azzy rose to his feet and replied with an answer that he didn''t give it to Avia before when she asked the same question. "It''s Decarune seal."

    "Decarune seal?" "How do you know the lost technique of guardians?"

    Both of the old men were taken aback. As the people who lived for thousands of years, they have heard of the sealing technique but neither have they expected Azzy to master it.

    As Azzy nodded and unsealed his soul orb, directly revealing his 7-star realm, Francis was once again surprised and scolded him jokingly, "Exalt realm? Kid, can you give all the shocks at once? At this age, our hearts cannot take it."

    Meanwhile, Qridus nodded in satisfaction. He was calmer compared to the Blood clan''s leader as he expected this. The clan leader praised him, "I expected you will experience tremendous growth rate within small time but didn''t expect it would be this quick."

    He then looked at Avia, "Elder Night, your training has indeed cemented a strong foundation for Azrael. You have done well."

    "I didn''t do much, Your Majesty. It is entirely Azrael''s hard work." Avia gave a modest answer, not intending to take the credit at all costs.

    After hearing the words from the clan leader, Francis Blood also didn''t hold back his praises. "If I remember the history correctly, you are the fourth youngest person in the history of our clan to reach the 7-star realm. I''m really proud of you, kid. I really wonder what dangers you faced at such a young age during the past couple of years to achieve it."

    Azzy didn''t give any explanations on the matter and just thanked him for the praise. Qridus and Francis understood and they didn''t press the issue either.

    Qridus then spoke, "Well, you have returned safely. That''s enough for me. Anyway, since you are already at 7-star realm, I don''t think no one would dare to raise an objection for you to return to your original post."

    To which, Azzy replied, "I have returned to the clan for three reasons. One, I want my grandpa''s expulsion to be annulled. Two, I want to see my parents. And three, I want to make sure the clan heir position is returned to its rightful person."

    "Expulsion?" Avia furrowed her brows. She didn''t like it for sure but she is helpless in front of the clan leader.

    "Parents? So, you know the truth, huh." Qridus realized that Azzy knew the truth and he didn''t bother to hide it anymore. He then looked at Avia, "Elder Night, I want you to send an announcement to all the sub-clan leaders and the pavilion masters that they are summoned at this instant."

    He turned his attention to Oakley, "Mr. Oakley Night, I''m removing away your expulsion imposed by the Night clan as of this moment."

    And then he finally looked at Azzy, "Follow me. I''ll take you to your parents."

    Bowing down to Francis as a formality for goodbye, Azzy then followed the old man to a room on the third floor. Surprisingly, it was on the same floor as his past room.

    "Just three rooms away? I should have roamed a bit back then." Azzy blamed himself for not being attentive when he was still living at the palace.

    As they entered the room, Azzy saw the two figures lying on the bed without any consciousness.

    Qridus stopped at the entrance and didn''t walk forward, "I have been working on it for the past 13 years but there was no result yet." He looked at the unconscious couple in pity.

    Azzy calmly walked forward without an ounce of expression on his face. Upon reaching the bed, he closed his eyes, remembering the required symbols to unleash the seal.

    However, he hesitated to proceed and requested the Reaper, "Chronos, why don''t you do it?"

    The Reaper understood Azzy''s thoughts and agreed to his request. If it was anyone else, Azzy would have unleashed the gluttony seal but since it is his parents, he was nervous to do it, worrying about the consequences of his failure.

    As the Reaper and Azzy switched their places, Qridus, who was watching from the door, raised his eyebrows, "Hmm? Arcana possession? Wait for a second¡­" Somehow, this feeling is a little bit too familiar for him, although he can''t put his finger on it.

    Meanwhile, the Reaper, who possessed Azzy, raised his hand, creating a complex seal, conjuring a strange beast with no eyes or limbs.

    Looking at the black-colored slime with large tongue and teeth, Qridus frowned, "what is that thing? I have never seen it before in my life. I believe he was trying to help his parents but that seal was unknown to me. What if it kills them? Should I stop him for the safety or should I trust him and risk their lives?"

 Chapter 437 The Reaper Comes To The Real World

    After pondering for a bit, Qridus decided to trust the Arcana of his heir. Not to mention, he was the leader of the Death clan. If he was attached to the living, it would be a joke. However, the only thing that worries him is how the failure will impact Azzy''s mind.

    But, it is already too late for him to think. The Reaper already unleashed the seal of gluttony.

    The gluttony beast enveloped the both of them like a cocoon before completely eating away the seal placed on them. Once the job is done, Azzy returned to the real world.

    "The seal was removed?" Qridus was stunned on the spot. He was worried about the consequences of failure but it appears that he was the fool here. In the next instant, light teardrops filled his eyes as Vesyrn let out a groan. However, he quickly wiped it away without letting others see him being emotional.

    Meanwhile, Vesyrn slowly opened his eyes. As his face was titled to the left as per Qridus'' wishes, the first person he saw ended up being his wife. In the meantime, Izora''s pupils were moving left and right but she wasn''t opening her eyes yet as if she was in the middle of a bad dream.

    "I¡­ zo¡­ ra?" Vesyrn managed to force out those words and Izora''s eyes opened widely at the same time. "Dear!"

    Unlike him, she abruptly sat on the bed and grabbed her husband without worrying about the surroundings. "Are you alright?"

    "Ye¡­ ah¡­" Vesyrn let out a smile.

    Qridus then cleared his throat, earning their attention. They also saw Azzy standing there beside the bed emotionlessly while actually staring at them.

    Naturally, Izora didn''t recognize Azzy but she felt that he was quite familiar, especially with his eyes and face cut. Did she know the kid? Nope, she doesn''t, but first things first, she should greet the old man.

    Quickly getting down from the bed, she knelt down, "Greetings, Lord Qridus."

    Azzy was quite surprised to see that his mother was completely fine. She woke up 13 years after the coma but was full of strength and without any aftereffects. On the other hand, Vesyrn looked more like a sick guy.

    Waving his hand, Qridus told her to be at ease. As Izora relaxed and rose to her feet, the clan leader then casually introduced Azzy to her, "By the way, that is Azrael, your son. I''ll leave you guys alone." Qridus then disappeared.

    "Eh?" A trace of surprise appeared on Izora and she turned toward Azzy. Vesyrn also forced himself to turn his head to look at Azzy upon learning that his son is there.

    "Azrael?" Izora''s eyes turned moist, all of a sudden. Azzy greeted them calmly, "Hello, mother. Hello, father."

    Izora rushed forward to hug her son instantly. "Azrael? My baby¡­" She looked at him again and caressed his face with tears in her eyes, "Look at you¡­ Just a while ago, you were a baby and now, you were already so big."

    Azzy had a few memories of them but he doesn''t have much emotional attachment to his parents compared to Oakley. Not to mention, he just had seen them a couple of days ago.

    Hence, he could only respond by hugging back his mother who was being quite emotional, different from the person that he knew from the past, "Welcome back to the world, mom. It''s nice to meet you."

    It was the first time he addressed someone as mom directly, but for some reason, it felt good. He looked at his dad and freed himself from his mother before crouching to the bed''s level, "Nice to meet you too, dad."

    Vesyrn forced out the words with great difficulty, "how¡­ old¡­ are¡­ you?"

    Azzy looked at him and then at his mom, "I''m 14 years old and this is 2021."

    "Sorr¡­ sorry¡­ for¡­ leav¡­ leaving¡­ you¡­ alone¡­ for¡­ for¡­ all these¡­ years," said Vesyrn as he tried to get up but collapsed on the bed again.

    Izora hurriedly grabbed him and said, "Take rest. No one is going anywhere."

    "What happened, mom? Why are you fine but he is too weak to sit?" asked Azzy, worrying whether it is because of the side effect of the gluttony seal.

    Izora let out a deep sigh and shook her head, "I''m not sure. I guess it is because I possessed a special constitution."

    Azzy immediately contacted the Reaper. To which, the latter gave a shocking reply.

    "Protos energy? How could my mother possess it?" Azzy had seen his mother battle in person. Hence, he knew that he was sure that his mother didn''t have any Protos energy. Something clicked in his mind. "Is it my future self?"

    The Reaper confirmed his suspicion immediately, "Yes. Remember how you unknowingly provided Barbara, your Protos energy? If you can do it unknowingly, then, a demigod version of yourself can do it willingly. However, there''s nothing to worry about. Your mother has a diluted form of Protos energy and is completely swallowed by her own soul energy. She won''t turn like Barbara."

    "Barbara¡­" Azzy couldn''t help but remember her death and became sad. He cannot tell the truth to her family and neither does he want to lie.

    If he was living in the Death clan and will one day become the clan leader, then, everyone who is a part of the clan should be his family. He felt that it is too unfair to Barbara''s parents.

    As he was looking down at the floor, he felt a pat on his shoulder, forcing him to return to reality and look at the source.

    Izora asked, "Is there anything that is disturbing your mind? I just had this feeling somehow."

    At the moment, Azzy didn''t seal his soul orb and looked emotionless on the surface. But, Izora just figured out that her son is different from a moment ago.

    She wasn''t this perceptive in the past. So, Azzy was a little bit surprised but he forced himself to be calm and told her that there is something that he had forgotten.

    "Anyway, take a seat. I have lots to talk about with you two."

    Azzy shared about the important things that happened in his childhood so that his parents understand his personality, likes, and dislikes, making it easier for them to communicate with him, later on.

    Vesyrn was feeling extremely weak but he attentively listened to everything that Azzy spoke of.

    Izora just woke up and would usually go outside for the fresh air and also meet her uncle, if he is still alive. But, right now, for her, there appeared to be nothing else important.

    Listening to Azzy, she maintained her smile continuously for the next fifteen minutes.

    Meanwhile, in order to hide his time-traveling secret, he spoke of his past two years as the experience in an unnamed academy.

    Azzy didn''t speak of any names of his friends as they were acquainted with his parents. Not to mention, he doesn''t have any time-tested relationship with his parents as he had with Oakley Night. There''s that too.

    Izora and Vesyrn felt delighted when they heard that Azzy already got himself a girlfriend but soon, the smile disappeared from Vesyrn''s face as he ended the story with how she decided to return to her homeland in order to get stronger.

    Thankfully, Azzy then told them that he was completely fine with it and he will wait for her. That recovered their mood properly.

    Once he was done with the story without confidential ones that he cannot reveal to anyone else, Azzy said to Izora, "I have told everything that happened in my life. Now, I want to know what happened to both of you. At first, people told me that both of you died in the Forest of Death. Then, recently, Grandpa Oakley told me that it is the work of a dark organization named Mystic. So, I just want to hear the truth from you, mom."

    The moment he spoke of the name of the organization, Izora and Vesyrn flinched for a moment. She raised her voice and warned him, "No, it is better if you don''t learn about them."

    "But why?" Azzy informed them that this organization was already uprooted by the clan leader. No one from Mystic is left, according to Oakley.

    Izora was taken aback by that piece of information but she didn''t appear to believe it. "There''s no way. The leader of the organization is in the same league as Lord Qridus. Did he really take revenge for us?"

    Azzy shrugged his shoulders, "who knows? Anyway, there''s nothing for us to worry about that organization, mom. And even if it exists, I don''t fear them. I''m already at 7-star realm and won''t take long to reach Supreme realm too."

    This statement from Azzy gave them another wave of surprise.

    As Izora is in a condition to sense it, she immediately probed his soul realm and when she realized that her son has entered the same realm as them, her face was frozen in shock before a wide smile appeared on her face. "Seriously¡­ My senses aren''t kidding. You are really in the 7-star realm. But, you are just 14 years old. Did you awaken platinum grade Arcana or something?"

    Azzy then rose to his feet and got back a couple of steps before summoning two of his soul cards. The black lightning wolf jumped out of one of the soul cards and landed beside Azzy.

    "Mom, dad¡­ Meet Vajra." He introduced the wolf first.

    *woof*

    Vajra sat on its butt and raised its paw, greeting them amicably. Izora couldn''t help but sense its terrifying aura. At the same time, she felt a sense of friendliness.

    Azzy then was about to summon the Ruby, who turned into a humanoid Arcana after its evolution into celestial grade, but then, his first soul card glowed on its own and the specter directly appeared in the real world, scaring the hell out of his parents with its scary appearance. Surprisingly, it has wings too, which is a new thing for Azzy.

    "Chronos?"

    The specter turned its skeleton head to look at Azzy. "Hello, Azrael."

 Chapter 438 The Reapers Offer To Vesyrn Garcia

    The Reaper only greeted Azzy with just hello but the latter''s parents found his voice so terrifying that Vesyrn closed his eyes immediately and Izora raised her arms to fight it. His voice reached so deeply into their soul.

    Meanwhile, Azzy couldn''t understand how the Reaper came out of the soul card when he was told that the deity of the time of death cannot do it. "How?" He asked.

    The Reaper answered, "Well, I need to speak to your parents and it is too hassle to keep switching positions with your soul. Not to mention, there are no restrictions in this timeline."

    "Oh, okay." Azzy didn''t what he wanted to talk about but he was fine with his presence. Not to mention, this is a new experience for him.

    The Reaper then looked at Izora and realized the matter in an instant. He removed the passive effect emitted from his voice and waved his skeleton hand, "Lady Crescent. Don''t worry. I chose your son as my host. Hence, you are also my allies."

    Not experiencing the fear in her soul any longer, she dropped down her guard and bowed to greet him. "Greetings, Lord Chronos. It''s an honor that you chose our son."

    The Reaper nodded and then raised his hand. A seal was formed quickly before it was unleashed into the surroundings, creating a spatial barrier formed over the room from all the sides like a sphere.

    It was like the room was completely cut off from the pocket world and temporarily in a different dimension. The people from the outside can see them but they cannot listen to him or enter the room without the permission of the Reaper, although any legendary or higher realm Arcana Master can enter it forcefully.

    Azzy and the other two realized that the Reaper was going to speak something important and they prepared their hearts to hear it.

    The Reaper then put his attention on Vesyrn who was lying on the bed. He spoke, "Vesyrn Garcia, the descendant of the Death clan, I have a proposition to you. I would like to bless you with the Death energy that your ancestors once possessed, that your son currently was born with. In return, would you like to become the successor of the current guardian of the Death clan?"

    Izora and Vesyrn didn''t understand his words properly but they couldn''t voice them out.

    But, Azzy was too familiar with the Reaper and he enquired about the matter right away in place of his parents, "Chronos, what are you talking about? What guardian? And can you grant death energies as you wish even in such form? Then, what will happen to my dad''s original Arcana."

    The Reaper explained, "Unlike the other hidden clans, the Death clan always has two protectors. One is the clan leader, who is the symbol of authority. And the other is the guardian, who is the symbol of power.

    The story of this goes as far as a hundred thousand years ago.

    Your founder, Azrael Garcia was once offered the position of the Death legion by the God of Death, Thanatos.

    The Death legion was an elite army that was created for the sole reason to capture the junior gods and other demigods that turn rogue.

    Azrael was just a new demigod and yet, he dared to reject the offer. Thanatos was impressed by his daring act and put forth a proposal.

    The rule is quite simple. Azrael can choose any veteran from the Death legion and survive their attacks for a mere ten minutes.

    And guess what. He didn''t just survive their attacks. Azrael defeated every single member of the death legion.

    Being impressed by his talent, Thanatos granted him a wish.

    Azrael didn''t ask anything for himself. Instead, he made a deal with him.

    According to one of their terms, as long as Thanatos exists, he will bestow the power of a demigod-level Reaper onto the guardian to punish the Supreme-realm Arcana Masters who had forgotten their duty to mankind and gone evil.

    However, unlike the clan leader, no two guardians can be alive at the same time, and neither the guardian can resign his post.

    The guardian of the Death clan will be free from his servitude only when he/she dies and a new one takes the position."

    After explaining the story behind the existence of the guardian, the Reaper once again shifted his attention to Vesyrn, "Normally, the guardian has the right to choose his successor but if you accept this proposition, I can convince him to choose you.

    I will provide you with the Death energy you needed. You will also awaken a new Arcana spirit and also can use your light element at the same time.

    And of course, until the current guardian dies, you are free to do anything you would like to do."

    "Anything? He can also contend for the clan leader?" Azzy couldn''t help but ask it. After all, he never planned on becoming the clan heir yet. He wanted his father to take away his right position.

    That''s why he planned to challenge Velez and snatch the clan heir''s position before admitting defeat to his dad to make him the heir so that he will succeed Qridus.

    He never considered things like what would people think of such an act or what would his dad think of it. Whether Vesyrn would accept will be highly doubtful.

    But now that Azzy found an opportunity to fulfill his plans without any issue, he wanted his dad to grab this chance and change his destiny.

    And then, maybe, when the current guardian dies and his dad takes that position, Azzy might ascend to the throne to become the clan leader.

    Father and son duo working together to protect the clan. What is better than this?

    Azzy couldn''t help but imagine the scenario as he enquired with the Reaper. Izora, who was still in shock, upon hearing that entire story, also became curious.

    She heard about Velez from Azzy.

    Izora was aware that Velez has death energy and knew of his fighting abilities as well.

    Now that she realized that he is just a step away from the legendary realm, she wasn''t sure whether her husband is any match for him.

    But thankfully for the three of them, the Reaper gave a nod, "of course."

    "Great¡­" Azzy clapped in excitement, although his poker face didn''t match his actions. "Dad, you can accept it."

    Obviously, the Reaper is like a god to every single person of the Death clan. Meeting him in person is already like a dream to Izora and Vesyrn. And now that the Reaper is giving them an opportunity, why wouldn''t they trust his words?

    Izora looked like she was going through multiple emotions. There''s happiness, there''s gratitude, there''s shock, there''s admiration, and there''s also slight fear.

    Meanwhile, Vesyrn looked like he was in a trace, wondering whether he was still in a dream. It hasn''t even been that long since he woke up. Not only had he met his teenage son but also received a great offer.

    "So, what do you say?" As the Reaper asked him again, Vesyrn responded with a nod.

    "Good," The Reaper was satisfied with the reply and he told everyone that he is going to begin the process.

    The Reaper raised his skeleton hand and pierced Vesyrn''s chest without wounding him a bit.

    "Okay, let''s start."

    The Reaper closed his eyes and the energy started to flow inside Vesyrn.

    Meanwhile, in the throne hall of the palace;

    Qridus was sitting on his throne with the other clan leaders, the current clan heir, and five of the seven pavilion masters gathered before him. The remaining two were in the middle of their missions. So, they weren''t able to make it.

    Anyway, no one cared about their absence as their minds were preoccupied with the shocking news Qridus gave them calmly as if it is a normal matter.

    "Once Azrael was done with talking to his parents, they will be summoned here. Until then, no one is to disturb them, not even you, Kylan." Qridus specifically warned Kylan to not go upstairs as he knew how dearly the Patriarch of the Crescent clan loves his niece.

    Of course, there''s another person who was dying to meet Azzy and Izora. It is the master of the Violet Pavilion, Evelyn Crescent, Izora''s cousin and eldest Kylan''s daughter who had a good relationship with Azzy.

    Recovering from the shock, Avia then came forward and asked, "Your Majesty, I have something to ask."

    "Permission granted," Qridus told her to proceed with her question. Velez''s face turned dark as he realized that it was Avia. He was informed beforehand and he was worried that he will be going to face injustice in the hall.

    However, he stayed silent without intending to interrupt until the end as he wanted to see the reactions of the other clan leaders and pavilion masters.

    Avia then spoke, "Not only did Young master Azrael return to the clan but even Master Vesyrn also opened his eyes.

    Both of them are clan heirs who are actually dismissed from their positions without their knowledge. Master Vesyrn is someone who fulfilled the duties of the clan heir for several years without any issues, and Young Master Azrael is someone who was directly appointed by his majesty, believing that he is the reincarnation of the founder.

    While Prince Velez has won the clan tournament and earned the position rightfully, it has only been a few months since he was serving his duties and his track record isn''t as great as Master Vesyrn if I had to be honest.

    So, not only me but even the others were wondering whether Prince Velez will continue to serve as the clan heir or will the position be shifted to one of those two?"

 Chapter 439 The New Power Of Vesyrn Garcia

    When Avia brought up the issue of his heir in front of all the clan leaders and pavilion masters, she might have appeared like she was standing against Velez but in reality, she was actually reminding everyone of the clan tournament in order to corner the clan leader.

    Now, if Qridus suddenly snatches away the position of clan heir from Velez and gave it to either Azzy or Vesyrn, it will be deemed not only as a misuse of power but also destroys the purpose of an ancient tradition such as the clan tournament.

    Of course, she was confident that Velez will face difficulty if he were to be challenged by Azzy but still, she doesn''t want him to suffer injustice at the hands of the clan head.

    At the same time, she too wanted to see if Velez really has any supporters who will stand by him even against the Supreme realm expert.

    If he can''t have their confidence, then, there is no use in him succeeding Qridus. Despite breaking up with him due to unavoidable circumstances, six years ago, she might still have some lingering feelings left. But, that doesn''t mean that she could outrightly show her support to him. As the judge of the disciplinary hall, she was supposed to be completely neutral and stay forever loyal to the throne.

    The only reason she decided to act like this is because of Azzy''s move to annul her father''s two decades of expulsion as soon as he returned to the clan.

    Meanwhile, Qridus Garcia fell into deep thoughts. Indeed, he planned on announcing Azzy as his heir once again. However, he was aware of Velez''s potential and so were the others. If he turns back on him without giving any sufficient reasons, the opportunistic clan leaders will use him against the throne in the future.

    Hence, he decided to stay as the clan leader for a longer time than he originally thought, at least, until he feels that Azzy is ready to take his place.

    Qridus then rose to his feet and announced, "No matter the reason, it is true that Velez Garcia is the current clan heir. He will stay as one until he loses his position through the clan rules. Now that I have made myself clear, I don''t want to hear this topic again."

    The elders and the pavilion masters fell on their respective left knees and bowed to the old man. As the latter nodded and took his throne, they got up on their feet to talk about the other things.

    Meanwhile, on the third floor of the palace, Vesyrn was still in the middle of the forced awakening from the Reaper.

    He was shrouded by the Death energy and his soul power was steadily rising while his spirit was in his mindscape, meeting with his new partner.

    Since the whole room was put inside a spatial barrier, no one in the building sensed the changes in Vesyrn. Not to mention, there''s Qridus'' order of not disturbing Azzy and his parents. So, no one had any idea what was going on here.

    The process lasted for an hour. Azzy and Izora were patiently watching him. The Reaper also waited with them to see it to the end.

    Once it was finished, Azzy observed his father using his "Eyes of God" skill. Vesyrn successfully made a breakthrough into the legendary realm (rank-8). His soul energy also thickened a lot compared to before and he was no longer weak as he was earlier. As for the other things, it can only be explained by his father.

    As Vesyrn opened his eyes, he clenched his fist with a smile and admired the surge of strength inside him.

    He then fell onto his knees and kowtowed to the Reaper, "I''ll forever be grateful to you, Lord Chronos."

    The Reaper waved his skeleton hand, "No, I''m not giving you any gift, Vesyrn. I merely did what I had to do to make sure your clan tradition stays alive. That''s all. And before I go, I must warn you that the power you received is dangerous in its own right. The more you do the right/noble things, the more you will keep it under your control.

    However, if you use it for evil purposes, then, it will slowly corrupt your soul, and in the end, you will be controlled by your Arcana."

    Vesyrn nodded firmly, "I understand, Lord Chronos. I give you my word that I will never use it irresponsibly."

    "Good." The Reaper proceeded to remove the spatial barrier and disappear from the real world.

    For a while, Azzy talked to his parents, explaining his next move, and they agreed to it without having any second thoughts.

    And very soon, Azzy and his parents entered the throne hall, taking everyone by surprise despite the fact that they were expecting the arrival of these three.

    "This guy... isn''t he..."

    Meanwhile, Velez furrowed his brows as soon as he saw Azzy''s face. "How is that possible?"

    He immediately recognized Azzy, not through his personal memories with him but remembered from the match video of the world league''s finals. As a sore loser, Velez kept that thing in his mind for more than two decades.

    Azzy not only shares a similar name to the person who defeated him but also shares a striking resemblance. Was Azrael originally 41 years old, not 14 years, perhaps?

    There''s a chance that Izora actually gave birth to Azzy long ago but kept the secret from the clan for several years and then took the advantage of his teenage-looking face to fool everyone. Since Vesyrn had an arranged marriage with Izora, perhaps, he stood by her. Or maybe, Qridus threatened him to keep the secret.

    Did Avia know the truth? Is that why she was insisting that he is no match for Azrael?

    Or maybe, this was just a giant coincidence and he was mistaking Azrael Garcia for the guy from the finals of the world league.

    Several theories popped up in Velez''s mind.

    However, he didn''t voice it out and kept his mouth shut as he was too happy at the moment. After all, the clan head just announced that neither Azzy nor Vesyrn will become the clan heir.

    And Velez planned to reach the Supreme realm faster and take away Qridus from his path before the father and son grow strong enough to challenge him.

    Perhaps, the only confusing thing that was disturbing is how he couldn''t feel anything from Azzy. If he is the same guy, then, he should be in the 7-star realm. Did he lose his power, somehow?

    Whatever the case, the truth will come out once this teenage boy starts fighting and summons his Arcana.

    The black lightning wolf and the black lotus will give away his identity. Or so Velez thought as he intently stared at Azzy. As for Izora and Vesyrn, he only spared a couple of glances at them. Both of them appeared to be in the 7-star realm, and with their gold-grade Arcana, they aren''t a threat.

    Little did Velez expect that very soon, Vesyrn Garcia, the guy who he looked down on will turn his world upside down.

 Chapter 440 Vesyrn Challenges Prince Velez

    "Your Majesty, I would like to challenge Prince Velez for the reclamation battle." Vesyrn directly expressed his desire to acquire his clan heir''s position.

    Naturally, it took everyone by surprise.

    Kylan, Vesyrn''s uncle-in-law and the Patriarch of the Crescent clan, strongly objected right away. "Vesyrn, you just woke up from the comatose state after 13 long years. There''s no need to hurry. You can take your time and recover completely."

    In response, Vesyrn let out a smile as he shook his head, "Taking a long time will mean that I accept Prince Velez as the new clan heir, Lord Kylan. I''m sorry but I cannot accept a member of a royal family to lead our clan."

    After replying to Kylan Crescent, he turned toward the young man standing in the center of the hall, "No offense, Prince Velez, but you are the heir to the throne of Freyles after the demise of your elder brother. You have a responsibility to help out your father, not us."

    Velez furrowed his brows in displeasure, not liking a bit that he was being lectured by someone he deemed a weaker guy. "My father has other heirs, Vesyrn. As the direct descendant of the founder born with Death Energy, I believe my power should serve the clan."

    Velez countered Vesyrn using his legitimacy and took a slight dig at this former clan heir, who was known to inherit the light attribute like his forefathers.

    Vesyrn had lived for long enough to understand Velez''s words. In his mind, he too agreed with what Velez just said but he will not just shut his mouth either as he needs to make sure that this prince will accept the battle.

    Following the plan made by Azzy, he said, "Then, we can only resolve our differences through a formal battle. I lose, then, not only me but even my son will also relinquish his right to challenge for the clan heir position ever. If you lose the battle, you will have to return to your home and succeed your father, fulfilling your responsibility as the son to your father and duties of the prince to your citizens."

    There was pin-drop silence in the room as Vesyrn gave everyone the shock of their life.

    It was one thing if he challenges Velez but Azzy will also get dropped from the race? This was something that the pavilion masters usually cannot accept it. However, the fact that they couldn''t sense anything from Azzy made them wonder whether their beloved young master actually turned into a mortal, and that is probably why Vesyrn had taken such a decision.

    At the same time, they cannot put aside the fact that Vesyrn and Izora woke up only after Azzy returned. Is this really a coincidence?

    Obviously, they aren''t fools to think that way.

    Since they don''t believe that Azzy can cure them, they were sure that Azzy had acquired a miraculous elixir or a heaven-defying treasure during the past couple of years.

    So, the only question is whether he probably acquired it by sacrificing his soul orb or he just had managed to find a way to hide his soul realm. The latter seems more plausible.

    Even then, they wouldn''t have guessed that Azzy is in the 7-star realm. Hence, they couldn''t but think that perhaps, after his defeat, Vesyrn might leave the death clan with his family and relocate somewhere else. Such thoughts disturbed everyone, who isn''t on Velez''s side.

    Meanwhile, Qridus stared at Vesyrn and Azzy for a while. He couldn''t see what Azzy was thinking but he believed that Azzy had given his consent for this bet. Seeing how the kid brought back his father with the Reaper''s help, Qridus decided to support him once again.

    Worst comes to worst, he will make Azzy the successor to the guardian of the clan instead.

    After making up his mind, Qridus nodded and made an announcement without bothering to ask the opinions of the pavilion masters or gathered before him. "On the evening of the awakening ceremony, Velez Garcia will battle Vesyrn Garcia at our clan''s arena. Whatever stakes you wanted to decide, discuss with Avia Night. The judge will act as the mediator and she will be the one to submit the final agreement to me, on the day of the battle. Everyone is dismissed."

    Soon, all of them exited the throne hall and then started chatting with the family of three while Velez and a few pavilion masters excused themselves.

    "Kid, you have really grown up during the past couple of years." Evelyn couldn''t help but ruffle Azzy''s hair in affection.

    Azzy couldn''t help but gave a cheeky reply, "You too looked like you have grown older, Elder Crescent."

    "Hey, call me big sister, you brat." She arm-locked his head playfully and then asked in a casual tone, "Say, what happened to your soul energy anyway."

    The Death clan knows how to resurrect one''s soul orb, although the user''s potential would be reduced. But, still, for a guy like Azzy whose potential was shown at the maximum, he might be able to reach the Supreme realm or at least the legendary realm. Hence, Evelyn didn''t think too much of the loss and was mentally prepared.

    Thankfully, Azzy didn''t say to her that he lost his soul orb. Instead, he simply said, "You can find it out when we spar again."

    "Oho! the little brat has become cheekier, huh." Evelyn went on to pinch his cheeks as little punishment while feeling happy that her fears aren''t true. Azzy let her do that as he too was happy to reunite with this maternal aunt of his.

    On the other hand, Kylan became emotional and shed a few tears as he hugged his niece, who he dearly loves more than his son. He knew the curse of Eros that was plaguing the Death clan, or specifically, the Garcia family, hence, he was always worried about her from the moment she got married to Vesyrn.

    After a while, Vesyrn and his family first made a trip to the Garcia family''s cemetery to visit Vesyrn''s parents, who were buried there. At the same time, he also wanted to meet the clan guardian, Pierre Garcia. Kylan followed them as he intends to take them to his home after this.

    And just as he wished, Vesyrn did see the old man who was pretending to be a grave keeper for several millennia.

    Looking at him from far away, Kylan let out a sigh and commented, "It is really a pity, isn''t it. A former clan heir, who was once a Supreme realm expert, reduced to such a state."

    "What do you mean, Grand-uncle?" asked Azzy. Until now, he only thought that Pierre was probably hiding his secret by posing as a grave keeper. But, it appeared that there was something more to the story.

    Kylan looked at Azzy and explained, "Pierre Garcia was born in the same generation as Lord Qridus. We actually didn''t know his relation to the monarch and neither do we have any idea why he was being punished like this but all we know is that he doesn''t talk or meet anyone and neither would he even bother to reply to anyone else except for the monarch. Being very close to the monarch, no one tries to mess with him. All the people who did that ended up being expelled or executed."

 Chapter 441 A Surprise Visit To Camelot

    "Greetings, Lord Pierre."

    Everyone greeted the man who was sweeping around the graves. He nodded and then stopped his gaze on Azzy for a few seconds before continuing his work in silence.

    Vesyrn thought that he can come back later and proceeded to walk forward without conversing with his ancestor.

    After paying respects to his parents, Vesyrn and his family left for the Crescent Clan, the place where Izora grew up.

    Maybe, it is because he is too happy that his niece returned; Kylan acted a lot friendlier toward Azzy like an actual grandfather when he ignored him completely during the four years of Azzy''s stay in the clan.

    Meanwhile, Azzy was still struggling with how to open the topic of Barbara''s death. Of course, he was very good at keeping secrets and even cooked up a story in his mind but seeing that Kylan was too happy, he fell into a dilemma on whether he should tell it right now or look a correct moment.

    Soon, they went to the cemetery to pay respects to Izora''s mother, who passed away during childbirth. Beside her grave lies two other graves. They belonged to Kylan''s son and his daughter-in-law respectively, Barbara''s parents to be exact.

    Izora was kneeling in front of her mother''s grave and started talking. The others meanwhile stayed far away to give her privacy.

    Azzy was shocked to realize that Barbara''s father actually died. He was alive two years ago. That means something had happened while he was away.

    He asked Kylan who was standing next to him along with Vesyrn.

    Kylan''s facial expression changed as he remembered his son. He let out a sigh and explained that Miel Crescent died because of drugs and alcohol. As the reason he was addicted to them happened to be because of Barbara''s disappearance, Azzy decided to speak about Barbara at some other time.

    He felt slightly guilty for Miel''s death as he was indirectly responsible for Barbara''s missing but the Reaper reminded him that every person is responsible for his own actions.

    Azzy didn''t argue with the Reaper and shifted the conversation to Izora''s father whose grave wasn''t built in the Crescent clan''s cemetery. Of course, he too wondered whether his maternal grandfather''s grave is located somewhere else.

    However, he didn''t expect to be surprised by the story behind this.

    Kylan explained, "Honestly, we have no idea who he is. My sister only mentioned that Izora''s father''s name is Kruger Ravillon and he belonged to the Dragon clan. But, when I made inquiries, it became clear that there was no such person in the Dragon clan.

    Maybe, my sister lied to me, or maybe, that cheating bastard¡­ excuse me¡­ that guy lied to your grandmother."

    "Are you looking for him, even now?" asked Azzy curiously.

    Kylan shook his head, "No. It has already been 120 years and Izora no longer wanted to meet him. So, there is no reason for us to look for him anymore."

    Azzy then turned toward Vesyrn, "Dad, what about your parents? How did they pass away?"

    Vesyrn''s story also appeared to be slightly complicated. His mother died because of assassination from a dark organization, and his father committed suicide, not being able to cope with the pain of losing his wife.

    Azzy found it damn weird that his paternal grandfather committed suicide when Vesyrn was only six years old. These people belonged to the main branch of the Death clan. They were supposed to be accepting the death of a closed one more than anyone else in the world.

    But, as he doesn''t want to criticize his ancestors, Azzy could only reply in the end with, "It must have been hard for you, dad."

    Vesyrn looked at Azzy apologetically, "No, I had a lot of people who cared about me since childhood. I guess you went through a lot worse than me."

    Azzy waved his hand, "it''s alright. I''m at an age where I can try to understand someone."

    Vesyrn patted his son''s back and thanked him.

    After a while, Izora returned and everyone went on a tour around the Crescent clan compound before going to other clans and meeting their past friends.

    The day passed away smoothly but the night''s dinner at the Garcia palace was a bit uncomfortable for several people.

    As the clan heir, Velez was living in the palace and so were Azzy''s family members including Oakley, who cannot return to the Night clan compound because of Avia. Hence, they couldn''t avoid each other.

    Adding on top of that, Izora''s family members and even Oakley''s children were invited to the dinner.

    As a result, Gredor Crescent, the one who hates Izora with passion also arrived. Then, there is Avia, who cannot stand the sight of her father. Some were silently eating while some were chatting and laughing together.

    Amidst all of this, Qridus kept on wondering how to make Vesyrn stronger and win against Velez, a couple of months later. In his eyes, Vesyrn needs more preparations to go against the prince of Freyles.

    And two days later, he put his plan into action.

    Azzy or his parents weren''t told where they were going to travel and just tagged along with Qridus as he traveled down the south of Freyles.

    After six hours of traveling in a traditional way instead of using portal points as a shortcut, the group of four saw a group of unique-looking mountains, white in color.

    Of course, all snowy mountains look white in color but these are different. There is no snow falling here and the rocks that made up the mountain are off-white in color as all of them are made of 95-99% quartz.

    In an instant, Azzy recognized them. "The white mountains."

    Obviously, Izora and Vesyrn also recognized them from far away. While Izora stayed silent, Vesyrn asked, "Lord Qridus, we were going to Camelot?"

    Qridus nodded, "Yeah. This is the place that is going to help you in improving your strength further."

    "Eh? You wanted me to train here?" Vesyrn was taken aback. Izora was also surprised after realizing the purpose of their visit.

    Azzy, on the other hand, wondered how this place could help his father, who has already entered the 8-star realm. The only thing special about his place is the gravity staircase, a replica of the original one at the Death clan. But, even then, the one here is only at 20g, which clearly isn''t enough.

    Then, how?

    Is it Aurelia, the Supreme realm expert who once trained him? Or is it the jewel of water? Azzy wondered. At the same time, he was also worried about meeting Leah, who might recognize him as the owner of a Celestial grade Arcana spirit.

    He wondered how she would react. The worst comes to worst, he will have to reveal his time traveling secret, thought Azzy as the flying card slowly descended onto the ground where a group of guards in ancient wear and armor was waiting alongside their General and the King. Leah wasn''t seen anywhere though.

    Azzy activated his aura-sensing ability and scanned his hundred-kilometer surroundings, finding the princess in the White Mountains, fighting with someone.

    "Thank goodness." Azzy sighed in relief, feeling that things became easier for him. Soon, the flying card landed on the ground at the entrance of the castle city and the group of four stepped down before the King greeted them.

 Chapter 442 Azzy Reunites With Leah

    While Qridus and Vesyrn sat with the King of Camelot to discuss the usage of the ancient time chamber, Izora and Azzy were touring around the castle along with the Queen of Camelot.

    Azzy already toured once and he doesn''t seem to be that interested. Instead, he planned to use this opportunity to meet Leah.

    After taking permission from his mom to tour around the city on his own, Azzy left the castle and made his way toward the White Mountains.

    Within no time, he reached the foot of the mountain with the gravity staircase.

    Azzy saw a couple of soldiers stationed at the entrance. Hence, he had to use the erasure skill card to turn invisible and proceed to climb the steps.

    Upon reaching the cave at the top, he found two figures in the middle of an intense spar, the first being Leah and the other being a middle-aged fellow with good looks.

    They appeared to be evenly matched but Azzy didn''t see the Excalibur in Leah''s hands. It means that she was stronger despite the fact that she was only at low-rank-7 while her opponent is at the peak-rank-7 stage.

    With Azzy hiding his soul power, neither of them sensed his presence. The Excalibur realized it but the Arcana spirit didn''t warn his host and let it play out.

    While the man was in a defensive stance, Leah was full-on offensive.

    She was attacking her opponent, left and right, but the veteran expert managed to hold on his own while trying to use her soul energy as little as possible. Azzy quietly watched them from the distance.

    Leah was sweating from top to bottom and there were cuts on her body here and there but she looked damn pretty. It would be a lie if Azzy wasn''t awed at all.

    She was already too beautiful 27 years ago when she wasn''t even a proper adult, but now, looking like she is in her mid-twenties, the princess of Camelot was perhaps the most perfect beauty in Azzy''s eyes.

    Fortunately, Claire''s image popped up in his head and calmed him down.

    *Cling*

    Clashing the sword once again and pushing back her opponent, Leah let out a smile, "What happened, Jav? Today, you seemed a bit distracted."

    The man shook his head as he gripped his sword tightly, "Nothing of the sort, princess. It is just that my father wanted to marry¡­ Hmm¡­"

    His eyes suddenly fell on a teenager who was watching them in silence. He raised his voice in displeasure, "Hey kid. Who are you?"

    Only then did Leah turn around and saw Azzy. A shock appeared on her face before her face glowed with happiness, "Azrael? Is that you?"

    Azzy let out a smile and slowly walked forward steadily as if the high gravitational force trapped in this place didn''t bother him a little bit. "It''s been a while, partner. Sorry for not making it to the dinner party due to unavoidable circumstances."

    The moment she heard those words, Leah left her sword and dashed toward him, leaving a bewildered Javion.

    After giving him a tight hug, she said, "Welcome back, Azrael. Can''t say how much pleased I am to see you again. I wasn''t aware of the exact timeline, and so, I thought that I would have to wait for hundreds of years to meet you again."

    This time, it was Azzy''s turn to be shocked. He expected her to remember him as she is the host of a celestial grade Arcana but he never thought that she figures out that he is a time traveler.

    Apart from Claire and Oakley, he mentioned it to no one, and he was confident that they won''t tell to anyone else.

    Freeing from her embrace, he asked, "How do you know?"

    Leah let out a smile in response and asked in return, "did you forget what my Arcana spirit is?"

    The Reaper then explained to Azzy that Excalibur wasn''t just a simple celestial grade Arcana. It was also a partner for Arthur Pendragon and knew the founder of the Death clan.

    Azzy wondered whether Leah knew about his truth from the moment she met him and pretending not to know all this while. However, that no longer mattered to him and he was just happy to see his beautiful friend again.

    "So, you have just returned huh." "Yeah." "What about Claire?" "She''s away." "Hmm?" "It''s a bit too hard to explain at the moment" "No, I haven''t heard of that pointy-eared guy. I don''t know much about him, you know. But, you should know about Estella and your friend Gideon." "Eh? The one in our clan is a clone? Not the real one?"

    Ignoring the guy standing a distance and watching them in wonder, Azzy and Leah continued to chat with each other. Azzy had really found some shocking news.

    "Really? I didn''t know that they were your parents. Now, it makes sense why you went all the way to Freyles." Leah was taken aback upon learning that Azzy''s parents were Izora and Vesyrn.

    Meanwhile, Azzy was telling her how he was also surprised that Mia was married and even had a kid of his age.

    Leah nodded in response and told him that she was regularly in touch with Mia, although mostly because of the latter''s position as the president and due to the diplomatic relations between Camelot and Northern Qudour.

    Having enough of being ignored, Javion interrupted them as he walked forward to them. "Leah, you mind introducing me to your little friend?"

    "Oh, Jav, I almost forgot about you. Sorry about that." Leah was pretty much chill as she spoke to him. She then introduced each other, "Azrael, this is Javion Gilmore, The commander of Camelot''s special forces. And Jav, this is Azrael, my close friend from Freyles."

    "Close friend?" Javion was taken aback and he took another look at Azzy. Naturally, he couldn''t sense anything from the teenage boy but he won''t be fooled by that.

    After all, he knew that Leah could also do that. Not to mention, a civilian without any soul power cannot climb up the steps of gravity.

    But, still, because of Azzy''s very young age, he didn''t term him as some powerful fellow, but instead, decided to treat him like a genius kid. Of course, there''s a low chance that this teenage-looking brat is actually a lot older than he looks.

    However, neither Azzy nor Leah got angry when Javion addressed Azzy as a little friend of Leah earlier. Hence, Javion was sure that the second case wasn''t likely the case.

    And now that he realized that Azzy is a kid, he tried to treat him as one as he spoke in a nice tone, "So, Azrael, you came to Camelot for sightseeing?"

    Azzy shook his head and simply replied, "It is confidential."

    "Confidential?" Javion found his words more amusing now. "Kid, I''m the commander of Camelot''s Special Forces and I''m the future son-in-law of the King.  There''s nothing confidential in front of me."

    Azzy got slightly irked by his attitude, especially his fake that reeks of the superiority complex, and of course, most teenagers wouldn''t like to be called as kids either. There''s that too.

    Since he was no longer in the past where he needed to worry about the consequences of his actions, Azzy challenged him directly to a battle, "Mr. Gilmore, let''s spar a bit and see if you are worthy to handle the confidential information."

    "Hmm?" Javion furrowed his brows while Leah wondered what was wrong with Azzy.

 Chapter 443 Qridus Offer To The King Of Camelot

    "Please go easy on him, Azrael," Leah said to Azzy as Javion accepted his challenge.

    Javion furrowed his brows when he listened to those words. He thought that Leah was underestimating him too much. After all, he is a peak-7-star realm expert and doesn''t think there would be more than fifty Arcana Masters who were stronger than him.

    Meanwhile, Azzy calmly walked a few meters away and gestured for Javion to come at him. It only riled him up further.

    Javion summoned his Arcana along with a few skill cards, not intending to underestimate his opponent.

    Azzy, on the other hand, calmly stood in his spot without bothering to summon anything. With a tier-8 divine physique, he was confident in taking everyone under the legendary realm without the need of his Arcana.

    Javion dashed forward with the flaming sword and slashed at Azzy''s chest without holding back.

    Azzy raised his hand and caught the sword in a timely manner, letting out a smile, "not strong enough, Mr. Gilmore."

    Javion furrowed his brows and he tried to get the sword free but couldn''t do it so. So, he poured the soul energy into the sword, increasing the intensity of the flames.

    As the flames got hotter and stronger, Azzy felt the heat in his palms. He poured his soul energy into his free right palm and shot an energy sphere at a close range.

    Sensing the power of a low-rank-7, Javion panicked and tried to block with his arm. However, the energy sphere suddenly exploded before hitting him, blasting the both of them away with an enormous force.

    Azzy was also affected but he landed only a few meters away compared to Javion, who blasted away like a dozen meters.

    While neither of them suffered any injuries, Javion had lost the sword, which was now struggling in the hands of Azzy.

    Azzy looked at the sword burning inside hot flames and poured his soul energy, this time, adding the protos energy.

    As the protos energy enveloped the target, the flames on the flaming sword died out, and cracks appeared on it, showing the signs of death already.

    "Requiem." Javion panicked for the first time. One, he sensed the presence of corruptive energy far more powerful than death energy, and two, he realized that his Arcana is about to die. He couldn''t remember the incident of challenging Velez once.

    Back then, it was the same.

    As Azzy didn''t kill it and threw the shivering toward its owner, Javion hurriedly caught it and used a healing card on his Arcana before asking the teenager "Is that death energy?"

    Azzy was slightly surprised by his question but remembering Javion''s identity, he nodded in confirmation, hiding the existence of the protos energy.

    Leah was also under the same impression from their first meet. Hence, she used this opportunity to reveal Azzy''s real identity.

    She intervened in the match while speaking to her friend, "Jav, I forgot to mention something. His full name is Azrael Garcia."

    "Garcia family?" Javion was taken aback a little bit, instantly forming the connection to Velez. "The royal family of Freyles? Are you Velez Garcia''s son, perhaps?"

    Azzy didn''t feel offended by his question by linking with Velez. He calmly shook his head, "No, I''m not a member of the royal family and have no relations with Prince Velez."

    Leah then reminded her friend, "Not the royal family. The other Garcia family¡­"

    "Ah, the Death clan?" Javion let out a piercing scream in surprise before he closed up his mouth and apologized to the princess for startling her.

    "I''m the son of Vesyrn Garcia and we are here to get the access to the treasure, which was given as a present to Emperor Arthur by our founder," said Azzy as he glanced at Leah to check her reaction. Seeing the look of surprise on her face and confusion on Javion, he realized that only the princess knew the truth.

    Meanwhile, at the royal castle, Qridus was discussing the same with the King of Camelot, although the latter appeared reluctant to accept the request.

    "Lord Qridus, I understand your circumstances but the cooldown period of the time chamber is usually 1 year when used for 7 days. For 14 days, it will be 3 years. If one stays even for a longer time, the cool-down period will increase accordingly.

    And you are asking for 40 days. That''s like 20 years of cooldown period. Please do think from my view." Lucas Pendragon politely rejected the Death clan''s request even though a peak-stage Supreme realm expert visited the place in person.

    However, the people in power and strength usually don''t like to listen to the word, "No".

    Not wanting to return empty-handed, Qridus put forth a proposition, "Don''t be in a hurry, Lucas. First, here me out completely. Then, you can think about it.

    Just because our founder presented yours the treasure doesn''t mean that we have a right over it. I know that and I won''t try to force you to give up something precious for free.

    That''s why I''m here with an offer. In exchange for the usage of the ancient chamber of time, we would like to present you with this."

    As the old man raised his hand, a golden apple appeared out of thin air and fell on to his palm. He placed it on the table before him and said, "This object is one of my prized creations. Imbued with the power of my Arcana, the one who consumes this apple completely will be able to awaken artificial platinum-grade Arcana, a clone of my Saint Freya.

    However, there are limitations too. The consumer cannot have an Arcana spirit of platinum grade or higher.

    And if the consumer with low potential eats this apple, then, there''s a 50/50 chance that one can awaken a second arcana or their attribute completely changes to light.

    As for the unawakened persons or an Arcana Master who had weak physiques, there''s a high chance that they will be permanently disabled or in the worst case, die. Hence, I would recommend a guy with a strong physique and enough power to exert 1-ton of force either through kicks or fists (1000 kg).

    However, the end decision will still depend on you though.

    So, what do you think, Lucas? Still interested?"

    Along with the King of Camelot, even Vesyrn Garcia was also shocked to hear the details of the golden apple.

    He couldn''t help but look at his great-great-grandfather in admiration and told him that he doesn''t need to sacrifice such a treasure for a mere 400 days of training.

    Revealing his legendary realm cultivation, Vesyrn assured his ancestor that six weeks will be more than enough.

    Lucas, who was enticed by the golden apple, became alert at once as he saw Qridus silent at once to ponder on it and he hurriedly gave his permission.

    Back to the white mountains, Javion was watching a spar with fast-paced attacks from either side and he is trying his best to follow the movements of Azzy and Leah.

    The princess wanted to test her test against Azzy to check whether she surpassed him during the past 27 years or not.

 Chapter 444 A Thrilling Spar Between Azzy And Leah (Part-1)

    *Clang* Clang*

    A high-speed sword sparring was going on between Azzy and Leah for the past ten minutes while General Javion was just staring at the match with his mouth wide open.

    For a person who thinks highly of his abilities, it is tough for Javion to digest the fact that his eyes couldn''t even follow the pace of the battle happening before him.

    Another couple of minutes later, both of them had leaped to the back at the same time and looked at each other from a distance while taking steady but deep breaths.

    "Okay, warm-up is done. Now, shall we spar for real?" asked the princess of Camelot with a smile on her face, dismissing the normal sword. Azzy nodded. Meanwhile, the solo spectator, Javion couldn''t help but mumble in a daze, "that was just warm-up?"

    Leah summoned two of her soul cards. The Aqua girl and the Excalibur made their appearance before Leah equipped exquisite bracers on both of her wrists.

    Azzy glanced at them for a second but didn''t pay too much attention as it is common for Arcana Masters to use external items for assistance.

    Just one thing became clear for him. Leah was dead serious about going all out.

    He welcomed her decision but wasn''t sure whether he too should fight at his full strength as even he doesn''t know how strong he had become. Hence, he had chosen to fight in his usual style and adapt to the situations.

    "Vajra, come out," Azzy spoke out as he sent the sword (given by Leah before the spar) to his storage card.

    Stroking its head, Azzy then gave his first order, "Take care of Leah. And you are free to use your soul skills."

    After putting the black lightning wolf as Leah''s opponent, he decided to target the aqua girl Arcana, Izarok.

    However, Leah appeared to have anticipated it even before the start of the match. She went on with unleashing the hidden soul skill of Izarok as her first move, which the latter unlocked after the 7-star realm breakthrough.

    The aqua girl quickly enveloped Leah, forming a suit of liquid armor around Leah''s body.

    Azzy observed the transformation. Apart from the armor, nothing much has changed except for there being one less target. Or so he thought at first.

    "Buddy, I''ll block her and you attack," said Azzy, to which, the wolf barked and then nodded in response.

    He charged toward Leah alongside the black lightning wolf.

    Meanwhile, Leah''s face turned serious as she stared at the death scythe, "Just the wolf is not enough. I guess he is still looking down on me. Never matter. I will try my best to force him to even use all of his trump cards."

    She poured her soul energy into the bracers as Azzy and Vajra closed the distance to just a couple of feet and launch an attack at the same time.

    Leah crossed her arms before raising them to put up a guard. In an instant, an oval-shaped translucent barrier appeared in front of her, effectively blocking Vajra''s claws and Azzy''s fist.

    Azzy was taken aback by the barrier, not because of its durability but because of what it is made of. "Natural energy?" He looked at her in surprise, although on the outside, he only had a poker face.

    As he paused for a second, the serious-looking Leah suddenly let out a satisfactory smile and said, "I should thank you for making me realize the potential of natural energy."

    Azzy didn''t comment on that but glanced at the golden bracers on her arms once again and asked, "What metal they are made of?"

    "What do you think?" Leah asked in return.

    Azzy replied, "Well, as far as I know, only Adamantium has the capability to store natural energy. Either you painted it gold or discovered another metal. My bet is on the latter as adamantium is super dense and you might have to sacrifice your movement speed if you chose it."

    Leah nodded and then challenged him, "good analysis, and yes, you are right. This is a metal alloy, made of extraterrestrial elements. I will tell you if you will be able to defeat me."

    Azzy raised his eyebrows, "do you think I can''t defeat you?"

    "Well, 27 years passed for me and I''m not the same as before. On the other hand, you are the same. So, I''m confident unless you reveal the tricks you hide up your sleeve," replied Leah, implying that he can''t win this battle if he uses the same strength he displayed before her.

    Azzy decided to respond to her provocation with his actions instead of words. He clenched his fist tightly and motioned his arm backward before punching at the barrier with the full strength of an 8-tier divine physique.

    *Dimm*

    A loud sound reverberated all across the surroundings as his fist made the contact with the translucent barrier.

    The force was reflected back alongside the sonic boom and Azzy was pushed back for atleast a couple of dozen meters. Vajra has been blasted away by the force even thrice farther than him.

    On the other hand, the oval-shaped barrier had only cracks on its surface and they began to heal themselves, forming the barrier as good as new.

    Azzy was truly shocked this time by its sturdiness. "What was that, Chronos?" He immediately sought the assistance of the Reaper.

    Unfortunately for him, the Reaper refused to give any suggestions, stating that he should figure it out on his own. Only that way, he can improve.

    As a result, Azzy had to depend on himself. He went on unleashing the "Eyes of God" soul skill and stared at the barrier with his pitch-black eyes with no visible pupils.

    He saw thousands of thin energy threads emitted by the bracers and connected to the barrier. At the same time, her soul energy appeared to be constantly flowing into the equipment.

    "I see¡­ those bracers aren''t automatically absorbing the natural energy." Azzy realized that Leah''s soul energy is the key and he knew how to solve it.

    However, using the soul skill "Soul absorption" and taking away her soul power will be too cowardly in a spar, according to this heir of the death clan. Maybe, it was because of his pride, Azzy wanted to defeat his former partner fair and square.

    Hence, he summoned the death scythe before raising it above his head.

    As the Reaper''s weapon was bathing in Azzy''s soul energy, Leah didn''t stand around and wait for it. Maintaining the barrier, she too went offensive.

    "Soul skill: Hydro beam."

    Huge volumes of water were released from her armor and shot toward Azzy.

    In response, Azzy poured soul energy into his body, forming a layer of energy armor to augment the defensive capabilities of his physique.

    Upon being struck by the water beam, Azzy was continuously getting pushed back, although without being harmed at all due to his powerful defense. While continuously charging the death scythe, he was trying to resist the pressure from the incoming attack.

    And by the time the death scythe consumed enough of his soul power (20%), he slid back for twenty meters without any injury or stopping his attack. Azzy''s arms continued to grip the 3.5m-long death scythe tightly.

    Leah wasn''t happy with the result and she proceeded to unleash her next move. Raising her Excalibur, she poured soul energy into it and swung it down.

    Azzy did the same, almost in the next second.

    Two arcs of energy, one was purple and the other was pitch-black, moved toward each other.

 Chapter 445 A Thrilling Spar Between Azzy And Leah (Part-2)

    As the two arcs of energy collided, Azzy''s soul skill completely destroyed its counterpart and continued to proceed toward the real target.

    Leah''s face darkened and she began to pour more soul energy into her bracers to power up the translucent barrier.

    Eventually, the arc of death energy struck the barrier and the death energy invaded it while leaving behind a huge amount of cracks on the surface.

    At a rapid pace, the oval-shaped barrier, which managed to block Azzy''s soul-skill attack, now started to be corrupted by the death energy and was turning black into color.

    Leah saw it and pumped up more of her soul energy into the barrier but saw that the corrupted energy was blocking her assistance. As a result, she cut off the connection to the golden bracers, dismissing the defensive barrier.

    Seeing an opening, Azzy quickly dashed forward and swung the death scythe at his opponent.

    Leah, in response, timely caught the scythe with an extra pair of arms grown from the hydro armor around her. She let out a smile, "How is the battle so far, Azrael?"

    Azzy calmly answered, "You know the answer. My abilities aren''t for spar but for real battles."

    "I know." Leah nodded and then said, "That''s why you should bring out the ones that can be used for a spar. I''m talking about Ruby."

    Pouring soul energy into the death scythe, which further corrupted the flexible hydro hands and forced Leah to back away, Azzy replied, "Make me."

    "You bet¡­" Leah turned serious once again as she push forth her arms and created a blast of concentrated natural energy.

    Because of the Eyes of God, Azzy had seen the attack clearly but he doesn''t have enough distance or time to dodge it. He was hit in the chest. Although he crashed onto the floor more than ten meters away, there was little to no injury inflicted on him.

    But, what surprised Azzy was how this princess used the natural energy as a part of her body.

    Through the Eyes of God, he also realized that the golden bracers were nothing more than the medium to continuously store, absorb, or emit natural energy. Standing onto his feet, Azzy complimented her right away, "It looks like your mastery over the natural energy exceeded mine."

    "Nah, I wasn''t as gifted as you." Leah shook her head, "unlike you, I would need this equipment to maintain the steady flow of natural energy."

    Azzy cannot say that he learned it through ancient Buddhism techniques. Hence, he kept his mouth shut and fell into thoughts.

    If it is someone else, there would be no problem, but since it is his friend and partner who he was sparring with, he couldn''t heavily injure her. He should think of a way to win this match without hurting her too much, whether it is physically or mentally.

    While Azzy was formulating a strategy in his mind, Leah made her move.

    This time, she charged forward with the Excalibur sword while pouring her soul energy as well as the natural energy into the weapon.

    Azzy''s body moved in reflex and his death scythe blocked the Excalibur but the force happened to be stronger. He got pushed back once again. Seeing that her attacks are working, she attacked him at her full strength, pushing him back until he reached the wall of the dome-shaped training hall.

    Just as his back was about to hit the wall, Azzy pushed away the Excalibur with perfect timing and spun around, pinning Leah to the wall instead.

    *Woof*

    At the same time, the black lightning wolf let out a powerful bark, releasing a net of lighting vertically through its mouth. It passed through Azzy and tightly bound the princess whose back was facing Azzy.

    The black lightning energy, which also has the powers of Protos energy, paralyzed her body organs, hindering her ability to move the sword for now. As the match turned around in Azzy''s favor, he said, "So, Leah, ready to admit the defeat?"

    Leah snorted in response without trying to get free, "you wish."

    Azzy shrugged his shoulders, "well, then, I should knock you out, I guess."

    "Nice try but you failed to catch something, Azrael," said Leah, letting out a smile all of a sudden. Knowing her well, Azzy thought that she was biding her time and he proceeded to conjure the Protos spears that will put an end to this spar.

    However, he didn''t expect Leah would suddenly turn into water and dropped onto the floor before slipping past the lightning net and transforming back to her human form. Only the Excalibur was inside the prison.

    "What the¡­" Azzy was taken aback by her ability as the realization dawned upon him, "that''s right. The hidden soul skill: Merge will let the Arcana Master use all the unlocked abilities of his Arcana."

    Leah then raised her arm and shouted, "Excalibur."

    As the legendary sword vibrated and cut through the lightning net and returned to her hand, she raised the sword, "Azrael, you should stop trying to fool around. I''m different from the opponents you faced so far. I will neither underestimate you at any moment nor am I weaker than any 8-star realm Arcana Master."

    Azzy felt like her opponent is someone he cannot half-heartedly fight as he does with his friends at the academy.

    Getting a little bit serious, he dismissed the death scythe as well as the black wolf, surprising Leah a little bit, before saying, "You are strong. I will give you that. To respect your strength, I will use a trump card that I usually reserve for the battles. So, get ready to face it."

    Leah was prepared for the soul absorption and his unique Sage arts but she didn''t expect Azzy would summon a human skeleton.

    "Soul skill: Rise of the undead."

    As Azzy unleashed his soul skill, a skeleton rose from the ground. One can say that it belongs to a human if this skeleton doesn''t possess wings too. It is Cardinal Ophanim''s skeleton.

    Neither Leah nor even Excalibur could guess the realm of the skeleton as it doesn''t possess soul energy. Hence, they can only find it after exchanging blows.

    But, seeing that Azzy was very confident about defeating her with this skeleton, the princess assumed that it probably belonged to an expert that has higher physical strength than Azzy.

    Either way, it doesn''t matter as the skeleton is a part of Azzy''s powers and she planned to test the extent of her full strength.

    The natural energy rushed out of the bracers and enveloped the Excalibur along with her own purple-colored soul energy, indicating that she was ready.

    Azzy took a step back and ordered, "Go and knock her out."

    The skeleton flapped its wings and flew toward her at a speed of mach 4, reaching her in just a fraction of a second.

    With the Eyes of God, its movements were in slow motion to Azzy, but for Leah, the speed was almost in the same league as her royal teacher, Aurelia.

    Before she even swung down the sword, the skeleton already hit her, blasting her more than a hundred meters away. She crashed onto the wall and fell down with her ribs fractured as the winged-skeleton slowly landed on the floor.

 Chapter 446 A Thrilling Spar Between Azzy And Leah (Part-3)

    The natural energy gushed out of the golden bracers and enveloped her, healing her injuries within a couple of seconds.

    She slowly rose to her feet and raised her hand. The Excalibur, which had fallen on the floor earlier, rushed toward her. She caught it and took a serious look at the winged skeleton. "The speed of this skeleton is comparable to that of a Supreme realm expert but the power behind that fist is in 8-star realm. Either that thing is controlling its strength or Azrael has killed a legendary realm expert. Judging by the wings, the descendant of an angel or fallen angel perhaps?"

    As analyzing from one bout is useless, Leah went on ahead to battle against the winged skeleton while conjuring an oval-shaped translucent barrier around her for defense.

    Meanwhile, Azzy was mildly surprised by the scene. He thought she would be knocked by one punch but it looks like she wasn''t going down without a tough fight.

    However, he was also aware that the skeleton of the cardinal is a perfect thing to test her strength.

    Hence, he didn''t join the battle and went into spectator mode, watching the battle between the winged skeleton and the princess of Camelot.

    Five minutes have passed and the winged skeleton was almost as mighty as its original body. No damages inflicted on it so far.

    On the other hand, Leah kept on getting crashed onto the walls or the floor over and over again but she would readily get back into the fight as if she was feeling no pain.

    Looking at her state, Azzy couldn''t help but think of Claire. With her extraordinary recovery ability, she would fight quite recklessly like how Leah was doing now. However, there''s a difference.

    While Claire rarely learns her lessons in the middle of battle, Leah was constantly improving and never made the same mistake twice. Not to mention, her applications of natural energy were entirely on another level. She effectively proved that not only the natural energy can be used in combat but it can also be used as a substitute for soul energy.

    Azzy couldn''t say it out loud but he was actually amazed by her Sage arts, which were probably developed by her own, unlike his Buddhism techniques that were acquired with the assistance of the Reaper.

    But then again, he never lost against his peers and he planned to stay that way.

    Hence, in a desperate move to win, Azzy decided to join the battle by reducing his size to that of an ant while absorbing the natural energy from the surroundings at a rapid pace.

    Leah realized it but she was currently in a bind with not being able to afford to lose her focus from the winged skeleton that only tries to beat her up without caring about its defense.

    As a result, she did the only thing she could do in this situation.

    Before Azzy completely filled his body with the required natural energy, he saw Leah''s clones made of water make their appearance one after another. By the time he was ready to attack, there were sixteen of them.

    None of those clones tried to help Leah and just stood in a line as if they built a human wall to block Azzy until the original wins her battle against the undead skeleton.

    In response, Azzy grabbed one of the Protos spears floating behind him with his left hand and motioned his other arm backward, pointing the palm forward.

    "Sage Arts of Buddhism: Divine Palm"

    A giant palm made of translucent natural energy was conjured before him and he motioned his arm forward, pushing toward the enemy. As soon as he launched it, Azzy then summoned the storage card to take out a 7-star skill card from it.

    He dismissed the storage card and stared at the scene unfolding before his eyes, waiting for the perfect moment.

    The sixteen clones immediately turned into volumes of water and merged together before transforming into a giant shield. The divine palm struck the water shield and pushed through it and went toward the princess.

    At that moment, the winged skeleton was at the end of receiving a flame attack from Leah. Upon receiving the order through telepathy, the undead creature caught Leah''s arms while purposely getting hit by the attack.

    Leah saw the divine palm and was alerted by the failure of her clones. She struggled to move but her arms were tightly locked by the skeleton.

    At the same time, she still needed to wait for a while to conjure the barrier and the time is also running out for her to maintain the merged transformation.

    So, she did the most obvious thing that she could. Leah turned into water and collapsed on the floor to free herself from the skeleton.

    And just when that happened, Azzy dashed forward at his maximum speed and threw the skill card onto the floor, and continued to run.

    Before Leah was able to transform back into her human form, an enormous gravitational force pushed her down, giving her enough time for Azzy to cover the distance and reach her.

    By the time she transformed back into herself, Azzy was already there and struck her with the Protos Spear, reaching out for the second one.

    The eyes of the princess widened in shock as the Protos energy invaded her body while she was on her knees.

    Placing a Protos Spear at one of her bracers, Azzy then said, "I know that Excalibur can negate the corruptive energy invaded your body and you probably might have a solution to negate the 100g force around, but before that happened, I will destroy your arm guards and make them useless. They look precious to you."

    Leah stared at him for a few seconds and let out a sigh, "alright, I lost, you blackmailer."

    "You forced me," replied Azzy as he rose to his feet and gave her his hand. She grabbed them and stood on her feet with great difficulty because of the gravitational dome.

    As Azzy cannot dismiss the gravitational force effect, he continued to hold her arms for the next hundred seconds as they chatted about the battle.

    Leah made a depressed face as she was saying that even 27 years of training wasn''t enough for her to catch up to him for he didn''t even use fifty percent of his strength.

    In response, Azzy shook his head, "It is not that I didn''t choose to go with full strength. It is just that I cannot. Ruby has evolved during my breakthrough to the 7-star realm. I didn''t have time to train with her. As for the hourglass, I don''t even know how to use it properly. Hence, I refrained from bringing it out.

    And as you can see, to pin you down, I have also consumed all of my soul power in the process. But, I should say, whether it is the application of natural energy or the hidden soul skill, you exceeded my expectations. I''ll give you that. By the way, what metal is this made of?" After praising her, he asked about the golden bracers.

    Leah answered as she looked at the golden bracers on her arms, "They are primarily made of Orichalcum, the blood, and bones of a 9-star realm dragon."

    "Orichalcum?" Azzy never heard of it before.

 Chapter 447 Leahs Strange Bold Actions

    Leah explained that Orichalcum was a metal alloy created by Camelot after decades of research.

    As Azzy doesn''t need it to control the natural energy, he didn''t ask for too many details and calmly diverted the matter to the internal affairs of Camelot during the past two decades.

    Talking between themselves, both of them left the White Mountains, ignoring Javion who appeared to be not only jealous of Azzy''s talent but also of the closeness between the latter and the princess. He also didn''t like the fact that his crush left him like that and went away with the new guy.

    General Javion knew Leah for decades and both of them call each other short names but she never linked her arms with him even casually as she was doing with Azzy.

    Maybe, it is because Azzy is a kid? The princess was seeing him as a boy instead of a man? Is that the reason? Javion wondered.

    Meanwhile, Azzy and Leah returned to the palace, finding that their respective fathers were busy with their meeting while their respective mothers were chatting around as they were roaming in the garden.

    Both of them went there. As soon as Izora saw the princess, she recognized her. As Azzy was about to introduce Leah to her, Izora greeted her, "Hello, Princess Leah. It''s been a while."

    Leah responded to the greetings with a smile followed by praise, "Ms. Izora, I must say that you have not only become younger but also more beautiful from the last time we met 27 years ago."

    Maybe, it was a casual comment she did without any thinking, or maybe, she purposely praised her. Whatever the case, Izora felt happy when it came from someone like Leah.

    Shaking her hands, she praised in return, "I should say that to you, Princess Leah. Your beauty and talent are something that every woman in the world can feel envy."

    As Leah giggled without trying to be modest, Izora then asked about her partner from the world league. She wanted to know whether the princess is still in touch with him.

    Leah glanced at Azzy from the corner of her eyes and covered up the truth with a white lie, "It''s been a while since he entered Arcana world. You know that it isn''t easy to make a breakthrough to the Supreme realm."

    "He is already at that stage, huh." Izora believed her words, as in her eyes, there was no reason for the princess to lie to her. She further said, "but then again, with his talent, it is normal."

    "Mom?" Azzy decided to play along since it has come this way. "Who are you talking about?"

    Izora immediately explained to her son, "Azrael is Leah''s partner when she participated and win the world league in the senior division when they were only teenagers.

    Even though we never remembered him, we were heavily indebted to him. If not for him, neither of us would have been alive, right now.

    As repayment, we named you after him, although by great coincidence, it happened to be the founder''s name too."

    Azzy had listened to that story once from Oakley, a while ago, so, he was calmer. However, Leah and her mother were hearing it for the first time.

    While the Queen was wondering why she too forgot that face, Leah, on the other hand, took a glance at Azzy once again and thought that this friend''s emotionless expression was really helping him act like he had no idea.

    Suddenly, she thought of an idea and let out a smile, "Ms. Izora, I think I can help you remember him. When we visited play city together, we had taken pictures together. If I search the albums in the storage room, I think we can find one."

    Azzy''s heartbeat peaked all of a sudden and he abruptly turned his head, muttering. "This woman¡­"

    "Hmm?" The Queen, who was observing Azzy, felt the change in his gaze. She wondered what it might be.

    Fortunately, Izora didn''t focus on her son and simply shook her head, "It''s alright. I might not remember him but I remember my promise to not bother him again or even try to search for him ever again. So, it''s better this way."

    Azzy sighed in relief before intensely glaring at Leah''s back as the latter Leah grinned in her head, feeling the gaze on her.

    After a while, as the Queen continued to spend time with Izora, the princess escorted Azzy to his room.

    Upon reaching the destination where no soldiers were guarding or patrolling around, Azzy brought up the topic, "Leah, what were you doing earlier?" To show his displeasure, he even sealed his soul orb and furrowed his brows.

    In response, Leah reached out to his face and suddenly pinched his cheek, "It''s just a joke. I keep forgetting that you are still a kid, Azzy. I must say that your angry face is quite cute."

    Azzy quickly swatted her arm away, "I''m not a kid." He felt a bit humiliated and surprised by her actions.

    Leah then surprised him once again, this time, by pushing him toward the wall. Her lips were only an inch away from his lips as she whispered, "then, shall we discuss things like adults?"

    Azzy''s heartbeat spiked as her upper body was pressed against his. Feeling hot, he slightly pushed her away with a reddened face and stuttered, "Wha¡­ what the hell¡­ are you trying to do?"

    Leah winked one eye and gave a cheeky reply, "Nothing. I just wanted to see your reaction, kid. Go and freshen up. I''ll come by again by lunchtime. I guess it might have taken an hour more for all the dishes to be prepared."

    "You¡­ you¡­ you¡­" Azzy couldn''t just comprehend the reason behind her actions at all, making him wonder whether she also had gone under personality change during the past 27 years. "What''s wrong with her?"

    Meanwhile, Leah was just grinning to herself as she left the room, thinking that Azzy''s earlier expressions and reactions are so cute.

    The next day;

    At early in the morning, Azzy and his family followed the King to the heavily guarded treasury room. From there, they entered the pocket dimension, which was filled with several towers, each one at 500-600 meters tall.

    King Lucas then introduced the place to everyone, "This is the backbone of our Camelot, the elemental towers. Each of these towers is a training ground, constructed by elemental crystals, complex runes, and corresponding elemental skills.

    As you can see¡­ that red tower you see is the fire tower. The blue tower is the water tower, all the way up to the dark tower.

    All of them were built during Emperor Arthur''s time (100,000 years ago) and it took so much work for his generals to help him construct them despite the fact that everyone possessed the best Arcana out there for an attribute.

    However, two of his generals initially refused to build their respective towers, namely, the owners of Yggdrasil and the Death Scythe."

    As soon as Azzy heard those words, his ears perked up and paid attention to him. Vesyrn and Izora were also listening to him attentively.

    King Lucas continued, "General Triastal and General Garcia have the attributes of life and death respectively. Since the life attribute can only be seen in either angels or the elves and the death attribute is something that only the Garcia family and their direct descendants used to possess, they felt that it is not necessary.

    Emperor Arthur agreed to it but your founder had the change of the heart later on. For some unknown reason, he gifted the tower of time and told Emperor Arthur to not let any unworthy individual enter the place.

    He stressed that only those who don''t have the potential to become a demigod or atleast a Supreme realm must not be allowed to enter this place where time runs extremely slow.

    For 100,000 years, descendants of the royal family have been using this chamber and this is probably the first time we were letting someone outside of our blood.

    As for the rules, all we know so far is that the time runs differently inside the time chamber at different levels. It depends on potential. For some, it is 5 to 6 times slower, and as for children of heaven like Leah, they can reach even the tenth level, i.e. 10 times.

    However, I can guarantee that if both of you were to spend 30 days inside, at the very least, you will get 150 days of time. Take this special pocket watch with you so that you will know what day and time are on the outside."

 Chapter 448 Azzy Argues With Avia

    After a while, the group of five (including the King''s bodyguard) reached the central tower, which was quite smaller and leaner compared to the others.

    Like the other towers, which have training grounds of various levels on different floors, this building also had different levels inside.

    The only problem is that the tower cannot always stay open. Hence, once Vesyrn and Izora enter the tower of time/ancient time chamber, unless they were out, no one else can enter. Of course, the King can forcefully pull them out using his blood at any time. So, in times of crisis, he will be helpful once again.

    Anyways, as the group stood before the entrance, the King proceeded to walk toward a handprint on the left side of the door. He then smeared the handprint with his blood and inserted his soul energy.

    The door was opened and a portal appeared in everyone''s sight. Izora looked at Azzy, "How about you consider your decision for one last time? It''s not like we will get an opportunity to experience such things again."

    Azzy shook his head, rejecting her idea of tagging along with them for the training, "I''m only 14, mom. There''s no need to be in a hurry to raise my strength."

    "How about I stay with you?" Izora doesn''t want to leave her son, alone, but Azzy made her understand that Vesyrn will get lonely. Not to mention, it is important for her to enter the legendary realm for his plan to work.

    After convincing her that he won''t be alone with Oakley staying with him, Azzy said goodbye to his parents as they entered the tower and the King sealed the entrance, setting the time for exactly 30 days.

    Once the job is over, King Lucas looked at the teenager and said, "Azrael, the chamber will be opened again on December 27th. Until then, you are free to stay at Camelot as our royal guest."

    However, Azzy had different plans. He replied, "I apologize, King Pendragon. I will have to return to the clan. I will visit on the 25th or 26th if you don''t mind."

    Lucas didn''t know much about the kid before him and neither was he interested in a brat as the latter was of no use to the kingdom in any way. Hence, he readily nodded and said that he understands.

    Soon, Azzy and Lucas Pendragon returned to the outside world before the former left the kingdom using the portal point without bothering to wait for the princess to wake up and say goodbye to her. Maybe, he was still displeased by her prank, or maybe, he didn''t just think about her and left.

    Anyways, after teleporting to the Freyles nation''s Graena city, he proceeded to travel toward the northernmost mountain range. Upon reaching the spot, he took out a metal card (made of bronze) with the symbol of a skull on top of it.

    After a few tries, he managed to find the exact place where the entrance door is located and entered the clan village.

    Knowing that Oakley is at the Night clan, Azzy directly went to their clan compound instead of reporting to the monarch (Qridus Garcia).

    He was expecting to meet Oakley at the house. However, to his surprise, he found out that his grandpa already left the clan. Azzy doesn''t have to know the reason behind his departure. He could guess it.

    Being angry at Avia, without wasting any moment, he strode off the streets of the clan village, reaching the foot of the violet pavilion. He then started climbing at his maximum speed. The gravity staircase couldn''t halt his movements even for a second.

    Upon reaching the top, he went toward the judgment hall while ignoring the gazes of the passersby.

    Meanwhile, inside the building, Avia was busy hearing the witness statement. Everyone else was silently watching it.

    All of a sudden, the door of the building opened with great force and Azzy stormed inside, taking everyone including Avia by surprise.

    She furrowed her brows, "Young master Azrael?"

    Azzy walked at a brisk pace, reaching the center of the judgment hall very quickly. He then said with a cold-looking expression, "Elder Night, I need to speak to you for a minute."

    Judging by the way he interrupted the court proceedings, Avia guessed the reason. However, she didn''t want to appear weak in front of her subordinates either.

    Hence, she didn''t bother to act polite and scolded him in return, "First, Prince Velez, and now, you. Do the members of the Garcia family look down on Judgment hall or something? Can''t you see that I''m in the middle of proceedings? Wait there until the court break."

    Azzy was slightly taken aback like everyone else but he was too much in a hurry to think about anything else. He confronted her right away in everyone''s presence, "Why did you kick out my grandpa?"

    In an instant, several pairs of eyes fell on Avia, who felt rage because of the accusation.

    Instead of giving him a proper answer to clear the misunderstanding, she coldly replied followed by a warning, "First of all, you disturbed the proceedings of the court and refuse to stay aside even after the warning.

    Secondly, Oakley Night isn''t your grandpa. He is only your guardian until you are 8. Now that your parents woke up from the coma, he no longer held any duties toward you.

    Thirdly, Oakley Night is a member of the Night clan and my biological father. Whatever happened between us has nothing to do with you or the Garcia family. Even the monarch didn''t have the right to interfere in our family matters.

    And finally, I didn''t kick him out of the clan. He left on his own. Where he went was no concern to me. Now that I have answered your question, see yourself out.

    Considering this is the first time you made a mistake and you are still a minor, the judgment hall will let it go. The next time you do this again, I will take it as an offense against the judgment hall."

    The pairs of eyes shifted toward Azzy, waiting for his reply. They were quite nervous at the moment.

    On one side, there''s Avia, who only shows obedience in front of Qridus, and on other times, she acts the same as she earlier did with Azzy whether it is Velez or any other pavilion master.

    And on the other side, there''s Azzy, the former clan heir who did something that wasn''t possible for Qridus as soon as he returned to the clan. He brought Vesyrn and Izora from the coma.

    It is not a secret that Qridus love his direct descendants so much that he wouldn''t hesitate to destroy the countries for them. In the past, he exactly did that. That''s why people think twice before messing with them on purpose.

    So, what was going to happen, now? The spectators (officials of judgment hall) couldn''t help but wonder.

    Meanwhile, Azzy stared at his former master for a few seconds and thought that this was probably the first time the older Avia spoke to him in such a hostile manner.

    What might be the reason?

    Maybe, it is because he was no longer the clan heir in the past and she thinks that Vesyrn will lose the upcoming battle? Or is it because she was bitter with the fact that he defeated her and no longer treated her as a master? Or maybe, it is both.

    Azzy suddenly remembered the words his ancestor spoke to him on their first meeting. In this world of Arcana Masters, Authority and Strength are two sides of the same coin.

    He didn''t try to understand the meaning behind that line, back then. But now, he felt like he can understand it.

    Whether it is people with authority but no real strength or people with strength but without authority, either of them will not earn the respect they desire.

    Perhaps, in Avia''s eyes, Azzy was seen as some sort of rebel as he has extraordinary power but no real position.

    Or atleast, that''s what he thought at the moment.

    Taking a deep breath, Azzy then spoke to the judge, "Elder Night, you have your reasons to never forgive your father and that''s your choice, but that doesn''t give you the right to say that he is nothing to me. My relationship with Grandpa Oakley depends on my choice.

    And his happiness is more important to me than anything else. Anyways, since I have no reason to live here anymore. I''ll be leaving the clan. If you have the time, do inform Lord Qridus."

    "You¡­ Stop right there." Avia abruptly rose to her feet in shock as Azzy turned around to walk away without bothering to listen to her.

 Chapter 449 Camilla Fauns

    Azzy''s decision to leave the clan had not only shocked the spectators in the hall but also Avia herself. When he didn''t listen to her and continued to walk away, Avia was forced to teleport to him and grabbed his arm before teleporting once again, this time to her office, which has a noise-canceling barrier around the place.

    "What are you doing, Elder Night?" asked Azzy. He was already in a bad mood and her forceful actions made it worse.

    Avia freed him and then said, "Don''t take such idiotic decisions over such a small thing. Lord Qridus is planning to introduce you to the other leaders of hidden clans during the next meeting."

    Azzy didn''t know it before but his current mood made it difficult for him to listen to her words. He replied, "The clan meeting can go to hell for all I care, Elder Night. For me, Grandpa Oakley is more important."

    "Wait." She caught Azzy''s arm and stopped him for a moment as he turned around to walk away.

    As Azzy looked at her, she softened her tone and said, "Before you go, I want you to know why I hate him. After listening to my story, you decide whether he is even worth being forgiven."

    In response, Azzy gave her a shocking statement, "I know what happened in your family. And yes, he doesn''t deserve to be called a father."

    "You know it?" Avia''s eyes widened. She then asked, "And you still stand on his side?"

    Taking a deep breath to calm down his nerves, Azzy patiently explained, "He is a culprit but he is still your father. I believe that you also know that he isn''t a bad person from the start.

    And yes, he did wrong against you two and he was paying it for years. If it is someone else, then, yes, you don''t need to even look at his face but he is family and I believe that family members deserve a second chance.

    As for me, when I have no one, he was the one who took care of me. Six years ago, I was small and didn''t know anything. But, now that I realized he has no one by his side, there''s no way in hell that I would abandon him.

    Now, if you have nothing else to ask, I''m leaving."

    Avia stayed there on the spot like a statue with Azzy''s words reverberating in her ears like an echo as the boy left the place.

    After spending a while in a daze, she slapped her forehead with a bitter smile, "What a pathetic woman you are, Avia. A kid was telling you what was right and what was wrong, and you cannot even defend yourself. Nah, it is because he isn''t wrong but it is tough to accept those simple words. Sigh¡­ That is no longer the matter. What''s important is the reaction of Lord Qridus."

    Meanwhile, Azzy traveled to the North Qudour''s Aclein City through portal points after getting in touch with Oakley. The latter was currently living in their old mansion where Affea was buried in her favorite garden.

    Azzy thought that Oakley was probably missing his wife after he was kicked out by his daughter but to his surprise, an unfamiliar woman was seen lying on the sofa with her head on Oakely''s lap. She was reading a mystery novel while he was browsing on his smartphone.

    They appeared quite intimate in Azzy''s view, making it harder for Azzy how to react to such a scene.

    But, since he had already entered the living room, there was no going back unless he rewind the time, which isn''t worth it.

    "Hey, grandpa. I''m home."

    He greeted Oakley and then looked at the stranger, "you are¡­"

    "Hey, kid. You are finally here." She quickly got up from the sofa before walking toward him. Oakley introduced both of them to each other, "Azzy, meet Camilla Fauns. Millie, he is the one I told you about, Azrael Garcia, Vesyrn''s son but he is like my grandson."

    "Fauns surname?" Azzy remembered his vice principal who is from the same family. While he was wondering about her relationship with his grandpa, the woman suddenly raised her hand, unleashing a spear of dark energy through her palm.

    Azzy was alerted immediately, sensing the power of low-rank-7 in that attack. He dodged the energy spear in reflex, letting it go past him. But, just as it was about to strike the wall behind him, the energy spear disappeared into thin air.

    Meanwhile, Oakley furrowed his brows and raised his voice as he scolded the woman, "Millie, what are you doing?"

    The woman turned her head and let out a grin, "Sorry bro, I just couldn''t help myself." She then looked at Azzy and praised him, "Your reflexes are indeed just as great as I have heard about you from that fool behind me."

    "Bro?" Azzy, who was also displeased by her sudden actions, fell into confusion all of a sudden. "What is going on here?"

    Realizing that Azzy was confused despite his usual poker face, Camilla Fauns then said, "Oh, sorry that I haven''t properly introduced myself. I''m Oakley''s younger sister, although from a different father.

    I only had a son about your age. So, you can address me as Mrs. Fauns if you want to be formal or Auntie if you want to be casual. Oh, and by the way, sorry about that sudden attack. You must have been surprised."

    "Umm¡­ Okay, Auntie Camilla?" Azzy sighed in relief inwardly and shook her hand. Since she is a family member of Oakley, he can afford to forgive her.

    For a while, they sat together and had a chat. Azzy learned that Oakley''s mother divorced her father because of her dissatisfaction with the Night clan. She later on married a businessman and settled down in Ostaza of the Northern Qudour nation.

    The couple had two daughters; the eldest was Camilla, who for some reason was super close with Oakley more than her own sister.

    And presently, it appeared that Camilla was living with her parents as her son was pursuing advanced studies in Arcana world. As for her soldier husband, he, unfortunately, passed away on a mission. After having a talk with Oakley, she traveled to Aclein city to live with him instead.

    Azzy returned to the city, thinking that his grandpa needs the support of someone. But, seeing that Oakley was doing well, he had to change his plans.

    Azzy can neither return to the death clan because of his spat with Avia nor could he go to Camelot to live there. Hence, he decided to use this time to move forward with the plans that he originally wanted to do after his father reclaim his position.

    The same day evening;

    After dinner, Camilla went back to her room to sleep early and Azzy accompanied Oakley for an outside walk in the streets.

    "So, you are really going to Silver city?" asked Oakley, hoping that Azzy changes his plans.

    Azzy nodded in response and replied, "Yeah, grandpa. Since everything is fine here, I think it is better to use the time wisely."

    Oakley fell in silence for a few seconds before he slowly asked, "Can''t you stay for a few more days?"

    Azzy halted his footsteps and stared at his face for a few seconds, "Okay."

    "Good, I''m planning to shift to Aclein City for good. So, we''ll go to Sliya first thing in the morning," said Oakley with a smile.

 Chapter 450 An Ambush At The Town Of Sliya

    About an hour later, both of them returned home from their long walk, and to their surprise, the door was opened.

    At first, Azzy thought that Camilla probably woke up from her sleep and was waiting for them in the living room but then, he saw two surprising figures instead.

    Oakley fell onto one of his knees right away and bowed to the frail-looking old man. "Greetings, Your Majesty. I deeply apologize. I didn''t know that you will be visiting our shabby house."

    "Drop the formalities, Oakley. I''m not here as the head of the Death clan but here as an ancestor of Azrael," replied Qridus as he placed the teacup on the table. Avia silently stood beside him without speaking anything.

    Meanwhile, Azzy also greeted his great-great-great grandfather with a bow. As Qridus told them to sit down, including Avia, everyone sat together on the couch. Azzy looked at his ancestor, wondering about the reason for his visit. After all, a person of the old man''s stature doesn''t need to visit in person just to convince him.

    Qridus then spoke, "I''ll come to the matter, directly. Azrael, on the 15th of the next month, there will be a hidden clan summit and our clan is hosting it.

    So, I was hoping to introduce you to someone, the person who looked after our clans since the beginning. He is perhaps the only one who can draw out your full potential.

    You are still young and have a great possibility of becoming his disciple. The next meeting might be a decade or even two decades later. That''s why you cannot miss this. Such an opportunity doesn''t come often to the doorstep.

    As for Night clan''s matters, Avia will tell you."

    Azzy turned his head to look at his former master without thinking much about this someone, whom Qridus wanted him to meet.

    Looking straight at the wall, Avia delivered her decision, "I cannot forgive Oakley Night for what he did to us but I will give him a chance to prove himself that he is a changed man.

    My uncle wanted him to take the position of clan elder and fulfill his duties. I will judge fairly based on what I hear about how he was doing at his workplace and at home. That''s all I wanted to say, at the moment."

    A smile bloomed on Oakley''s face, all of a sudden. Her words made him too happy. As he thanked her for giving him an opportunity, Azzy suggested to his grandpa that he should move into the clan after the New Year.

    While he reminded Oakley about Camilla''s position, Azzy''s real motive is to keep him safe.

    A clan heir can give order to the elder of a subordinate clan for an urgent mission. Azzy doesn''t want Velez to take advantage of his absence to send Oakley to trouble.

    But, after the New Year, his father will become the new clan heir and can look after Oakley. Not to mention, he doesn''t want to postpone his current plans by moving back to the clan, right away.

    After Azzy promised that he will surely pay the visit to the clan before the summit, Qridus returned to the clan.

    Oakley wanted his daughter to stay home for the night. However, not being comfortable with staying at the place, where her mother was buried, she gave an excuse about heavy work at the Hall of Judgment and left the house too.

    Once they were gone, Oakley heaved out a sigh of relief and collapsed on the couch, "That was so nerve-racking. I almost got a heart stroke after seeing Lord Qridus in our house."

    Azzy let out a grin and replied, "c''mon grandpa. He is a nice and understanding person. You are unnecessarily worried."

    "He is a nice person?" Oakley immediately scoffed in response. He said, "You know nothing about him, Azzy. People of our clan fear him not because he is a clan head or a peak-rank-9 expert. It is his ruthless nature that I''m worried about.

    While he can''t be compared to Aelius Crescent who was touted as the most powerful villain in the age of Arcana, Lord Qridus has his own history, leaving behind a legend at the end of the tenth epoch (2000 thousand years ago).

    In the name of upholding the balance of life and death on our planet, he wiped out several regions through natural disasters, causing the economic collapse of countries and hundreds of thousands of casualties.

    And who knows, how many millions of innocent citizens were directly or indirectly affected because of his actions?

    A good thing for you is that he loves his family and is protective of his direct descendants. I heard that he became like that after he lost his younger brother."

    "But grandpa, Aelius Crescent became like that because of the Protos energy." Azzy didn''t know what came over him but he strongly defended his maternal ancestor. He continued, "I don''t know how he lived his life but it would have been different if he wasn''t corrupted by his own Arcana."

    Obviously, Oakley became curious about the matter. He asked with a clueless look, "Protos energy? I have never heard of it before. What are you talking about? And corruption from his own Arcana? Azzy, where did you learn this?"

    Azzy knows that he cannot reveal the real identity of Chronos. Hence, he gave a vague reply, "heard it from a reliable friend with a vast amount of knowledge. Anyways, that isn''t important, right now. What I want to know is this balance of life and death."

    As Oakley then explained the purpose of the existence of the Death clan, Azzy questioned how the head of a hidden clan could decide the fate of the people who don''t pose any danger to the world.

    Oakley didn''t have an answer to that. So, he only replied that the right was given by the god of death.

    Azzy couldn''t help but remember Azrael''s small story he heard from the Reaper, a while ago as he was narrating it to Vesyrn. "Thanatos, huh¡­"

    Previously, he had no impression of the god of death, but now, he thought that this god is cruel and arrogant.

    Meanwhile, inside his mindscape, the Reaper was nodding to himself, satisfied by the events transpiring before him. "It is good that Azrael''s first impressions of Thanatos are on the negative side. I bound Vesyrn to Thanatos.

    So, the negativity will only rise further in the future. So, for now, the boy should learn about the selfish deeds of the gods and cosmic entities, especially Thanatos'' to cement his impressions.

    The slayer of Lucifer is the perfect man for this job but that arrogant prick might also create trouble. However, Azrael''s fate is linked with that man. Should I change it or should I keep it that way?"

    In the present state, the Reaper cannot connect his consciousness (attached to Azzy) to the timeline and know the future as Azzy had to be atleast in the 9-star realm for it to happen. Hence, just like before, he was looking into the countless possibilities of the future in order to draw out the probability.

    A couple of days passed away without any more surprises. But, on the third day, Oakley suddenly decided to make a visit to the Sliya town to sell everything there and permanently shift to Aclein.

    Promising to stay a week with his grandpa before leaving for WAMO''s Headquarters and completing his training, Azzy accompanied him to his hometown. Camilla also tagged along with them after taking leave from her work as she was too bored.

    As a result, the three of them left for Sliya, although by the road, not through the usual portal points as traveling by car like mortals has its own charm if one asks this 71-year-old fellow who looks like he is in his 40s.

    Camilla didn''t mind and Azzy wasn''t in any rush. So, they didn''t complain.

    Because of the international highway with little to no traffic between Northern and Southern Qudour, their journey was quite smooth.

    However, just as they crossed the check post and tollgate after their identification is verified, Azzy didn''t know why but he felt like something bad is going to happen.

    Strangely for him, even Camilla commented that she wasn''t feeling good for some reason. Oakley countered her comment by stating that those with a lot of enemies always unconsciously fear an ambush. When Azzy heard that, he kept his silence.

    Little did either of those three expect to encounter a long-beared old man who suddenly appeared in front of the vehicle when they were only a kilometer from the destination. The car crashed into him and bounced back for a few meters as if it hit a steel wall.

    "Found you, kid," said the old man as Azzy kicked away the door and got out of the vehicle. The other two were also high realm Arcana Masters and they too were unharmed by this collision.

    The Reaper''s voice then echoed in Azzy''s head at the same time, "Careful, it is a 9-star realm Arcana Master." Azzy frowned inwardly. "Who are you?" He raised his voice. Meanwhile, Oakley and Camilla who just got out of the car became alert upon sensing that this assailant''s realm is far higher than theirs.

    In response, the stranger gave him a cold gaze as he spoke, "A few days ago, when you came to this town, you caused an enormous amount of trouble. Do you still remember it or have you forgotten already?"

    Oakley and Camilla looked at Azzy while the latter fell into thoughts, "trouble?"

 Chapter 451 A Supreme Realm Expert As An Enemy This Time

    "The man was talking about your deliberate aura release back when you were stopped by the guards at the portal point." The Reaper reminded Azzy of the incident that occurred a few days ago when he was on the way to meet his grandpa.

    However, Azzy didn''t understand why that act offended a Supreme realm expert. It''s not like he killed anyone.

    He said to the stranger, "I was in a hurry and they were being unreasonable by threatening me with their guns. I got angry and taught them a lesson. Even if my actions appeared over the top, the official authorities of the government of Southern Qudour should be the ones to confront me. What does this matter have anything to do with you?"

    Azzy''s emotionless face and his straight tone once again offended the other party, making the latter feel that a brat was disrespecting him.

    The Supreme realm expert rose into the air and hollered in anger, "Instead of admitting your fault, you dare to argue in return? A conceited brat like you really needs to be taught a lesson."

    The stranger directly attacked without bothering to reason with the kid. He dashed forward.

    Azzy tried to dodge the attack but the old man was too fast even for him.

    A powerful punch landed in his abdomen and he blasted away dozens of meters, crashing onto an electric pole.

    "Azzy" "Kid"

    Camilla and Oakley were panicked by the aggressiveness of the enemy. The former quickly dashed toward Azzy to help him while the latter sent a message to his faithful servant to contact the Death Clan for support.

    Meanwhile, the Reaper''s words echoed in Azzy''s head, "From your spar with the Camelot''s princess, you should have already understood that not everyone would underestimate your skills, and neither would all people would be too patient to argue about the facts, Azrael."

    "Ugh¡­ I know¡­" Azzy slightly groaned in pain as he slowly rose to his feet and then glared at the old man, who appeared to be deadly serious.

    As Camilla reached him and faced the Supreme realm expert, she spoke in a polite tone, "Venerable Master, he''s just 14 years old and lived a sheltered life. Intentionally or unintentionally, he might have done something wrong without having any idea about the consequences. Please do forgive him."

    The old man first had a look of surprise on his face, and then, as he observed Azzy for a few seconds, he crossed his arms behind the back and said firmly, "Alright. I can forgive the kid on the account of his age but he should kneel down and apologize for almost threatening the lives of thousands of innocent citizens."

    "Yes, he will do that." Camilla agreed on Azzy''s stead and whispered, "Think of him as an elder and do it."

    "Aunt Camilla!" Azzy glared at her for accepting such an absurd demand he definitely wasn''t the type to bow before someone he doesn''t acknowledge. Not to mention, it is not like he has no chance against this enemy.

    Unlike the last time when he was forced to flee under the onslaught of Aethon Light, Azzy not only possessed a trump card to defeat Supreme realm experts but also can use his power without any restraints.

    Hence, not intending to apologize to the person who wasn''t even the victim, Azzy proceeded to unleash the soul skills back to back.

    "Soul skill: Eyes of God" "Soul skill: Rise of the Undead"

    His eyes turned pitch-black while a single undead skeleton was summoned before him.

    The Supreme realm expert furrowed his brows when he saw that. "An undead summon? You are a necromancer that already killed humans before?"

    Soul energy erupted from his hand to take the shape of a sword.

    Earlier, the expert was thinking that Azzy is one of those heavenly geniuses if he can become 7-star Arcana Master within just 14 years but now he felt like he should eliminate the kid when he is just a bud.

    First of all, the necromancers are considered evil in society, and seeing that Azzy had an undead human skeleton at his side, it is obvious that he had killed a human being.

    So, his teenage no longer held any importance to the Supreme realm expert and the latter decided to go for the kill.

    Azzy had already made his move. Hence, he too no longer cared what the old man was thinking. Pouring soul energy into his body''s organs to protect them from unexpected attack, he signaled the undead summon to go after the enemy.

    The undead skeleton rushed forward at its maximum speed. This time, it was the enemy''s turn to get in the abdomen. However, unlike Azzy who was hit with controlled strength, the old man was hit with the full strength of a peak-rank-9 expert.

    The force was so powerful that the Supreme realm expert blasted away for more than a hundred meters and crash into a house. Fortunately, it was empty. So, no one else is harmed.

    Meanwhile, Camilla and Oakley were dumbstruck by the sudden development of the situation. Both of them cursed out loud at the same time, "f**k¡­"

    From the start, neither of them was expecting to even have a chance against the enemy. Hence, while Oakley was asking for the Death Clan''s help, Camilla tried to hold off the enemy through talks.

    How could they expect Azzy to fight like this? Even Oakley couldn''t help but take a look at his grandson and wonder whether he knew the kid, at all.

    As for Azzy, he was calmer as he knew that it would happen. After all, this normal-looking undead actually held the power of a peak-rank-9 expert, Barbara''s master and the former guardian of Hildegard.

    However, at the same time, he also knew that this enemy will not be defeated with just one punch. Hence, he quickly urged the both of them to leave the spot before the old man returns, further harshly telling them that they will drag him down.

    Neither of them wanted to do that but as they saw Azzy''s prowess with their own eyes, Oakley and Camilla were forced to use teleportation cards to escape the place.

    Once they were gone, Azzy proceeded to arm himself with four Protos Spears and also put a few Gravity Suppression skill cards in his pocket before absorbing the natural energy from the surroundings.

    As for why he didn''t summon his death scythe or the black wolf, he knew that the latter isn''t strong enough to face the enemy and he doesn''t have much mastery over the former. The sparring match with Leah made him realize that he cannot depend on them against opponents like these.

    Meanwhile, at the destroyed house, the old man got up on his feet and spat out a mouthful of blood. As he wiped off his mouth, he clenched his fist in anger, "That brat injured me? I can no longer hesitate to remove that evil spawn from this world."

    Activating his senses at his peak, the old man flew into the sky before going back to the place where Azzy and his incredibly strong puppet were waiting.

    He saw the Protos spears hovering around Azzy and sensed powerful energy from them. "They don''t look like they belong to mankind. Is it cosmic energy?" he wondered.

    Grabbing one of the Protos spears, Azzy then looked straight at the enemy and said, "Consider the earlier attack as a warning and leave my sight. Or else, I won''t be responsible for the consequences."

    In response, the old man raised his hand, summoning a large broadsword and sprouted wings with bird-like feathers from the back, "The name''s Walchelium Elys, take this name to your grave."

 Chapter 452 Qridus Garcias Provocation

    Walchelium Elys was a former member of the church of light. He wasn''t a normal member either.

    About a thousand years ago, as a cardinal who was in the Supreme realm, he contested for the vacant position of Supreme Pontiff when it became vacant.

    However, the Archbishops and Bishops from all the branches voted in the favor of the other candidate as they felt that Elys was a bit too aggressive in his actions, especially against dark organizations where the leader of the Church of light should be benevolent to every human on the planet including the enemies, atleast on the outside.

    Once his rival became the Supreme Pontiff, a chain of events happened one after another during the next couple of decades, leading to his resignation from the cardinal''s position altogether.

    From then on, he was living quietly in the countryside and it''s been several centuries since he became a citizen of Southern Qudour.

    Presently, while hiding his real soul realm and living as a peak-rank-6 expert, he was working as the principal at Larnwick academy.

    And when Azzy unknowingly harmed the citizens of the city while releasing his aura at the portal point to teach those guards a lesson, this old man got angered.

    Then, he saw Azzy''s undead summoning and his hatred toward the necromancers that he was suppressing for several centuries now exploded all of a sudden, making him quite ferocious.

    Back to the present, Walchelium Elys rushed forward and clashed with the undead skeleton of peak-rank-9 strength. Azzy, with his Eyes of God active, watched everything in slow motion.

    Hence, he was able to see an opening and proceeded to take out a gravity suppression skill card from his pocket before charging forward.

    Meanwhile, at the Death clan, Qridus Garcia was having tea with his only friend in the clan, Francis Blood.

    They were discussing the matters that needed to be addressed at the upcoming clan meeting.

    All of a sudden, the door of the private chamber gets opened with force and a man enters the room, interrupting their conversation.

    "Isham Night?" The monarch of the Death clan furrowed his brows in displeasure as the Patriarch of the Night clan didn''t even bother to knock on the door and ask permission to enter.

    "Any urgent news, Isham?" asked Francis.

    Isham Night hurriedly spoke of the matter without formally greeting them, "Your Majesty, I received a message from Ethan Night, who is currently serving my cousin, Oakley. According to the contents of the message, young master Azrael is in danger."

    "What do you mean? Say it clearly." Qridus rose to his feet with a serious expression as soon as he heard of the matter. After all, unless it isn''t an ambush by a powerful expert, the Night Clan''s Patriarch will not inform him like this.

    Isham then explained, "All I know is that the enemy is in the Supreme realm."

    "9-star realm Arcana Master?" Qridus realized that the matter is indeed very urgent. He proceeded to ask, "What is Azrael''s location?"

    Isham answered in a worried tone, "The young master was in the town of Sliya when he encountered the enemy. The exact whereabouts are unknown. It''s already been five minutes since it happened. I''m afraid that¡­"

    "Nothing will happen." Qridus didn''t let him finish the words with a cold expression on his face. "Nothing should happen."

    Soon, Qridus left the clan to go to the nearby city to use the portal point. After teleporting to the Central City in the Arcana world and then using portal point again, he stepped out of the teleportation formation at Larnwick City in Southern Qudour.

    And just like with Azzy, the tourists or natives who exited the teleportation formation were going through the verification process, although there is a change in their behavior.

    They were acting completely polite and understanding toward the visitors like the hosts of an event.

    However, not everyone has the time to appreciate their behavior. One of them was Qridus, who wouldn''t want to bother with the likes of them.

    As a result, when he was greeted politely and asked about his identification card of some sort, Qridus responded with a cold gaze, followed by a warning, "move aside from my way, young man. I''m in a hurry."

    Obviously, the guard didn''t like the tone of Qridus. But, he clearly remembered his captain''s orders. Hence, before retaliation, he first tried to sense the soul realm of Qridus.

    Once he did that, sweat beads started to appear on his forehead and he started stuttering, "plea¡­ please¡­ do¡­ do¡­ wai¡­ wait for a sec¡­ second. I''ll¡­ I''ll go and fetch our¡­ our cap¡­ captain."

    As the guard rushed away from the spot to report to the captain about the arrival of a powerful person, Qridus'' eyes suddenly fell on the guards and the other visitors.

    Upon seeing the guards and the humans around, an idea suddenly popped up in his mind. Qridus changed his decision of leaving the place and instead, he intentionally released the aura of a Supreme realm.

    Enormous pressure descended on the citizens of Larnwick once again. Hundreds of thousands of people felt the pressure for just a fraction of a second before losing consciousness.

    As there is no expert of the legendary realm (8-star/rank-8) present in the city, no one was spared. However, he wasn''t Azzy. Qridus knew how to control his aura very well.

    His command over his aura and soul energy was probably the highest under the demigod realm. No one lost their life including normal birds flying in the sky and stray animals roaming around.

    Sensing the situation within the city, Qridus mumbled, "No innocent life is unnecessarily harmed and the whole city went into sleeping. Now, let''s bring this enemy to me. Great Granduncle said that Azrael''s soul wasn''t spotted in the spirit realm and likely being alive. So, it is better this way."

    Once Larnwick City was covered, Qridus expanded the range of his aura. 20 kilometers radius became 50 km, then, 100, and finally 200 kilometers, covering almost thirty percent of the country''s land, making millions of people unconscious.

    In an instant, the whole country shook in uproar as the reports reached the capital city.

    At the same time, in the town of Sliya, Walchelium Elys was in the middle of a battle against two forces. The undead skeleton was taking all the blows that are aimed at Azzy while the latter was throwing Protos Spears of rank-6 strength.

    It''s actually amazing that this Supreme realm expert was not only defending against both of them but also the 100g pressure inside an invisible dome that is mostly restricting his movements.

    There are times when he got out of the range, but then, upon realizing that Azzy had no intention to step out of that invisible field and the undead skeleton''s defense proved to be stronger to block all of his energy attacks, the old man was forced to go with close combat while trying his best to injure Azzy.

    Unfortunately for him, so far, only he was getting hit by attacks again and again.

    Fortunately for him, they were quite weak that couldn''t even cut his strong skin.

    Had Azzy''s energy attacks successfully invaded his system, he would have known how terrifying the Protos energy really is. However, for the moment, Azzy wasn''t really getting any upper hand while his soul power was rapidly getting decreased.

    Luckily for Azzy, Qridus already made his move and his way of provocation startled the cardinal and shocked even the Reaper if one might add his view too.

    "A peak stage 9-star realm expert?" Walchelium Elys quickly distanced himself from the battle and glanced in the direction of Larnwick City as soon as he sensed the power.

 Chapter 453 Azzy Bares His Fangs Against The Supreme Being

    It wasn''t just the Supreme realm expert who sensed the aura from the distance. Even Azzy also glanced in the same direction, albeit only for a second as the Reaper gave him the answer without being asked.

    "Lord Qridus is here?" Azzy was taken aback at first and then thought that it isn''t that surprising as Oakley might have asked for the help. Not to mention, the clan head even made a visit to Aclein City to convince him to return to the clan so that he attends the upcoming hidden clan meeting.

    The only puzzling thing is that his ancestor was using his aura to bring the enemy to him rather than directly making his appearance. "Did Lord Qridus want to help me behind the scenes?" Azzy couldn''t help but ask.

    To which, the Reaper replied, "It''s quite possible that he doesn''t know your exact location. After all, in the entire world, only you have the capability to trace down the hidden auras of Arcana Masters."

    The Reaper''s words made him remember the method his ancestor taught him in the past timeline. If he just speaks ''Qridus Garcia'' name ten times in a row, he might be able to telepathically get connected to the monarch of the Death Clan.

    However, there''s a bit of hesitation in his heart. Azzy didn''t get to showcase his entire strength and wasn''t inclined to ask for help until he was sure that he cannot handle the enemy.

    While he was contemplating the matter, the old man managed to get out of the invisible dome and intently stared in the direction of Larnwick City. It is obvious that he was wondering about this new enemy''s purpose.

    Is the enemy calling him out or is he launching an attack? The old man wondered.

    Despite the fact that Walchelium Elys had hatred for necromancers, he was still a responsible Supreme realm expert. He knew his priorities. Hence, he no longer continued his battle.

    Looking straight at Azzy, who was busy thinking, the Supreme realm expert spoke loudly while maintaining a serious look, "I guess today is a lucky day, kid. But, I will have to warn you though. The next time we meet will be your last day on Gaia. So, pray that we''ll never encounter it again."

    Without bothering to listen to Azzy''s reply, he turned around and flapped his angelic wings.

    Just when he was about to fly away, Azzy suddenly raised his arm and threw a Protos Spear.

    Just like the laughing skull of darkness, the Protos Spear attack will never miss the target once it was locked onto the enemy.

    "Hmm?"

    As Elys turn around and blocked it in reflex and then furrowed his brows, Azzy spoke aloud, "Where do you think you are going after trying to kill me? You will either apologize that you are wrong or face the consequences."

    "I don''t have time to listen to your nonsense, kid," replied Elys who was in a hurry to leave. "Be grateful that I''m leaving you alive. Now, get lost from my country before I change my mind`."

    Azzy was obviously displeased by Elys'' words and he hit back at him with provoking statement while summoning the Death Scythe and Vajra at the same time, "Just because I was going easy on you, do you really think you can control my fate or something? You have neither the authority to punish me nor do you have the strength to back up your statement. All you are doing is just running away because you knew that you can''t win."

    "Preposterous," roared the old man in anger as he raised the sword. "I''ll change my name if you walk here alive."

    Elys didn''t care how many Arcana his enemy was summoning nor did he want to pay attention to that. There''s only one thing on his mind. It is to kill him as fast as possible and leave the place to confront the real enemy.

    Meanwhile, Mark proceeded to go with unleashing the hidden skill of Vajra in order to access more Protos energy.

    "Hidden Skill: Merge"

    *Woof*

    The black lightning wolf let out a powerful bark before both of them turned into a blinding flash of light and only Azzy''s figure resurfaced. However, he wasn''t the same either.

    Whether it is through hidden skills or through other techniques, whenever merging happens, the final product usually has the same physical traits of the same.

    Now, how much percentage each party holds depends on their potential ad strength.

    In this case, there was no trace of Vajra on Azzy at all. If there''s something to be noted, it is the black gem on his forehead, and black lightning sparks dancing all over his body.

    Perhaps, he might have received a wolf''s yellow eyes, but at the moment, under the effects of the Eyes of God, which turned his eyes pitch-black, they couldn''t be visible.

    Thankfully, there are substantial changes inside Azzy''s body. And he was already feeling it.

    Grabbing the death scythe with his right arm, Azzy closed his eyes as he began to sense new things apart from the Protos energy sealed inside the gem. "What is this feeling?"

    His senses were sharply increased by a tremendous amount. He doesn''t know whether it was just an illusion or whether it is real but he could feel things like anxiety and panic from his opponent. Azzy could even hear the heartbeat of the old man.

    At the same time, the faint aura he felt from a distance had now become very strong. He can also somehow able to tell that hundreds of thousands of citizens were in an unconscious state.

    "Is it the same when I unleashed my aura back then?" Azzy wondered at first before realizing that he didn''t have the time to dwell on the matter as his enemy was already provoked and about to unleash a soul skill.

    The enemy''s sword turned into specks of light and entered his body.

    In the next instant, his two arms turned into golden tentacles like that of an octopus and he stretched them toward Azzy while staying outside the radius of the invisible dome created by the Gravity Suppression skill card.

    As the peak-rank-9 undead skeleton stood before Azzy to block the attack, the latter raised the Death scythe above his head and poured soul energy into the weapon, releasing soul skills in a row as a combo to counterattack.

    "Soul skill: Chains of Lightning"

    "Soul skill: Rain of Death"

    "Soul skill: Puppet Ghost Creation"

    As the soul skills belonged to different Arcana spirits, they were released simultaneously.

    The black lightning chains erupted from Azzy''s body had stretched forward and caught the golden tentacles before the latter reached the skeleton.

    "Hmm?" The Supreme realm expert furrowed his brows as he felt a tremendous amount of corrupted force invade his body.

    While his concentration was lost for a moment, Azzy charged forward with a layer of natural energy and his soul energy over his body. The undead skeleton naturally led the fight as the vanguard.

    The clouds formed above Azzy''s head and black rain started falling. It moved along with Azzy too and started falling on the enemy, melting his skin and making him scream in pain for a second before using his ether energy as a barrier to protect himself.

    "This brat is getting more troublesome," thought Elys as he used all of his strength while raising the tentacles.

    As the chains of black lightning and the golden tentacles were connected, Azzy''s body rose in the air before getting slammed down onto the ground with great force.

 Chapter 454 Ghost Puppet Creation

    Azzy could have evaded getting injured by releasing the chains of lightning but he didn''t do it, not wanting to let the enemy escape. Not to mention, he has confidence in his Tier-8 Divine physique which is powered by soul energy and natural energy, which is almost as good as the physique of a Supreme realm expert.

    As a result, Azzy''s body was heavily slammed onto the ground and he felt vibrations all over his body but thankfully, no injuries occurred except for a few bruises on his skin and face.

    Looking at the fallen Azzy, Elys let out a smirk as he removed the bracelet on his wrist, "you have really made a foolish move. Now, I will let you realize it."

    As the undead skeleton dashed forward, Elys closed his eyes for a moment and poured his divine energy into the golden tentacles.

    In an instant, the divine energy passed through the chains of black lightning, surprisingly overpowering the Protos energy running through the chains before making its way toward Azzy.

    At the same time, another divine energy shield was formed over him on top of a soul energy barrier. Unlike the earlier barrier, this one completely blocked the black rain without being damaged in the least.

    The undead skeleton reached its target and threw down a powerful punch. It landed on the divine barrier and a crack appeared before it repaired itself to become anew.

    Meanwhile, Azzy continued to lie on the ground. He was seen closing his eyes as it was his body''s turn to be invaded by a foreign energy. The Reaper released the Protos energy from the gem on Azzy''s forehead and used it to destroy the harmful divine energy.

    Seeing that Azzy was fighting against his powerful divine energy, the Supreme realm expert''s expression drastically changed. His smirk was wiped off and his face was darkened, "This devil spawn keeps surprising me over and over again."

    After a brief moment, he calmed himself with positive thoughts, "But, no matter. The divine energy was presented to me directly by the Goddess Gaia herself in exchange for my help to her avatar.

    It is far more powerful than those divine beings, subordinates of the Goddess of the Light (Thea). Let''s see how long he will struggle.

    His soul energy was almost consumed and my divine energy will not let him recover it either. So, this is nothing but a useless¡­ Ugh¡­"

    All of a sudden, the tip of a black-colored blade came out of his chest and his body slowly started to turn into stone. As he turned his head to look behind him with a look of shock on his face, the rest of its form materialized. It looked like a knight''s spear but is completely black in color.

    As for the doubled layered barrier of divine energy and his own soul energy, they couldn''t stop this spear. Rather than being unable to stop it, it looked as if the Spear passed through them.

    Yes, it is the Death Spear, although it usually doesn''t have the power to pass through the barriers.

    It wasn''t the only thing that was strange.

    There was no figure seen around either. Only the Spear was there, piercing him from behind. He hurriedly withdrew all of the divine energy from the barrier, back into his body to defend himself.

    The black rain started to damage his soul energy barrier and the undead skeleton took this opportunity to deal a powerful blow.

    At the same time, Azzy, who was lying motionlessly on the ground, let out a mumble, "Soul skill: Soul Absorption"

    Everything happened in a moment.

    The barrier was shattered by the skeleton''s punch and Elys blasted away for more than a hundred meters, crashing onto the ground.

    Azzy''s chains of lightning continued to stretch and made sure to stay connected with the golden tentacles while a tremendous amount of soul energy started leaving the old man, throwing him into a shock once again for a moment before he flapped his wings to fly away.

    "Azrael, you cannot beat him without the hourglass." The Reaper suddenly suggested to Azzy that he needed to use the hourglass'' soul skills before the old man gained enough distance.

    "Hmm? Aren''t I an advantage?" asked Azzy while continuing to lie down on the ground. He was actually concentrating on the invisible ghost puppet that is rushing forward alongside the undead skeleton to attack the enemy. It was also through the same method that he ambushed the Supreme realm expert.

    The Reaper, on the other hand, wasn''t that positive. He explained by starting with indirectly praising the enemy, "If it was someone else, by now, he would have died or ended up gravely injured. But, a veteran like Walchelium Elys managed to deal with it.

    He first used the divine energy from the barrier to nullify the effects of the Death Spear.

    Then, he used the power of the undead skeleton to get out of the black rain''s range and also get far away from you without abandoning on trying to invade your soul orb with the divine energy through those golden tentacles.

    While the Soul absorption did take away a chunk of his soul energy and recovered yours to full, it didn''t harm him much due to the difference of your realms.

    To best him in battle, you need to stop the time at a perfect moment and then put him in a time loop. By the time he figured out how to escape it, use the Death scythe''s "Soul Severing" and kill him in one swoop."

    "Eh? But, he is a Supreme Being. Killing him would be a tremendous loss to the human race," replied Azzy, not in favor of killing the opponent. If Elys would have heard what Azzy was thinking, he would have coughed out blood in anger. An Exalt realm expert was dreaming of killing a Supreme realm expert, who was blessed by Gaia.

    "He is only using your mistake as an excuse to kill you. In reality, he just hates the necromancers like the other members of the Church of Light. He''s dangerous, Azrael." The Reaper doesn''t sense the evilness of the enemy. Hence, he can only try to convince Azzy in another way.

    He further said, "As for his 9-star realm status, did you forget why you have killed Barbara''s master? People like these who give unreasonable justifications to commit murder don''t deserve any mercy."

    Azzy of the past might have been convinced by such a simple statement, but after eradicating so many enemies who came after his life, he made up his mind to kill the enemy.

    He summoned the Hourglass in his hand.

    Just as he was about to unleash the soul skill and follow the Reaper''s strategy, all of a sudden, the space was frozen in the surroundings along with everyone inside it (Azzy, Elys, the undead skeleton, and the ghost puppet).

    "What the hell is going on?" Azzy felt genuinely panicked for the first time as he felt like all of his body parts were paralyzed. Except for his eyes, he couldn''t move anything else.

    "The Ultimate Law of Space. Apart from Space itself, only one person can use it." The Reaper''s words echoed through his head.

    This time, even the Deity of Time and Death appeared to be taken aback by the event that he hadn''t foreseen.

    "Ultimate law?" As Azzy wondered what that means, a handsome young man wearing a modern suit descended from the sky while shaking his head in pity.

    Elys trembled at the sight of the young man who landed just a couple of feet away from his body.

 Chapter 455 The Guardian God

    The portal point, Larnwick city;

    Qridus Garcia was waiting for the arrival of the Supreme realm expert while continuing to expand the range of his aura release.

    If the enemy doesn''t come, then, he was willing to send every citizen in the Southern Qudour to an unconscious state without caring about the consequences of his decision.

    After passing the town of Sliya, the range of his aura was expanding to the north where the capital city is located. Of course, the Northern Qudour and other neighboring countries will not miss this to take advantage of the situation.

    In fact, the hostile northern neighbor''s military, which always spies on the south through their satellites, had already started to mobilize special battle units for a secret invasion through the ocean.

    All of that has nothing to do with Qridus as he was hell-bent on attracting the attention of the 9-star realm Arcana master, who was attacking his descendant.

    In his view, he wasn''t doing the wrong thing and the people were paying for the actions taken by their country''s guardian. If a war occurs, then, the guardian of the Southern Qudour will also be responsible for the tragedy.

    But, even he didn''t expect to sense the space get frozen at the town of Sliya. He immediately stopped his efforts and focused on the matter, "Something is going on in the town. It looked like I need to go there in person and hope that I won''t be too late."

    He rose into the air and started flying at his maximum speed of mach 3.1, which will take atleast 2-3 minutes of the journey.

    While he was on his way to save his descendant and his original plan failed in his opinion, at the site of the battlefield, a new event has been unfolded for Azzy.

    A handsome-looking young man in a suit had landed on the ground and first placed his attention on the former cardinal of the church.

    Looking down at him, the young man spoke, "Gaia really made a bad mistake to present you with her divine energy. He is a kid and might not be able to distinguish between right and wrong. But, you are an adult who lived for thousands of years. Where has your brain gone? Anyways, you are still a necessary evil for the survival of the human race and I need to talk with the kid. I''ll give you a chance to leave this place and return to your home."

    As the young man snapped his fingers, a portal appeared out of nowhere and swallowed the old man to transport him to god knows where.

    Once he was gone, the young man then focused on Azzy and let out a smile, "Hello, kid. Looking at your face, I want to say that it''s been a while but seeing that this is our first meeting, I will only say nice to meet you."

    Azzy didn''t understand what he was saying and didn''t know who he is either. He also couldn''t move from the spot.

    As it seems that the Reaper knew this stranger and he wasn''t in a position to even reply, Azzy questioned the deity of time and death regarding the identity of the young man who froze the space.

    The Reaper didn''t give him the answer he wanted to hear and just told him to be patient and that he will learn it eventually.

    In the next second, the Reaper took over Azzy''s body and concentrated on his forehead. Soon, the Protos energy released from the black gem enveloped him like a layer, nullifying the effect of the Space Freeze on Azzy''s body.

    Looking at the scene, the young man snapped his fingers once again, this time, unfreezing the space. He then said in a polite tone, "Greetings Lord Chronos, I would love to have a talk with you someday but for now, I need to talk with the kid. Please put him back. I''m kinda in a hurry."

    The Reaper stared at the young man for a couple of seconds and nodded, "Alright but I hope you will be careful with your words."

    "Relax, I won''t jeopardize your grand mission whatsoever," replied the young man while waving his hand with a smile.

    The Reaper stared at him for another couple of seconds, looking at the possible future. Once he ensured that this guy will not harm his interests, he said, "I leave Azrael under your care."

    As the young man nodded, the Reaper returned to the mindscape and Azzy returned to reality.

    Earlier, Azzy was watching it from his mindscape and heard the stranger''s words. He couldn''t help but wonder what this grand mission is but since there are more pressing matters at the moment, he threw that thought to the back of his mind and focused on the person walking toward him.

    He greeted the stranger while maintaining wariness, "Hello, Mister. May I know who you are and what business you have with me?"

    "The name''s Williard Ravens Smith," replied the young man. He then went on with his introduction, "once a human but reborn as the Guardian of the mortal realm. People knew me in the history books as the guardian god. The hidden clans address me as the judge of the roundtable. And for you, I can be considered as your ancestor for one of my descendants founded the Death Clan."

    "The guardian god?" Azzy remembered the history lesson taught in the academy.

    It is said that the guardian god is the origin of all Arcana Masters. He supposedly passed down the knowledge of mystical runes to the ancient warriors after trapping all the beasts in the Arcana world. It led them to form a contract with Arcana Spirits and fight alongside them, the creation of skill cards, item cards, etc¡­

    Later on, as hundreds of thousands of years passed away, due to genetic mutation and everything, Arcana Spirits became a natural part of blessed human beings.

    In one sentence, everything about Arcana Masters started right with the guardian god.

    Obviously, Azzy was in shock to meet such a person. But, at the same time, there''s something else that attracted his attention.

    "You were once a human?" Azzy couldn''t help but ask him with suspicion clearly written on his face. After all, just like everyone in the world, he too thought that the guardian god was a mysterious divine being.

    But, then, he realized that he was talking to a powerful person who also happened to be his ancestor. Hence, he quickly apologized for his casual tone.

    The guardian god didn''t appear to mind it and waved his hands while letting out a giggle like a normal person. "It''s quite amusing that you reacted the same way as your ancestor once did. Anyways, it is a long story and I don''t have the luxury to explain it to you about my origins at the moment. I''ll just speak about why I stopped your battle and what I wanted to talk to you about."

    Azzy looked at him curiously. He wondered what this man wanted with him.

    The guardian god then put forth a proposition, "Azrael Garcia, I would like you to become my disciple for you have the potential to surpass me."

    "What!"

 Chapter 456 Azzy Goes To WAMOs HQ

    A couple of minutes later;

    Qridus Garcia reached the place in the town of Sliya, nearby Oakley''s residence, and he found his descendant just blankly staring into space.

    As Qridus landed before him, Azzy returned from his thoughts and greeted him.

    The frail-looking old man nodded while letting out a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness, you are completely fine. What happened here, earlier?" He asked.

    Azzy told him everything from how they crashed into the enemy to the point where the guardian god sends him away. He didn''t tell what happened afterward.

    As a result, Qridus thought that the guardian god saved Azzy and proceeded to scold the kid for being reckless.

    Azzy wanted to reply that he was confident about taking on that Supreme realm expert if he goes all out including the usage of the cosmic gems. However, he managed to swallow down those words at the last second and then apologized to his ancestor for making him worry.

    Later that night, at Affea Mansion;

    While everyone else in the Aclein City was sleeping peacefully, Azzy was sitting at the window and staring at the dark sky. He appeared to be lost in thoughts.

    The Reaper was patient for some time before he broke the silence, "What is there to think? Your future will be limitless under his guidance. And there is no one in the universe that will be able to harm you. After all, even the true gods will think twice before trying to mess with him, although strangely it was them who collectively gave him the power to defeat the devil."

    "But, nothing comes for free," commented Azzy as he came out of his thoughts. He further added that he might have to lose his freedom in the process.

    In response, the Reaper immediately reminded Azzy that the guardian god will have the access to all the places in the universe, including the celestial realm.

    As soon as Azzy heard those words, the image of Claire popped up in his head and he immediately turned 180 degrees from his earlier stance. "I''ll become his disciple but only after I pay my debt to my late master with my own hands."

    "Well, you still have time left to bring justice to Barton Everglade," replied the Reaper as if he was confident that a few days are enough to finish the job.

    The next day;

    "Okay, grandpa. I''m leaving. Take care of yourself." "Be careful on your way, Azzy"

    Azzy bid goodbye to Oakley Night as he was leaving for WAMO''s HQ.

    With the task of finishing his training period and becoming an official, Azzy left for WAMO''s HQ.

    As he was traveling through portal points, it only took him around 30-40 minutes to reach the headquarters.

    "Okay, Azzy. You are here. You know what to do¡­"

    Taking a deep breath, Azzy proceeded to walk toward the gate.

    Thinking that he is a visitor, the guard stopped him and sternly informed him that the visitor''s entryway is from the west gate.

    "West gate?"

    Azzy was perplexed for a moment. He never heard of such an entrance before. In his mind, there is only one entrance to the HQ. Did the organization make a new entrance at some point during the past 27 years? He wondered.

    However, as he wasn''t here to waste time on such trivial things, he directly showed his ID card, which has his name, birth date, and position as a tier-3 cadet.

    This time, it was the security guards'' turn to get surprised. The guard looked Azzy up and down and asked whether the ID card is really his.

    In response, Azzy simply told him to verify its authenticity.

    The guard then walked inside and interrupted a middle-aged fellow who was currently on a video call with a small kid. "Captain, there''s a teenager outside. He¡­"

    The middle-aged fellow put down his smartphone and looked at him with displeasure clearly written on his face. He scolded the subordinate, "Can''t you see I''m on a phone call with my daughter? What is it?"

    The guard then handed the ID card to him, "He looks like a teenager and doesn''t have any soul energy but¡­"

    "Hmm¡­" The captain looked at the ID card, which has silver markings around the corner with the insignia of a tiger. "White tiger corps?"

    The captain then disconnected the video call and made a call to a different number.

    "Hello?" A sweet voice responded as the call was lifted in two rings.

    "Hello, this is Captain Meyer. Can you look into the database and see if a person named Azrael in the list? He is a tier-3 cadet and his DOB is 18th June, 1980. And he was registered in the disbanded White Tiger Corps." The captain enquired about Azzy''s identity.

    "Okay, give me a second¡­" replied the receptionist. The captain heard several clicks, perhaps the keyboard buttons and mouse clicks. He waited in patience.

    After about ten seconds, the receptionist gave a shocking reply, "Captain Meyer, his data is restricted by authorities. You need level-5 access to acquire the information."

    "Level-5?" The captain was stunned for a moment. He thought, "Only President Cornelius, Commander Kruger, and Vice President Ramiel have such access. Except for the members of Zero Squad, no individual has such a privilege. Who is this fellow?"

    After disconnecting the call, he rushed outside immediately to take a look at Azzy who looked unaged compared to the picture on the ID card, which was supposed to be from 27 years ago.

    Believing that Azzy is above his realm and is extremely talented to suppress his soul realm to the stage of erasing his soul energy, the captain apologized for making him wait and personally escorted him to the President''s office.

    Not to mention, there was also this faint suspicion about Azzy forging an ID card. He wouldn''t want to take chances and get punished later. But, if it is true, then, Azzy was a VIP, and mistreating him will also earn him punishment.

    This is the reason he went along with Azzy.

    After confirming that the location of the President''s office hasn''t changed in the past 27 years, Azzy confidently walked in the direction he went last time. Captain Meyer quietly followed him.

    The more he spent time following Azzy, the more he started believing that this teenager is the real deal.

    However, surprisingly even the organization''s dwarf president also failed to recognize Azzy as they stepped inside the office. The supreme realm expert treated Azzy as if he met him for the first time.

    Captain Meyer apologized to the president and then gave him Azzy''s ID followed by informing him about level-5 restricted access to Azzy''s information.

    President Cornelious got surprised for a second and then he took a close look at the ID card. Suddenly, his facial expression changed and he abruptly raised his head, "You are Azrael, the winner of the 1994''s World league, both senior and junior champions?"

    Azzy raised his hand in response without saying yes or no. A soul card appeared in his palm and he slowly said, "Come out, Vajra."

    In the next instant, as the black lightning wolf jumped out of the soul card and landed on the floor, Azzy looked at the president and said, "I can showcase my powers to prove my identity, Mr. President."

    Cornelius'' face brightened in realization, "Indeed..."

    However, he readily didn''t accept Azzy''s identity, somehow feeling that Azzy probably wanted to show off his current strength.

    As a result, he accepted the challenge after a bit of thought, "Follow me to the sparring chamber, young man."

 Chapter 457 Sparring With WAMOs President

    Placing his hand on Azzy''s shoulder, WAMO''s president teleported the both of them to a long corridor with titanium metal doors installed everywhere.

    However, it looked abandoned for some time as there is dust everywhere on the floor, walls, doors, etc¡­

    As Azzy looked at his surroundings and wonder where he ended up, Cornelius introduced the place to him, "this is the former training facility of Z-squad. After shifting their base, we never had the chance to reopen once again. Anyway, follow me inside."

    Azzy nodded in understanding. Since he was about to fight a Supreme realm expert once again, he didn''t want to be distracted by other things. Hence, he put away his curiosity about why such a huge facility was abandoned.

    Soon, both of them entered one of the chambers, which looked quite familiar to Azzy.

    The room was not the same but it reminded him of the training chamber he used in the academy. He remembered those sparring robots but quickly put away those thoughts and focused on the present.

    Meanwhile, President Cornelius was observing the control settings of the room. He pressed several buttons, first removing every speck of dust, and then, followed by activating a violet-colored barrier on the walls of the room which will cut off the connection with the rest of the world.

    It means that no one from outside the room would be able to see, hear, or even sense what happens inside unless they enter the space. Being confident in his abilities, Azzy wasn''t that worried about the location. He always had a backup of rewinding the time anyway.

    Soon, both of them stood before each other, standing apart just ten meters away.

    The dwarf Supreme Being spoke the rules, "We will engage in a three-minute spar. During the first minute, you will attack and I will defend. During the second minute, it will be my turn to attack and you will defend. And in the final minute, both of them are allowed to the both of us. You have 20 seconds to prepare and your time starts now."

    Deciding to play by this president''s rules, Azzy didn''t bother to ask any questions and went directly into battle mode.

    As he summoned Vajra, President Cornelius stood firmly in his place and crossed his hands behind his back as if he was telling that he won''t be lifting any finger.

    Little did he expect that the wolf was nothing more than a distraction. His real attacks are something else.

    As soon as the black lightning wolf dashed forward, Azzy summoned the hourglass in his hand and turned it upside down.

    "Soul skill: Time Stop"

    Before the entire world was frozen in time, Cornelius caught a glimpse at the hourglass and his facial expression turned stiff, "Third Arcana?"

    As the black lightning wolf reached him, Azzy proceeded to summon his trademark, four Protos Spears, and successively threw them at him. Once he was struck by the Protos Spears, the wolf attacked him with its claws at its peak speed.

    Three seconds passed in all the clocks and watches before the time was unfrozen, the Supreme realm expert was down on the floor with his body full of wounds and Protos energy invading his system.

    "Argh¡­" Cornelius let out a painful scream and hurriedly used his soul energy to heal himself while expelling the foreign energy from his body.

    Azzy was waiting to complete his final move. As soon as the dwarf president rose to his feet, he used up all of the natural energy he stored in his body for the past few hours and unleashed a giant translucent palm.

    "Art of Buddha: Heavenly Palm"

    Filled with the concentrated natural energy of enormous amounts, a giant palm moved its way toward the Supreme realm expert.

    Obviously, as a guy who lived for thousands of years, it didn''t take a fraction of a second for Cornelius to gauge its power. He pushed forth his palms and conjured a giant scarlet-colored barrier over himself.

    In the next second, the giant palm collided with the barrier.

    A crisp sound echoed in the room as the barrier shattered like glass and blasted the supreme realm expert. Cornelius flew and crashed onto the floor without being able to defend himself. The flooring was damaged as a result.

    Unfortunately for Azzy, the attack wasn''t appeared to be strong enough to completely defeat the opponent. The President''s bones were cracked here and there but his soul energy managed to heal him and returned his body condition to normal in just a few seconds.

    Azzy remembered his previous battle with a Supreme realm expert who was far stronger than this guy. For a moment, he wondered whether he should activate the gravity suppression skill card.

    But, before he made up his mind, the black lightning wolf acted on its own and charged forward.

    As it opened its mouth to bite Cornelius'' neck while he was standing up, the latter caught it timely and threw it away. Vajra flew toward Azzy.

    He came out of his thoughts and reflexively caught its body with his right hand and stared at the opponent in a bit of disappointment that his plan failed.

    Bursting out into laughter, Cornelius then praised Azzy, "Good¡­ very good. It''s been more than a century since I was injured by someone. And it even happened to be someone from Exalt realm. I''m impressed, Mr. Azrael.

    Honestly, I should say that I''m surprised that you have awakened three Arcana. Since it is impossible for one to naturally possess three of them, then, I guess either two of them are a set or one of them awakened through another method.

    Anyways, I''ll give you full marks for your offense. There''s no need to test it any longer. Now, let''s see how you will fare in defense, then. You have ten seconds to prepare. After that, I will attack and you will defend yourself. Get ready."

    Azzy nodded in silence and simply put down the black wolf.

    Without dismissing the hourglass, Azzy went on to unleash another soul skill. Soon, two humanoid skeletons were seen guarding their master.

    The normal-looking one is at peak rank 9 and the winged one is at peak rank 8. With the both of them as the shield, Azzy relaxed a bit and proceeded to take out the recovery card and replenish his soul energy.

    "I''m ready, President Cornelius," said Azzy as the ten seconds are up.

    Like others, Cornelius also couldn''t gauge the power of the humanoid skeletons as they lacked soul energy. He can only test it by fighting.

    "Okay, let''s start with the left one." Cornelius eyed the normal skeleton to test its power, believing that the winged one is stronger because of its wings.

    Suppressing his strength to peak-rank-7, he charged forward and attacked the peak-rank-9 skeleton with a punch.

    However, before he struck its ribcage, the skeleton caught his punch and casually threw him away just like how the supreme realm expert did it for the wolf. Unfortunately, the skeleton doesn''t know how to hold back its strength.

    As a result, the supreme realm expert flew like some kind of cricket ball and crashed into the wall before destroying the barrier as well as the wall.

    *Thud*

    Cornelius fell in the adjacent room with a huge hole formed in the middle of the steel-made wall.

    "Ugh¡­"

    Letting out a groan of pain, the supreme realm expert slowly got up on his feet and looked fearfully at the skeleton, "That thing is too dangerous and has power far stronger than me. What the heck happened to this kid during the past 27 years?"

    How could he have known that nothing had actually happened for 27 years for Azzy never existed during that time...

 Chapter 458 Azzy Meets His New Mentor

    President Cornelius stopped the spar after gauging the power of Azzy''s undead protector in one move. After all, if he goes all out, whether he wins or loses, he will be the one to lose his face. So, he felt that there was no point in prolonging this battle.

    At the same time, as the president of the world''s biggest organization, Cornelius also knew that he cannot show signs of weakness on his face either.

    Hence, as soon as he healed himself, he calmly walked toward Azzy and said, "Now that I have understood how good you are in offense and defense, we can put an end to this test right away. I believe that you are perfect to become a member of our prestigious Zero Squad. Maybe, one day, you might even lead in the future. You have such potential, Mr. Azrael.

    However, strength isn''t just enough to be a member of our organization. You will need several sets of skills that can only be learned from your superiors. If it is alright with you, I will assign you to a veteran who will teach you until he becomes confident that you are ready for solo missions."

    With his goal achieved, Azzy no longer wanted to continue the battle and expose his trump cards either. He responded with a nod, agreeing to the arrangement.

    In the next instant, Azzy found himself at the headquarters, on the 116th floor. Just like with the earlier corridor, this place was also completely empty. No guards, no security cameras, and a series of titanium doors were seen from one end to another. If something can be pointed out, it is that everything was sparklingly clean.

    "Follow me¡­" President Cornelius then led Azzy to one of the identical-looking doors and opened it using his biometrics and iris scanning. Azzy expected some kind of room but ended up seeing a narrow staircase leading to god knows where. Using normal vision, he couldn''t see much far and everything is dark after a bit of distance.

    Without giving any sort of explanation, Cornelius started to climb down the staircase. Azzy followed him from behind while activating his soul skill, The Eyes of God.

    As soon as he did that, the reality surprised him quite a bit. "It is an illusion?" He wondered out loud. Instead of walking down the stairs, Azzy found himself walking into another narrow corridor.

    Cornelius let out a smile and replied, "You never failed to surprise me, lad. However, it isn''t a normal illusion. Both of the pathways are real. It depends on your vision actually. If you see a staircase, then, you will reach the entrance of our secret base. And if you see a corridor, you will reach the heart of the base directly. It''s one of my creations that I''m proud of if I should add."

    "I see¡­" Azzy nodded in understanding, giving off an impression that he wasn''t that impressed because of his blank face, although the truth is quite different. He was quite curious about this kind of illusion technique but just kept the thought to himself.

    Fortunately, Cornelius didn''t study Azzy''s facial expression either for he knows about the latter''s condition of inability to showcase emotions on the face. It was recorded in Azzy''s profile in WAMO''s database.

    Hence, the President continued without bothering to understand Azzy''s thoughts. He gave a brief explanation about the Zero Squad and what type of missions they usually do and how they will train and everything.

    In summary, the Zero Squad is considered the most elite squad in the organization with only 26 members in total, excluding Azzy. Of these, seven are still in training for years as their abilities have yet to be recognized by their leader who is also the Supreme Commander of all the divisions of WAMO. If one had to compare, his position is higher than Vice President but less than the President.

    The leader of the Zero Squad is named Kruger, a peak-rank-8 Arcana master but his actual battle strength is on the same level as President Cornelius and Vice President Ramiel Crescent.

    Along with the research division''s head, these three are considered the pillars of the organization.

    Coming to the Zero Squad''s job, they only jump into action when officially requested by either the governments of respective countries or the rulers of the kingdoms.

    However, that doesn''t mean the members would be idle in the meantime.

    They can have the freedom to aid the other divisions to which they receive merits.

    Just like with the top Arcana Academies, organizations, and hidden clans, even in WAMO, the merits earned by respective missions could be used to buy all kinds of things, ranging from cash to even Earth-grade weapons (able to contain the maximum soul power of a demigod).

    As for Azzy, he would be training under a captain who is groomed to become the current Supreme Commander''s successor despite the fact that he is only in the squad for only two decades.

    Seeing how the president was praising this captain, Azzy was naturally curious about his identity but Cornelius decided to keep it mysterious for the time being. Since he would learn it eventually, Azzy also dropped on the matter and continued to follow the 4-foot guy.

    After a five-minute walk, both of them finally reached the end of the corridor, where a giant wooden door was waiting for them to open.

    As soon as the both of them walked inside, they reached an office-type room which is quite similar to the one Azzy was familiar with. He also couldn''t help but remember the Principal''s office where his late master used to work from there.

    *knock* knock* knock*

    The knocks on the door were heard and Azzy came out of his thoughts before looking in the direction of the sound.

    "Oh, he is quick to arrive as always," commented the President as he let out a smile and turned around. Taking a glance at Azzy, he then said, "Your mentor is here. By the way, consider this a word of advice or a request. Listen to your superior and follow everything that he says unless the order is absurd to even think. After all, having strength without proper authority will make one appear as rebellious in the eyes of those with authority. Not to mention, he has a bit of a short temper."

    "Hmm?" Azzy heard a similar sentence in the past, from Qridus Garcia. Unfortunately, he didn''t have the luxury to ponder on the subject as the door was opened and a familiar-looking guy walked in.

    Azzy recognized the captain immediately even though the latter aged a little bit and looked like he is in his mid-20s. After all, the latter left a strong impression on him, "I didn''t expect this three-eyed fellow would become my teammate."

    Perhaps, if he had sealed his soul orb, his facial expression might have shown how surprised he was, but for now, one can only say that Azzy is happy to see this opponent from the past.

    Meanwhile, the captain took a glance at Azzy before quickly turning his attention to Cornelius and saluting, "Mr. President, your orders?"

    President Cornelius then pointed to Azzy, "Do you recognize him?"

    "Him?" The captain then turned toward the teenager and shook his head. "I''m sorry, but I don''t."

    "The name''s Azrael. We fought once during World League, 1994 edition, Mr. Rudra," stated Azzy before the president introduced him.

    While the President was a little bit taken aback by Azzy''s introduction as he just told him not to offend his short-tempered superior, the three-eyed fellow widened his eyes, "You are that Azrael? The one with the Jewel of Life?"

    "Eh?" "Eh?"

    This time, it was Azzy and Cornelius'' turn to get surprised.

 Chapter 459 The Pure Blood Elf

    "Jewel of Life?" President Cornelius took a step back in surprise and took a glance at Azzy, who was wondering how this three-eyed Arcana Master knows of this matter in the first place.

    As he was about to deny having any relations with the jewel of life because of its real worth, the Reaper''s voice echoed in his head, "No one below the demigod realm had the power to stop you as long as you master those three cosmic jewels. You can ask him."

    "Ah, is that so?" Azzy was slightly taken aback, "then, you should have told me to use them against that Supreme realm expert." He argued back.

    "Well, you don''t have the protection of a guardian god before," replied the Reaper in a nonchalant way as if he was stating an obvious thing.

    However, Azzy wasn''t fully convinced yet. He asked, "Aren''t you worried that the guardian god will not steal the cosmic jewels from me is make it public?"

    "Nope," replied the Reaper and went on to explain, "That guy would have no use for the cosmic jewels as he draws power from the null dimension. So, there''s nothing for you to worry about."

    "Null dimension?" Azzy was confused even more as a few more questions popped up in his head. "I remember my older self saying about the null dimension, which is a gateway to a parallel universe. What is that place? And why do cosmic jewels resist that place''s power?"

    The Reaper then calmly replied, "I could explain you everything but you don''t have such luxury at the moment.

    "Ah, that''s right¡­"

    The Reaper''s reminder brought Azzy back to reality and pay attention to the captain as well as the President who were staring at him in silence as if they wanted a clear confirmation from him.

    And Azzy didn''t disappoint them either.

    Following the Reaper''s suggestion, Azzy then confronted the captain on this matter right away. "How do you know about the Jewel of Life?"

    Upon confirming that the crown is with Azzy, the President let out a sigh of relief while the captain gave a proper explanation without hiding anything, "Our organization is the one that sold the crown of life to Barton Everglade, who was also assassinated for the same reason.

    Captain Neal wanted to avenge the death of his former master and pulled in connections to get the mission assigned to him. He was my partner. So, we were together on the investigation.

    And 5 years ago, we got close to the culprit, who we heard to be hiding in the Temple of War. However, one day, Neal had gone missing. Ever since then, we haven''t heard from him."

    "I see¡­" Azzy''s heart slightly softened for Neal, who was hated by the former for deserting Barton in search of power. Seeing that Neal had tried to do something for his master, Azzy felt like if they meet again, he should stop acting cold to him as he did in the past.

    After a while, Azzy and Captain Rudra were seen walking around the place, the latter acting as a tour guide while speaking about the rules and regulations followed by introducing the other members like he was passing the info on them as everyone except for their commander is busy in missions. Rudra further stressed that because of the President''s orders, he had to leave his team in the middle of their investigation and arrive at HQ in a jiffy.

    On the way, as Azzy observed their facility, he saw an abundant amount of robots just standing against the walls like statues without moving a bit.

    Soon, they arrived at a giant metal door, which looked quite imposing with the 3d image of three dragon heads and a long-legged tall female human with long pointy ears engraved on top of it. The dragon heads appeared to be burning the enemy with their flames.

    As Azzy observed the mural, Captain Rudra explained without being asked about it, "This is Aidus, the Commander Kruger''s Arcana. And that is an elf, precisely, the elven race''s last queen who decided to declare war on the humans when we were vulnerable. He killed her and save a lot of lives."

    "War against the humans?" Azzy was slightly taken aback. Since Kruger isn''t even in the supreme realm, he will be around the same age as Ramiel Crescent and this story shouldn''t have happened too far in the past unless the supreme commander had a special bloodline like the Blood clan people or the Druid race.

    Being curious about the story of elves, Azzy asked Rudra to continue with it.

    Captain Rudra adhered to his request and resumed the story, "It was around the time when the thunder emperor Aelius Crescent went on a rampage, i.e. about 6000 years ago (60th century of 10th epoch).

    Everyone knows what happened in that event. So many Supreme beings (peak-rank-9), supreme realm experts (rank-9), and other top experts (rank-7 and rank-8) became martyrs before that devil was finally put to death.

    As humanity became vulnerable to threats from platinum-grade beasts from Arcana world and terrorist organizations from within due to the economic and military collapse, the last remaining elven kingdom, Searvale, decided to take advantage of the situation and invade the human lands to reclaim their so-called the empire of Eden.

    In order to prevent casualties, WAMO assigned the Zero Squad and top commanders to eliminate the elves altogether before they even had the chance to wage a war. Back then, we don''t possess any modern technology and were completely dependent on Arcana Masters.

    Hence, we had to take such a drastic step to save millions of citizens and safeguard peace. Our Supreme Commander, Kruger was the one who dealt the finishing blow to the Elven''s queen and became the hero. If you ask me, I would say that I''m not proud of such methods but I would still support their method. After all, for the greater good of society, it is not a sin if one would have to sacrifice innocents. Happens all the time."

    "I beg to differ, Captain Rudra," replied Azzy after hearing out everything. He was certainly displeased and lost his good impression on both this captain and the commander. Looking straight into his eyes, he further said, "According to what I have learned from my grandfather, the greater good itself is an act of evil.

    Just like how polluted water cannot help a plant to become a tree, the peace built on top of an act of evil will not last much longer. The more it lasts, the more the incoming disaster will be heightened.

    And when that imminent disaster will finally meet us, it will be several folds than you possibly expected. It is a fact that history tells mankind."

    "You¡­" Rudra was taken aback by Azzy''s words as he was trying to make an impression as a captain but instead, he felt like he was being lectured by a superior rather than a subordinate telling his opinion. He didn''t like such a feeling and wanted to argue back.

    However, before he countered with his own logic, a deep voice came from the other side of the door, interrupting their conversation, "Okay kids, enough chattering. You may come in¡­"

    As the both of them turned their heads to look in the direction of the door, it was opened on its own, revealing a long pointy-eared guy with a pale-looking face and amber eyes. "I received the message from President Cornelius. Welcome to Zero Squad, Mr. Azrael." The guy greeted Azzy with a smile.

    "Ho¡­ no wonder this fellow was alive even 6000 years ago. Now it all makes sense. It''s a pure-blood elf. I thought that kid, Louis is the last of his kind¡­" commented the Reaper as soon as Azzy''s eyes fell on the supreme commander.

    "Eh?"

 Chapter 460 Azzys First Mission At Zero Squad (Part-1)

    "Louis is an elf?" Azzy was surprised at first but then as the animated image of Louis popped up in his head, he felt like it might be possible. In a way, this old man sitting before him had similar features too like shoulder-length golden hair, pointy ears, and a pale face. Perhaps, those things were common in the elf race? He wondered.

    And then, another memory resurfaced in his mind. It was the story of an elven bard who could be considered one of the greatest spies in history if everything Azzy read was true.

    Meanwhile, Supreme Commander Kruger looked at Azzy, who was lost in thoughts, and said, "What are you spacing out for, young man? Come in¡­"

    Upon returning to his senses, Azzy questioned his boss in their first meeting, "Greetings Sir, I was just surprised to see that you are an elf. If it isn''t too much, may I ask whether you regret killing your own kin?"

    "Azrael¡­" Captain Rudra''s facial expression turned dark as he heard Azzy''s question. He felt that it was downright rude to ask such a question to the Supreme Commander.

    However, Kruger wasn''t offended in the least.

    He calmly replied, "Captain Rudra didn''t give you complete information, Azrael. They weren''t just my kin. The Queen was my maternal aunt, and no, I won''t regret even the slightest bit as killing her and other elves saved hundreds of thousands of casualties. I will do it again without batting an eye if I had to do it again, although it won''t be possible considering I''m the last living elf in this world."

    "This guy¡­" Azzy didn''t like his answer as he was against the concept of the greater good. Earlier, he heard of the story and now that he confirmed his boss'' views with his ears, Azzy suddenly felt like maybe, he should consider thinking twice about joining this super elite squad. Of course, he doesn''t plan on revealing Louis'' heritage to Kruger too.

    It was then he remembered something important about the squad, the benefits of unhindered access to every sort of information and every restricted place within the organization.

    As he doesn''t plan on staying in the organization for a long time anyway, Azzy put his unpleasant feelings aside and saluted his boss, indirectly asking for permission to leave the room.

    Kruger nodded and then gave his first order to Azzy, which is to follow his mentor as the latter rejoins his team. Azzy didn''t expect to be given work right away as he was expecting to take a rest but he did as he was told without complaining.

    Soon, Azzy and Rudra left the headquarters and set out for the nation of Gailzach, where Rudra''s parents and their ancestors hailed from. Azzy was unfamiliar with the location as he never visited this island country in the west. Hence, he silently followed his assigned mentor until they reached their destination, Soquire City.

    The city was also known as the city of dreams for the people of Gailzach as it is the financial hub of the country and also one of the richest cities in the world with over 96 billionaires choosing it as their home.

    Of course, being familiar with living in a city like the Silver City, Azzy wasn''t awed by the sheer amount of skyscrapers he came across on the way. However, getting picked up by more than twenty members as security and traveling in a luxury limousine that costs over 100 million credits did confuse him a little bit.

    Azzy got curious about Rudra''s background with how he was being addressed as a young master by the guys who picked them up from the portal point but he didn''t voice it out as he wasn''t interested in someone''s wealth.

    Maybe, it is because he got everything he wanted since he was young and didn''t face any financial difficulties, or maybe, it is because he was interested in power. Whatever the case, the value of money is quite low in Azzy''s eyes.

    As Azzy was silent and didn''t ask any questions, Rudra also didn''t bother to explain the royal treatment and quietly gazed outside the window.

    For a whole hour, the vehicle was filled with silence until it passed through the gate and finally stopped. Both of them got down and a tall skyscraper appeared in Azzy''s sight. Although not as big or luxurious as the headquarters of WAMO, this 80-story building was also quite in a league on its own, especially with its pyramid-like structure.

    "If this three-eyed baldy fellow is this rich, why he was studying at such a mediocre college at Zuweth? Maybe, he got wealthy during the past two decades?" wondered Azzy as he followed his mentor.

    Soon, they reached the fortieth floor where a bunch of fellows appeared to be sunbathing on a pool built on the balcony.

    "Hey, Captain is back¡­"

    As one of them announced Rudra''s return, the remaining six immediately placed their attention on their captain for a brief amount of time before shifting toward Azzy. Some of them became curious about the stranger''s identity while others ignored him because of his teenage looks combined without being able to sense any soul energy from him.

    Rudra then cleared his throat and introduced Azzy to the team, "Everyone, this is Azrael, a new member of Zero Squad and my mentee. He''ll be joining us in this mission. And by the way, don''t be deceived by his looks and lack of soul energy. He is in his early forties and can also mask his soul energy."

    "No way¡­" exclaimed a gorgeous woman in a one-piece swimsuit who was floating on the water as she dropped the lemonade in her hand in shock. "You are older than me?" The others were also surprised the same, clearly not expecting such a twist.

    Meanwhile, Azzy stayed quiet like usual, letting them misunderstand his age. After all, there''s clear evidence that he existed in the 1990s in the form of video footage and pics, and he cannot tell them how he''s still 14 when he was the same age about 27 years ago. Not to mention, his sheer amount of strength might also scare someone if they knew his real age.

    Hence, he decided to be a man born in 1980 but somehow maintained his youthful appearance for decades.

 Chapter 461 Azzys First Mission At Zero Squad (Part-2)

    Conference room, 73rd floor;

    As the members of the team trident, including Azzy, sat down together at the table, Captain Rudra started briefing their mission on a whiteboard.

    "Guys, let''s gather what we have so far¡­ Mr. Richard¡­" He pointed the marker at a middle-aged fellow who dressed like a fisherman.

    The rank-5 Arcana Master spoke as he took out a traditional notebook children use in their schools, "At around half past six in the evening, Mavis had gone out of the house in his own vehicle. A team of 6 followed him as security.

    At around seven, he entered the Avenue mall, where he met a group of five. Three of them were his friends and the other two were acquaintances of those friends.

    At around quarter to nine, all of them were done with the shopping. They directly went to the gaming zone to play bowling.

    Mavis was with everyone until half-past nine and left the gaming zone. According to the statements from his friends, he appeared to have dropped his car keys somewhere.

    But, strangely, according to the security guards, he was found on the fourth floor instead and was seen going toward the club when he didn''t visit earlier.

    His security guards waited outside until two at midnight before they marched inside only to find that Mavis is missing."

    Captain Rudra wrote the timings on the whiteboard as he was listening to his subordinate. Once Richard was done, the three-eyed captain pointed at the beauty, who was dressed too fancy for her profession and busy chatting with someone, "Risa, your turn¡­"

    Continuing to chat in the messenger app with an online friend, the lady spoke nonchalantly, "according to my investigation, Mavis was completely a womanizer, a drug addict, and bullied several bystanders just because it is fun. Since there wasn''t any call of ransom during the past three days, clearly, this is an act of revenge in my opinion."

    Captain Rudra didn''t give any feedback on her report either and just nodded before pointing at the lady, who was wearing black robes and a mask. "Lenore, how is it on your end?"

    She has been hiding her face with a mask even when she was wearing swimwear and Azzy had yet to see her face.

    However, from the Reaper, he managed to figure out that this masked girl is only in her early 20s but still was in the Upper Elite realm (rank-6). Not only that, it appeared that her aura levels are also far higher than others, although can''t be compared to someone like Azzy.

    Of these temporary teammates who actually belonged to the Dragon Corps and were only teaming up with Rudra in a joint investigation in this mission, he was quite curious about this girl. And her reply to the captain''s question only increased his curiosity further.

    Looking straight at her captain, the girl coldly reported the status of her mission, "Suspect 1: mildly injured.

    Suspect 2: received heavy cuts all over his body and was resting in the hospital.

    Suspect 3: Coincidentally attempted to sexually assault a woman on the street and lost his hand as a result.

    Suspect 4: Still missing.

    Suspect 5: innocent.

    And suspect 6: had his fingers cut off and recovered a number of times during an interrogation. It might have left quite an impact on his mental state but then again, he is a con artist who is out on bail anyways. Not an undeserving convict to be punished. So, big deal."

    Captain Rudra furrowed his brows as he looked at her disapprovingly and said, "We don''t do judgments, Lieutenant Lenore. And call them by their names. How the heck do we know who you are talking about?"

    "Exactly, we follow the orders and I fulfilled the orders given to me, Captain Rudra. As for the names, all of them are nothing more than person-A and person-B," countered the mysterious girl right away, making Rudra speechless for a second as he knew that he was the one who ordered her to use any means to fish out the truth.

    Knowing how troublesome she was, clearing his throat, Rudra then ignored her and went on pointing at his next subordinate, "Vayner, did you do a background check on those friends?"

    The seemingly ordinary-looking middle-aged fellow replied, "Their backgrounds were clean. However, there was one thing that is not right.

    The young man named Daniel Wenger (one of the five companions of the victim) has been friends with Nia (Mavis'' friend) for only a couple of days. It appeared that they have met coincidentally at a caf¨¦ and he approached her. Nia also mentioned that he was also the one who requested her whether he could tag along to the mall."

    "Hmm¡­ do you think that he approached her on purpose?" asked Rudra, feeling that he might be an accomplice in crime.

    As Vayner firmly nodded, Rudra then went to the next person on the team, "Mr. Edwin, how it went with the local police?"

    The eldest guy in the team let out a deep sigh as he shook his head, "they didn''t have additional information that we weren''t aware of."

    "What about you then?" Rudra then asked the young man with nerdy looks, despite the fact that he has perfect eyesight. "Zak, give me good news¡­"

    Unfortunately for Rudra, the team''s computer genius didn''t have any piece of good news. "No signs of the victim. I bet they have used a jail card to transport him."

    "Well, I guess I can only put my hopes on that missing suspect," mumbled Rudra in a bit of depression before taking a deep breath to calm down his emotions and looking at the last remaining individual on the team, "Azrael, what''s your take on this? You heard of the story and how we progressed so far. Did you find out anything that we missed by any chance?"

    "What''s there to miss, Cap? We have covered everything that we ought to have," opinioned Vayner in a bit of a confident tone.

    Azzy then opened his mouth, giving his insight on the mission, "The heir to a multi-billion dollar company had disappeared, there was no ransom call or demands from the kidnappers, and there was no news of his dead body either.

    Strangely, even the public has no idea about this abduction as the news didn''t appear anywhere in any channel or article despite the fact that the case is registered with the local police.

    It only means that your granduncle, the chairman wanted to keep it under wraps. But why so much secrecy? After all, the company is privately owned by your family. So, there was no panic about stock value dropping or worry about investors.

    Maybe, the chairman doesn''t want to alert the kidnappers and quietly proceed with the investigation, or maybe, he just wants no fuss on this matter. Whatever the case, this thought made me search for past articles about the company on the way.

    What I found is that 66% of the company''s share was actually owned by Mavis'' grandfather and the remaining was owned by the current chairman. Obviously, the boy will inherit the company once he turns 18 and he was abducted only 6 months away from his birthday. Strange isn''t it?"

    For a couple of seconds, the conference room went quiet and the other team members turned their heads to look at Rudra, whose facial expression turned dark, "Azrael, are you suspecting my grandfather?"

 Chapter 462 Azzys First Mission At Zero Squad (Part-3)

    "Azrael, are you accusing my grandfather?" asked Rudra in displeasure, not being able to hide his emotions for a moment.

    Azzy then shrugged his shoulders and explained, "If Mavis gets killed, then, there will be a huge investigation but what if he goes missing? Until the day he found, Mr. Xavier will stay as the chairman and enjoy the vast wealth left by his elder brother. I think we should investigate Chairman Xavier. He''s the prime suspect."

    Naturally, Captain Rudra only got angrier. This time, his feelings were evident on his face for it turned red due to the blood rush. Fortunately, he wasn''t consumed by rage or anything, and hence, the third eye on his forehead didn''t open and he went on trying to warn, "Azrael, please mind your words. He is my¡­"

    "I agree with him, Captain Rudra," interrupted the masked girl, who came in support of Azzy.

    As the others looked at her, Lenore further added, "in fact, as a first cousin of the victim, in fact, you shouldn''t have been involved in this mission in the first place. Since you did, you cannot take sides, now. With that said, I request you to give me permission to interrogate Chairman Xavier."

    "No¡­" Rudra instantly rejected her request and opinioned that he will not permit her to the interrogation no matter what, leaving everyone displeased by his act.

    Unfortunately, he wasn''t done there.

    Under the influence of his strong emotions, Rudra went on to say that this mission belongs to Zero Squad, and everyone from the Dragon Corps who accepted this mission only has the right to follow his orders, not question his judgment.

    First, everyone was displeased, and now, the rest of them couldn''t help but slightly hate this three-eyed fellow for they felt humiliated. But then again, they neither had the power nor the authority to defy his orders. Each member of Zero Squad is elite of the elites and it is considered audacious for others to unnecessarily challenge them.

    However, Azzy was different. Not only he was a member of Zero Squad (although new) but he was also stronger than Rudra. He is in a position to express his views and he just did that.

    Once again, he went on speaking against his mentor in a calm tone, "Captain Rudra, just a while ago, you were telling me about the heroics of the Supreme Commander of how he slew his aunt and other innocent elves to end a war. Don''t you think you are being a hypocrite, now?"

    "My grandfather is not a suspect, Azrael, and he can never be," snarled Rudra immediately while trying his best to control his emotions. After taking a deep breath, he further said, "He didn''t have much longer to live. For a person who was suffering from terminal cancer, does money even matter? And do you really think I would give permission for someone like her to interrogate him?"

    As Rudra pointed his finger at the masked girl, further implying that her methods were too rough for a sickly old man to even bear them, the room once again became quiet for a while.

    The other team members felt a bit of pity for the chairman and some of them apologized. However, Azzy wasn''t that moved.

    Ever since he went through the process of mastering the law of neutrality (back when he was attacked by Barbara), his mind was a lot calmer for other people''s sufferings, and only gets riled up when his own family or people he was close to were involved in the matter. As a result, he lacks empathy for the old man.

    But then again, he cannot be harsh over some kind of speculation either. So, he stayed silent while the others tried to console him.

    And to his surprise, there was one more person who appeared to be feeling along the same lines as him, although for different reasons.

    While the rest of her team members asked about the cure or medications or such things, she changed the atmosphere with her statement. She claimed that it is not a big deal to cure the chairman.

    Her words instantly attracted the attention of everyone including Azzy and Rudra.

    As they looked at her, Lenore fold her hands to her chest and said, "My passive/inborn ability is reconstruction. I can dissemble and reassemble anyone/anything I touch with my hands as long as they fulfill certain conditions. Fortunately for you, Chairman Xavier fulfills them. So, I can entirely remove harmful cancer cells from his body in a matter of minutes. No big deal¡­"

    "Do you think I don''t know your ability, Lenore?" Captain Rudra didn''t appear to be as impressed or surprised as others. "I even know those conditions too. However, you have yet to master that ability. To achieve success, you would need a tremendous amount of life force during the process as he is too weak, and in the event of failure, my grandfather''s body will be destroyed completely. You have killed six individuals like that. If not for the fact that they were criminals and had the support of your commander, you might have faced capital punishment."

    Lenore didn''t mind his words and calmly counterattacked right away with a fact, although with a poor choice of words, "didn''t you say that he doesn''t have much longer to live? If he was going to die anyways, why not try it? He has lived for more than 150 years. What''s the big deal if he dies now or whether he dies three months later?"

    Xavier might be a person A or person B for Lenore but he is grandfather to Rudra and it goes without saying that he doesn''t like her statements, especially the tone she was using toward him.

    If it is someone else, they might have erupted in anger and even her own teammates thought that she was out of line but thankfully, Rudra was a veteran and he managed to keep his rage in check and sternly spoke, "Don''t argue with me, young lady. Just do the job you were assigned to. If you have a problem with the way of things, you can go and lodge a complaint to the higher-ups."

    After giving a stern warning, Rudra thought that the matter is settled and he can go on continuing to focus on the investigation. However, he forgot that there was one more person who won''t be shutting his mouth any sooner.

    Since they were on the topic, Azzy didn''t back down and voiced his thoughts one more time, this time with a solid statement, "I can use Gluttony sealing technique to absorb all of those cancer cells. However, in the process, your grandfather will lose his soul energy and become a mortal. If he is willing to sacrifice this, I can save him."

    "Hmm?" Rudra abruptly turned his head to look at him in a mix of surprise and confusion. What is this Gluttony seal? He is an advanced-level sealing master but he never heard of this sealing technique in his life.

    Should he take a chance? What if doesn''t work? Will his grandfather die? He wondered before asking Azzy, "Is it safe?"

    In response, Azzy firmly nodded, "I can assure you that you would lose nothing and your grandfather will only become healthier even in the event of failure."

    "Hmm..." Rudra fell into deep thinking. He was weighing his options in his mind on whether he should trust Azzy to go for an unknown method, or whether to proceed with Lenore''s riskier but known method. Maybe, it is better to give up rather than unnecessarily give false hopes to his grandfather.

    Meanwhile, Lenore stared at Azzy, wondering whether this sealing technique is similar to her inborn ability.

 Chapter 463 Azzys First Mission At Zero Squad (Part-4)

    Sometime later, in the Chairman''s office;

    "Are you sure about this, Rudra?" asked a frail-looking old man who had a look of worry clearly written on his face. Obviously, he was afraid of putting his life in the hands of someone who was neither a doctor nor a healer.

    Captain Rudra was also quite nervous because of the unknown sealing technique but he had to trust his mentee, who is an Exalt realm expert. If only he knew that Azzy was only 14 years old, he would have never agreed to this. But, Azzy''s deception made this possible and Rudra convinced his grandfather to cooperate.

    As the chairman comfortably sat on the sofa and closed his eyes, Azzy slowly unleashed the Gluttony seal under the Reaper''s guidance for the first time.

    Even though he was a first-timer, Azzy managed to create the gluttony beast in the form of energy while taking a bit of time.

    The beast with no eyes, no ears, and just a huge mouth with a countless number of teeth, went into the old man''s body and started its work. Meanwhile, Azzy stayed connected to the beast and carefully controlled it through telepathy so that it won''t eat everything it encounters.

    Before the task, Azzy asked for one hour of time but all it took was only 18 minutes, thereby surprising the others and himself too as they not only witness the old man being cured completely but even his soul orb ended up being intact unlike what Azzy warned them earlier.

    At the same time, excluding Azzy, only two people in the room understood what happened inside the chairman''s body. Not only the cancer cells were removed, but even other impurities were also swallowed by the gluttony beast before it disappeared. Chairman''s blood, organs, bones, and soul energy were purified to the extent that he felt like he was about to make a breakthrough to rank 5 at any minute.

    His soul power was stuck at 92k for more than a century. Hence, it was no surprise that he went from a depressing sickly old man to a cheerful healthy man, who started to punch and kick in the air as soon as he got up from the chair.

    "You did it, Azrael," exclaimed Rudra in happiness as he looked at his grandfather. In response, Azzy calmly nodded, "it''s not much¡­"

    After a while, everyone from the team was dismissed and Azzy was alone with Chairman Xavier in the latter''s office.

    The chairman thanked him and asked him what reward he wishes to get. The old man promised to fulfill any kind of demand whether it is a weapon, money, or a favor. All it needs is Azzy to voice it out.

    However, Azzy didn''t ask for any materialistic reward. Instead, he simply asked for the truth about whether he is involved in Mavis'' abduction.

    As soon as those words are out, for a moment, the chairman''s expression changed. His speech stammered and his legs shivered as he denied any link to his grandnephew''s abduction, followed by terming it as a baseless accusation in a calm tone. He further stated that he won''t harm Mavis no matter what and was willing to trade all of his wealth and his life for the missing teenager.

    Xavier''s first reaction made Azzy find him very suspicious but the last sentence appeared to be quite genuine. Azzy won''t claim himself as a person with good judgment but he sensed that this old man was very sincere in his feelings.

    Hence, Azzy didn''t further interrogate him and nodded, "I understand. Then, can you help me in finding him?"

    "Uh¡­ sure. Whatever it is that you needed, it will be done. After all, you are my benefactor," replied the chairman. After taking a pause for a couple of seconds, he then added, "If you don''t mind, may I use your services to cure someone I know? I''ll give you whatever you want."

    Since Azzy had already revealed his long-lost ancient sealing technique, he didn''t mind using it once again. Not to mention, it would also help in gaining mastery over the seal. As a result, he agreed to it but only after the mission is over.

    Xavier grabbed Azzy''s right hand and shook it with both of his eyes with a look of gratitude on his face and promised him that he would be grateful for his help for all his life.

    Azzy then went on with solving the case, asking for something that Mavis owns for a long time and usually keeps with him every moment.

    Xavier personally took him to the 74th floor where Mavis'' room is located. The others already inspected the room. Hence, they weren''t that interested.

    However, Rudra and Lenore wanted to follow Azzy, with the former hoping his mentee to discover something new and the latter being curious to see what Azzy is up to. As a result, everyone also followed both of them.

    The room was quite luxurious than any other hotel room that Azzy had witnessed before. It was a large duplex residence, which was divided into more than eight rooms.

    Azzy stayed in a five-star hotel and he also visited a royal palace; he possessed a magical tent with a duplex mansion inside and he was familiar with the interior of a skyscraper like WAMO''s HQ building. However, he never saw a place like this.

    On the other hand, the remaining members who were more experienced in this field were not surprised by a duplex residence inside a skyscraper even when they visited this room for the first time. Hence, they were a lot calmer and put their focus completely on Azzy, who was looking around curiously.

    While Azzy was touring around the house, realizing that it wasn''t as special as it appeared at first glance and lost his interest, the old man was also searching for something. After a couple of minutes, the chairman returns to the living room with a jade bracelet (beaded).

    "This belongs to Mavis'' mother and he wore it until he was 13. Since then, he stopped wearing it outside and only wears it when he is at home," The chairman handed the bracelet to Azzy and further said that it was with Mavis since his birth.

    As for his mother, she died in an accident when Mavis was only around 4 months old. Maybe, this is why this object was always with him. And why did he stop wearing it outside after he became a teenager? Azzy thought it was probably due to teasing from friends and didn''t pay much attention to the story anymore, putting his focus more on the object instead.

    Placing the bracelet on the floor, Azzy sat down before asking the others to stay silent for some time. He put his palm on the bracelet.

    The chairman and the others wondered what he was going to do. However, none of them voiced it out for some reason. Were they intimidated? Perhaps¡­

    Thankfully for them, Lenore acted in everyone''s instead and questioned him.

    In response, Azzy calmly answered while closing his eyes, "It''s called aura tracing. You see¡­ whenever a human uses an object, his/hers aura will rub it off on them. Unfortunately, it also dissipates over time. However, in this case, this bracelet is special and¡­"

    "Mavis was using his bracelet for 16-17 years. His aura must have accumulated over time and since it wasn''t used by others, his aura can be traced?" Rudra finished the explanation with doubt in his voice and then exclaimed, "You are an Aura master? I heard they were extinct a long time ago¡­"

    "Aura master?"

 Chapter 464 Azzys First Mission At Zero Squad (Part-5)

    "Hmm? Aura master? What is this baldy saying?" Azzy thought as he heard his mentor''s words. The Reaper was about to explain the details but didn''t do it as Azzy cleared his mind once again and focused on the aura of the bracelet without confirming whether Rudra was correct or wrong.

    Luna stared at Azzy in a mix of wonder and admiration. First, his teenage looks, then, his 7-star realm, his emotionless face, a new sealing technique, and now, this aura tracing? The more she spent time in Azzy''s presence, the more he became mysterious to them.

    In the mix of all this, there was one person who appeared to be dead nervous. Xavier was seating like crazy as he was staring at Azzy like the rest of them. He wanted to leave the room for some reason but cannot leave for obvious reasons. In the end, he tried to stay calm and focused on Azzy.

    Meanwhile, Azzy managed to remove every other aura on the bracelet and registered the strongest of them in his mind and then went on unleashing his aura-sensing ability, stretching his radius for 100 kilometers around.

    Millions of auras appeared in his range and he started to remove them altogether to focus on the one that is registered in his memory. And when he did that, he found bits of aura in his immediate surroundings and the one in human shape quite near to him.

    In fact, this aura happened to be so close that Azzy had to open his eyes right away and stand up on his feet. From the start to finish, only 24 seconds passed.

    "What happened, Azrael?" asked Rudra in anticipation.

    Azzy didn''t reply to him and disappeared from there, instantly appearing behind the old man and striking his neck, knocking him out immediately.

    "Grandfather¡­" Rudra screamed out loud before shouting at Azzy, "You¡­ what is going on¡­"

    Azzy then coldly looked at his mentor and the others who were left in shock by his actions and said, "I found Mr. Mavis and he is in this same building. Chairman Xavier is now the prime suspect. Guys, if you have any restraining-type skill cards, then, use them on him and capture."

    "You must be mistaken." Rudra panicked all of a sudden. Realizing his pathetic display before his subordinates, he then took a deep breath and tried to reason with Azzy, "I''m grateful that you saved my grandfather but that doesn''t give you the right to directly attack him when you haven''t even confirmed with your own eyes. Not to mention, Risa''s twin hounds already searched the whole city based on Mavis'' scent. If he is in the building, then, she would have already found it out."

    As Azzy was about to give a befitting reply, Lenore took a step forward and stood beside Azzy, facing her team leader, "Captain Rudra, are you trying to stop him from finding the truth?"

    "You¡­" Rudra gets angry once again at her reply but he managed to calmly reply, "If he is proven as the culprit, then, I will cuff him myself, but before that, you cannot physically assault him or try to capture him. This is my order."

    "He is not sick anymore, Captain," commented in response. She then added while smirking behind her mask, "Then, it should be fine if I interrogate him, right?"

    "Lenore¡­" The three-eyed baldy immediately flared up in anger and this forced the masked girl to quickly summon her Arcana, which surprisingly turned out to be a scythe with a long handle, although of water attribute.

    Azzy was taken aback by the appearance of a scythe for a second but he quickly stopped the battle while the remaining members became worried.

    "Stop it, Ms. Lenore. There is no need for battle. I will bring back the victim and he will answer himself. Until then, all of you guys just need to keep an eye on the chairman."

    After saying what he want to, without waiting for any responses, Azzy dashed toward the exit to finish the mission as fast as possible.

    Within no time, he climbed down the stairs and reached the 43rd floor only to see it was heavily guarded by security guards.

    "Hmm, I guess that old fellow is the culprit. Had I known this before, I wouldn''t have saved him." Azzy felt that the chairman deployed the guards to keep his grandnephew in the building while fooling the organization with a strong motive in his mind. If not, why would Mavis be in the same building and why is there heavy security on the floor he was supposed to be imprisoned on?

    "Well, no matter¡­ the answers will come out after I rescue him." Azzy didn''t even ponder whether it is better to sneak inside using the Erasure skill card or not.

    He directly chose to punch every security guard he sees. None of them even managed to take a glimpse of Azzy''s shadow as he was too fast for them.

    Within just 45 seconds of time, whether it is a security guard or whether it is a simple cleaner, everyone present on the floor was knocked out without knowing what hit them. Each of them with handheld transceivers could only hear short screams one after another before falling down unconscious.

    Once Azzy confirmed that everyone is dealt with, he reached the room where he was sensing the aura of Mavis and destroyed the door using his Protos energy before entering the room only to see a guy who appeared to be very busy in gaming.

    "He had headphones over his ears and couldn''t hear my footsteps but shouldn''t he be able to sense my presence, at the very least?" Azzy wondered for a moment before dismissing that thought, assuming that this abducted young master probably was thinking that one of the guards entered.

    Shaking his head with a sigh, Azzy directly walked toward Mavis and stood in between him and the television.

    "Hey, move aside," yelled the young master as he raised his head and saw a stranger who looked like he was younger than himself. "Who are you?" He asked.

    Azzy replied, "I''m Azrael from the world''s Arcana Masters organization (WAMO). We received a mission from your grandfather that you went missing."

    "What nonsense you are spouting? I don''t have time for your idiotic plays." Mavis clearly didn''t believe Azzy''s words and went on insulting him further, "Look at your age and the words you are speaking, trash. I give you five seconds. Scram away or else, I will beat you up so much that your father won''t recognize you."

    Azzy stared at him coldly, controlling his urge to beat him up as he knows that this weakling would die instantly. In the end, he said, "I''ll let you try."

    As a spoiled young master who often bullies the weak, Mavis wouldn''t take challenges well. Combined with the fact that his game character was killed by another player in the wild, the seventeen-year-old casually threw away the controller and tried to grab Azzy''s collar as he was standing up.

    But, will Azzy let him do that? The answer is obvious.

    ? Just before Mavis grabbed Azzy''s collar, the latter caught his right arm and then motioned it toward the former''s left cheek.

    *Slap*

    A crisp sound was heard in the room and a fine handprint of Mavis appeared on his own cheek while a couple of teeth fly out of his mouth with blood.

 Chapter 465 Azzys First Mission At Zero Squad (Part-6)

    Young master Mavis screamed in pain as he was slapped forcefully by his own hand.

    "You bastard¡­"

    *Slap*

    As he roared in anger, Azzy once again controlled the former''s hand and made him slap himself on the same cheek.

    "I''ll kill you¡­"

    *Slap*

    "My grandpa¡­"

    *Slap*

    "Who are¡­"

    *Slap*

    "Help¡­"

    *Slap*

    "I¡­"

    Mavis managed to control his mouth as he was about to be slapped once again. After the right side of his face became swollen while his palm became reddish, this carefree spoiled young master no longer dared to speak against Azzy. He decided to keep his mouth shut and cooperate.

    Of course, that doesn''t mean he would not get back at Azzy. Hatred develops quickly in the heart of arrogant people and is difficult to leave.

    Mavis swore in his head that he would have his revenge no matter the cost. But for now, he''s gotta do what he had to do.

    As a result, he politely followed Azzy back to the chairman''s office where everyone was waiting for their teammate to return while Lenore was making sure that Rudra doesn''t act funny or the old man escapes from there.

    Soon, Azzy returns with the victim, changing Rudra''s expression. His face darkened further when Mavis admitted that the chairman was the one who locked him up in the room.

    As Azzy then looked at Rudra to see what action he will make now, Lenore spoke, "Okay, the case is solved. Let''s proceed with the arrest and further interrogation."

    She was about to move toward the sofa where the old man was lying down but Rudra stopped her once again. "Wait a second¡­ there must be some misunderstanding. Chairman Xavier wouldn''t kidnap his own grandson and tell his subordinates to beat him up. Something must have¡­"

    "Cousin, Grandpa didn''t beat me. This boy did¡­" Mavis interrupted him while pointing at Azzy.

    Suddenly, Rudra paused for a second, then, looked at Azzy along with the others. Anger replaced shock on his face because of misunderstanding, "Azrael, you dare to use violence and forcefully make Mavis a false confession against my grandfather?"

    "Eh?" This time, even Azzy was shocked by his accusation. How did it turn this way? Azzy wanted to defend himself but he wasn''t the culprit here. Why should he clarify himself? He thought that Rudra was trying to put blame on him in a desperate attempt to save his family.

    "Captain Rudra, if I''m in your position, I would also like to protect my family but would never accuse an innocent." Azzy''s eyes turned cold and he was prepared to beat up his mentor and put him behind bars too. "I have a question. Why didn''t you include your grandfather''s name in the suspect list?"

    "Hmm¡­ what are you trying to say?" Rudra furrowed his brows.

    "It is because he is in cahoots with his grandfather and both of them probably wanted to use this situation to bring down their rivals." Lenore voiced her opinion while summoning her Aqua scythe.

    "Using my identity as the captain at Dragon Corps, I formally ask you to surrender yourself for questioning, Captain Rudra. If you resist, then, I will resort to using force."

    Maybe, there was some personal feud between her and Rudra, or maybe, it is just her personality. Azzy didn''t know but he understood clearly that she was prepared to fight Rudra.

    However, he doesn''t have any plans to stop her. If anything, he supported her with his statement, "Captain, your grandfather is no longer sick. And your cousin is also here. Let us proceed with formal procedures in a peaceful manner."

    "And what if I don''t agree to it?" Rudra summons his Trident burning with fiery flames and looked at Azzy and other teammates, "for a while, both of you appeared to be hell-bent on testing my patience. I will tell you again. This is my mission and it is also my family that is involved. What to do with this mission is of no concern to any of you.

    I will talk to Chairman Xavier and Mavis before getting back to you guys. Until then, all of you return to your guest rooms and wait. This is my order as the leader of the team. If you have any problems, then, you can officially complain to higher authorities. Am I clear?"

    "I''m patient enough but it looks like you have taken me too lightly, Rudra¡­" Azzy no longer addressed him as the captain because of the latter''s actions.

    As a person who certainly isn''t the type to listen to someone''s orders, Azzy revolted right away. To make sure that no collateral damage occurs, Azzy summoned his death scythe along with Vajra.

    *Woof*

    The black lightning wolf let out a powerful bark as it landed on the floor, making Lenore''s aqua scythe quite uncomfortable due to its gold grade and lower realm strength.

    Mavis felt suffocated in the presence of the powerful Arcana and he tried to escape from the place. However, just as he turned around and went a couple of steps, Azzy already acted and gave a chop to his neck, knocking him out.

    Mavis fell onto the floor and Rudra got angrier upon witnessing his cousin getting attacked. "Azrael¡­ you are going too far¡­"

    Meanwhile, Lenore''s curiosity toward Azzy increased as her eyes fell on the death scythe and his eyes turned pitch black upon unleashing the Eyes of God soul skill without wasting the time. She decided to be a spectator and didn''t jump into action. As for the others, they decided to back away so as to not involve in this fight instead of trying to stop it.

    Rudra dashed forward with the trident and tried to stab Azzy''s stomach. The latter blocked it with the death scythe in ease and sparks flew out as they collided.

    "Vajra¡­"

    Upon receiving the order, the black lightning wolf unleashed the Soul skill, "Chains of Lightning" from its back and tightly captured the enemy within a fraction of a second because of the close distance.

    The paralyzing effect of the black lightning chains went to work very quickly and Rudra started feeling numb all over the body. Even his soul energy felt like it was struggling to move.

    His third eye started shivering. "No¡­ don''t open¡­"

 Chapter 466 Azzys First Mission At Zero Squad (Final)

    Rudra felt panicked and he felt the urge to open his third eye and burn Azzy to death. However, he managed to take it under control and tried to get away from his opponent instead.

    But, will Azzy let him go, just like that when everything is going exactly as he envisioned? Naturally, he wouldn''t.

    While Rudra tried to back away, Azzy clenched his left fist and gave a powerful blow to the opponent''s chest.

    Since Azzy''s physique is in tier 8 and has equivalent physical strength compared to that of an 8-star realm expert, Rudra''s body couldn''t block it. His ribs were broken and he spits out a mouthful of blood while his body flew back.

    Rudra''s body crashed into the wall, making a hole out of it, and fell into an empty adjacent room, which is usually used for board meetings. "Ugh¡­" He groaned in heavy pain and tried to get up but failed and fell down again.

    Rudra hurriedly summoned his storage card and took out a healing skill card to apply it to himself.

    However, unfortunately for him, Azzy didn''t give him such an opportunity. Before this three-eyed captain recovered himself, Azzy reached him and placed his death scythe over his neck, "give up and surrender, Rudra. I''m holding back my strength as I''m worried about civilians in this building. Don''t make this an ugly fight and let us proceed with the interrogation."

    Rudra stared at him and then at the wolf that stepped on his chest while baring its fangs before letting out a deep sigh, "alright, you win. But, I want you to promise me that violence will be used on Chairman Xavier. After my parents passed away, he is the only direct relative I have left in this world."

    Azzy''s heart softened a bit when he heard that. After all, he knew very well what it is like to have a single relative whom he can share his happiness and sorrows with. He felt like maybe, he would also behave like this mentor of his if he was in the same situation. As a result, he agreed to Rudra''s request.

    A few hours later, at WAMO HQ;

    Azzy was standing in front of his elven boss who appeared to be quite angry, judging by his pale face turned reddish as he was scolding the teenager, "Good. Very good. It''s your first day and you have beaten up a victim who you should rescue, you then did property damage when you can solve with dialogue, and you successfully managed to give two demerits to your mentor on your very first mission. A person with a perfect record like Rudra was now just a demerit away from getting demoted. Should I applaud you for your great efforts?"

    That''s right. Rudra received a demerit for his aggressive actions against his teammates and another demerit for trying to protect an offender.

    After healing himself and returning to the chairman''s office, Rudra apologized to everyone for his actions and told everyone that he will appoint Azzy to interrogate the suspect and the victim.

    Everyone felt that the matter is settled and let out a sigh of relief.

    But, little did anyone expect that this whole mission turned out to be nothing more than a sham.

    ? Under Azzy''s questioning, the chairman confessed that he hid his grandnephew and termed it as a kidnap so that he can use WAMO''s authority to take down his enemies.

    However, it wasn''t because he wanted to harm them or anything. As he was about to die very soon and his grandnephew has no one by his side to protect him, Xavier wanted to hit the market share of the rival companies so that they won''t bully Mavis later on.

    Some of the team members thought that he was reasonable and others thought that he wasn''t right in his mind. Azzy''s opinion is of the latter and so was Rudra''s.

    Rudra was very angered by the foolishness of his grandfather but eventually, to protect him from getting punished for making a fool out of WAMO, he pleaded with the supreme commander and took it upon himself.

    If not for the fact that he was a member of Zero Squad and a disciple of the Supreme Commander, Rudra would have been suspended for his actions.

    Unfortunately for Azzy, despite how he only did his job and even saved a person from death, since it wasn''t perfect and he only harmed his allies, he left a bad impression not only on the Supreme Commander but even on the other members whom he never met.

    But, will Azzy care about their opinions? He wouldn''t give a sh*t. All he cares is about finding the culprit behind his master''s death. To do that, he had to stay at the Zero Squad and it won''t be good for his future to argue with his superior.

    As a result, he didn''t talk back to the supreme commander and quietly listened to his scolding.

    Kruger thought that Azzy probably learned his lesson and will be careful from now onwards. Not to mention, he cannot lose a talent like Azzy too. Hence, after venting his frustration, he also praised Azzy for saving a life and sent him away.

    But, little did know that it was just the beginning of his headaches.

    Ten days later;

    Supreme Commander''s office, Zero Squad''s pocket dimension;

    Azzy was standing straight with his hands behind his back while patiently listening to his superior''s ranting about the former''s way of handling things in the latest mission he completed.

    "I told you many times, Mr. Garcia. Zero Squad doesn''t defend the civilians. Our priorities lie in averting the disaster by taking out enemies and making sure that they don''t escape.

    Do you know how much groundwork I had to do to make sure that your name and photo don''t end up in any newspapers or articles on the internet?

    Ever since the internet became available to the general public, it is getting more troublesome. Technology is getting upgraded far quicker in this 21st century, especially during the last decade.

    Just thirty years ago, we were the only ones to have a laptop in possession. Now, even a civilian teenager has them.

    In a way, our research division is the one to be blamed. We shouldn''t have shared the state-of-the-art technology with private companies for the sake of additional funding. What was Cornelius thinking? Ugh¡­ I should have interfered."

    As Kruger was ranting about every other thing that he had a problem with, Azzy didn''t even utter a word and silently stared at this elven boss of his.

    He got used to his behavior after witnessing such a scene several times during the past couple of weeks.

    Once the commander was done with his complaining, he stared at Azzy for a few seconds and told him to speak something.

    Only then did Azzy give a reply, defending his actions in a calm manner, "no offense, sir, but I''m foremost an Arcana Master, then, a member of Zero Squad. It is my responsibility to save the civilians in need of help. After all, they were also humans like me."

    "You¡­ Why are you so stubborn? Is it so hard to follow the rules of our squad?"

 Chapter 467 Getting Promoted As A Punishment?

    Azzy''s last comment irked the supreme commander and made him furrow his brows in displeasure for a couple of seconds before forcefully calming down himself and asking straightforwardly, "young man, do you have a problem with me? Your responses reek of disobedience. At first, I thought that it is because you are arrogant about your talent and being the descendant of a royal family but it appears that you don''t like me, considering how you were quite respectful toward other members of the squad. So, tell me. What''s your issue? Is it because I''m an elf? Or is it something else?"

    As the supreme commander became straightforward with the matter, Azzy no longer hid his unpleasant feelings and expressed them directly to his face.

    Without a change in his expression or tone, he replied, "Sir, I believe you already know the answer but I will say it to you. My grandpa always says that the greater good is the same as the lesser evil and those who will justify themselves aren''t people who can be admired. They are nothing more than a necessary evil for society.

    I''m sorry to act this way but my conscience will not let me bow my head to you. If you want to suspend me or transfer me to other divisions, I will accept that punishment too. After all, you are the superior and you can exercise your rights."

    After spending in the Zero squad for the past ten days, Azzy had already realized that the squad''s principles were quite different from his.

    Of course, he wasn''t the same na?ve fellow who thinks that killing is just wrong and everyone deserves a second chance or something like that.

    But still, Azzy doesn''t like sacrificing his teammates or innocent bystanders just for the sake of completing the mission. In his view, the others appeared like robots that follow the orders of their handlers.

    The only reason he stayed in this place is that he wanted to find out the name of Barton''s killer. During the past ten days, he found every piece of information he could find from the restricted section but it proved useless as he had yet to make some progress. This only frustrated Azzy more and more¡­

    Seeing that staying in this squad no longer benefits him, lately, he was having thoughts of quitting this squad and moving to other divisions where he would easily be made a captain.

    And now that he saw the chance, he tried to grab it by speaking rudely to the esteemed supreme commander.

    Azzy expected the elf to demote him for either insubordination or just chose to ignore his rebellious acts and let him do what he wants.

    However, to his surprise, Commander Kruger calmly stared at him for a while and spoke, "The will of the supreme commander is the will of Zero Squad, Mr. Garcia. If you want the others to act your way, then, climb up the ranks and take my place. And since you were confident that our ways are wrong, then, I will give you the opportunity to prove it too.

    Using my authority as the leader of Zero Squad and the supreme commander of WAMO, I''m promoting you to the captain rank and will let you operate without any partner for the time being.

    And just like the other captains, your data will be calculated at the end of each year. If your rate of success drops below 50%, you will be demoted based on your lack of skill.

    Go and rest for today. You will receive your badge, new ID, and mission by the following morning."

    "Eh? Promotion? I''m not demoted?"

    ***

    Two days later;

    In the suburbs of Silver City, three siblings of similar ages were walking together on a sidewalk. All of them were quite beautiful enough to attract the attention of passersby even when they were wearing casual wear.

    The Eldest sibling was talking about one of her experiences in the office. The youngest sibling was engaged in conversation with her sister while the middle one was just walking in silence and observing the surroundings from the corner of her eyes.

    For some reason, the twenty-three-year-old was quite vigilant even though it was daytime.

    "Something is going to happen but what is it? Nitro, Heli, do either of you have any clues?" She mumbled to herself.

    "Don''t ask me. I''m too tired," lazily answered a deep voice in her head.

    The second voice, which sounded like a sweet young girl, gave her reply, "Sister Lennie, look at the sky."

    "Hmm?" The girl looked at the sky and spotted something strange. There was a large black dot that appeared in the sky and the clouds were slowly moving toward that object.

    No, it was like they were revolving around it.

    What could be it? She wondered. She halted her footsteps and just stared at the mysterious phenomenon.

    "Lennie, what are you¡­ Huh?" One of her sisters called her but then, she too saw the strange movement of the clouds, which sped up. "What the hell was that?" She screamed, gaining public attention.

    Eventually, all the passersby in the area were seen staring at the sky, some of them were even taking out their mobile phones and recording it.

    Within the next five minutes, almost all the clouds in a 100-kilometer radius were seen revolving around the black dot at a fast pace, drawing the attention of WAMO and the organization''s president.

    People started running away for their lives and those sisters were among them. The middle sibling, on the other hand, didn''t leave with them and stayed as a spectator out of curiosity.

    However, little did she expect that this act of hers would change her life for good, starting from the very next ten minutes.

    The clouds revolved and revolved for a while before the little dot transformed into a giant scarlet door with the image of a skull inscribed on top of it. Its massive size scared the hell out of the citizens living around it and forced the top three experts of WAMO to make a personal visit.

    Surprisingly, there was one more person who appeared behind the Supreme commander before he started descending onto the ground. No, he was free-falling under the effect of gravity.

    "Eh?" The Supreme commander, Kruger, appeared to be surprised for a moment and looked down at the boy who was falling at a quick pace. "He doesn''t know how to fly? Never mind. He won''t be injured heavily even if he falls from this height anyway."

    Kruger shifted his focus back to the mysterious door, leaving the organization''s president and vice president in surprise.

    Meanwhile, the boy started to fall at a rapid pace and would crash onto the ground at any moment. However, he was calm and there was no tension on either his face or even inside him. What''s more, he managed to take control of his body and will land directly on his feet unless no unexpected thing occurs.

    As if he was fated to meet an unexpected incident, before he touched the ground, the girl managed to reach the location and caught him using soul energy threads, which are shooting from her palms.

    The boy slowly landed on the ground and the girl questioned him right away, "What''s going on? What is that gate?"

    Azzy looked at the girl who interrupted his landing and replied, "Someone summoned one of the gates of tartarus."

    "Gates of Tartarus? What is it?" Lenore asked in confusion.

    "No idea..."

 Chapter 468 Battle Against The Demons (Part-1)

    15 minutes ago, at Zero Squad base;

    As Kruger was busy looking at the files containing the expenditure for the last month, the door was knocked on three times in a row before it was opened and Azzy entered the office.

    Upon seeing the troublesome subordinate, Kruger felt like a throb in his head but he kept his cool and let out a smile, "Captain Garcia, come in. Did you get your ID?"

    Azzy nodded in response, "Yes. I''m here for my first mission as the captain."

    "You sure are quite enthusiastic to prove yourself, although your face tells otherwise," commented Commander Kruger in a casual way to ease up the awkward atmosphere between them after the previous day''s argument that led to Azzy''s promotion as a challenge.

    He then switched his attention to the desktop and logged into the server. While scrolling down the list, he asked, "What level of difficulty you are expecting to receive? Any preferences on the type of mission? Since this is your first mission, I''ll let you choose."

    "The one that offers the most number of merits," replied Azzy without any hesitation. He added, "Difficulty doesn''t matter. However, I don''t want long-term missions. I''m also willing to handle multiple missions if they were in nearby locations."

    Kruger was slightly surprised by his decision. Seeing that Azzy wanted to earn as many merits as he can earn in a short time, he wondered whether this subordinate of his was desperate for something. What it might be?

    There are no further promotions in Zero Squad. Hence, merits cannot be used to gain for the positions.

    A captain of Zero squad can rent any weapon developed by the research facility for free.

    Azzy returned to the organization after more than two decades. So, a long-term leave is out of the question.

    Was he in need of a huge amount of money? It might be possible if he or his parents had taken a loan. Being a descendant of a royal family doesn''t mean that he is wealthy.

    Or maybe, he needs resources for a breakthrough. Nah, it is unlikely as Azzy is still at mid-rank-7.

    Hmm, wait a second. Azzy is still at mid-rank-7 as 27 years ago? Did his progress hit a wall for some reason? Is that why he returned? Or was he in need of material that can help him out?

    Kruger couldn''t help but think deeply, trying to analyze Azzy''s actions because the latter was considered the favorite child of heaven, meaning the one with the highest potential WAMO has discovered so far.

    As the elf busy with his thoughts about Azzy''s future, all of a sudden, alarms ring in his office as if there was a fire broke out.

    He returned to his senses and quickly contacts someone to find out why the headquarters sent the emergency signal to Zero Squad.

    In the next instant, he receives a piece of information and Kruger abruptly gets up from his seat.

    "Captain Garcia, The gates of Tartarus was summoned quite near to our headquarters. I need you to come with me. It is an emergency."

    After giving him basic information, without asking for his opinion, Kruger then grabbed Azzy and teleported to the location.

    Azzy didn''t know that he would teleport to mid-air. He doesn''t know how to fly yet. Hence, under the effects of the planet''s gravity, he started falling. After taking control of his body, he thought of landing on his feet but surprisingly, he met Lenore, with whom he had done a few missions under Rudra''s leadership during the past ten days.

    Back to the present;

    Azzy and Lenore were staring at the giant scarlet gate that appeared out of nowhere as the other Exalt realm experts of WAMO arrived at the location one after another.

    *Dum* Dum* Dum*

    Sounds of striking the door from the other side reverberated all over the city. And every time, that sound came out of the door, Azzy and the others were hit with vibrations.

    The lights on the road burst out and cracks started appearing on the buildings that were hit by the vibrations. Some of them were on the brink of destruction.

    Unfortunately, a lot of civilians with weak physiques couldn''t escape unscathed.

    Tens of casualties occurred as some people either refused to leave the town as advised by the officials or didn''t have enough time.

    As the low-level officials got busy with evacuating the civilians, powerful experts like Azzy stood still in their spots and prepared themselves for the incoming disaster.

    Soon, the giant door started to open at the pace of a snail while the three guardians (President Cornelius, Vice President Ramiel Crescent, and Supreme Commander Kruger) got into action.

    They went into a triangular formation as they surrounded the gate of Tartarus and started to perform a joint sealing technique to send it away.

    Meanwhile, wisps of dark smoke escaped the gate one after another and landed on the ground, transforming into demons.

    Kruger and the other two were startled by this phenomenon. Hence, they canceled their technique midway and went on to create a sturdy giant barrier instead to keep the demons within the barrier before sending them back to their dimension.

    By the time their barrier is finished, about 16 demons escaped their prison but none of them were going with their killing spree, and instead, they gathered at the final wisp of smoke that is still in the middle of a transformation.

    It was then the commanders of four combat divisions (Dragon Corps, Phoenix Corps, Crimson Lion Corps, and Black Bear Corps) went into their own formation and created a barrier similar to the one around the giant gate.

    But, this one is aimed at keeping the escaped demons in the barrier, which is powerful enough to trap any supreme realm expert. The other legendary realm experts like the commander of the general combat division, and a captain belonging to Zero Squad entered the barrier to engage with the enemies.

    Meanwhile, a couple of kilometers away from their location, Azzy was waiting for his order while conversing with the Reaper to understand everything about the enemies.

    The Reaper started explaining the history of Tartarus.

    Before starting about Tartarus, one must learn about Hell or the netherworld.

    After the Grim Reapers take the soul of the living beings, they send them to the Abode of Justice, where Astraea, the goddess of justice will make the judgment based on one''s sins and virtues.

    If virtues completely dominate the sins, then, the soul will get reborn in the Celestial Empire or Heaven.

    If virtues and sins were comparable with each other but the former is still on the dominant side, then, one will reborn as a mortal in a random world. Luck and a god''s mood will depend heavily on this factor.

    And if sins were dominant, then, the soul will be sent to hell for punishment. Well, one can say, it can also be called purification. While going through the punishment, if the souls redeem themselves in the allotted time, then, they will get reborn as mortal and be sent to the spirit realm until their time is up.

    However, if the souls fail to redeem themselves, then, they will be reborn as demons and work in hell.

    But, what if there is a heavy sinner and the goddess of judgment decides that he isn''t worthy of redemption? Then, they will directly be sent to Tartarus, a prison in hell, and spend there for eternity. Obviously, upon staying in such a place for a long time, the corrupted souls will be demonized naturally.

    "These weren''t demons that you faced during the tournament. These were completely cruel in nature. Hence, you cannot hesitate to use your strongest powers to erase them, Azrael."

    The Reaper knows that Azzy will not leave them alive but he doesn''t want his host to hold back as the more he will try to keep his strength a secret, the more damage it occurs.

    Thankfully, Azzy was also under the same opinion. He replied, "I know. But, I still need to wait for the order if I need to earn merits."

    As soon as his words ended, the communication device around his wrist vibrated. As he clicked on it, he heard a familiar voice belonging to President Cornelius.

    "Everyone above 7-star realm, engage in battle. 6-star realm Arcana Masters, don''t engage the enemies directly and stay on the support side. 5-star realm Arcana Masters and below, don''t enter the barrier."

    Azzy looked at the girl on his left side, "Are you ready?"

    Lenore responded by placing the mask on her face and summoned the flame scythe, "let''s go."

 Chapter 469 Battle Against The Demons (Part-2)

    2 legendary realm experts (rank 8), 14 Exalt realm experts (rank 7), and more than 30 Upper Elite realm experts (rank 6) entered the barrier one after another to finish off 16 demons that were on the defensive.

    The demons were protecting their leader who was taking an ample amount of time to transform. The Arcana Masters didn''t know how strong the leader of the enemies is going to be, but none of them were interested to wait until it is over.

    They started attacking the demons.

    By the time Azzy and Lenore entered the field, it appeared that half of the battle is already over. Only 7 demons were alive, and apart from superficial injuries, no Arcana Master was hurt. Maybe, it is because the demons were never on the offensive.

    Looking at the scene, Azzy shook his head in a bit of disappointment, "there''s no need for us, Ms. Lenore. The higher-ups overestimated their strength too much and called for an emergency, deploying every available true expert."

    Lenore was also under the same impression. She nodded in agreement. She anticipated a tough battle ahead but it is just a one-sided one.

    Perhaps, the same thing was also going through the minds of others. Several Arcana Masters who were late in action halted their movements and became spectators as the two legendary realm experts and a few Exalt realm experts managed to kill four more demons.

    Not even a minute has passed since the battle had begun and only three more demons were left to be killed, in which one of them still hasn''t completed its transformation while the other two were looking everywhere.

    "Captain Lyman, you take the left one and I take the right one." General division''s commander, Harvey Blue suggested to his fellow 8-star realm Arcana Master.

    Both of them split and went in different directions to take out the remaining two demons which appeared to be quite stronger compared to the fallen ones.

    Just as the both of them were about to engage in battle with their respective opponents, suddenly a pair of hands grew from the wispy smoke and stabbed those demons simultaneously, taking the humans by surprise.

    The two demons with bear and gorilla heads transformed back into wisps of smoke before they were absorbed into the last one and completed the transformation.

    Everyone expected the boss to have a demonic appearance like the rest but instead, they saw a man dressed as a soldier in red armor, riding a red horse and wearing a golden crown on his head.

    He looked around curiously, "Ho, this is the current human world, eh?"

    The demon general ignored the humans before him and paid attention to the gate of Tartarus and the three powerful humans who are imprisoning the wisps of smoke that couldn''t get out. He broke out into a smile, "Poor Zagan and Baal. They couldn''t escape and were held back by weak mortals. Interesting, indeed."

    Meanwhile, sweat beads appeared on the foreheads of Captain Lyman and Commander Harvey as they attempted to sense the terrifying power within this demon.

    They took a glance at each other and nodded as if they came to an arrangement through telepathy. Both of them unleashed their strongest attacks without hesitation.

    Captain Lyman''s saber released a tremendous amount of lightning energy as he aimed it at the enemy. Meanwhile, Commander Harvey merged with his jackal Arcana to become something similar to that of a werewolf, or in this case, should one call him a were-jackal?

    On the other hand, the demon general was calm. Without even bothering to look at the torrent of lightning energy from his right, he raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

    A metal shield appeared out of nowhere and blocked the attack. All the lightning energy was completely absorbed by the shield and then, a dozen swords imbued in dark energy appeared above the shield before cutting through the air and attacking the enemy.

    As Captain Lyman dodged the swords and further tried to defend himself by conjuring a barrier using his soul energy, the demon general turned his head to the left, looking at the werejackal. A smile appeared on his face as his pupils narrowed for a moment.

    "You are a mortal who suffered a lot in your life." The demon general started speaking to Commander Harvey, who was taken aback as the former continued to recite his life story.

    "Father''s death, mother''s remarriage, physical abuse from stepfather and step-siblings, ten successive love break ups in the span of 25 years, followed by a forced arranged marriage, wife having an extramarital affair, divorce, daughter trying to commit suicide over love failure, cutting off ties with your family, spending in loneliness for nearly a thousand years in the wild.

    Child, why do you even have faith in weak humanity? Come and join my side. I''ll show you the reality. Everything is just an illusion. Only the power is truth."

    Commander Harvey already fell into a daze as the demon was talking earlier. And by the time the latter was finished, this legendary realm expert''s eyes turned amber with no visible pupils.

    He fell onto one of his knees like a knight, "Milord, I''m awaiting your orders."

    The demon general looked at the surprised Arcana Masters who were frozen on the spot by the sudden turn of events. He pointed at them, "kill everyone."

    The werejackal rose to his feet and charged forward under the effects of mind control.

    "What the hell is that demon, Chronos?" Azzy screamed inwardly as he saw the commander of the general division attacking his own allies while Captain Lyman of Zero Squad was continuously being bombarded by swords.

    "Fallen Angel Berith, the chief secretary of hell, and one of the 72 demon generals of Ars Goetia. He can create weapons without the need for soul energy and he can see one''s past and future. He can also take control of the minds of enemies with just a simple speech. You have the worst opponent, Azrael," replied the Reaper.

    After a pause, he added, "however, fortunately, his power is quite limited. He can barely use 10% of his power in this form. So, you can take care of him. But, you need preparations, starting with covering your face with a mask just like that girl."

    "Eh?"

 Chapter 470 Fallen Angel Berith (Part-1)

    Back when he was in the past timeline, Azzy bought a mask for the purpose of protecting his identity if he ever trains in death scythe. However, due to the lack of time and no sense of urgency, he wasn''t able to use this until now.

    "Hmm¡­ you never wore a mask before. Are you trying to copy me, Azrael?" asked the masked girl upon seeing his actions. Lenore''s mask was different from the usual ones.

    Her mask is Arcana itself and to utilize its powers, she had to wear it. After wearing it for several years, she became used to it.

    On the other hand, Azzy''s mask is a normal item that people use for fashion/cosplay. As he cannot say that he knows about Fallen Angel Berith and his abilities, Azzy stayed silent and summoned his death scythe before charging forward.

    "Ah¡­ wait for me¡­" Lenore followed him from behind but his speed was a lot faster than hers. Before she even covered one-third of the distance, Azzy had already reached the main enemy, evading Commander Harvey on the way.

    As Azzy jumped up a bit higher and then raised the death scythe to strike down the enemy, the latter scoffed while looking at the weapon and at the boy that is wielding it, "The Death Clan¡­ You guys are still kicking around, huh? Never matter¡­ you will also¡­ Hmm¡­ resistance? Fine, I will play with you for a while." At first, he was smiling mischievously but upon realizing that he cannot hypnotize Mark, his expression changed and he raised his arm.

    Before Azzy slashed at the enemy''s shoulder, metal alloys present deep in the underground tore apart everything on their way and erupted from the ground in the form of flexible rods before capturing Azzy''s arms and legs in a timely manner. His death scythe fell down on the ground.

    Everything just happened in a matter of seconds. Azzy didn''t expect to be captured by the enemy so quickly. Perhaps, he should have summoned his powerful skeleton subordinates.

    Meanwhile, Berith controlled those metal alloy pillars to bring Azzy closer to him. He wanted to see what special talent was hidden in this kid but before that happens, Azzy expelled some of his soul energy using the energy eruption technique and pushed away those metallic pillars.

    The force emitted by his energy erupted not only freed him from those pillars but even the horse was pushed away and lost its balance.

    Berith hurriedly placed his attention on grabbing the reins and bringing back the control. Azzy fell to the ground and hurriedly picked up his scythe and horizontally slashed at the horse.

    The red horse''s front leg had a cut and death energy seeped inside its body. The beast started crying in pain, making Berith serious.

    Captain Lyman who was finally free from the attacks of energy swords took the opportunity to charge forward and ambush the demon.

    Back to Azzy, after injuring the horse, he continued his attack by conjuring a Protos Spear and threw at the demon.

    The Protos Spear was about to strike Berith when he was grabbing the horse reins but at the last fraction of a second, the latter conjured up a stack of energy shields and tried to defend himself as soon as he sensed the presence of corrupted energy inside the attack.

    He was no longer an angel and don''t possess the divine energy but that doesn''t mean that demonic energy wouldn''t be harmed by the Protos energy.

    The Protos energy stabbed through the energy shields one after another. It managed to destroy three shields before disappearing.

    Berith let out a sigh of relief. "Damn, that was close." He then took another look at his opponent in confusion, "this kid possessed the energy of the Protos race. He also possessed death energy. Then, why is he on the side of humanity? Or most importantly, how could he keep his humanity until now? He should have long been corrupted by now. There''s something strange about this fellow. I guess I need to bring him back with¡­" "Hmm?"

    *Swoosh*

    As Berith lost his concentration on the surroundings for a moment, he failed to detect an ambush from his behind. By the time he had noticed it, a limbless and wingless dragon made of pure lightning energy thrown by Captain Lyman was already reached him and struck him.

    Berith didn''t get enough time to defend himself as his body faced billions of joules of energy at once.

    An enormous explosion occurred, blasting away the demon and killing his horse at the same time. Unfortunately, being near the enemy, Azzy was also caught up in the explosion.

    He was thrown away a couple of dozen meters and crashed onto the ground. He was heavily injured.

    Azzy wasn''t the only one who was injured though. The wind generated by the explosion pushed away the Arcana Masters standing around. Thankfully, they were only superficial injuries and nothing serious like what Azzy had.

    Another good thing that happened is that the demon lost control over the werejackal too.

    Above in the sky, the three guardians of WAMO were also paying attention to the battle going below. They saw what happened and two of them frowned at the result.

    "What was your subordinate doing, Commander Kruger?" asked Vice President Ramiel in a bit of seriousness.

    Kruger calmly answered, "the enemy is too powerful and we cannot afford to think about casualties that occur in the crossfire, President. Or else, there will be more casualties. Moreover, it wasn''t Azrael''s place to battle the enemy''s boss all alone in close combat."

    The elf wasn''t even the least apologetic about the incident. He thought it was an obvious move. And Zero Squad follows the same way too.

    However, Cornelius wasn''t impressed by his answer and asked him, "Do you even know who he is?"

    "Are you afraid of the retaliation by the Death clan?" Kruger responded with a question while taking a glance at Ramiel Crescent seeing that he was also a member of the clan even though he stopped living with his clan members, a long time ago.

    Cornelius shook his head, "No, he is the hope of the human''s future. You cannot treat him the same way as the others."

    "He is already hot-headed in the first place. Don''t try to protect him, Mr. President. And don''t worry. If he dies, I will resurrect him using my life force, alright?" Supreme Commander Kruger asked the two of them to focus on their job so that they can go down there below and finish the battle.

    Ramiel looked once more at Azzy who was getting up on his feet with a masked girl''s help, and then, turned his face toward the barrier. He gritted his teeth, "you damn demons, get lost¡­"

    Lightning energy escaped his fingertips and entered the barrier, destroying the wisps of smoke.

    Back to the battle on the ground, Berith rose to his feet with cuts here and there on his body. He looked around to find his horse but there was no trace of it as it burst into million pieces in the earlier blast.

    Demonic energy surged within his body. With the rage clearly evident in his eyes, Berith set his eyes on the human that dared to hurt him. He let out a roar, "You filthy human piece of trash¡­"

    In the next second, metal alloy pillars erupted from the ground all over the place; a lot of them were piercing the Arcana masters.

    Lenore hurriedly picked up Azzy in time and dodge to the left, evading the attack.

 Chapter 471 Fallen Angel Berith (Part-2)

    Just a few moments ago, it looked like the battle was over and the humans managed to thwart the invasion of demons.

    However, Berith''s rage happened to be something that powerless Arcana Masters couldn''t cope to face.

    Within seconds, 12 Arcana Masters died, of which, one of them was even an Exalt realm expert. They were too unlucky with their hearts, necks, heads, or other vital body parts being pierced with thick metal rods at great force.

    More than 20 of them were heavily injured, of which half of them lost consciousness. Perhaps, it is because Berith''s attention was on Captain Lyman. He was attacked by several pillars. His body was pierced from all directions but his strong vitality is keeping him alive and protected his consciousness.

    The remaining were filled with fear as the metal alloy pillars rose in the air and gathered at one spot, transforming into a giant metal golem.

    Fortunately, an already injured Azzy was left unharmed due to the timely act of Lenore. After saving him, she used random teleportation to temporarily get away from the spot.

    However, they couldn''t get away because of the existing barrier placed by the four commanders which prohibited teleportation. Hence, they ended up crashing into the wall of a barrier but they were completely fine.

    As Azzy completely healed himself, the metal golem transformation is completed and Berith landed on top of its head before speaking loud enough that even people from a kilometer away could hear it.

    "Hello, warriors of the human race. I''m Berith, a duke of Hell. First of all, let me clear up some misunderstandings. I have no enmity with humanity and neither have I any intention to invade your world. It was purely a business visit and nothing else."

    "then, what the hell was this?" This thought appeared in every listener but no one is in a state to argue with the demon at the moment. Moreover, all of them were working for WAMO and were in elite positions. One can say that they were veterans. They might feel afraid and hesitate to attack but won''t run away like cowards even while standing in the midst of corpses.

    These elite Arcana Masters were simply waiting for their bosses to finish up their seal and come down to deal with the enemy. If his speech will give them some time, then, they will patiently listen until the end without making any move.

    On the other hand, Azzy started rapidly absorbing the natural energy around him. Maybe, the demon wasn''t paying attention, or maybe, he cannot sense the changes as Azzy was a bit far away from him, or maybe, he just didn''t think it was a threat.

    Whatever the case, Berith didn''t look in the direction of Azzy and continued his speech.

    "Just like our late master, I only follow the terms of the deal I make with the humans. My summoner was a poor victim of human arrogance. He was innocent, yet, made guilty by a person with connections.

    The man only wished for one thing. He wishes to take revenge against the arrogant people with power and authority. Surprisingly, his wish and my line of thoughts were quite similar. Hence, I decided to go all out. What''s better than a place where those kinds of people exist in a bunch of groups?

    Too bad that I couldn''t bring down my entire legion but I guess I would be enough for you all.

    Anyways, coming to the point, since you all lack the authority, let''s make a deal. I will leave you kids alive if you sacrifice the very power that makes you arrogant. Your soul energy¡­

    If you don''t want that, then, I have another option for you. Join my legion and kill my enemies. I will even reward you.

    Surrender peacefully, you will leave with your lives intact.

    Or else, die with the rest. Oh! Yes, there''s the last option. You can run away but the civilians will die in your place.

    You are an intelligent species that came a long way compared to millions of years ago. You can think and act. So, choose wisely. You have one minute to walk forward and stand behind this creation of mine." Berith patted the head of the golem and ended his proposition before taking a glance at the sky. It looked like the seal will be completed within a minute.

    Is it just a coincidence or a planned one? Only time will tell.

    But, for now, everyone just silently stood in their places while healing their injuries and helping out their colleagues.

    Within a whole minute, not even one of them stepped forward and joined the demon for their life. Azzy was indeed impressed by such a scene because he didn''t expect that no one would be afraid for their life.

    He didn''t even see anyone run away including those rank-5 Arcana Masters who were standing out of the barrier and became spectators, following their orders.

    This tells the loyalty of this organization''s employees, thought Azzy as he continued to greedily absorb the natural energy.

    Since there was less forestation, and water sources like lakes in the city, Azzy expected that it would take a while to absorb the natural energy up to his maximum capacity. However, Berith, unknowingly, made a favor for him.

    Because the golem is made of natural metal alloys, Azzy was able to steal natural energy from it and reduce its durability.

    Obviously, Berith sensed it and he even managed to discern the reason and person behind this phenomenon.

    But, since he made a promise to wait for the next 60 seconds, he would not attack unless someone launches a direct attack aimed at him. Not to mention, Azzy was a target of special interest.

    Unlike the others, Berith planned to capture him alive to solve the mystery of how his mind control and divination powers not working on him.

    The clock is slowly ticking and there is complete silence on the battlefield. Everyone''s eyes were glued to the sky and they were praying for their saviors to come down while Azzy was done with his preparation for the battle and focused on formulating a perfect strategy. Of course, he was in consultation with the Reaper.

    As Vajra couldn''t be used in the battle because its presence will only put additional pressure on the Arcana spirits of his allies, Azzy went on summoning it just before the time limit and quickly unleashing its hidden skill, the merge.

    It was only for a moment. So, no one had witnessed or sensed the presence of the wolf except for Lenore and the Supreme realm experts as well as the demon general.

    "You are a twin arcana user." Lenore couldn''t help but comment and Azzy calmly nodded as he was finished with the merge. Other than the fact that his eyes turned yellow and a black gem appeared on his forehead, visibly, there were no other changes in Azzy.

    After activating the Eyes of God soul skill, even those yellow pupils disappeared and his eyes turned pitch black with no visible pupils, thereby almost finishing his preparations for the upcoming battle.

    Why so much preparation when the three guardians of WAMO will come down and fight with the demon? It is because it will take one more minute for them to finish the things above, according to the Reaper. One of them (Ramiel) isn''t in the supreme realm and is not a sealing master like the other two.

    And just like Azzy feared, the guardians up there weren''t finished in time and Berith let out a smile, followed by an announcement "Time''s up. Prepare yourselves to die, humans."

    *Swoosh*

    Azzy charged forward with his fastest speed.

 Chapter 472 Fallen Angel Berith (Part-3)

    As soon as the golem made its move, the commanders standing outside the barrier and maintaining it made their move at the same time.

    All of them released a stream of soul energy from different sides. Those appeared like the threads but when they captured the limbs of the golem, its movements were completely restricted, taking the fallen angel by surprise.

    Rising in the air, he created several swords and daggers made of dark energy and aimed at the threads. The golem was freed instantly but it wasn''t able to move and collapsed on its knees because of the paralyzing effect released by those threads when they captured the golem.

    Berith furrowed his brows, "So, you lot finally stopped trying to be protectors. Well, no matter."

    He closed his eyes and raised his arms above his head. In the next second, metal alloy pillars once again left the underground. "Careful¡­" shouted the commander of the Dragon corps.

    Fortunately, this time, the attacks weren''t able to deeply injure or kill the Arcana masters as everyone was already formed energy barriers around themselves to protect against attacks like these, although some couldn''t help from having light and moderate injuries, which were healed within no time.

    "Let''s see how long you will resist before losing your will." Fallen Angel Berith raised his arms, creating two dozen metal golems. These were a bit less in height compared to the main one but still, 15 meters is considered a giant for humans and it would be a lie if these Arcana Masters were not intimidated by their sheer number.

    The four commanders unanimously decided to ignore the metal golems and went after the main boss. Meanwhile, all the rank-7 and rank-6 experts received an order to move far away from Berith and focus on defeating the golems instead.

    Following the orders, Azzy shifted his attention toward the nearest metal golem. Lenore also followed his gaze. As a 6-star realm Arcana Master, she wasn''t authorized to directly engage with the enemy unless she was left with no choice. Hence, she decided to stay on Azzy''s side to support him. Of course, being a scythe user, she was also interested in observing his battle techniques to pick up one or two things.

    "Ms. Lenore, you flank it from the left and I will take the right side. We''ll take away its legs at once and then finish it." Azzy thought of a quick idea and said it to the masked girl, intending to preserve his strength as much as he can in order to prepare for the final battle

    Lenore nodded and charged forward alongside Azzy.

    Upon reaching the metal golem in a couple of seconds, Azzy swung his death scythe in a horizontal motion, cutting its leg in a single swoop. On the other hand, Lenore''s flaming scythe was stuck in its leg after cutting a few inches.

    As the metal golem lost its balance and fell on its back, Lenore involuntarily fly up in the air as she refused to let go of her weapon.

    Her strength doesn''t match with Azzy but still, she didn''t plan on losing to him. Even in mid-air, she continued to attack the metal golem''s leg by releasing a tremendous amount of flames from her scythe. These were white in color, as opposed to her normal red ones.

    The intense white flames (1500C temp) melted its surroundings in just a matter of seconds and she cut the remaining part like tofu, completing her job before leaping back and landing on the ground.

    This action might cost her nearly 10% of her soul power but surprisingly, it was recovered quite fast even without the usage of a recovery card.

    "That mask Arcana of hers is indeed special. It was constantly absorbing the natural energy from the surroundings and refining it to her soul energy. It''s a pity that it was only at gold grade. Or else, that light/dark dual attribute Arcana should have made her a legend." The Reaper heaped praises on Lenore''s Arcana, making Azzy a little bit jealous of her and curious at the same time.

    But then again, she wasn''t a subordinate of him, just because her soul realm is lower. So, he couldn''t tell her that she is a good job or something like that.

    Instead, he went on finishing the golem by piercing its forehead where the mark of Berith was seen. It delinked its connection to the demon and the rest of the golem became a typical metal alloy.

    According to the Reaper, it was only temporary and the fallen angel will regain his control over the destroyed metal golem to revive it again and attack but Azzy felt that those 80-90 seconds will be enough.

    Brandishing his death scythe, Azzy then said as he shifted his attention to another golem, "Okay, one is done. Let''s go."

    Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, the four commanders reached the fallen angel at the same time and launched their attacks simultaneously.

    Berith let out a snort and conjured giant shields around him, blocking their attacks and pushing them away.

    Two commanders were hit by the shields and crashed onto the ground while the other two managed to evade them with their quick speed.

    Berith then targeted one of those fallen ones and teleported behind him.

    "Commander Wall, careful¡­" screamed the commander of Crimson Lion Corps.

    The stout guy tried to get away from there but the demon was faster. Before he even got up onto his feet and others attacked him, Berith already bombarded him with more than a dozen dark energy swords and create a shield at the same time.

    In an instant, Jack wall, the commander of the Black Bear Corps passed away and the energy attack of the Dragon Corps'' commander was blocked.

    "You bastard¡­" the two commanders roared while the third one slowly got up onto his feet.

    Berith then shifted his attention toward the one who tried to sneak attack him while he was killing the commander earlier. "Your turn will come later."

    Once again, he created a dozen weapons filled with dark and demonic energy but this time, daggers were also mixed in the bunch as he threw them in three different directions.

    All the commanders were able to evade them, only to realize later that they had a target lock-in feature. Dragon Corps'' commander, Curtis Hagen, who was an assassin, still managed to evade again and destroy them because of his quick feet.

    However, the rest of the two weren''t as blessed as he was. The moment the daggers were in their two-foot radius, they automatically exploded, creating a chain reaction, causing the energy swords to explode and release demonic energy into the surroundings as well as corrupting the soul energies of the two commanders.

    In the end, only Curtis Hagen remained before the fallen Angel but his gaze didn''t have a shred of fear for death. He bravely stood on the ground and his hatred for the demon could be clearly seen in his eyes.

    "Today, you will die, demon," loudly announced Curtis, to which, Berith let out a smirk in response, "foolish human, I know your past, present, and future. All of your movements and abilities were already in my grasp. There is no way a weakling like you can even put a scratch on me, much less kill me. Not to mention, this isn''t even¡­ Hmm?"

    *Swoosh*

    Berith suddenly sensed something above him and he took a glance at the sky. His eyes widened in surprise and he quickly tried to move away but a spear filled with lightning energy was already at the doorstep.

    It pierced through his body before releasing waves of electric current.

    "Argh¡­"

 Chapter 473 Fallen Angel Berith (Part-4)

    "Argh¡­"

    Berith let out a painful scream for the first time as his body was constantly being shocked by electricity, releasing 1.5 Gigajoules of energy into his body.

    Third-degree burns appeared all over his body and Berith''s legs shook involuntarily while a figure made a speedy landing beside Commander Curtis.

    "Vice President!" Curtis greeted him with a salute before glancing at the sky. The seal wasn''t completed but at the very least, the gate was closed and no wisps of smoke exited it. Chains were all over it, suppressing it completely.

    As the supreme commander was in control of maintaining the seal due to dire circumstances, the other supreme realm expert slowly descended onto the ground.

    Meanwhile, Berith hatefully looked at Ramiel, the one who hurt him to this extent despite the fact that he is still at peak rank 8. "You¡­ bas¡­"

    Ramiel didn''t give him the chance to curse too. As soon as he landed, he dashed forward with lightning sparks dancing all over his body.

    In just a couple of seconds, Ramiel''s fist was already in contact with Berith''s cheek and the latter flew in the air.

    Ramiel wasn''t done with his onslaught yet. While Berith''s body was still in mid-air, Ramiel already delivered more than a dozen punches and kicks with each one imbued with lightning energy, slightly paralyzing Berith every time and interfering with his recovery rate.

    By the time the four-foot President landed on the ground, Berith looked like he was already defeated. He lay motionlessly on the ground. He was just on the brink of his death and his eyes were blankly staring at the sky.

    Ramiel didn''t intend to give any opportunity for the enemy to fight back. He didn''t bother to talk about anything and went on unleashing his strongest soul skill.

    The clouds rumbled for a few seconds before a scarlet-colored lightning bolt descended onto the ground and struck the fallen angel, turning him into ash in an instant.

    Staring at the ash, Ramiel mumbled, "If only I knew you were this easy to defeat, I wouldn''t have bothered wasting so much time on the seal. Because of our misjudgment, we lost three commanders today."

    "No, something is wrong, Ramiel," commented President Cornelius upon hearing those words. As Ramiel turned around in confusion, Cornelius pointed at the few metal golems that are falling one after another. "If the controller died, then, the puppets should usually fall at the same time, not even with a one-second gap."

    "You are overthinking too much, Cornelius. The enemies are dead including their boss. Soon, the gate will also disappear. Let''s focus on the important matters." Ramiel''s priorities are on the future of their organization with their force facing heavy losses.

    After compensating the families of these heroes who died in battle, there should be new appointments of the commanders and other ranking officers, an increase in the recruitment of elite Arcana Masters, etc¡­ His mind was occupied with those thoughts and he doesn''t want to waste his time on the strange circumstances.

    However, the dwarven-looking president had different thoughts. He had a strong feeling that the battle might not be over. He stayed vigilant and fixed his eyes on the sky while the ranking officers started collecting the dead bodies. Perhaps, he can only relax once the gate disappears.

    But, just five-six seconds later, they heard the sonic boom behind them.

    "Hmm?" Cornelius and Ramiel glanced in the direction of the source. They spotted Azzy charging toward them at his fastest speed.

    Within a second, he was already there but since he made a sudden action, they were alerted and subconsciously tried to defend against him. Not to mention, their superior eyesight made them not only clearly see his movements but also his pitch-black eyes.

    Because Berith had once hypnotized the commander of the General division, it might be possible that the demon took control of Azzy''s mind before he died and tried to ambush them.

    Little did they expect that instead of facing an attack from Azzy, daggers of demonic energy will pierce the bodies of Ramiel and Cornelius at the same time.

    Azzy was forced to halt his footsteps as Berith''s figure materializes before Azzy as those two injured experts collapse onto the ground without being able to resist the demonic energy.

    "You¡­" Ramiel''s eyes widened in shock as he saw the guy alive and well when he was supposed to die. Cornelius was also under the same impression.

    Meanwhile, the fallen angel bursts out into laughter, "Hahahaha, just how foolish are you humans? Don''t you ever hear of my name before? I''m a high-level immortal demon (rank-11, equivalent of a junior god).

    Even if I was able to use 5-10% of my maximum strength in this avatar, how do you lot even think that you have the chance to kill me?

    The one that is destroyed is just a clone of mine that has a minute of my strength. To defeat this avatar of mine, even an average demigod would fail, much less 9-star realm trash like you..."

    As the look of helplessness appeared on the faces of Cornelius and Ramiel, the fallen angel shifted his attention to Azzy who delivered himself to his doorstep, "However, I must say that you are quite different from this lot. I really want to dissect your soul orb and see what kind of secrets you hold. What is your name, kid?"

    Trying his best to stay calm, Azzy answered, "nice bluff, Berith. However, I know that you cannot use the entire power that is available for you to use. The moment your displayed power crosses the threshold of a supreme being and enters the demigod realm, Gaia will have the right to interfere. The Celestial Empire will send its warrior to erase your avatar.

    It is also the reason why you hide in the shadow of your clone and tried to ambush them using as minimum strength as possible."

    Azzy knows all of these because the Reaper told him earlier. It was also the reason he dared to rush forward and face the demon. Once again, Azzy grabbed the attention by acting while the others had a look of fear on their faces with their top bosses on the ground.

    "Ho! You know the cosmic matters too? Now, I''m even more intrigued." Berith didn''t feel any alarmed by his words and instead, his smile only grew wider. He was very confident that Azzy cannot defeat him with his meager 7-star soul realm strength when even supreme realm experts fell to his attack.

    As a result, the teenager decided to take advantage of the fact that the enemy is underestimating him and went on unleashing his strongest combo to kill him at once.

    "Skill card: Gravity suppression"

    He sneakily threw the skill card on the ground and activated it, increasing the gravitation pressure on the battlefield by hundred times for the next five minutes.

    The huge pressure caused everyone (allies and the enemy alike) to crash onto the ground. While the three legendary realm experts on the field were almost trying to resist the effect of the 100x gravity, a smirk appeared on Berith''s face as he spoke, "Do you think this can restrict my movements? At Hell, the gravitational force is even higher, I only need a bit of time to¡­ Argh¡­"

    "Soul skill: Claws of Death"

    A black-colored portal appeared behind Berith and a large pair of human hands with claws exited them, piercing his chest.

    "I''m not done yet, Berith¡­"

 Chapter 474 Fallen Angel Berith (Part-5)

    "Soul skill: Lightning Net prison"

    A net of lightning energy fell on top of Berith, who was already facing the effects of 100x gravity and had his chest pierced by the claws of death.

    His body was trying to resist both of the forces but the paralyzing effect of the lightning energy forced him to stay still on the spot.

    Azzy then went on unleashing the final soul skill of the combo, thinking that it will finish the enemy.

    "Soul skill: Spear of Death"

    The spear with concentrated death energy appeared in his right hand and he drove it into the middle of Berith''s chest.

    "Ahhh"

    The fallen angel let out a powerful scream before his body started to slowly turn into a stone.

    "You bastard¡­ I''ll roast you alive¡­" Berith cursed him in anger as almost three-fourths of his body was petrified. He never expected to get defeated in such a way, and that too, by a teenage-looking fellow who was a 7-star Arcana Master.

    Looking straight at the demon that was covered by the aura of death, Azzy calmly replied, "Then, go on¡­ Use your entire strength and resist your death. Once you do that, then, it will alert the gods. Then, you will surely lose your job and then be imprisoned in Tartarus prison."

    "You¡­" Berith was full of rage but he knew that he cannot fall into the trap by raising his strength to the demigod realm. The rate of Petrifaction had now crossed 80%. Everything below his neck was petrified and he cannot undo it.

    It was then something clicked in his mind and his anger faded away.

    "Oh my god, the guy did it."

    "Who is that expert anyways? Why I have never heard of a teenage-looking hidden expert until now?"

    "Perhaps, he is a hidden expert from the legendary Zero Squad? See, he is wearing a mask. That means he wants to hide his identity."

    "Was he perhaps a wandering Arcana master?"

    "He looks like he is at 7-star realm but in reality, way stronger than our President. Must be a Supreme being who was nearby and came to help us"

    "Whoever it is, he saved us"

    "That damn demon¡­ he killed our brothers"

    "What is Supreme Commander even doing out there? He hasn''t come down to help us at all."

    "Hmpf, why will an elf help humans anyway?"

    "Shh¡­ mind your words. If someone hears it, you will face terrible consequences."

    "Ugh¡­ I''m tired¡­"

    "Me too, I want to go back to my home. Somehow, I miss my family very much¡­ After returning to HQ, I''ll apply for the leave"

    "Whoever summoned the demon, if I get my hands on him, I''ll roast him alive¡­"

    "Yeah, me too¡­"

    All sorts of murmurs filled the place as it appeared that the battle is finally over.

    Meanwhile, Azzy momentarily shifted his focus to President Cornelius and Vice President Ramiel.

    He was about to reach out to them and remove those demonic daggers that are not only trying to corrupt their system but also interrupting their recovery.

    It was at that moment, all of a sudden, a wisp of smoke escaped Berith and landed elsewhere.

    Berith''s body petrified before turning into ashes. However, another Berith appeared just like before.

    Azzy became alert and hurriedly took out his SP recovery card to recover his lost soul energy. "Did this guy escape death?"

    "The avatar split his soul, Azrael." A reply came from the Reaper. "Good thing is that his power was now limited to peak-rank-9 but it is also a worse thing at the same time."

    "What do you mean?" Azzy frowned inwardly.

    But, before he received the answer from the Reaper, the demon gave it himself. Letting out laughter filled with malice, Berith announced, "I rescind my statement, kid. Today, you will die but I will take your soul back with me and let you experience what eternal damnation is. But, before that, I will have to take away the lives of those spectators who were enjoying my death earlier."

    The spectators panicked once again.

    Berith''s eyes glowed brightly as he raised his hands.

    Through his fingers, streams of demonic energy were shot into the two people nearby Azzy''s feet.

    Azzy was forced to back away as Cornelius and Ramiel floated in the air, enveloped by the demonic energy.

    Their wounds were completely healed as they landed on the ground but their eyes turned scarlet red without any visible pupils.

    "Careful, Azrael. He is now mind-controlling these two fellas," spoke the Reaper. At the same time, the dead metallic golems flew toward the largest golem before they all merged with it only to increase more problems.

    However, surprisingly, they didn''t merge to become a bigger golem; instead, all of them were compressed to form a humanoid metal puppet.

    "Oi, you bodybuilder, hold him." "And you shorty, you take care of the remaining humans in the 8-star realm."

    Berith passed the instructions to his new puppets as the humanoid golem went on a killing spree.

    Azzy clenched his fist and stared at the demon, never feeling so much hatred for someone in his life. His soul energy and the collected natural energy erupted from him, forming a dual layer over his body.

    Because of the gravity suppression skill card being active, Cornelius'' speed was extremely slow.

    As Cornelius was about to pass Azzy, the latter threw a punch at his fastest speed.

    The President of WAMO couldn''t dodge it and was struck on his side and crashed onto the ground, more than a dozen meters away. Azzy glanced behind where Dragon Corps'' commander was standing, "Sir, leave them to me. I''ll handle them until Commander Kruger completes the seal. Go and take care of the golem."

    Curtis Hagen is a veteran who knew his priorities. After watching Azzy''s earlier actions against the enemy, he put his belief in Azzy whom he had never met before and made the judgment.

    He gritted his teeth to stand in the 100x gravity field and rushed toward the humanoid at his fastest speed while being covered by the layer of his soul energy to lessen the pressure.

    Unfortunately, he wasn''t able to get there in time and three of his subordinates were killed in the meantime; the rest of them were bombarding the target with all of their techniques.

    Once he was out of the range (100 meters), his speed was restored to the peak and he captured its legs with threads of energy as it was about to move forward and kill another target.

    After pulling the thread and making it fall down, he landed in front of the golem and proceeded to shout loudly so that everyone in the field could hear him.

    "This is Commander Curtis of Dragon Corps. 7-star and below, don''t engage the monster. Take the support role. I repeat, take a support role."

    Soon, the other two legendary realm experts also made their move while the rest of them moved far away.

    Meanwhile, Azzy was attacked by Ramiel and Cornelius simultaneously.

    Because of the gravitational field under Azzy''s control and adding to the fact that his two superiors were trying to resist the mind control and holding back their strength, he was able to evade their attacks with ease and engaged in close combat without any proper result.

    Berith''s expression turned ugly. "These puppets are useless. It seems that I will have to take action by myself. But, I should negate this gravity field. It is giving me quite a headache."

 Chapter 475 Fallen Angel Berith (Part-6)

    Berith didn''t possess the ability to remove the gravity field placed by Azzy and so, he thought that he could get used to it over time and resist its effect instead.

    But, his current body might take a while to do that and he was losing his patience every second passes away.

    So, that left him with only one option. However, he wouldn''t want to do it unless there was no other choice left.

    Hence, the fallen angel entered Azzy''s gravity field but stayed a bit far away from the battle. He started experiencing the new gravitational force.

    It took a little more than 90 seconds for him to completely move around like a normal person but still not enough for him to move at his peak speed. Berith felt like he needs one more minute.

    In the meantime, he observed the battlefield.

    Unfortunately for him, there was no change. Azzy and the other two looked like they were putting up an act considering none of them had a major injury on their bodies.

    In fact, Azzy was only dragging the time so that the elf comes down and help while also hoping that his opponents'' resistance toward the mind control will become stronger over time.

    And in the distance, the humanoid metal golem was tied down by the three legendary realm experts while the remaining ones were bombarding it with their energy attacks.

    The most important one, Supreme Commander had finished up the seal but his attention was still on the gate as it was disappearing at a slow pace.

    Berith returned his focus back to Azzy and shot a stream of demonic energy into Ramiel once again. "Well, I guess I should take things into my own hands."

    Lightning sparks returned to Ramiel Crescent, forming a layer over his skin. He looked at Azzy and smirked, "Let''s see how long you will hold out for."

    Azzy was taken aback at first but then he remembered the Reaper saying how Berith could possess the body of someone he had under mind control.

    As a lightning saber appeared in Ramiel''s hand, Azzy took a glance at the sky and cursed inwardly, "Damn this elf. How long he will take to complete a mere seal?"

    Ramiel then tried to pierce Azzy''s abdomen with the spear. The latter evaded it with ease due to the fact that the former''s speed is no match to Azzy''s in the gravity field even under lightning mode.

    Azzy then planted a powerful kick in Cornelius'' chest and then threw a punch at Ramiel''s abdomen as the supreme realm expert flew in the air and crashed onto the ground.

    Meanwhile, under Berith''s possession, Ramiel blocked Azzy''s punch with an energy barrier, which broke like glass after getting hit before the former slashes the spear at Azzy''s face.

    Azzy dodged it but this time, he couldn''t do it completely and got his chin scratched.

    "Okay, I guess I shouldn''t wait for him any longer and kill the enemy." Azzy came to a decision as soon as he realized that Ramiel was attacking him with everything he has got.

    Taking a giant backward leap, Azzy unleashed his trump card.

    "Soul skill: Rise of the undead"

    His two powerful humanoid skeletons made their appearance in the battle and the first order Azzy gave them is to hold down his opponents.

    Berith wasn''t surprised that Azzy was a necromancer as he already know that the latter possesses death energy. But, he didn''t expect that these skeletons were far more powerful than he thought they would be.

    How stronger can the undead be when their summoner is a rank 7?

    Well, Berith didn''t answer before him.

    Within just a few seconds, his two strong puppets were completely subdued by a humanoid skeleton and a skeleton that resembled an angel.

    However, it wasn''t over there.

    After getting enough time, Azzy proceeded to conjure a seal.

    "Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, and Capricorn¡­"

    The ten mystical symbols in the form of zodiac signs formed a circle, interconnected with a thread of soul energy, and formed a seal before Azzy pushed it forth.

    Berith couldn''t quite see those symbols but he felt like they were a threat. He furrowed his brows and made their way toward Ramiel.

    He tried to control Ramiel to dodge it but the peak-rank-9 skeleton firmly held the body and let the seal strike him.

    As soon as the seal struck Ramiel, his soul orb was completely sealed and his eyes turned normal.

    With a look of surprise on his face, he looked at his surroundings, "Huh! What am I doing here? Undead? Azrael? Wait a second. I thought the demon was dead and he came back to life before ambushing us. Ugh¡­ I can''t move¡­ My soul energy? I can''t feel a thing. It''s sealed?"

    As a person who had already seen Berith taking control of someone, he came to terms with the reality pretty quickly. The only thing he failed to understand is how Azzy bested them in battle.

    "Azrael, mind telling me what you did?" asked Ramiel. Due to the sealing of his soul orb, his senses as an Arcana Master aren''t working, and due to being captured by the skeleton, he could only see in the direction where Azzy was standing.

    As a result, neither he could sense the presence of Berith nor could he see the humanoid metal golem. However, he could hear the sounds of the battle. So, he was sure that the battle hasn''t ended yet.

    Meanwhile, Azzy proceeded to conjure up a seal for the second time. He didn''t answer Ramiel and finished up the Decarune seal and went on sealing the soul orb of Cornelius too.

    As the dwarven president came out to his senses, he behaved exactly the same as Ramiel but Azzy isn''t in the mood to explain them. Hence, he told them that he will answer their questions before charging forward and knocking them out.

    Azzy then ordered the winged humanoid skeleton to take them out of the gravity field and guard them.

    As the winged skeleton followed his orders, taking the two bosses out of the field, Azzy placed his attention on Berith, who was almost shivering in rage and trying his best to not lose his cool.

    It wasn''t enough that all of his tricks were squashed one after another, Azzy''s emotionless expression only irritated him even more.

    "Now, it is just you and me, Berith. If you have the guts to kill me, then, do it yourself." Azzy mocked the demon so as to make sure that the latter won''t try another trick like earlier.

    He can kill an evil person but cannot kill an innocent or an ally.

    Not to mention, he already summoned his skeleton generals. They won''t stay in the material world for a very long time. So, before they disappear, he needed to finish the battle. That is why he tried to mock him through words. Powerful people in high positions have a great amount of ego. So, it is easy to rile them up.

    And just like he wanted, Berith personally made his move, although he didn''t expect the demon to go all out in rage.

    "Alright, I had enough of you, you filthy human trash." Berith''s demonic aura erupted from him and it was damn intense enough for the Arcana Masters who were battling more than a kilometer away to feel suffocated.

    "Go¡­" Azzy ordered the humanoid skeleton.

 Chapter 476 Fallen Angel Berith (Part-7)

    The humanoid skeleton with peak-rank-9 physical strength charged toward its target.

    However, just as it almost reached Berith, a stream of demonic energy struck it, blasting it away for more than ten meters.

    While it rose to its feet, Azzy saw Berith was getting transformed. His body became bigger, his fair skin turned into that of flesh, his head turned similar to that of a horse, a pair of horns grew from his forehead, and wings sprouted from his back with black feathers.

    Flapping his wings, he flew into the air but stopped at 3 meters from the ground and looked down at Azzy, "since you drove me this far, then, you humans will pray the price¡­"

    For some reason, Azzy wasn''t afraid. Honestly, when compared to undead beasts and the appearance of the Grim Reaper, nothing in the world can be any more fearful.

    Calmly staring at the demon with his Eyes of God, Azzy spoke, "I can see that you are burning your life force. As long as I defend myself, you will die by yourself. So, you will be the one to lose."

    "hahaha¡­ foolish human¡­" The demon bursts out into laughter, "I can make any number of avatars that I want. What if this body is killed? It''s not like I lose anything. However, the seven deadly sins will always stay with your pathetic life forms. So, one day, another one will emerge to summon the demons. And you will not be alive to fight us."

    "You demons only know how to bully weaker people. If you are so strong, why don''t you go and fight those angels that kicked you out of heaven? Must be afraid of them without your leader." Azzy completely turned deaf ears to what the demon had said and mocked him once again. "Oh, speaking of your leader, I heard that he died under the hands of a mortal. Is that true?"

    "You¡­" Berith roared in anger. Azzy said in the spur of the moment but even he was surprised by how sharp his tongue was.

    Whatever the case, he got what he wanted.

    Berith placed his entire focus on Azzy and flew toward him while clenching his fist.

    The humanoid skeleton stood before Azzy like a shield.

    Azzy hoped the undead to block the punch but the demon took him by surprise by passing through the skeleton like a ghost and reaching him.

    *Bam*

    Azzy raised his arms in defense but he couldn''t block it. The bones in his wrist fractured and he flew in the air.

    *pow* pow* pow*

    Berith continued to punch him with both of his fists while he was in the air just like how Ramiel beat up the demon''s clone, earlier. Through the Eyes of God, Azzy could clearly see his attacks but his speed happened to be way slower than Berith''s. So, he couldn''t dodge any of the attacks.

    *Thud*

    Azzy crashed onto the ground with broken ribs and fractured arms, spitting out a mouthful amount of blood.

    "Kid, you were careless. I told you to stop underestimating him," scolded the Reaper. After a brief pause, he added, "I think it is in your best interest to use the cosmic gem, at least right now."

    "Why the Protos energy didn''t come out to save me?" asked Azzy in return while lying on the ground. He was feeling aches all over his body. This was probably the first time he was beaten up this badly in a direct battle.

    "Well, you fused with Vajra and so, it is in your hands. Not to mention, you said that you don''t need my help and wanted to handle it by yourself." The Reaper casually replied, making Azzy angry a little bit as he screamed in his head, "well, I only rejected your suggestion of taking over my body."

    "Well, Protos energy is owned by you, not me. Unleashing it without your request is the same as going against your wishes." The Reaper gave a nonchalant reply once again as if he was in a sour mood.

    "Why do you want to possess my body anyways? You can come out just like how you did it at our Garcia Palace." Azzy argued in return, not intending to back down.

    The Reaper didn''t give him the exact response and said, "You don''t have the time to argue with me. Look at the front¡­"

    "I know¡­ Ugh¡­" Azzy inwardly groaned while looking at the demonic being who was walking toward him with a look of smug on his face. In his current form, the gravity suppression lost its effect on him.

    "Okay, so, what do I do now? I don''t think he would wait for me to take out the crown and put it on me. And I haven''t linked my soul either."

    "Well, it will only take a second to bond your soul. As for the demon, you do have a way to let him think that you disappeared, right?" The Reaper reminded him of the Buddhist skill.

    Had the demon stopped underestimating Azzy, he would have gone for the kill. But, seeing Azzy''s pathetic state by mere consecutive punches from him, Berith got conceited once again and decided to keep him alive while he massacres the rest of his allies before his eyes.

    Of course, he wouldn''t allow Azzy to use a healing card or any skill card for that matter.

    However, he would never imagine that expect Azzy would plan on surprising him. And neither did Azzy expect someone else would surprise him.

    As Berith grabbed Azzy''s collar and raised him to his eye level to speak some cool shit once again, Azzy retracted all of the natural energy that formed as a defensive layer over him into his soul orb.

    He disappeared right before the demon''s eyes, turning into the size of a droplet of water and wiping off the smirk on the enemy''s face.

    "I can sense him nearby but I cannot him. Did he turn invisible?" wondered Berith.

    The humanoid skeleton slowly walked toward him, momentarily gaining his attention.

    Azzy wanted to use this opportunity to fly far away and equip the Jewel of Life.

    But, before he made his move, all of a sudden, he sensed something familiar coming behind.

    While landing on the ground, he turned around his head and saw a purple-colored beam of energy striking Berith''s chest, making a hole in the middle.

    "Plasma energy?"

 Chapter 477 Aria Saves The Day

    Azzy was taken aback and stared in the direction where the attack came from. He couldn''t remember the unique energy used by the aliens back when one of their units invaded the planet during his parents'' marriage.

    As for Berith, he was even more shocked because it was too fast even for him to react when the attack wasn''t even from close combat.

    If not for his great recovery rate, he would have probably died there. But, that doesn''t mean that he is out of danger yet.

    Before the hole was filled up with the tissues and skin, once again, he took a glimpse of the same purple light beam. He attempted to dodge it but couldn''t do it in time and a bigger hole was created at the heart.

    "Who is it? Come out?" roared Berith, no longer paying attention to Azzy or the nearby skeleton that went onto standby because of the sudden turn of events.

    In reply to his question, another purple came toward him and this time, his right eye was blown off.

    "Argh¡­" The demon screamed in pain but it appeared that he stopped caring about it, being confident in his recovery rate. He flapped his wings and attempted to take off in the direction where the attack came from.

    *Swoosh*

    Another purple light beam came in, but this time, it was from behind, destroying one of his wings and making him fall onto the ground.

    Once he was down, the figure made its appearance. The attacker looked like a teenager in a tank top and shorts with a lollipop in her mouth and hand canon in her hand that looked a bit similar to a grenade launcher.

    "Aria?" The miniature Azzy exclaimed in surprise as the girl went on placing the weapon on the ground with its barrel facing the sky and clicked on one of the triggers.

    Several sticks of plasma energy shot into the sky before they came back and pierced into the ground, surrounding the demon and forming an energy prison sort of thing around him.

    Aria then spoke out loud as she specifically glanced at the miniature Azzy, "the target is captured. I''m taking it with me back to our lab. Dr. Mac wishes to meet you, Mr. Garcia. You know where to find us. Make a visit when you have the time."

    After passing down the message to Azzy, she pressed something on the middle of the chest and disappeared along with the disfigured demon who was struggling to get out.

    Azzy dumbly stared into the space for a while before realizing that the threat is gone. However, he wasn''t happy and muttered in displeasure, "it looks like the entire universe is conspiring to stop me from finishing the battle. Once again, I cannot finish the battle by giving my all. Ugh¡­ my body¡­ it''s hurting. I need to take the healing card."

    "Well, I guess this should motivate you to put more focus on training, especially work on your combos and battle strategy," commented the Reaper upon listening to Azzy''s thoughts.

    Azzy nodded firmly, "I''m going to, but not now. First, I need to repay the debt to my master."

    "As you wish¡­"

    Meanwhile, in the sky, the supreme commander Kruger had a look of frown on his face. He didn''t know the identity of the mysterious girl who made a sudden appearance, defeated the mighty demon, and then took him away as a prisoner.

    "It looked like there''s a mysterious organization that is more advanced than our research organization."

    More than the fact that she defeated Berith, he found it strange that she had access to the tech that even WAMO hasn''t developed yet. He saw the compiled footage of the alien invasion from 27 years ago. And he investigated it too.

    From it, he saw the alien guns used by them. According to the witnesses, those didn''t fire energy beams created out of soul energy. They appeared to be something else.

    Not to mention, every piece of alien tech went missing. Back then, WAMO thought that the hidden clans took them and didn''t pursue the matter but now, he felt suspicious.

    "Perhaps, the organization behind this girl found the alien tech?" He wondered at first before shifting his attention to the corpses on the ground, of which, there were even generals.

    "Oh, boy, it looks like you were going to get a lot older, Kruger¡­" The elf let out a depressing sigh.

    After a couple of minutes, the gate disappeared and he descended onto the ground.

    Having the knowledge of the Decarune seal, he freed Ramiel as well as Cornelius before using a resurrection skill card on a wider range.

    In an instant, he turned old. His blonde hair grew thin and white, wrinkles were all over his face, and his body also turned frail.

    After resurrecting everyone around him while losing more than 3000 years of life force, the supreme commander fainted and became unconscious.

    ? If it was a human, he would have probably died. Thankfully, he is an elf with greater longevity and life force. As a result, he only grew old.

    If there was one thing that actually benefited Kruger because of his selfless act, it is Azzy''s acknowledgment. Despite their clash in their ideologies, Azzy felt like it is worth sticking to the Zero Squad even after he catches his master''s culprit.

    The next day morning;

    Azzy was summoned to the President''s office.

    Being prepared to evade a few questions, he went there. Every man has his own secrets and reasonings behind his actions and he felt that he wasn''t obliged to give explanations to every question he was asked.

    As he entered the place, he saw only the President was waiting for him.

    Azzy greeted him with a standard military salute and stood there for orders.

    The 4-foot middle-aged-looking fellow jumped down from his seat and walked toward him. "Mr. Garcia, do you know why I called you here?"

    Azzy had a vague idea but he doesn''t want to give any unnecessary hints to this supreme realm expert and shook his head, "No, sir."

    Cornelius then let out a smile, "well, I''m here to reward you for your bravery on the battlefield. Usually, you should have been awarded in front of everyone but I believed that it should be better to hand it in personally since you used a mask to hide your identity."

    "Eh?"

 Chapter 478 The Guardian Gods Plans For Leah

    Azzy wasn''t asked to give any explanation about his actions or powers. Instead, the top brass rewarded him with 25 whole merit points, taking him by surprise.

    As for how great those 25 merit points are, in case a normal member of one of the combat divisions would receive them, then, he could be promoted all the way to colonel, and even left with 4 merit points.

    (Combat divisions: Commander/General > Lt. Commander > Colonel > Lt. Colonel > Captain > First lieutenant > private > cadet)

    During the past ten or so days, Azzy had completed more than four missions of 7-star, and two missions of 8-star difficulty. The star corresponds to the level of difficulty that can be handled by an average Arcana Master of the same realm.

    Even then, so far, he only got 5 merit points. And now, all of a sudden, he was awarded such a high amount for going against the demon, which even Cornelius couldn''t deal with.

    After using 4 merit points so far on using the restricted access for information regarding high-profile criminals and targets, Azzy only had 1 merit point left and he wanted six more merit points to access the highest-level restricted section. But, now, that problem is solved and he was in high clouds.

    Azzy didn''t even wait for a second to waste and went directly to the Information center after leaving the President''s office.

    ***

    On the same day, around the time of noon;

    Inside the Gravity Dome (Royal Training ground), Camelot;

    *Clang* Clang* Clang* Clang*

    Leah Pendragon was sparring against her aunt (Princess Cynthia Pendragon) while wearing atleast more than 500 kilograms of weight.

    One shouldn''t forget that the gravitational force in this area is about 20 times that of the planet.

    And even in such a scenario, Leah was dominating her opponent in a sword fight, and that too, without taking the help of her Arcana.

    Cynthia gave her all for twenty minutes straight before accepting the defeat and ending the spar.

    Panting heavily, she lies on the floor and put her gaze on the ceiling of the cave, "You became too strong, Leah. I don''t think I can serve you as your sparring partner, anymore."

    Leah sat beside her and said, "C''mon, Aunt. You were doing great. See, you can last for more than 20 minutes in our fight."

    "And is that supposed to encourage me?" Cynthia was irked by her fake consolation words.

    As Leah apologized, Cynthia let out a sigh for the second time, "If you want to get stronger, you should spar with someone who lives in the same world as you. Geniuses won''t cut it. You need those heavenly-defying monsters like yourself."

    Leah instantly remembered Azzy''s face and she became silent. The last time they fought, she had her confidence broken.

    People often say that she is the favorite child of heaven as she was blessed with extraordinary talent, looks, and background.

    But, when she thinks of Azzy, it makes her wonder whether she really deserved that title.

    In the end, she too lets out a sigh and lies beside her aunt, "I have someone I want to beat. But, I don''t think I could do that in my present state."

    "I agree, Ms. Pendragon¡­"

    Suddenly, an unfamiliar manly voice was heard in the surroundings, startling both the ladies. They instantly got up and looked around warily.

    "Who is there?" asked Leah.

    A reply came right away, "Not an enemy. So, you can relax."

    "If you are not an enemy, then, why don''t you show yourself?" Cynthia asked while her eyes wandered all over the place. She also tried to sense someone''s presence in case they were invisible but she felt nothing. Even their two guardians (gargoyle statues) outside the training ground didn''t come alive.

    Either the enemy was too strong or has a peculiar ability to evade the presence of any Supreme realm expert. Both of them thought the same.

    In response to Princess Cynthia''s question, a chuckle was heard in the surroundings, "well, let''s just say that neither of you is qualified to meet me, yet¡­"

    Followed by a single-sentence explanation, a blue portal appeared nearby them. Then, the voice said, "Ms. Pendragon, in the past, you have participated in a trial. It is just the same too, except the difficulty will be hella stronger. My proposition will be depending on how far you will go."

    "What if I refuse?" Leah didn''t know who it was and she wasn''t willing to walk into a trap just because of curiosity. At the same time, she also wanted to figure out the real intentions of this mysterious expert.

    This time, the response wasn''t a chuckle but chains suddenly shooting out from the portal and catching Cynthia at breakneck speed.

    "Aunt¡­" Leah shouted in panic as Princess Cynthia was unwillingly dragged into the portal.

    The voice then said in a threatening tone, "Well, I''m exactly giving you a choice, Ms. Pendragon. If you want to save her, then, go and save her by yourself. By the way, she is on the fifth level. You have ten seconds to make a decision before losing her forever."

    Leah''s expression hardened, "bastard¡­"

    Having no other choice, she rushed into the portal. The voice then spoke to no one specifically, "She is a clever girl and will probably figure out why I am doing this. Since she isn''t a stubborn person, I can expect good news but the problem is Chronos'' successor. He has four days to make the decision but still, I need to do something to make him my disciple.

    Ugh¡­ I''m the guardian of the entire mortal realm consisting of millions of planets. And yet, I have to make personal trips and put effort to have those two brats accept me as their master¡­ What a pathetic life you are living, Wil¡­"

    Three days later, at a public graveyard in Aclein City, Northern Qudour;

    It was around dawn and the streets were quite empty because of the low temperatures and fog.

    In front of a certain grave, Azzy was standing motionlessly for nearly 15 minutes, going down memory lane.

    After a while, he let out a deep sigh and kowtowed, "Master, you have done so much to me. Perhaps, after Grandpa Oakley, you are the one who looked after me the most. You have sacrificed 1000 years'' worth of life force by using the genie, all so that I get enough time to escape from the enemy.

    You sold your 250 years of legacy, the Aclein academy, gave away the genie, to acquire the Jewel of Life and give it to me, hoping that I would be able to protect myself in danger.

    And because of that, you and Vice Principal Sahara lost your lives.

    As a master, you did everything you could for me, but as your disciple, I didn''t do anything for you.

    Even now, I failed to make any significant progress to find out the identity of the culprit who killed you.

    But, don''t worry. Once my parents were out of their training and my father becomes the heir of the clan, I will seek his help to find out the culprit.

    If everything fails, I will go back in time and do something about it."

    "Kid, you forgot about me." A voice entered his ears as if someone spoke to him while standing right beside him.

    Azzy was startled for a second but he quickly calmed down as the figure materialized and walked out of the fog. "It''s you¡­"

    "I can help you out¡­" The guardian god let out a smile.

 Chapter 479 Bonding With The Cosmic Gems

    "Sorry, but I cannot become your disciple until I severe my karma with my late master." Azzy rejected the guardian god''s help to search for the culprit.

    He knew that it might not be an arduous task for someone like the guardian god to solve the mystery behind Barton''s death.

    However, the guardian god indirectly placed a condition that Azzy should become his disciple for him to act.

    Once a master-disciple relationship forms between Azzy and the guardian god, the latter would be obliged to help out the former in any way he can.

    Unfortunately, Azzy wasn''t willing to do this. He was stubborn about his decision.

    This forced the guardian god to slightly change his condition as he doesn''t want to waste time in wait.

    "How about this, Azrael? I will tell you his name and current location. In return, you will have to complete a certain mission for me, later on."

    Azzy slightly hesitated at first but then as the Reaper told him to ask him to inquire about the quest, he followed the advice. "A man cannot make promises without knowing the situation. I want to hear the quest and make the decision."

    The guardian god didn''t take it as offense and put forth his proposition, right away, "Ten years from now, an avatar of Chione will be born on this planet. You will take her under your wing and protect her with your life until she reaches adulthood. Will you take this responsibility for the sake of giving quick justice to your former master?"

    Azzy fell into silence for a while. He was once again conversing with the Reaper for he doesn''t know who the heck this Chione was in the first place.

    From the Reaper, he learns that Chione is the goddess of snow, an elder god who is considered the first living being that was born with the element of ice. The Reaper also praised her by commenting that she was one of the most talented warriors among the gods of the Celestial Empire.

    Azzy didn''t know what sort of problems he might face if he do this mission. But, he knows for sure that Death Clan is one of the safest places on the planet and the guardian god will have to help him if he faced an enemy he cannot beat.

    Those two things were enough for Azzy to assume that this mission isn''t as dangerous as it appeared on the surface.

    Hence, he agreed to the deal. "Alright, I will completely take responsibility to look after her. Now, please tell me the name of the bastard that killed my late master and his wife."

    "Well, I will take you to him directly, although you will be on your own on how to deal with him," replied the guardian god with a satisfactory smile on his face. He was happy to see his plan is going through.

    "Let''s go¡­" Azzy urged him to leave for the location without wasting the time but the guardian god still has something left to say.

    He said, "Don''t be in a hurry, kid. Your opponent is not only strong but also possessed the genie. If you want to kill him today, then, you shouldn''t go unprepared. Start with bonding with those three cosmic gems. The jewel of the earth will help you defend against superior opponents. The Jewel of lightning will help you summon the lightning and eradicate your enemies. And the jewel of life will make sure that you won''t die that easily."

    "You know that I have three of them?" Azzy didn''t expect it.

    The guardian god shrugged his shoulders, "Obviously, I know. Do you think I couldn''t sense your presence when you time-traveled to the past? Even those mere 9-star realm Arcana Masters can sense the time breach. In fact, if not for me and Gaia working behind the scenes, even gods would have been alerted.

    When I saw you the first time, I was actually quite surprised. You bore the exact resemblance of my most prized disciple, your death clan''s founder. But then, as I continued to watch you, I realized that you appeared to be more talented than him. Talented? Hmm, no, that''s not the exact word. How should I say¡­"

    "I''m more blessed?" Azzy finished it for him. He always knew that his level of comprehension is on the level of ordinary genius but the fact that his progression is fast is because of a number of factors like the Reaper, Vajra, Protos energy, no limiters, getting lucky even in misfortune events, etc¡­

    However, it never bothered him a bit because it doesn''t matter to him at all. In fact, he actually never cared about his soul realm. Before, he followed Avia like a puppet, resigning to his fate. Then, after going to the past timeline, all he cared is about returning to his present timeline. And he needed a 7-star soul realm to achieve that.

    Even now, he didn''t want to get stronger for himself. It''s just for the sake of fulfilling certain goals like solidifying his father''s position in the clan and reuniting with his girlfriend.

    The guardian god knew that too but he didn''t want to depress Azzy by pointing it out.

    Now that Azzy himself admitted it directly, the guardian god didn''t try to sugarcoat his words as he continued, "Yes, that''s right. You were incredibly blessed by the universe, perhaps, far more than any other mortal. But, it isn''t a bad thing too. The world isn''t fair, to begin with.

    Not everyone is born into a wealthy household and neither were a majority of people even blessed with the talent of becoming an Arcana Master in the first place.

    The only thing that matters is what you do with your present. Your current choices will decide your future. And I should warn you though. If you fool around and waste time with insignificant things like these, someone might surpass you too.

    Uhhh¡­. We were going off-topic¡­ Let''s get back to our previous conversation. What I wanted to say earlier is that I was watching you all the time. So, I knew when you acquired those things one after another.

    Anyways, if you were interested in listening to my advice, then, you can bond with them immediately. I''ll be here to protect you until you finish with the process."

    Azzy discussed with the Reaper for a while and gave a nod to the guardian god''s suggestion after receiving an okay from the deity of time and death.

    He sat down on the ground and took out the first object from his storage card.

    The guardian god silently stared at his future disciple as the latter put the adamantine-made black crown on top of his head before pouring his soul energy into it.

    The light green-colored jewel in the middle of the crown glowed brightly for a couple of seconds before it calmed down and the entire crown disappeared into his head.

    "That fast?" The guardian god was taken aback. Even he didn''t expect the bonding would be this quick because the comic gems weren''t easy to tame. A normal mortal with an average soul would die just by trying to bond with them.

    Only a powerful soul could hold them. To tame three of them, it would either need an extremely powerful soul or a being that reached the god realm. Being the holder of a divine grade Arcana like the Reaper, and two celestial grade Arcana like Vajra and Ruby, it goes without saying that Azzy had the qualifications to tame all three of them.

    It''s just that the guardian god never imagined that the bonding will be this quick. Across tens of thousands of years of history, he saw many powerful mortals in different worlds bonded with cosmic gems. And of all of them, Azzy''s bonding was the fastest.

    Looking at Azzy, he thought, "I guess I have really underestimated his soul. No wonder Chronos wanted me to teach Rael back then. If only I knew it before, perhaps, I would have given the jewel of water to Rael, instead of gifting it to Arthur. Nah, this must be the work of Protos energy. And¡­ what¡­"

    While he was busy thinking, Azzy already went on taking out the second one and then the third one.

    Within ten seconds, the third one, the Pendant with the jewel of lightning, disappeared into his chest.

    The guardian god went into a daze, this time, roaring in his head, "What the¡­ Chronos, your successor is a freak. Not even the gods could bond with them this fast. How could a mortal soul be this much blessed by the heavens? Hmm¡­ wait for a second¡­

    Is his soul born from the cosmos and was secretly hidden by Chronos? Quite possible, considering how he selected him as the host three times until now and didn''t give any opportunity for any other soul. Hmm¡­"

 Chapter 480 Whisperings From The Cosmic Gems

    Inside the soul orb, three cosmic gems were revolving around Azzy like those seven soul planets were revolving around the core. His soul appeared to be in deep meditation on the surface but in reality, he was trying to concentrate on what those voices were saying.

    From the moment he bonded with the Jewel of Life, Azzy started hearing several voices at the same time and couldn''t quite catch what they were saying.

    According to the Reaper, those voices belonged to the gods who held the universal cosmic gem back when it was one.

    Azzy was curious and the Reaper didn''t stop him either. Hence, he was trying his best to separate those words and hear them one by one.

    At the moment, he appeared to be hearing some part of the conversation between two gods.

    One voice said, "It is dangerous to keep the gem with us, brother. Let''s destroy it before the Protos race will have their hands on it."

    The other voice replied with almost a roar, "There''s no way I would let those filthy creatures claim this power. We will win this war, Hades."

    "But, Brother Zeus, the Protos race beings are true immortals. They can''t die and can''t be destroyed. To defeat them, we can only either destroy the whole universe itself or completely absorb their power. And neither of them is viable as their energy is a poison to our divine energy."

    "Hades, you underestimate us too much. So, what if they can''t die? We also have an ally on our side who could just resurrect us back from the dead."

    "Death, Time, Space, and Life will not take the sides, Brother. And Attis didn''t have the power to resurrect true gods like us. At best, he can only resurrect the elder gods, and that too, at a slow pace."

    "You aren''t getting my point, Hades. I''m not talking about them. I''m talking about this¡­"

    "The cosmic gem?"

    "Yes, it also came from the source just like us. However, unlike us, it contained the power of life and death too. What if I fuse with it and gain its powers?"

    "Are you crazy? Death and Space will not let you get away with it. Even the other gods and angels would oppose this plan."

    "But, once I fuse with its power, my strength should be in the same league as those four beings. In theory, I could even create my own universe without those evil race beings or so whatever. Just think of the possibilities, Hades."

    "Brother, this is madness¡­"

    The conversation was cut off and then, another piece of conversation unrelated to the previous matter opened up before Azzy. This time, the voices were also different.

    "Argh¡­ I hate those unruly gods¡­ Not only do they indulge in all kinds of sins but they expect the mortals to worship them. And what are we? Does the Celestial Empire think that Angels are their subordinates or something? We answer to no one."

    "Calm down, Brother Michael. Father is watching¡­"

    "Ah, I apologize, father for my outburst. Sigh¡­ I wish I could give you a strong spirit to resurrect you in your physical form."

    "Actually, it is possible to merge him with another soul, considering only a remnant of Father''s soul is remaining."

    "We have already tried it before, Samael. Even the soul of an elder god isn''t enough for the merger."

    "No, but, we have the Jewel of light, life, and death¡­"

    "What are you suggesting, brother?"

    "I have some pretty interesting news from the heavenly palace. Hephaestus had cut those cosmic gems into oval shapes before scattering them across the universe. However, the interesting part is that the remaining fragments of the cosmic gems were transformed into souls.

    What if we use the gems we have here with us and transform them into souls before offering them to Father and resurrecting him?"

    "Hmm, interesting idea, Samael¡­ But, we don''t know how."

    "Well, leave the matter to me. I will find the solution somehow. But, I need those gems for a few experimentations"

    "Alright, but be careful. Chronos isn''t that kind¡­"

    "Relax, brother. He is strong but not omnipotent. Not to mention, the Space has given us his word to not let Chronos or any other god step inside our domain without our permission while we guard ''Father''."

    Followed by that, whispers of Samael were heard in Azzy''s ears but this time, there was no one else in this conversation¡­

    "Hehehehe, what a fool¡­ does he think that I would have that piece of remnant soul to resurrect? I just want this light gem to myself. I will absorb this and be reborn as the Angel of Light. Hmm¡­ let''s see... Light-bringer¡­ Yes¡­ Lucifer¡­ that is what people will call me from now onwards."

    ***

    Then, the scenario probably shifted to some timeline in the nearby future based on the following conversation, although it appeared that the matter still involves the Angels, once again.

    "I shouldn''t have trusted you, Samael."

    "Call me Lucifer, from now onwards, Brother Michael. And anyway, I won''t go back on my word. You still have the life and death jewels. I will tell you how to transform them into souls."

    ***

    Once again, the scenario of the audio shifted to the nearby future in the realm of Angels.

    "Ho¡­ a new archangel is being born out of the Jewel of Death just as I have expected. Now, I guess you cannot use our brother for the sacrifice¡­"

    "Samael¡­ how dare you trick me?"

    "c''mon, cut me some slack, Brother Michael. I''m not omnipotent. I just have this theory in my mind and wasn''t sure of it before. The cosmic gems have the same source as us, the four supreme beings, the evil Protos race, and those gods of the Celestial Empire.

    I guess that''s why an angel was born when we provide our life source as its feed during the creation.

    Well, we still have the Jewel of Life."

    "No, I wouldn''t fall into your tricks anymore¡­"

    "Your Wish, Brother Michael. But, I will tell you my theory. Whether you follow or not is up to you. Cut the Jewel of Life into the same way those unruly gods did. Then, combine those fragments and create a life out from it, then, cultivate the soul before fusing it with another cosmic gem and offering it to father."

    "Do you take me for a retard? Where do I find the other cosmic gem?"

    "Well, you can kill our youngest brother as soon as he was born. He might turn back into a cosmic gem. Not sure but if you think it''s worth the risk, you can do it. However, since you don''t like to break the code of our angels, then, find another one. There are 7 more out there. If you search diligently, you may find one.

    Now, if you excuse me, I have to go and meet my dear friend, Hades, to see what he is up to, these days¡­"

    *****

    "Ha" "ha" "Ha" "ha"

    Azzy opened his eyes abruptly while taking heavy breaths as if he had woken up from a nightmare. He was all sweaty.

    His eyes then fell on his surroundings. Instead of a graveyard, he found himself in a room that appeared to be in some sort of hotel.

    "Where am I?" He wondered out loud.

    "You are in the city of Kroma, a place in the Arcana world." The Reaper''s voice echoed in his head. After a brief pause, he added, "I bet you must have several questions in your head regarding those things you heard earlier."

    As the cosmic gems have the power to resist Chronos or the vision of any god, the Reaper usually wouldn''t be able to know what Azzy had earlier experienced.

    However, after he comes out, those things will be registered in his brain. And the Reaper has unlimited access to Azzy''s memory. In that way, he realized what happened with his host.

    On the other hand, Azzy didn''t know what to say. For some reason, he felt like those gems were trying to say him something but he couldn''t quite put his finger on it.

    In the end, he let out a sigh and replied, "Forget it. We can talk about it later. I have more important things to do. By the way, while I was out, did the guardian god say anything?"

    "Yeah, he gave the name, and then a teleportation that will take you straight to him but you won''t like it."

    "Who is it?" asked Azzy, feeling that it might be someone he knew from the past. But, who could it be? It''s not someone from the Death clan, right?

    The Reaper then answered without hiding anything, "Barton''s most trusted friend. It''s Uphiar, the sorcerer."

    "Eh? Our theoretical combat teacher?" Azzy suddenly felt like a bomb exploded in his chest.

 Chapter 481 Revenge Or Justice?

    Atlas hotel room, Kroma city;

    Sitting on the bed, Azzy was focused on the screen of his smartphone. He was browsing the internet.

    "The story of Aladdin, Jinn (genie), and the sorcerer Jafar... I see¡­ everything made sense if the writer of this story happened to be Uphiar himself. But, why did he create an evil character for himself? Because he knows he''s evil? Or because he feels guilty? Who knows¡­

    Let''s see the other works of this famed writer."

    When he was a child, Azzy used to watch a cartoon on television. When he traveled back to the past and met Uphiar for the first time, he thought that the villain in the anime he used to watch looked quite similar to his teacher.

    Only now, he finally realized that this is the same man who wrote the story and sold it to an entertainment conglomerate in the first place after his book became widely popular.

    As Azzy grew a bit more curious about Uphiar''s other books to see if he could find any more similar characters and understand what kind of person he is, he learned that this former teacher has written many bestselling books during the past three decades.

    The most popular of them is named Sinbad the sailor. Seeing its massive popularity, Azzy took a glimpse at the synopsis. He found it oddly familiar for some reason.

    After reading the first couple of chapters, he closed down the website in anger, "That plagiarist¡­ No wonder I felt it familiar¡­ Several of these scenes were actually on that stone slab where the elf bard wrote his adventures. Not only he stole treasure from his organization but he even stole someone else''s stories. To think I had wasted a whole hour on this¡­ Ugh¡­"

    Putting back the smartphone in his pocket, he took out the teleportation card (variant). "Let''s go¡­"

    "Hold your horses, kid¡­ You can''t go like this. You need more preparations and more thinking." The Reaper stopped him from activating the card.

    As Azzy asked what else is there to think, the Reaper made him realize that killing Uphiar will be revenge, not justice.

    Giving justice to Barton and Sahara in the name of law means that Uphiar''s crime should be proved or Azzy would need to record his confession.

    And giving justice to the victims in the name of the Death clan means that he should not be influenced by his emotions and treats the culprit as a stranger. He should listen to his whole story before passing judgment.

    In the first case, Uphiar would have to be brought to WAMO alive along with the evidence of his crime.

    And whether it is revenge or the second case of justice, Azzy should be careful of exposing his identity in case Uphiar is with someone else and that person is innocent.

    Azzy forced himself to meditate for a while and calmed down his emotions before finally activating the teleportation card, which was fixed to Uphiar''s location.

    "Here we go¡­"

    He disappeared and reappeared in a high-class restaurant.

    In a dim-lit restaurant, a piece of beautiful melody was playing in the background while a single couple was sitting in the middle of the room, having a candlelight dinner.

    Azzy didn''t recognize the woman but she appeared to be a civilian. On the other hand, the ugly middle-aged fellow was recognizable.

    "Uphiar¡­" Azzy muttered under his breath, trying his best to suppress his killing intent.

    The sorcerer with the snake-shape staff also sensed the presence of an intruder the instant Azzy appeared there but upon realizing that it is a 7-star Arcana Master, he didn''t bother at first but then, in the next second, his facial expression changed once he sensed killing intent.

    Putting away the glass, Uphiar let out a smile, "Babe, it appeared that we have a guest. Excuse me for a moment."

    "hmm?" The beauty looked at him in confusion before following his gaze and finding someone walking toward them.

    Uphiar also seemed surprised when he saw the blank mask on Azzy''s face. In his view, having the mask means that this guy has a high possibility of belonging to some secret organization or Special Forces of an enemy country. "Who are you?" he asked.

    Azzy responded by summoning his death scythe, "Your death, Uphiar."

    "Hmm¡­" Uphiar furrowed his brows in displeasure. "You don''t know who you are dealing with, mister. Leave before you regret disturbing my mood."

    Without showing an ounce of expression on his face, Azzy calmly said, "Oh, I know exactly what you are. A thief who stole the Jinn from the Temple of War, a plagiarist who used the tale of adventures of someone else for your benefit, and a murderer who killed Barton Everglade and his wife in the hopes of snatching the jewel of life."

    "You¡­ who the hell are you¡­" Uphiar quickly raised his magic staff as soon as he heard those words from Azzy. He never thought that the truth would be exposed all of a sudden, after a decade of peace, and too, when he was having a nice time with his new girlfriend.

    "I told you earlier. I''m your death¡­"

    Azzy no longer wasted his time and attacked him with the scythe.

    Uphiar, who is in the legendary realm, assumed that the opponent is a threat. Hence, he casually created an energy barrier with his staff.

    Never in the world did he imagine that the barrier erected by the staff would shatter like glass on first contact with the scythe and Azzy went on slashing at the enemy''s chest.

    Uphiar reacted on time and jumped back before raising his staff. The eyes of the snake glowed, releasing some type of gaseous substance.

    Azzy was familiar with this technique very well and he was prepared against the poisonous gas that will cause hallucinations to whoever breathes in.

    By blocking his nose with his soul energy, he was able to protect himself from any harmful gaseous substance or bad smell by purifying the air that reached his nose.

    However, not everyone can be the same as him. There are others in the room like a couple of waiters, a manager, a music band, chef, and all of them breathed in the gas. Including the girl who sat with Uphiar, everyone started to go crazy.

    Meanwhile, Uphiar punched the wall, making a hole and trying to get outside. Whether it is for getting more space for the battle or looking for a way to escape will soon be revealed.

    Azzy suddenly went into a dilemma. Should he protect the others or go after him?

    If he chose the former option, then, Uphiar might take advantage of this and cause more trouble for him. And if he chose the latter, then, his conscience will not let him forgive himself for putting innocent civilians in danger.

    It was then he heard a scoff escape from the Reaper, followed by scolding. "Idiot, use the hourglass to reverse their situation. Why do you always forget such things in a battle?"

    "Ah! That''s right¡­" Azzy quickly summoned the hourglass and unleashed the soul skill, selecting everyone in the room except for Uphiar as the target.

    In the next instant, all of them turned into specks of light, traveling through the walls and other obstacles and leaving for their respective locations where they were exactly around 12 hours ago.

    "You¡­ what did you do?" Uphiar''s eyes looked like they popped out in shock.

    "Something the likes of you won''t understand." Azzy was calm on the surface but was actually quite proud of what he had done. Not only he saved the innocents from the harmful gas he was also able to keep his eye on the enemy.

    Uphiar''s face hardened and he was angry for being belittled by the assassin. He wasn''t a fool to not atleast realize that the disappearances of his girlfriend and the other staff had something to do with the hourglass in Azzy''s hand.

    He didn''t know whether they were sent away or captured but one thing he knows for sure. He cannot sense anything from the hourglass. He made a miscalculation in his quick analysis and concluded that the object in Azzy''s hand is a treasure.

    A look of greed appeared on his face and the sorcerer took out a magical mirror from his pocket.

    "Come out, Jinn. I need your help¡­"

    The mirror trembled for a couple of seconds and released a tremendous amount of smoke, then a bald human-looking giant with a tiny ponytail made his appearance beside Uphiar.

    Looking at the oddly-familiar giant, Azzy commented, "I guess you do have a lot of life force to sacrifice if you were willing to pay 4 weeks of life force per second. But, I should say, it is quite smaller than I imagined. Maybe, it is because we are in a confined space?"

    It didn''t surprise Uphiar that Azzy knows about the price he had to pay the exact amount as the latter already displayed knowledge about his crimes.

    "Kill him¡­" He ordered the Jinn.

    "Yeah, as if I would give you that opportunity." Azzy raised the death scythe and unleashed the soul skill.

    "Soul skill: Claws of Death"

    "No, wait¡­" The Reaper''s voice echoed in Azzy''s head, all of a sudden.

    Most of Azzy''s soul skills were almost activated instantly. Hence, the moment he unleashed the soul skill, the portal appeared behind Uphiar and a pair of hands came out of it before piercing the sorcerer''s back.

    Uphiar spits out a mouthful of blood.

    In the next second, the Jinn acted on the orders it was given without caring about its owner. After all, for this cosmic being, its owners'' lives don''t matter.

    The Jinn, with the power of a supreme being, charged forward toward Azzy while he was slightly distracted by the Reaper''s brief interruption.

    Without the Eyes of God also activated and the distance being too less between them, he couldn''t see the attack properly. As a result, his chest was struck by a powerful fist.

    Azzy flew back and crashed into the wall. The wall broke and Azzy fell into the kitchen, coincidentally spilling the hot oil over him.

 Chapter 482 Battle Against The Jinn

    The splattered oil on his body didn''t do any damage but Azzy felt a bit humiliated for letting the other party punch him. Now, even his mask and clothes were dirtied¡­

    He felt like he was getting beaten lately.

    But then again, it''s not Azzy''s fault to think that way. His opponents were no longer in an equal or weaker realm for him to establish complete dominance in a fight like he usually did in the past timeline. They were all powerful figures.

    And the Reaper almost rolled his eyes upon listening to his thoughts. Who is Azzy? This guy is just a 14-year-old brat of the 7-star realm who never had the opportunity to go all out from the beginning to display his full strength even against 9-star realm experts.

    "Azrael, don''t kill him just yet. You need to confirm the truth before delivering the verdict." As the Reaper brought Azzy out of his stupid and conceited thoughts, the latter thanked him upon realization and rose to his feet.

    He was about to leave the kitchen but the Jinn, following its master''s orders, came to him and made it easier for Azzy.

    Meanwhile, the Reaper took the initiative to direct the battle, not intending to let his host make dumb mistakes like earlier.

    "Azrael, activate your God''s eyes, then, summon your undead general, followed by the cursed skulls, and then, the lightning beam. Oh, don''t forget to reveal the crown and shield in the meantime. And you should also summon Vajra to keep an eye on the target before finishing off the Jinn."

    "Eh?" Azzy was a little bit taken aback by the strategy played out by the Reaper. "Don''t you think it is a bit of overkill?" He asked. "Not to mention, Uphiar won''t run away while leaving behind his Jinn, right? You told me that once the Jinn dies, it will go back to the mirror just like our Arcana but the artifact might need to be retrieved personally by its owner."

    "Our aim isn''t just to kill the Jinn but also to instill fear in that demonic soul," replied the Reaper.

    "Why?" Azzy didn''t understand the Reaper''s plan at first before something clicked in his mind. "Do you mean¡­"

    Before finishing his words in his head, Jinn''s fist was already in front of his eyes.

    Azzy hurriedly dodged it but didn''t expect the Jinn to ambush him cleverly.

    "Argh¡­" he screamed in pain as something resembling an anchor with the chain pierced his thigh from behind, all of a sudden. Corruptive demonic energy invaded his system but was quickly neutralized by the Death energy.

    "Why didn''t you just activate God''s Eyes as soon as I told you? It''s a basic thing to do when confronting a superior enemy," scolded the Reaper.

    "Sorry for being an idiot. Maybe, you should have chosen a clever host¡­" roared Azzy back at the Reaper in frustration. Being in a rebellious teenage phase, it shouldn''t be a surprise if Azzy would be calm after getting lectured over and over again. Not to mention, when he was surprised by the Jinn''s ambush.

    "Fine, I''ll keep quiet. Solve it in your own way. Just so you know, I have your back." Knowing his host''s thoughts and feelings, the Reaper didn''t try to push him further and compromised.

    As Azzy closed his eyes and summoned the black crown, which appeared on his head and automatically healed his injury without much effort, the Reaper mumbled to himself, "Well, in the end, everything will go according to what I have envisioned no matter what course of action you take, Azrael. And tonight, you will have a faithful servant for sure."

    Meanwhile, Jinn''s face was frozen for a second as his eyes fell on the adamantine crown. "The Jewel of Life?"

    Azzy, who didn''t focus on the Jinn''s expression, launched his combo attack, following the Reaper''s plan.

    "Soul skill: Rise of the Undead"

    The humanoid skeleton rose from the floor and glared at the enemy, surprising the Jinn once again.

    The undead skeleton lunged at the Jinn, who hurriedly backed off to gain a bit of distance only to get his throat grabbed by the skeletal hands because of his earlier momentary shock.

    All of a sudden, the battle was titled in Azzy''s favor and he felt confident once again.

    "Soul skill: Eyes of God"

    His eyes turned pitch-black and a crescent-shaped pendant appeared over his neck.

    "The Jewel of Lightning¡­"

    The Jinn''s throat was about to get crushed by the undead but his gaze couldn''t just leave Azzy or more like the cosmic gems. All the Jinns were billions of years old just like the gods and angels. They too were born during the creation and had a familial connection to the cosmic gems.

    The Jinn knew that he will die and go back to his prison (the mirror) if he doesn''t get away from the undead. He knew that he had to follow the orders of his master but his concentration was completely grabbed by the cosmic gems and he couldn''t resist it.

    And by the time he managed to resist everything and became focused, Azzy launched a beam of black lightning from the middle of his chest where the Yellow colored jewel is resting.

    Azzy didn''t know how he did it. But, from the moment he bonded with the jewel, he felt like he could do it if he wanted to. It was a natural instinct like breathing that one doesn''t need to learn from someone.

    The lightning beam passed through the undead skeleton after detecting it as a part of Azzy and struck the Jinn.

    A massive hole formed in the middle of Jinn''s upper human body while the two walls behind him were destroyed.

    The destruction of a part of the building along with the power of the lightning beam instantly alerted the officials of the city and all the Arcana Masters passing nearby.

    Some were afraid, some were panicked, some were curious, and some got ready to go to the 26th floor of the hotel and resolve the situation.

    And it wasn''t just them who were alerted. There was someone else too. The moment Uphiar sensed the power of a Supreme Being inside the lightning beam, his expression completely changed. Confidence left him and he was scared like hell¡­

    "A supreme being is here to hunt me down? Even if he wasn''t, there''s no way I might be able to face him."

    Uphiar no longer intended to battle him and decided to run away. He passed an order to the Jinn through their telepathic connection.

    While the Jinn holds him off, he will run away. As for retrieving the Jinn and the mirror, they were already bonded and there''s no way to sever their bond unless he agrees to it. Even Barton did the same when he faced the royal ancestor of Northern Qudour on the night of the Champions League final. So, there''s nothing to worry about.

    After freeing himself from the Claws of Death using energy eruption, Uphiar quickly used a random teleportation card and escaped from there.

    By the time Azzy realized it, Uphiar was already gone. The Reaper wanted to remind Azzy about how he advised summoning the wolf to block the enemy from running away but he didn''t do it.

    Fortunately, he held back.

    Azzy himself realized his folly and made an apology, to which, the Reaper told him to focus on the enemy before him.

    "Ugh¡­"

    As the Jinn slowly rose into mid-air while the hole on its chest made by the lightning beam is recovering at a slow pace, Azzy acted without hesitation. "General Hildegard, grab him¡­"

    The peak-rank-9 undead skeleton quickly grabbed the Jinn from behind.

    "Soul skill: Spear of Death"

    With a stab to its forehead, he killed the Jinn while it didn''t try to resist and get away for some reason.

    Once the Jinn''s spirit returned to the mirror for recuperation, Azzy let out a deep sigh, "what now, Chronos? Should I turn back the time or is there any other way?"

    ''Now, you want to listen to my advice?'' The Reaper wants to say it but held back at the last second and said, "Simple, contact that alien girl from another world right now and ask her to track him down. Now that you know his identity and remember his aura, whether he hides in Arcana world or the city, mountains, or deep in the ocean, you can hunt him. The faster you contact them, the easier it will be.

    Oh, by the way, you should also leave this place. There are people coming here. And don''t forget to pick up the mirror."

    *Sigh* "Yeah, I should do that¡­"

 Chapter 483 Killing Uphiar With The Click Of A Button

    Somewhere in Northern Qudour;

    Roughly a couple of hours later, Azzy was found to be traveling in a helicopter alongside Mia with her security closely guarding the vehicle in a couple of more helicopters.

    Since Aria had only informed him to visit Dr. Mac but didn''t give the proper access or tell him a way to directly contact them, he was forced to take Mia''s help.

    Being the President of a nation, she could call in a favor with Aegis Light, the supreme commander of the special forces of the country.

    He thought of using Aegis to contact Dr. Mac but didn''t expect his friend to have direct contact with that scientist from another planet.

    Once he revealed the fact that Uphiar is behind the death of Barton and his wife, Mia contacted the scientist, who then deployed Aria on a mission.

    Within just half an hour, not only Uphiar was captured by Aria but he was also brought back to the secret facility as a prisoner and was interrogated.

    By the time Azzy reached the location, Dr. Mac already extracted the confession from Uphiar, confirming Azzy''s earlier accusation.

    Being a former student of Barton, Mia also decided to tag along with Azzy while canceling all the appointments for the rest of the day.

    Azzy and Mia were personally welcomed by the pale-skinned woman, surprising Mia as it never happened to her before.

    She couldn''t help but glance at her high school friend from the corner of her eyes, wondering whether they know each other quite well. Maybe, it is why Dr. Mac helped in catching Uphiar and not because of her.

    And the fact that Azzy addressed her as Miss Kim instead of Dr. Mac explains that they were acquainted.

    Dr. Mac didn''t speak of anything personal and went to business right away after shaking her hands with Azzy.

    "Didn''t expect that you will be here so quickly. I thought you would take more time to visit us. Anyways, follow me. Let''s take care of your matter first before talking about other things¡­"

    Kim Yuri aka Dr. Mac took them to a chamber where Uphiar was being imprisoned in a cell. Plasma energy chains were holding him down and not letting him move a bit. However, he could talk though.

    Uphiar''s eyes fell on Mia. It was someone who he recognized, "Mia?"

    Seeing his former student surprised him a little bit and a ray of hope appeared on his face. "Mia¡­ Please show mercy on me. Tell the lady to not kill me, okay? Please hand over me to the authorities."

    Being in a legendary realm, he could live for 5,000 years. Having a couple of hundred years of prison sentence is better than dying, thought the sorcerer.

    Unfortunately for him, Mia didn''t have any plans on forgiving him. She pointed to the teenage kid beside her and asked, "Do you remember him?"

    Naturally, Uphiar couldn''t remember him and looked at Azzy in confusion. All of a sudden, he recognized the clothes Azzy was wearing. "That physique, and clothes¡­"

    He remembered it as it only happened a few hours ago. "It''s you? The assassin who wanted to hunt me down?"

    Azzy didn''t answer that question and said, "I''m the disciple of Barton Everglade, the name''s Azrael. I think you remembered my name."

    "Azrael? That Azrael?" Uphiar felt the shock of his life. It was as if some nuclear bomb blew up in his chest. How could this guy still be a teenager? No, that''s not it. How did he grow so powerful just in two decades of time?

    It was tough for Uphiar to believe Azzy''s words but the latter didn''t care about it either.

    He turned his head to look at the lady scientist, "Ms. Kim, Mia told me that you have his confession. Can I take a look at it?"

    Dr. Mac nodded and took a PC tablet out of her storage card, giving it to him while playing the video.

    Azzy watched it calmly for a minute and gave it to Mia to take a look at the video before switching his attention back to the culprit.

    "He doesn''t deserve to live but I don''t want to use his skeletal body as one of my undead summoning beings. So, I can''t kill him directly. Can either of you kill him for me?" said Azzy.

    As Mia involuntarily flinched a little bit and hesitated to answer, Dr. Mac took back the tablet and clicked a few times before opening a program.

    On the screen, there were red, blue, and yellow buttons. At present, the yellow button was blinking.

    Handing it to Azzy, she explained with a smile, "The red will activate the killing mechanism, the blue will deactivate the plasma energy chains, and the yellow will hold like a prisoner. It''s your criminal and it is your choice¡­"

    Azzy didn''t even hesitate to click on the red button.

    In the next instant, the intensity of the plasma energy chains increased tenfold, vaporizing the body with so much ease.

    "What the¡­"

    Mia thought that they were only energy threads but she never saw that the body of an 8-star realm expert, including his bones and skull, could be vaporized in a matter of seconds. At the very least, she never watched such a scene with her own eyes, only read of legendary battles in history books.

    Meanwhile, Azzy raised his hand and reached out to his chest, placing it on his heart. "I''m too calm. Why do I feel nothing? No sense of satisfaction or regret. Nothing¡­ Is it because I didn''t kill him personally? Or is it because I no longer think of death as nothing? I wonder¡­"

    The Reaper, this time, didn''t give him the answer he needed and simply commented that justice is served.

    As if this matter is no longer important, the lady scientist then informed Azzy that they should talk in person about other matters.

    Azzy, who returned to reality from his thoughts, nodded and followed her, leaving his friend back in the lobby because the matter is private.

    Everyone has their own secrets and she respects them. Not to mention, she only reunited with her high school friend and former teammate after three decades. So, it would be foolish of her to think that he would let her know about his secrets.

    As the President of the nation, her mentality also grew tremendously strong. Hence, she wasn''t bothered to be outlined like this and continued to wait.

    Meanwhile, Dr. Mac and Azzy entered a chamber at the end of the corridor where another familiar foe was held as a prisoner. At present, he appeared to be asleep.

    It was at that moment the Reaper suddenly advised him to either wear a mask or just not enter the place at all.

    "Eh?" Azzy was taken aback. He didn''t understand why. The Reaper told him that this guy is just an avatar and it would be troublesome if Azzy''s face will be known to the real one, who might come for revenge later on.

    Azzy wanted to argue that he will be strong enough to kill the avatar of Berith, the next time he dares to come to Gaia, but in the end, he shut up his thoughts and told the scientist that they don''t need to enter the chamber.

    Dr. Mac didn''t know what Azzy was thinking. But, since the teenager himself isn''t interested to meet the prisoner, she didn''t bother to go in and closed the door while taking him to the control center.

    On the way, she talked about the demon.

    "We are currently using his body for studying demonic energy. I must say that its composition is completely different from the different types of energies we know so far, like solar energy, plasma energy, soul energy, nuclear energy, natural energy, etc¡­

    If it is anything that is similar, I should say the dark matter but of a concentrated form¡­"

    "Dark matter?" Azzy never heard of it.

    Dr. Mac explained the basic definition of dark matter one can find on the internet. Since Azzy neither had knowledge nor was old enough, she didn''t bother to go into full details.

    Azzy also didn''t ask any questions as he wasn''t that interested in the topic too. He just wanted to finish this meeting and return home.

    Other than that, she also talked about how she knows about his secret of time traveling through Aria, which kept records of the events. She claimed in meeting his older version a couple of times during the past decade and worked with him on some missions.

    This let Azzy understand that he will use the time traveling once again but since asking for the details might change the event, he kept his thoughts to himself.

    After they entered the familiar-looking control center and take their seats, Dr. Mac pulled her chair toward Azzy and said with a serious look, "Alright, let''s talk business. But, before that, I need your trust. And for that to happen, I''ll tell you about my past and my connection with the Arcturian Empire."

 Chapter 484 The Nanotech Prototype Weapon From A Sci-Fi Movie

    Roughly 30 minutes later;

    "This is everything about me, Mr. Garcia."

    She briefly explained how she belonged to the Arcturian Empire, a galactic force formed by the humans who left Gaia millions of years ago during the apocalypse period.

    After stealing an important piece of the program, which is Aria herself, a super A.I. that not only has its own thoughts and feelings like a human but is also strong enough to hack any satellite or program, Dr. Mac escaped her space station and entered a wormhole, eventually landing on this planet, a few decades ago.

    Because she had done a huge favor to him, Azzy patiently listened to her boring sci-fi story which appeared to be more like she was bragging about how she came from an advanced civilization.

    He waited until she was done and asked, "What is it that you wanted from me?"

    Dr. Mac replied, "I want to study your energy. Based on what Aria reported to me so far, your unique energy could be called unknown. At first, I thought it was anti-matter but your energy only annihilates the selective matter, not everything. Not to mention, when anti-matter particles get contact with the matter, electrons and positrons will collide, and an explosion similar to that of a nuclear bomb would be generated.

    But, it didn''t happen even in one instance. So, either there must be another type of force that was interfering with its properties or there must be an unknown factor.

    Look, I''m a researcher and I want to explore such mysteries. That''s all. In exchange for your cooperation, I would like to not only present you the Nano-tech prototype suit but also give you a valid piece of information on your girlfriend."

    Even when this alien scientist was talking about time travel, his soul Energy (most likely his Protos energy), he stayed calm. He also intended to cooperate as long as she doesn''t leak his secret.

    After meeting the guardian god for the second time and then bonding with three cosmic gems, he was actually less worried about the hourglass and the threat that comes with the leakage. He even intended to use the ability of time after mastering the hourglass and proudly use it in public.

    But, when Dr. Mac brought up the topic of Claire, his heartbeat suddenly spiked up. "What do you know about her?" he couldn''t help but ask.

    Dr. Mac let out a smile and dragged her back to the large computer screen. She showed him the picture of tiny dots with a night background.

    Scrolling down at a rapid pace for a whole minute, she spoke, "This is a part of the observable universe that we collected back when I was working at the space station.

    Do you know that there are about 2.8 trillion galaxies exist in our universe? Some galaxies are small having 200,000 solar masses and some are as big as 10 million light-years in diameter.

    Some have trillions of solar systems while some don''t have any solar systems at all. Heck, there are some rogue stars that wander off into intergalactic space.

    However, no matter what kind of planet, star, or galaxy, there was never a case the gravity didn''t affect them until we found this¡­"

    She stopped scrolling and clicked on a certain dot with a circle on top of it.

    The image was enlarged and Azzy saw the graphical video of an irregularly shaped object roaming the space without following any pattern.

    Sometimes, this galaxy would even collide with a galaxy but instead of merging or anything, it just passes through it.

    Pointing at the image, Dr. Mac said, "I believe this is the home of Gods, Angels, and other cosmic entities. This is where you can find the daughter of Michael."

    "Eh? How do you know that?" Azzy was taken aback at first, wondering whether this lady spied on all of his conversations or something.

    Dr. Mac probably guessed his thoughts. She won''t deny it but she doesn''t want Azzy to back off from their deal. Hence, she gave the answer that she was already prepared beforehand.

    "Alongside you, Claire was also an object of interest for me. The fact that she and her elder sister have angelic wings with their father being unnamed is a suspicious factor. You can guess the rest¡­

    Anyways, that''s not the point. The point here is that I may have found a way to get there."

    "How?" Azzy finally turned curious. He would give anything to see her again as long as it doesn''t touch his bottom line.

    Dr. Mac then explained her method, which surprisingly is familiar to Azzy.

    "It is called Aura tracing. Now, it is usually impossible for Arcana Masters to sense the aura of humans unless they reveal it themselves but I have a device to register one''s aura as long as their soul energy is inserted into it.

    Now, this is where it gets slightly complicated. I need Gaia''s aura to trace it back to the original source. Once it is collected, I register it in a teleportation machine that can directly teleport us to that place so-called heaven. I have already built a working prototype but haven''t tested it outside of our galaxy yet. So, I need more time.

    But then again, this task won''t be done within days too. In fact, it might even take years. After all, Gaia''s soul energy can only be found at the center of the planet and Aria alone cannot accomplish it. Not to mention, the risks involved in it.

    Based on the information we collected on you so far, you will be fine when you enter the Supreme realm.

    And also, we have demon Berith''s soul energy registered too. Theoretically, we can make a visit to hell without dying too¡­"

    Azzy didn''t speak for a while and he was busy conversing with the Reaper, asking him whether this crazy plan is viable or not.

    As the Reaper gave his nod, further commenting that the task is quite easier, Azzy agreed to the deal proposed by the scientist.

    "Okay, I will go to the center of the earth and collect some of Gaia''s soul energy."

    A smile bloomed on the lady scientist and she quickly responded by taking out an object that looked like a metal stick. "What is it?" asked Azzy.

    Dr. Mac then pressed something with her index finger while grabbing it and the object transformed into a scythe similarly looking to Azzy''s Death scythe but with a luminescent plasma blade.

    "Oh, I have seen a similar thing in a sci-fi movie in the 90s, except that it is a saber." Azzy couldn''t help but comment as his eyes fell on the weapon (Plasmascythe).

    "That is fiction and this is reality, Mr. Garcia," replied the scientist before further adding that this blade doesn''t need any sort of the so-called kyber crystals or anything.

    While this prototype can be used as offense (melee: scythe form, range: assault rifle) and defense (shield form), allowing Azzy to use its plasma energy for a skill attack that is similar to his Slice of death (soul skill), it has its obvious drawbacks too.

    First of all, it doesn''t have any automatic plasma energy regeneration or anything. The battery power cell located within the handle is the one that provides the plasma energy. Hence, it might run out at any time whenever he used the plasma energy to shoot bullets or energy attacks.

    Fortunately, Dr. Mac''s lab has manufactured so many plasma batteries that Azzy could change them if he was ever run of out plasma energy.

    The other drawback is that the batteries are quite expensive. Unless Azzy decides to be at her beck and call, he cannot waste them unnecessarily and ask for more batteries. So, Azzy should be careful with its usage.

    Thankfully, Dr. Mac already thought of this beforehand and added another set of functions in this high-tech weapon. Apart from the power source, the handle also contained a Sagekron core, which was also used in the adamantine gloves she gave to him in their first meeting.

    The Sagekron core has the function of constantly absorbing natural energy from the surroundings and storing it.

    There were no functions or skills added to the weapon but if Azzy ever ran out of plasma batteries and soul power, he could use the gun to shoot bullets made of natural energy, otherwise known as SK-bullets.

    Azzy was originally not interested in this nanotech prototype at all. In fact, he was also quite wary of this alien who knows a little bit too much about him and yet presents him with valuable presents.

    When one feeds something too much, there is quite a possibility that the ending won''t be good. And Azzy doesn''t want to be a pig that wanted to be slaughtered too. His wariness of her only increased further when he was offered a high-tech weapon for something as simple as letting her research the Protos energy.

    However, he had the Reaper, the Death clan, WAMO, and even the guardian god as his support. Forget about them, he could also time travel to the past to change things now. In the worst of worst things, his future self might come and pull him out of trouble.

    That''s why he decided to go along with whatever the scientist has planned for him.

    "Thanks¡­"

    After placing the weapon in his storage card, Azzy excused himself from that place without wasting much time.

    Since he came along with Mia, he felt the need to accompany her to the Presidential Palace and then went on his way to return to Aclein city where his grandpa and grandpa''s sister were waiting for him.

    However, it appeared that the impatient guardian god decided to not let him have his way and drag the matter.

    As soon as he left the Presidential Palace, Azzy suddenly was ambushed by specks of light and disappeared.

 Chapter 485 Azzy Going To Be The Final Boss Of Leahs Trial?

    "Sorry for dragging you like this, all of a sudden. You see, tomorrow is going to be a busy day for both of us, Azrael. And you don''t have the time for leisure."

    Azzy heard a deep yet familiar voice as soon as he found himself teleported to a place that looked like the top of a rocky mountain.

    He turned around to find the guardian god, who was stroking the mane of a winged pure white lion with a smile on his face.

    "Where am I?" asked Azzy.

    Continuing to stroke his pet, the guardian god shook his head, "wrong question."

    Azzy thought a bit and asked, "Is this about my answer?"

    The guardian god shook his head with a smile once again and replied, "Wrong question again. After all, both of us know what your answer going to be. Think again and ask the right question this time."

    Not having any clue, Azzy sought the Reaper''s help.

    About half a minute later, Azzy put his left knee on the ground while cupping his fists. He slightly bowed with his gaze fixed toward the ground and proceeded to ask, "What are your orders, Master?"

    It was then the guardian god finally turned his head to look at Azzy. Letting out a pleasant smile, he nodded, "Yup, this is the kind of response I''m looking for, although there''s no need to kneel. You may stand up."

    As Azzy rose to his feet, the guardian god continued, "I guess Lord Chronos has informed you of my character. I may be more than three million years old but I was born in the modern era (before the apocalypse). These ancient rituals and stuff are bullsh*t in my opinion.

    Simply acknowledging me as your master and following every order of mine as a filial disciple would be enough for me.

    Anyways, since our master-disciple relationship is already formed, let us not waste time in formalities and get to the matter directly.

    Here is your first mission as the disciple. There''s someone going through a trial of mine. I need you to be the last boss of the trial and your job is to make sure that she fails. However, you are prohibited from using the power of your hourglass. Apart from that, you can use anything. Can you accomplish this task?"

    Well, you can consider it as a test, both of you.

    "Eh?" Azzy was slightly taken aback by this new master''s first order. But then again, since he already prepared his heart to follow the guardian god, he questioned his master, "who is my enemy?"

    "Wrong question," replied the guardian god.

    Azzy thought for a bit and changed the question, "how strong is my opponent?"

    "That is what you had to find out," replied the guardian god before adding, "Hmm¡­ I''ll brief you on the basic details though. She is in the 7-star realm and at the beginner stage just like you but didn''t have a deity looking after her.

    On the other hand, one of her Arcana spirits is in celestial grade though. As for her talents, she can be considered a master swordsman, can flawlessly handle any kind of weapon, is highly intelligent, a genius battle strategist, and possesses life-saving treasures."

    Azzy knows only one person with such a description. "It is Leah Pendragon, isn''t it?"

    "Well, you can consider it as a test, both of you." The guardian indirectly confirmed Azzy''s suspicions before sending him away.

    After reappearing at his destination, Azzy immediately observed his surroundings.

    He appeared to be in some kind of a large cave but was surrounded by lava. The ground wasn''t also safe at all. There were volcanic geysers spread around the place, spitting beams of flames from time to time.

    "It feels as if I was standing in the middle of a floating island in Lava Lake while being attacked by Leah''s soul skill."

    "Okay, it might take for Leah to reach this level considering she was still at 8th level, according to the guardian god¡­ Ugh¡­ somehow, it appeared to be a little bit difficult to acknowledge him as my master¡­ Anyways, let''s do something¡­"

    Azzy let out a sigh and use this time to familiarize himself with Ruby, who he had never summoned in battle ever since the latter evolved into celestial grade.

    During the past ten days, he only spent his time with the Ruby Crystalline Black Lotus within his mindscape as the summoning of a celestial grade Arcana spirit will not only bring unnecessary attention from the Supreme Commander and the other higher-ups but also put the nearby Arcana spirits in pressure.

    He experienced the same with Vajra. The Arcana of his teammates had so much trouble just from the presence of the black lightning wolf.

    But, here, there''s nothing to be worried about.

    Hence, Azzy didn''t hesitate to summon the Black lotus, which is now in the form of a humanoid plant but with black lotus petals as its hair.

    "Pui¡­ Pui¡­ Pui¡­" The Black lotus Arcana greeted Azzy with a wide smile on its face before lunging toward his chest for a hug. Since it was still a baby, it doesn''t know how to talk like the other Celestial-grade Arcana spirits.

    Azzy patted its back and then put it on the ground, "Ruby, we still haven''t trained with your new abilities. So, for now, let''s use your crystal armor technique for the upcoming battle. And for the practice, let''s go with Crystal bestowal."

    "Puiiii!!!" The humanoid lotus let out a loud cheer, excited to be back in action since its owner stopped depending on it, lately.

    Crystal bestowal is the sixth soul skill of the humanoid lotus that will let the Arcana bestow its crystal attribute to any Arcana master or an Arcana for a limited time.

    When it was in platinum grade and Azzy was in the 6-star realm, the skill is limited to 5 minutes and it can be only used on one ally.

    But, since its abilities improved drastically, Azzy wanted to check the results, although not against a friend.

    It is why he planned to practice before she gets here, trying to add crystal attribute to one of his energy techniques.

    Meanwhile, in level 9 of the trial, Leah was in the middle of an intense battle against a demonic three-headed giant hound and its army of hounds.

    "Ora¡­" She was swinging her blade left and right at her peak speed, slashing down every hound that was pouncing upon her while her Arcana was keeping the boss busy.

    "Damn, they were still too many. I guess I have no other choice..."

    Pouring 30% of her soul energy into Excalibur, she created a giant blade of flames and spun around a couple of times, not only killing more than thirty-six hounds of the 5-star realm instantly but also clearing her 20-meter radius.

    Of course, the hounds outside the radius didn''t stop by the setback. They rushed forward as Leah''s sword turned back to normal.

    But that distance gave her enough time to execute her next move.

    "Soul skill: Lightning Barrage."

    She unleashed her seventh soul skill of Excalibur. Surprisingly, it turned out to be of the lightning attribute. So, this means, so far, she had displayed the attributes of fire, ice, water, and lightning, well, atleast while unleashing the soul skills. What more secrets does she have? Only time will tell.

    As she stabbed onto the ground, streams of purple electric currents spread to her 200-meter radius, turning every hound into ash.

    In the meantime, the Aquagirl timely collapsed into a massive volume of water covering a wide area, extending the Lightning barrage range.

    The three-headed hound with low-rank-9 strength also received the shock and became paralyzed for a few seconds.

    Taking advantage of this situation, Leah didn''t waste any time pulling the sword back from the ground and charged forward. She poured all of her remaining soul energy into the sword.

    At the same time, the Aquagirl, which already attached an activated skill card to each of the enemy''s legs, somehow detonated them using Leah''s soul energy before disappearing.

    Once the skill cards were detonated, they transformed into a countless number of energy worms, sinking into its body and then exploding.

    The explosions were small but are too many in number, enough to completely destroy its legs and make it collapse on the ground.

    The giant flaming sword reappeared in the three-headed hound''s sight and Leah made a giant forward leap, aiming at its neck. "Haa¡­"

    *slash*

    With a clean strike, its head was separated from the body, ending its life.

    "I did it¡­" Taking heavy breaths, Leah let out a smile and took out a healing card to tend to her injuries.

 Chapter 486 Lets Get Married If I Win Against You

    "9 levels are completed. That means I have already passed the test to become his student. The results of the next level don''t matter anymore. Not to mention, the boss will even be stronger than this one and I don''t have any more soul skills. To defeat it, I will have to depend on activated skill cards that I have saved over the years for emergencies."

    As the body disappeared, a familiar-looking door appeared out of thin air. She passed through it 8 times. So, she didn''t think too much as she walked through the door.

    Before she entered the trial, the guardian god promised her that he would release Princess Cynthia (paternal aunt) as long as she passes through the 3rd level.

    After that, the guardian god gave her the option to continue or leave.

    As she chose to continue to test her own limits, the guardian god made his appearance and has a talk with her.

    He offered her an opportunity to become his student as long as she reaches level 10, the last hurdle in the trial.

    Under the persuasion of Excalibur, Princess Leah accepted it and proceeded through the levels.

    Now that she was done with her task and was also out of soul skills, combined with the fact she was fighting continuously for almost 9 hours in a row, Leah was too tired and weak-willed to go on further.

    That is why she didn''t bother to recover her soul energy and walked into the door.

    However, just as she walked out of the doorway, stepping onto the last floor of the trial, her eyes met with a Black colored crystalline pillar.

    Leah wanted to dodge but it was so close that she didn''t even get the opportunity and was struck in the forehead.

    Upon being struck by the black crystalline pillar, she flew in the air and crashed onto the ground about fifty meters away right on top of a volcanic geyser.

    *Woosh*

    The flames burst out of the geyser and struck already an already injured Leah in the back. She lost consciousness.

    Sometime later;

    "Hmm¡­"

    Leah slowly opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was someone she never expected to see. "Azrael?" She exclaimed in surprise as her eyes widened.

    "Sorry about that, Leah. It wasn''t on purpose." Azzy apologized in response. It was really an accident.

    "What do you mean?" Leah was confused at first before she looked into her surroundings, realizing that she was still in the middle of the trial. "What are you doing here?"

    Azzy gave an honest answer, "I''m just like you, unwillingly stuck in the trial."

    Leah''s expression changed as soon as she heard his words. "So, this is the last level of the trial, huh? I never expected the guardian god to plan to use deception like this. He prepared it so that I will be motivated to finish the trial¡­"

    Azzy didn''t know what she was thinking at the moment but at the very least he could sense that her soul orb is empty and no Arcana spirits were on her side. Hence, he was worried about being attacked and instead, wanted to have a normal conversation with her like a friend. It''s been a while since he had done such a thing.

    However, Leah''s thoughts were entirely different from his. She was under the belief that he is nothing but an illusion and is already planning her battle strategy for she doesn''t want to admit her loss against Azzy''s duplicate without even trying.

    As her battle intent reignited in her heart, Leah played along and slowly rose to her feet, "Did you also meet the guardian god and go through the test?" She asked.

    Azzy didn''t suspect anything and answered, "Yes and No. I was actually about to return to Aclein and he suddenly brought me to his domain. As for the test, I didn''t go through anything. He just directly accepted me as his disciple and ordered me to be your opponent."

    "It''s a lie. Hmpf, Guardian god, you are purposely trying to rile me up." Leah didn''t believe his words but still, she need to make her opponent believe that she was fooled.

    Hence, she continued to play along with the story. Leah faked her reaction by letting out a sigh of relief as if she was genuinely happy to see him. "Thank goodness. I thought I would meet a supreme realm monster as an opponent. If it is you, then, I can hope for a fair match."

    "Fair match?" Azzy raised his eyebrows. He felt like something is off with the princess of Camelot. "What do you propose?"

    Leah explained her situation and said, "So, that''s why I propose a fair battle where we use neither Arcana nor the soul skills. Of course, natural energy is also prohibited."

    In Azzy''s view, Leah was never the type to propose such bizarre cowardly conditions that make him lose his advantage. However, since he was confident in beating her in any type of condition, he agreed to it. "Alright¡­"

    Azzy''s agreement only made Leah more complacent. She thought that she trapped the guardian god using her wits and went on asking him to let her recover the soul energy before the start of the battle.

    Azzy took a giant leap away from Leah and gestured to her to make preparations for the upcoming battle. He dismissed the humanoid black lotus that was latching onto his back and stood straight.

    Staring at him from far away, Leah thought as she was recovering her soul power, "You are not fighting your love, Leah. It is just an illusion, probably created by your own mind. You went through such things before. So, you should be able to handle it. Azrael wouldn''t show anything new.

    But, you cannot underestimate the guardian god''s intelligence. He might add new abilities for my opponent to use. Thankfully, I made sure that he won''t use any of his Arcana or soul skills in battle. So, you should do fine. All you need is one good opportunity and you can end this battle."

    As she recovered her soul power and went into a battle stance, Azzy looked at her and ask, "Any last words?"

    He just said that casually for he doesn''t want this battle to be too serious. But, Leah''s reply to him completely threw him off balance.

    "Yes¡­ let''s get married if I win against you."

    "Eh?"

 Chapter 487 Leah Expresses Her Feelings

    Azzy never anticipated such a bizarre proposal, and that too, at such a place from Leah of all the people.

    He couldn''t help but remember the incident that occurred a couple of weeks ago when she suddenly pinned him to the wall and teased him like she was about to kiss him on the lips.

    Did she has feelings for him or was she just crazy? Azzy bet on the latter for she knows about his love life very well.

    Several thoughts came to his head but in the end, he replied with a simple statement, "I already have a girlfriend."

    "I know. That''s why I didn''t say to date me or anything." Leah calmly responded while slowly walking toward him. She further said, "I don''t have any luxury for romance. For me, the most important is securing the future of Camelot. For that, I wouldn''t hesitate to become your second wife even when knowing that I won''t be loved."

    Azzy suddenly felt like there was something more to the story. As a guy who was looking forward to having a casual chat with Leah, he engaged in the conversation, postponing the battle for a while.

    "Why, Leah? Everyone is entitled to pursue their own happiness," said Azzy.

    For a moment, Leah halted her footsteps before she took a deep breath, steadied her emotions, and continued to walk toward him.

    "Not everyone living in a palace has a happy childhood, Azrael." Leah let out a comment and then started explaining her story, "You know I had an older brother once, four years older than me. His name is Samuel and he was considered a step-child of the heavens.

    He was a filial son, a kind-hearted prince, and my best friend. When we were children, I still remember his dream. It is to make my ancestors proud by reviving our lost empire. But, everything changed when I was eight.

    From the moment Excalibur chose me, our lives have changed in ways we never imagined.

    My brother was supposed to be the next king of Camelot and the one my parents hoped to entrust Camelot''s future to him.

    However, because I awakened the Excalibur, the legendary Arcana that Emperor Arthur once wielded and used to unite the entire world, my parents stopped paying attention to him.

    I became the center of attention. Our royal teacher put her entire focus on training me. Our relatives and ministers kept pestering my father to announce me as the next ruler of Camelot.

    I and my brother became distant. He started taking on arduous tasks to prove his worth to everyone. That frustration only increased when I awakened my second Arcana at 12.

    And that forced him to train a lot harder than before. To make a quick breakthrough to rank 7 and become the youngest royal prince to achieve that feat at the age of 16, he ventured into the wilderness of a level-4 region.

    We were supposed to celebrate his 17th birthday but instead, we buried him on the same day.

    That day, I made an oath to my brother. No matter what, I will diligently serve the royal palace, then, secure the future of Camelot, and revive the Empire of Arcana. This is my life goal and I would sacrifice my happiness to achieve it."

    Azzy couldn''t help but feel pity for her. Unfortunately for Leah, he still had his usual poker face. Hence, she didn''t know how he took her story.

    But then again, since she already reached her target, which is nothing but an illusion, she didn''t even think of his feelings and swiftly ambushed him while pouring almost all of her soul energy into her hand.

    With Azzy letting down his guard and Leah being just a foot away from him, he couldn''t evade her hand.

    As a result, her hand pierced his chest, then his heart, and he spat out a mouthful of blood onto her clothes. His eyes widened in shock, not expecting the situation would turn out like this. "You¡­"

    Leah wasn''t done with it. After retracting her hand, she threw all of her remaining 6 activated skill cards at him simultaneously while jumping away to protect herself from any reflex attack from the opponent.

    It was at that moment the black crown made its appearance on his head. Life force gushed out of the gem and healed his injury in an instant.

    In the meantime, the first activated skill card unleashed a torrent of electricity, which not only paralyzed his body and also induced second-degree burns all over his body.

    It was followed by the second and third activated skill cards, which unleashed beams of intense flames.

    The Jewel of life automatically unleashed a tremendous amount of life force to heal his injuries while the last three activated skill cards released a concentrated amount of ice energy, freezing him below the temperature of -220 degrees Celsius due to the combined power.

    Leah was expecting to see Azzy with a hole in his chest, third-degree burns all over his body, and then face an instant death due to freezing.

    However, nothing happened as she envisioned it. Instead, Azzy''s body appeared to be perfectly healthy inside the ice.

    "How is this possible?" She was shocked. "Just like I thought, the guardian god must have only used Azrael''s body and speech. In fact, this must have been a supreme realm opponent."

    While Leah lost her will to battle, the Reaper spoke in Azzy''s mind, praising the girl to be quick-witted.

    At first, Azzy was angry for being fooled but then after hearing out the Reaper, who suggested to not get influenced by emotions for they change by situations, he closed his eyes and used energy eruption to break the ice prison.

    Azzy then charged forward while summoning a Protos spear in his hand.

    "I''m done¡­"

    Leah tightly shut her eyes when she saw that.

    One second passed, two seconds, and even ten seconds passed but there was no strike. As she slowly opened her eyes, she saw Azzy standing right in front of her with the Protos Spear a few inches away from her neck.

    Looking straight into her eyes, he opened his mouth, "Before I finish off you, I just want to ask one thing. Was there any lie in what you said until now?"

    Leah thought that the guardian god might be testing her for the last time. She nodded, "Yes."

    Azzy asked coldly, "what is it?"

    If she tells that the touching story of her brother is nothing but a lie, then, he will be incredibly displeased and might not see her as a close friend anymore.

    However, taking him by surprise, Leah replied, "I lied that I don''t have any feelings for you and strictly expressed my wishes for the glory of Camelot. You were the first and only one I fell in love with. In the past 27 years, there was never a time I couldn''t think of you, constantly wondering when I will see you again. That is why I thought if I could marry you, then, I will have my happiness and accomplish my goal."

    Azzy silently stared at her, not knowing what to say after hearing those words.

    The Reaper couldn''t help but let out a chuckle and commented, "The Death clan''s founder has married five outstanding women¡­ It''s not a bad idea..."

    "Are you crazy? Wha¡­ what do you take me for?" Azzy screamed in his head.

    "Well, it''s your past life, remember?" The Reaper countered him, almost immediately.

    Azzy: "¡­"

 Chapter 488 I Cant Kill A Friend Who Isnt Evil Even If Its In An Illusionary Realm

    As Azzy stayed silent, not knowing what to say after hearing those words, Leah continued, "But then again, I should thank the guardian god for providing this opportunity. After all, I could probably never propose to the real you for I know that you already have someone else in your heart. I''m not that shameless to steal someone''s love.

    Anyways, thank you for not directly rejecting me even if you are nothing more than an illusion. Now, you may continue with the attack and end this trial."

    After confessing everything that is buried in her heart, Leah shut her eyes once again.

    Meanwhile, Azzy doesn''t know what to do now that his misunderstanding was cleared. Leah was thinking of him as an illusion and that is why she ambushed him ruthlessly. Adding on top of that, her story was also true and it appeared that she really had feelings for him.

    How could he stab her throat after receiving a love proposal from a friend with who he had fought many battles together? Even if this is an illusionary realm where there is no true death for the both of them, Azzy couldn''t bring himself to kill her. Hence, knocking her out appeared to be a better option.

    And then, what?

    He will meet her in two weeks when he goes to Camelot and pick up his parents. So, it might become awkward for him to see her and continue to pretend that he knows nothing.

    What if he outs with the truth? Then, Leah might be embarrassed to see him and eventually, their friendship will take a hit.

    Hmm¡­ his poker face might be able to hide his thoughts and emotions. So, I guess it is better to act as if nothing happened. Yup, that is the best course of action.

    After making his decision, Azzy dismissed the Protos spear and gave a chop to her neck from behind.

    As she was ready to get killed and the Excalibur isn''t interested to help her, she fell unconscious for the second time.

    Once she fell on the ground, Azzy raised his head to look at the ceiling, "Master, I probably understood why this is a test for me. But, I cannot kill a friend who is not evil, even in this realm."

    "Na?ve¡­" A voice responded from the ceiling before both of them turned into specks of light and disappeared from the illusionary realm.

    Azzy thought that he could prepare himself during the next couple of weeks when he will see her again but little did expect that his new master would decide to prank him by bringing her to his domain too.

    "Wha... What is she doing here?" asked Azzy as his eyes fell on the beauty that makes even Aphrodite jealous.

    The guardian god let out a mischievous grin, "well, she has passed the ninth level. Hence, she will be my student. As my disciple, I believe you should formally meet her, right?"

    "We already know each other. There''s no need," refuted Azzy immediately. He wants to run away as fast as possible.

    "Nope, that cannot do." The guardian god waved his index finger while continuing to keep a grin on his face, "both of you seemed to have problems. You need to resolve them right now. After all, you will work together on missions in the future, anyway."

    "This damned¡­" Azzy cursed his master in his head and took deep breaths while waiting for the princess to get up.

    Roughly about 15 minutes later, she slowly opened her eyes and saw two familiar-looking figures with a change in the background.

    Naturally, one can imagine her shock and embarrassment when she learned the reality.

    With a reddened face, she closed her face and turned her face away while mumbling, "I want to bury my head somewhere right now¡­"

    Azzy was keeping his face straight but even he couldn''t look at her because of the awkwardness.

    "hahahaha¡­" the guardian god bursts into laughter, finding the scene very cute, but fortunately, he didn''t push it further and instead, eased the both of them by changing the topic while using a serious tone, "Anyway, from this moment, Leah, you will be my representative for the hidden clan meetings. If you are in extreme danger, blew this whistle and my Leon will come to your rescue."

    He threw a vessel flute at Leah, who caught it in reflex before taking a glance at Azzy''s face who was looking at his master. She immediately looked away with a blush on her cheeks.

    Meanwhile, the guardian god shifted his attention to Azzy and, "And Azrael, as for you, you have the hourglass to protect yourself, I also keep on your activities for most of the time, and in the worst case scenario, your future counterpart will come and save you. So, I wasn''t worried about your safety.

    You also had several sealing and soul energy techniques in your arsenal, yet to be mastered. So, it doesn''t make any sense if I give you more. The same goes for you too, Leah.

    But, still, as your master, I will have to give you something as a present. It''s not much but it is still a treasure coveted by the gods. Only True gods and Archangels are said to possess these."

    The guardian god tosses a fist-sized pouch toward Azzy. As the latter caught it and curiously observed it, his master explained, "This is known as a Sky Bag. In theory, the space inside it is so big that an entire galaxy will fit inside. This treasure was created by Space at Gaia''s request. She gave it to me on our¡­ *Ahem* million years of friendship. Today, I will pass it on to you."

    "Hmm?" Both Azzy and Leah felt something strange when the guardian god paused for a moment but didn''t voice it out, thinking that he might be embarrassed about speaking about a million years of friendship when the mother goddess was billions of years old.

    After Azzy stored the sky bag and thanked his master, the guardian god went on speaking about their near-future plans. Both of them took notes in their heads so that they can adjust their daily schedule according to their master''s plans.

 Chapter 489 The Reapers Proposition To Jinn

    Once he was done talking, the guardian god sent away Leah to her home and Azzy back to Aclein without letting them speak about Leah''s confession, not wanting to embarrass them in any way. Earlier, he was just fooling around with Azzy, that''s all.

    Azzy also thought that it is better that way and neither did Leah attempt to contact him out of embarrassment. She even fought with Excalibur for not telling her that the one she proposed is a real one.

    In the end, she decided to busy herself with the kingdom''s affairs and forget about it so that she can act calmer the next time she meets her love.

    Meanwhile, Azzy had a similar thought and continued his journey to Aclein city.

    Later, at midnight, Affea mansion, Aclein City;

    After locking his door, he sat on the floor and placed the mirror before him as advised by the Reaper. Upon facing the setback, Azzy no longer wanted to mess this one up and diligently followed the Reaper''s instructions.

    "Okay, now listen to me carefully." The Reaper explained the process to Azzy. "What we are currently doing right now is freeing the Jinn from its prison. Since it was already revived, you need to make sure that it won''t escape.

    First, we set up a space barrier that will isolate the surroundings from the rest of the world. Then, you will keep your hourglass ready. As soon as you free it from the mirror using the gluttony beast, you need to stop the time so that it won''t try anything funny.

    To concrete your chances more, you can also summon your undead general and hold it tightly when time stops.

    Once you are in control, you have to control the beast like it is the extension of your hand. After you swallow him whole into your body, I will take care of the rest. By the way, don''t forget to display the three cosmic gems."

    Azzy firmly nodded without asking any questions, "Okay, let''s do this¡­"

    Taking a deep breath, Azzy proceeded to follow the procedure after summoning his three artifacts which the cosmic gems are embedded in.

    Since Azzy doesn''t know about setting up the space barrier, he let the Reaper do it for him and then returned to the mindscape.

    Soon, the slime-like beast with a huge mouth and countless teeth made its appearance in the form of energy before swallowing the mirror.

    The seal that bound the mirror and the Jinn was broken quite easily and the demonic creature quickly made its appearance.

    With the presence of the cosmic gems that stunned it for a few moments, Azzy took the opportunity to use the soul skill of Hourglass and stop the time, followed by summoning the peak-rank-9 undead.

    From there, everything went smoothly as the Reaper planned. In fact, the Jinn didn''t put up any resistance from the start to the end.

    Within no time, it found itself on the edge of the cliff in Azzy''s mindscape, where the Reaper is waiting for his new slave.

    Just like how Azzy was staring at the sky and the barren land when he awakened for the first time, the Jinn was also doing the same, except that the ground is actually full of undead beasts roaming around and there was a floating island in the sky. It had the look of confusion for it doesn''t know where it was.

    "Hello there, the creature of the cosmos."

    A voice was suddenly heard from its behind and the Jinn abruptly turned around.

    "Who¡­ who are you?" The Jinn felt extremely afraid of the creature floating before him. For cosmic creatures and spirits like Jinn, the cosmic gems were akin to the greatest delicacy or the most beautiful thing in the universe.

    If there is only one cosmic gem, the creature will probably stare at it and even become greedy to acquire it after coming out of its stupor but seeing three of them at the same time took away the willpower of Jinn.

    But, now, it felt like it has fallen into a trap. And the Reaper made it feel like it would be erased from existence if it tries to attack.

    As the Jinn stayed on the spot like a statue, wondering how to escape this place, the Reaper opened his mouth. "Since you have already been freed from your prison and I have no intention of letting you run wild, you have but three options to choose from.

    One, I will bind your soul to my host''s soul. You will voluntarily serve him until the day he dies. In this situation, you will be free to enter the material world without needing any price.

    Two, I will turn you into an Arcana spirit. In this case, you will be freed when your master enters the god realm. You will also get your own home to live in this place. But, you aren''t free to move as you wish.

    And if you don''t agree to either of those two, then, the final option is for me to seal your existence for eternity."

    The Reaper ended his proposition with a threat while summoning a vase-looking object.

    The Jinn shivered for a while as it looked at the object.

    "So, what it is going to be?"

    ***

    The next day, at Affea Mansion, Aclein City;

    At dawn, Azzy was picked up by Aspen Night (the son of Oakley and the brother of Avia) and another bodyguard of the 7-star realm.

    Aspen Night told Oakley to come along but the latter refused his invitation, stating that he doesn''t want to make Avia feel uncomfortable by showing his face to her. Not to mention, he wasn''t alone now. If Oakley goes with his son, his sister would be lonely.

    Since Azzy planned on taking the both of them after his parents return from their training, he too didn''t try to convince his grandpa and just left with Aspen.

    Through the portal points, they went to Snow city, and from there, they traveled by flying cards to the Helenus mountains in the northeastern part of Freyles nation.

    Maybe, the treatment will change once Vesyrn becomes the clan heir but for now, Azzy wasn''t treated much special when comparing the time when he was the clan heir.

    But then again, all of this didn''t hold much importance in Azzy''s eyes as he had so many other things to worry about.

    Azzy went on his way toward the Crescent clan compound after parting ways with Aspen after entering the clan village.

 Chapter 490 Handing Over Barbaras Ashes

    Graveyard, Crescent Clan Compound;

    The day might be an important one for the Death clan because of the hidden clan meeting and the arrival of the guests. However, for Kylan, it doesn''t matter. The elders (pavilion masters) and others will take care of the guests. The Garcia Palace will accommodate them during their stay. There is no need for him to worry about anything.

    Hence, just like every other day, Kylan Crescent, the Patriarch/head of the Crescent clan decided to spend his morning time talking with the graves of his deceased son and sister.

    However, there was someone else standing there, waiting for him.

    "Azrael?" Kylan was slightly surprised as he didn''t expect him to meet his grandnephew like this.

    Azzy shifted his attention from his maternal grandmother to his granduncle, "Good morning, Lord Crescent. Sorry for making a sudden visit without informing you beforehand."

    Kylan waved his hand with a smile, "No, it''s fine. I was just surprised, that''s all. When did you return?"

    "Just a few minutes ago," replied Azzy before adding, "I came here directly to meet you. There''s something I need to talk about."

    "Me?" Kylan was taken aback at first but he quickly controlled his expression and asked. "Okay, let''s go home and talk."

    Kylan planned on returning to the graveyard after finishing his business with Azzy but the latter didn''t have any plans to follow him.

    Without moving from the spot, Azzy said, "No, I believe this is an appropriate location to talk."

    "Tell me." Kylan was curious.

    Taking a deep breath, Azzy took out a small-sized urn from his storage card and looked straight at the confused Kylan, "I''m sorry to inform you like this but I don''t know any other way."

    "What is it?" Kylan''s eyes fell on the urn. He recognized the object. It is kind of a typical vase that used to be stored with ashes. Who it might be? He wondered. The image of a little girl appeared in his head and his heartbeat spiked up all of a sudden.

    Pushing forth his hands, Azzy answered, "This is all left of Barbara. I want to say it to you the last time we met but you were already too emotional when meeting my mom. So, I couldn''t bring myself to say this. After that, stuff happened and I didn''t get the perfect moment to hand it to you."

    Kylan''s hands shivered as he took the urn into his hands. His eyes welled up in tears but he held them back and questioned Azzy with a hoarse voice, "What¡­ happened?"

    Azzy didn''t tell him the truth, not just because it contained the secret of time traveling but it is also because he was the one who killed her. If he revealed that, then, he will also have to explain why he did that. No matter how his granduncle took the news, the ending will not be good.

    Hence, he told him the story the Reaper crafted for him.

    According to Azzy, both of them somehow teleported to the Arcana world where they got lost in a level-4 region, which is full of danger everywhere. They trained together, fought life-and-death battles together, and looked after each other''s backs.

    And about a year ago, they happened to stumble upon a lair of a legendary realm beast where Barbara perished under its attacks while he managed to get out alive with her corpse.

    Azzy then told that he trained vigorously for a whole year without looking for a way to return so that he can take revenge. It wasn''t until he killed it did he finally leave the area and returned.

    As Azzy ended his explanation with an apology, stating that it was his death energy that went out of control and affected her due to which all of this happened, the latter patted the teenager''s shoulder while his tears streamed down from the eyes.

    "You did nothing wrong, my grandnephew. It was just her fate. Don''t feel guilty¡­" Kylan then stepped forward and hugged him, further thanking him for delivering justice to Barbara and bringing her mortal remains to her home.

    Azzy didn''t expect to be consoled in return and it only made him feel guilty for lying to him. But, since this matter had to end here, he didn''t drag the conversation any further and excused himself.

    After he left, Kylan collapsed on his knees while hugging the vase and continued to cry without making any noise.

    Meanwhile, Azzy was scanning the whole village to search for Gideon. After finding out that his aura was at the Violet Pavilion, he too made his way to the location.

    Soon, he reached one of the training grounds where a young man appeared to be practicing martial arts like a beginner. There were a couple of others who were sparring together.

    Ignoring those two, he went toward Gideon. The latter stopped his practice after recognizing Azzy. "Young Master?"

    Azzy didn''t expect him to possess any memories of him. Hence, he wasn''t disappointed and just calmly stated the purpose of his visit. "Gideon, I need you to come with me."

    "Eh? Me?" Gideon was taken aback and hesitated. "Why?"

    "Why? Do you need my explanation now that I''m no longer the clan heir?" Azzy tried to force him to use whatever words that came to his mind. Since he wasn''t his friend, Azzy didn''t feel the need to act all nice too.

    Gideon immediately got scared when they heard it and immediately told Azzy that he will follow the order.

    "Let''s go¡­" Azzy started walking away. Gideon quietly followed him. The two people who were sparring with each other spotted them and thought that Gideon probably had offended the young master.

    After going to a secluded location at the Violet Pavilion, Azzy once again took the help of the Reaper to create a spatial barrier that will cut off its connection to the world it belongs to.

    As Gideon looked around, observing what happened after Azzy pushed his soul energy into the surroundings. He found nothing strange and returned his attention to Azzy.

    Azzy then looked straight into Gideon''s eyes and revealed what he learned from Leah when he visited Camelot to drop his parents there. "Now, the dear clone of Gideon, you have but two options. One, tell me the whereabouts of the original and why did he leave you here. Two, I will take you to Lord Qridus and make you spill the truth the hard way. Which option would you like to choose?"

    Gideon''s clone became silent for a while.

    As the impatient Azzy stressed the matter once again, the clone spilled the beans without hiding anything.

    More than 25 years ago, Gideon and Estella made their relationship public. The Moon clan didn''t like it as Gideon was less talented and the identity of his master (Ramiel, the VP of WAMO) didn''t appear to be enough.

    Hence, he challenged the Moon clan that within 30 years, he will return as a Supreme realm expert and ask for Estella''s hand in marriage.

    The Moon Clan agreed and Gideon disappeared without a trace for more than a year only to create a clone and send it to the Death clan to act as him.

    How this clone was created? How could it stay for more than two decades and grew like a normal human? Where did Gideon leave after that? The clone didn''t have answers to any of those questions as it only had Gideon''s memories before its creation.

    With no useful information extracted from the clone''s mouth, Azzy was slightly disappointed and told him to continue doing what he was doing until now.

    He left Gideon''s clone and finally went to the Garcia Palace to meet the clan head.

    While exchanging greetings with everyone on the way, Azzy made his way to the throne hall, which was closed for the moment.

    The two guards outside the giant door stopped Azzy and informed him that the monarch is in deep sleep.

    Not intending to disturb his ancestor, Azzy went to the second floor to sleep in the room that was only allotted to him since he was eight.

    However, surprisingly, even that door is closed with someone locked from inside.

    Did his room was given to someone else just because he was out for nearly three weeks? Azzy wondered.

    After thinking about whether he should knock or not for a few seconds, Azzy decided to choose another room on the same floor. Since this was also considered his ancestral home, he didn''t feel the need to ask someone''s permission. Not to mention, it is not like he wants to sleep anyway. He just wants to take a break until noon.

    Azzy was about to walk away and suddenly, the door was opened. He turned his head to look at the person who occupied his room.

    "An elf???" Azzy exclaimed in surprise.

 Chapter 491 The Haughty Celestial Elf

    According to Azzy''s knowledge, the Elf race went extinct long ago. The Supreme Commander of WAMO is known to the world as the last remaining elf. From the Reaper, Azzy got to learn that Louis was also an elf. That makes only two of them.

    It is why an appearance of an elf at the clan greatly shocked him. However, it appeared that the guest wasn''t pleased by his reaction.

    The 6-foot fair-skinned elf with a slender build, violet eyes, and silver hair, spoke in an aloof tone, "I''m not an elf, human¡­ I''m a Celestial elf, the tribe with the highest standing even among the high elves (royalty)."

    The strikingly handsome-looking guy (both from human and elf standards) spoke to Azzy in a tone as if he was scolding him for being disrespectful by addressing him as a mere elf.

    Azzy read about the elf tribes, recorded in the Book of Death.

    According to what he had read, the Elves are primarily divided into three classes. The Divine Elves, the High elves, and the common elves.

    The divine elves or the immortal elves are from the Celestial Empire (Heaven). Just like the angels, the elven gods were born at the beginning of time. From time to time, their descendants will descend onto the worlds of humans and mate with them to give rise to the elf race.

    These half-divine elves/ half-humans were called the High elves. Since all the divine elves were different from each other, their traits will also end up different. As a result, various tribes were formed among the High Elves.

    The High elves were further divided into Celestial elves, Star elves, Moon elves, Sun elves, and Dark elves. Although all of them have the blood of humans in their veins, they were still called pure blood.

    Then, the descendants of these high elves with human ancestors and other elves gave rise to 15 different common elf tribes. Azzy''s former teammate (Louis) and Azzy''s current boss (Kruger) belonged to these common tribes.

    Of course, this doesn''t mean that elves are weaker or less talented than high elves or anything. As one can see, Supreme Commander Kruger, despite being an elf of the grey tribe, is a Supreme realm expert.

    Azzy knew what a celestial elf is and how much of a royalty this guy is but they were currently at the Death Clan village. The status of others doesn''t mean anything here and every outsider who was allowed to step here is a guest. And every guest is equal.

    Hence, he didn''t bother to comment about it and just went with introductions. After all, the Garcia Palace was his home, meaning he is also a host. "I''m Azrael Garcia."

    "Noted." The elf nodded in response but didn''t say his name. Instead, he asked, "main family or branch family?"

    "Main family," replied Azzy while wondering whether this guy probably had a superiority complex.

    "Noted." The elf nodded without a change in his expression or tone and questioned Azzy once again, this time about his profession, "What do you do here? Any designation?"

    "Nothing. Just a resident at this house." Azzy shook his head in response. He was saying the truth, after all. He was neither the clan heir nor was he assigned any duty by the clan head.

    Judging by the way the elf was speaking to him, Azzy expected to receive negative comments but instead, the elf broke into a smile and clapped as he said with an excited look, "then, you''ll be my tour guide. I''ll put a word or two with your clan head to make sure you will be rewarded for your efforts." *Ahem*

    Perhaps, he realized that he was behaving out of character. The elf quickly became aloof once again and calmly said, "Wait here. I''ll go fresh up and return."

    *slam*

    After finishing his monologue, the elf slammed the door in Azzy''s face and went for the bathroom.

    "Huh?" Azzy blankly stared at the door, wondering whether there was something wrong with this fellow''s brain.

    Not intending to entertain the elf even if the latter is a Supreme realm expert, he decided to leave that place but didn''t expect the Reaper to stop him from leaving.

    The Reaper told that celestial elves aren''t simple high elves. They descended from an Archangel and the Elf race''s primary deity, Aerdrie Faenya.

    "An Archangel? You mean like Claire''s dad?" Azzy asked the Reaper. He knew nothing about the Archangels either. A few years ago, he learned about the hidden clans, elves, and angels but only learned basic things about them.

    "You can say so," The Reaper continued to explain, "The fact that Faenya''s blood running through their veins put them into high elves and were given the highest rank.

    As a species of nature, the high elves normally excel in connecting with natural energy.

    Adding on top of that, due to the presence of angelic blood, the direct descendants would even have a high possibility of invoking divine energy.

    The person you have met isn''t that special. He is a 3500-year-old young elf with only a low-rank-9 soul realm. But still, he would be the next leader of all the Elves, considering he is the only one who came along with the current leader.

    One day, you will lead this clan and when that happens, this fellow will be your ally. Even when your father becomes the clan head, sometimes, you might have to attend the meeting as the representative. It won''t be the last time you will see each other. So, you might as well acquaint yourself with him."

    Azzy understood the Reaper''s explanation but it wasn''t enough for him to degrade himself to become a servant (tour guide). However, he still ended up listening to the Reaper and waited outside the door until the door opens again.

    "Shall we go?" The elf became aloof once again.

    Azzy nodded and escorted him to the Night clan directly upon remembering the perfect person for this job.

    For a celestial elf that lives in a peaceful-looking environment, the clan compound full of assassins is something that is akin to a butcher shop.

    The elf quickly pinched his nose in disgust and halted his footsteps at the entrance of the clan. "This place reeks of blood¡­" he commented, taking Azzy by surprise.

    Azzy looked at him and introduced, "this is the Night clan. And we aren''t here to tour around this place. We are here to meet a friend of mine. He is needed if you want to tour around the clan since his face is well known to everyone, compared to mine."

    Azzy didn''t lie but just emphasized in a way that the elf misunderstands his position. Just like he expected, the elf only concluded that the kid beside him is nothing more than a bum without any influence in the clan.

    His behavior turned more arrogant and he warned Azzy in a cold tone, "Then, you go and fetch him. I''ll wait here. And don''t make me wait long. Or else, you will face the consequences."

    Azzy clenched his fist but he stayed silent, not wanting to tarnish the reputation of his clan. Giving respect for the elf''s position and age, he then walked into the clan and brought Aspen with him in about ten minutes.

 Chapter 492 The Haughty Celestial Elf (Part-2)

    Sometime later;

    "Lord Neremyn, this is the fountain of Arcana. The waters in the fountain contain the properties of increasing the rate of soul energy recovery for a limited amount of time."

    "Lord Neremyn, this is the river of hope. It is said that more than a hundred thousand years ago, our clan founder received it from someone. The river doesn''t dry up no matter how much it was used. It is currently the source of our water."

    "Lord Neremyn, this is the Violet Pavilion, the highest of the seven pavilions. As you climb these gravity stairs, the pressure will increase continuously. At the top, the gravitational pressure will be 44 times that of the gravity at the ground."

    .

    .

    .

    "Lord Neremyn, this tower is the famed prison of our Death clan. Here is where the elders of the Dragon clan and Sun clan were imprisoned for the past 27 years. It is said that only one person had managed to escape from this prison during the past 70 millennia."

    Aspen Night was continuously explaining things to the celestial elf and Azzy quietly accompanied them.

    The Reaper wanted him to acquaint himself with the elf but he couldn''t bring himself to initiate any conversation with the arrogant elf that started treating him like air ever since Aspen took his role.

    If not for the fact that he never visited other subordinate clans except for Crescent and Night clan districts, Azzy wouldn''t even have bothered to stay with them.

    Time slowly passed away. The noon arrived but the tour has almost ended for Azzy and the celestial elf. If not for the fact that the guest walked at a slow pace while roaming each and every inch of the clan village whether it is an important location or not as if he was surveying the place, not touring around.

    The three of them returned to the Garcia Palace where they were properly welcomed by all the seven Pavilion masters accompanied by a few talented youngsters of different sub-clans. Gideon''s clone was also one of them.

    Aspen Night left the two of them at the entrance of the throne hall. Before walking through the door, Neremyn raised his eyebrows and took a glance behind, "kid, why are you following? This isn''t a place for you to enter without permission."

    This time, Azzy had enough of his overbearing attitude. Instead of giving any reply, he quietly passed him and entered the room. The door guards didn''t stop him either.

    "Oh¡­ I guess it is because he is the main family, probably related to that new clan heir," thought the celestial elf before shrugging his shoulders and stepping inside.

    Meanwhile, in the throne hall, a large round table was placed in the center but with only 7 seats.

    Azzy saw five of those seven were already filled by the respective clan representatives. However, apart from them, there are also five additional representatives who were quietly standing behind their main representatives like attendants. Some of them were familiar to Azzy while some of them were not.

    From the Death clan, it is Qridus Garcia and Velez Garcia.

    From the Moon clan, it is their Matriarch Elyssa Moon. She was accompanied by Estella Moon. It appeared that she has gotten prettier and more doll-like as she grew up.

    And representing the clan of Angels, Claire''s mother and older sister were here.

    Apart from them, the remaining people were unfamiliar with Azzy. Hence, he didn''t pay much attention to them.

    As he slowly first walked to the table, Qridus spotted him and immediately ceased his conversation with Elyssa Moon for a moment and called him. "Azrael, you are here. I was just talking about you with the guests¡­" he spoke with a smile. After a brief pause, he commented, "And you must be Neremyn Searvale."

    The others turned their heads to look at Azzy and then at the elf. Meanwhile, Velez''s face turned dark. The celestial elf that was behind him was taken aback in surprise for he didn''t expect the kid to have a such high standing within the clan.

    But then again, since he was here for the clan meeting representing the elves, he tried to ignore Azzy and went on greeting the rest.

    "Hello¡­ I¡­"

    As he was about to greet them with a smile, his greetings were cut off by Azzy, "I attended the clan meeting as you have wished, Lord Qridus. But, can I really stay here as an observer?" He asked while cupping his fists and bowing to his ancestor.

    "Of course, why not? Our Death clan is hosting this meeting." Qridus replied before taking a glance at the others, "Surely, the others won''t mind, right?"

    "It''s not a bother."

    "It''s not a problem as long as Saint Ravens (the guardian god) doesn''t mind."

    "We don''t mind"

    "It''s always a good thing for talented youngsters like him to actively participate in our events."

    The clan representatives spoke one after another, giving their consent while almost forgetting about the celestial elf. He didn''t even get to speak before Qridus told Azzy to stand alongside Velez.

    As Azzy nodded and went toward Velez. Neremyn then voiced out, almost raising his voice, "well, I mind."

    "Hmm?"

    Upon gaining the attention of everyone in the room, Neremyn went on to say, "I must say that I was deeply disappointed by the Death clan''s hospitality, Venerable Garcia. You didn''t even bother to ask my opinion before taking such a decision. A celestial elf traveled across the worlds when there is an option of attending this meeting through projection and yet, I was treated like this."

    Azzy and Velez were surprised that this elf dared to act in such a way before someone like Qridus, the one who is the closest to becoming a demigod. "He was too proud of his lineage" "Is he out of his mind?" They wondered respectively.

    Meanwhile, the other clan leaders didn''t take his words kindly either. But, Qridus is the one who dealt with him on behalf of everyone as Neremyn''s words are directed at him.

 Chapter 493 Qridus Garcias Three Proposals

    With a frown on his face, He replied, "I must be the one who should say that I was deeply disappointed, Lord Neremyn. Saint Ravens clearly said that he would love to see clan heads in this meeting.

    Except for the elven clan leader, everyone else made up their time for the meeting. Ever the leader of Valhalla couldn''t come but still, the Asgardian leader at least promised to attend through projection. What about the elves? Do the elves no longer intend to respect the wishes of Saint Ravens?"

    The moment he used Saint Ravens, the whole hall went into silence. They clearly understood the hidden meaning behind his words.

    According to their information network, the elven ancestor who is preparing to make a breakthrough to rank 10 for the past century had finally found a way to do it.

    It is a long-lost forbidden technique, Soul fusion. According to the method, if two supreme beings (peak-rank-9) fuse their souls and their respective Arcana, either one of them absorbs everything that the other owns or a new being will be created with both of their memories, Arcana, and has the combined soul energy of both of them.

    This way, one can just bypass the usual restrictions to become a demigod. However, using this method, one will only reach rank 10 but not an actual demigod. It''s more like becoming a pseudo-demigod.

    Why used the word pseudo? It is because they only possess the strength of a demigod, not all of the qualities and skills. Even their lifespan will only be as much as the two of them left combined. Adding on top of that, their further path to the god realm will be also cut off, not that it would matter.

    Because the supposed elf won''t officially enter the demigod realm, he/she doesn''t even need to leave for the immortal world (Celestial Empire/heavens). They can just stay on Gaia and continue to live their life.

    With elves having a long lifespan than humans, the pseudo-demigod elf would be able to dominate the other hidden clans with ease.

    And this situation isn''t something okay with the others. It was one of the reasons why Aelius Crescent was targeted six millennia ago.

    But then again, they cannot just unnecessarily offend the elves in person because of their self-interests.

    Hence, all the other hidden clan leaders decided to be spectators as Qridus tried to push Neremyn into a corner in response to the latter''s complaint about not receiving proper respect.

    Neremyn Searvale''s face turned dark. He felt like Qridus is purposely trying to make things harder for him by using the round table''s judge.

    Just as he was about to give a reply without toning down his arrogance, two people suddenly appeared nearby the steps below the throne. "It looked like everyone is here that needed to be."

    As everyone turned their heads toward the source of the voice and immediately rose to their feet, Azzy took a step back in surprise, "Leah?"

    Leah was also slightly startled when she saw Azzy but since she already knew that he was going to be there, she quickly managed to calm down her emotions and shift her gaze away to the remaining lords of the hidden clans.

    "Welcome, Saint Ravens. We are just talking about you." Qridus casually greeted him while also indicating to Neremyn the close relationship between the Death Clan and the judge. Except for the Death clan''s monarch, no one had the guts to address him as such. Everyone just politely addresses the judge as "Your Grace".

    Little did he expect the judge would give him a surprise by replying to him about the elves, "I know. And don''t need to worry, Qridus. I was the one who suggested the method to the elven empress."

    "Eh? You suggested it?" Qridus was taken aback and so were the others including even Neremyn.

    The guardian god then said, "We will talk about it in the meeting. Now, everyone sits down. I''m on a tight schedule. Let''s wrap up this meeting as quickly as possible. You there, the elf kid, come and sit."

    Neremyn''s face darkened once again upon being called a kid by someone who just looks like he is in his 20s but he knew that Saint Ravens is someone who existed for a long time and is currently powerful enough to wipe out his entire race.

    Hence, he put away his feelings and calmly walked to his seat.

    As everyone sat in their seats, the guardian god then walked to the throne of Garcia Palace and sat down. Leah followed him and stood beside the throne.

    In the meantime, Qridus proceeded to activate the projection technique that lets the leader of the Asgardian race make his appearance.

    "Before starting the meeting, let me introduce my student." The guardian god pointed his finger at Leah. Everyone''s eyes shifted to her.

    He continued, "Meet Leah Pendragon, the princess of Camelot. In future hidden clan meetings, she will represent me if I will be too busy. Just note in your mind that her words during this meeting are the same as mine."

    As the pairs of eyes stare at Leah, the latter felt quite nervous for a while. It''s a huge responsibility given by her teacher.

    At the same time, she could also guess what is going to happen in the near future.

    The Camelot will become the center of the stage once again and she wants to make use of this opportunity to fulfill her goal of reviving the ancient empire of Arcana.

    Just like she thought, the others had similar thoughts of reestablishing their relations with Camelot once again. Qridus, however, felt dejected for Azzy losing the opportunity to become a student of Saint Ravens. And the latter''s earlier words about suggesting the solution to the elven empress seemed suspicious too. Is the death clan losing the favor of Saint Ravens? He wondered.

    Meanwhile, the guardian god continued, "Using my authority as the judge of the round table, I hereby commence the 320th hidden clan meeting."

    The introductions followed after.

    "Moon clan''s representative ¨C Elyssa Moon"

    "Representative of Asgard ¨C Borr"

    "Kuru clan''s representative ¨C Yudhishthira

    "Representative of Angels ¨C Ingrid Lefeuvre

    "Minamoto clan''s representative ¨C Tachibana Shuzo"

    "Representative of Elves ¨C Neremyn Searvale"

    "Death clan''s representative ¨C Qridus Garcia"

    Once the introductions are over, Saint Ravens looked at Qridus, "the host may now raise the issues if there are any. After that, I will get to the matter."

    "Thank you." Qridus rose to his feet and spoke, "I have but three issues to speak about. First, everyone must have already heard about the summoning of the demons, correct?"

    As the other clan lords nodded, Qridus continued, "The World Arcana Masters Organization had managed to deal with it because the gate of Tartarus was summoned in their territory. What if it is summoned somewhere in a remote location?

    I observed the battle from the shadows. The power of the demon general''s avatar is anything we imagine. If there are a half dozen of such avatars, I don''t have confidence that our humanity will be able to survive.

    We cannot take any chances anymore. I propose the construction of a world barrier that will completely block any descends from other worlds. But, to do that, we need a powerful demigod-level barrier. It needs all the combined efforts of our clans."

    "A world barrier?" The clan leaders fell into deep thinking.

 Chapter 494 Azzy Offends The Hidden Clan Leaders

    "But, what about the Arcana world? It is connected to ours. We cannot block it." Queen Ingrid (Claire''s mother) voiced out her opinion on the matter, hoping for an answer.

    However, before Qridus even gave the explanation, the guardian god interfered by saying in a stern tone, "it cannot do, Qridus. I will not give permission to isolate this world. And it is the job of the hidden clans to defend humans from such incidents."

    "This¡­" Qridus received another shock of the day. He now completely felt like Saint Ravens is angry with him. But, why? He didn''t understand but the meeting has to continue.

    Hence, Qridus went on with stating the next issue, "Since Saint Ravens has given his verdict, I will take back the proposal. The second issue is linked to the first one. Without the presence of Dragon and Sun clans, it also became tough for the hidden clans to function as before.

    I propose to fulfill the vacant positions left behind by those two clans."

    "Hmm¡­ I agree"

    "I agree¡­"

    .

    .

    .

    "I agree¡­"

    Within no time, everyone gave their agreement and turned their heads to look at the judge.

    Saint Ravens didn''t give either okay or rejected it. Instead, he said, "For this matter, I would ask the opinions of those with observer status because they might be the ones who will lead the future and face the consequences of your actions."

    It was at that instant the clan heads realized something important.

    So, there is a reason why Qridus advised them to also bring their successors. Did this old bag of bones already anticipate how the judge is going to react? Or did they already discuss it beforehand?

    Considering the good relations between the Death clan and the judge, they felt like the latter''s most likely the case.

    In the meantime, Velez took the opportunity to act first before the other clan successors.

    "I nominate Blood clan to fulfill one of these positions. The clan might be a part of the Death clan for the past fifty millennia but in no way the members are related to us.

    The Blood clan has different origins and never mixed with any of Garcia clan descendants during the past 50,000 years." Velez said exactly what Qridus want him to say.

    Obviously, the others wouldn''t agree. Why would they give the Death clan more power within the round table?

    Hence, they started speaking of different prominent surviving ancient clans that have atleast a history of 10,000 years and one supreme realm expert.

    After hearing everyone''s opinions, Saint Ravens then pointed his finger at Azzy, "lad, what do you think?"

    "Uhh¡­ Your grace¡­ he isn''t a successor." Neremyn dared to object to it at first, but then, as Saint Ravens gave a sharp glare at him and tell him that he never spoke anything about a successor but asking those who had observer status, the celestial elf shut up his mouth, and Qridus couldn''t help but smile widely for a moment.

    Azzy knew that his master was only trying to give him an opportunity to speak. Taking a deep breath, he spoke on the matter, "Rather than allowing new clans to join, why not forgive the Sun and Dragon clans to rejoin? The other seven clans work with them the best."

    "Preposterous¡­" The Asgardian leader got angered for a moment and raised his voice. After apologizing to the judge, the projection of Borr looked at Azzy and said, "Do you even know what they have done? They betrayed the human race by siding with the outsiders. They are willing to sacrifice the entire world for the sake of domination."

    Azzy didn''t back down and spoke in his usual emotionless tone, "Lord Borr, they served this world for a hundred thousand years. One mistake and all of their hard work are gone, just like that? Don''t you think they deserve a second chance to redeem themselves? It appeared to me like the other hidden clans were just taking their mistake as an opportunity to bring them down."

    "You¡­ how dare you¡­" The leader of Asgardians got angered by Azzy''s words, feeling humiliated. It wasn''t only him. The others also had a look of displeasure on their faces.

    Velez was surprised at first but then upon observing others'' expressions, he felt elated. These seven beings are the pillars of this world. Just talking against one of them without politeness is considered disrespectful. And Azzy even dared to point faults at them?

    Qridus was also under the same impression that Azzy did wrong. Before the second one also erupts, he immediately lectured his descendant. "Azrael, the last sentence was unnecessary. Apologize to everyone."

    But, Azzy didn''t do as his ancestor ordered. Instead, he argued back with his clan lord, "I was asked about expressing my opinion on the matter and I just followed his words. And Your Majesty, if I had to give my opinion on this round table''s decision about removing the positions of Sun and Dragon clans, I say that it is wrong.

    Sure, the clan leader''s actions represent the respective clan''s wishes. However, you cannot punish the entire clan for the mistake done by the clan leader. It is wrong to punish the innocents of the family just because the family''s head had committed the crime."

    The entire room fell into silence as Azzy finished his words. They were speechless to see a little kid who wasn''t even 15 years old lecturing them, who lived for thousands of years.

    "You really have some guts, kid," commented the Minamoto clan''s head with a darkened expression.

    "Lord Qridus, did you personally invite him to humiliate us?" The Asgardian leader flared up.

    "Qridus, your descendant has gone too far," commented Elyssa Moon.

    The Kuru clan leader was someone who wanted to get out of this mess in the first place. He wasn''t even interested to participate. Hence, he stayed silent and just observed Azzy.

    Queen Ingrid, representing the Angels, also stayed silent as she agreed with Azzy.

    Neremyn, who was displeased with both Azzy and Qridus because of their attitude toward him, commented in general, "It appeared that the Death clan really doesn''t give a face to other clans."

    Lastly, Qridus felt too humiliated by his descendant''s actions. Because he had too many expectations of Azzy, he was more disappointed than the rest. He regretted requesting Azzy to attend this meeting. "Azrael, I order you to leave the room, this instant."

    Azzy understood that he angered his ancestor. But, he won''t apologize for he didn''t do anything wrong. Still, as he had to obey Qridus'' orders, which he didn''t at first, Azzy decided to leave. He wasn''t interested to come anyway. So, it doesn''t matter.

    Azzy bowed and then started walking away to the exit. Velez was rejoicing in his heart to see the kid walking away.

    But, it was at this moment, a voice turned around the events. "Stop¡­" It belonged to the guardian god.

    As Azzy turned around, the guardian god spoke, "We are in the middle of the round table. Here, I have complete authority. You cannot come and go as you please, child. Go to your position."

    Azzy looked meaningfully at Qridus, who then took a deep breath and gestured him to stand behind him, just like before.

 Chapter 495 Mass Genocide And An Invasion From Outer Space Once Again

    As Azzy returned to his position much to the disappointment of Velez, the guardian god proceeded to say, "In this matter, I agree with Azrael. The Sun and Dragon clans deserve a second chance. But, the decision can be taken only when the majority agrees.

    However, before you take the vote, you will have to listen to what I have to say, which I will do once all of the issues raised by the members of this round table were finished. Hence, we will postpone this matter to the end and proceed with the next issue."

    The clan representatives don''t know what the judge has to say but they think that it is really an important matter, considering the fact that he agrees on bringing those banished clans to the table.

    Meanwhile, Qridus took a deep breath to empty his thoughts on the present and focused on his job. He proposed the plan for the next issue.

    "The next agenda is population control. Because of the population boom that occurred more than two decades ago, our world''s population suddenly doubled and increased the burden on Gaia.

    The technological advancement of mankind didn''t help either. The amount of natural resources that disappeared during the past twenty years is more than what humans consumed during the past five thousand years combined.

    Many decent-level economy countries became poor. Recent estimates for global poverty are that 16.4% of the world. Hundreds of millions of people live in extreme poverty on 20 credits a day (In comparison, it needed a minimum of 500 credits to travel through portal point from one place to another).

    Even the lower ranked regions (level-1&2) of Arcana world were so flooded that we could barely see any creatures in level-1 regions.

    At this rate, the planet will dry up within the next thousand to two thousand years. Hence, I propose global mass extinction to balance life. We will have to cut down 20% of the population.

    Just as our ancestors did, our Death clan will take this job. But, we need the proposal to be accepted by the round table."

    Everyone became serious when they heard this. It wasn''t something new in history and all of them agreed with Qridus'' views. Yet, they are hesitating to give their nods.

    Even Azzy was uncomfortable. He just opinioned about not punishing innocents and yet, this ancestor of his is proposing mass genocide. What kind of crazy world is this?

    Yet, he stayed silent, not because he doesn''t have the right to speak unless he was asked. But, it is because he knew very well the role of the Death clan. The clan exists solely to balance life on the planet. And according to the Reaper, Qridus was right too.

    Still, there must be another solution, right? Azzy pondered on the subject while everyone else is silent.

    In the end, Neremyn raised his hand, "I agree." Because it involves the humans and the elves have nothing to lose, he gave his consent.

    Followed by him, the Asgardian leader, the King of Valhalla also spoke, "I concur."

    The others didn''t voice it out yet. They can''t say yes or no. But, it only needed two of their opinions for the proposal to go through.

    Seeing the silence in the room, the guardian god urged them to make the decision, "I don''t have time to wait for all day. Please be quick. Say either yes or no."

    After a brief silence, Leah finally opened her mouth, although in a low tone, "Teacher, is there really a need to kill so many people? There must be another way to resolve this situation, right?"

    Everyone in the room is a high-level Arcana master and can clearly hear even a whisper. They naturally heard Leah and couldn''t help but glance at the judge, wondering what his opinion was.

    However, to their disappointment, the guardian god shrugged his shoulders as he replied to Leah, "When you live as long as me, you will understand that the lives of mortals are insignificant. Whether they die in infancy or in old age, it is all the same to me. So, I''m not really the best person to answer this question."

    *Sigh*

    The hidden clan representatives inwardly sighed and once again pondered on whether to give the okay or not. At the same time, they were also hoping for others to give an okay. After all, only two more votes are needed.

    After another three minutes of silence, the guardian god spoke again, "fine, we''ll talk about it again. Moving on to the next issue."

    With no issue being properly resolved, Qridus sat down in extreme dejection, feeling that today wasn''t his day and everything went wrong from the start.

    The meeting continued. Various minor issues were discussed and were resolved peacefully. There appeared to be clashes between the Angels and Elves, considering the fact that the Triastal kingdom is under the control of Ingrid and is inhabited by humans. Neremyn couldn''t convince the others to acquire their former home from a hundred thousand years ago.

    About half an hour later, as the last piece of the issue has been resolved, the guardian god finally had his turn to speak.

    "Now, I''ll let you all know why I have specially called for an all-clan leader meeting. Remember the alien invasion from 27 years ago?"

    As everyone nodded in seriousness, the guardian god explained, "According to my trusted sources, the Arcturian Empire''s target has been preparing to wage a full-scale war against us to claim this planet. To win this war, the world needs either 100 supreme realm experts or two demigods."

    In that instant, realization dawned upon the clan leaders. "No wonder Saint Ravens showed the elves to attain the power of a demigod. It is because of this," thought everyone.

    But, the surprise hasn''t ended here.

    The guardian god continued, "However, it might take 50-100 years for that to happen. If the elves were successful, then, only one more demigod will be left. I cannot participate in this war. Hence, one of you will have to find a way to make a breakthrough. I will try to convince Gaia to give them enough time to stay here.

    And before the war, they are sending a few ships, probably to gauge our strength. Based on the speed of their spaceships and the distance, you will have about two years for the initial phase of this war. That''s all I have to say."

 Chapter 496 320th Hidden Clan Meeting Comes To An End

    The clan representatives including the young and old once again fell into deep thinking. They were digesting everything Saint Ravens said to them and then wondering what should their next move to be.

    One thing they didn''t understand is why the judge cannot participate in this war. Is it because of his deal with Gaia? It is most likely, according to the majority of them.

    After all, it is a rule that an Arcana Master who becomes a demigod must leave for the immortal world, or else, Gaia will be forced to push him/her into space.

    Gaia doesn''t just involve this planet. She is the personification of every planet that has life. Whether it is Arcana world, this blue planet, or any other one, she controls it. So, without her permission, no Arcana Master can live in any world.

    Then, how come this judge is managing to stay on this planet for thousands of years?

    Either he was already living in the immortal world and was only making visits for every hidden clan meeting or he had made some sort of deal with Gaia for staying here but not involved in the matters of humans in general?

    They actually have no idea that Saint Ravens is none other than the guardian god who started this entire age of Arcana in the first place. They were under the impression that this guy is a demigod. That is why he was in a bind.

    In any case, Saint Ravens cannot help them in this regard. That is something he had made clear.

    "So, there is no use in analyzing it", thought a couple of clan heads like Qridus and Elyssa before they focused on the important matters.

    After giving everyone a minute for thinking, the guardian god then brought back the unfinished matters. One, what to do with filling the vacant positions of the round table. Two, what to do with the global mass extinction?

    After hearing about the invasion, everyone changed their views. They unanimously agreed to let the Sun and Dragon clans back into the group but with observer status for the next century.

    They also agreed to release the prisoners in exchange for their complete cooperation regarding the war. Any traces of betrayal will result in their extermination.

    As for the global mass extinction, it was left for the next hidden clan meeting. The planet still isn''t in dire status yet. It was decided that they will wait.

    Once the meeting is concluded, the guardian god disappeared, leaving behind Leah for her own devices to face her embarrassment.

    Fortunately for her, Azzy''s priorities are something else.

    He asked her help to have a chat with Estella Moon regarding Gideon''s whereabouts and talk with Queen Ingrid or Princess Syllia regarding Claire''s situation.

    If they remember him, it would have been easier for Azzy to directly talk with these acquaintances. But, the fact that they were strangers at the moment made it harder for him.

    Hence, he decided to take Leah''s help and she gladly agreed to his request, hoping that the incident in the illusionary realm of the guardian god will be forgotten.

    Sometime later, as Qridus was sending off the guests one by one, Leah met Azzy at the palace and told him what she had found from the both of them.

    It appeared that after the Moon Clan had found out about the relationship between Gideon and Estella, the clan sent a few assassins.

    Gideon, who survived it due to the intervention of an anonymous expert at the right time, took his master''s help and visited the Moon Clan.

    When he was insulted about his common background, mediocre talent (gold grade Arcana), and a few other things, Gideon challenged the Matriarch of the clan that one day, he will return as someone powerful enough to take his girl away.

    In response, Estella''s mother told him that she will accept the relationship as long as he returns as a legendary realm expert within a century. Until then, she will not permit them to even see other.

    After that, they met again about five years ago. It has so happened that Gideon somehow managed to enter the 8-star realm just at the age of 37 while training at Abel Tower.

    However, their happy ending has been postponed when Gideon told Estella that he only came here to show his face to instill confidence in her. As for when they will reunite again, it will only be when Gideon enters the Supreme realm. He felt that only then he will really have the strength to oppose the Moon Clan.

    After that, he returned to Abel Tower once again to continue his training as well as resume his duties as an elder.

    As for Claire''s situation, Princess Syllia just informed Leah that her sister returned to their dad''s place and hasn''t heard from her since then. She refused to divulge who their father was or where the place was and Leah wasn''t also too keen to get those details.

    She was already extremely uncomfortable in the presence of Queen Ingrid and her eldest daughter who represented the Angels or hybrid angels (Angels/Human descendants) living peacefully among the humans in the kingdom of Triastal.

    Had she known before, she wouldn''t have supported Syllia''s relationship with her sister.

    In the past, she only thought that Claire was an angel (because of her divine sword) but around sometime during the past two decades, she found out that even the queen and her eldest daughter were also angels disguised as humans.

    As for what kind of enmity she had with angels, only she knows.

    Anyways, for many years, she was keeping her distance from Syllia and her mother, but for the sake of Azzy and to save herself from being embarrassed to see his face again, she took the initiative to converse with them and get information on Claire, although that piece of information ended up being of no use to the boy she had a crush on.

    After a while, Qridus Garcia returned to the palace and summoned Azzy to the throne hall.

    As Azzy went there while expecting to receive some sort of punishment, he saw the old man alone.

    The doors were closed and the noise from the inside was automatically cut off.

    "What are your orders, Milord?" Azzy looked at the old man who had his back facing him.

 Chapter 497 The Baby Is Going To Die In The Womb?

    "Today, your actions disappointed me a lot. It looked as if you were deliberately causing the trouble because you aren''t interested to attend this meeting," slowly said Qridus and let out a deep sigh.

    Azzy cupped his fists and bowed, "If my actions displeased ancestor, then, I apologize and will accept any punishment you give me. But, if you ask me whether it was intentional, then, it isn''t. And I don''t regret it either. If given another chance, I would act the same way."

    Qridus shook his head, "No, I''m not punishing you because I have already done it by doing something on your behalf without your consent."

    "Hmm?" Azzy didn''t understand what this old is trying to say. "Please explain to me in detail."

    Continuing to look away, Qridus explained, "Two years from now, you will have an exhibition match against Neremyn Searvale where no external items will be allowed for support. If you win, then, everyone will forget your rude behavior. But, if you lose, you will have to serve Neremyn for one year."

    Azzy was taken aback by the weird bet at first but then, upon assuming that it was probably suggested by that celestial elf full of himself, he gave a shocking reply to Qridus, "why wait for two years to settle down the scores, Ancestor? We can have that match right now."

    "Don''t be an idiot, kid." Qridus wasn''t impressed by his answer. He tried to lecture him for overestimating himself, "Neremyn is the next leader of the elves. He is different from that demon general. Even the hourglass and the Jewel of Life will not be able to help you much either."

    Azzy was surprised once again, "You know about the Jewel of Life and also the demon general?"

    "The Vice President of WAMO is our clan member. Did you forget it?" Qridus implied that he knew everything about what Azzy had done in the organization.

    Azzy realized that his ancestor was underestimating him a lot. But, just to make this old understand his real prowess, Azzy doesn''t want to reveal his trump cards. Not to mention, even the Reaper is against showing off his treasures before reaching the Supreme realm.

    Adding on top of that, Neremyn is supposed to be an ally, not an enemy. Unnecessary enmity with him will create enmity with the entire elf race.

    Since two years aren''t that big deal, he decided against further arguing on the matter and nodded, "I understand. I will train harder then."

    "You will have to reach the legendary realm before the time limit. Hence, you need to put extra effort into training." Qridus further told him that he will personally look after his training.

    Azzy waved his hands, "it is alright. I can manage on my own. Don''t worry about me, ancestor."

    "If you say so¡­"

    ***

    The next day morning, Leah returned to her home while Azzy returned to WAMO to serve his new duties as a captain rank officer as he doesn''t want to stay at the clan where neither his parents nor his grandpa was living.

    For the next couple of weeks, he had done missions solely in the Northern Qudour so that he can also get to live with his grandpa Oakley and Camilla Fauns (Oakley''s step-sister and a descendant of Vice Principal Sahara Fauns).

    On the morning of the twenty-seventh of December, Azzy left for Camelot. He was received by Leah at the portal point and was escorted to the royal palace.

    Maybe, it is because both of them were quite busy for the past couple of weeks with their own affairs that they momentarily forgot the confession episode, or at the very least, it didn''t bother them from acting closely to each other just like in the past.

    It''s just that back then, they looked like a cute couple to the passersby but now, they looked more like an aunt and nephew to the people of Camelot including Leah''s parents.

    He stayed at the palace as a guest and had lunch with Leah''s family before all of them left for the ancient elemental towers located in a pocket dimension.

    They stood outside of the central tower, i.e. the tower of time or the ancient time chamber for the next ten or so minutes until a portal opens up and two figures exited from it.

    For a moment, everyone had a look of surprise on their faces as they saw the couple.

    Vesyrn was just the same as when he stepped inside. The only change is probably his aura, which looked quite stable and became quite denser. Unfortunately, no one apart from Azzy could spot it. Hence, their attention wasn''t on him for very long.

    Instead, the pairs of eyes were on Izora, who had not only entered the legendary realm but appeared to be pregnant. Her big belly suggests that she was way past her 24th week, considering the fact that everyone could sense only one life in her womb.

    The Camelot''s King, Lucas Pendragon, and his queen went forward and congratulated the couple, making them feel embarrassed a bit. However, Azzy stayed at his place.

    Leah was about to follow her parents to go to the couple but she suddenly realized that her friend didn''t appear to be okay and halted her footsteps.

    Feeling as if she understood what was going on with him, she grabbed his hands and used their telepathic connection to speak directly to his mind.

    "Azrael, just because your mother is going to have another baby, you are replaced or anything. I''m sure they love you now as much as they did in the past. Look your mother is calling you. Don''t stand here and go and give them a hug."

    Leah thought that Azzy was disappointed that he won''t be loved by his parents anymore as he didn''t even get to spend time with them as their son in this timeline.

    However, this is where she was wrong.

    Azzy wasn''t thinking about that. He was actually staring at his mother''s belly where he could see the aura of death enveloping the part.

    Since she wasn''t entirely covered by the aura of death, it only indicated one thing.

    "The baby is going to die¡­" gasped Azzy in response to Leah''s statement.

    "What?" Leah was shocked for a second. "What do you mean by that?"

 Chapter 498 Raya, The Dracolich Arcana Spirit

    Azzy didn''t explain to her anything and freed his hand, disconnecting their telepathic connection in the process. He walked forward and did what Leah suggested, giving his parents a light hug.

    "How are you, son? I missed you." Vesyrn ruffled Azzy''s hair in affection but the latter''s concentration was on her mom.

    He answered without thinking much, "Nothing is fine, dad."

    "What happened, my baby?" Izora became worried and grabbed his face. Looking into his eyes, she asked, "I guess it wasn''t just me then. Earlier, I had this feeling that you were troubled about something. What is it? Anything happened during our absence?"

    Her words brought Azzy to reality and he realized that he blurted out the wrong words. With quick thinking, he replied, "nothing to worry about, mom. It''s just something that happened during the hidden clan meeting. My mind was still on it, I guess. Anyway, I will explain everything later on."

    "I see¡­ okay¡­" Izora believed that something truly bad happened during the meeting, but since it has been more than a year (for her) since she last saw her son, she didn''t want to ruin this moment and just decided to spend some time with him instead of troubling him with questions. She can find out what happened after returning to the clan anyways.

    For the rest of the day, the family of three stayed at the palace as they were instructed to do so.

    The following morning, Qridus personally made a visit to Camelot, not to pick them up but to test Vesyrn''s training results.

    Everyone went to the gravity dome located on one of the peaks of the White Mountains.

    Qridus and Vesyrn were standing just about ten meters apart from each other with the former looking relaxed while the latter looking very confident. Around them, there''s the King and Queen, Leah and Azzy, Izora, and Aurelia (royal teacher of Camelot); all of them were curious to see the results too for they know the upcoming battle between Vesyrn Garcia and the current clan heir Velez Garcia.

    "Go on, Vesyrn. You can start your offense." Qridus gestured for his descendant to attack.

    Vesyrn nodded with a serious expression and proceeded to summon his Arcana.

    "Come out, Raya." He spoke out the name of his Arcana, which he was familiar with. However, the thing that was summoned was vastly different from his Ginseng.

    Forget about the plant type Arcana, it wasn''t even a light attribute.

    The Arcana that was summoned was an undead dragon that stands on its two hind legs usually. To be exact, it is a Dracolich, a top-tier platinum-grade Arcana.

    "The Death energy? What is going on, Vesyrn?" asked Qridus, who was taken aback by surprise.

    Vesyrn smiled, "The story isn''t important, Ancestor. Just think as if I have gone under a special awakening due to which these changes happened. And check this out¡­"

    "Raya, light mode¡­" He said to the undead dragon.

    In an instant, the dracolich glowed brightly for a few seconds. As it died down, everyone saw an undead dragon bathing in light attribute energy.

    "Skraaaa"

    As it let out a powerful roar, Vesyrn said, "During the awakening, she swallowed the ginseng and retained some of its abilities. You are currently looking at my Arcana which has death energy along with healing abilities. You''ll be surprised to see what she can do, Ancestor."

    "Well, I know about Dracolich and all of its soul skills. One of our ancestors possessed such a soul beast you know. However, that one didn''t have any healing abilities. So, I''m looking forward to testing it for sure." Qridus managed to calm down quite fast but his expectations only further.

    Soon, the battle started with Vesyrn making the first move, which is quite a big one if should point out.

    "Hidden skill: Merge"

    Since this place isn''t in the open sky where the dracolich can fly without restriction, he went on with the hidden skill, merging with his Arcana spirit.

    A blinding flash of light covered the both of them before they merged to become an ugly zombie-looking thing with most of Vesyrn''s flesh coming off. Even Izora couldn''t look at her husband without being disgusted by his appearance.

    Perhaps, the only people who were completely fine were Qridus and Azzy. One is a supreme being who lived for thousands of years, and the other had an undead army. It would be strange if one''s hideous appearance had an effect on them.

    As for Leah who feared zombies and ghosts since her childhood, she quietly went behind Azzy who had almost a similar height as her. She tried her best to limit her vision.

    Azzy''s concentration was split by his dad''s battle and Death''s aura on his unborn sibling. So, he didn''t have the time to focus on Leah''s actions. As a result, she saved herself from embarrassment.

    Meanwhile, Qridus also summoned his Arcana, a staff named Miraak, and erected a hexagonal golden barrier around him in an instant.

    He then looked at his descendant and said, "I won''t be hurt as long as this barrier is alive. You need to destroy it and land a single hit on me as I just stand on this spot. This is your mission."

    "Understand." Vesyrn nodded and raised his hands. "Soul skill: Spear of Synergy."

    A spear of light energy appeared in his left hand and a spear of death energy formed in his right hand.

    He didn''t throw them. Instead, he brought both of those spears together to create an ultimate spear that contained two layered energies.

    "Here I come." Vesyrn tightly grabbed the spear and charged forward at his peak speed.

    Because of the close distance, it only took him a fraction of a second to reach his opponent and pierce the barrier.

    *Crack* Crack*

    The barrier started to crack around Vesyrn''s energy spear. As the outer layer of the spear filled with death energy made its way to corrupt the entire barrier, Vesyrn poured the remaining soul energy into his right hand and pushed forward.

    The energy spear managed to break past the defense of the golden barrier and made its way toward Qridus.

    The old man got alarmed and moved his hand in reflex. His palm stops the spear that was weakened with the removal of the outer layer of death energy.

    The spectators thought that it was obvious as Vesyrn isn''t a match for someone like Qridus. The fact that he destroyed the barrier is commendable and he also won this spar by landing a hit on the opponent on their first move.

    Little did they expect Vesyrn''s move wasn''t finished yet. He surprised everyone including Qridus by clenching his left fist. "Now..."

    In an instant, the spear of light bursts into specks of light and transformed into chains, capturing the opponent''s limbs.

    And then, the death energy that was busy destroying the golden barrier suddenly stopped its attack and exited the barrier, transforming into hundreds of needles.

    The death energy needles attacked Qridus from all sides. His skin couldn''t block all of them like with the light energy.

    As a result, his whole body was filled with a tiny bit of injuries but when considering the whole damage, this bag of bones looked like a bloody mess.

 Chapter 499 The Fate Of Azzys Unborn Sibling

    With the invading death energy blocking his automatic recovery from soul energy, Qridus wasn''t healed for a few seconds until he forcibly used his soul energy to push out the death energy as well as Vesyrn.

    Vesyrn blasted away for a few meters but managed to make a safe landing. On the other hand, Qridus healed himself and let out a satisfactory smile as he looked at his descendant.

    After commenting on how long it has been since he was injured to such an extent, he praised, "I should say you are really worthy to be my successor, Vesyrn."

    Vesyrn smiled in response and replied, "If it is someone worthy of the throne, it should be my son, Lord Qridus. I merely want to protect him and the clan until he was ready."

    "Well, I guess so." Qridus shrugged his shoulders, agreeing with Vesyrn as he never saw any other kid who has more potential than Azzy. But still, at the moment, Vesyrn is more important. He explained, "Time is of the essence. There is a war coming up and I need to make preparations. In my absence, you might have to look after the clan as the acting monarch.

    Hence, you shouldn''t shy away from displaying your full power in the upcoming battle. Your victory should be so convincing to the pavilion masters/elders of the clan and the sub-clan leaders that they wouldn''t dare to scheme behind your back."

    "I understand." Vesyrn nodded seriously.

    The match was finished and the Garcia family started their journey back to their clan village.

    On the way, Azzy questioned his ancestor about how they planned on explaining his mother''s 30th-week pregnancy when they have barely gone for a month.

    In response, Qridus glanced at Izora, who hung her head in shame. But then again, neither of them could be blamed. The husband and wife were alone in a space for all year and it wouldn''t be surprising if such an accident happens.

    Anyways, they cannot undo what happened. Since they cannot reveal the existence of the time chamber, they had to make up some excuse for the rest of the clan.

    Azzy wondered what they were gonna answer, hoping that they would have already prepared but not expecting them to throw him under the bus instead.

    Grabbing his shoulder, Vesyrn spoke in a soft tone, "King Lucas doesn''t want us to reveal the existence of their elemental towers and Lord Qridus doesn''t want the clan members to think that he was too partial. So, we can only depend on you, son."

    "Me?" Azzy blinked his eyes threw as he pointed at himself.

    Qridus then spoke, "Once your father wins the battle, we will announce the existence of the Hourglass Arcana and your ability to control time. Combined with the death scythe and your name, people will just really believe that you are the reincarnation of our founder. It will also be helpful to keep the sub-clan leaders and the pavilion masters on our side."

    "What?" Azzy was stunned for a second. "But, that will directly paint a target on my back."

    Qridus then looked at him and said, "Don''t worry. As long as you don''t leave the clan, you will be fine. I will also equip you with enough life-saving treasures that only a demigod would be able to hurt you. And once I make a breakthrough, no force in this world would even think hundred times before targeting you."

    Azzy stayed silent for a while. One on hand, he felt so betrayed that he want to shout at his selfish parents and ancestor to stop making decisions without discussing them with him.

    And on another hand, he felt like those things weren''t actually too much of a problem for him to handle and that he should reject them outright.

    If it was anyone else, he would have said what was on his mind but since it is his parents and the other one is his only blood relative, Azzy couldn''t say it and hurt them with his words. Not to mention the fact that he has to make an important choice very soon to decide the fate of his unborn sibling.

    As a result, he turned toward the Reaper for advice.

    And the Reaper''s suggestion was anything but ordinary. He said, "Sooner or later, the secret of your hourglass is bound to get out. So, I guess revealing it early wouldn''t hurt you too much.

    As for the fetus, you already knew what you had to do. Either destroy your mother''s soul orb and simultaneously remove all the Protos energy away from her system or kill a person born with pure divine energy and feed the soul to your unborn sibling and make it strong enough to contain it."

    Upon being reminded of the choices he was facing, Azzy threw away the matter of the hourglass from his mind and argued, "Chronos, I''m not willing to do either of them. There should be another way."

    "There is actually one more method," replied the Reaper. He continued to explain, "Just tell the doctors to operate on your mom to take out the baby right away and put it in an incubator. You can then use the Gluttony seal to destroy the baby''s soul orb and suck all the protos energy from it.

    Later on, you can use forbidden rituals to forcefully create a soul orb and awaken an Arcana. This way, you can let your sibling have a life of an Arcana Master."

    "Really?" Just as Azzy''s hopes brightened up, the Reaper squashed them with a stern explanation, "but, doing so is the same as going against the laws of nature, Azrael. For the greater good, it is okay to break the laws but for selfish reasons such as attachment, if you do that, you will make an enemy out of the gods.

    And despite your efforts, it will not remove the aura of death from the baby. From the moment it gets born, Death continues to chase it for eternity. The baby will not have a life filled with bliss. Instead, it will be a cursed life, unless you plan on not leaving your sibling''s side for even a minute and protecting him/her for eternity.

    So, learn to accept the reality, Azrael. Or else, you will pointlessly suffer. Be a bystander and let nature takes its course. This is best for everyone."

 Chapter 500 King Lucas Wants To Marry Off His Daughter To Vesyrn?

    Azzy is no longer a child that he couldn''t understand all this. Moreover, he had experienced enough to know that he cannot protect the one who is destined to die. But, he couldn''t just agree with the Reaper.

    "Son¡­" "Son" "Azzy"

    "Ah, Yes, sorry, I was thinking about the new year. What were you saying again?"

    "So, um¡­ we were asking whether you mind revealing about the Hourglass?"

    "Yeah, it''s perfectly alright." Azzy, in the end, had to agree with the decision made by his family members.

    And since they were also intending to paint him as the reincarnation of the founder in anyways, he thought that he might as well showcase some new trump cards that he had, excluding the cosmic gems.

    As for his unborn sibling, after much thinking, he hoped to take his master''s help.

    The guardian god is said to be on par with the true gods but still isn''t a deity.

    He is a human and will understand his selfishness as well as his dilemma.

    If this person talks with the God of Death, Thanatos, perhaps, the aura of death can be removed from the baby.

    The Reaper was against this plan as he knows that the guardian god will not agree to it because of two primary reasons. One, Thanatos and the guardian god don''t like each other. Two, Thanatos is one stubborn god who doesn''t like to listen to even Zeus.

    But then again, since Azzy didn''t discuss this with him, he didn''t bother to give his opinion either.

    Meanwhile, at the royal palace of Camelot;

    Leah was summoned by her father to the throne room but there wasn''t anyone else except for her mother and the royal teacher Aurelia.

    Nevertheless, she formally grabbed her long skirt and bowed to him as a greeting, "Your Majesty."

    King Lucas Pendragon then gestured for her to be at ease and spoke, "I summoned you to talk about the guests, Leah."

    "Yes?" Leah wondered what it might be.

    Lucas then asked, "What is your opinion on the Garcia family and the death clan, in general?"

    "Well¡­" Leah didn''t know why her father is asking her but she took the question seriously and thought for a while before answering honestly, "To talk specifically about the Death clan in terms of strength, they appeared to have two supreme realm experts and surprisingly, both of them are supreme beings if Excalibur is right. One of them is Lord Qridus, which everybody knows, but the other one is still a mystery.

    Secondly, they appeared to have a vast amount of influence in different governments and royal families. WAMO''s vice president is a member of the Death clan.

    Thirdly, they were¡­"

    "Uhh¡­ sweetie¡­" Leah''s mother interrupted her as the princess continued to ramble about the details of the clan in a lengthy explanation. As Leah looked at her, the queen said, "spare us the details, sweetie. Your father just wants to know whether they are worthy to form an alliance with."

    "Oh, totally¡­" Leah gave double thumbs up with a grin but upon remembering where she was, the princess controlled her expressions and then calmly nodded, "Yes, the clan is worthy. But mother, aren''t they already allies? Don''t tell me you were having second thoughts because of the upcoming war." Leah looked back at her father for confirmation.

    King Lucas shook his head, "No. You misunderstood. We were referring to marriage alliance."

    Leah''s expression changed immediately as soon as she heard those words. "You are talking about me, aren''t you? Cuz, Aunt Cynthia is engaged to someone else and Uncle Celus is still missing."

    As King Lucas nodded in confirmation, Leah lost control over her voice for a second and almost screamed at her father, "No. There''s no way I would agree to marry Velez. I believe we already talked about this a long time ago and you can''t talk me out of this. Not to mention, once Mr. Vesyrn wins the battle, Prince Velez will be kicked out of the clan anyways."

    "Don''t write a book, Leah." The royal ancestor who was surprisingly sober scolded her instantly. As Leah looked at her, Aurelia shed some light on the matter so that Leah would get complete clarity.

    "His Majesty would like to betroth you to Vesyrn Garcia."

    "What!" Now, Leah couldn''t help but scream very loudly. She never expected to hear this. "He is Azrael''s father. No, that''s not even the point. He is married for god''s sake."

    King Lucas had expected this same reaction from her. Hence, he calmly dealt with the problem by questioning, "What do you know about the former deity of love, Eros?"

    In an instant, it clicked in Leah''s head. She understood everything and explained, "More than a hundred thousand years ago, Emperor Arthur and his nine generals fought against Eros to steal his divinity and enter the god realm at the same time. However, the one who really finished him off was General Garcia.

    For killing a true god, he and his entire lineage were cursed for eternity. As a result, the descendants of General Garcia cannot live their lives with either their true love or have s*x with anyone. If they do go against this curse, they might be fine but their partners will die under various circumstances.

    The direct descendants will be the ones who will be affected by the curse the most. The other descendants might be less affected, which varies from person to person but in the end, even they couldn''t escape from feeling hurt.

    There is a reason why so few couples live in the Death clan village and most of them are widowers or singletons.

    Since Mr. Vesyrn is a direct descendant and already had a son with Ms. Izora with another child on the way, it is already miracle enough that she still lives. Perhaps, her death has been postponed because of the fact that she spent more than a decade in a coma.

    p¦Á§ád¦Á §«?¦Í¨º|,§ã¨°§® Now that she returned, it won''t be very long before she dies. The probability is high during childbirth. Once she dies, Mr. Vesyrn becomes a widower and Azrael will become a motherless child. Both of them will be heartbroken.

    Hence, you want me to take her place as Mr. Vesyrn will become the monarch of the Death clan.

    As the host of celestial grade Arcana, I''m strong enough to resist the curse. And once I enter the supreme realm, I would probably be exempted from the curse just like the wives of General Garcia.

    This is why you have suggested such a bizarre proposal at this point in time. Did I miss anything?" She asked while giving a sharp stare at her father. Compared to the minute ago when she all looked like an obedient graceful-looking lady, her current image was completely in contrast, taking everyone by surprise albeit slightly.

    Lucas was quick to come out of his stupor and nodded with a pleasant smile on his face, "That''s my daughter. You are really intelligent enough to figure out my intentions. Look, we don''t know what happens fifty years later when the war begins with the Arcturian Empire (The Federation of Arcturian).

    We don''t have much time left to secure the future of Camelot. Since your aunt has gone into a path we aren''t proud of, you were the only one who had to carry this burden. We need to act fast when an opportunity arises."

    Leah stayed silent for a while. His father thought that she was contemplating this matter but she was actually thinking about whether she should tell her father about Azzy or not.

    In the end, she replied by addressing the other two, "Mother, Teacher, I need to talk to my father, alone."

 Chapter 501 Velez Garcia And Albin Ash

    Sometime later;

    King Lucas silently stared at his daughter for more than a couple of minutes before he opened his mouth, "I don''t know how to react, my sweetheart. Whether he is stronger than you or not, whether he becomes a demigod or not, he is just a kid. And how old are you? 43¡­ How could my daughter of all the people have such thoughts? Tell me that you are just kidding."

    "Relax dad, I''m not some pedophile¡­" Leah became more casual with her father since she was alone with him. She further explained, "He might be 14 now. But, what after, let''s say 20 years or even 30 years? He will be 44 and I will be 70. Both of us would probably be in the supreme realm by then. The age factor would no longer matter.

    Look at you and mom. She is 324 years older than you. Even Azrael''s mother is far older than his dad. If you want to secure the future of Camelot, you should also think about the future circumstances, dad, not the present."

    "Well, if you say it that way, I cannot argue." King Lucas let out a deep sigh and then patted her shoulder, "since you have the clarity, I won''t say anything else. Just remember that the future of Camelot should always be given priority over anything else."

    "I know, dad. Don''t worry about it. Even if this fails, I can still find a worthy candidate. The world isn''t lacking geniuses. Worst comes to worst, I will just request the adult Azrael to donate his sperm and go for artificial insemination to deliver the baby. I don''t need to marry a man to secure the future of our kingdom."

    King Lucas couldn''t but inwardly sigh as he heard his daughter''s reply. He knew that he was wrong for trying to constantly push his daughter to think about the kingdom instead of telling her to find her happiness. He never told her that, not even once.

    ***

    Red Pavilion, Death clan village;

    In the arena located in the red pavilion, two figures were in the middle of an intense battle. Well, more than a battle, it can be said that it is just a one-sided fight where Velez was completely destroying every attack launched by Albin Ash, the newly appointed pavilion master.

    "Soul skill: Sand puppet army"

    Albin Ash unleashed his most powerful skill at Velez who had a Death knight as his guard to shield him from everything.

    10ft-sized humanoid puppets of more than thirty in number with five of them in rank-7 made their appearance before their master.

    Looking down at Velez from the back of a dragon formed by sand, Albin spoke, "Here I go, bro. Just don''t die, okay?"

    Velez was unafraid. He snorted in response, "Hmpf, you wish¡­"

    "Attack!"

    As Albin motioned his arm, the sand puppets started rushing toward their two targets like bulls.

    Looking at them, Velez mumbled, "well, let''s see whose army is stronger, my dear Albin."

    "Soul skill: Rise of the undead"

    He unleashed a soul skill of the Death knight, which is strikingly identical to that of Azzy''s. Both of them work the same. They will summon all the undead stored in their mindscape.

    Perhaps, the only notable difference between them is the fact that Velez had greater command over his soul skill. He could even create several other techniques with those soul skills.

    But here, he doesn''t need to depend on such tricks. After all, he had more rank-7 undead puppets in his army and they were far stronger than those rank-7 sand puppets.

    As Velez''s undead army clashed with Albin''s sand puppet army, the former decimated the latter.

    Albin could only sigh in response and admitted defeat before coming down.

    Once the both of them dismissed their Arcana, they started walking together with a can of chilled beer in their hands.

    Taking a sip, Albin said, "You know you still had the chance to say "Yes" to my sister and we will become in-laws. Once she makes a breakthrough to rank-8, my great-grandmother will announce her as the new Matriarch of the Ash clan."

    "And I too told you before Albin. I already had someone in my heart," replied Velez in a calm manner. After a brief pause, he turned his head to look at his friend and added a statement, "I believe I have told you this before. One time, one wife, and stay loyal to that relationship. That''s it."

    "Well, it doesn''t hurt to try to ask." Albin shrugged his shoulders as if that rejection didn''t affect him a little bit. Putting his hands over Velez''s shoulder, he then asked, "So, I''m thinking¡­ How about we hit the underground fight club in the evening?"

    "Ugh¡­ Those things are boring." Velez rejected the idea right away.

    Albin then said, "Well, they have a new champion last week. It is rumored that he has a superior physique that makes them feel like he was made of steel."

    "Now, that''s interesting¡­" Velez''s ears perked up and his eyes lit up in curiosity. "What is his name and soul power?"

    Before Albin was about to give an answer, they heard a familiar yet irritating voice from above.

    "It looks like our dear young master is interested to fight weaklings to satisfy his ego."

    As they raised their heads, they found that it is Gredor Crescent (Kylan Crescent''s son & Izora''s cousin).

    "What do you want?" Velez asked coldly. He didn''t like this fellow. Despite being a rank-6 Arcana Master, Gredor had a great amount of influence within the clan. And because Gredor wants the throne for himself, he just didn''t give any opportunity for Velez to form friendships with the other sub-clan leaders.

    Looking down at both of them, Gredor Crescent spoke, "A piece of news for you. Vesyrn Garcia has returned but the matter isn''t that simple. He appeared to be in rank-8, i.e. higher soul power than yours, and his wife appears to be pregnant. My father is throwing out a grand party in the evening. So, I guess you have to ditch that club of yours and visit our clan.

    Before I go, I''ll give you another interesting piece of news. My dear cousin is in the middle of her eighth month. Solving the mystery might help you in the upcoming fight. Good luck¡­"

 Chapter 502 Qridus Garcias Announcement

    The same day evening;

    The whole Crescent clan compound was decorated with lights and a huge tent with chandeliers and furniture was set up in an empty space. Prominent guests from other subclans were arriving one after another and they were received grandly by young men and women.

    Due to the swift working of the clan members, the Crescent clan managed to do this within 10 hours under their Patriarch''s orders.

    As everyone including Velez Garcia, Qridus, and other sub-clan leaders attended the event and begin to converse with each other, Azzy''s family of three was the last to enter, instantly gaining attention from the guests.

    Whisperings also started as everyone''s eyes fell on the big belly of Izora. All of them just had one thought. "When in the hell did Izora become pregnant and how in the hell the unborn child was so big now?" After all, it wasn''t long after the both of them woke up from a coma and left for someplace after Vesyrn challenged Velez for the clan heir position.

    Raising his glass filled with white wine, Qridus officially announced the pregnancy of Izora and congratulated the couple. As everyone followed the suit, Qridus then informed everyone that he had two more important things to announce.

    Everyone went silent as they looked at their monarch. Even the subclan leaders weren''t informed about anything. So, they too were curious.

    Taking a glance at everyone, Qridus then spoke, "This matter should have been announced long ago but I thought the time wasn''t right due to various reasons."

    As everyone''s curiosity spiked up, Qridus continued, "All of you must have heard of the upcoming invasion. It is a fact that our humanity doesn''t have enough strength to protect our world.

    To defeat them, I decided to step forward and make a breakthrough to the next realm. To achieve that, I will have to go on an adventure and might not return for decades. Hence, in my absence, the clan heir will also be the acting monarch for our Death clan. All of you must help the inexperienced acting Patriarch in leading the clan."

    The whole place around Qridus went silent as he finished his first announcement. The world might have thought that Aelius Crescent is the greatest murderer of all time but the descendants of the Death clan knew that a few fellow hidden clans and secret organizations were the ones who instigated him to go crazy.

    Hence, they were quite surprised to hear that their current clan monarch is going the same way and worried that they will witness another unfortunate incident. Since the clan has no other supreme realm expert, they will not be able to feel safe and secure anymore while staying in the clan.

    No one but Qridus and Azzy''s family knows the existence of the secret guardian. So, they were right to think that way.

    But, who would question him? No one dares to speak against Qridus. As a result, the clan leaders couldn''t help but give a meaningful look at the Blood clan''s leader who is a close friend of Qridus.

    Francis Blood understood everyone''s thoughts and he was also under the same impression. He tried to convince Qridus to come out of this foolish dream. "Qridus, why don''t we think about it once again? There''s no need to place the entire responsibility on our heads. And you should know better than anyone about the risks of making a breakthrough to the demigod realm."

    The subclan leaders nodded in agreement with Francis Blood''s words but Qridus appeared to be adamant about his decision. "No, Francis. The decision has been made." He replied with a hardened expression.

    As Francis became silent, no longer able to argue further, Qridus continued with his announcement, "now, onto my next announcement. This isn''t about me but my descendant and Vesyrn Garcia''s son, Azrael Crescent Garcia."please visit

    Everyone turned their heads to spare a glance at the teenager standing beside his parents. As they shifted his attention back to Qridus, the latter spoke, "Whether it is my blood or someone from an offshoot branch, geniuses should always be protected by the clan for they were the future pillars. One such person is my great-great-great grandson."

    He gestured for Azzy to come to him. Azzy walked toward him while inwardly surprised.

    Qridus softy patted Azzy''s shoulder in affection and continued to address his clan members, "Azrael is the holder of the Death scythe and the Hourglass, something that only happened once in the post-apocalyptic world. He awakened the abilities of time and death just like our founder.

    And a while ago, he proved his abilities to me by accelerating the growth of the unborn child in Izora''s womb and helped his parents to achieve the legendary realm, making them rare geniuses who became 8-star realm Arcana Masters when they weren''t even 150 years.

    I''m confident that such a child will protect the clan''s future even if something unfortunate happens during the war. In fact, if not for Azrael''s existence, I wouldn''t have thought of leaving the clan for a while and trying to become a demigod.

    So, under my absence, if his life falls in danger, all of you must be prepared for the consequence." Qridus openly gave the warning to the six subclan leaders with a stern expression. He looked as if he meant it.

    The listeners shuddered in fear while Azzy frowned inwardly. He didn''t like his ancestor''s intimidation for it only restricts his freedom in the end.

    Wasn''t this party announcing his departure after the New Year? Since when did this turn him into the main character? Azzy wondered.

    Qridus promised him that he won''t directly announce the abilities of his hourglass but only let his parents say it in a casual manner. And then, on the day of New Year, Azzy was supposed to reveal his Hourglass, removing the last shred of doubt in the minds of clan members.

    And now, the situation has completely gone down a different path than what he expected.

    But then again, since his ancestor had already spoken, there was no use in him speaking against it. Once he is gone adventuring, Azzy could still do whatever he wants anyways. Or so, thought Azzy and stayed silent.

    Everyone was cool with Qridus'' orders as they were already treating him like a treasure in their hearts ever since it was revealed that Azzy is a 7-star Arcana Master.

    However, one person seemed to have an issue. It''s obvious who it was.

    "I''m sorry, Lord Qridus but it would be more convincing for us to see Azrael''s abilities with our own eyes to see if he is worth sacrificing our lives for." Velez''s words attracted the attention of everyone and Qridus furrowed his brows in displeasure.

    Velez Garcia felt like Qridus is trying to hide a secret as he did with Azzy''s birth. Everyone in the clan only knows Azzy from the age of 8 but Velez, who had fought Azzy 27 years ago, had different thoughts.

    All this while, he was under the impression that Qridus and Azzy''s parents manipulated Azzy''s appearance and age. When he saw Izora''s state, he felt like they were doing it again as both of them appeared to be linked from his point of view.

 Chapter 503 Age Manipulation

    Did Azzy really possess the ability to control time? Or Qridus had done age manipulation and continued to lie about it? Velez wanted to solve this mystery and confirm the truth. Of course, he also had other intentions.

    Since Qridus went his way of helping his rival and even forgave Azzy despite the fact that the latter offended the other clan heads in the meeting, Velez wanted to get back at him.

    And without any surprise, Azzy responded before anyone else to clear everyone''s doubt as he was supposed to do it eventually anyways. "I''ll clear your confusion right away, Prince Velez."

    Everyone''s attention turned to Azzy.

    Without any warning, he summoned the Death scythe in his left hand and the Hourglass in his right hand.

    "Woah, Lord Qridus is really telling the truth," thought all the sub-clan leaders who didn''t believe their monarch completely.

    Meanwhile, Velez''s eyes widened in surprise and he fell into thoughts.

    But, before he came out of them, Azzy turned the hourglass upside down and unleashed the seventh soul skill that he never had the opportunity to use before.

    "Soul skill: Age manipulation"

    As the white sand started flowing down to the empty bulb at a slow pace, a translucent barrier captured Velez.

    Azzy put his entire concentration on the surprised clan heir and did exactly what the Reaper instructed him during the afternoon.

    After getting to know Qridus'' plan, he asked the Reaper''s help to instantly acquire the knowledge of the soul skill.

    Because it is urgent, the Deity of Death and Time also assisted him but in Chronos'' words, Azzy can only learn how to unleash the soul skills through knowledge transfer. But, if he wanted to master them, he had to practice and practice just like everyone else.

    Azzy is still young and there''s enough life for him to focus on mastering the soul skills. He didn''t want to think much at the moment and just put his concentration on how to teach Velez, a lesson.

    "Maybe, I could put mental pressure on this clan heir before his big battle with dad?" thought Azzy as he stared at the captured target.

    As a slightly evil idea popped up in his head, Azzy decided to mess with Velez and controlled the skill to the extent as far as he can, "Reverse."

    The barrier around Velez glowed brightly and Velez shouted within that blinding flash of light, "What the hell is going on¡­"

    Within a few seconds, the blinding flash of light disappeared while the barrier is still alive. However, Velez looked differently. There was a baby sitting on the ground in place of him in oversized clothes. It appeared scared and tried to get up but to no avail.

    Everyone was stunned by what they have seen with their eyes. For a second, Azzy didn''t appear like a genius child. Instead, he appeared like a monster that can play with their lives as he wishes.

    Meanwhile, the pace of the white sand increased rapidly. It didn''t last even ten seconds before all the sand was in the other bulb of the hourglass, and once again, the blinding flash of light covered the baby.

    This time, the barrier disappeared and the flash of light was only for a second before Velez returned to his adult form.

    "You¡­" Velez took a step back in a bit of fear with a pale face.

    Azzy calmly looked at him as he dismissed his Arcanas, "well, this is what I can do. I guess I proved my worth. If it is not enough, then, you can wait for a few days. On the day of New Year, after your battle with my dad is over, if you are still in a condition to stay awake, then, you can watch my battle. I''m going to challenge one of them." He pointed his finger at the five of the seven pavilion masters who made it to the party, startling them.

    Clenching his fist to control his anger, Velez replied, "On the day of New Year, you and your dad will also see my true strength, Azrael."

    Once he was done with his warning, he turned his head to look at the old man, "Lord Qridus, seeing Lord Vesyrn in the legendary realm, I''m feeling like I need to spend more on training. May I be excused?"

    Seeing Velez in the form of a baby, even a person like Qridus felt a bit of pity for the prince and gave a nod to save his face. Like it or not, Velez is still the current clan heir and an important figure.

    Velez thanked him and gave a deep bow before leaving the place in a hurry. While walking away, he saw a few of them trying to suppress their laughter. And this made him only angrier.

    After storming out of the Crescent clan compound, Velez gritted his teeth as he looked back, "Just you wait, Azrael. I''ll pay you back a hundred folds for this humiliation. I''ll start with destroying your father''s life as an Arcana Master."

    A few days later;

    January 1st, 2022;

    Arena, Red pavilion, Death clan village;

    It was the day of New Year, the time when 8-year-olds belonging to the Death clan will try their luck to awaken their Arcana while the 12-year-olds will try for the second awakening.

    Once an 8-year-old fails to awaken a soul card in the awakening ceremony, they can only try to buy awakening scrolls privately.

    Until a person turns 9, he/she had an opportunity to awaken. But, these awakening scrolls that are sold in the outside world are quite expensive. Hence, unless one has too much wealth, the family couldn''t afford to purchase them over and over.

    It is why, just like every family out there in hundreds of cities and thousands of towns in the real world, the families living in the death clan also hoped for their kids to awaken during the first try itself as it wouldn''t cost anything.

    Sitting in the VIP row where the other sub-clan leaders and prominent individuals of the clan, Azzy kept his eyes on the field.

    He momentarily put his attention on a familiar-looking stone slab placed in the center and shifted to the kids lined up.

    There weren''t as many participants as in 2020 when he participated in the second awakening in this very stadium. Eight-year-old are about 7 in number while twelve-year-olds were just 5 in number.

    Albin Ash, the new Red pavilion master who succeeded Truman Ash, became the host of this event.

    Showing great enthusiasm, he called upon the names of individuals one after another.

    Apart from one kid who belonged to the Smoke clan, the others weren''t that talented. Only one 8-year-old had awakened a purple-grade Arcana and had the potential of a 7-star realm.

    Adding on top of that, none of the 12-year-olds managed to awaken for a second time either, giving great disappointment to the spectators as well as the clan leaders.

    But still, everyone stuck to their seats to watch the main event, well, in their opinion.

    Once the kids left and the stone slab was removed from the field, Albin Ash spoke, "Now, before we get onto challenge matches for the positions of pavilion masters, a battle is going to take place between the former clan heir, Vesyrn Garcia and current clan heir, Velez Garcia.

    Give it up for both of the individuals¡­"

    Amid the cheering and applauses from the audience, two figures entered the arena with serious looks on their faces.

    "Hmm? 8-star realm?" Qridus raised his eyebrow as he stared at Velez. Suddenly, he felt worried.

 Chapter 504 Neither Of Them Will Lead The Clan

    The former clan heir and the present clan heir simultaneously entered the arena from opposite sides like some warriors in a tournament.

    The audience erupted into cheering as these two legendary realm Arcana Masters started walking toward the center of the field.

    Their strength might be equal on the surface but the support they have is different. Vesyrn was someone who was born and grew up in the clan. He was loved and respected by every member of the clan who had seen him in person.

    On the other hand, Velez Garcia is a prince of Freyles nation who just happened to awaken the Death energy and became the clan heir just a year ago. In the eyes of a common member of the Death clan, he is an outsider. His Death energy has no significance here.

    Hence, Vesyrn received overwhelming support from the audience compared to Velez; which is another blow to the prince.

    Vesyrn was all smiles and Velez was brooding as they reached the center of the arena where Albin Ash, the Elder of Red Pavilion is waiting for them.

    After greeting both of them, he addressed the audience, "We have our clan heir and the challenger ready to fight. But, before they battle, the old and the young must familiarize themselves with the rules of this battle.

    Please do note that these rules are created by our previous monarchs and have been there for tens of thousands of years. So, everyone must respect them.

    1) The challenger cannot kill the clan heir willingly or accidentally. If it happens, then, the least punishment he will face is ten years'' banishment from the clan. So, the clan heir can only be defeated and not killed.

    However, if the clan heir insists on not backing down from the fight, he can be knocked out. The challenger can also destroy the clan heir''s soul orb too.

    On the other hand, the clan heir is free to do anything to the challenger. He can hurt, capture, torture, destroy the soul orb, and even killing is allowed.

    2) Both the challenger and the clan heir cannot use any external items of any sort in this battle. That means no man-made weapons or artifacts, skill cards, item cards, or otherworldly treasures.

    Both of them can only depend on their soul cards and the energy techniques they have learned.

    3) The clan heir has the right to stop the battle for once, at any time, and call for a timeout to a maximum of 15 minutes. After the call for the timeout has been spoken out, the challenger will not attack.

    In this break time, both of the warriors may rest, heal, and even recover their soul energy. There is no restriction on man-made artifacts during this time.

    If any debatable incidents occurred during this incident, the pavilion masters of the clan will discuss and deliver the verdict.

    4) And last but least, there is no time limit on this battle. As long as one side gives up or is in no condition to fight, this battle will go on."

    After giving the audience a moment to digest the rules, Albin turned toward the VIP section where Qridus was sitting with other sub-clan leaders.

    "I await your permission, Your Majesty." He bowed to the monarch of the clan.

    Qridus didn''t nod and permit him. Instead, he spoke, "Albin of the Ash clan, thank you for your services until now. You did great but from here on, Francis of the Blood clan will take your position as the Proctor for you lack the strength to stop the challenger and protect the clan heir."

    Albin''s face immediately changed when he heard that. This was his pavilion. According to the traditions, he will be the host to the awakening ceremony and the Proctor to all the matches that are going to be conducted in this arena.

    But, Qridus'' decision changed all of that. Not to mention, the Death clan''s head was also right.

    Vesyrn and Velez were legendary realm experts and a 7-star-realm Arcana Master like Albin cannot stop any of their lethal attacks if he had to intervene.

    And how can he judge when he wouldn''t know whether a specific lethal attack from Vesyrn would kill Velez? Not to mention, everyone knows that Albin is a good friend of Velez.

    That''s why even the other pavilion masters and the sub-clan leaders agreed with Qridus'' decision, forcing Albin to leave his place and go toward the VIP section in bitterness.

    Meanwhile, Francis Blood, the leader of the Blood clan and the peak-8-star-realm expert made his way to the center of the field.

    He stopped a few meters above the ground and indifferently looked down at both of the participants, "Both of you have 30 seconds to prepare yourselves."

    Vesyrn and Velez started a staring contest without summoning their Arcana as they wait for the signal from the proctor.

    Meanwhile, at the VIP box, Azzy was sitting beside his mother while conversing with the Reaper. Seeing the opponent in the same realm, he couldn''t help but slightly worried for his father because of the killing factor applied to Vesyrn.

    Preparing for the worst, he planned to memorize every moment of this battle. And when he will rewind the time, he could warn his father with an excuse that he foresaw multiple futures of his defeat using his sixth soul skill of the hourglass, Precognition.

    In reality, he didn''t learn the soul skill yet as the Reaper refused to teach him. The latter was under the impression that Azzy is too young to learn it.

    Azzy might be at the 7-star realm and even strong enough to go against supreme realm experts but he doesn''t have enough experience to even properly bond with the hourglass, much less master it.

    The Reaper, however, was confident in the power he gave to Vesyrn. But, since he can''t say that for some reason, he assured the teenager of his father''s life instead, "Azrael, I can see your father''s future. He is destined to play a huge role in protecting this world. So, whether he wins or loses, at the very least, his journey won''t stop in the battle."

    "So, is there a probability that my father can lose, then?" asked Azzy.

    In response, the Reaper let out a chuckle, "Does that really matter? Don''t tell me you were worried that you will lose the qualifications to contend for the clan head position forever."

    "No," Azzy firmly rejected that assumption from the Reaper. He clarified, "If my father becomes the clan head, then, I will have the freedom to do the things I wished to do. If Velez becomes the clan head, then, I and my family might face difficulties. Not to mention, I was worried that my father will find it difficult to listen to Velez''s orders. I think I feel the same¡­"

    The Reaper replied, "Who said anything about Velez becoming the clan head? This battle is about becoming the clan heir. Even if your father wins, he might not become the clan head. Qridus Garcia has enough life to continue his position."

    "But, you heard him. The ancestor is going to leave the clan and go on a journey to look for a breakthrough. The winner of this match will also become the acting clan head," Azzy pointed out the fact.

    To which, the Reaper responded with a question, "Did you forget the introduction of your future self? And by the way, Qridus Garcia is the 63rd head of this clan."

    Suddenly, as a memory appeared in Azzy''s mind, his eyes widened in shock, "64th head of the clan."

    "Neither of them will lead the clan, Azrael." The words of the Reaper echoed through Azzy''s head.

 Chapter 505 Vesyrns Battle Strategy

    As twenty seconds passed away, Francis Blood threw a skill card onto the ground, creating a giant barrier within the arena to protect the audience from unexpected attacks.

    However, this blood barrier was deep red in color. Hence, most of the people had their visions blocked. Even their senses became of no use. Only Arcana Masters above the 5-star realm managed to sense the presence of Velez and Vesyrn.

    In that case, how could they watch the battle?

    Just as that thought came to the minds of hundreds of spectators, Francis Blood threw another skill card.

    This one also appeared to be like a barrier, although golden colored.

    Sensing the attribute of light inside the new barrier, Velez and Vesyrn expected this golden barrier will further reinforce the blood barrier as they are under the impression that their death energy will demolish any ordinary one.

    However, this barrier didn''t serve as a second layer of protection. Once it overlapped with the blood barrier, both of them merged to form a stronger translucent barrier.

    With that, everyone could also witness the battle that was about to start within a few seconds.

    As the time is up, Francis shot a ball of soul energy into the air. It exploded like fireworks, giving the signal for both of the fighters to start their battle.

    Velez took the initiative to attack. He charged forward. Vesyrn clenched his fist but stood in the same spot, waiting for his opponent.

    In a fraction of a second, the two fists collided and Velez ended up being the winner of the first round as the force behind his fist overpowered Vesyrn. The latter blasted away for a few meters and crashed onto the ground with his face and clothes smeared in dirt.

    In an instant, the arena fell silent. Izora and Kylan Crescent (the Crescent clan''s patriarch) simultaneously got up from their seats in worry. Qridus had a frown on his face. He clearly didn''t like such an outcome.

    As for Azzy, he was busy turning the pages of a large book, looking for something.

    Meanwhile, a smirk appeared on Velez''s face. He couldn''t help but mock his opponent, "Come on¡­ get up, young master Vesyrn. Show me the prowess of your light attribute."

    Vesyrn calmly got up on his feet and went into battle stance once again without speaking of anything. He gestured to his opponent to come at him.

    Velez was the one who ended up being provoked and he charged forward once again, this time, powering up his fist with soul energy. He also didn''t forget to add the Death attribute to the attack.

    His attack was once again met with a fist from the opponent. The result ended up being the same.

    Vesyrn blasted away dozens of meters and crashed onto the ground. This time, his wrist was bruised.

    Once again, he stood up on his feet and silently went into his battle stance.

    Prince Velez stared at Vesyrn as he thought, "I don''t know what this guy is planning but from the earlier two bouts, it became clear that my physique is stronger than his despite our outer appearances.

    At the same time, my death energy cannot penetrate his soul energy system through normal attacks. I need to become serious. And if there''s anything he is trying to hide, it will also become clearer."

    Soon, the Death Knight made his appearance and Prince Velez conjured a sword made of death energy.

    Pointing the energy sword at his enemy, he ordered the Death Knight to go.

    On the other hand, Vesyrn refused to summon his Arcana. He continued to stay silent.

    The Death Knight and Velez rushed toward Vesyrn before the prince teleported behind his enemy.

    "Haaa"

    He swung down the energy sword at Vesyrn''s shoulder from behind. At the same time, the Death Knight swung its broadsword.

    Both of them slashed Vesyrn''s shoulders at the same time, spilling his blood. However, they couldn''t completely penetrate his tough physique and their weapons were stuck in Vesyrn''s shoulders.

    "No¡­" Izora screamed in a bit of worry. But, her hand was quickly grabbed by Azzy. As she looked at him, he pointed at a certain image in the book.

    "What is it?" Izora asked in wonder as she shifted her attention to the page. There was a drawing of an undead dragon drawn on it.

    Azzy then said, "I know what dad is trying to do."

    "Hmm?" Qridus, who was sitting nearby, couldn''t help but take a glance at the book. His eyes read the entire details in a fraction of a second and instantly, the worry left his mind.

    As the Death Knight is trying to pull out the broadsword, the prince of Freyles, on the other hand, transformed the compressed energy sword into pure death energy and used it to invade Vesyrn''s body.

    Prince Velez''s death energy tried to harm Vesyrn''s soul orb but all of it was mysteriously halted moments in one go as if the foreign energy was trapped instead of blocked.

    In the meantime, Vesyrn sharply glared at the Death knight standing before him. Glancing at the sword on his left shoulder, he roared, "Get away from me, you evil creature who is reeking of the blood of innocents¡­"

    He clenched his injured right fist and punched the Death Knight with great force.

    The Death Knight flew away and crashed onto the ground more than a hundred meters, making Velez alert and distancing himself from his opponent by jumping away.

    Vesyrn then pulled out the broadsword that is stuck in his left shoulder and threw it away before speaking to the Death Knight, "creature of darkness, you don''t have any place in this battle. Disappear¡­"

    He raised his hand above his head, unleashing a famous and powerful technique of his that is comparable to that of a soul skill.

    "Behold the sabers of light."

    Tens of golden sabers appeared in the sky one after another as Vesyrn''s soul power was reduced by half.

    The swords were so dazzling that they made the spectators stare in awe.

    And the true experts (7-star and above) who sensed the power of a legendary realm attack in each sword couldn''t help but shiver. Even Qridus felt like he could be injured if he was struck by such an attack.

    If Vesyrn was really that strong, then, what was his deal with getting beaten up continuously until now?

    Maybe, it is because he was trying to test the strength of his opponent?

    Almost everyone was under the assumption that Vesyrn will start his battle domination with this attack.

    Meanwhile, Prince Velez''s heartbeat rose rapidly. "I feel fear?" As realization dawned upon him, it only made him angrier. "You bastard¡­"

    He quickly got out of his daze and sprung up into attack as Vesyrn was paying attention to the Death Knight.

    Vesyrn motioned his hand and most of those light swords rained upon the Death Knight. Everyone''s attention was momentarily shifted to the Arcana spirit that was pinned to the ground with the light swords piercing it from all directions.

    The Death Knight didn''t die but instead, it was completely immobilized and suppressed.

    Just as everyone was about to rejoice, they spotted a huge energy sword coming out of Vesyrn''s neck and he was grabbing his neck while slowly stepping away from Velez through unsteady steps.

    A peal of laughter escaped from Prince Velez as he spoke, "If you think your light attribute will recover your injuries later on, you can dream on. My death had long invaded your system and soon, you will¡­"

    Prince Velez''s facial expression suddenly changed as a glowing soul card appeared in Vesyrn''s hands all of a sudden, and then, in the next second, something incredible happened in the arena.

    Vesyrn''s injuries disappeared instantly as if he was completely healed somehow and Prince Velez felt the loss of strength in his legs. He was on his knees with injuries all over his body and spat out a mouthful of blood.

    With his eyes widened in shock, he growled, "what did you do?"

    Vesyrn finally opened his mouth and replied, "I feel like keeping you in suspense¡­"

    He raised his hand and motioned toward Velez, releasing the remaining five light swords to attack Velez simultaneously.

    *thud*

    Prince Velez fell on his chest and lost consciousness, throwing every spectator in confusion. They just didn''t understand what just happened and how it happened.

    But, all of them were happy with the fact that their young master has won the battle.

    As the audience cheered Vesyrn''s name, Azzy read a particular detail on the page, "The seventh soul skill of the Dracolich: Injury transfer. Upon activating the skill, every injury inflicted upon the caster for the past few minutes will be transferred to the enemy."

 Chapter 506 Battle To Showcase The Worthiness

    "The winner is Vesyrn Night Garcia," announced the leader of the Blood clan as the healers rushed into the arena.

    Qridus Garcia then slowly floated in the air with a prideful smile on his face. He flew into the arena and landed beside Vesyrn.

    Vesyrn Garcia greeted him with a bow. "Lord Qridus¡­"

    Qridus patted his shoulder and said, "Well done. But, your victory isn''t convincing to a few people including myself. Hence, I would want you to spar against me right now in front of your clansmen and give your best."

    "Eh?" Vesyrn was slightly surprised but then nodded, "alright."

    Francis Blood was taken aback by Qridus'' order as the match was already over.

    Vesyrn had the support of the majority of the subclan leaders and pavilion masters. It has been made clear by the cheering from the audience too.

    So, why is there a need for another battle? What if Vesyrn gets badly beaten in this upcoming battle? How could he face everyone from tomorrow?

    Feeling like it is a double-edged sword, Francis Blood tried to talk his friend out of his decision. But, he was already too late.

    After informing his decision to Vesyrn, Qridus Garcia, without asking for his descendant''s opinion on the matter, directly made an announcement to the audience.

    Rising into the air, he addressed everyone.

    "My fellow clansmen, Vesyrn Garcia has fought and earned the position of the heir to our clan through his own hands. However, it isn''t a clan heir who should become the acting clan head either.

    To become one, the clan heir must prove himself to the clan head that he is worthy of taking such a task if he isn''t in the Supreme realm. It is the long-standing tradition of our clan and everyone must respect it.

    I''m taking this occasion to announce my departure to the unknown lands of the Arcana world (rank-5 regions). Now, we''ll see if the new clan heir is really worthy of taking my position or not."

    The clan members including the top experts were shocked by the announcement. Some of them couldn''t help but frown but some of them nodded in understanding.

    Whatever their thoughts might be, no one would dare to speak against their monarch anyways. And even Azzy knows that fact. Hence, his attention was only fixed on his father.

    Soon, the unconscious Prince Velez was taken away from the arena and Vesyrn now had a new opponent who wanted to make sure that everyone stays loyal to his successor in his absence.

    Everyone glued their eyes toward the field with a pin drop silence filled the stadium as they don''t dare to cheer this time. After all, this match is going to be between the clan head and the clan heir.

    Summoning his Arcana, Qridus gestured for his successor to do the same.

    Vesyrn hesitated a bit and then nodded, eventually summoning the Arcana after recovering his soul energy to full.

    *Roar*

    Letting out a powerful draconic roar, an undead dragon made its appearance in the arena, shocking every single spectator who was under the impression that their young master''s attribute is light.

    How could he have an undead that reeks of death? The same thought came to all the influential upper echelons of the clans sitting out there. After all, Vesyrn did showcase the swords of light earlier.

    Even if Vesyrn had hidden his real powers all along, they couldn''t understand how he possessed two attributes of opposite nature. It goes without saying that they were amazed and saw him in a new light. Even Prince Velez''s supporters were no different from the rest. Albin Ash couldn''t help but feel extremely uncomfortable.

    Back to the field, as the Dracolich was summoned, the leader of the Blood clan rose into the air and announced the start of the battle.

    Unlike the last time when Qridus was on the defensive at Camelot to test his descendant''s powers, this time, he was more on the offensive.

    Raising the staff, he conjured five golden spheres of light in just a fraction of a second and aimed at the dragon.

    As soon as he saw the spheres of light, each of them had the power of low-rank-9; Vesyrn realized that his ancestor is deadly serious about making him go all out. He didn''t take this battle lightly either.

    Slamming the ground with his palm, Vesyrn unleashed another technique of his. As his soul power was consumed by one-third, a giant golden-colored wall with black patches here and there was raised from the ground.

    The barrier shielded the dragon and was struck by the incoming attack. Because Qridus was holding back in this attack, the defensive barrier managed to block it.

    "Good response," Qridus nodded in satisfaction and raised his staff once again. "Now, take this¡­"

    "Soul skill: Tree of the Blessed."

    A giant tree slowly erupted from the ground, making every spectator stand from their seats.

    Looking at the tree that resembles a banyan tree with hundreds of aerial roots hanging from the branches, the clan leaders couldn''t help but look at it in awe as it has been more than a century since they last saw it.

    Even Azzy was amazed for a second and stare at it.

    Slowly rising into the air and floating above the tree, Qridus looked at his successor and announced loudly, "if you cannot beat this, then, you are not worthy to take my place, Vesyrn."

    Vesyrn clenched his fist tightly and took deep breaths, trying to stay calm down. "Damn this crazy old man. Can''t he slowly increase the strength of his attacks? Who will go from an ordinary attack to a city-destruction-level move like this? Didn''t he want me to showcase all of my soul skills? What''s going on with his head? Okay, Vesyrn. Calm down¡­ You can do this."

    Taking one more deep breath, Vesyrn spoke to his Arcana. "Raya, I guess it''s time for the sacrifice buddy."

    The dracolich turned its head and looked meaningfully at its master and nodded.

    "Soul skill: Sacrificial"

    As Vesyrn unleashed the soul skill, the dracolich was enveloped by the death energy before it separated into thousands of bones and all of them flew into Vesyrn.

    The bones disappeared into Vesyrn''s body and temporarily raised his soul power bit by bit.

    By the end of the process, Vesyrn temporarily had broken into the supreme realm and his eyes turned pitch black.

    "Let''s go and hack this bi*ch"

    Everyone then saw Vesyrn charge forward and a sword made of bone came from his palm in the meantime.

 Chapter 507 Vesyrns Inborn Ability

    As Vesyrn charged at the golden tree, the latter used its aerial roots and branches to strike its target.

    However, Vesyrn managed to dodge every attack of it and reached it before piercing its trunk with all of his strength.

    As soon as it was touched by the bone sword erupted from Vesyrn''s palm, the sword disappeared into the trunk and the process of decay started because of the corruption.

    The healing ability of the tree tried to recover its lost part but Vesyrn didn''t intend to give it such a chance.

    He continuously attacked the golden tree on its trunk with bones erupting from him one after another, increasing the process of decay.

    Within a couple of minutes, the entire tree disappeared into nothingness, leaving a great impression on every spectator.

    Once he was done with his task, claps escaped from his opponent followed by praise.

    *Clap *Clap* *clap* clap*

    Applauding his successor, Qridus Garcia let out a smile, "Very good¡­ Of all the 8-star-realm Arcana Masters that I have battled with, you are the only one who managed to achieve this feat, and that too, in such a small amount of time. However, this spar is yet to be finished."

    Vesyrn nodded seriously, "I know¡­"

    He stomped onto the ground below him and jumped toward the monarch.

    As Qridus swiftly dodged the attack, Vesyrn went past him and flew for another hundred meters high before skeletal wings sprouted from his back and he descended at a greater speed.

    Once he reached the altitude where Qridus was floating around and watching him, Vesyrn started throwing swords and daggers made of bone one after another.

    Qridus evaded every attack with ease but for the spectators, all they saw were skeletal bones flying everywhere.

    Only legendary realm experts managed to enjoy the battle to their heart content. And those above 6-star like Izora and Avia could only see blurry figures.

    Perhaps, the only exception was Azzy. With his Eyes of God soul skill, everything appeared to be in slow motion. He could see both of their movements quite clearly.

    Ten minutes passed away and Vesyrn''s movements finally came to halt with his strength returned to normal.

    Everyone saw Vesyrn panting in deep breaths and Qridus was simply floating a few feet away from the clan heir with his hands behind him. He had a frown on his face, clearly indicating that he isn''t pleased.

    Looking at his successor, Qridus spoke coldly, "What are you doing, Vesyrn? After going into a coma for a decade, did you forget my teachings?"

    The clan members didn''t understand why their monarch was scolding the clan heir. Didn''t he praise when the golden tree was destroyed? What might have happened that made their monarch unhappy?

    Not only were the normal clan members, but even the clan leaders were also under a similar impression.

    They saw how Vesyrn forced Qridus to use his full strength to evade the attacks.

    In their eyes, he was already the winner.

    Hence, they were also surprised like everyone else. Did Qridus have more expectations of Vesyrn or something? They couldn''t help wonder as an afterthought.

    On the other hand, Vesyrn was quite calm. He didn''t give a reply to his ancestor. Instead, he summoned the soul card where the image of the undead dragon is grey in color, meaning its status is dead and needs time to resurrect.

    Qridus Garcia got confused by his successor''s actions. "What were you doing?" He asked. After a brief pause, he added, "If you want to use the resurrection card to bring back your Arcana, I must remind you that the rules of earlier battle are still in place."

    Sacrificial soul skill might have increased Vesyrn''s power but it costs the death of the dracolich.

    Qridus, who had the knowledge of every Arcana registered in the Book of Death, very well knows that Vesyrn''s Arcana spirit is dead. It is also one of the reasons why he was mad at his successor.

    Little did expect to hear that his conclusion was completely wrong.

    As Qridus showcased his displeasure, Vesyrn didn''t speak anything just like how he was silent during his battle with Prince Velez.

    He poured his soul energy into the soul card and mumbled, "Restore".

    All of a sudden, the image of the card changed and the soul card glowed.

    Qridus'' eyes widened in realization, "Your inborn ability. Your restoration should only restore your stamina and soul power. It used to be a mediocre inborn ability. I didn''t think that you can even restore the state of your soul card. You have broken through limits, haven''t you?"

    Without confirming or denying it, Vesyrn let out a smile and proceeded to summon the undead dragon.

    As soon as the undead dragon made its appearance, Vesyrn unleashed a soul skill.

    Surprisingly, this soul skill isn''t a new one. Instead, it is a repetition of the previous one, Sacrificial.

    Vesyrn''s inborn ability somehow reset the cooldown timer of the soul skill as well as his soul power. With his stamina being restored, he was at his peak state.

    But, what are his limits? A thought appeared in Qridus'' mind.

    Five hours later;

    "Soul skill: Sacrificial"

    Brandishing the bone sword like a whip, Vesyrn looked at the old man who was sweating from top to bottom. He asked, "Is it enough, your grace?"

    "You have made your point, Vesyrn," replied the old man. He further said, "You have made your mediocre inborn ability into something astonishing. I give you that. However, you have yet to land a hit on me. As I have mentioned a while ago, if you are facing a supreme being like me, then, you will lose miserably."

    "In that case, please lift the restrictions on this battle for me." Vesyrn pointed out that he will resort to using all the trump cards in the real-case scenario.

    But, in the eyes of Qridus, the dependence on skill cards or any other external object is a sign of weakness. They should only be used in case of emergencies.

    And emergencies mean that one is incapable of resolving the problem on his own.

    That is why he was hell-bent on not letting Vesyrn use them in this battle. But then again, they have sparred for a long time. They started in the morning and it is already past noon. The people couldn''t leave their seats and go for lunch because of the identities of Vesyrn and Qridus.

    Not to mention, this wasn''t the first time Vesyrn requested him to lift the restrictions.

    Qridus understood that very well. Hence, he decided to give some leeway to his successor.

    Raising his index finger, he said in a firm tone, "you may use one consumable card of any type, including the ones I gave you for your protection."

    Vesyrn nodded with a smile, "thank you." He took out a card from his pocket as if he was already prepared to use it beforehand and was just waiting for his ancestor''s permission.

    The skill card was dark blue in color and made of Mythril metal. It has only eight golden stars, indicating its peak-rank-8 power but for some reason, Vesyrn was quite confident.

    As Qridus and the sub-clan leaders wondered what the card was going to be, Vesyrn threw the card toward the ground instead of his opponent.

    The skill card cut through the air like lightning and pierced the ground.

    And just as it disappears into the ground, all the bones that are scattered on the field suddenly glowed.

    A giant circle resembling a seal made its appearance in front of everyone. And in the next second, a pitch-black-colored slime-like creature slowly raised from the ground.

    Qridus'' expression changed as his eyes fell on the creature.

    "I must say your father is quite the genius. Even I didn''t expect him to create the Protos being, although an impure and weak one," commented the Reaper. After a brief pause, he added, "surely, as the holder of Protos energy, your mother''s contribution shouldn''t be ignored."

    "Protos Being?" Azzy heard of those beings from the Reaper but never asked for the details cuz he felt there is no use. After all, he cannot control it and neither the Reaper taught him how to do it.

    Now, after hearing the Reaper''s comment, he couldn''t help but become curious. "Is that creature really amazing?"

    Before the Reaper even answered, the slime-like creature grew a thousand times bigger and opened its mouth, trying to swallow Qridus. Azzy''s attention was shifted to the arena.

    Meanwhile, Qridus had a deep frown on his face as he stared at the giant slime. "The corrupted cosmic energy of Aelius Crescent?"

    He raised his staff without wasting any time.

    "Hidden skill: The heavenly dragon"

    The staff in the hands of the old man transformed into specks of light before they took the shape of a whiskered dragon without any limbs or wings. He motioned his hand. "Go..."

 Chapter 508 End Of Vesyrns Battle

    The never seen before golden dragon had flown toward the slime-like creature that became a giant.

    The dragon flew into the creature''s mouth and destroyed itself, releasing ten trillion joules of energy to destroy the creature from the inside.

    In the end, the creature blasted up into millions of pieces and disappeared without any trace, or so thought the monarch of the Death clan.

    However, Vesyrn has yet to admit defeat. Grabbing one of the slimy patches that stuck all over his body due to the earlier explosion, Vesyrn closed his eyes and poured his soul energy into it, "Restore".

    In the next second, all of those pieces of slime flew toward a single spot and merged with each other, resurrecting the impure Protos creature once again and shocking everyone including Qridus.

    "Just how much you have improved your inborn ability?" Qridus couldn''t help but feel like his successor''s ability is a cheat. And all of a sudden, he could see the future in Vesyrn and not just as a temporary clan head until Azzy takes his place.

    Letting out a smile, Vesyrn replied, "It''s all thanks to Raya and my wife that I have managed to do this. Earlier you said that I cannot deal with supreme beings. I may not defeat them with my current strength but you can rely on me to protect our clan from supreme beings in your absence."

    "Don''t get ahead of yourself, brat." Qridus disappeared from Vesyrn''s sight all of a sudden. In the next fraction of a second, the clan heir felt something strike his abdomen with great force.

    He crashed onto the ground without being able to block the attack.

    Appearing a couple of feet away from Vesyrn, the old man spoke, "you are still a millennium away from contesting against a supreme being. The mastery we have over our attributes isn''t something you can match with the power of skills. You aren''t at a stage where you can bend the light around you and turn invisible yet. When you achieve such a level, you can speak the same words."

    Vesyrn Garcia clutched his stomach in pain. He quickly got onto his feet while wondering whether his ancestor wanted to punish him or let him show off.

    In the end, he said, "I understand."

    Qridus nodded, "alright, get up. Our fight isn''t over as you have yet to land a hit on me."

    In reality, Qridus wanted his successor to show off his skills to the clan to gain their trust but doesn''t want him to become complacent.

    Soon, the battle resumed.

    As Vesyrn took the control of the impure protos being, Qridus decided to crush it. However, the task wasn''t easy by any means.

    Vesyrn''s inborn ability practically made it immortal. Every time Qridus destroyed it, Vesyrn would bring it back using restoration as if he turned back time.

    The impure protos being would once again attempt to capture its target. Qridus would try another method only to see his successor resurrect it again.

    It is just one skill card (fusion type) and a supreme being like Qridus was spending a lot of stamina and time destroying it again and again. He even attempted to capture it but under the instructions of Vesyrn, the protos being would corrupt the prison that captured it and gets free.

    After more than a couple of dozen failures, Qridus eventually used a sealing technique to place the protos creature under an illusion. It was so powerful that Vesyrn couldn''t bring its consciousness back to reality and was forced to think of another plan.

    In the meantime, he resumed his close combat techniques to land a punch on his ancestor.

    Qridus was either dodging or blocking skillfully but due to physical and mental tiredness, he eventually lost his focus on his surroundings and only paid attention to Vesyrn as the battle entered the 8th hour.

    From here to there, and from there to somewhere¡­ both of their positions kept on changing and it became extremely harder for the spectators to spot them either. After all, they were also mentally tired due to the long battle.

    If there was anyone who was completely focused on this battle, it was probably Prince Velez who returned to the stands and became a spectator. As Vesyrn was giving him more and more surprises over time, his feelings became quite complicated.

    But, that doesn''t mean he would accept the earlier outcome. He lost his position and his heart is screaming for revenge. And to do that, he needed to know everything about his enemy.

    That is why his concentration was highest as he observed both of them. As a legendary realm expert, he doesn''t have any difficulty watching their movements either.

    The battle went on for another half an hour and finally, Vesyrn found an opportunity to deal a blow to the clan head.

    Qridus was so focused on Vesyrn that he forgot the existence of the protos being and ended up nearby the creature.

    Since it was still under the illusion, Qridus didn''t much about it but then as Vesyrn landed right behind the creature while he was just a couple of feet away, he sensed something wrong.

    And by the time he realized it, Vesyrn had made his move by detonating the creature.

    "Boom"

    An enormous explosion was seen in the arena, followed by the crash of an old man onto the barrier that was protecting the spectators. The ones who were sitting in the stands experienced something similar to that of a low-magnitude earthquake and they couldn''t help but stand on their feet.

    Meanwhile, the innermost layer of the barrier was cracked and Qridus slowly started falling down with second-degree burns all over his body.

    As he landed on the ground and healed himself up, Qridus saw his successor slowly raising high into the sky with a large crater formed beneath him.

    *Clap* *clap* *clap*

    After clapping three times with a nod, the old man announced loudly, "Congratulations, you receive my acknowledgment as the acting clan head. Now, I can leave for the adventure without any worries."

    As Vesyrn thanked him and heaved out a sigh of relief, Qridus slowly rose into the air and returned to the VIP box.

    *clap *clap * clap *clap

    The spectators clapped loudly and cheered Vesyrn''s name while he slowly landed on the ground.

    Looking at him, Prince Velez mumbled, "His inborn ability is what enabled him to go toe to toe against the clan head. I should look for a way to seal the inborn ability completely if I want to deal with him in the future."

    Prince Velez then rose to his feet and left the arena before returning to his home without looking back. Everyone is too busy to pay him any attention. Hence, his return appeared even more humiliating for the prince of Freyles.

    Meanwhile, in the arena, Albin Ash leveled the ground using his sand Arcana and made it look as good as new. The traces of the earlier battle completely disappeared.

    Looking at his pocket watch that says it is around 4 p.m., Albin thought that there was enough time for the closing time and addressed the clan members.

    "Now, it is the time for the pavilion masters to be challenged by any individual who is interested to become a pavilion master.

    As long as the challenger is in the 7-star realm and registered birth name in the population records of our Death clan, he/she is eligible for this segment.

    The rules are the same as the earlier battles. However, due to time constraints, only 30 minutes are allotted for each pavilion.

    We''ll start with the strongest of the seven pavilions; the Violet pavilion. Pavilion Master Evelyn Crescent, make your way to the arena."

    As soon as her name was announced, several males who were about to leave the stadium to have lunch returned to their seats. It isn''t surprising considering the fact that Evelyn is one of the most popular ladies within the clan.

    During the past couple of hundred years, she had countless marriage proposals from almost every clan except for the Blood clan but she rejected everyone so far. There''s even a rumor that she likes girls and another rumor states that she is a celibate¡­

    Whatever the case, the atmosphere was lively as the busty woman entered the arena and landed in the center.

    Taking a glance at the audience section, she spoke loudly, "Is there anyone who wished to challenge me?"

    Izora wanted to raise her hand and go there as she always dreamed to defeat her cousin but never succeeded. Before her marriage, she challenged Evelyn so many times that their battle is almost considered a regular event on this day.

    Unfortunately for her, the hand on her belly reminded her that it is not safe. She clenched her fist and stayed silent to watch a woman slowly making her way toward Evelyn. In one glance, she could identify this woman who had several similar features to that of Albin Ash.

    "Irene of the Ash Clan challenges Elder Crescent."

 Chapter 509 One Punch K.O.

    The battle between the heiress of the Ash Clan and the elder of the violet pavilion is unlike anything spectators have imagined it to happen.

    Irene is someone who was considered a child of heaven. With a platinum grade like ash which she inherited from her mother, her potential is something everyone had expectations on.

    On the other hand, Evelyn is considered barely a genius as it took her more than two centuries to even break through the seven-star realm. She has a gold-grade Arcana.

    Even if she was at the peak stage of the 7-star realm compared to Irene''s intermediate stage of the same realm, the majority of upper echelons of the sect thought that Irene has a solid chance to win.

    But, the result was nothing more than a one-sided battle. From the start, there was never a moment Irene managed to get an upper hand. Evelyn skillfully showed everyone that talent and potential are not a match for experience and hard work.

    The battle also lasted barely four minutes.

    As the healers carried Irene, Evelyn and her steel kangaroo went into waiting mode.

    For the next ten minutes, no one came forward to challenge her.

    Eventually, she returned to VIP Box and sat behind her favorite nephew. As Azzy and Izora were unresponsive and kept their eyes on the field, she leaned to the edge of the seat and stretched her arm forward to pinch Azzy''s cheek, "Brat¡­ no comments about this sis'' performance?"

    Izora responded to her words by casually slapping below her wrist (a gesture to tell Evelyn to take back her arm), "What is there to see, Eve? That woman is too dependent on her Arcana. No wonder she lost."

    As Evelyn freed Azzy''s cheek while commenting that it''s not her fault if others are afraid to challenge her, Azzy spoke as he turned around, "After the first couple of minutes, you changed your fighting style. I didn''t recognize it. What is it? Some of the moves looked quite lethal¡­"

    Evelyn let out a big smile as she heard that. She replied, "Muay Thai, a long lost martial technique from the pre-apocalypse period just like those arts Boxing, Jiu Jitsu, and Taekwondo that you learned under me. I was planning to teach you after you mastered those but you disappeared. Anyways, I can teach you the moves in my free time, later on."

    "Nah, I think I will be too busy with work." Azzy felt that muay thai was too dangerous for him to learn.

    Because of his superior physique, one small mistake from him will result in the loss of human life. What he needed is to master complete control over his strength, not another offensive technique.

    "Alright, your loss¡­" Evelyn shrugged her shoulders.

    Roughly an hour later;

    "The time limit is over. The match is void. Winslet Silver has defended his position as the Elder of the orange Pavilion."

    The ground was repaired by Albin Ash once again as the pavilion master and the failed challenger left the arena.

    He then announced, "Last but not least, it is time to challenge the elder of the red pavilion. Those who wish to challenge me can come forward. You have ten minutes for the first challenger."

    According to the rules, the pavilion masters cannot stand still without any challenger for more than ten minutes. If it happens, then, it is considered that the supposed pavilion master had defended his/her position for the rest of the year.

    Not many were challenged today and the audience was also under the impression that even Albin Ash might not get an opportunity to battle.

    However, the person in question was damn nervous as his attention was largely grabbed by a person sitting in the VIP Box.

    Yup, it is Azzy he was paying attention to.

    When Azzy showcased the ability of the hourglass in front of everyone, he also announced his participation as a challenger.

    However, Azzy has yet to make his move. As the pavilion masters got ignored by Azzy one after another, Albin Ash''s excitement grew.

    As a pavilion master and an experienced fighter, he was confident about his win against Azzy.

    While he won''t be able to earn any praise from his fellow clansmen even if he overpowered Azzy for the latter is nothing but a 14-year-old brat, Albin Ash thought that he could still take revenge for his dear friend (Prince Velez).

    And now, he is the last one left. So, what will Azzy do now? Will he come forward or not? The time is ticking¡­

    Albin Ash waited and waited until he almost ran out of patience and decide to directly throw a challenge, reminding Azzy about his announcement.

    But, thankfully for him, Azzy acted right then. Standing upon his feet, he spoke loud enough for everyone to hear him, "I challenge you, Elder Ash."

    As everyone''s attention shifted toward Azzy, the latter slowly started to walk away from his seat.

    "Be careful, Azzy," said Izora.

    Evelyn then commented with a smirk, "If anyone should be careful, it should be his opponent, Izora."

    Izora shrugged her shoulders and calmly replied, "I also wanted him to hold back so that his opponent is left with some face. Albin''s sister was already humiliated by you."

    "I wonder whether he shares his mother''s sentiments," Evelyn highly doubts that Azzy will hold back his strength as Albin is someone who is known to be a close friend of Prince Velez.

    Meanwhile, Azzy made his way to the field. With the host participating in a battle, Francis Blood was once again forced to act as the Proctor. As for the audience, they couldn''t stop cheering his name now that Azzy is once again their beloved young master.

    Soon, Azzy reached his opponent. The latter spoke, "Don''t you think that you are rushing to become a pavilion master? You are the age where you should be attending school, not teaching others."

    Azzy didn''t know whether Albin was trying to insult him or advice but he doesn''t care either way as he knew that Albin will get beaten up in the end. He shrugged his shoulders and replied, "If you defeat me, I will surely listen to your words, Elder Ash."

    Albin''s facial expression changed upon hearing those words. Was Azzy mocking him that he cannot win? Albin''s ego was hurt and he clenched his fist and made up his mind to give his opponent a humiliating defeat.

    But, the reality ended up being harsher for Albin Ash.

    As the signal for the battle was given by the Proctor, Albin summoned his gourd full of sand while Azzy summoned his Hourglass. He didn''t summon the other arcana spirits, wanting to finish this battle with his fists while showcasing his time abilities.

    The moment Albin saw the hourglass, he quickly decided to cover himself with a condensed ash shield to block whatever spell Azzy was about to unleash. As his defense barrier didn''t form from only energy but a solid physical object, he thought that he can protect himself.

    How could he have known that Azzy possessed the ability to affect the whole world?

    As soon as the battle started and Albin went on the defensive, Azzy unleashed the first soul skill of the Hourglass.

    "Soul skill: Time Stop"

    Time stopped all across the solar system the planets Gaia and Arcana were located.

    All the Supreme Beings in the world sensed it too but Qridus was the only one to be fortunate enough to see it in person.

    As the world froze in time, Qridus'' eyes darted left and right, trying to look around. His whole body is in the same condition as the others.

    He then saw Azzy rush forward. Reaching his opponent, the teenager clenched a fist and gave a powerful punch to Albin''s abdomen which the barrier has yet to cover.

    The shield was broken and Albin Ash flew away with great force. He crashed onto the translucent barrier placed by Francis Blood and cracked it a little bit before falling onto the ground.

    By the time everything became normal, all spectators saw Azzy standing in the position where his opponent was standing earlier and the latter was lying far away in an unconscious state with a couple of bones in his ribs broken.

    "What the hell just happened?"

    Francis stared at him in silence and so was everyone. No one understood what happened earlier. As for the sub-clan leaders, they saw Azzy turning the hourglass upside down and then the result is in front of everyone.

    In the end, they could only assume that Azzy did something with Hourglass to defeat his opponent and became extremely wary of him. But then again, it isn''t their fault. People always fear the unknown.

    Back to the arena, as Albin Ash was taken away by the staff, Francis announced Azzy''s win before informing the interested individuals to come forward.

 Chapter 510 Soul Skill: Time Loop

    After a couple of minutes of waiting, Azzy had a challenger step onto the field.

    The opponent is a prominent elder of the Blood clan who is just a step away from the legendary realm.

    And he is someone familiar to Azzy.

    Arley Blood was the temporary combat instructor at the academy Azzy studied in, during the past timeline. When Izora went on a mission to save the hostage from a dark organization, he replaced her as the teacher and then disappeared without giving any intimation as soon as she returned.

    Azzy wasn''t much of an acquaintance with Arley; hence, he didn''t feel the need to hold back against him too.

    Five minutes later, the battle started.

    A sphere of blood was summoned in Arley''s hands before it transformed into a blood saber.

    Azzy, on the other hand, continued to hold the Hourglass. Instead of summoning his other Arcana, he conjured his four Protos Spears.

    Observing the spears hovering above Azzy''s head, Arley furrowed his brows, "the energy I sense from them is quite similar to that slimy creature Vesryn earlier summoned. This kid might be the one who worked together with his father for the creation of that skill card. That much I can understand. But, what I don''t understand is why I feel like those spears are too familiar. Maybe, it is just d¨¦j¨¤ vu?"

    While Arley was in deep thinking, Azzy spoke, "Mr. Blood, if you aren''t attacking, then, I will."

    As Arley returned to reality and responded by going into his battle stance, Azzy threw one of the Protos Spears at his opponent.

    *Swooosh*

    The Protos Spear cut through the air like lightning and reached him in a matter of seconds. In response, Arley swung the blood saber and struck it.

    The blood saber neutralized the attack in exchange for letting the cosmic energy corrupt it.

    As the blood saber turned black in no time, Arley threw it away and summoned another sphere of blood, which transformed into a blood saber once again.

    Azzy analyzed it with one look. "I see¡­ trying to destroy it is meaningless as it is formless. If I want to kill his Arcana spirit, I would have to find its core. The core might be in his body. Let''s go with plan B."

    He threw the remaining Protos Spears all at the same time.

    Arley Blood quickly unleashed his soul skill, creating a strong blood barrier around him, shaped like a dome.

    The three Protos spears struck the blood dome and spread around to corrupt the barrier.

    Arley dismissed it. The blood barrier disappeared along with the protos energy that corrupted it. "Hmpf¡­ easy¡­" When the barrier is slowing disappearing, he thought that he might have overestimated his opponent too much.

    However, as everything disappeared, he saw Azzy''s right palm facing right instead of left. And the white sand in the hourglass slowly started to fall into the other bulb.

    "Soul skill: Time Loop"

    He was about to move but the soul skill has already come into effect.

    His surroundings were changed. He found himself on the bed as if he has just woken up. "What the hell?"

    Arley couldn''t help but scream, which led the doors to open and someone in maid clothes entered the room.

    She greeted him with a bow, "Good morning, Sir. Is everything alright?"

    "Ms. Maren?" A look of confusion appeared on Arley''s face. "Was that a dream or was this a dream?"

    Meanwhile, in the outside world, everyone saw Arley standing there like a statue. Azzy, on the other hand, slowly started to walk toward his opponent while conversing with the Reaper. "Are you really sure this will work?" He asked.

    This was a soul skill he received the knowledge from the Reaper, back when he was in 4-star-realm but never had the chance to use it on someone or even a beast.

    It is why he was not sure about its effectiveness when facing someone like Arley.

    The Reaper assured him of the success and further opinionated that this soul skill is very hard to master as it involves the willpower of the opponent, not any rank.

    Arley was sent into a time loop where he would spend one day of his life over and over until he finds a way to break out or someone forcefully woke him up. Thankfully for him, his Arcana spirit was also get affected and both of them can work together to break out of the illusion.

    Of course, it also means that Arley will be vulnerable during this time. This was enough for Azzy to close his distance from his opponent and knock him out with consecutive powerful punches.

    Because Azzy didn''t hesitate in knocking him out, Arley couldn''t manage to grasp the way to get out of the illusion and went into an unconscious state.

    *Azrael* Azrael* Azrael* Azrael* Azrael*

    The crowd got up on their feet and cheered his name as Arley was taken away by the healers.

    For the clan members, it''s not important how he did it. All they know is the fact that Azzy can use the hourglass of time and can knock out veterans like Albin Ash and Arley Blood without breaking a sweat.

    And that is enough for the clan members to completely acknowledge Azzy''s strength and give their support.

    After this battle, it also became clear to the experts that Azzy isn''t just a 7-star realm expert. He had skills too. No one came forward to challenge him, fearing that they might humiliate themselves for no reason.

    As the time is up, Francis Blood announced, "Everyone, give a big round of applause for the new pavilion master."

    Amid the cheering, Azzy returned to the seat and Francis continued as a host, giving a finishing speech, "And that brings the closure of the awakening ceremony. I pray that this New Year may bring fortune to your lives and our clan. I also pray for our monarch''s success on his next adventure and wish him luck."

    He turned toward his friend and bowed his head as a way of his final greeting while suppressing his sadness for he knows how dangerous Qridus'' journey is going to be.

    There''s a high chance that this clan head might not even return.

    The other sub-clan leaders were also aware of this. Hence, they too stood up from their seats and deeply bowed in the direction of Qridus. It might be their last bow, they thought.

    One after another, as everyone followed the clan leaders to bow toward the frail-looking old man, the latter let out a smile and raised his hand. "Thank you."

    It was the first time the clan members heard such words from their monarch and they were overwhelmed by emotions all of a sudden. Some of them couldn''t help but shed tears from their eyes¡­

    Meanwhile, Azzy was in his own world, feeling full of excitement. With his dad controlling the entire clan, he thought he can do whatever he wants to. Not that he will do any troublesome things but he just didn''t like his freedom to be restricted. That''s all.

    The next day morning, Qridus bid farewell to the subclan leaders and his Garcia family before leaving the clan village. Vesyrn took charge as the acting monarch of the clan. Azzy took charge as the Elder of Red Pavilion.

    On his first day, he gathered everyone from Red Pavilion to get to know everyone. After the introductions, the vice-elder took him on a tour and explained everything about the pavilion that Azzy needed to know.

 Chapter 511 Naming The Baby

    Two months later;

    Red Pavilion, Death clan village;

    In a private training ground, exclusive to the pavilion master, Azzy was seen meditating while sitting on a rock. The natural energy was slowly getting absorbed by his body before it was refined automatically into soul energy, raising his soul power by a marginal amount.

    Meanwhile, Azzy''s heartbeat was irregular because of tension. His aura sensing is active and he was keeping his concentration on just one aura; the tiny-sized aura in his mother''s belly.

    "Mom might go into labor any day from now. I have yet to find a solution and neither did master give reply to my message. It''s been eight weeks already. I will have to do something to save my sibling¡­ But, what can I do? I don''t have the power to¡­ wait a second¡­ Time¡­"

    All of a sudden, something clicked in his mind, which generated an idea. "My future self controls the protos energy. He can help her but will he? He is the guardian of the timeline and might not change it.

    But, what if my sibling is alive in the original timeline? What if he was actually waiting for me in order to take the action?

    Whatever the case, as long as I can convince, everything would go smoothly.

    Before that, I should think about the most important part. To what year I should time travel?"

    "2124. 102 years from now. It is the year when he time-traveled to meet you in the past." The Reaper''s voice echoed in his head, surprising him a little bit.

    "Chronos, you really think it is a good plan?" he asked. He planned to take the Reaper''s permission as time travel is a nasty business but surprisingly, the latter already gave his approval.

    The Reaper replied, "I have already told you my suggestions. If you want to try out a different method, then, you are free to try. Whether it becomes successful or a failure, it doesn''t matter as all the mortals in the world will disappear in time. Only those who reach the true god realm can live forever.

    Unlike you, your family members don''t possess such potential. They will die someday. You must this fact go into your head. The sooner you realize the truth, the easier it becomes for you."

    "Yeah, I know. You told me many times already." Azzy didn''t take his words too seriously as he was already determined to not only save his unborn sibling from death but also give her a normal future as an Arcana Master.

    To do that, he needed the baby to be able to master the protos energy just like Izora or Azzy''s future self.

    As for how this will happen, he doesn''t have any proper solution at the moment. Hence, he will seek his future self''s advice after meeting him.

    Upon making his decision, Azzy didn''t think of wasting any time putting it into action.

    Summoning the hourglass, he closed his eyes. His consciousness is connected to the hourglass.

    Just as he was about to unleash the soul skill to get to the time stream from where he could travel to any point of time, an envelope made of energy suddenly appeared before him and disappeared into his forehead.

    Azzy''s concentration was disturbed by the video message. He was forced to look at the holographic projection of the guardian god in his head.

    St. Ravens spoke, "Sorry for the late reply, Azrael. I was dealing with a troublesome fellow and got trapped at zero point. I can''t come there either as I have to catch that bastard before he escapes.

    Anyways, we will speak about your problem. I don''t know why Chronos didn''t give you this idea but you have graviton particles sealed behind the neck. You can put them to use.

    If you redirect all of those particles into the fetus, they can hold down the Protos energy by merging with them just like how the gravitational force holds down the matter.

    As a result, not only your unborn sibling will be saved but will also have a high chance to awaken a powerful Arcana spirit.

    Whether you will be willing to sacrifice your power or not entirely depends on your choice.

    Okay, I will have to go. Once I return, I will start training you. Goodbye, my disciple." He waved his hands with a smile before the video was cut off, bringing Azzy back to the real world.

    Opening his eyes, Azzy clenched his fist in happiness, "It looks like there is hope, after all."

    The Reaper, however, was against the plan. "Azrael, as I have told you earlier, I won''t stop you. But, I will have to remind you that giving graviton particles will make the child too strong.

    In the event of the child losing her control in the future, say under someone''s influence, she would bring chaos to the world."

    Azzy didn''t pay heed to the Reaper''s warning as he was afraid that he would listen to him. He argued, "I will not make the same mistake as I did with Barbara, Chronos. I will make sure she will¡­ Hmm¡­ she? Her?"

    Azzy suddenly remembered the Reaper addressing his unborn sibling as ''she'' and ''her''. "Am I going to have a sister?" he asked. The Reaper knows the future and he doesn''t have any reason to lie regarding the baby''s gender. That''s why he was almost confident it will be a baby girl. But, he needed confirmation from the deity too.

    The Reaper thought that revealing the gender wouldn''t change anything and confirmed it for him. "Yes, it is going to be a girl. And if you don''t plan on using ''Age Manipulation'' on the baby, she will be born within three days. So, you really don''t have much time left to make the decision. However, I will say it again. Let the nature take its course and don''t try to change her fate."

    For an elder brother, having a younger sister is different from having a younger brother. Of course, it is not like Azzy''s love will be less if it will be a baby boy but when there is a girl in the equation, protective instincts just kicked into him unknowingly.

    "If she is someone else, I might have turned a blind eye. But, it is my sister, Chronos. I couldn''t let her die when I know a way to save her. You changed my dad''s fate. I didn''t ask you why. Let me do the same for her. I ask you to help me¡­" Azzy was clear in his decision.

    The Reaper could only let out a sigh and reluctantly agree to help him, fulfilling his duty as his Arcana spirit.

    Two days later;

    Star hospital, Graena city, Freyles;

    In the operation theatre, Izora was screaming in pain as the doctors were trying their best to take out the baby. They actually suggested a C-section due to complications but Izora refused it and asked for a natural birth.

    During childbirth, a female Arcana Master, no matter how high their soul realm is, will be as vulnerable as a civilian woman. Izora was also in the same situation; hence the pain.

    Meanwhile, outside the room, Vesyrn was walking back and forth in tension. There are others to accompany him too and they were also a bit tense as they hear the screams of Izora for a while now.

    Perhaps, the only one who is perfectly relaxed was Azzy. The reason behind this is the fact that he no longer saw the aura of death on either of them.

    After another ten to fifteen minutes, Izora screamed loudly for the final time before another cry was heard from the room.

    Sometime later;

    Azzy was carrying a clean baby in his arms with a smile on his face. Vesyrn was grabbing his wife''s arm as the both of them stared at Azzy with smiles.

    As Azzy was about to place the baby nearby his mother, Vesyrn spoke, "Azzy, as promised, the baby is a girl and you will get the opportunity to name her. Now, will you tell us what that name you are keeping a secret?"

    Azzy''s smile became wider as he looked at the baby, "Affea¡­ Her name will be Affea Crescent Garcia."

    "Affea?" Vesyrn and Izora were at once taken aback a little bit and looked at each other, remembering the woman they were familiar with.

 Chapter 512 Three Years Later

    "What is it? Do you not like the name?" Azzy asked while feigning ignorance as his time travel secret wasn''t out yet.

    His parents only know that he has an hourglass, that''s all. They were unaware of the fact that he went to the past and met them.

    Vesyrn shook his head with a smile, "it is a good name. It''s just that we know someone with the same name."

    "Oh, who is it?" Azzy continued to feign ignorance.

    Izora answered, "Mr. Oakley''s wife. She passed away long ago before you were born."

    "Ah! Grandpa never told me about her. Wow, what a coincidence," Azzy faked his expression. Seeing that his parents believed him, Azzy felt a little bit proud of his acting. "So, we will keep the name or¡­"

    "Yeah, we will name her that." Vesyrn gave a nod. As Azzy gave the baby to his parents, they called her by the name three times he gave them.

    "Affea Crescent Garcia" "Affea Crescent Garcia" "Affea Crescent Garcia"

    Azzy became slightly emotional when he saw that as he remembered his foster mother from the past timeline but he managed to control them by removing the chains over his soul orb once again.

    For the next few days, celebrations filled the clan village. Everyone adored the baby girl, especially her maternal granduncle, Kylan Crescent.

    For a while, Azzy was also just like the others. But, as time passed, his feelings changed.

    His mother constantly tend to the baby''s needs while his father was either busy with clan affairs or spending his free time with his daughter.

    Azzy, on the other hand, got heavily ignored by his parents. Maybe, it is because he is a 7-star realm expert and a pavilion master. Most of the clan members treated him like an adult.

    His parents are probably the same. Apart from the usual dinner time, he would rarely talk with his mother. His relationship with his father turned out to be better as they would see each other when discussing clan affairs.

    However, that wasn''t good enough for Azzy as it was all about business. There is no personal talk between the father and son.

    Within a few weeks, he realized that he doesn''t feel closer to them as he did a few weeks ago. And he started feeling jealous of his baby sister.

    He went to great lengths to save her. No one knows what he sacrificed and what he was prepared to sacrifice for the sake of keeping his sister alive. He felt unappreciated as his sister took away his parents from him.

    But then again, he is not a mature adult. He is still a teenager. Feeling that way shouldn''t be unexpected.

    Not wanting to hate his adorable sister, Azzy busied himself with the affairs of Red Pavilion, training, and doing missions for WAMO as one of the zero squad members.

    As a result, the communication between him and his parents took a hit but thankfully, it also made his parents miss him a little bit, especially during dinner time.

    Azzy doesn''t know when his parents realized that their dinner table feels empty but once in three days or a week, he would surely get a message from his mother or his father to attend lunch or dinner and stay with them for a day.

    Things weren''t the same as before but at the very least, Vesyrn and Izora made sure to make Azzy feel like he had a home. But, in Azzy''s heart, his real home is in Aclein city where his grandpa Oakley was living.

    And so, three years passed away in a blink of an eye;

    Garcia Palace, Death clan village;

    Six of the seven pavilion masters gathered in the throne hall, discussing some really important things compared to their usual meetings.

    "Your Majesty, according to the information given by WSA (world space agency), the aliens have already entered our solar system and will reach us in a little over a couple of months at best," said Carvin Blood, the elder of Indigo Pavilion.

    Vesyrn turned serious as he was still expecting two more years for the first phase of the invasion.

    According to the info given by the guardian god, before launching a full-scale invasion, the Arcturian Federation would send a squadron to check the planet''s defensive capabilities.

    The last time the Death clan faced the invasion; it was just one ship but still gave them a lot of trouble. As a person who fought in the battle, Vesyrn wouldn''t want to take this matter lightly now that there is no Qridus as their backup.

    As for Pierre Garcia, the guardian of the clan, he wouldn''t likely participate. Hence, Vesyrn wanted to formulate a perfect strategy to capture all the invaders.

    As these seven Arcana Masters were discussing things in Azzy''s absence, their meeting was disturbed by the sudden burst of the door and the entry of a cute-looking little girl.

    The three-year-old had both of the features of her parents. She has large black eyes like her mother but a pointy nose like her father. Her skin tone looks similar to that of healthy wheat like her brother and father but the skin is a bit stretchy and no hair follicles are present on the limbs either like her mother''s.

    While she is quite expressive like her father, her personality is quite different from the rest. As for her talent, experts say that her talent is more monstrous than Azzy''s.

    But then again, they weren''t wrong. The girl started crawling only at six weeks; started walking at the age of 3 months old; speak fluently before she turned 1; most importantly, she could just climb the gravity stairs, the staircase to Violet Pavilion without a problem even though she has yet to awaken her Arcana and train her soul energy.

    Well, this has to do with the fact that she was born with graviton particles (as a result of Azzy''s intervention in her fate). However, people don''t know that. Hence, they were under the impression that it is her passive ability.

    The fact that she can suppress Arcana Masters of 5-star realm experts and put considerable pressure on even 7-star realm experts by just using her inborn skill shows how much of a monster she was in the eyes of clan members. Unfortunately, due to her spoiled personality, she wasn''t exactly the most loved person in the clan.

    And at the moment, she looks quite angry.

    Stepping inside the throne hall with two door guards forcefully kneeling outside the door, she spoke loudly, "papa, it is 11 o''clock. Chuckie was supposed to return by now. He is also not responding to mama''s messages either. I''m not happy."

    The pavilion masters flinched for a second and Vesyrn didn''t like her behavior for sure. A deep frown appeared on his face for a moment before he forcefully calmed himself down and left his throne and walked toward his daughter while putting up a fake smile on his face.

    Reaching the little girl, he kneeled on his right leg to level to the girl''s height and patted her head before saying, "Affy, papa is currently in an important meeting. After this is over, I''ll bring him back myself, okay?"

    "No." The little girl firmly shook her head, not intending to agree to her father''s request. "Chuckie made a pinky promise with me and he didn''t fulfill it again."

    One of the pavilion masters, Carvin Blood then carefully said, "Young miss, your brother is currently in an important phase of training. He might be¡­"

    Before he finished his words, the little girl turned her head in his direction and sharply glared at him. Her eyes turned pitch-black and an invisible dome-shaped barrier appeared in the surroundings over 10 meters in diameter.

    In an instant, all the elders who were standing in the range felt like they were rejected by Gaia herself. They found themselves suspended in the air. Even Vesyrn wasn''t spared either.

    Luckily for the pavilion masters, all of them were familiar with flying and this isn''t the first time they were facing such a phenomenon either. Hence, they managed to get out of the no-gravity bubble and landed on the floor.

    Meanwhile, Vesyrn, who managed to find his balance in the no-gravity zone, looked at his daughter and spoke, "If I remember correctly, Azzy said he will return by 11 to play with you. He didn''t say which 11. I think he might be talking about the evening. He didn''t break the promise. You must wait for another 12 hours."

    "Ah, is that so?" Little Affea blinked her eyes a few times before she retracted her power. "Then, I will go back and wait¡­" She turned around and left the room while skipping and humming some tune as if nothing happened.

    Everyone: "¡­"

 Chapter 513 The Guardian God And The Mother Goddess

    As she left everyone''s sight, Vesyrn inwardly sighed, "Affy is growing stronger quicker than I expected. It should be a good thing but her personality isn''t improving either. She''s becoming too spoiled because of Izora. That woman doesn''t let me scold her even a little bit and Azzy, sigh¡­ I don''t know what''s up with that kid either. He doesn''t tell anything about his training or his work life.

    Once, this preliminary war is over, I guess I should put more focus on my family."

    Meanwhile, in a world located atleast ten light years away from the planet of Gaia, a six-foot handsome teenager with an athletic physique but messy hair was floating just above the ocean of lava.

    He appeared to be in the middle of meditation while continuously absorbing a tremendous amount of natural energy from the lava flowing below him.

    His soul was in spectator mode as a new planet-sized object was slowly forming within his soul orb. As the eighth planet was completed, he opened his eyes. A silver ring briefly appeared around both of his irises before they disappeared.

    *Sigh*

    A long sigh was heard in his head, followed by the words, "A pity indeed. You almost managed to knock on the door of the ninth tier of Divine physique. It looks like your breakthrough isn''t enough for the task."

    Azzy couldn''t help but ask, "Why is it so hard to reach the ninth tier, Chronos?" He appeared to be slightly frustrated as it has been a couple of years since he reached the peak stage of the eighth-tier physique. For a person born with unlimited potential, the situation is indeed an abnormal one.

    "Natural energy is a part of Goddess Gaia. The Jinn, on the other hand, was filled with dark matter, which is a purified form of demonic energy. Note that both are polar opposites in nature and it is almost next to impossible for those energies to coexist," explained the Reaper.

    "Yeah, I figured that out long ago."Azzy nodded and asked the Reaper for an alternate solution. "What should we do now? Can''t sacrifice Jinn for a mere breakthrough. He is now my Arcana spirit and proved himself to be quite useful. There must be another way."

    The Reaper named just one place, "The forest of death."

    Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet where there is nothing but ice and snow, Leah was seen sparring against the guardian god with everything she has got without worrying about the destruction caused in the surroundings.

    The ground is splitting, the ice is constantly getting destroyed and reformed, and the cold winds were getting wilder as time passed by.

    But, neither Leah nor the guardian god was affected by the changes in the environment. Their pace of the battle wasn''t slowed down a bit.

    "Izarok, use Glacial Spikes."

    The Aqua girl (Leah''s second Arcana spirit) unleashed a series of torrents of water and attacked the guardian god. However, because of the low temperature (-200C), the water turned to ice, becoming solid attacks.

    The guardian god let out a smile as he gave a nod, "Good move. However¡­"

    He then stretched his arms wide and mumbled, "Heavenly Push."

    A gust of wind escaped from his body and struck the glacial spikes head-on at the same time. However, it didn''t destroy them. Instead, the wind slowly changed the direction as fluidly as water and pushed them from the side.

    The glacial spikes have changed their direction and entirely missed him. They crashed into each other and exploded into powder.

    Looking at his stunned student, he said, "You need to be smarter, Leah. You have the perfect mastery over the elements, unlike that disciple of mine. However, it isn''t enough. You need to control the elements as you own them, not host them.

    If you want to revive the Empire of Arcana and rule it as the Queen Regnant, then, you must gain acknowledgment from your destined knight. And that can only be possible when your strength should atleast be in the same league as his.

    Anyways, Azrael looked like he made a breakthrough. He will be returning to the clan to prepare for the upcoming war. Camelot has no role in this one. So, for the next couple of months, you will continue to train on this planet."

    Leah nodded seriously, "I understand, teacher."

    "Good¡­ now, let''s continue with the spar¡­" The guardian god split into two before one disappeared while the other gestured for her to proceed.

    A couple of hours later;

    In a 0-degree longitude region where the temperature is around 30 C, there was a tent placed on the ground which looked normal on the outside but is like a mansion inside. It was the same one Sapphire Magnolis gave Azzy a long time ago as compensation.

    The three of them were sitting around the dining table like a family and having lunch.

    "Wow, she has grown so big already," exclaimed Leah as she was looking at the pictures saved on Azzy''s smartphone. "I wish I could return with you¡­"

    "Yeah, I wish the same." Azzy nodded in agreement, "Affy likes you very much. You don''t know how many times she asked me to take her to Camelot."

    The guardian god then commented, "Too bad that her fate isn''t linked with me. I cannot take her as my disciple. She has the potential to be the next Gaia."

    As Azzy and Leah stayed silent, not knowing, how they should reply to his statement, a sweet but powerful voice interrupted their conversation. "It looks like someone is planning to retire me?"

    All of them turned their heads toward the entrance of the tent where they saw a woman walking toward them.

    Her presence was magnetic, drawing everyone''s attention toward her as she gracefully walked into the room.

    Her eyes sparkled with intelligence, and her infectious smile lit up the space.

    Confident, yet humble, she carried herself with a natural ease that spoke of inner strength and resilience. She was the kind of person who made a positive impact on those around her without even trying.

    "Gaia¡­" A pleasant smile appeared on the guardian god''s face.

    "Sorry for the late," said the woman whose presence bring a smile to Leah and even Azzy''s lips. Both of them got up from their seat and bowed to the person who reminded them of their respective mothers.

    "It''s been a while, Leah, Azrael¡­ Especially, you, Azrael. You grew up quite fast." Gaia returned the greetings as she approached the table.

    "Thank you" Azrael and Leah continued to look at her feet. They refused to look at her face for some reason.

    The mother goddess didn''t mind that and took the seat beside the guardian god and said, "The meeting at the Olympia went longer than I expected. It appeared that Archangel Michael is planning something big and Zeus isn''t happy about it as it will topple the balance of the universe. He proposed for the war as always."

    The moment Michael''s name came up, Azzy''s face suddenly raised and he looked at her directly before turning his gaze away.

    Sensing the changes in Azzy''s emotions, the mother goddess smiled at the teenager and said, "Don''t worry. No one is in favor of the war. Your father-in-law is safe."

    Azzy blushed in embarrassment, "He is not my father-in-law. He doesn''t even know my existence. And I''m not even sure whether Claire still loves me or even remembers me¡­"

    As Leah tried to maintain a fake smile on her face, the mother goddess let out a chuckle, "Relationships of intelligent mortal species like you humans are quite interesting indeed. The gods at the Olympia have complex relationships. As for me¡­ sigh¡­"

    She wiped out the smile and let out a sigh of disappointment as she continued, "I can only see a person where it is a mortal or a god through the lens of a mother. Everyone is my child and even the gods see me as their mother figure." Her emotions suddenly changed and the smile returned to her face once again as she grabbed the guardian god''s hand. "Fortunately, there is someone who would make me feel like a woman, even if it is for a brief period every once in a while."

    "That''s because my powers come from the null dimension and your inborn ability has no effect on me, Gaia," commented the guardian god in a casual tone while continuing to hold her hand. He locked his fingers with hers and the smile on Gaia widened.

    The mother goddess joined them for the lunch and ate with them just like any other human does even though she doesn''t actually need food in the first place. Strangely, until the end, the guardian god refused to leave her hand and was willing to use energy hands instead.

    Leah found it extremely weird but she cannot speak it out as she knows her place. Gaia also found it weird but she likes it and didn''t reject the skinship. Azzy looked like he doesn''t care about it. Not to mention the fact that this wasn''t the first time this scene was happening in the past couple of years.

    After a while, the mother goddess left them and Azzy also bid his farewell to Leah, returning to the home of the guardian god along with the latter.

    Once they appeared in the pocket dimension where only the master and disciple are present, the guardian god''s expression changed to that of seriousness as he looked at Azzy.

    As he raised his hand, a cube-shaped blue energy with a golden energy sphere inside appeared over his palm. "Be careful, Azrael. I risk my relationship with Gaia by slowly stealing her divine energy over the past couple of years without her knowledge. I hope this much will be enough."

    Azzy carefully took it into his hands and placed it in his storage card. "Thank you, Master."

    "I hope you know what you are doing." As the guardian god warned his disciple to not be reckless, the latter firmly nodded, "Yes, I am."

 Chapter 514 New Mission

    After returning to his home planet, Azzy finally received the messages sent by his parents but he didn''t return to the clan and neither did he has given his reply to them.

    Instead, he directly went to the ruins of a ghost town located in the Northern Qudour where the pocket dimension is hidden.

    Upon entering the secret facility of Dr. Mac, he directly went to the control room and no robot roaming around stopped him either.

    As he entered the place using his biometrics and retina scan, Azzy saw the scientist working with some gun that is emitting something similar to that of a laser beam. Its power was quite high.

    She was using it to cutting down a shield made of 92% adamantine. And the result was a clean cut.

    "Hello, Doc," greeted the teenager.

    Raising the gun, Dr. Mac turned around with a smile and spoke, "Azrael, come and look at the new prototype, although it was more of an upgrade rather than a new invention."

    "What is it?" asked Azzy.

    Dr. Mac answered as she threw it to him casually, "This is a laser gun that can shoot concentrated beams of dark matter."

    Azzy caught it in reflex and observed it. The gun looked just like an ordinary semi-automatic gun used by police officers but is quite heavy. "Adamantium." He mumbled.

    Azzy then removed the magazine to check what kind of ammunition it uses. He saw the magazine is full of bullet-sized capsules with transparent liquid like water.

    Dr. Mac then said, "It is liquefied dark matter, which will transform into pure energy once it escapes the capsule. Thanks to Demon Berith''s blood, we managed to create it. We have a long way to go to create our own dark matter bullets but for now, we need demonic creatures as captives. Aria has gone to the hell realm to acquire test subjects but I could also use your help. There are a ton of them in Arcana world. They have low purity of demonic energy but we can somehow manage with them."

    "I just made a breakthrough to the 8-star realm, Doc. I''m mentally tired and want to do normal stuff for the moment. Not to mention, there''s an upcoming invasion from your former home." Azzy doesn''t fear the creatures above his realm but it is just that he wants this alien scientist to focus on something else.

    "Alright. Tell me when you are ready then."

    Dr. Mac gave him the time he deserved as she wasn''t that desperate to research dark matter too. For a moment, even she thought of going on a vacation for a couple of weeks.

    Little did she expect Azzy to suddenly take out the energy cube that is trapping the divine energy of Gaia and hand it over to her.

    Her eyes widened in shock followed by her limbs started shivering in excitement as she took it into her hands. "Wow, I never knew about this. When did you make it to the core of the planet and how did you achieve this?"

    "Trade secret." Azzy didn''t tell her about his relationship with the guardian god and the mother goddess. He decided to stay mysterious.

    Dr. Mac knew that Azzy has a lot of secrets that even she wasn''t aware of. She didn''t push him too and just promised him that she will return him with a piece of good news as quickly as possible.

    Soon, Azzy bid his farewell to the scientist and decided to return to the clan as he has nothing else to do there. But, before that, he would have to report to work as it has been more than two months since he has shown his face to his superior.

    Hence, Azzy went to WAMO''s Headquarters and met the supreme commander. As soon as the elf sees him, he neither greeted him nor did he ask what the teenager was doing during the past couple of months.

    Instead, he casually took out a file from the drawer and placed it on the table. "You are back at the perfect time. There''s a new mission that came in. If you are interested, then, we''ll proceed with the new identity."

    "New identity?" Azzy was surely taken aback by Kruger''s words and quickly opened the file to look at the details.

    It has the list of a few kids and their biodata. All of them were the sons and daughters of military commanders, wealthy families, politicians, and so on. Basically, they are all from influential families.

    Of them, there was one particular kid that stood out, not because she is the only daughter of the President of a nation but it is because that president is Azzy''s friend.

    "Serestia Leveret? Mia''s daughter?" Azzy observed the image carefully once again. Remembering the boyish girl from nearly three years ago, he thought, "She has changed quite a bit, became more girly I guess. I met Mia a few times during these past few years but never get to meet this niece of mine. I guess this is a good opportunity. But that also means that I will have to be away from home for a while. I wonder how long. Ugh¡­ Affy is going to throw a fit again."

    As the supreme commander of the organization spotted Azzy staring at a certain page longer than necessary, he couldn''t help but comment, "It looks like someone caught your attention?"

    His serious tone indicated that he was genuinely curious, not teasing his subordinate. Azzy understood that much and he decided to be honest with his superior too. Showing the image of Serestia, he said, "It''s my friend''s daughter."

    "That''s right." Kruger went on to reveal to him that she is the primary reason that this mission is assigned to him.

    "I see..."

    Azzy nodded in understanding and flipped the documents. He found out that he will have to go to Emerald Academy as an official of WAMO and work there as a replacement theoretical combat instructor as well as class 10-A''s homeroom teacher for the next three weeks.

    As for his mission, he will have to make sure that none of them gets abducted during this time while trying to locate their agent (the past teacher) who went missing.

    The remaining details weren''t written in the documents. Hence, Azzy enquired with his superior right away to get clarification on the matter.

    Who is the enemy? Why were they targeted? What will happen after three weeks? Azzy wanted answers.

    However, for some reason, his superior isn''t interested to divulge the details. When enquired, he just said, "no questions. If you are up for this task, then, go. Or else, we will send Captain Rudra."

    Azzy frowned inwardly but didn''t say anything, feeling that the matter must be quite confidential.

    Placing the file in his storage card, he asked, "When is my departure?"

    "The school runs only on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Today is Saturday. So, you have three days to report at the academy," replied the elf.

    Azzy then saluted, "I understand."

    "Good, you may leave."

    Azzy turned around to walk away. Just as he reached the entrance/exit of the room, he halted his footsteps and turned his head, "Sir, one last question. Why am I posing as a teacher? With my appearance, I can pass off as a student. You can create a background story for my sudden enrollment."

    "I know." Kruger nodded firmly. Before Azzy ask him why, he raised his thumb, index, and middle fingers, "But there are not one but three reasons. One, there''s already an agent posing as a student. Two, you wouldn''t likely follow the orders of instructors who are weaker than you in combat. I''m sure of it. And three, we need someone who can use their authority to put those rebellious spoiled brats in check. A teacher would have such a right."

    "I see," Azzy grabbed his chin and thought about it. He felt like his superior was right. He saluted once again and left the room.

    Meanwhile, somewhere in Zuweth nation, on a train traveling in the middle of a vast desert, there was a group of mostly middle-aged people sitting together in a compartment with their respective bodyguards behind them.

    At the moment, all of them were intently listening to a young man with a blindfold for some reason. His voice was also quite commanding as if he was talking to subordinates.

    "The treaty will be signed on March 6th. I don''t care how you lot will do it but I need all those kids as our captive by the night of March 5th. You just have four weeks to accomplish the task. Understand?"

 Chapter 515 First Day As A Teacher (Part-1)

    Feb 9th, 2022;

    Garcia family compound, Death clan village;

    Standing outside the Garcia palace, Azzy was talking to his parents, more like saying goodbye to them.

    It was around the time of dawn and there weren''t many people roaming around except for the guards who are stationed at the palace. Little Affy also seemed absent when her brother is leaving. She''s probably asleep.

    "Do you have to go?" Izora asked him for the nth time with a disappointed expression. She doesn''t mean that he should not accept this mission. Since Azzy was going there as an instructor, he could just commute from home every day.

    But, Azzy couldn''t do it because he also had another secret mission and he doesn''t want to take the help of his clan for investigation. Not to mention the fact that he will have to protect the students from any unexpected danger.

    Azzy looked at her and smiled as he sealed his soul orb using the Decarune seal, "It''s a part of my job, mom. I''ll have to go."

    "But, you are just 17. Your superior is really insane to give you such a mission," said Izora with a little bit of resentment toward the elf. "Why were you even working for someone in the first place?"

    Azzy let out a sigh and replied, "We talked about this already. Everyone makes a choice and I have made mine." He then looked at Vesyrn and nodded, "Dad¡­"

    Vesyrn had a lot of things to say but in the end, he just placed his hand on his son''s shoulder with a smile, "be sure to come home once in a while, son."

    "You can bet on it."

    Waving his hand, he slowly rose into the air and flew away from the palace, leaving the clan village.

    After teleporting to the Arcana world''s Emerald city, a place in a level-3 region, Azzy made his way to the academy that was founded just about 15 years ago and yet produced two junior world champions so far.

    No one has any idea who their financer is but they managed to rope in several star teachers who worked in top-tier academies. Despite such fact, there were only two legendary realm experts in the academy.

    Upon reaching one of the gates of the academy, he was stopped by the guards as expected.

    As Azzy showed the appointment letter, he was escorted to the principal''s office, not because of respect but it is because they couldn''t just trust a stranger even if the appointment letter appeared real. Adding to the fact that they couldn''t sense any soul energy from Azzy, they couldn''t help but stay suspicious until he was cleared of it.

    Azzy didn''t care about their actions and he just casually observed his surroundings as he went to the academy building. There, they waited for another 15 minutes as none of the staff members including the principal arrived. It appeared that the school timings were slightly different here.

    And all this time, Azzy didn''t speak a bit.

    It was only after the arrival of an old man in black robes with a goatee that Azzy opened his mouth.

    "You must be Mr. Gary, the new homeroom teacher. I''m George Danvary." The old man shook hands with Azzy, making the guard slightly relieved.

    "Please, Gary is enough, Sir," replied Azzy with a smile. That''s right. He was no longer Azrael Garcia. He was operating under the name, "Gary" for this mission. The only problem is the fact that there is a student who knew his real identity and he needed to make sure that she cooperates with him.

    "Okay Gary, please follow me." After sending away the guard, the principal took Azzy to his office and locked the door before unleashing a noise-canceling barrier to talk with Azzy.

    The old man turned serious all of a sudden, getting straight to the matter.

    "Mr. Garcia, I received the orders from WAMO and the school will cooperate with you with whatever you want. However, I must warn you about two people here though."

    "Who is it?" asked Azzy.

    The principal answered as he took his seat, "Our vice principal, Aaron. And our combat instructor for tenth grade, Snivy. The vice principal is someone related to our financer and Ms. Snivy is quite aggressive. She will choose violence at the slightest disagreement. She might be at the beginner stage of Exalt realm (low-rank-7) but her combat prowess is something hard to match.

    Of course, an elite captain from WAMO like you might not take her seriously but still, she is someone to be watched out for because of her platinum grade Arcana."

    "Snivy? Is that the same girl I know?" Azzy wondered. "But, she has a gold-grade Arcana spirit. Even if her Arcana spirit gets mutated during the breakthrough, it won''t be platinum-grade. Maybe, she is the girl I know."

    As Azzy fell into thoughts, the principal waited until the former get back to reality and replied that he will keep it in mind.

    The principal then said, "My personal assistant will take you to your dorm. If you want to have a quick tour, she will show you around too. The classes will start at 11. So, there''s an ample amount of time, Captain."

    After a while, Azzy was seen following a curvaceous woman as she was leading him to the teachers'' dorm.

    On the way, Azzy didn''t shy away from learning about the situation in the academy, like who were the problematic kids, what were the rules implemented by the disciplinary council or student council, how tournaments are conducted, who were the ones with the best academics or talent in practical combat but hail from a middle class, working class, or with very low income, information about this vice principal, class representative, etc¡­

    Since he was already here, Azzy thought of doing a favor to his boss by scouting potential talents so that they could be recruited by WAMO after their graduation, although he doesn''t have much expectation because the quality of one''s Arcana spirit has been reduced quite a lot compared to three decades ago.

    Soon, they reached the building, which looked like a normal seven-story apartment one would find anywhere in towns and cities, except that this building didn''t have any security arrangements, not even a single guard at the gate or on the ground floor. Azzy thought that it is not a big deal.

    They entered the lift and went straight to the fifth floor. As they got out, Azzy''s eyes captured a person on the floor. It was a man who had a bunch of keys in his hand and is struggling to open the lock as he has yet to find the right one.

    But, that is not the main point.

    This man with spiky white hair, probably a teacher, had a blindfold around his eyes. It is what increased Azzy''s curiosity.

    Meanwhile, the personal assistant''s smile widened as she called him out from the end of the hallway as if she is too happy to see him. "Mr. Aaron¡­"

    The man in blindfold heard it and tilted his head to the side and spoke in surprise, "Ms. Maria? What are you doing here?"

    "I''m escorting Mr. Gary to his room. He was appointed to replace Mr. Alder," replied the woman in a loud tone without caring about her image in front of Azzy.

    The blindfolded man was taken aback and abruptly turned toward the left, "There''s another person? I couldn''t sense his soul energy at all."

    At the same time, the Reaper''s voice echoed in Azzy''s head, "Careful, this fellow has one of the cosmic eyes, the Eyes of Mystic, hiding behind that piece of cloth."

    "Eyes of Mystic, huh!"

 Chapter 516 First Day As A Teacher (Part-2)

    "Hello, I''m Gary." Azzy introduced himself with a fake identity he was given.

    "Aaron," replied the blindfolded man with a smile on his face before adding, "I must say your mastery over soul energy is quite high. If we met on the streets, I would mistake you for a civilian."

    "Me too," Azzy nodded while keeping up a fake smile on his face. He added, "If we meet on the streets, I would have probably assumed that you are blind at one glance."

    Aaron got alerted at once and tried to feign ignorance for some reason, "What are you saying?"

    The woman then came forward to support the vice principal of the academy, "He is really blind, Mr. Gary."

    "Is that so?" Azzy looked at the blindfolded guy while wondering what his deal is. From three years of experience doing missions all over the world, Azzy did develop a certain level of intuition, which saying him that Aaron is fishy.

    But then again, as he cannot jeopardize his mission over something unrelated, Azzy acted as if he was mistaken. He apologized to the blindfolded guy, "I''m sorry."

    "No, it''s alright¡­"

    After a while, the principal''s personal assistant left and Azzy entered his room, which is next to Aaron''s.

    Sitting down on the bed, he started meditating as there isn''t much to do.

    Meanwhile, in the next room, Aaron was wondering about Azzy''s identity. And he doesn''t seem thrilled by their meeting either.

    "That young man; something is off about him. I can feel it." Aaron mumbled as he was making pancakes. "Not to mention, it has only been three days since we took out Alder away from our path. Appointing a replacement can be done but an expert who can mask his soul energy even from an 8-star-realm Arcana Master like me? Something is not right here. Hmm, I think it is best to test his strength before we make our move."

    A creepy laugh escaped from Aaron as he flipped the pancakes. "That busty girl is the perfect one for this job."

    A few hours later, at the girl''s dormitory;

    In one of the rooms located on the third floor, a teenage couple was having a passionate s*x in the morning. They have been at it for the past 40 minutes and still weren''t done.

    Continuing to moan, the girl spoke as she glanced at the wall clock, "hurry up, Bill. It''s almost 10:30. I need to go for a shower."

    "Alright¡­ alright¡­" The boy taking heavy breaths forced himself to finish it and a couple of minutes later, both of them dressed up.

    Giving the girl one last kiss, the boy decided to escape through the window but it appeared that the girl has something to talk to him about. She grabbed his hand when he turned around to walk away.

    "What is it?" he asked.

    As the girl became silent and seemed to be hesitating, the boy said after a few seconds, "you are the one who wanted to finish me early so that you have time for the shower. Now, you are the one who was wasting time, Laura."

    The girl replied, "I want to make our relationship public."

    "Eh?" The boy was taken aback. He stepped back in surprise and said, "You do know who I am engaged to, right? Serestia''s mom will kill us if we come out like this."

    "Then, when will you break off that engagement." The girl became frustrated by his words. Looking straight into his eyes, she added, "You have been saying the same thing for the past two years. And now, our relationship has already progressed to the next level and yet, you are doing nothing."

    The boy''s expression softened and he gently grabbed his lover''s face, "look, Laura. We cannot break off the engagement from our end. It needs to be done on Serestia''s part. There are still two months left till our graduation. I''ve been working on my end. If I can''t make her break off the engagement by the time of graduation, we''ll run away together, okay?"

    "Really? You promise?" As a hopeful look appeared on the girl, the boy nodded with a smile, "I promise."

    They hugged one more time before the boy left the girl''s dormitory and started returning to his room.

    As he was in a hurry, he was moving too fast that he momentarily lost control over his feet. The boy collided with someone as he made a sharp turn around a corner and flew back a few meters before falling into the bushes.

    "Ouch"

    Bill rubbed his chest as he slowly put out his head. He saw a stranger who appeared to be around his age standing there in silence and looking at him.

    Azzy instantly recognized the boy as he is on the list. Hence, he forgave the teenager as it was just an accident and asked whether he is hurt or anything by the collision, "You alright there?"

    "Yeah," The boy slowly came out of the bushes. "Who are you?" he asked while taking out a healing card and applying it on himself to ease off the pain in his ribs.

    Azzy replied, "You will know that soon but why were you coming from this direction?" He asked while pointing his finger in a certain direction where only the girls'' dormitory, arena, building for student council and clubs, and greenhouse are located.

    According to what Azzy gathered so far, Bill wasn''t in student council; clubs were open only after 3 p.m.; the arena is used only for official fights; the greenhouse is restricted to the students;

    Since the academy didn''t forbid any relationships, Azzy highly suspected that Bill probably went to see a girl. Atleast, that''s what his intuition tells him.

    Meanwhile, the boy panicked at the question. He attempted to dodge it by speaking in a serious tone, thinking that Azzy is probably a visitor or someone''s relative, "Look, bro. It''s not your business where I am coming from. I''m getting late for the class. I need to get back quickly. If you were hurt earlier, then, I''m sorry. If you excuse me¡­"

    He quickly disappeared from Azzy''s view, making the latter shake his head with a smile, "Immaturity. Anyway, let''s go and¡­"

    After a while, Azzy reached the girls'' dormitory. He didn''t go inside and just informed the security guard to inform the warden that Serestia Leveret was summoned to the principal''s office.

    Once he was done, Azzy went to the administration building and wait there at the principal''s office for 20 minutes before a double knock was heard on the door, followed by the entry of the girl he was waiting for.

    Little did he expect to sense a strange yet familiar power within his niece as soon as his gaze fell upon her. His eyes widened in surprise just like Serestia''s, although for a different reason.

    "Uncle Azrael, it''s you?" Serestia almost screamed in surprise before the principal hurriedly cast a barrier. Unluckily for them, Maria, the personal assistant was nearby and heard it by coincidence.

    While Maria was wondering who this Azrael is, Azzy, the person in question, wiped off the shock from his face and replaced it with a smile, greeting his niece-like figure, "Hello, Serestia. It''s been a while."

 Chapter 517 First Day As A Teacher (Part-3)

    A few minutes later at the principal''s office;

    "So, you are on a mission to capture the culprit behind teacher Alder''s disappearance, huh? And I wouldn''t have to act like strangers with you but still, you and my mom met only once or twice?"

    Serestia wasn''t told about the whole mission as Azzy thought it would unnecessarily cause panic among the other students if it was ever leaked by accident.

    And since he cannot afford to trust her to keep all the secrets, he thought it is better to reveal a tiny secret to hide a bigger one.

    Hence, rather than acting like strangers, he told Serestia to act like they were familiar with each other but met only through her father.

    The story is that Calder and Gary are close friends. He and Serestia met a lot of times and are close too. However, he and Mia were practically strangers.

    There''s nothing true in that story but for the sake of his mission, Azzy had to gain the trust of the kids in his class and he expects the girl to keep it that way, atleast for the next few weeks. If this doesn''t work, he will work in his own way.

    Serestia made her promise and Azzy was satisfied.

    After a while, at class 10-A, students arrived one after another and seated in their seats before taking out their notebooks to prepare for the upcoming annual examinations.

    The class monitor, Laura, took everyone''s attendance and continued to stay at the teacher''s desk as usual. She was observing everyone but most of her attention was fixated on the boy she had secretly in a relationship with.

    Bill, meanwhile, was chatting with Serestia with all smiles on his face. This was irritating to her but Laura kept her cool for the time.

    Back to Serestia, she was already spilling beans about her "dear" uncle coming as their new teacher and unnecessarily hyping up Azzy''s combat prowess as well as his youthful looks.

    "Really? I wonder whether he had a girlfriend?" curiously commented the girl sitting behind Serestia, taking her by surprise as she thought she was only saying it to her fianc¨¦.

    "Navi, bro¡­ stop ambushing me like that," Serestia reached out to her bestie''s chubby cheeks. The latter dodged it swiftly by moving her head back and said, "Just tell us, Sera, will ya."

    "I''m not sure about that either. Chances are that he has one," replied Serestia without confidence. Seeing how her uncle looks like a teenager, it would be tough to score a young adult woman. Or so, thought the girl, not knowing that Azzy is only one year older than her.

    Meanwhile, in the staff room, the teachers gathered as the principal called for a meeting.

    They thought he was going to announce something but it was only for introducing Azzy to his colleagues.

    Everyone, naturally, felt a little bit suspicious of the principal''s actions. He never did that for any teacher currently sitting in the room. "Is that anything special about him?" Almost every teacher thought the same as the principal introducing each one to Azzy using a polite tone, which is anything but normal.

    It was the first time Azzy took up the profession of teacher. Hence, he thought that this is the formality one has to go through and he went on with the flow.

    One good thing this meeting did for Azzy is the fact that he gets to see not one but two old faces, except that both of them acted cold toward him.

    Azzy didn''t know their reasons but he didn''t get angry with them and tried to get along.

    While Snivy, the busty short lady stormed out of the staff room without bothering to converse with anyone else, Flora, on the other hand, was in complete interrogative mode.

    She, somehow, ended up as a mathematics teacher, and coincidentally, Snivy''s assistant for the practical combat classes. She''s also the homeroom teacher for class 10-B.

    She kept asking questions like where did he graduate, how did he get this job, where else he worked, in what field of academics did he excel in, where he was from, why he chose this academy in the first place, what is his true age, what is his soul realm, what is his salary, etc¡­

    Azzy calmly dealt with her by providing all the information created by WAMO and asked her about the students like how they were dealing in her class.

    As for the others, they just casually conversed with Azzy before leaving for their own classes.

    After a while, both of them were seen walking together in a corridor on the fifth floor of the academy building, going in the same direction.

    "So, you landed this job because of Sera''s dad? You lied to us back there," said Flora.

    Azzy answered his former sister-like figure from his high school while maintaining his fake smile, "I''m in Exalt realm, you know. I can get a job anywhere I want whether someone recommended my name or not."

    "Yes, that''s true but not any job you know," replied Flora in a sharp tone. "You cannot become a subject teacher just by having a high soul realm."

    Azzy quickly countered with a fact, "I know. That''s why I applied for the theoretical combat instructor position; I don''t need to specialize in any subject to become one.

    As for being a homeroom teacher, as long as I can understand their problems and provide them the guidance they need, it will be enough, right, Glacy? Oops."

    "Glacy?" As Flora suddenly stopped walking and stared at him, Azzy realized his mistake and apologized, "Sorry, it''s my bad habit. I''ll keep my mouth in control next time, Ms. Flora. Oh, my class is here. See you next time."

    Azzy knew that he almost messed up and didn''t want to highlight this matter further. Hence, he tried to get away quickly by picking up his pace and walking into the class.

    Meanwhile, Flora furrowed his brows as she stared at his back while in deep thinking, "Glacy? It''s been a while since I last heard that nickname. But, how did he know about it? Did he hear from Mr. Calder? Come to think of it, his accent also appeared to be a mix of Northern Qudour and Southern Qudour as if he lived in both of the nations for a considerable amount of time."

    After standing there in a daze for ten or so seconds, Flora shook her head and proceeded to walk as Azzy entered the classroom and closed the door.

    In the meantime, the students of class 10-A fell into silence as Azzy introduced himself and sent away the class monitor to her desk. They couldn''t believe their eyes for a while, wondering whether this is real or a prank.

    Seeing the suspicious look on several students, Azzy understood it perfectly but continued with his act as if he didn''t see it, "Now, sit down. I have a few things to announce to all of you."

    He changed his tone from the next-door boy to someone like a commanding officer in the military, startling everyone.

    As the students took their seats with Serestia grinning like a fool, Azzy continued while puffing up his chest and standing like an officer, "Here are some rules in my class. Listen carefully. Whether it is in the homeroom period or the theoretical combat class, I need pin-drop silence. Only those who had doubts can raise their hand and open their mouth.

    If you come late to the morning class, you should be prepared for the punishment.

    If you cannot stay awake for some reason, you can sleep in my classes as long as you don''t disturb the class by snoring.

    The homeroom period is for self-study. And I expect no one to discuss it with anyone either. You can use message cards to converse if you wish.

    If you have any worries, you just need to write them on a piece of paper and hand it to me. It doesn''t matter if it is schooling hours or not. However, trying to be funny with me will lead to drastic consequences.

    I''m not a person who likes to listen to my superiors or people with authority. So, spoiled brats from influential backgrounds, I should warn you to not act smart with me as you do with other teachers."

    While trying to act like a tough teacher to exert his dominance over the students so that they listen to his words in the future, Azzy observed them.

    Some of them appeared to be afraid; some looked like they understood; some looked like they don''t care while some had this look of arrogance on their faces.

    From Maria, the personal assistant of the principal, he understood that there were problematic students in the class who don''t listen to the teachers because their so-called fathers or relatives were quite influential.

    Unfortunately for them, Azzy himself is a problematic person who never listens to his elders either.

    Since he didn''t have a lot of time to gain their trust, he chose to instill fear through military punishments. Of course, that doesn''t mean he would want them to fear him. He just intends to apply the carrot and stick method.

    He will reward those who do a good job and punish those who become problematic.

    As the first step to exert dominance, Azzy went on to do something that shocks not just the class but the entire academy.

    Proceeding to create a massive seal covering the whole class, he announced, "And last but not least, there''s no need for all of you to be Arcana Masters while studying in homeroom session. Hence, starting from now, I''m temporarily sealing your soul orbs."

    "What!"

 Chapter 518 First Day As A Teacher (Part-4)

    The students were stunned by the sudden announcement from their new homeroom teacher, followed by the attack from the Decarune seal, which Azzy developed to the extent that he can seal multiple targets at the same time.

    Within no time, everyone lost connection to their respective soul energies and the students weren''t pleased in any way.

    Either they were afraid of this new teacher or they developed hatred toward him.

    Even Serestia found Azzy crossed the line by doing such a thing. However, she kept her mouth shut when she heard Azzy''s next sentence. "I don''t care how will you behave in other classes but in my class, all of you will follow my rules."

    As the whole classroom was filled with silence with no one daring to speak up, Azzy went on to say, "Now that our introductions are over, you can continue with your studying."

    Amid mixed gazes from everyone, he then sat down on his seat without caring about what the students thought about his first meeting with them and took out a novel from his storage ring and started reading it.

    "Uncle appears to be stricter than mom. Is he really like this?" Serestia couldn''t help but wonder.

    The next 30 minutes passed away in a blink of an eye. Azzy''s period was over and he immediately unsealed the soul orbs of the students before leaving the room.

    "Man that was so nerve-wracking"

    "These 30 minutes were the worst 30 minutes of my life"

    "This is why people say one shouldn''t judge a book by its cover. His personality and his looks don''t have any relation"

    "I wonder what his true age was"

    "I''ll make sure to complain to the principal" "

    "I''ll talk to my dad to dismiss him. I don''t like this bastard"

    "How dare he seal our soul orbs like that?"

    "Phew, I thought I became a mortal all of a sudden. It was a scary experience to lose one''s soul energy"

    "Does he think he is a big shot because he can bully us? If my ancestor comes here, this bastard would be on his knees"

    Azzy''s ears perked up as the students murmured upon his exit. But, he ignored them and just continued to walk in the corridor.

    At the same time, Flora stepped out of her classroom and spotted Azzy. Her expression changed instantly. "You are quite reckless, you know that?" She commented as they neared each other.

    Azzy widened his lips as he replied, "Appearances can be quite deceiving, Ms. Flora."

    "Yeah, I''m beginning to understand your personality too," nodded Flora with a frown on her face. She was clearly not pleased by his earlier actions either.

    Azzy continued to smile, "it won''t take you long."

    Flora left downstairs while Azzy proceeded to class 10-B. The initial reactions from the students upon witnessing his teenage appearance are almost the same as before but he didn''t place any rules for them.

    Instead, he maintained his fake smile and introduced himself, "Hello, my name is Gary and I''m your new theoretical combat instructor for the rest of your semester. Please sit down."

    As the students sat down in confusion, Azzy took out the textbook given by the receptionist and placed it on his desk.

    Taking his seat, he asked, "Who is the CR, here?"

    "CR?" The students looked at each other, not knowing what that means. Azzy felt the urge to slap his forehead but he managed to control himself and then clarified, "I mean class representative."

    A blonde-haired boy got up from his seat and answered, "Sir, I''m the class monitor here. My name is Julius."

    It was then Azzy understood why they didn''t understand the abbreviation and proceeded to ask, "Okay Julius, tell me how much portion has been covered by Mr. Alder."

    The boy answered, "Sir, our syllabus was already completed."

    Followed by his words, there were peals of laughter escaped from a few while the girls stifled a giggle.

    "Is that so? Then, it is good. Sit down." Azzy didn''t feel embarrassed but instead, he felt a lot relieved as he doesn''t need to follow the textbook anymore. He rose to his feet while grabbing a marker.

    As the students behaved themselves and became silent, Azzy walked to the whiteboard and wrote, "Q&A."

    "Let''s start our class with a Q&A session," said Azzy as he turned around to look at them.

    Some of the students stiffened in nervousness while some of them quickly opened the textbooks in reflex.

    They didn''t know that Azzy has no idea what is in the textbook. He just wants to test their knowledge.

    Azzy wrote the name of a beast on the whiteboard. "Espurr"

    "Imagine you went on a trip to a level-2 region where you were lost and got ambushed by a pack of Espurrs. You were alone there. How do you deal with the situation?" Azzy casually pointed at a tall girl sitting in the back. "You over there¡­"

    The short-haired girl answered slowly, "I run."

    *Pfft*

    A few students couldn''t hold back their laughter as they heard their answer. As the girl''s face turned beet red in embarrassment, Azzy came to her rescue stating, "Running away is also a strategy. So, Miss¡­ what''s your name by the way?"

    "Talia," replied the girl.

    "So, Talia, please step forward," Azzy asked her to stand beside him.

    She did as she was told without any complaints.

    It was at that moment Azzy realized that she is really tall as she appeared. He is 6 foot but even then, the girl''s head just crossed his ears.

    Throwing away his unnecessary thoughts quickly, he then addressed the students, "Now, let''s assume Talia here was the one who got lost and she decided to run away from the beasts to save herself.

    Naturally, they would chase after her. Each of them only has a maximum running speed of 30 km/hr. With her rank-5 soul realm, she will be able to outrun them.

    But, the problem here is that a pack of Espurrs will have a leader which usually has to display its dominance from time to time in order to keep them under its control. The monster will most likely use one of its abilities the moment it sees you running away.

    Now, do any of you know what will be its move?"

    As a couple of students raised their hands, Talia also did the same. Azzy gave her the chance first. "What is it?"

    The girl turned her head to look straight into Azzy''s eyes before looking away with a blush on her cheeks and said, "Uhh¡­ The Lightning Beam?"

    "The strongest move of the Espurr beast but it takes 12 seconds to charge up. An intelligent creature will not make such a move," commented Azzy almost immediately before pointing his finger at the boy who earlier raised his hand, "You over there."

    The boy named Edward spoke, "Sir, it has the ability of illusion with three seconds of casting time. It might not be able to fool advanced Arcana Masters like you but we could easily fall into its trap."

    "Good answer, although I''m looking for a creative one. Sit down." Azzy further said, "Espurr beast is said to have an IQ of over 195 in human terms. The leader will not be a young one and would have lived for quite a while. That gives it a certain amount of wisdom. You cannot expect it to follow just one pattern.

    A wrong judgment will cost you dire consequences. So, all of you must see this from a different angle."

 Chapter 519 First Day As A Teacher (Part-5)

    As the students fell into silence for a whole minute, Azzy said, "Don''t just think of the beast. Think about the surroundings."

    It was then Talia''s eye lit up and she spoke, "Sir, they live in the desert region of the Skylar Mountains. But, they won''t live alone. The colonies of the Nether ants also live underground.

    If it aims a sonic scream skill at the nests of these ants, it can draw them out. The Nether ants might be weak individually but they were tens of thousands in number and their bites contain poison. They can surround me."

    Azzy turned toward her and nodded with a smile, "Good job, Talia. Now, what will you do then?"

    "Eh?" Talia was surprised once again, feeling like she cut down the branch of the tree she was sitting on. Her excitement turned into embarrassment and she started stuttering, "I¡­ I will¡­ I¡­"

    As some of the students continued to enjoy the scene where their classmate is struggling to speak, the class monitor came to her rescue. Julius spoke, "Sir, we can use a flying card. Neither Espurrs nor the Nether ants can fly."

    "Nope. Not possible." Azzy firmly shut down his answer before looking at the shy girl beside him. "Talia, tell us why."

    After a brief thought, she explained, "The magnetic fields in the Skylar Mountains are unstable and hence, it is very difficult to use flight unless you are either an expert or of wind attribute."

    "Then, what should you do? If you don''t escape in time, you will die there." Azzy pressed her to give the right answer.

    "I don''t know." Talia shook her head while looking down at the floor. After a brief pause, she added, "I guess I will send a message to my friends while I fight to the death?"

    Azzy observed the entire class for a few seconds to see if anyone can come up with an answer. When he was met with silence, he told the girl to sit down and then, he walked to the whiteboard and wrote ''tools''.

    "You should always be aware of the tools you can use in a situation," said Azzy as he came back to his earlier position, before his desk. Placing his hands on the desk, he continued, "Message card, Flying card, healing card, SP recovery card, and random teleportation card. These five-item cards are a necessity on a trip to the wild.

    And you should never put them in your storage card. Always keep those things in your pocket.

    If you have gotten into such a situation, your first priority is to analyze the situation and whether you can deal with it or not. When you can''t, you look for a way to escape.

    If you can''t find one, always have to use the random teleportation card in your hand, not one but atleast two so that if you coincidentally encounter a danger when teleporting, you can immediately use the second one.

    If you fall into danger once again, well, it''s your bad luck. But, even then, you can use energy eruption to push away the enemies to get some time and then use the teleportation card or a flying card to escape.

    Now, coming to this situation, instead of trying to escape and make it worse by getting surrounded by the Nether ants, all you have do is to attack the leader. Do you know the most important characteristics of an Espurr? They are bloody cowards.

    Again, use the energy eruption when you are ambushed by Espurrs, followed by the swift usage of the SP recovery item card. Go into offense but only target their leader.

    The subordinates won''t come to help when their leader is battling. I don''t think it should be difficult to swiftly slay a purple-grade Espurr which has the strength of a mere mid-rank-4 for you students.

    In general, all I want to say is that those who knew how to use their tools in a timely manner and those who knew about their own strength as well as their enemies will have a far higher chance of survival compared to those who don''t.

    I don''t know if you think I''m treating you like kids or something by teaching such basics but in my life, I have seen deaths occur because of either foolishness or ignorance. So, I should atleast make you understand this much in our first meeting."

    As everyone nodded seriously, feeling like Azzy is dependable, the latter clapped with a smile, "Anyways, *clap*, this is our first day. So, let''s not go deep into serious matters. Before we resume the Q&A session, if any of you have questions for me, feel free to ask."

    As soon as he spoke those words, several hands were shot into the air, surprising him a bit.

    He pointed at the girl sitting in the front row, "Okay, let''s start with you. Just one question."

    "Sir, are you single?" asked the girl named Via.

    "Ohhhh!" Cheers escaped from the back row in response.

    Azzy didn''t mind it and just answered by shaking his head, "No, I have a girlfriend. We are currently in a long-distance relationship. Next¡­"

    "Aww"

    A collective response came from the female students.

    Then, a boy in the front row asked, "Sir, what is your soul realm?"

    "That''s a secret." Azzy decided to be mysterious, "Next."

    "How did you suppress your soul energy to such an extent?" asked another boy. Azzy refused to answer that question too. "A trade secret."

    "How old are you?" "44"

    "What are your hobbies?" "Training and reading books"

    "What is the strongest monster you have faced?" "Hmm¡­ I guess a 6-headed Hydra?" "Wooow" "So cool"

    "What is your favorite food?" "BBQ Pizza"

    The curious students, one after another, were asking Azzy questions about his personal life. Whatever that can be answered, Azzy answered with honesty as they weren''t such a big deal in his view.

    Talia was the last person to ask the question. And she decided to be sincere instead of trying to be funny like the rest.

    "Sir, I wonder what is better, fighting a monster and absorbing its core or just absorbing the attribute energy from an elemental crystal?"

    "Hmm..." Azzy fell silent for a few seconds and then answered as the others also turned curious. "It depends on your goal. If you only want to live longer peacefully, then, there''s no need to risk your life. The world is no longer the same as three decades ago.

    Back then, not everyone can opt for different paths in life that don''t involve fighting. But today, it is different because of the fast development of technology.

    However, conflict is the nature of humans. My master opinioned that it is true for every era in the past and it will be the same in the future.

    Like with the earlier example about facing the ambush of Espurrs, if you want to run away, you must know your tools and strengths, and weaknesses to escape and settle in a peaceful region.

    But, if you want to face it, then, you must also possess strength and courage. And strength and courage cannot be acquired by growing up in a greenhouse. You must go out there, fight the monsters, perhaps, escape from the brink of death once in your life, and win against your opponents and fear.

    Each has its own perks and disadvantages. Neither is wrong in my opinion. It all comes down to your choice."

    Talia asked for a simple answer and everyone felt like they got a life lesson from this new teacher.

    Maybe, it is because a majority of them were from a humble background. Or maybe, it is because Azzy spoke softly with them and acted friendly. Whatever the reason it might be, Azzy left a good impression on the students of this class and everyone liked him, contrary to the teenagers in the neighboring classroom.

    Once the personal questions were done, Azzy saw the time and there is still more than half an hour left. He utilized the time by resuming his Q&A session.

    30 minutes later;

    *Trrrring*

    The bell has rung, indicating that their class is over.

    Azzy closed the book and placed it in the storage card and said to everyone, "Okay, students. We will meet in tomorrow''s class. In today''s practical combat class, make sure to note down important details of your combat. We will discuss the flaws and how to improvise and everything."

    Everyone stood up as Azzy left the classroom.

    While walking away, he thought, "It is surely easy to mingle with students who had nothing to do with your mission."

 Chapter 520 First Day As A Teacher (Part-6)

    After his class is over, Azzy went to the staffroom and rest for the next hour when everyone goes to cafeteria for the lunch.

    Azzy tagged along with a couple of teachers and by the time he reached there, lines of students have already filled the place. Nevertheless, there is a separate counter for the staff. The crowd didn''t bother him.

    As he separated from the rest of the three teachers and sat at an empty table to eat alone, a loud yet familiar voice was heard from one of the student lines.

    "Uncle Gary¡­"

    Azzy turned his head in the direction of the source and saw a few students from Class 10 A standing together. And the one who called him was obviously Serestia. She gestured for him to save the table for them.

    Naturally, the teachers wondered whether he knew Serestia considering how she just addressed him.

    Mia''s daughter was smiling big as she was waving her hand but the rest of the members of the group''s faces turned sour. Her best friend complained in a whisper, "Do you need to call him right now?"

    She whispered back, "If you want to get into his good books, now is the best time, Navi."

    "Hey, look at others, will ya," Navi reminded her about the mood of the gang.

    Serestia looked at them and shrugged her shoulders, "if they don''t want to join us, then, it is their bad luck."

    After a while, Serestia, and three of her friends joined Azzy at the table.

    As they took their seats, Azzy took a look at each one, realizing that these four weren''t problematic ones. Hence, he kept a smile on his face while conversing with them.

    "So, how are your parents? It''s been a while since I last saw them." As the elder, he started the conversation with some topic.

    Serestia calmly replied, "I wish I could say I have a happy family but Mom is busy campaigning for the third term as President and dad is just¡­ He is too busy training a new student."

    Azzy nodded while letting out a sigh, "Yeah, I can understand what you are going through. I went through a similar thing and there were times I wished my parents make me their priority."

    The rest of the three were intrigued upon hearing his words and paid attention to their new teacher who was acting differently from their first meeting. Meanwhile, Serestia asked with a bit of hope, "How did you deal with it?"

    Azzy shrugged his shoulders, "I realized that everyone in the world has their own priorities. I should also have mine. I became busy with training and distanced myself from my parents.

    As a result, every dinner or lunch or even a meeting with my parents became a precious memory for me that''s worth remembering. And I would have enough topics in my hand to talk with them too.

    As the ancients said, if you don''t like something, change it. And if you can''t change it, change your attitude."

    "Oh!" Navi, Bill, and Laura looked like they gained insight from his quote while Serestia fell into deep thinking.

    Seeing that no one is continuing the conversation, Azzy tried to keep it alive by speaking to the others, specifically, Bill. "So, I heard that you are engaged to Serest¡­ *Ahem* Sera."

    Bill flinched for a moment before nodding, "Ah, Yes."

    "In the morning, she is the one you went to meet?" asked Azzy.

    Bill grew nervous. Sweat beads formed on his forehead as he glanced to his left and right. Azzy captured his nervousness and misunderstood that he is afraid.

    To ease him up a little bit, he said, "don''t worry, Bill. We aren''t in a classroom. Here, I''m just a senior Arcana Master acquainted with Sera."

    As Serestia came out of her thoughts and commented that she didn''t see him at the girls'' dormitory, Bill took a deep breath and lied, "No, I just wanted to inform her that my dad wanted to invite her and her parents for a lunch, this weekend, but I got embarrassed to go in and returned in hurry."

    "Eh?" Serestia was surprised. "Your parents invited us for the lunch? But, why didn''t you say so? You could say in the classroom. If not, you could just send me the message through a message card."

    "Yeah, I just forgot, sorry." Bill looked away, not daring to meet his eyes with her eyes. Azzy captured that too and his smile wiped off for a moment.

    "His heartbeat has increased all of a sudden, he was sweating at a 16 C temperature, and his breathing was also slightly unstable. He is lying, isn''t he, Chronos?" Azzy spoke in his head.

    The Reaper answered quickly, "Yes, he is. And he isn''t the only one who was nervous. Observe the girl on his left."

    Azzy shifted his eyes to Laura who was quietly filling her mouth with food but her heartbeat rate also jumped from a stable 74 to 81.

    "Uncle¡­ uncle¡­" Azzy was brought to his senses by Serestia as the couple looked like they were terrified by his stare.

    "Oh, I''m sorry. I was thinking about something else." Azzy gave a quick excuse before changing the topic. "Anyways, for better or worse, I ended up being your class'' homeroom teacher. So, if you have issues in the academy, don''t need to be afraid of me.

    I''m just strict toward the problematic kids who behave in an undisciplined way because they think their acts will be forgiven by everyone due to the fear of retribution from their backing."

    As the four students nodded in understanding, Azzy went on to ask them about their experiences in the wild zone.

    For a while, there was this healthy atmosphere at the table. For the passersby, it looked as if five friends were having lunch together.

    However, everything came down to a crash as a busty lady of 5 ft height stormed into the cafeteria with a hammer in her hand.

    The students in her way moved aside, and the chattering stopped at every table she passed.

    Soon, the entire cafeteria became silent as she was slowly walking forward. And she doesn''t look pleased with the moment.

    After scanning the place around, she eventually found Azzy and made her way toward him.

    Serestia whispered to her friend, "I bet Dan reported to her."

    "Yeah, I too think so. He did mention that he will teach Mr. Gary a lesson." Navi whispered back.

    Azzy obviously heard those words clearly but it was within his expectations. Hence, he didn''t pay too much attention to this and continued to eat.

    Upon reaching the table, Snivy spoke sternly, "Is it true that you assaulted your students?"

    Because the entire cafeteria is quiet, everyone heard it and several students along with a few teachers gasped before murmuring among themselves.

    Swallowing down the food, Azzy answered calmly, "It''s not assault. It''s called setting rules. And if I was the principal of this academy, I would put a rule that no student should use their soul energy except in practical combat class.

    I cannot do that as I lack authority over the school. But, in my classes, I have the authority to set up the rules and the principal has given me the freedom to exercise my right."

    If it is someone else, Azzy would have given a befitting reply but since it is his high school friend and former teammate, he tried to make her understand the reasoning behind his actions.

    But, Snivy took it differently. For her, it appeared like he is warning her not to poke into the matters she has no authority on.

    Snivy replied while raising her tone, "And I say that you are misusing your authority. This is an academy for learning, not a military training ground."

    "And what if I insist on doing things my way?" Azzy asked with a fake smile, irritating her further.

    Pointing her hammer at his face, Snivy said, "then, I exercise my right to challenge you for a battle. You win, I keep my mouth shut. But, if I win, you will apologize to the students of Class-10-A in front of everyone and promise to not misuse your authority as the homeroom teacher."

    Azzy inwardly smiled as he knew that she is not a match for him. Since she was digging her own grave, he decided to help her in digging deeper.

    "The stakes weren''t interesting enough and we don''t have any grudge that we should settle things with such a battle. So, how about this? I will give you an hour of a time limit.

    I will be standing inside the arena and will not leave your vision either. If you land even a single hit on me, I will admit defeat and resign from my job but if you cannot do it, then, you will give me Class 10-B. I will be their new practical combat class instructor.

    What do you think?"

 Chapter 521 First Day As A Teacher (Part-7)

    A couple of hours later;

    Azzy entered 10-A to teach a theoretical combat class subject but he faced blatant rudeness from several students in the class. Of the 39 students, only 24 students got up in respect.

    15 students leaned to the backrests of their seats, showcasing their protest.

    Azzy assumed that it is because of their rebellious nature, probably their overconfidence in Snivy''s battle prowess including his ridiculous conditions. A whole hour and she will fail to strike him even once?

    In their eyes, Azzy has already lost the match. Hence, they didn''t feel the need to give any respect.

    Azzy understands what they were thinking but he couldn''t bother himself talking with them. Actions speak louder than words and he will do that exactly.

    But for now, he had to teach the class.

    After unleashing the Decarune seal and sealing everyone''s soul orbs at once, he gestured for everyone to sit down. And once they sat down, he called out a name with a stern look on his face, contrary to his warm behavior with the other class or during lunch hours, "Laura."

    The class monitor got up once again, "Sir."

    "Is your class syllabus for the year also completed or is there something left?" He asked.

    As she nodded, Azzy gestured for her to sit down and wrote the same thing on the whiteboard in Class 10-B. "Q&A"

    "I''m going to see what you have learned so far about monsters and combat strategies so far." Azzy pointed his finger at the girl behind Serestia. "Student Navi, explain briefly about Galarian King and its abilities."

    The girl felt relieved when he heard the question as it was the beast she fought a lot of times and was also in the textbook.

    With a confident look on her face, she answered, "Galarian King is the overlord of a level-2 region named Nlethemar. It is of lightning attribute and doesn''t have any particular habitat as its home but likes to stay nearby a lightning crystal.

    As for its abilities, the Galarian King has four skills just like any other rank-4 monster.

    Of them, the most powerful technique is it lightning dash. The skill will increase its speed temporarily by a whole realm and whatever it touches will not only receive the shock but also get induced by paralyzing effect."

    "Good but you missed one very important detail." Azzy looked at the others. "Anyone knows what it is?"

    The students fell into silence. Some were thinking while some looked like they didn''t care. A student in the back commented, "Why should we care about a weak monster? It''s not like a rank-4 like Galarian King would be a threat to us."

    The question is a legit one but the way he talked clearly indicated the disrespect for the teacher.

    Azzy furrowed his brows for a moment as he glared at the student before forcefully calming down himself and pointing his finger at the boy, "Your name is Daniel Eranyl, correct?"

    "Yeah, so what?" Daniel continued to act like a d*ck.

    Azzy then asked, "How are you related to King Ragnor Eranyl?"

    "He is my grandfather," replied Daniel. He further added, "My father is the crown prince of Rivendell, Gyllan Varen Eranyl."

    While he was trying to showcase his background in front of Azzy, the latter simply smiled and said, "Let me tell you something about your grandfather. Roughly about three decades ago, your grandfather, the great king Ragron who was in the legendary realm had fought with a 14-year-old kid of the Elite realm (rank-5).

    Ragron might have suppressed his soul realm to match his opponent but in the end, he still lost in front of everyone. Do you know the reason?

    It''s because he knows nothing about his opponent''s abilities, and as a result, he underestimated the kid and got humiliated himself."

    Daniel''s face darkened all of a sudden as he felt several gazes on him as if they were asking whether it is true. The third prince of Rivendell felt like he was humiliated by the teacher.

    He wanted to refute the authenticity but before he did that, Azzy went on to rub the salt in his wound by speaking about another experience of his.

    "And before that incident happened, your father, Prince Gyllan, tried to misbehave with the same kid''s girlfriend as he thought a rank-5 couldn''t do anything to a rank-6 like him.

    This time, there were no restrictions but in the end, your father was beaten up to death and Sapphire Magnolis had to request the boy to spare your father.

    Now, you should understand the power of information, Daniel. A human could still spare one''s life because of humanity but a monster wouldn''t. If you don''t know the abilities of a monster like Galarian King, you might die a gruesome death as your strength will be restricted to rank-4 if you went there."

    Daniel''s face was now beet red as he was full of rage. He was under the impression that Azzy was purposely targeting him.

    And it is not like he spoke some bad words either.

    He only commented that there is no use to learn deeply about a monster of weak strength and that the teacher humiliated his family in such a way. He swore in his mind that whether Azzy wins the battle or not, he will talk with his father to teach Azzy a lesson.

    Meanwhile, a friend or a sidekick of Daniel decided to use this opportunity to get into his good books. He raised his hand and asked, "But sir, aren''t Galarian beasts native to the Nlethemar region? After graduating, there is no reason for us to visit the place, right?"

    The guy named Terry thought that he was helping his friend but little did he expect that the situation will only get worse.

    Leaning to the edge of his desk and folding his hands, Azzy spoke to everyone, "when I was in my teenage, an incident occurred. A Galarian King managed to mutate into a platinum-grade beast and killed the prince of Northern Qudour when he was on a trip.

    When the beast ate him, it has broken through its restrictions and became a rank-5.

    It assumed his identity and fooled everyone by posing as him for a whole year before killing the prince of Hildegard to break through to rank-6 and evolve into Draco-Galarian.

    What''s more, this Galarian King could use Prince Vann''s Arcana as its own ability. Hence, without special eyes or a very high soul realm, one couldn''t see through their disguises.

    One day, it fled away, probably due to the target from a supreme realm expert.

    Till now, no one has any idea what happened to that beast or how many such beasts escaped from their habitat and living in the midst of humans so far.

    Some of the scheming humans will use that ability to their advantage. By colluding with them, they can replace kids like you with influential backgrounds with those beasts to do their bidding.

    So, don''t assume everything in the books is a complete truth. They won''t tell you everything. The outside world there is far scarier than you think it is."

    All of a sudden, a sinking feeling of panic swept over the majority of the students, a temporary paralyzing fear. They couldn''t help but take a look at their friends in suspicion of whether they might be monsters in disguise.

    Students with ordinary backgrounds and talent felt at ease for some reason.

    Azzy captured their expressions but he ignored them and continued with his lesson, "Now, let''s get back to the original topic. The Galarian King''s other important quality is the fact that it is a cannibal, unlike its fellow Galarian beasts. That makes it more dangerous than the rest of the beasts.

    You over there, tell me how you will deal with the Galarian King if you are stuck in deeply in the cavern, and to make it worse, your friend Daniel was lying unconscious behind you." He pointed his finger at Terry, who was startled by Azzy''s earlier explanation about the monsters'' disguise.

    Daniel''s hatred toward Azzy reached his peak. He was now sure that the teacher was targeting him on purpose.

    "Me? Uhh¡­ Yes¡­" Terry stood up in nervousness and stuttered as he answered, "Well, my Arcana is a flying carpet and doesn''t have any offensive abilities. So, I''ll focus on escaping."

    "How?" Azzy pressed him by asking for a detailed explanation. "Can you ensure both of your survival?"

 Chapter 522 First Day As A Teacher (Part-8)

    As Terry wracked his brain to think of a perfect explanation, another problematic student interrupted it with a reply, "Daniel has a number of life-saving treasures on him, given by his family. Even in an unconscious state, he doesn''t need any help unless there is a exalt realm beast.

    Terry can just escape by using a teleportation card. If you want to give a scenario, please take everything into consideration. After telling us about the power of having the information, you forgot to apply it, Mr. Gary."

    Azzy''s gaze shifted to the amber-eyed and white-haired student who was chewing gum in his mouth. The attitude is clear for everyone.

    Upon going through his memories, Azzy realized that this fellow is said to be the strongest student in this academy with his soul power at 999,999, just a step away from a breakthrough to rank-6.

    Raydon Geller, nicknamed Craze, doesn''t belong to Daniel''s gang. He can be considered a loner but still a problematic student as he doesn''t have the habit of listening to his elders, just like Azzy.

    What''s more interesting is the fact that the 16-year-old has the eyes of a killer. The fellow students couldn''t see it but Azzy could see it clearly.

    Azzy looked at him, "fair enough. So, I''ll ask you then. Who among your classmates will you recommend to replace him as an unconscious person?"

    Raydon didn''t even take a couple of seconds to give his answer. The name came out of his mouth as soon as Azzy asked him. "It would be Wiley."

    A student sitting beside the window was startled as his name was suddenly brought up.

    As Azzy asked who this Wiley is as it wasn''t on the list of potential targets, the boy stood up while stuttering, "Sa¡­ Sir, it''s¡­ it''s me¡­ me."

    Azzy scanned his soul power and found that he was still at the peak stage of rank-4, definitely the weakest.

    After gesturing for him to sit down, Azzy turned his attention back to Terry and told him to give the answer.

    And once again, as if Raydon wants to spoil the class, he interrupted with a comment, "Terry was more or less a stranger with Wiley. There is no reason for him to risk his life for him. He can leave Wiley and escape. And it is not wrong to do that either."

    The effect of Azzy''s earlier intimidation was disappeared by Raydon''s two counters in a row and some of them burst into laughter, feeling that their teacher has met with the right match.

    Meanwhile, Azzy also felt like Raydon was trying to play with him on purpose but he isn''t the type to admit defeat by showcasing his real emotions.

    Instead, he decided to go on into a war of words with the student.

    "If they were together, that means they were teammates, Student Raydon," replied Azzy. He further added, "So, Terry is obliged to save Wiley if the latter is unconscious. In the military, those who abandon their comrades will be called traitors and deserters."

    "But, we are just students, Mr. Gary." Raydon countered Azzy''s statement with his own logic. "We aren''t bound by any duty. And Wiley isn''t any relative or a friend that Terry should care about him. Each one is responsible for their own safety."

    Azzy didn''t back down and continued with his debate, "So, you are implying that one shouldn''t risk his life for a stranger?"

    Raydon nodded in response, "unless he was bound by any promise or any professional duty, one doesn''t need to risk their life for some stranger."

    "Then, what if a burglar enters your house and kills your civilian parents living in Deloris town while you are here?" Azzy decided to make this a personal matter to see the student''s conviction. "Will you be fine if neighbors say that they didn''t dare to try helping your parents as it posed a life risk?"

    At once, Raydon was stunned by Azzy''s words. "How do you know?"

    Azzy had gotten the information from WAMO. Obviously, he would know something about the targets that weren''t known to the public.

    Raydon''s secret is that he was adopted into a noble family of Llyne nation when his parents were alive and well.

    The Geller family had struck a deal with Raydon''s parents when he was eight years old after awakening a gold-grade Arcana.

    In exchange for his legal adoption into their family, the Geller family saved the company of Raydon''s father from getting bankrupt.

    Raydon would even rarely meet his family and that too in secret. He couldn''t understand how Azzy knew of this information.

    However, the problem is that Azzy didn''t know that it was a piece of secret information. He thought everyone knew it.

    Seeing the look of shock on Raydon''s face and the confusion on the other students who don''t know the truth, Azzy realized that he fuc*ed up and quickly managed it by ending the matter using a powerful voice, "my point is, it is easy for you to ignore strangers but for the family member of victims, it will be different. And you can never expect when your karma will affect your loved ones.

    I can give you a hundred examples until you understand this fact but I''m not interested to spend that much on one student. Hence, we are putting away this topic and going back to the original question.

    Student Terry, suppose your principal gave you the duty to keep your teammates safe.

    In that situation, how will you save yourself and your teammate Wiley from the onslaught of Galarian King?

    Will you save yourself and abandon your teammate? Or will you risk your life and try to save both of them?

    Whatever your choice is, we need a detailed explanation of your escape. After all, it wasn''t just the Galarian King you have to worry about. There are other beasts you might have to face too."

    As Terry got up on his feet once again, cursing his bad luck, Azzy shifted his attention from Terry to the whole class for a few seconds and said, "How about this? I''ll give the same question to all of you except for Wiley who will be your job to protect. Write your strategies on a piece of paper and submit them to me within 15 minutes.

    Everyone except for those who manage to escape with Wiley without any mistake in their strategies will be punished. It will be a light punishment because of a neglect of your duties."

    "This¡­"

    Everyone''s face stiffened upon hearing Azzy''s words. He not only lectured Raydon and managed to defend himself but also took out his anger on the rest of the class.

    They felt like they were being punished for Raydon''s actions. Those who praised him inwardly for logically arguing with their teacher now cursed him in their hearts.

    "Your time starts now."

    Azzy then sat in his seat and continued to read his novel.

    20 minutes later;

    Except for eight, the remaining students were found sitting at their desks but without chairs as Azzy was asking questions.

    "What''s the weakness of Esom beast?" (A: water)

    "How does flanking maneuvers strategy work against the monster of a higher rank when there are three of you?"

    "What is the fastest speed of the Scorpio Ape and what are the effects of its sting bite?" (A: 24 kmph, sharp pain, numbness, swelling, difficulty breathing, increased BP, Rapid heartbeat, muscle strain, blurry vision, etc¡­)

    "Using a team of three rank-5 Arcana Masters, prepare a strategy against a rank-7 assassin on the whale island. Your location is at the foot of Mt. Estrya."

    He allowed the students who gave the correct answer to sit normally and continue their punishment if fail to give the right one.

    Eventually, the class time is over and Azzy told everyone to relax. "We''ll meet tomorrow again."

    "I hope we don''t." Such thought came to the majority of the students at the same time as they stared at Azzy''s back with mixed feelings of fear and hatred.

    Three hours later;

    Azzy who had no classes anymore was seen sitting on a bench outside the gardens, reading a book and having a coffee on the side.

    After a while, the sunlight hitting the right side of the face was blocked by someone who descended onto the ground. Followed by that, the person spoke, "I''m looking for you all over the academy, Mr. Gary. And here you are¡­"

    "The classes weren''t over yet, Snivy. Don''t you want to wait for everyone?" asked Azzy while continuing to read the book.

    "I don''t care about the audience. Vice Principal Aaron volunteered to be our proctor. That will be enough," replied the woman.

    Azzy shut the book and turned his head with a smile, "then, let''s get started."

 Chapter 523 First Day As A Teacher (Part-9)

    In the arena, without any audience (for the moment), Azzy and Snivy got ready for the battle as the blindfolded man stood on the side.

    Acting as the official proctor, Aaron spoke to both of them about the rules, "According to your agreement, both of you are allowed to use any method and any type of item to win this battle.

    However, since this is a private challenge and you aren''t students, the academy is not liable to pay for any damages that occurred in the surroundings. It will have to be settled by you two.

    The battle will end when either Mr. Gary will get hit at atleast once on his body or when 60 minutes are up. In the former case, it will be Snivy''s win, and in the latter case, it will be Mr. Gary''s win.

    Other than that, the battle can also end when one admits defeat. If a challenger will attack the other even after that, it can be considered an act of assault and the academy can press charges against the accused.

    Lastly, if Mr. Gary wins this battle, he will be the new combat instructor for class 10-B. And if Ms. Snivy wins this battle, Mr. Gary will apologize to the students and hand over his resignation. Ms. Snivy will also take up his job until the end of this semester.

    Is there anything else you would like to add?"

    Azzy shook his head and Snivy followed the same.

    Aaron nodded and moved away before announcing, "You have 60 seconds to prepare yourselves. Get ready."

    Snivy immediately summoned her Arcana, the metal hammer, while Azzy slowly rose into the air with hands folded behind his back. The woman followed the suit.

    As the 60 seconds are up, Aaron blew a whistle, signaling the start of their battle.

    Snivy flew forward like an aircraft but in Azzy''s eyes, her speed is very slow. He doesn''t even need to activate the Eyes of God soul skill to capture her movements. Everything was clear to him.

    Azzy calmly flew to the side to evade the crash and then started dodging her attacks.

    For the next 30 minutes, he didn''t even lift a finger against her and just entirely focused on dodging.

    Due to heavy swinging continuously for the past half hour an hour, signs of tiredness appeared on Snivy''s face as her body is full of sweat but she didn''t take any rest and continued her assault.

    Azzy, meanwhile, looked perfectly alright as he did before the match. There were absolutely no changes in him.

    As the bells rang all over the academy, the students rushed out of their classrooms and made their way to the arena.

    By the time they reached the stands, they saw Azzy looking fresh and calm while Snivy was sweating like hell and looked quite frustrated.

    Seeing the arena slowly filling with the students and a few teachers too, Azzy spoke out loud, "Snivy, if you want to take a break, you can. At this rate, you will collapse before the time runs out."

    "You¡­" Snivy felt like her opponent is mocking her and her rage increased further.

    Raising the 10ft large hammer, she poured her soul energy into it. The hammer''s size started increasing all the way up to 35ft.

    "Soul skill: Hammer Tornado"

    Landing on the ground, she spun around with her left leg as the center like a ballerina, although at a fast pace in one spot.

    The wind violently swirled around her, eventually creating a strong tornado.

    "Go¡­" Snivy frees her hammer, which is now spinning on its own while the tornado moves to its target.

    Azzy narrowed his eyes as he observed the giant tornado coming at him. "Hmm¡­ I should destroy it but without showing off my power. There''s still a lot of time. So, it''s not the time. Her soul skill might not hurt her but those stones swallowed by the tornado are a different case."

    An idea popped up in Azzy''s mind and he quickly made his move by flying away from the 500ft (~150m) tornado.

    Some of the tenth-grade students who bore a grudge against Azzy rejoiced in their hearts, hoping for Azzy to be swallowed by this massive tornado and get heavily injured as the distance between the tornado and Azzy was reducing over time.

    As Azzy flew higher, the tornado strangely lifted from the ground with the hammer as its eye, making it look unnatural to the spectators. But then again, it is not a natural tornado. So, no complaints over there.

    However, the tornado never managed to reach Azzy. He was always slightly away from it while flying left and right in random directions.

    Eventually, he dived toward his opponent who was focused on recovering her soul power and taking a bit of rest.

    "Is he a fool or something?" Snivy mumbled as she saw Azzy flying toward her with a flexible tornado behind him. "Why did he think my tornado would even harm me?"

    As she clenched her fist to give a solid punch to Azzy''s body upon reaching her, Azzy made a sharp turn to the right when he was about a few meters away and flew higher while increasing his speed quickly.

    The tornado was atleast fifty meters wide at its top. Hence, Snivy was in its range.

    The wind did nothing to her but all the sand particles, stones, and rocks that are flying along with the wind struck her.

    They didn''t do any damage to her but still, she was forced to protect her eyes from the dust for a while.

    And when her vision became clear, she saw Azzy already appear like a dot in the sky before he unleashed a meteor shower through a skill card, aiming at the tornado.

    However, this skill card is only a 3-star one. The so-called giant stones didn''t destroy the tornado. Instead, they increased the power of tornado by riding along with the revolving wind.

    At first, people thought that Azzy was failed but then, as more and more giant stones were added to the tornado, its speed considerably dropped due to the heavyweight.

    "Okay, let''s change the plan."

    Azzy wanted to use his meteor shower to add to the tornado and then bring it to his opponent and injure her with them but as he saw how the tornado was affected by the extra weight, a new idea popped up and he didn''t hesitate to take out all of his meteor shower cards from 1-star to 3-star level.

    And within a few minutes, people couldn''t even see the wind properly. All they saw were large stones stacked upon one on each other revolving at a slow pace.

    Snivy''s face darkened as she was watching the situation. She felt a bit humiliated by getting her soul skill defeated in such a way.

    Meanwhile, the students of Class 10-B started cheering Azzy''s name. They felt like it was a genius move.

    The tornado''s power might be restricted to peak-rank-6 due to the fact that the academy is located in a level-3 region but Azzy only used low-level skill cards to nullify it effectively.

    Seeing the tornado''s speed drop down to just 20 kmph, Snivy thought that it is useless and quickly dismissed it by calling her Arcana.

    The hammer broke through the rocks and returned to her hand and the rocks fell to the ground.

    *Dum* Dum* Dum* Dum*

    One after another, they struck the ground, generating vibrations across the arena. The students felt like a low-magnitude earthquake hit them and shifted their focus to Azzy, wondering what is going to do next.

    To their disappointment, he didn''t start any attack. Instead, he slowly descended to 20ft altitude and looked down at Snivy while putting his hands behind his back once again, "22 minutes are left, Snivy. I''m looking forward to your next attack."

    "You¡­" Snivy tightly gripped the handle of her hammer. The latter spoke to her telepathically, "Snivy, let''s go with our trump card."

    "But, the hidden skill will not be useful in the current situation," replied Snivy immediately. She had that thought long ago but didn''t apply it until now as her soul realm was already restricted to 6-star when she is in the 7-star realm. What is the use of going temporarily into the 8-star realm? It will change nothing.

    However, her platinum-grade Arcana spirit seems to have a different opinion about their strongest skill. "I''m not talking about the merge, Snivy. I''m talking about the Arcana transformation skill card you received from your former organization."

 Chapter 524 First Day As A Teacher (Part-10)

    In the audience stand, several students were discussing various things as the match was going nowhere.

    Of them, two rivals of tenth grade but from different classes were betting on the match as the tornado was destroyed in a clever manner.

    Shaun: Mr. Gary is going to win for sure, Symonds.

    Symonds: Nope, there''s still a lot of time. Ms. Snivy can still turn this game around, Shaun.

    Shaun: Since you are so confident, would you like to make a bet as they did?

    Symonds: 1 million credits.

    Shaun: Money is not interesting.

    Symonds: What do you suggest?

    Shaun: I don''t know¡­ how about you arrange a blind date with your sis?

    Symonds: How dare you?

    Shaun: I''ll help you woo my sis to make her go on a prom date with you.

    Symonds: Really? I''m tempted but¡­

    Shaun and Symonds were rivals since their childhood with each one having a crush on the other''s younger sister. Surprisingly, Shaun and his sister Evie are twins. And Symonds and his sister Clara are twins too.

    Perhaps, the only stark difference here is that Symonds had a good relationship with his sister while Shaun has a cat-and-mouse relationship with his sibling.

    Shaun was confident that he will win the bet and Symonds was slightly in doubt after seeing their combat instructor couldn''t lay a finger on her opponent for the past 40 minutes.

    It was at that moment Snivy made her move by activating a 7-star skill card.

    As the skill card glowed, she didn''t place it on her chest but instead stick it to the hammer.

    The hammer freed itself from Snivy''s grip and started floating in the air. Azzy calmly observed it. He wanted to know what his high school friend is up to.

    Soon, the hammer turned into a clone of Snivy, looking completely identical to her, from the outside and inside. Even their soul realm appeared the same. Both of them looked like 7-star Arcana Masters.

    Almost every spectator failed to spot who the real Snivy is.

    However, Azzy managed to distinguish them by realizing the simple fact that one of them has the aura of life while the other doesn''t have any life force.

    Yet, he didn''t speak anything and let her resume the battle.

    As both of the women charged toward him to engage in close combat at the same time, Azzy thought of something and let out a smile, "let''s have fun."

    Snivy and her clone reached Azzy and threw punches and kicks simultaneously from different sides. Azzy barely dodged her attacks and tried to get away.

    It heavily gave off an impression that Azzy was facing a struggle this time because of the lack of space compared to earlier. Seeing that, Symonds agreed to the wager set by Shaun.

    Everyone thought that an attack would land on him if he were just half a second or a second late.

    At first, it did appear like Snivy could win this battle but then as five minutes passed, and then ten minutes passed, the spectators as well as Snivy felt something was wrong.

    How could Azzy escape narrowly every single time? A lot of people who were hoping for Snivy''s win were frustrated. This battle doesn''t need him to get knocked down. All it needs is one good punch to anywhere on his body.

    Another 5 minutes later, the time is up and the clone turned back into a large hammer, making Snivy realize the fact that her opponent is toying around with her.

    After battling him nearly for 53 minutes, she finally understood that she''ll lose the battle she challenged and then lose her reputation among the students. It means kids stop fearing her. And that very thought forced a straightforward person like her to opt for an underhanded tactic.

    Landing on the ground, she dismissed her Arcana and slowly started to walk forward.

    "You know, I used to be a lieutenant-ranked officer of WAMO''s General forces. There, I learned that there are two types of people in the world, one who breaks the rules and the other who follows them. And quite often, like 99% of the time, the first type of people always ended up as criminals at some point.

    But, there is another type of people. The ones who make the rules. These people would want to force their views onto others. Whether they are heroes or villains, rulers or citizens, teachers or students, in a way, they are psychopaths."

    Azzy didn''t know what she was getting to but he decided to listen to her to the end and slowly landed on the ground.

    Snivy continued, "You came here and make your own rules and flaunt your strength against children on your very first day.

    I challenged you to force you to change your ways but it appeared that you are stronger, far stronger than me, well, atleast regarding our feet movements. Your speed is higher than my maximum speed. Your reflexes are top notch and you are certainly smart."

    By this time, she was just a couple of meters away from Azzy. Taking a few steps forward, she raised her head to look straight into his eyes and said, "However you are, people like you who abuse their authority and strength aren''t fit to teach students as they will either do wrong things and become criminals or become cowards and become useless to the society.

    That is why I won''t mind steeping low to stop you right¡­" Snivy suddenly expelled all of her soul energy from her soul orb before it was expelled from her body. "Now," she roared.

    A gush of energy struck Azzy and he was pushed back for a few meters and fell onto the ground with a look of surprise on his face.

    "Waaaa"

    Students of a certain section (class 10-A) erupted in cheers as the attack successfully landed on Azzy. Class 10-B students, on the other hand, were disappointed.

    Symonds: Yes, I win. You will have to help me win your sister for a prom date.

    Shaun grunted as he hung his head down, "fine."

    The Principal thought it was a pity and a few other teachers thought that the new student shot himself in the leg by being too arrogant. Flora just stared at them, not knowing how to react.

    Looking coldly at Azzy who was sitting on the ground, Snivy then said, "It looks like you are far stronger than I expected. But either way, you lost. Now, be a man and keep your promise."

    "Hahahaha, you deserved this kid for underestimating a woman''s resolve." The Reaper laughed at him.

    Azzy was ashamed a little bit but realizing that his opponent used an underhanded tactic, he made his decision and spoke, "Earlier you said that you are someone who follows the rules but in the end, you ended up being the one to break the rules for a win."

    Snivy snorted in response, "Hmpf, in a war against evil, breaking the rules is also considered righteous."

    "So, you believe in the concept of a greater good, huh? Didn''t expect that," said Azzy as he rose to his feet. "I was slightly disappointed."

    "Whatever." As Snivy looked away in the direction of the vice principal, indicating him to announce the end of the battle, Azzy then raised his hand. An Hourglass appeared.

    "What are you doing?" Snivy furrowed her brows, wondering whether he planned to attack or something. At the same time, she couldn''t help but take a glance at the hourglass.

    Azzy replied as he titled it upside down, "Since you know that I''m the type to make the rules, then, I need to be thorough with it. Shouldn''t I?"

    "Soul skill: Rewind."

 Chapter 525 First Day As A Teacher (Part-11)

    "What do you¡­" Snivy''s words stopped. She became a statue. Everyone in the surroundings became a statue. The whole Arcana world became still and then the entire solar system stopped moving.

    Everything moved back in time as the present was slowly erased. Not for long, it was just half a minute where Snivy dismissed the Hammer and started walking slowly.

    Azzy found himself in the sky with an hourglass in his hand. He quickly dismissed it as soon as the time continued to move. Luckily, no one witnessed it and his secret is safe.

    Meanwhile, Snivy was speaking, "You know, I used to be a lieutenant-ranked officer of WAMO''s General forces. There, I learned that there are two types of¡­"

    Looking at her, Azzy mumbled, "sorry but the fun time is over."

    He quickly landed on the ground and summoned his storage card, taking out a skill card.

    Snivy halted her footsteps upon seeing that. She stopped her speaking and became alert.

    Azzy didn''t care about it and activated the 7-star skill card. A purple skull was formed a few centimeters above his hand.

    "He he  hehe hehehehe he he heh¡­"

    The peal of creepy laughter resounded all over the stadium, quickly striking fear in the hearts of students and a few teachers alike.

    "Ms. Snivy, I know that you think I''m a rule maker and probably already decided that I''m some sort of evil based on my few actions," Azzy said to Snivy who was conjuring an energy shield using her soul energy.

    "I¡­"

    As a look of surprise appeared on Snivy''s face, Azzy continued, "However, I don''t care. I act how I think it is necessary to deal with the situation. Whether you accept my methods or not is entirely up to your choice."

    He threw the laughing skull of darkness at his friend.

    The purple skull flew toward her and collided with the shield.

    However, the shield couldn''t block it and was destroyed like glass. "Hehehehe hehe hehe hehe"

    Continuing to laugh creepily, the purple skeleton made its way to strike her in the chest, almost instantly.

    "Argh¡­"

    Snivy let out a painful scream as she flew into the air and crash onto the ground about a dozen meters away. She went unconscious with a single attack.

    In the spot where it was struck, there was a black patch on the outside while her system was slowly corrupted.

    Azzy then rushed forward and reached her within a second and crouched down. He raised his hand.

    "What are you doing?" Aaron spoke loudly as he descended onto the ground. The vice principal of the academy couldn''t see the faces because of the blindfold but he could see auras through his mystic eyes.

    As far as he can see, Azzy''s hand was just a few inches above Snivy''s chest.

    While he was sure that this new teacher wouldn''t do such dirty things when everyone is watching and probably wanted to do something about that black patch that appeared in the middle of her chest, he couldn''t let a man touch an unconscious woman''s chest. It was still inappropriate.

    However, Azzy has no plans on touching her either. Instead of replying to Aaron, he simply closed his eyes and extracted all the death energy from her.

    Once her state became normal, he got up onto his feet and started walking toward the exit without answering Aaron''s question or waiting for his verdict.

    Meanwhile, the battle has brought quite an amount of reactions from various people.

    Class 10-B students went into cheers;

    Class 10-A-students (except for a few) were unhappy;

    The rest of the male students were terrified while a lot of female students became his admirer;

    The teachers were alarmed while a couple of them developed their interest;

    The vice principal was shocked and stared at Azzy''s back warily;

    The principal had mixed feelings as his permanent teacher got defeated while a temporary teacher had won with ease but this also means he is the perfect person to protect the students;

    Flora was in deep thought, wondering where she had seen the purple skull;

    Symonds became dejected while Shaun was excited to win his bet.

    As for Azzy, he was feeling a bit guilty for turning back the time to keep his job but since his priorities were clear, he managed to convince himself that he did the right thing.

    Little did he expect that his small act of selfishness is going to bring huge trouble to him and put the life of his students in danger.

    ***

    Just before the 28 seconds'' rewind of the time;

    Central City, Arcana world;

    A clean-shaven old man was dealing with a customer in his store.

    "No bargaining. I won''t reduce a single credit. You have to pay 33,000 credits."

    "But, mister. That other store is selling for 1000 each and still giving a 10% percent discount if I buy in bulk."

    The latter wanted to buy a bunch of solar cards, which do nothing but illuminate the place temporarily.

    A 4-star one will be able to light up 100 sq. meters for a whole day and the customer wanted 30 of them. They were arguing because of the price issue and discount.

    In the end, after everything went according to the customer''s way, the customer gave him the prepaid card.

    And just as the old man was about to scan it, the time-reversed to when the debate was still going on.

    "C''mon. It is not the first time I''m purchasing¡­"

    The old man suddenly broke into laughter. "Hahahaha"

    The customer was startled and stop the argument.

    The old man then threw the pack full of cards. "Take it for free. Today is a good day for me¡­ Hahahaha"

    "Why has this old suddenly turned crazy?" The customer was taken aback by the actions of the seller. As he was wondering what was going on, the old man kicked him out of the store and closed down the shutter, and started laughing once again.

    "The time rewind¡­ It is him. Finally¡­ finally¡­ finally¡­" The old man clenched his fist as he spoke to himself, "How long has it been? Thirty years of vengeance is about to be fulfilled."

    Soon, he turned into a wolf with red glowing eyes and mumbled, "My daughter, this mighty Fenrir will not miss this opportunity to serve you justice no matter what."

 Chapter 526 Investigating The Disappearance Of An Agent (Part-1)

    After the battle is finished, Azzy returned to the teacher''s dorm and locked himself in his room to take nap.

    Meanwhile, Flora also returned to her room but she started searching the drawers and wall shelves for something.

    "Where is it? Where did I keep it? I remember I have the album for sure¡­"

    After a rigorous search for 30 minutes whole, she finally found the thing she was looking for and took out her school photo album.

    She opened it and looked at the photos one after another. After a while, she closed it in disappointment, "That skull¡­ that corrupted yet familiar energy¡­ and how Gary slipped up my nickname from high school. Not to mention the fact that he is friends with Serestia''s father. I thought he studied at Eternal institutions for sure. But, he is nowhere in the album. Did he drop out or something?"

    "Maybe, I was thinking too much. Well, if he really is someone I know, I should be able to remember him. Since I don''t, at the very least, it means that we don''t have much connection in the past. This is just a waste of time."

    Flora was about to keep the photo album back in the cardboard box but just then, she spotted a picture frame lying at the bottom.

    She casually picked it up and turned it around. As she wiped the dust with her hand, the picture became clear and Flora was taken aback in surprise as she saw herself with a poker-faced boy standing beside her.

    Flora was around 9-10 years old in the photo and there was a 14-year-old Azzy with a flag in her hands "It''s him. I knew it." Her eyes fell on the flag. Staring at it, she mumbled, "I still remember it. There was this replacement combat instructor named Arley Blood. On his first day, he conducted a test known as flag finding.

    We formed teams and we won in the end. I believe he was my partner who mentored me for a while. And the fact that I took the trouble of making it a picture frame would mean that we are also close. Then, why couldn''t I remember anything when I remember the tiniest detail of my academic life? Were my memories erased or something? There were such techniques. Ugh¡­ stop thinking too much. Let''s ask Mia or her husband to ask about Gary. Wait a second¡­"

    It was then, all of a sudden, she remembered her behavior with Azzy and she couldn''t help but grab her forehead, "damn, I acted a bit too cold with him without knowing who he is. He wouldn''t hate me, would he? Should I apologize?"

    Flora immediately threw away the thought, realizing that it is a bad idea. "Nah, if I suddenly change my behavior, he might think that it is because of the outcome of the battle. How about I confirm the exact nature of our relationship and then have a talk with him? For some reason, I have a strong feeling that his name is also a lie just like his official credentials.

    Hmm¡­ let''s first talk with Mr. Calder and decide on the next course of action. But, the biggest hurdle now is facing him at the dinner.

    Should I skip it? Nah¡­ that would be too cowardly. Let''s take a nap until midnight and then eat outside. Yup, let''s do that."

    Little did she expect Azzy to skip the dinner entirely and just cooped himself in his room, doing meditation.

    Around 2:30 in the night when everyone is sleeping, Azzy finally got out of the room. He left the dorm and then the academy premises before started running in the direction of downtown.

    Within five minutes, he reached a place known as Navona square and stopped nearby a lamppost. He looked around to find a hoarding that displayed the advertisement for an alchemy store. "There''s the hoarding. According to the information given by the supreme commander, our agent went missing right at this location."

    Azzy fell into thoughts, "What was he doing at this place, at this hour? Alder was said to be fighting someone and he was losing. Once he realized that he cannot win, he managed to send the location for investigation. That much is clear. But I don''t understand the significance of this place.

    Was he supposed to meet some informant and got trapped? Or was he followed by the abductor from the start?

    Alder was working there for the past year to keep an eye on the students. He wasn''t specifically investigating anything. Hmm¡­"

    While he was pondering, Azzy''s eyes captured a restaurant, a couple of bars, and a few convenience stores that are still open. "Did he perhaps come here for the late-night dinner or maybe to have a few drinks?"

    Azzy decided to investigate and walked into the bar. He looked around and there weren''t that many people inside the place.

    As it appeared that no other customer is paying attention to him and minding their own business, Azzy ignored them and walked straight toward the bartender.  The latter was surprised when he saw Azzy who looked like a young adult.

    Since there were laws that prohibit people below 16 to drink, the bartender immediately reminded him about the age restrictions and asked for the identification card.

    Azzy took out his wallet and handed him his ID from WAMO. "I''m not here to drink though."

    The moment the bartender''s eyes fell on ID, he grew nervous. He apologized immediately, "I''m sorry. I didn''t know that you are¡­"

    Azzy put his finger on the lips, gesturing for the bartender to stay silent. As the latter stopped talking, Azzy went on to show the photograph of Alder. "Ever seen this man?"

    The bartender took the photograph and looked a bit closer before nodding, "Yeah, I have seen him a few times."

    "Is he a regular here?" asked Azzy.

    The bartender shook his head, "No, he isn''t."

    "When was the last time you saw him?" asked Azzy.

    The bartender replied in an unsure tone, "I don''t know. Maybe a couple of weeks ago?"

    "So, this guy drinks but is not a regular here, huh? No use in talking about it further." Azzy took back the photograph and nodded, "Okay, thank you for the info."

    He was about to leave the place but then the bartender asked him, "is he a fugitive?"

    "No, just a missing person," replied Azzy before walking away.

    Just as he walked a couple of steps, the bartender stopped him, "wait a second."

    As Azzy turned around, the bartender said, "I don''t know if it helps your investigation or not but that man was often accompanied by a blind man and he always complains that our service isn''t on par with Bluess Bar, which is our competitor. I think he might be a regular there."

    "You mean blindfolded man?" asked Azzy while thinking of his neighbor.

    As the bartender nodded, Azzy commented that the former has a good memory and further thanked him before leaving the bar.

    The so-called Bluess Bar is just a few blocks away and could be seen that it is still open. But, he didn''t go there directly as there were a couple of convenience stores and a restaurant on the way.

    He visited each of them one after another to find out about the incident.

    Everyone either told him that either they had a vague impression of Alder or they weren''t sure. Hence, he could only put his hopes on this ''Bluess'' Bar for clues.

    And just as he entered, he felt the drop in temperature. It was like he visited some polar region. The bar was empty with only one customer drinking crazily while the staff members were shivering in cold.

    *Hiccup*

    "You damn Matilda. I told you I don''t need a fuc*ing man. You stop arranging blind dates for me, will ya." *Hiccup*

    A drunken woman was screaming out loud as she kept on drinking. The servants were clearing up the table and kept refilling it with new bottles.

    Downing another glass of beer that has about 63% of alcohol content, she continued to curse the people, "I¡­ this¡­ everything is your husband''s fault. That white-collar worker keeps on suggesting you¡­ forget it. I don''t need a man¡­ I''m happy living alone¡­

    Gramps, you old geezer, stop trying to blackmail my parents with your stupid death¡­ I won''t marry¡­ No¡­ You over there¡­ stop staring at me and stop shivering. Refill it, brat."

    As the woman was continuously speaking to herself, the surprised Azzy let out a sigh and walked toward her table.

    She raised her head and looked at Azzy. She spoke, "you¡­ I know you¡­ You lied to me, you bastard." She got up from the table and directly grabbed his collar, "You didn''t graduate from Egrein academy. You studied at Eternal institutions. I have the¡­"

    Azzy gave a swift chop to her neck and knocked her out. "An alcohol addiction? Ugh¡­ you have spoiled my image of you, Flora."

 Chapter 527 Investigating The Disappearance Of An Agent (Part-2)

    After knocking her out and placing her aside, Azzy called the manager of the Bar and gathered the remaining staff members since there were no other customers to serve.

    He showed the photograph of Alder and interrogated them. Naturally, they behaved politely after seeing his ID card.

    Once he was done, he proceeded to take his friend back with him, although not before the manager gave him the bill with a long list of expensive beverages and snacks.

    "1.8 million Credits? You gotta be kidding me." Azzy was stunned at once when he saw the bill. The amount wasn''t huge for him as it was less than his weekly salary but still, with that amount, a commoner could purchase a 1000 sq. ft apartment flat in the suburbs of any tier-1 city.

    And she wasted so much money in one night. He couldn''t help but wonder how could she even afford to spend such an amount with her teacher''s monthly salary of 100k credits.

    "Is she rich or something? Well, it doesn''t matter at the moment. I can talk to her tomorrow."

    Azzy couldn''t help but shake his head and pay the bill before carrying her on his back to the academy.

    To save himself from unnecessary trouble, Azzy took her to his apartment and threw her on his bed before closing the door and walking toward the sofa in the living room.

    He sat there with a notebook in his hands.

    "Okay, let''s see what we gathered so far." He started writing the things he found out that night.

    1) Alder drinks daily but never to the point of getting drunk.

    2) Alder never drinks expensive ones at Bluess Bar despite being a regular.

    3) Contrastingly, he drinks ridiculously expensive ones when he was with Aaron. And they don''t split the bill. Alder pays all by himself. According to the records from the bar, the average bill of those two was around 700k credits.

    4) According to the waiter at Bluess who regularly serves Alder''s table every time, Alder and Aaron don''t come together. Aaron always comes late and goes early.

    5) Alder was never seen drinking with anyone else apart from Aaron.

    6) The waiter heard Alder and Aaron speaking about some organization a lot of times. Alder wanted to join it.

    7) That means Aaron is a member of some unknown organization Alder probably was investigating about.

    8) Is Aaron an informant? No, if he is an informant, Alder wouldn''t want to join it but would rather want to get information. That''s all.

    9) On the night of the fifth of February, before Alder went missing, he was with a woman. He left with her and was never seen again.

    10) According to the records, he arrived at the bar around 1 a.m. and left around 2:45 a.m. The headquarters received the message at 3:06 a.m.

    11) If I catch this woman, I can get more clues. But, who is she? The light was quite dim and the waiter says that he didn''t properly see her face except for the fact that her eyes are glowing in golden color, her hair is jet black, she has bangs, and big...*Ahem* great body. Only her eyes are unique. The rest of those descriptions are common things. So, those details are useless.

    "Wait a second¡­" Azzy suddenly remembered an important detail. "Alder was seen entering the bar together with this woman, making the staff misunderstand that she is his girlfriend. When they left together, everyone thought they would go to a love hotel nearby.

    Who knows¡­ Alder probably thought the same and didn''t expect to be ambushed on the way.

    Now, the biggest question that remains is what side she is on. I need to find out whether she is an accomplice to the criminal or whether she is also a victim.

    Perhaps, she might be a staff member? If I ask around, maybe, I could find out about this woman with golden-colored pupils.

    Hmm¡­ let''s analyze with what details we have."

    Azzy went through the notes once again and fell into thought, "There were about 20 minutes between the time he left the bar with our mystery woman and when he fell into a disadvantage in a battle.

    If a battle goes on for that long, there would be commotion and there would be witnesses. But, at the very least, so far, the part-timers working in nearby stores didn''t see anything strange on that night.

    Anyways, putting this woman aside, Aaron appeared to be the most suspicious person in this case.

    A theory can be developed like Alder wanted to join Aaron''s organization, which is probably the one that is targeting the children of 10-A for a reason I wasn''t informed. Hence, it must be a large secret.

    Aaron somehow finds out that Alder is a spy and gets rid of him by using a woman.

    Now, there was no dead body. Hence, I can assume he might be alive. If he is imprisoned, the culprits probably wanted to get some kind of info. His connection with WAMO? Or maybe, to find out how much he has gathered so far?

    What if it is done by a different gang to frame Aaron and his mysterious organization?  Ugh¡­ incomplete information will always have too many variables to draw conclusions. If only I have assistance¡­"

    Azzy doesn''t have a partner but he sure does joint missions mostly with teams from the elite forces division. With a simple command from him, they will gather the information to make it easier for him.

    He was missing them a bit, particularly team hawk, a group he worked with, a lot of times during the past three years.

    It was at that moment, his counselor or the special advisor, the Reaper voiced his suggestion to show him the way. Words of the reaper echoed in his head, "Azrael, you can directly go to the scene and watch it by yourself."

    "What do you mean?" Azzy asked with a frown.

    "Time travel." A simple answer came from the Reaper.

    "Eh?" Azzy was surprised. "But, you always say that I''m not strong enough; I''m not mature enough to travel to the past."

    "That was when you are in the 7-star realm," replied the Reaper. He further added, "Now that you are in the legendary realm, I can use the Hourglass'' eighth ability, Temporary Reload to save the timeline and reset it back in the rise of an unexpected event.

    However, I should warn you that you cannot¡­ will not intervene in anything you see. As long as you are a spectator, your future self might not intervene either.

    Not only you should worry about the supreme realm experts, but there are also a couple of celestial-grade beasts hiding among the humans, living a quiet life. And you are certainly not strong enough to face them if they target you unless you use all of your trump cards.

    There will be commotion and there might even be unnecessary casualties. We certainly don''t want that to happen.

    Hence, I''m going to use a sealing technique to let you go undetected as long as you suppress your soul energy within your body. Understood?"

    Azzy firmly nodded in understanding. He summoned the Hourglass without wasting any time and went on to unleash the hidden soul skill.

    "Hidden skill: Time Travel"

    As the hourglass turned upside down, a blinding flash of light enveloped Azzy, teleporting him to the time corridor.

    Infinite versions of Azrael were passing through his body and going to their destination.

    Azzy looked around, hoping to find his future self to guide him. However, there was none. And to his dismay, his connection to the Reaper was also temporarily cut off. Hence, he could only depend on himself.

    "Okay, don''t panic, Azzy. Let''s look around. It is just simple. You just have to walk through the right door." As he walked in the corridor, passing through his versions like a ghost, he observed the doors on his left. Each of them has a date and a certain time engraved on top of them.

    "5th Feb, let''s choose a time between 12:00 A.M-3:00 A.M. Yeah, found it. There were two doors for this day. One is at 1:52 A.M. and the other is 11:23 A.M.

    Huh? The time is quite specific, unlike what I have imagined. But, why there are only two times? Are these related to certain events? It would really be helpful if I have a certain guide. Anyways, no use in thinking about what we have no idea about. Let''s just get this job done."

    Azzy opened a door. He couldn''t see anything on the other side. It was completely black. But, he trusted his decision and stepped inside, hoping that he doesn''t float into the space.

 Chapter 528 The Second Act Of Time Traveling (Part-1)

    01:52 A.M., Feb 5th, 2022;

    Misty Mountains, Region of Drakonia;

    It was the day of a new moon and dark clouds filled the sky, making the region extremely dark. However, there were a few places that don''t have such a problem.

    In one of the caverns located deep in the misty mountains, which is a level-4 region, the whole place was filled with glowing fire crystals, illuminating the entire cave.

    Three young men were seen lying on the ground and a six-eyed large spider was staring at them with saliva dripping from its mouth but it wasn''t making its move for some reason.

    "When that human is going to come? I cannot resist eating them any longer. Hurry up or else you will lose your precious hostages¡­" As the rank-8 spider was trying its best to resist the temptation, a blinding flash of light appeared just a few meters away from it and Azzy appeared with an hourglass in his hand.

    The six-eyed spider was taken aback at once as it saw a stranger. Meanwhile, Azzy''s eyes immediately fell on the young men and the spider.

    "Eh? I was transported into a level-4 region?" Azzy expected to find himself in a region near Emerald City or atleast in a random safe environment, not directly to the location where a platinum-grade spider of the 8-star realm is resting.

    What if the next time travel takes him to a level-5 region? Azzy couldn''t help but worried for a second before his attention was forcefully grabbed by the six-eyed spider, which shot a jet of venom at him.

    Azzy hurriedly evaded its attack by jumping to the side and landing on his four limbs before charging forward like a bull, keeping his head low.

    The six-eyed spider didn''t anticipate an enemy with a speed exceeding the legendary realm. It couldn''t even react as Azzy reached it and give a powerful punch to its head, blowing it off.

    Its blood scattered all over the place and Azzy bathed in its blood mixed with other fluids in its head.

    A huge glowing sphere (spirit core) made its appearance and started floating in the air as the rest of its body fell to the ground.

    Azzy was about to absorb the spirit core and then refine it to increase his soul power but the Reaper stopped him from doing so. "You lacked a powerful summon with soul skills. Make it your servant." His voice echoed in Azzy''s head.

    Instead of absorbing himself, he fed the spirit core to the undead six-eyed spider formed in his mindscape and sat in a meditative position until the completion of the process.

    About half an hour later, he rose to his feet and looked at the unconscious young men. "What to do with them?" he asked the Reaper.

    The Reaper replied, "There was no aura of death on them from the start. You don''t need to help them out."

    "C''mon, the three of them are only in 6-star-realm." Azzy''s opinion differed from the deity. "I don''t know how they ended up here but this region isn''t safe for them in any way. Let''s just drop them at the portal point and go on our way."

    "Do whatever you want." The Reaper allowed his host to act as he wishes, thinking that it won''t disturb the timeline.

    Act used a flying card and put the three of them on top of it before walking toward the exit.

    He didn''t forget to summon the black lightning wolf to accompany him so that the native beasts lying around won''t trouble him on the way.

    Without facing any trouble, he managed to reach the portal point while covering his face with a mask. Once he was out of the wild zone, he also dismissed the wolf.

    Drake City, just like the other cities located in respective level-4 regions, wasn''t that developed. More than a city, it looks like a tiny village, indicating the low presence of humans.

    A guard was stationed at the portal point and another was looking after the village; both of them appeared to be in Exalt realm. Other than them, Azzy couldn''t sense anyone else. Perhaps, it is because of the nighttime.

    At the same time, Azzy also discovered that there is only one portal point with teleportation formation here. Unlike in the lower region ones where a large region is divided into sections according to the country, here, there''s no such facility.

    Azzy doesn''t need to ask him to figure out that this portal point wouldn''t take him to Gaia. It will only take to the portal points within the same world.

    Anyways, Azzy has nothing to do with it. He didn''t think too much and calmly walked into the portal point, making the sleepy guard wake up in alert as Azzy didn''t hide his soul realm to escape unnecessary questions from the guard.

    As the guard hurriedly rush out of his cabin on the side and looked at Azzy, the latter dismissed the flying card and threw the three young men onto the ground. He then said, "I found these kids in the wild zone. Take care of them."

    Azzy pretended to be an old expert of the legendary realm and the guard didn''t question him either as a sign of respect. As he simply nodded in understanding, Azzy then asked, "Can I go to Emerald City through this?"

    The guard answered, "Give me a moment, senior. I''ll proceed with the activation."

    "How much?" Azzy was prepared to take out a few fire crystals he mined from the cave as payment as he doesn''t want to pay with the card to hide his movements but thankfully, the guard refused to take the money, "for everyone above rank-7, there are no transportation charges."

    "Is that so? Good then¡­"

    After a while, Azzy disappeared from the region and teleported to Emerald City. From there, he flew toward the location where the incident was supposed to happen.

    Upon reaching the location, he observed the place from the top. There are clearly no signs of battle. However, there is a kissing couple nearby a lamp post.

    "Are they Alder and the woman?" He wondered.

    Azzy couldn''t see their faces clearly from so high. So, he activated the "Eyes of God" soul skill and observed them as his vision became as clear during the day.

    "Eh? It''s that woman?" He recognized her in one glance. She''s Maria, the principal''s assistant.

    Azzy couldn''t help but remember a memory, in which, she was greeting Aaron with a look of cheerfulness on her face while she wasn''t the same with him or the principal.

    "Okay, this woman is involved, huh? Let''s watch what happens¡­"

    Azzy observed them from far away. At first, it was a little bit disturbing to secretly watch the couple making out but then as more than 30 minutes passed and they were still kissing, Azzy lost his interest and became immune to the scene. He only wanted to wait for the time to pass away.

    It''s past 3 .a.m. and they were still at it, making Azzy wonder whether the time of his message to WAMO (3:06 a.m.) is true or not. His concentration dwindled.

    However, just as five more minutes passed away, Azzy finally saw them separated. Or rather, Alder pushed her away.

    However, his face was now blue in color. With a shivering finger pointing at her, he was slowly falling onto his knees while breathing heavily.

    Maria licked her lips and smiled, "You are a good kisser. I give you that but too bad you aren''t smart as you look."

    Instead of confronting her, Alder fell on his stomach and secretly took out something that looks like an envelope (message card) and it disappeared soon after.

    Within no time, Alder lost consciousness and Maria''s golden eyes turned back to normal brown eyes. As she crouched down to check his pulse, footsteps were heard from her behind.

    Azzy shifted his attention to the person coming toward her. He clenched his fist, "I knew it. This guy is involved after all."

    Aaron came to her and asked about Alder''s status.

    Maria answered with a nod as she got up and turned around, "He will be out for the next 12 hours. If I don''t give him the antidote within that time, the venom will take his life. I hope it will be enough to extract his memories."

    "It is enough, poison girl. But, to begin the extraction, we would have to get out of here with our lives first," replied Aaron before raising his head and removing his blindfold.

    The rainbow eyes with seven rings over his irises were looking at Azzy, who was several hundred meters away in the sky. "We got company," added Aaron.

    "Sh*t." Azzy realized that he messed up by forgetting to seal his soul orb.

 Chapter 529 The Second Act Of Time Traveling (Part-2)

    "What should I do now?"

    Azzy''s presence got caught by Aaron''s mystic eyes and was left with two choices.

    One, he should return to the original timeline. He has already found the culprits. So, it wasn''t as if this trip is fruitless. But, if he runs away without doing anything, he would feel like a coward.

    Two, he stays here and captures them right now. In such a case, he might be messing up with the timeline.

    As Azzy doesn''t want to opt for either of the choices, he thought for a bit and went on with the third choice, which is just a modification of the second plan.

    Continuing to float in the sky, Azzy proceeded to summon his soul card.

    "Come out, Jinn."

    A man with his lower half full of smoke and a ponytail on his bald head made the appearance before his master.

    He bowed to Azzy while cupping his fists, "Master, your orders."

    Azzy pointed his finger at the couple on the ground and ordered, "I want you to beat them up until I''m satisfied. If you can successfully possess him, it is even better. Now, go¡­"

    Since there is a restriction of strength in a level-3 region like Emerald City, he wasn''t sure that the Jinn will be able to beat both of them with ease.

    But, what if the opponents turned out to be stronger than he expected? Azzy had that thought too. Hence, after sending the Jinn to fight the targets, he went on unleashing his favorite soul skill.

    "Soul skill: Rise of the Undead"

    Azzy closed his eyes and concentrated on bringing out just one undead, the recent addition to the group.

    A large six-eyed undead spider was summoned in front of him but before it even tried to greet him, the gravitational force of the planet made her free fall.

    Fortunately, there was no crash occurred as the spider was swift enough to make a smooth landing.  Or else, there would have been a large crater formed in the middle of the place.

    "Bring down my enemies, Taslan." Azzy passed the instruction through a telepathic connection.

    The six-eyed spider and the Jinn made their way toward their respective targets, taking them by surprise as they experienced such a strange thing.

    "One is a humanoid Arcana spirit and the other is an undead summon but with a spirit core. Careful, Maria," said the man as he summoned his Arcana while fixing his eyes on the masked figure floating atleast a couple of hundred meters above him.

    "Come out, Stratos."

    *buzz* buzz* *buzz*

    The sounds of buzzing were heard in the surroundings but there was no appearance of an Arcana, atleast in the eyes of Jinn and Maria.

    However, it was a different story for Azzy who had activated his Eyes of God soul skill.

    He saw a tiny mosquito hovering around Aaron''s head and it was anything but ordinary. It was an Arcana for sure.

    "A mosquito as Arcana? Too weird for a villain who was blessed with cosmic eyes¡­" thought Azzy as he informed the Jinn, which will be facing Aaron.

    Jinn replied in confidence that he can take care of the opponent and flew straight toward Aaron.

    Aaron, for some reason, stayed calm unlike his flustered partner as Jinn reached him.

    The jinn clenched his fist and threw a punch to Aaron''s face. The latter didn''t bother to dodge and just stood straight.

    Just as the fist was about to touch him, Aaron''s rainbow eyes glowed and the jinn''s fist passed through him.

    "Eh?" Azzy was taken aback by the scene. "It didn''t seem like he unleashed any soul skill.  Is it the ability of the eyes, his inborn ability?"

    "It looks like the child has unlocked the mystic eyes'' hidden potential. If that is the case, then, you cannot go against him without commotion." The Reaper gave his suggestion,  either cast a barrier or leave this timeline.

    Azzy nodded and proceed to unleash a sealing technique he learned from the guardian god.

    A transparent barrier in the open area was cast in about ten seconds, cutting off the connection to the outside world. As the natural energy from the surroundings was used as the source, it doesn''t even need Azzy''s supervision to manage it anymore. The barrier will take care of itself, i.e. self-healing.

    Meanwhile, the Jinn went on continuously attacking Aaron with his fists. However, every attack just passes through him. And this mosquito, the gold-grade Arcana of the same size as a real-life mosquito, was just hovering around its master for some reason.

    Seeing Aaron''s soul energy was also rapidly being consumed, the jinn didn''t bother using any other techniques either.

    At the same time, the six-eyed spider reached its target. Maria''s eyes turned to gold once again as she went into her battle stance. Daggers appeared in her hands. They were normal weapons though. For whatever reason she might have, Maria didn''t summon her Arcana even while facing a powerful monster like Taslan.

    Taslan opened its mouth and shot a jet of spider web at close range. Maria rapidly swung the twin daggers, cutting the spider web until the undead creature used its soul skill, the Death stare, to paralyze her for a moment.

    Before she even attempted to escape it, Taslan shot a jet of web and captured her in a cocoon.

    "Dammit." Aaron gritted his teeth and was forced to dismiss his transparent ability and unleashed an illusion.

    *Pow*

    He was punched once and flew almost ten meters away, crashing into a lamppost and destroying it.

    However, in the eyes of the jinn, he was standing still like always but he wasn''t untouchable this time. And in the undead spider''s view, its target just stayed in the cocoon as it is.

    The Jinn started punching Aaron who stood there like a wall. Wounds were clear on him but he wasn''t moving from the spot. The Jinn didn''t think too much about it and just beat him up, following his master''s orders.

    On the other hand, the undead spider observed its target, which wasn''t resisting as it has expected. It doesn''t know what else to do other than raise its head and look in the sky only to realize that its master disappeared.

    In reality, Azzy was floating in the sky in the same place. And at the moment, he didn''t appear to be pleased.

    "Hmm, what were they doing?" Azzy frowned inwardly as he saw the Jinn busy punching air and the undead spider was looking around in confusion.

    As his Eyes of God sees through every illusion and trick, he wasn''t affected by the illusion and saw Aaron hurriedly rise to his feet, rushed to his partner, and freed her from the cocoon.

    "Chronos, is it another eye ability?" He asked the Reaper. The latter confirmed his suspicions before explaining, "Yes, the mystic eyes are far more complicated than the other cosmic eyes. Apart from spotting things like spirits, energies, ghosts, and auras, the user who truly mastered the eye could also see objects from a long distance, unleash illusions over a wide area, become transparent like a ghost, enter other people''s dreams, steal one''s soul energy, and even rewrite his reality in exchange for his life force."

    "That cosmic eye is so broken¡­" Azzy was shocked when he heard the Reaper''s words. He suddenly felt like his eyes are useless and envied his enemy.

    The Reaper who understood his host''s thoughts then stated, "Mystic eyes appeared to be overpowered but in reality, the abilities not only have several restrictions but also consume a lot of soul energy. On the other hand, the Eyes of Death could practically see one''s death.

    Right now, all you can see is an aura of death. Once you master it, you just need to take a glance at your targets and you can see the time, date, place, and how would they die too. Not even the gods could escape your vision."

    "But, the Eyes of Death are of no use in a battle and even in daily life, it is useless. So, what if I know how one dies? You will keep on lecturing me to not go against the natural order. If I wouldn''t have been stubborn about saving my sister, Affy wouldn''t have even been born in the first place. I don''t see how this power is even incredible?" Azzy argued with the Reaper.

    The Reaper replied calmly, "You could only understand it when you live long enough. There is no shortcut to wisdom."

 Chapter 530 The Second Act Of Time Traveling (Part-3)

    As the jinn and the undead spider were stuck in an illusion, Azzy kept an eye on Aaron and Maria while formulating a new strategy against them.

    There''s no need for him to teach them a lesson but he couldn''t just return like a loser after witnessing the murder. If not for his respect for the rules of the timeline, he would have gotten there and killed them with his own hands.

    Maria was freed and Aaron was patting her back as she was rigorously coughing and taking heavy breaths. The cocoon she was imprisoned in earlier was so tight that she didn''t have the room to breathe and felt suffocation.

    "You alright, sis?" He asked, taking Azzy by surprise once again.

    Maria nodded as she took heavy breaths and supported her body by grabbing her knees, "Yeah, I''m fine. That was too terrifying. I feel like I was gonna die."

    "You must leave this place before they get out of the illusion. Your job is done anyways. There''s no need to risk your life. I''ll take care of him," said Aaron, urging her to escape as she wasn''t as strong as him.

    Maria also realized that she was a burden to him and nodded, "Alright. But, be careful and smart. We won''t be able to save our parents if you fall down here. So, put your life as a priority over your ego, alright?"

    "Yeah, I know that. Just go¡­" Aaron forced Maria to use a special teleportation card to leave the place.

    Maria poured her soul energy into the activated 8-star teleportation skill card, expecting to teleport far away.

    The skill card glowed up and disappeared into specks of light along with the woman. Aaron let out a sigh of relief.

    However, in the next second, a painful scream was heard behind him.

    "Ahhh¡­"

    He turned around and witnessed the woman crash onto the ground. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw the transparent barrier behind her.

    "That barrier¡­ it''s not only more powerful but more complex than what I have anticipated." Aaron''s face darkened as he raised his hand. A mosquito landed on his finger and he shifted his gaze to the jinn and the spider. "If that''s the case, then, I shouldn''t drag this battle for a long time."

    "Go, stratos." He ordered his Arcana.

    The mosquito flew toward the undead spider. Aaron, meanwhile, raised his head and looked at Azzy. Without dismissing the illusion, he cannot activate other abilities like his enhanced vision but still, somehow he could feel Azzy''s gaze on him when the latter was also supposed to be affected by the illusion.

    Feeling that it was probably because of his nervousness, Aaron shifted his attention back to the Jinn and charged forward.

    Just as he crossed halfway to his target, all of a sudden, a concentrated transparent-colored beam of energy descended from the sky.

    The beam went past him and struck the six-eyed spider. However, the undead remained unharmed but the same case cannot be said for the mosquito which almost managed to invade its body by flying through the gaps between the bones in its abdomen area.

    The natural energy beam destroyed its body into nothingness in just one shot despite the fact everyone''s soul realm was restricted to the 6-star realm in Emerald City.

    "Stratos¡­ What the¡­" Aaron stopped midway as he sensed the death of his Arcana and turned around to look at the undead spider in reflex before turning back and raising his head to look at Azzy.

    His heartbeat spiked up as he realized that the origin of that powerful attack was Azzy, who was currently enveloped by a transparent energy layer over his body.

    Earlier, he did sense something wrong but because of the long distance, he couldn''t figure it out exactly; now he realized there is really something wrong. Fortunately, he wasn''t out of tricks, and being a legendary realm expert, he would have confidence even facing a supreme realm expert.

    Treating the new enemy very seriously, Aaron went on to unleash an energy technique, attacking the jinn with a barrage of discs imbued with a fire attribute. It''s not a soul skill but certainly as powerful as one.

    The jinn still in the middle of punching an illusionary figure didn''t see that and Azzy didn''t know any defensive techniques that can protect someone and neither he knows how to dispel the illusion. Since it is too risky to come down and face the target, he cannot save the jinn by himself.

    As a result, he could only pass strict instructions to his new Arcana spirit. "Jinn, use soul skill: Invisibility without wasting any time."

    The Jinn was confused at first but he followed his master''s orders and unleashed his ability-turned-soul skill, Invisibility.

    He disappeared from Aaron''s sight at once, taking him by surprise. "Dismissed? No, I sensed the sudden flow of soul energy into this humanoid being. It''s a soul skill¡­"

    As he raised his hand and controlled the flame discs, halting their movements for a while not to waste them unnecessarily, Azzy ordered the jinn to fly higher.

    Without knowing what he was aiming for, the Jinn just flew straight toward the barrier and made a quick landing before dashing to the left, flying alongside the edge of the barrier until his target was within his reach.

    Azzy instructed the Jinn to throw a punch. The confused jinn did as he was told. However, surprisingly, he felt like he touched something when he shouldn''t have.

    Maria, who was also experiencing the illusion that Aaron designed, didn''t see the jinn coming at her and blasted away.

    Coughing out a mouthful of blood, she struggled to get up. Aaron was forced to dismiss his illusion and rush toward her.

    Looking at him, Azzy mumbled, "Well, I guess I understand how to deal with him. Criminals deserve to face villainous methods too."

    As Aaron was about to reach Maria upon realizing that the enemy wasn''t affected by the illusion earlier, Azzy went on to summon his hourglass.

    He held it upside down and unleashed the soul skill with his gaze fixed on Aaron.

    "Soul skill: Chrono Rewind."

    A stream of white-colored energy was shot out of the hourglass and struck Aaron at the speed of light, giving him no opportunity to evade it.

    Before he realized it, Aaron started moving in a reverse direction and reached a hundred meters away from where he originally stood at the spot the agent was killed.

    Originally, the distance wasn''t that long and shouldn''t be a big deal but the fact that he was dragged away by an invisible force in just an instant confused him. That momentary confusion also gave the head start to the jinn to cover up his distance to his new target.

    The jinn reached her within no time and Aaron shouted, "Careful¡­"

    Maria, who was on the ground while still clutching her stomach in pain, raised her head to look at the jinn from close range. Before she had the chance to even react, the jinn flew into her body following Azzy''s instructions.

    "Soul skill: Possession"

    Aaron just moved his feet but the soul skill made its effect quite instantly. The possessed Maria then rose to her feet and looked at Aaron. Letting out a smirk, she spoke in a deep masculine tone, "Sorry kid but this girl is under my control. Now, if you don''t let me beat you up, she''s gonna die."

    Meanwhile, in the sky, Azzy shut off his eyes and connected his mind to the jinn. He spoke, "Keep him busy that way. Taslan will also assist you. First, I need you to search her memories and get me Aaron''s abilities, their relationship, and everything about their background."

 Chapter 531 The Second Act Of Time Traveling (Part-4)

    ?

    The six-eyed spider scurried toward its target after finally getting out of the illusion. The Jinn was in Maria''s body, having full control over her weak soul. He was busy reading her memories at a blazing speed.

    Aaron, on the other hand, didn''t know how to respond to the enemy''s treacherous move. She''s his partner in crime but a family member too. And she''s also his weakness.

    Through the memories of Maria, the jinn found out that Maria and Aaron are indeed blood-related siblings, born to the leader of a dark organization ''Assad''.

    Assad carried out numerous terrorist activities during the past couple of centuries but the WAMO eventually caught their leader in a trap and put him into prison with maximum security about a few years ago. The remaining key members were either dead or went missing. One of them was their mother too.

    The plan is to use the kids of influential backgrounds as a bargaining chip to stop his execution and probably even free him. After all, the WAMO is not under anyone''s jurisdiction and is powerful enough to defy any nation''s military. Hence, it needed a bunch of countries to put forth a request for the release.

    Well, the story is quite straightforward but Azzy felt like the story might not be complete. If Aaron is the mastermind behind this plan, then, he would likely keep a few important details to himself and it is even more likely considering Maria is his family.

    To further support this theory, Azzy also found out that Maria never knew the hideouts of her dad''s organization, and neither did she meet with any other member.

    As a girl born with a rare poison attribute, she is key to this hostage plan. She was supposed to inject a kind of poison into the bodies of the students so as to force their parents to use their influence.

    As for why they have yet to proceed with their plan, it is because of the lack of an event where they could gather everyone at one spot without the supervision of the principal or any other troublesome expert.

    And in the upcoming weeks, they would find more than one instance to put their plan into action.

    Regarding her brother''s eye abilities, her knowledge is quite limited and hence it was of no use.

    As Azzy was processing all the information he was receiving from the jinn, Aaron meanwhile wondered about how to free his sister, ignoring the jinn''s threats and dodging the undead spider''s attacks with his transparent form.

    Seeing that the enemy was only using words and not really hurting his sister, Aaron also wondered whether the enemy has no plans of killing either of them. Perhaps, he is from WAMO?

    But the biggest question troubling him is why in the hell the enemy just floating in the sky far away and not taking action. Was he underestimating him or was it something else?

    "Kid, you should stop resisting if you don''t want to regret it later on. My patience is waning every second." The Jinn threatened him to stop dodging and surrender.

    As Aaron refused to comply, Azzy gave his instruction to the jinn to proceed to the next step.

    Under the jinn''s possession, Maria suddenly raised her hand and poured her soul energy before sharpening it like a sword.

    "Hmm?" Aaron spotted it and glanced at her.

    Without any warning, Maria stabbed her own stomach and took it out without a grin on her face. Blood started to ooze out of her body and she started to laugh in a sadistic way as Aaron panicked, "Maria¡­"

    "Kuahahaha¡­ good very good. Now, check this out." Maria then stabbed her left thigh and let the blood ooze out once again.

    Aaron hurriedly took out a healing skill card and threw it nearby his sister''s feet. Her injuries healed up instantly while his soul energy plummeted to less than 10%.

    Raising her hand once again, Maria said, "So, what it''s gonna be? I can hurt her continuously. I can take out her limbs one after another before grabbing the heart and plucking it out if that''s what it takes to surrender."

    Aaron gritted his teeth in frustration and raised up his hands, "Fine, you win. You can do whatever you want with me. Just let her go."

    The undead spider reached him and raised two of its front limb to pierce his body. Aaron was also ready to get attacked. However, at the last moment, it stopped just a couple of inches away from his chest and backed away.

    The Jinn then spoke, "My master says that you will face your punishment for all the evil acts you have done, but when the time is ripe. Until then¡­"

    The jinn left Maria and both of them were dismissed at the same time. Grabbing his sister who fell unconscious, Aaron raised his head to look at the sky.

    Azzy looked down and mumbled, "Let''s just leave. Beating him by taking a hostage like this would only hurt my soul instead, not worth it. At the very least, I learned something new. It can be considered a mixed victory."

    After dismissing the jinn and Taslan, Azzy used his hourglass to travel back to his timeline, ending up in a level-1 region located far away from Emerald City. By the time he returned to the dorm, it was already past 4 a.m., giving him little time to sleep.

    Collapsing on the couch, Azzy quickly fell into dreamland.

    Meanwhile, in his neighboring room, Aaron was seen awake despite there being no lighting in his flat. His senses were hovering all over Azzy''s room while he was in thought.

    "Earlier, I thought that this ''Gary'' fellow went out to bring back Flora as she was too drunk as usual but then he disappeared for a couple of hours once again. Strong enough to defeat someone like Snivy with ease, bold enough to offend those rich brats, a sealing master of atleast advanced grade, and suspected to be in a legendary realm when he isn''t even 50 years old. He is suspicious from all angles. Gary is not some general-ranked officer of WAMO, is he?

    Nah! Why would they send such an expert to investigate the death of someone like Alder? Or maybe, he is that fellow? Hmm¡­ possible. For some reason, I don''t remember a thing but I have this faint feeling that the one who attacked us a few days ago was a necromancer.

    And Gary showcased one of his skills that involved a skull and corrupted energy. It is the sign of a necromancer. But, it is also possible that I was unnecessarily thinking too much. Skill cards are available at every card store."

    Aaron had several thoughts disturbing him because of the appearance of a troublesome expert of mysterious origins.

    "Should I probe his origins through the dreams?" Aaron wondered before negating the idea as he didn''t think it isn''t an appropriate time to do that.

    Maybe, when his neighbor slept before midnight, he will be in a deep sleep state around 3-4 in the morning. Then, he could use his eye ability to find out something. The vice principal of the academy wondered.

    Slowly, the time ticked away and two hours passed away just like a snap of a finger.

    "Hmmm¡­"

    Flora woke up with a low moan and stretched her body before suddenly realizing that she was in an unfamiliar bedroom.

    "Eh? This isn''t mine¡­"

    As she hurriedly checked her body to see if her underwear at the top and bottom are there or not, a memory from the previous night struck her. Her face turned pale and she covered her face with the pillow in shame. "You idiot."

 Chapter 532 The Staff Meeting

    ?

    Flora hurriedly stepped out of the room and saw Azzy sleeping on the couch. She didn''t bother to wake him up and quietly slipped out before rushing toward the stairs.

    She thought she was safe as no one spotted her. But, she didn''t know that a certain vice principal was spying on Azzy''s room for a while and he has certain plans to cause trouble to Azzy so that the latter will be busy solving them for a while.

    It doesn''t matter to Aaron whether Azzy has any relation to WAMO or not. He just needs time to focus on his goal. And he cannot do that with a troublesome expert staying nearby.

    Azzy was also unaware of the scheme thought by his neighbor and he just continued with his daily routine as usual.

    Around 9:45 in the morning, the vice principal called for a staff meeting.

    Azzy also made his way to the secondary staff room, located within the teachers'' dorm.

    When he reached there, he saw a few staff members sitting down but what was surprising is that none of them looked like they readied up. All of them were still in pajamas, casual wear, or shorts and t-shirts. Azzy was the only one wearing a suit.

    As if that wasn''t embarrassing enough, the vice principal, who was already present in the room, pointed it out while giving his morning greetings.

    Feeling extremely embarrassed, Azzy took a seat at one of the edges of the table and sat down.

    One after another, the rest of the teachers arrived one by one. However, they were avoiding seating beside Azzy for some reason. Maybe, it is because of his performance earlier day and they feared him. Or maybe, it is something else.

    Even Flora acted the same, although for different reasons. The teachers were murmuring among themselves about common topics and the silent Azzy felt isolated all of a sudden. He couldn''t help but remember his first day of high school.

    Back then, Azzy wasn''t mature and hence, he didn''t feel the need to take initiative. But, now is different.

    After contemplating much, just as Azzy decides to talk with Aaron who was standing nearby him, Snivy enters the room. Her expression doesn''t look good. The place becomes silent and several of them paid attention to her.

    She took a glimpse at the entire room and walked toward Azzy. Without speaking anything, she sat beside him and stared at the surprised vice principal, greeting him with a nod.

    After a while, as everyone arrived without failure, the blindfolded man spoke as the host, "Let me start the meeting with two announcements."

    Pointing his finger at Snivy, he said, "As you all know, Teacher Snivy lost the challenge and hence, she''ll no longer continue as the combat instructor for Class 10-B. Teacher Gary will be taking her job."

    Everyone took a glance at Snivy, who appeared to be unfazed by the announcement as it no longer bothered her. She simply nodded.

    Aaron then continued, "Secondly, after this semester, I''m going to resign from my post due to personal reasons. Luckily, I have also found my replacement. He will be joining us and working as my assistant in order to learn my work before taking my place. So, make yourselves familiar with him."

    Azzy narrowed his eyes for a moment as he heard the second announcement. He was almost sure that the new person should be Aaron''s colleague. "He probably made this move because of yesterday''s match. Or maybe, it is because he suspects me as the same person who attacked him in the past timeline," thought Azzy, guessing it perfectly.

    Meanwhile, Aaron continued, "Well, that''s that. Now, let''s discuss things about rules. Ms. Flora." He looked at her and said, "This morning, around 4, you were spotted coming out of Mr. Gary''s room. I hope you remember that there''s a policy in the academy that teachers are prohibited from having a relationship." Aaron then turned his head to look at Azzy, throwing the room into commotion.

    In an instant, Flora rose to her feet and Azzy''s gaze turned sharp as they stared at Aaron.

    "It''s not what you¡­" Flora attempted to defend herself to clear the misunderstandings but Aaron interrupted her on purpose with a statement, "I know that it is the business of two adults and I have no right to judge you two but I still think that you should be careful, that''s all. Now, please sit down. We have several things to talk about."

    Flora looked at Azzy, hoping for him to talk back to the vice principal as a concerned party but Azzy was silent, making her only more frustrated. Some of the teachers started murmuring about it.

    As she sat grudgingly down, Aaron inwardly celebrated his successful move and went on to discuss different topics regarding the annual tournament, the next trip to wild zone, a few students of interest who needed to be sent for the upcoming tri-academy exchange event, etc...

    Once the meeting is over, Flora planned to talk with Azzy but she was dragged by a couple of her colleagues, who started bombarding her with questions. While she tried her best to clear the misunderstandings, Azzy disappeared from her sight.

    He and Snivy walked together to the stairs before climbing up to the terrace without any conversation. Only then Azzy opened his mouth, "What is it that you want to talk about?"

    During the meeting, Snivy whispered to him that she wants to talk with him in private. He obliged her request, considering their past relationship.

    He was even preparing to give her position back if she asks him but the woman didn''t have such thoughts. Conjuring a noise-canceling barrier around them, she then said, "In our yesterday''s battle, I felt two of your attacks are quite similar but couldn''t put my finger on it. I met Mia and also Calder. Interestingly, they don''t know anyone named Gary but Mia seemed to be familiar with one of those two skills you have displayed.

    The laughing skull of darkness. It is a skill card created by our high school classmate named Azrael. At first, I thought it was just some coincidence that you ended up having that skill card but then as I showed your photograph to her, she revealed the truth.

    We are probably not close, considering the fact that I don''t remember you and how we were only friends for a few months. In the past 30 years, I became friends with hundreds of people and teamed up with dozens of them. Hence, I''m not here for some reunion and act like we were close friends or anything.

    I just want to know why you are using a false identity and faking your background to enter this school. You defeated me with ease. Someone like you wouldn''t need to resort to doing such a thing.

    I don''t know the reason but if you need my cooperation for your act, I need the truth. Even a partial one should be fine. Otherwise, you should either leave or look for ways to silence me."

    Azzy, was at once, surprised by Snivy''s words. The surprise should be an understatement. It was a shock.

    But then, as he digested her words, he realized that she was also right. In her eyes, they were almost strangers considering the fact that they didn''t have communication for 30 long years.

    It''s just that he time-traveled for 27 years and his memories of 15-16 months of high school life were quite fresh. They were quite important to him too.

    For a moment, he was even worried about the moment he and Claire get reunited.

    Calming down his emotions, he replied, "Fine, I''ll tell you."

 Chapter 533 Relation Between Attributes (Part-1)

    ?

    A couple of minutes later;

    "You demanded the truth and this is the truth. Now that you know it, I''m asking for your assistance as the captain-ranked officer of WAMO. Either you help me solve this mission or cooperate by staying silent. Or else, I will be taking appropriate action to protect my mission."

    Azzy decided to treat Snivy like a stranger as she treated him as one despite knowing that they were once teammates.

    Hence, he used his rank and organization to put pressure on her. Snivy, on the other hand, felt like this was Azzy''s true personality the same as the one he was displaying until now.

    She was somehow happy with Azzy''s behavior and agreed to assist him. What''s more surprising fact is that she wasn''t actually surprised to hear the vice principal was a prime suspect.

    He kept his time traveling secret from her and didn''t back up his claims with any statements either except for the findings at the bar.

    And yet, she trusted his guts.

    But why?

    Is it because he was her past teammate? Is it because he was a captain at WAMO? Azzy''s bet on the latter as she''s a former member of the organization.

    Either way, he got support and that is enough for him.

    "Okay, Snivy. For now, keep an eye on 10-A students and report to me if Maria or Aaron had any suspicious activity. The new person, so-called Aaron''s successor is also a subject of suspicion. Be careful."

    ***

    After a while;

    Azzy entered the classroom and everyone rose to their feet as soon as they saw him. There was a pin-drop silence in the room and he could see most of these so-called elites are quite nervous.

    Of course, not all of them are like that.

    Some girls looked like they developed a crush. Some boys were looking at him in admiration as a sign of respect for his strength. Surprisingly, Raydon Geller, the strongest student in the academy and the one with the most troublesome personality is also one of them.

    As for Serestia, her face was beaming with pride as if she was the one who was being respected.

    He gestured for them to sit down and spoke about the important things the teachers discussed in the staff meeting.

    "Mr. Vice Principal told us to inform you that the tri-academy tournament is scheduled this weekend at Sun City. One 7-member team, three duos, and five singles. A total of 18 representatives will be selected per grade.

    However, the spots aren''t decided by your past performances, and neither is it equally divided between two sections. It was decided that three days later, on Friday, your battle prowess will be tested in practical combat class.

    Since the practical combat class instructor of 10-B has changed, there will be no joint class from now onwards except during the tests or monthly assessments. If you want to be selected as one of the representatives, then, train hard."

    Azzy''s words indeed took them by surprise but it also excited some of them as they were confident that they were superior to the students of other sections. Naturally, the past records also proved that their thinking isn''t wrong. All of a sudden, these students felt like they have gotten an opportunity to get back at their teacher.

    All of them welcomed it in their hearts but Azzy could see the confidence and even overconfidence in some of the faces. He didn''t pay attention as the result has nothing to do with him.

    Taking his seat, he opened a novel as usual without sealing their soul orbs, atleast for these 30 minutes of homeroom session, now that these problematic students were intimidated by his presence.

    He wasn''t bothered by what they did as long as they didn''t make a noise. Once he was done, he left the room and made his way to the next classroom while Flora was seen walking toward his way just like the previous day.

    They stopped midway and Flora said to him that she wants to talk to him in the evening. Azzy nodded in response, not minding what she wants to ask about now that his identity was already revealed to Snivy.

    Upon entering the class, Azzy was greeted by cheerful students. "Morning, Sir." "Sit down"

    The atmosphere in 10-B was completely different.

    It wasn''t just because of Azzy''s nice behavior toward them but also because of the fact that the majority of the students weren''t arrogant due to their humble backgrounds. They also had more unity amongst themselves, although their innate talent regarding practical combat is quite a bit of a disappointment.

    "I guess Teacher Flora has already informed you about the upcoming tournament." He said while taking the seat.

    As the cheerful students suddenly became dispirited, Azzy then spoke, "As your combat instructor for both theoretical and practical subjects, I''ll do my best to teach you and I hope you do your best to train hard too."

    "But, Sir, what can two days of training do?" asked Julius, the class monitor in worry. He further added, "I don''t want to admit it but it is true that apart from four to five students, the remaining of us don''t have the chance to make it to the team."

    Azzy shook his head with a smile, "It is true that the grade of an Arcana or soul power largely decides one potential but it isn''t everything either.

    If you are better in skills such as footwork, attack and defense techniques, and mastery over soul energy and attribute, you would be able to defeat a stronger opponent. But, more than that, you need the right kind of battle strategy."

    As the expressions of the students changed, Azzy got up and walked to the whiteboard with a marker, "In today''s class, we are going back to basic. We will discuss the relationship between the attributes in order to understand the fusion techniques.

    Who had the fire attribute?" He asked the students.

    As about ten students raised their hands, Azzy continued, "Everyone that fire is weak against water, and it is usually assumed that fire is strong against the wind. But, that is wrong. Fire has a complicated relationship with the wind."

    "Hmm?" The fire attribute users got slightly confused.

    Azzy then explained, "Think about it. You light up a candle on your birthday cake. How do you put them off?"

    In an instant, realization dawned upon everyone with such a simple statement. "By blowing it off," answered a girl named Susie. All of a sudden, everyone felt like a fool for not realizing such a simple thing.

    Azzy nodded with a smile, "exactly. That is wind. When wind overwhelms fire, then, the fire will be destroyed. However, in another case, wind becomes an ally of fire.

    I bet your parents and teachers always told you that those with fire attributes must carry wind elemental crystals to enhance their attack damage with their fusion skills.

    Usually, it works because the attribute energy from the elemental crystals cannot overpower your own soul energy. And when it doesn''t work, you would see people complain that it is because of your lack of talent or you have awakened a low-grade Arcana.

    It is true but you should understand the process behind the reaction too. Now, here''s something you should pay attention to.

    Fire''s natural ally during the battle isn''t wind. It is the lightning. And those with fire attribute must carry lighting elemental crystals with them whether they have wind elemental crystals or not."

    Everyone: "Ehhh?"

 Chapter 534 Relation Between Attributes (Part-2)

    ?

    Almost every student of 10-B was surprised to hear that lightning is fire''s natural ally and not the wind. They have grown up while learning something else.

    As they looked at their teacher in a mix of disbelief and confusion, Azzy couldn''t help but sigh inwardly because of how pathetic they appeared right now.

    For an intelligent guy like him, it is something obvious, not rocket science. Not to mention, the students of this class had great scores in theoretical combat too.

    Hence, he couldn''t help but be slightly disappointed as they didn''t live up to his expectations.

    Throwing the useless thoughts away, Azzy pointed the marker at the short-haired girl in the front row, "Student Talia, what do you think will happen if one adds the lightning energy from an elemental crystal to a fireball? Note that I have a decent amount of mastery over energy control."

    Talia grabbed her chin and thought for a bit and answered, "Sir, Fire, and lightning attributes are incompatible. They cannot be merged. So, they will fight for supremacy. Considering the lightning energy from crystals is weaker, then, it should get pushed away. However, with decent control, we could probably make it stay on the surface of the fireball."

    Azzy nodded with a smile, "that''s correct. Now, what if I throw that attack at the enemy? What will my opponent faces first? The heat of the flames or the shock of the lightning sparks?"

    "The lightning sparks cuz it was on the surface of the fireball," replied Talia before imagining the scenario. Her eyes widened as she continued, "The enemy will first paralyze by the shock before he receives the flames. The lightning here acted as the armor for the fireball."

    "Exactly." Azzy gestured for her to sit down and turned toward the whiteboard. "Imagine. What if I enhance the fireball with wind energy and then apply the lightning energy over it?

    Next is its relation with the Earth attribute. Unlike the other attributes, earth energy usually turns solid after a certain amount of time.

    Rather than applying it to the fireball, the fire attribute users would have to use fire energy over the condensed form of earth energy, which is nothing but a stone.

    However, if we do that, the fire will just melt the rock, provided that it is hot enough. Fortunately, at your level, you cannot create flames with such high temperatures.

    So, you don''t need others'' help. Create a stone from earth elemental crystal and use fire over it. Increase the flames with the wind. And then, coat the bigger flames with lightning. This is the type of combo attack the fire attribute users should be aiming for.

    But, if you had a teammate, you can combine your soul skills. Your attack damage will only increase further. Of course, practice will be necessary and there''s no shortcut to achieving it."

    As the students nodded, the blonde-haired boy raised his hand and asked, "But Sir, elemental crystals are quite expensive if we had to buy numerous amounts, and acquiring them from the wild zone is quite risky."

    Looking at the class monitor, Azzy spoke, "Who said you needed to buy or acquire elemental crystals? You can just create them."

    "What?"

    Azzy''s reply once again unleashed waves of shock in the classroom.

    "Create them? Are you kidding?" A student named Shaun couldn''t control his pitch and almost screamed because what he heard can only be termed as an absurd thing.

    In response, Azzy summoned his storage card and took out an empty blank card made of bronze. "I don''t mean it literally. It is impossible to create elemental crystals as they are grown in the soil. Based on the habitat and the monsters roaming around in a place, they were decided. However, it is nothing more than converting natural energy into elemental energy. The crystals are just medium.

    But, if I do this¡­"

    While explaining, he raised his hand. The natural energy in the surroundings rushed toward him. However, he didn''t absorb it.

    Instead, he gathered it above his palm and compressed it into the form of a tiny sphere. "First, we insert natural energy like this¡­"

    He sent the natural energy into the blank skill card where people usually send their soul energy to create skill cards and become card masters.

    As the natural energy was trapped in the blank card, he didn''t shape it with any imagination. He then raised his hand once again, gathering the lightning energy. Soon, black lightning sparks appeared over his palm.

    Because of the fact that he unleashed a laughing skull of darkness technique and then a meteor shower against Snivy, they believed that it is his attribute is dark and earth.

    But seeing the lightning sparks changed their opinion. Some assumed that either their teacher has three attributes or the meteor shower is just a skill card he purchased somewhere.

    As for the dark attribute, they had no doubts about it due to Azzy''s behavior toward 10-A students and the black color of the lightning sparks.

    Meanwhile, the black lightning energy was also inserted into the skill card. The natural energy, upon contact with the black lightning sparks, reacted wildly.

    For a moment, it appeared as if the skill card will explore but Azzy skillfully merged the both of them. As a result, the lightning energy became independent of its original recipient.

    Raising the card, Azzy then said, "Pure attribute energy + natural energy will give you the elemental energy, the same energy present in elemental crystals. I can teach the method of manipulating natural energy during our practical combat lessons, but for that, you would have to reach the stage where you can extract attribute energy from your soul orbs like it is nothing.

    Unfortunately, I can''t teach you how to do the extraction in a natural way because this talent is something I was born with it."

    Everyone: "¡­"

    The ray of hope they saw turned out to be a mirage as no one was confident enough to pull it off. Using attribute energy is a stuff of legends for them.

    The fact that they get to witness such an amazing thing in the class had already become something memorable.

    In such a case, does anyone think they had a chance?

    Julius could only bitterly smile in response to Azzy''s condition, "Sir, it is impossible for the people of this generation."

    One of the reasons Azzy liked these students is also because they knew their strengths and weaknesses quite well.

    Azzy shook his head, "don''t admit defeat so easily. I told you guys that I can''t teach you how to do it in a natural way. I didn''t say that I don''t have any ideas. The process is actually very simple to learn but hard to master.

    The easiest way is to unleash the soul skills and then extract all of your soul energy present in it. The remaining attribute energy could be trapped within a skill card.

    But, since soul skills have a cooldown timer, it is best if you can unleash soul energy attacks that contain attribute energy. That way, we can separate both of them after sealing the attack."

    The students of 10-B couldn''t help but just look at each other in a mixture of bewilderment and confusion. The stuff Azzy was explaining to them was way above their knowledge and talent. They couldn''t even understand half of it.

    How could they do it? But, if they could, then, it is awesome.

    In the end, all these students could do is just nod and go with the flow.

    Azzy wasn''t also too eager to teach the technique he learned from the guardian god during the past three years. He was just speaking of the theory.

    However, if there''s really someone talented enough to do that, he will be willing to teach him. After all, extracting attribute energy isn''t something related to soul power or Arcana. Gideon did it and even might have taken it to the next level by now. So, why can''t others?

    "Anyways, we are getting sidetracked. Let''s get back to the original topic. We finished the fire attribute. Next, for the water attribute users.

    Water is strong against fire. Even when fire overwhelms the water, it doesn''t disappear. It would just transform into water vapor. Hence, if you have enough mastery over your attribute, you could control the water vapor before it leaves your range.

    Of course, when we talk about water, we often talk about how lightning is its natural ally. Many textbooks say that too. But, you should also remember that pure water is a bad conductor of electricity. Those with water attributes should note this point.

    That means, if you could unleash the attribute energy of water without any mixture of your soul energy, you would be able to block lightning attribute-based attacks.

    You might not be able to save yourself from receiving damage but you will save yourself from receiving electrical shocks or getting paralyzed."

 Chapter 535 Relation Between Attributes (Part-3)

    ?

    "The lightning attribute is often touted as the most destructive element of the basic attributes. However, there''s a catch.

    Unlike flames, the lightning energy becomes weaker as it spreads far. The more compact it is, the more destructive it becomes. That''s why the users must make sure to practice targeting a single opponent with their lightning-based attacks while working on their footwork.

    The faster you are, the higher your chances to defeat your opponent.

    As for the relations, the Earth attribute is its nemesis. Water is its natural ally, strong against wind, incompatible with the rest. However, metals are good conductors of electricity. Hence, if it was me, I would rather choose a teammate with a metal attribute over a water attribute user."

    Pointing the marker at the student in the back row who had the highest soul power in this class, Azzy asked, "Student Ace, as a lightning-attribute user, tell me what would you choose as an ally, metal or water?"

    The silent student with bandages covering all over his left arm answered immediately, "None."

    "Why?" asked Azzy.

    "I don''t want to be a supporter," replied the student. He didn''t go too much into the details and became silent after giving a short and precise answer.

    Nevertheless, Azzy was satisfied to see that a student understood the properties of lightning. Giving a nod, he then said, "As student Ace pointed out, lightning doesn''t have a supporter like fire or water. It either acts as a lone element or a support element.

    You add lightning to another attribute. The reverse isn''t possible. It is also why lightning-attribute users don''t make good leaders.

    And in general, it is also risky to work with a water-attribute user as you could endanger the lives of your other teammates in the process.

    Now, could anyone tell me the best role of a lightning-attribute user?"

    A few hands shoot up in the air. Azzy pointed the marker to a random student, "You."

    The curly-haired boy answered, "It''s the finisher."

    Azzy shook his head, "that''s in the wild zone. I''m talking about team matches."

    The boy thought for a bit and answered uncertainly, "Isn''t it the same?"

    Azzy didn''t answer and stared at the other students, "does anyone have a different answer?"

    The blonde-haired boy Julius raised his hand and said, "Sir, it is a support role."

    Azzy nodded with a smile, "Just now I told you guys that lightning is either a lone element or a support element. You use it to cover fireball. You use it to run through the water. You use it to empower the metallic objects, giving them the power of electricity.

    In a team match, the user of the lightning attribute must stay as support to look after his/her teammates in order to ensure the win. If you chose to be a loner, then, a team match isn''t for you as you would only bring disaster to your teammates."

    Azzy said casually but a lot of students couldn''t help but glance at Ace as they felt like he was telling him. Ace doesn''t cause problems but he is a stubborn fellow. He believes in something and sticks to the end.

    As a result, this statement has no effect on him.

    Meanwhile, Azzy continued, "The last remaining two are Earth and Wind. Earth''s ally is water and it actually doesn''t have a natural nemesis. Depending on the circumstances, it is weak against fire and wind. But, it can also become their allies too.

    For example, if the wind is sharp and violent, it will cut down the rocks, but if it is spinning, as I have displayed in my battle against teacher Snivy, the rocks can also increase the wind''s attack power, although sacrificing its speed in the process.

    As for Wind, it could be a support or an enemy to fire and earth as we discussed above. Water is its ally. And its nemesis is lightning.

    And this is the relation between attributes so far. We will then go deeper into the fusion techniques, next. But before that, any questions?"

    A few hands were raised as usual. Azzy gave the opportunity to Talia, the short-haired girl with a high IQ.

    However, she didn''t ask about those five attributes as he expected. Instead, she asked, "Sir, what about light and dark attributes? And what about variant/advanced attributes?"

    Azzy replied, "We could discuss them but none of you possessed any of them. And our current lesson is about how to improve yourselves. Let''s just focus on what we have on our hands, first."

    ***

    Later during lunchtime;

    Azzy probably arrived rather early, not many students were present in the dining hall. He didn''t mind eating alone and started his lunch.

    Soon, Snivy joined his table. He and Snivy sat together like a couple as the others were too afraid to approach those two, feeling some kind of invisible pressure.

    Then, the students arrived in a rush. They stood in lines. Serestia was also one of them. She spotted both of them and observed until she get to the front of the line.

    She saw that Azzy and Snivy were eating in silence without a word speaking to each other. Feeling that relation between the two teachers became too sour after yesterday''s battle, she walked toward them with three of her friends.

    "Excuse me, can we join?" She asked after reaching the table amid gazes from all around. Everyone felt like she is too courageous.

    Azzy and Snivy raised their heads and even nodded at the same time, letting Serestia, her best friend Navi, her fianc¨¦ Bill, and Bill''s secret lover Laura join the table.

    "Ummm¡­ Sir, Susie was saying that you offered them¡­" As Serestia cautiously tried to open up the topic, Azzy interrupted her, "We are not at class, Sera. I''m not your teacher here. So, you don''t need to address me in a formal way and that also means we shall not discuss things from the classroom, okay?"

    Serestia nodded and stuffed her mouth with a dumpling while Snivy slightly raised her head to look at Azzy, "in that case, let me ask you, Gary. Is what Vice Principal told me true? You and Flora spent the night together?"

    "Eh?" As Azzy was taken aback by the sudden question from Snivy, Serestia and the other three meaningfully looked at their homeroom teacher. Furrowing his brows to show his displeasure, Azzy answered, "No, we didn''t. She was drunk and slept at my apartment. That''s all."

    Serestia then said, "The rumors are all over the academy, uncle. One rumor says that both of you are lovers for a long time. You came to the academy for her. Another rumor says that both of you were drunk and it was just a one-night stand. One rumor is that you are s*x friends with her as your girlfriend is living far away. Another says that¡­"

    "Okay, I have listened enough." Azzy didn''t let her continue anymore. He appeared to be displeased on the surface but he was inwardly embarrassed cuz, in reality, he is just a 17-year-old virgin who was surprised to hear the kids of the same generation talking about s*x in such an open manner as if it is a normal thing for them.

    But then again, had he experienced a normal high school and college life, it wouldn''t be a matter. He is a special case. So, that''s where the problem arises.

    Anyways, swallowing his embarrassment in order to act like an adult, Azzy further said, "People spread rumors due to several reasons like the lack of information, boredom, envy, fun, lack of intelligence, and so on. Some try to clear the rumors by speaking the truth over and over while others try to ignore it. I''m the second type. I don''t care and don''t worry about it."

 Chapter 536 An Unexpected Move From Raydon Geller

    ?

    After lunch, he returned to the staff room and sat there for a couple of hours before going to Class 10-A.

    Unlike with the other class, he didn''t teach them about the attributes. Instead, he sat down in his chair and said, "Your syllabus was already covered by Mr. Alder. There''s nothing left to teach you guys. If you have any questions regarding the subject, you may speak."

    Frankly, he didn''t expect them to ask him anything due to their high ego and of course, another reason would be because of the fact that he sealed everyone''s soul orbs. No Arcana Master would like to feel helpless.

    However, surprisingly, the most problematic student and the one with the biggest ego had raised his hand before anyone else.

    "Yes, Raydon. Speak." Azzy told him to ask the question.

    Raydon Geller opened his mouth, "I heard 10-B students were talking about how you created an alternative path to elemental crystals and you also said that you will teach anyone who could unleash attribute energy without soul energy. Does that promise also apply to us?"

    The students couldn''t help but take a glance at Raydon and then look at Azzy. They wondered why it even matters. After all, it is also impossible for them.

    Or is it that Raydon managed to figure out the way? If any student could do it, it would be him. This white-haired and amber-eyed fellow is the only one with a mutated gold-grade Arcana spirit in the academy.

    As the student turned curious, Azzy struck down all of their imagination with simple statements, "I''m a theoretical combat instructor for your class and it is not my job to teach you students any kind of practical application. And as your homeroom teacher, my job doesn''t involve helping you kids with it either. If you are a student of 10-B, perhaps, I would have to think about it. But you guys don''t have such a privilege."

    The students'' faces were darkened by their teachers'' words. While Azzy had the logic, his students strongly felt like it is a blatant favoritism.

    It''s not like all of the students are from influential families. Several of them had humble backgrounds and they didn''t have any ill feelings for their new homeroom teacher either.

    Then, why should they be punished for the actions done by these arrogant nobles?

    But, who will say it to Azzy''s face? No one had the courage to say those words to their teacher who might even punch them using an excuse about his rules.

    As a result, several pairs of eyes shifted to Serestia, the girl who was closest to their teacher. As the girl was feeling gazes from all around, Navi tapped her shoulder from the back before throwing a paper onto her desk.

    Serestia read it and turned around. Navi simply smiled.

    Letting out a sigh, Serestia raised her hand for the first time.

    "Yes, Leveret?"

    Serestia spoke while making a serious face, "Sir, I believe a lot of the students from our class are under the impression that you are not treating us fairly. You sealed our soul orbs but you don''t do the same for 10-B students. You act cold toward us but teach them friendly."

    Azzy was slightly taken aback but he responded with a counterattack almost instantly, "Well, they give respect to their teachers while you don''t. They didn''t complain to teacher Snivy but you guys did, hoping to teach me some kind of lesson or something. I also know how you guys treated teacher Alder in the past.

    They act humble as if they know the world and themselves while you guys behave like the world revolves around you. You talk about fairness, student Serestia. Let me ask you. Do you treat every staff member of the academy as an equal, from the principal to your dorm security guard?

    No, right? Everyone has a different place in your mind, right?

    Then, you should never expect a teacher to treat every student equally too. Stretching that forward to our current situation, you must not expect the same treatment from me either.

    But, don''t worry. This is just the second day. As time passes, I will give you the treatment you deserve too. Now, if your doubt has been cleared, then sit down."

    Azzy wiped off a cold expression from his face and let out a pleasant smile as he earlier spoke with Serestia. But, he was done with his explanation, his expression returned to indifference.

    These students never met a teacher like Azzy. Who in the hell would speak those words to their students'' faces like that? But then again, he isn''t a real teacher either. It''s just a part of undercover, although he wasn''t willing to compromise his personality because of the job.

    Once the class is over, Azzy went to the cafeteria to have a coffee and take a break for an hour before his next period starts.

    The students of 10-A went to the grand arena as usual but they weren''t joined by 10-B. The students of the latter class were informed to go to the indoor arena, which is generally used to host indoor games like futsal, hockey, and basketball.

    However, unlike the stadiums for civilians, the dimensions of these courts were a lot bigger.

    This court was about 340 meters in length and 130 meters in width. In Azzy''s opinion, it is enough.

    However, one should be worried about the damage caused by their practice too.

    Since there is only one Arena in the academy, the vice principal said to Azzy that he can conduct the class behind the administration building. There''s a huge open space there.

    However, Azzy was against it as it wouldn''t look like a proper classroom. He asked for the indoor arena. And when asked about the possible property damage, Azzy put forth a solution in the form of a large-scale energy barrier used in the tournaments

    Back to the present, as the students arrived, they saw their teacher was ready with a cube-shaped barrier that was even covering the floor of the indoor court. Their admiration toward Azzy only grew further as they made their way to the barrier.

    A replica of the one used in the champions league back in the past timeline, this wasn''t a solid barrier and will only dissipate the energies from within.

    As a result, the students passed through it with ease and gathered at one spot.

    Looking at them, Azzy said, "From now onwards, your battle classes will be conducted here on weekdays except for Wednesday. On Wednesday, you will have classes in the wild zone. Anyways, we only have one hour. So, I will spare the lecture and directly go to the battle.

    You have ten minutes. I need 8 teams. Form a team of six on your own. Pick your leader and also your substitute. Those who don''t form the team will be arranged randomly by me.

    You will just have one battle against a random team. The losers will run about 100 laps and every member of the winning team will receive 500 SP worth of energy as a reward."

    As the students looked at each other, feeling excited about the reward as something is better than nothing, the class monitor Julius raised his hand, "But Sir, we are only 46 in number. One team will be left with only four members."

    "Then, it is considered that the team has two injured members and they will be competing with four," replied Azzy, shrugging his shoulders. After a brief pause, he further added, "Of course, I won''t allow two 5-member teams either."

    The students nodded in understanding and started discussing with each other.

    As the ten minutes are up, six teams are formed successfully. There''s a four-member team and there''s a three-member team, and three individuals who aren''t sure which one to join.

    "Okay, the time is up," announced Azzy while staring at the pocket watch. He looked at the uncompleted teams and randomly placed two members into the four-member team, making it a complete group.

    The last remaining individual named Sammy hung his head down in disappointment as he walked to three more dispirited students.

    *Clap*

    "Okay, the groupings are finished. Since there is a team with only four, I will give you the opportunity to choose your opponent team," said Azzy.

    As the other teams looked at them as if they were looking at their prey, the four of them sighed at the same time before their team leader opened up his mouth, "We choose Talia''s team."

    Just as the members of team Talia rejoiced, a creaking sound of the door caught Azzy''s ears.

    He raised his head and looked toward the source. There, Raydon was standing beside the principal.

    "Sorry for interrupting your class but there''s a student transfer to 10-B," said the old man, taking everyone by surprise.

 Chapter 537 Raydon Geller Shows His Might

    ?

    If one asks the students of the Emerald Academy, no matter what grade kids they are, nine out of ten people will say the strongest student is Raydon Geller.

    However, if one asks whether they think Raydon is awesome, eight out of ten say no. He wasn''t exactly a popular person within the academy. He is just a d*ck who has a high disregard for the rules and people.

    He is a loner who never plays with a team. In fact, he wouldn''t hesitate to punch down a team member if he feels like the latter is dragging him down. He would repeatedly scold and speak harshly to five, six, and seven-year-olds (from pre-elementary) because he was annoyed by their crying.

    Azzy only got his background details and didn''t get to know too many details about him before because of the fact that WAMO didn''t consider him worthy to be recruited.

    And now, that kind of person is transferring to 10-B when barely two months left before graduation.

    While this was confusing for the students of 10-B, for Azzy, his motive is clear. It''s obvious that Raydon wants to learn the art of natural energy manipulation. There''s no other possible explanation for this.

    But, more than his transfer, the fact that the principal just listened to his request is something else to be noted of.

    Azzy couldn''t do anything about it, but as a person who had seen more monstrous talents than Raydon, he didn''t think too much about it and allowed him to join the class.

    As the principal took a seat in the audience section and Raydon entered the barrier, Azzy then calmly spoke to him, "Student Raydon, we are having team battles. You will join team Clove as the fifth member. Any problem?"

    Usually, a student will shake his head and replies that there is no problem. However, Raydon isn''t afraid of expressing his opinion. "I''m not suited for sparring matches. My Arcana is suited for real battles. And I''m not a team player. I will win the match but if my so-called teammates are injured in the process, you shouldn''t blame me."

    For a moment, Azzy almost felt like he was looking at his mirror but then he shook away his thoughts and spoke sternly, "Then, don''t use your Arcana. Fight with an external weapon or use your fists. A real warrior would be fine even without his Arcana."

    Raydon stared at his teacher for a few seconds in silence.

    Some of the students gulped down their saliva in nervousness as they knew of Raydon''s personality. He is the only student who dared to pick a fight with Snivy even after getting beaten up black and blue more than once.

    In the end, Raydon complied with Azzy''s advice and nodded, "Well, I guess you are right. I don''t need my Carnwennan to deal with them. My fists are enough."

    While the members of team Talia were irked by his statement but couldn''t refute it, Azzy, on the other hand, heard the Reaper''s words in his head. "Carnwennan; the name is quite familiar."

    "What is it?" asked Azzy. If it is something the Reaper took note of, then, that Arcana spirit must be something special.

    The Reaper answered, "It''s one of the three Emperor Arthur''s divine treasures, stolen from Angels. Each one is of earth grade (rank-10) but together combined, they become heaven grade (rank-11), the same as the weapons of gods. However, they were just weapons and don''t have any spirits. So, the name must be just a coincidence. That''s all. Furthermore, it is just a gold-grade Arcana, not significant enough to receive your attention."

    "I see¡­" Azzy shifted his attention to the students and said, "Okay, everyone but these two teams will leave the barrier. We''ll begin the sparring matches without wasting any time."

    As the two teams remained in the barrier, Azzy then spoke of the rules, which are the same as the upcoming tournament. "It''s a five-on-five team battle. The substitute will remain outside of the barrier and may enter the battle at any point in time but once entered, the team will have ten seconds of time to tap out a main member.

    If six members remained after the time limit, then, it is considered the team''s loss. Other than that, all kinds of skill cards except for healing cards are prohibited. Item cards are allowed. If you step out of the barrier, you are out. A substitute can replace that player. Ten minutes is the time limit."

    Maybe, it is because of the population boom followed by the drop in the quality of Arcana spirits. The several millennia-old rules are slightly tweaked for the current generation.

    Now, a substitute member''s role is almost equal to that of a main member.

    Team Clove didn''t have any substitutes but they are confident in winning this match because of Raydon''s addition.

    Little did they expect that they don''t even get to showcase their abilities in the match.

    As soon as Azzy blew the whistle, Raydon equipped himself with a knuckleduster of grade-7 (able to hold soul power up to 50 million) and charged forward with his soul energy powering up his feet.

    One punch to each opponent. All it took was five hits for Raydon to win the battle. And everyone spat a mouthful of blood as they either got kicked out of the barrier or knocked out unconscious.

    "Bravo¡­" The principal was clapping like a little child full of excitement. The students outside and inside of the barrier, on the other hand, just stared at him in a daze.

    With the knuckleduster filled with their blood, he let out what seemed like an evil grin and looked at the substitute, "Aren''t you going to enter the ring?"

    "Eeek!" The girl named Lilia shrieked in fear as her face turned pale and her legs started shivering.

    Meanwhile, the surprised Azzy sighed inwardly and announced the win of Team Clove, not because he thought Raydon''s speed and battle technique is quite awesome but the fact that this bunch of students are too slow.

    But then again, he could understand the reasoning as except for Talia, all of them are below rank-5 and their opponent is someone who is at the doorstep of rank-6.

    "The winner is Team Clove. After the class, stay behind. As promised, you will be getting your 500 SP worth of energy." After a brief pause, he looked at the students outside, "Now, the next set of two teams to come in for their match. Team Susie and¡­"

    Before he picked the second team, he was interrupted by Raydon. The student said, "Wait a minute. Since I saved a lot of time, will I get a chance to spar against you?"

    "Me?" Azzy furrowed his brows in displeasure. He felt like this fellow is too irritating and causing unnecessary trouble.

    Raydon pointed his finger toward the crowd standing outside of the barrier, "This bunch of people cannot bring out the best from me even if they come together at me. 10-A students are no different either. I want to go all out without worrying about killing someone."

    Earlier, Azzy felt like Raydon and him are a bit similar but he realized that they are not. This fellow is just crazy, that''s all.

    "Don''t be so overconfident, Raydon." A voice came from that crown in response to his bold statement.

    As Azzy and Raydon looked at the source, a student stepped forward and said, "Did you dare to battle me?"

    "Oh, it''s you, Ace." Raydon looked at him in disinterest. To rile him up, he added, "You are still alive, huh? I thought you died in the infirmary."

    "You¡­"

 Chapter 538 Azzy Spars Against A Student

    ?

    As Ace couldn''t control his anger and stepped inside the barrier to fight Raydon, Azzy''s facial expression changed.

    Because he sealed his soul orb, his emotions are there for everyone to see on his face. And now, they saw clear irritation on his face.

    He instantly acted by motioning his hand forward. Translucent energy was pushed out of his palm and took the shape of an arm before stretching forward to the boy.

    Ace was caught by the arm made of natural energy and a look of surprise appeared on his face as he was raised in the air.

    Raydon''s eyes widened in excitement. He turned his head to look at his combat instructor and thought, "This is exactly what I want."

    Meanwhile, Azzy furrowed his brows as he looked at Ace, "I was friendly with your class because you are not troublesome students. So, don''t test my patience, okay?"

    Ace nodded like a baby bird for a few seconds and Azzy freed him soon. He then shifted his attention to the new student, "Raydon, it goes the same for you. We only have limited time and you are wasting too much of class time. Now, get out of the barrier."

    Raydon wasn''t afraid of Azzy like the others. He didn''t back down right away and asked, "What about my spar? Five minutes of time limit would do."

    Realizing that Raydon would have to be taught a lesson, Azzy nodded, "Alright but I won''t give you the opportunity to fight with everything you have got."

    He raised his hand. Within a blink of an eye, the Decarune seal was already formed and he pushed it toward Raydon.

    The guy jumped higher in reflex to dodge the sudden attack but this ancient sealing technique was a locked one. It cannot be evaded. The seal struck him and his soul orb was sealed.

    As Raydon fell on the floor, Azzy then said, "Now, you may fight with everything you have got. I won''t use energy techniques either." He then instructed the others to clear the field.

    The principal''s curiosity increased. He was casually watching earlier and now, he put his entire focus on the teacher and the student.

    Raydon rose to his feet and went into a unique battle stance. It was a strange one to the others but for Azzy, it was quite familiar. He recognized it at one glance.

    "I thought only I and Aunt Evelyn know how to box. It looks like someone else was also aware of this long-lost fighting technique. Interesting," thought Azzy as he stared at his opponent.

    He then gestured for Raydon to come at him.

    The student dashed forward with his head kept low and threw a punch at Azzy''s abdomen with his knuckleduster.

    Azzy sidestepped and dodged it. He didn''t counterattack and wait for Raydon''s next attack.

    He expected Raydon to twist his body and threw an uppercut but his opponent didn''t do that. Instead, he swiped off his feet to throw off Azzy''s balance.

    His leg even struck Azzy''s ankle but it didn''t go how he expected. Instead, he felt extreme pain in his leg as it was bruised.

    Quickly getting away, Raydon rubbed his leg in pain and mumbled, "Are his legs made of steel or something? I''m the one who got wounded."

    Looking straight at him, Azzy then commented, "It looked like I was mistaken about you. It is a pity indeed."

    Raydon and the others thought that Azzy was trying to humiliate him, not knowing that the latter was talking about boxing. Azzy was looking forward to seeing some boxing techniques but he didn''t get what he wanted.

    As a person who doesn''t like to lose an argument, he tried to counterattack with a statement, "There''s a clear difference between our realms. Our physiques aren''t the same either. If you just want to humiliate me, then, do it after I gave my all. You will prove nothing by sealing my soul energy."

    Azzy stared at him, wondering whether he should clear the misunderstandings. But, the student''s attitude made it difficult for him to explain himself. He didn''t bother to do it and snapped his fingers, dismissing the Decarune seal on Raydon''s soul orb.

    "I was talking about something else but it doesn''t matter anyway. Here, you can now use your soul energy and all the techniques. Let''s get this over with."

    Azzy''s disinterest frustrated Raydon even more and he was determined to prove himself.

    Summoning his soul card, he called out his Arcana spirit, "Come out, Carnwennan."

    A dagger with an off-white-colored blade with a mystical rune inscribed on top of it made its appearance in the hands of Raydon. The Reaper instantly responded, "It is the same Carnwennan, no mistake. Did this blade fuse with an Arcana spirit? I wonder."

    Azzy intently stared at the blade for a while. Seeing his gaze on his Arcana, Raydon smirked, "Let me warn you in advance. My Arcana can pierce through the scales of a dragon and even slice a diamond."

    "Yeah, it is sharp indeed," commented Azzy with an indifferent look as if he was mocking him on purpose.

    Raydon gripped its handle tightly and unleashed a soul skill. He was shrouded by darkness as a result.

    The spectators wondered why he did that in daylight as they could see his position clearly.  Ace was the only one with a darkened expression. He mumbled, "It''s that skill again."

    Meanwhile, Azzy was also observing Raydon who turned into some kind of shadow. Since he promised to not use his soul energy, he didn''t unseal his soul orb in order to activate his ''Eyes of God'' soul skill.

    Azzy stayed still and let Raydon approach him and attack him in that shadow form.

    Upon reaching his target, Raydon didn''t use any tricks. Instead, he stabbed right at Azzy''s chest. Azzy wanted to see its piercing capability. He wants to see if that dagger could hurt his tier-8 divine physique.

    However, when the dagger shrouded in darkness made contact with the middle of his chest, he didn''t feel a thing on the spot. Instead, he felt something sharp prick him from behind.

    Azzy sensed there was nothing behind. He turned his head to see if his senses were disrupted or something.

    But then, the same sensation felt on the front of his left thigh as Raydon just paused in his action while his shadow dagger was at the same spot as it touched his chest.

    Furrowing his brows, Azzy raised his hand and swatted the shadow figure. It passed through Raydon.

    "I must say your skin is quite tough for an Exalt realm expert. Are you really in a 7-star realm? You aren''t a supreme realm expert?" questioned Raydon, feeling surprised but continuing to attack Azzy.

    For the next few seconds, Azzy who was standing in the same spot felt numerous attacks on his body from different directions. He was feeling like someone pricking him with needles and this kind of sensation he last felt when he was a six-year-old.

    It was uncomfortable but he doesn''t want to move from the spot as he had an image to keep up in front of his students.

    "Okay, I see that your soul weapon is indeed sharp." Azzy gave a comment as he gathered natural energy from the surroundings and repelled it away without absorbing it into his body.

    The shadowy figure blasted away and crashed onto the ground. Raydon slowly got up in a struggle.

    "There are 260 seconds left. What''s your next trick gonna be?" said Azzy, giving him a cold gaze.

    Looking back at Azzy with a serious look, Raydon then poured all of his soul energy into the dagger, "Don''t need so much time¡­"

    He stab in the air and released his grip.

    e¦Áglesnovel`c,om "Ugh." A groan escaped from Azzy almost at the same time. There''s a dagger on his back with the blade completely piercing his tough skin. His knee almost touched the ground but he forced himself to stop at the nick of time.

    And surprise filled his face at once. People underestimate him and he taught them a lesson but it was the first time he was on the receiving end.

    Raydon looked at him with the same cold piercing gaze and said, "I believe in our first class session, you told us to never underestimate your opponent no matter how weak they appear."

    At once, Azzy''s ego hurt quite a lot.

    And his soul orb somehow automatically unsealed itself and his aura escaped from him. His eyes turned pitch black.

    As the protos energy covered him, enormous pressure was released into the surroundings, the barrier was destroyed; the principal who stood up in shock was forced to kneel; the students crashed onto the floor before turning into a pool of blood, and the building starts shaking as if an earthquake occurred.

    "Azrael!" A roar escaped from the Reaper.

 Chapter 539 A Way To Control The Protos Energy

    ?

    It was only recently that Azzy made a breakthrough to the legendary realm, and to hide his real soul realm, he had to suppress it through the Decarune seal instead of focusing on stabilizing his realm.

    And then, his young age is to blame for his eruption. If he had been living for centuries or millennia, he would be mature enough to ignore such insults.

    Of course, it isn''t that Azzy is vulnerable to insults. But, due to the fact that he never ended up in such a position, it made him lose control for a moment.

    The result?

    Previously, when he lost such control, almost the entire city was affected. The same result occurred but the nearest surrounding area suffered the most.

    In an instant, hundreds of teenagers and kids turned into a pool of blood without knowing what struck them. Snivy, Flora, and all the other teachers were stuck to the ground, feeling the intense pressure on their souls and bodies. As for Aaron, he was out of the city and wasn''t aware of the developments.

    Meanwhile, in the indoor arena, Azzy''s consciousness was taken over by the protos energy.

    The Reaper, on the other hand, didn''t suppress the cosmic energy, instead, he was trying to make Azzy fight on his own.

    "Come to your senses, lad. If you lose against the Protos energy, you will become the next Aelius Crescent. You are going to massacre everyone. Suppress it, right now.

    Think about your family, Azrael. Think about your parents, think about your clan, and think about your little sister. You won''t just disappoint them but you will also curse their lives with your act.

    The situation is never out of control for you. So, no harm is being done. Just show that protos energy its place."

    The protos energy was also slowly being pushed back into the mindscape.

    Seeing a bit of success, the Reaper then spoke to Azzy''s other Arcana Spirits, "Ruby and Jinn, both of you hold Vajra and help him contain the protos energy."

    In an instant, the jinn and the black lotus approached a howling black wolf and suppressed it as the protos energy was returning to the gem on its forehead.

    Once all of it was sealed, the wolf calmed down and Azzy''s senses returned to reality.

    He realized what he had done and felt the urge to vomit. As he controlled it, the Reaper advised him to erase the timeline.

    Without caring about the principal''s presence, Azzy summoned the hourglass.

    "You¡­ What the hell have you done, you bast*rd," roared the principal as he rose to his feet.

    Azzy, meanwhile, hurriedly flipped the hourglass upside down. "Soul skill: Rewind"

    The time was stopped all over the solar system and beyond its range, all the way to the Oort cloud, before reverting its movements with a giant invisible barrier around it. This time barrier is somehow protecting it from facing catastrophic consequences due to the change in its usual path.

    Azzy reset the timeline to twenty minutes ago where he was conjuring up a barrier, in the indoor arena.

    As the time was reverted successfully, Azzy dismissed the hourglass and bend down while supporting himself by placing his hands on his knees. He started taking heavy breaths. "The Protos energy is so messed up. I thought I would be able to control it after getting stronger but it was also getting stronger. How the fu*k did my future even managed to control it?"

    Looking at his frustrated host, the Reaper let out a sigh and said, "Think of it as an experience."

    "Is there really no way to get it under my control?" Azzy asked him.

    The Reaper answered, "There''s a reason why the gods fear the Protos race beings, Azrael. It is known that Buddha and Gaia are the only divine beings who are immune to Protos energy, apart from me, Life, and Space.

    It also means that the natural energy can suppress the protos energy if it is concentrated enough in abundant amounts.

    If you could reach tier-9 divine physique, there''s a possibility that your resistance will improve a lot because you will be qualified to develop a natural energy core, similar to that of a soul orb. You won''t need to keep absorbing the natural energy as it will become a part of you.

    And if you could find a way to reach the tier-11 divine physique attained by Buddha, which doesn''t even exist in that Buddhist book, you might become completely immune.

    But, the road ahead isn''t simple. You can already see how difficult is to even achieve the tier-9 divine physique. Once you stabilize your realm, we''ll go to the forest of death. Until then, try not to get emotional over every trivial thing. Okay?"

    As Azzy was pondering on the matter, the Reaper further said, this time in a stern tone as if he was lecturing him, "You got angrier over the fact that you got injured by someone weaker even though you were quite calmer while watching Alder''s death. You have to lose that ego of yours as it always clouds one''s judgment."

    "I know. Sorry." Azzy apologized. He was aware of his weakness but he just couldn''t help it sometimes.

    After conjuring the energy barrier once again, he sat on the floor, which was the only solid part of the barrier. He closed his eyes and started meditating to calm down his emotions.

    Of course, it goes without saying that he sealed up his soul orb.

    After a while, the students arrived. Azzy didn''t change anything. He repeated the exact same words to them until Principal George and Raydon interrupted with their presence.

    As Raydon joined the group of four and further requested Azzy for a spar after winning the match, the latter reacted faster than student Ace this time.

    He replied, "You are weak at the moment. Come and find me after you have defeated an opponent with atleast a gold-grade Arcana of the same type as yours and a whole realm ahead of you."

    Raydon and the other students are surprised for a moment.

    Their teacher surely has placed high requirements. Was he avoiding confronting a student or was he annoyed by Raydon''s presence? The latter appeared to be more likely as everyone heard of their argument, a day earlier.

    Furthermore, they too hate Raydon, who always looks down on them. His statement that he could win against everyone was proof of that. So, they welcomed Azzy''s reply.

    Raydon couldn''t help but grunt and stand aside.

    The sparring matches continued one after another. As Azzy observed everyone''s movements, he realized that Julius was correct. There are probably 4-5 who had the chance against 10-A students in a real match.

    Once the matches are concluded, he told everyone to gather at one spot and then spoke, "Okay, I got the gist of your abilities. Tomorrow is Wednesday. As per the schedule I have planned, we will be having our next class in the wild zone of Nlethemar. Today''s homework is to list all the animals of Nlethemar and their key abilities. Class is dismissed."

    Murmuring began among the students. Some are excited while some are worried. Raydon appeared to be in deep thought. No one knows what he is thinking.

    A few hours later;

    Somewhere, in the downtown, Snivy and Flora were seen walking together. They entered a restaurant named Palasso and saw Azzy waiting for them.

    Both of them took the seat. Azzy called the waiter and ordered the food.

    As the waiter left the table, Azzy looked at Flora and asked, "So, what is that you want to talk about?"

 Chapter 540 The Great Wolf Is Here For Revenge

    ?

    "Well, the original thing that I planned to talk to you about has been sorted. Snivy explained me on the way about everything," said Flora. In order to keep his mission a secret, she didn''t go into details and kept her conversation simple.

    "However, unlike Snivy, I don''t have any obligations to help you for free. I refuse to cooperate unless you do something for me in return. A favor for a favor," Flora was clear with her decision.

    Snivy was taken aback for a moment. She almost raised her voice as she spoke, "Hey, that''s not what we agreed upon."

    Flora shrugged her shoulders, "well, I suddenly remembered something important. So, I thought I might as well take this opportunity to suit my purpose."

    Meanwhile, Azzy frowned at her statement but remembering what happened earlier due to the lack of control over his emotions, he kept his calmness and tried to deal with it in peace. "Alright, what do you want from me?"

    Flora replied, "You see, my family kept on torturing me by arranging blind dates. I want you to act as my boyfriend and meet my sister for lunch or dinner. Just once would do. It will get a couple of years for me and I will say that we broke up later on."

    "What kind of bullsh*t is that?" Snivy muttered under her breath as he stared at her friend.

    Meanwhile, Azzy stared at her while thinking about it. "A favor for a favor, huh? Sounds plausible but what if it is a trap? Forget it. Even if it is a fake, I can''t do that to Claire."

    He quickly thought of an excuse and said, "It is not recommended. Our looks don''t match. Your sister won''t believe you."

    "Hmm, you forgot who my sister was?" Flora reminded him of her sister''s identity. Matilda was his deputy when he ran as the president of the Disciplinary Committee. It was her existence, which made him choose Flora as his mentee.

    Azzy thought of another excuse and said, "There are still problems. I won''t take such a step without asking my girlfriend. She won''t agree to it."

    As if Flora was already thought of that problem too, she immediately countered him, "She doesn''t need to know. I will purchase an appearance-changing skill card from the card store, although it will only work for an hour or so. You don''t even need to worry about your teenage appearance either."

    "Damn, this girl is hell-bent on making him her fake boyfriend," thought Snivy before something clicked in her mind. "Don''t tell me she has fallen for him or something?"

    Snivy was amused and looked forward to seeing where this goes.

    Meanwhile, Azzy felt uncomfortable. After much thinking, he gave a nod, "Fine, but it is just one time and no more. And also, I need my 1.8 million credits before we proceed with the deal. I paid that money to cover up your bill."

    "You drank that much?" Snivy was taken aback by the amount while Flora looked away as she replied, "Consider it as my fee to assist you with the other thing. This favor is just for keeping my mouth shut."

    "You brat¡­" Azzy was ticked by her response but he took deep breaths and calmed down. In the end, he let out a sigh, "Forget it. That kind of money isn''t much."

    "Ho! You seemed quite rich. Damn, I should have used the favor to ask for more money." Flora couldn''t help herself but jokingly comment about it.

    Azzy: "¡­"

    ***

    The next day;

    Over the entire morning, the topic of Raydon''s class transfer was largely discussed by everyone including the staff members and students. Naturally, the rumors spread.

    Some say that he fell in love with a girl from 10-B. Some say that he fought with his classmates and was forced to transfer. Some girls who love to read BL novels gossiped about a secret relationship between Gary/Azzy and Raydon. This is the reason why he came to the school and why they argued in the class.

    And those who are interested in triangle love stories spread the rumor that Raydon is in a secret relationship with teacher Flora and the appearance of Gary, Flora''s-ex in her life made him frantic. That is why he purposely transferred to 10-B and challenged teacher Gary during the practical combat class.

    Whatever ridiculous rumors they might be, Azzy turned a deaf ear to them, and since, no one had the guts to say that to him (except for Serestia), he was fine with it.

    Around 4:30 p.m. in the evening, all the students of 10-B were gathered at the portal point. There is no one to look after them except for Azzy.

    Since they were only going to a level-2 region and no influential kid except for Raydon is participating in this class, the principal and the vice principal also gave their permission.

    After paying 24000 credits for the transfer (500 credits per each), the guardians there transported all of them to the portal point located inside Nlethemar city.

    There are two types of portal points. One type of portal point is built and managed by nations and kingdoms on the outskirts of every Arcana City. These world portal points were used to travel from Gaia to Arcana World and vice versa. Of course, one can also travel to other world-portal points.

    Another type exists within the city. These portal points are used by people to travel from one city to another within the Arcana world. And to enter the city, one would have to pay money (depending on the city and the city lord. Some are expensive and some are even free).

    Azzy used the second one. Hence, he would only have to pay for the transport costs. Of course, it also means that he would have to pay the entrance fee while returning.

    At the moment, the fee to enter Nlethemar City was about 2250 credits. Combined together, he will have to pay 108,000 credits. It is equivalent to the monthly salary of a teacher at Emerald Academy. There''s a reason why the academies rarely conduct trips and prioritize giving missions to the students to go at their own expense.

    It might not be much for someone like him, but why would he waste such money?

    To escape such a fee, he planned to use the world portal point located outside the Nlethemar to travel to the world portal point located outside of the Emerald City.

    Students and teachers of Emerald Academy don''t require paying an entrance fee for entering Emerald City as it is considered their second home.

    Never in the world did he expect such a decision would bring tremendous change in him.

    It was around 6 o''clock in the evening.

    After allowing the students to battle against rank-3 beasts without the support of their Arcana in the hopes of improving their basics, Azzy brought back the students with him.

    As he planned earlier, instead of entering Nlethemar City, he used the world portal to travel to the outskirts of Emerald City.

    Leading the group of 47 students, Azzy was walking toward the entrance. He could see the towering walls of the city with a large gate in the middle. The guards are on the side.

    Turning his head to look at the students, he said, "Alright students, you know the drill. Take out your IDs and keep with¡­"

    Azzy didn''t finish his sentence and abruptly turn his head to look at the surroundings as the Reaper''s words echoed in his head, "Something is wrong. I sense a powerful force is watching you."

    Raydon sensed something is wrong as he watched Azzy, "What happened?" He asked.

    Azzy didn''t answer him and activated his aura sensing to scan the surroundings but he found nothing suspicious.

    Just as he was about to converse with the Reaper, he saw the sky change red all of a sudden, and the guards, the towering walls and the city that lies behind it, the portal points, everything has disappeared from his view.

    "What''s going on?" screamed a girl from the crowd. Some of the students also appeared to be slightly scared as thunders were rumbling in the sky very loudly.

    Raydon, Ace, and a few students turned serious and instinctively summoned their Arcana.

    It was then a cackle of laughter was heard in the surroundings, followed by the words, "Welcome to my domain, the slayer of Loren."

    "Loren?" In an instant, as a certain memory appeared in Azzy''s head where he killed a werewolf in the past timeline, the Reaper spoke in a serious tone, "It''s the Fenrir, Azrael."

    "Fenrir?" As Azzy wondered out loud, a wolf of ordinary size but with gray and white fur appeared a few meters away from everyone.

    It spoke in a human tongue, "Bingo, although no points for you."

 Chapter 541 The Might Of Fenrir (Part-1)

    ?

    In the past timeline, during a mere investigation of missing livestock, he somehow ended up solving the experimentation of missing humans, killing the werewolf, and digging up the bodies on a mountain.

    He didn''t know what was Fenrir and he didn''t ask the Reaper either. He just assumed that it is probably a shape-shifting wolf.

    According to Loren''s memories, which he found with the "Soul Search" soul skill, the wolf named Fenrir ran away after it was found out. If it was truly a powerful beast, why would it do that?

    However, as Azzy directly witnessed its appearance while his aura sensing is still active, he realized how wrong he was.

    It was a fuc*ing top-tier celestial-grade monster like Vajra and far more powerful than even Qridus Garcia.

    Azzy''s whole body started shivering uncontrollably on its own as he stared at the wolf. "A demigod?"

    "Yes, it is a demigod realm beast. During the time of your ancestor Azrael, it used to be an Arcana spirit of Loki, who is the adopted brother of the Asgardian leader," replied the Reaper.

    "Thor Odinson," said Azzy, remembering one of the names of the nine generals of Emperor Arthur. Leah informed him back then.

    The Reaper continued, "Yes. Later on, just like Thor, as Loki also entered the god realm (rank-11), he had to part with two of his Arcana as they couldn''t become the divine grade spirits. One of them was Fenrir. And the other one is named Jormungandr.

    Let me handle this. You aren''t strong enough to defeat him. Within this domain, you cannot manipulate time or space."

    "No, let me face it." Azzy rejected the Reaper''s suggestion to possess him and fight the opponent. Since there the restriction in the surroundings still working, he was confident that he can fight the beast. Not to mention, the Reaper''s statement also ticked him off.

    He also wanted to prove him wrong.

    The Reaper understood his thoughts and didn''t argue with him anymore. However, he didn''t forget to remind him about the 47 students behind him.

    Meanwhile, Fenrir was slowly walking toward him. Seeing Azzy in silence for a while, he said in an arrogant tone, "No matter what kind of strategy you think of, there is no escaping from this place. You are dealing with a demigod. Even if the entire humanity gathered to fight against me, they will still lose."

    Azzy was forced to respond to it with bold words, "Take a look around you, Fenrir. If you wanted to take revenge, you should have chosen a better place. In a restricted environment, fighting me is just the same as committing suicide. In the end, you proved that your intellectual brain is still comparable to that of a beast."

    "You dare¡­"

    Azzy''s words not only displeased the opponent but also boosted the confidence of the panicked students.

    Halting his footsteps, Fenrir replied, "That might have been true at Nlethemar but the situation here is different. In this region, I could unleash my domain. Even though I couldn''t summon the final form of my domain, it is enough to restrict you for eternity. And you lacked the power to destroy this."

    "Nlethemar?" Azzy furrowed his brows. "You have been following us?"

    "Of course, I am. How else do you think I ambushed you in this spot?" replied the wolf. He further explained, "When you rewound the time yesterday, I sensed your existence but you are a bit too far to trace your exact location. And when you did it again, I found you.

    Originally, I planned to massacre the entire city along with you but it will only cause me trouble because of my oath to those gods. So, I had to wait until the right time."

    "Oath? What is he talking about, Chronos?" Azzy didn''t waste his time and contacted the Reaper for the answer.

    The Reaper answered, "He cannot kill a civilian. It doesn''t matter whether they were right or wrong. The moment he murders a civilian (the one with no Arcana spirit), the seal will be activated and the divine chains will strangle him to death."

    Azzy couldn''t help but turn his head to glance at his students in reflex and muttered under his breath, "Damn it."

    He then looked at the wolf and said, "Fine, if you think I''m your culprit, you can kill me but the students are innocent. Why drag them into this? Free them from this domain. We can settle our score with a fight."

    "Well, I don''t plan on killing them at first but then I thought since I was having a handicap in this location, you should also have one," replied the wolf as he showed his sharp fangs. Fenrir further said, "I promise you that I won''t target them on purpose but if they were hit accidentally and get killed, then, their death is upon you."

    "You¡­"

    The faces of dozens of students changed when they heard that. Their faces turned pale in fright and some of the girls lost their strength in their legs and collapsed on the ground.

    "No way" "Did we invite our death by following his idea?" "We should have just paid the entrance fee to those Nlethemar City guards" "Why did this maniac come to our class" "I should have stayed behind" "We are done" "No, I don''t want to die here" "Why did that bi*ch Snivy challenge him and lost?" "It''s the fault of those 10-A bast*rds. If only they didn''t lodge a complaint to¡­" "Mummy, Daddy, I miss you" "Waah!" "Someone please help"

    As everyone was either busy cursing Azzy, Snivy, 10-A students, and even their fate, Raydon commented with a look of disgust on his face, "How pitiful you lot are. If you have a fear of death, why do you even bother entering this path of Arcana and studying in an academy located in Arcana World? All 46 of you are just cowards. If you make it alive, drop from the course and return to your homes."

    "Who is afraid of death?" Ace argued with him, not intending to admit that Raydon is right. He added, "One day, I will become a general of my nation and lead thousands of soldiers. If I die, I will die on a battlefield, not in a place like this and too, to a beast."

    Gaining a slight bit of courage from Ace''s words, the class monitor, Julius stepped forward and then looked back at his classmates, "Don''t worry, everyone. Believe in our teacher and our own abilities. If we work together, we can protect ourselves with fusion skills. Remember what we have learned in our class? C''mon, those with earth and water attributes, we need you the most."

    Under Julius'' lead, the students started getting up on their feet one after another.

    Watching the scene, Azzy was slightly overwhelmed and a smile appeared on his face for a moment before it disappeared as he unsealed his soul orb.

    Keeping his identity a secret no longer mattered for the moment.

    "Come out, Vajra, Ruby, and Jinn."

    He summoned not one but three soul cards before the three Arcana spirits made their appearance one after another.

    *Woof* *Pui* "Master"

    The students were shocked to see the three of them. Even Fenrir appeared to be taken aback for a second.

    However, Azzy wasn''t done there.

    He raised his hand and a death scythe with a handle twice his size was summoned.

    "Four Arcana spirits?" Raydon''s eyes looked like they were gonna pop out. He was greatly shocked by what he was witnessing.

    "A bunch of celestial-grade spirits, eh? Well, let''s get started then." The wolf made the first move by opening its mouth. A tremendous amount of energy started gathering in its mouth.

 Chapter 542 The Might Of Fenrir (Part-2)

    ?

    "Vajra, I activate the hidden skill: Merge" "Ruby, unleash the soul skill: Crystal Armor" "Numen, protect the students."

    As the cosmic being (Jinn) was called by his name, which is a rare event, he saluted like a soldier, "Consider it done, master."

    The Jinn flew toward the teenagers who were stupefied for a moment.

    Meanwhile, the black lightning wolf transformed into specks of black light and disappeared into Azzy. Nothing has changed in his appearance except for the black gem on his forehead and his pupils turned yellow like that of Vajra''s.

    Then, the soul skill of the little humanoid creature with black lotus leaves as its hair was activated.

    Except for the eyes, nose, mouth, and forehead, Azzy''s entire body was covered by black-colored crystal as a result.

    "Wow," Raydon couldn''t help but exclaim while the rest of them had their attention on Numen, the jinn.

    Looking at Fenrir which was still in the middle of gathering energy in its mouth, Azzy brandished his death scythe while raising his other hand. He started absorbing the natural energy from outside the domain and simultaneously expanding the shield.

    By the time Fenrir finished his preparation, a huge wall of natural energy was conjured before Azzy and his students.

    Fenrir didn''t care and proceeded with the attack.

    Azzy expected it would be some kind of concentrated beam of energy but instead, it spat spheres of energy at left and right. As they softly landed on the ground, the spheres of energy quickly were transformed into four clones.

    "Clones?" Just as Azzy was taken aback by Fenrir''s move, it opened its mouth once again and started gathering the energy. All of them also opened their mouths at the same time, replicating the original''s move.

    Azzy didn''t intend to sit there and let them multiply more in numbers. Passing through the translucent barrier, he charged forward to deal with Fenrir when it was vulnerable.

    However, this time, the casting time of the skill didn''t take that long. In fact, all it took was mere 1.5 seconds. And the skill wasn''t cloning either.

    Instead, concentrated beams of energy were spat out by Fenrir and his four clones at the same time.

    Azzy was forced to defend against one of them by blocking it with the death scythe. The energy beam from the original Fenrir struck the blade of the death scythe and disappeared.

    He blocked it but paid the cost. Cracks appeared all over the blade of the death scythe.

    In the meantime, the four energy beams struck the translucent wall and made holes out of it.

    Of the four deflected energy beams, one of them happened to make its way toward a student named Layla but thankfully, she moved back in reflex while screaming.

    As a result, the energy beam landed just an inch away from her feet. A fist-sized hole was formed with atleast 10m depth.

    The confidence they slowly boosted themselves for the last five-six seconds crumbled in an instant as they feel like they weren''t a match for the one that even their teacher''s barrier cannot defend against.

    Fortunately for them, they have two guys who truly don''t fear death and a guy with leader material.

    Julius shouted, "Don''t waste any time, guys. If we had to die, then, we should atleast give everything we have got. Now, the earth-attribute users, all of you must unleash the soul skills to erect a giant wall. The water-attribute users, all of you must work together to create another wall behind the rocky one. If we can''t block them, we can deflect their path. Those with other attributes, all of you must work together to create a barrier made of soul energy, finishing our three-layer protection.

    I don''t know whether our soul energies could merge or will go against each other as per norm but they were a part of us and carry our willpower. If we can trust each other and work together, why can''t they? C''mon, form the groups and get to work without any unnecessary thoughts.

    How should I call you, mister?" Julius turned to the Jinn, who was floating nearby.

    "Numen," the jinn answered.

    Julius then asked him, "Mr. Numen, is there any way you can help us?"

    The Jinn replied in his deep masculine tone, "My master ordered me to protect all of you. I will do that in any way I can. But, I''m not an Arcana Master who can provide you any soul energy. I can either punch or use my soul skills."

    "Then, can you keep an eye on deflected energy beams and unexpected attacks? We aren''t fast enough to react to them." Julius asked for his assistance, to which, the Jinn nodded.

    "Good." Julius let out a smile and turned to his 4 o''clock, "Now, Raydon, you are the strongest of¡­ Hmm?"

    As Julius was busy planning his moves and turned toward the strongest student of the group, he realized that the boy is missing.

    Raydon left them as soon as he saw the barrier couldn''t stop the energy beams of Fenrir.

    With a dagger in his hand, he jumped out of one of the holes in the translucent barrier before they were covered up by the self-healing ability, and he dashed toward one of the four clones of Fenrir.

    Meanwhile, Azzy poured his soul energy into the death scythe and it took almost 20 million SP (soul power) to heal its blade. Combined with the rapid consumption of the Arcana spirits and a soul skill, his SP was downed from 101 million to 68 million.

    Of course, there are enough recovery cards in his soul card that he need not worry about the consumption of soul energy but for some reason, he felt like they might not be enough.

    As the death scythe was instantly healed by his soul energy, the Fenrir commented, "Heh, it looked like you won''t down without a proper fight. But then again, it is what I want too. If you fall too easily, my heart wouldn''t be at ease."

    The wolf charged forward. Azzy tightly gripped the death scythe''s handle as he didn''t have the time to put his focus on what was happening behind the barrier he conjured and what those four clones of Fenrir were doing right now.

    However, just as Fenrir almost reached him, Azzy suddenly sensed the presence of a peak-rank-5 near him.

    He instinctively slightly turned his head left and glanced at the figure from the corner of his eyes. Raydon was seen just a foot away from a Fenrir''s clone and he was trying to thrust the dagger into the wolf''s head.

    "You idiot, getaway," roared Azzy and lose his focus for a moment. The Fenrir attacked him with claws. In reflex, he was forced to defend himself with the crystal arm.

    With his thick skin reinforced by the Vajra''s merge and crystal armor, he thought he would be fine with physical attacks but didn''t expect hooks like Fenrir''s curved claws to be too powerful for him.

    Fenrir''s claws were dug into his wrist before they tore everything in their way as they got out of his hand.

    The result?

    Except for the thin layer on the bottom, the rest of the wrist was torn and looked as if his hand was going to be separated from the rest of the arm.

    "Ahhhhh" Azzy let out a painful scream while kicking its underbelly at the same time. Fenrir blasted for a few meters and landed on the ground while the blood started flowing out from Azzy''s almost severed hand like a river.

    At the same time, a sharp and long horn like that of a unicorn suddenly protruded out of the clone of Fenrir and pierced Raydon in the abdomen. He spat out a mouthful of blood while his dagger with a white blade left his hand and fell to the ground.

 Chapter 543 The Might Of Fenrir (Part-3)

    ?

    "No¡­"

    As Azzy was screaming in pain while watching the Fenrir''s clone motioning its head to swing away the teenager, the Reaper''s words echoed in his head.

    "Soul skill: Regeneration"

    Without waiting for Azzy''s approval, the Reaper activated the first soul skill of Vajra. His hand became as good as new within no time but that also means that he cannot get injured like this once again as there is a cooldown timer.

    As soon as he was healed, Azzy just ignored the wolf and rushed to the injured student.

    Normally, he wouldn''t care about someone who wasn''t even a proper acquaintance, but despite being a fake teacher, he felt that the responsibility for the safety of the students still lies upon him.

    Upon reaching him, Azzy realized that Raydon is still alive and didn''t lose consciousness. With a blood-filled mouth, the latter apologized, "Sorry for being¡­ reckless¡­"

    "Shut up. Let me heal you first." Azzy scolded him in return and quickly took out a 7-star healing card and applied it to the fellow. The injury was closed up and Raydon escaped with his life.

    As Raydon didn''t lose consciousness, he sat up and thanked his teacher. Azzy sighed in relief and rose to his feet before helping the student to stand up on his feet too.

    "Since you are already here, follow my orders," said Azzy in a stern tone before turning around and looking at the wolf that was crackling in laughter. "Ke ke keke ke. As if you have any control over this battle. How about we make this more interesting then?"

    Fenrir raised one of its paws and snapped its toes just like how humans do with their fingers.

    The two clones on Fenrir''s left, which were slowly walking toward the barrier, sped up all of a sudden.

    They reached the translucent barrier in no time and attacked it with their claws. A part of the barrier was torn like paper but its self-healing feature closed it up rather quicker than the last time.

    "So, the physical damages have instant healing while the energy damages will take a long time to heal, huh?" The Fenrir realized the barrier''s specialty within a second and ordered the third clone, which was on standby, to attack the barrier with an energy beam.

    Meanwhile, Azzy gave a quick order to the student beside him, "Listen Raydon. I want you to use your shadow mode or whatever that is and protect yourself. Don''t engage the enemy you are no match for."

    "Well, I wish you to follow the same advice you have given to the kid." A response came from the Reaper, almost in a fraction of a second.

    Azzy clenched his fist and tightly gripped the handle of the death scythe, "I can still do this."

    "Soul skill: Rise of the Undead"

    "Come out, everyone."

    He summoned every undead that is roaming on the barren lands of his mindscape.

    Small to big ones, more than two hundred of them suddenly swarmed the place, taking Fenrir by surprise. In the sea of undead, he couldn''t even see Azzy and Raydon with naked sight.

    He closed his eyes for a second and the unicorn horn lookalike protruded from his forehead and energy once again started gathering at its tip. The fourth clone, which has the blood of Raydon on its horn, was also doing the same.

    But, Azzy didn''t intend to give them a chance to retaliate very soon.

    He closed his eyes and mumbled, "Fusion."

    Every skeleton detached as they crashed into one another, forming a giant pile of bones at one spot. All of it happened in a matter of a second.

    Azzy quickly stood before the pile as a guard as Fenrir and his clone were about to fire energy beams. Fenrir changed its aim toward him now that he is visible.

    Just as the two were about to strike him, Azzy poured a tiny bit of his soul energy into an activated skill card that he took out of his storage card within time.

    These types of skill cards merely need soul energy to come out of their hibernate state. They don''t even consume one''s soul power as they were already in a pre-activated state.

    However, Azzy''s was even more special. It''s not exactly a skill card that is available out there. It''s a skill card that activates a certain sage technique automatically and within the past three years, he managed to create only two such types of cards. He called the sage cards.

    One contains his greatest offensive sage technique, the Divine Palm. And the other is this.

    "Sage card: Dome of Fearlessness, activate."

    As the card disappeared into nothingness, it filled his body with the maximum natural energy it can hold, and then, the translucent energy was pushed out to form a dome-shaped barrier around him.

    Unfortunately, even that wasn''t enough to block the attack of a demigod realm beast. The beams of energy broke through its defenses without any trouble and deflected their paths slightly, striking Azzy''s upper right arm and chest respectively. A hole was made in one of the lungs.

    "gah"

    As the blood started oozing out from two different locations, Azzy fell onto his knees. He felt like his consciousness was fading away. His vision became blurrier with each second.

    "Indeed, I''m way overconfident," thought Azzy as his eyes were struggling to keep open. At that moment, he neither thought of his loved ones nor about keeping himself alive. The safety of the students, whom he barely knew, was the only thing that came to his mind.

    He spoke in his head, "Chronos, I''ll leave the safety of my students to you."

    Everything became blank for Azzy as he collapsed onto the ground. His remaining soul energy automatically rushed to the lungs to save his life, dismissing Numen and Ruby in the process. His lung was recovered but his chest wasn''t completely healed. The blood continued to seep out of his body from his chest and arm.

    Meanwhile, the grand barrier conjured by Azzy at the beginning had been breached by three clones of Fenrir. They used the combination of energy beams and biting and claw attacks to form a huge hole and successfully jumped to the other side where a giant rocky wall was successfully erected.

    The students who were working on the third layer saw the disappearance of the jinn. Some of the students panicked for a moment, thinking something happened to their teacher.

    Julius kept them motivated, "Everyone, concentrate here. Worrying will not solve anything."

    One of the reasons why he instructed everyone to erect a barrier is because the earth wall would block their vision. The students were quite distracted by either Azzy''s awesome moves or his failure to defend against the wolf.

    He can''t do anything against such a powerful beast that can even draw them into its own dimension. All he can do is keep his fellow classmates from losing courage and hope that his teacher would defeat the monster.

    But his efforts were soon gone in vain as the three Fenrir clones destroyed a large part of the earth barrier and restored the vision of the users, who are keeping up the water wall.

    "Kyaaaa"

    Of the eight water users, who coincidentally happened to be female students, five of them quickly left their positions and ran back to the crowd as they saw the wolves.

    The joint water wall fell and the students saw Azzy on the ground with Fenrir walking slowly to him while Raydon was trying to shield him by standing in front of the barrier that repaired itself.

    "No, teacher Gary has fallen" "What''s going to happen to us?"

    Everyone''s face turned pale in an instant.

    "Don''t be distracted. Everyone, let''s fight." roared Ace as he brandished the wand like a whip.

    Someone powerful like their teacher is no match for the monster. What could they do?  What''s the use of resistance? Almost, everyone lost their willpower to fight.

    Even their low-grade Arcana got scared and returned to their respective owners'' mindscape as they could sense how powerful those clones of Fenrir are.

    Raydon might have been standing in front of the dome that covered the unconscious Azzy but his entire body was uncontrollably shivering in fear. He couldn''t even think straight with his body refusing to move as the Fenrir was slowly walking toward him, feeling amused by the weakling.

    It was at that moment three black-colored chains erupted from the ground and pierced the three clones of Fenrir at the same time, shocking Fenrir and the students.

    The Dome of Fearlessness disappeared as Azzy''s body slowly rose into the air. One could three chains come out of his stomach and went to underground.

    His body is then rotated and he slowly landed on the ground. As his eyes opened, they turned pitch-black with no visible pupils.  He spoke in a deep voice, different from his usual tone, "Let''s start round 2."

 Chapter 544 The Reaper Makes A Deal With The Fenrir

    ?

    "Arcana possession?" Fenrir frowned inwardly as he muttered under his breath, "How many Arcana spirits does this kid have?"

    The Reaper possessed Azzy quickly took out an SP recovery card to recover the latter''s soul energy.

    As Azzy''s soul energy was recovering at a rapid pace, the Reaper spoke as he resummoned the death scythe, "What are you waiting for, puppy?"

    "You dare¡­" Fenrir was enraged upon being called that way. He charged forward at his maximum speed.

    Raydon was stiffened on the spot as the wolf was coming straight at him. He wanted to unleash his shadow form but he couldn''t.

    Just when the Fenrir was just a couple of feet away from Raydon, the wolf suddenly stopped its movements and was frozen like a statue. Except for its eyes and mouth, the wolf couldn''t move anything else.

    Of course, Fenrir wasn''t the only one who froze on the spot. The other four wolves and all the students including Raydon were also in the same situation.

    "How is this possible?" The Fenrir was shocked in realization. He roared, "This is my domain. I create the laws here. How could you freeze the time without my permission?"

    "That might be true for my host, but not for me, Loki''s lost puppy." The Reaper let out a chuckle as he raised his other free arm. The hourglass was summoned but it was already in an inverted position, meaning the soul skill was already unleashed without the need of summoning. But then again, the reaper never needs his weapons to unleash their soul skills anyway.

    "It''s impossible even for the gods to bypass the laws. Who the hell are you?" The Fenrir roared in anger. He was a demigod realm beast of celestial grade. How could he be stuck in such a situation? He just couldn''t believe it.

    Looking at the confused wolf, the Reaper spoke as it became his turn to slowly walk forward and give dialogues, "True but you see, we aren''t in exactly an unrestricted environment. Your domain is barely a basic one. My host is currently too young, inexperienced, and quite complacent if I might add. He has a lot of room to grow but for his growth, opponents like you are necessary. So, how about this? I will let you live but in return, you postpone your revenge for another twenty years. Deal?"

    "You will let me live? How dare you? I''m the Fenrir." The Fenrir''s body suddenly started shaking in the time-frozen environment. Feeling humiliated, the beast was so angered by the Reaper that he managed to break the restriction on him with his sheer willpower and charged forward. "Raaaa"

    "Oh boy. It looked like the puppy became crazy," mumbled the Reaper. He was completely calm as the wolf reached him and swiped its claws at his chest.

    Just as the claws were about to strike Azzy''s chest, his pitch-black eyes glowed. Once again, the Fenrir was frozen on the spot, although it is just for an instant before he suddenly returned to the spot before Raydon where he was earlier frozen in time.

    "What did you do?" The Fenrir was shocked. But this time, the Reaper stayed silent. The Fenrir used everything once again he can to break the shackles of time and charge forward.

    One more time, he reached his enemy and tried to kill him but then he somehow found himself in the same position.

    "Oraaa¡­"

    "Oraaa¡­"

    "Oraaa¡­"

    After three unsuccessful attempts, Fenrir didn''t escape from the time freeze in realization. "I''m stuck in a time loop."

    The Reaper responded with a comment, "Time is mysterious you know. Don''t underestimate it."

    The Fenrir thought of a quick way to escape this loop by changing its action. After freeing himself, the wolf swiped its claws at the frozen Raydon instead of charging at Azzy.

    The Reaper didn''t move from the spot and quietly watched Raydon''s head separate from his body.

    "Haha, easy to beat it."

    Just as Fenrir thought he escaped from the loop but in the next second, Raydon returned alive and the wolf was returned to the same spot.

    The Reaper shook his head, "Changing your action will not break the time loop. I told you right? Never underestimate the time."

    As the Fenrir was silent, thinking of ways to break this loop, the Reaper put more pressure by continuing to explain, "The only thing that can stop this time loop is my host''s soul power reaching zero. Under my control, I need just a mere 1 SP for every loop while my host currently has more than 100 million SP. Go and calculate by yourself how long it takes just to empty the current reserves.

    Of course, I will also use SP recovery cards to keep the skill longer and there''s an abundant amount of natural energy in the surroundings. I can also absorb and refine it to recover soul energy.

    In this place, neither my host nor the other students will age. As long as both of us are in a time loop, the time outside of the loop remains frozen because of my time stop. And I will not let my host gain his consciousness. The two of us will remain here for eternity while only you feel the passage of time.

    To crush your mental spirit, I wouldn''t take your life and will make you suffer for eternity if I have to make my point.

    At first, you will be in disbelief, then, you will try various methods. You will try to kill me, you will try to teleport away, and you will even try to commit suicide.

    Eventually, you will realize the fact that you are helpless and you will be begging me to free you from this prison. But, I won''t. You will lose your willpower and stop talking, will be staying in that frozen state for eternity.

    As a million years passed, you will lose your emotions and memories, you will even lose yourself. All of that could be avoided if you just give us twenty years of time. I''m putting my dignity as the personification time as the wager. I will not interfere and will not let him use the time abilities in your battle either.

    Now, what it will be? Will you accept my proposal or be stubborn and face the wrath of the time? I''m counting down to 10 and if you didn''t accept my proposal by the time I was finished, I will take it as you denied it.

    10¡­ 9¡­"

    Just like any other beast and human, the Fenrir doesn''t properly understand the time and the limitations of the Reaper''s powers. This celestial-grade monster could only think about the impact on his mind.

    Furthermore, the Reaper sounded so convincing that Fenrir couldn''t help but believe him. As the number downed to 5, a trace of fear struck Fenrir. Each number was like thunder in his ears. He desperately wanted to escape but wasn''t confident enough.

    He wasn''t weak or a fool to not understand his current circumstance either.

    "5, 4, 3, 2¡­"

    Just as the Reaper was about to speak the final number, The Fenrir gritted its teeth in frustration and shouted, "Alright, stop. I agree to your proposal."

    "Good decision," nodded the Reaper calmly. In reality, he had already seen the future and in every kind of possible timeline, the Fenrir only took one decision. It is also the reason why the Reaper took such a gamble.

 Chapter 545 Fenrir Plots For Revenge

    ?

    After a while;

    In Azzy''s mindscape;

    "What? Are you serious, Chronos? Do you think I can become a demigod within twenty years?" Azzy didn''t understand the reasoning behind the Reaper''s proposal to Fenrir.

    If the Reaper could defeat the enemy with just two moves, then, why couldn''t he just kill him and be done with it? Not to mention, Azzy would also get a demigod servant and he might become a supreme being in one go.

    The others couldn''t bear such a rapid increase of power but Azzy is someone who could bind three cosmic gems without facing any problems. Other than losing control over his strength, Azzy literally has no problem with it.

    However, the Reaper thinks differently and he couldn''t help but scold his host for still being an immature brat. "Are you a fool? Do you really think it is that easy to kill a true demigod like Fenrir? The soul skills I used are nothing more than a bluff, which likely won''t work for more than a second time."

    "What do you mean?" Azzy was taken aback.

    The Reaper explained, "Think about it logically. Do you have the power to stop the time for the whole universe?"

    Azzy shook his head and answered, "No, you said my range covers the entire solar system."

    The Reaper continued, "It is about 3206 times the distance of the sun to this planet. If you want an approximate figure in numbers, it is nearly 480 billion kilometers or should say 18.5 light days."

    "480 billion? Wow, I never expect the hourglass to be so awesome." Azzy was elated by the number. How big is that number? He cannot imagine the distance in his head.

    "Focus please¡­"

    "Sorry, please go on."

    The Reaper continued to explain, "Every time you manipulated the time on a world scale, a time barrier would form over the entire range so as to not disturb the natural flow within the galaxy.

    Until now, you didn''t rewind the time for too long. Adding to the fact that your range is still just a tiny speck of dust in the vast universe, you haven''t caught the attention of the heavens. Of course, the guardian god and Gaia also contributed a bit to the cause.

    Anyways, my point is that if I hold him in such a state for very long, the gods would feel something is wrong. It is risky for you if they find your existence before you become the demigod."

    The guardian god also once explained to him how crazy the gods will become if they find three of the eleven cosmic gems bound to him.

    "Then, what should I do now?" asked Azzy, to which the Reaper responded with a chuckle, "What else? You train. But, before that, you need to have clarity on your weaknesses. What is it that you truly want to improve?"

    Azzy then sat down and closed his eyes, going through everything that happened with Fenrir as well as his earlier battle with Snivy and then Raydon.

    The Reaper stared at him in silence. Reading his host''s thoughts, he thought, "It looked like Azrael now has gotten one step closer to the path he was destined with. It is time for him to go through the darkness before slowly detaching himself from all seven worldly emotions of happiness, sadness, surprise, fear, anger, disgust, and contempt."

    As the Reaper was filled with excitement, Azzy opened his eyes with a serious look and said, "Chronos, I realized where the problem was. I lack the strength, I lack the control, I lack the mastery over the skills and the cosmic gems as I rarely had an opportunity to use them, and I also lack the wisdom to apply them in a timely manner. I need your help."

    The Reaper wasn''t completely satisfied with the answer but it is enough for him that Azzy was depending on him at the moment. Ever since the guardian god became Azzy''s master, Azzy rarely asks him for a piece of advice.

    He then replied, "The first thing you have to do is to transform your physique. Quickly finish your matters here. Once it was done, we will proceed to the forest of death."

    "Alright."

    ***

    The next day during the time at dawn;

    Thousands of kilometers away from the Emerald City, on an empty islet located in the middle of an ocean, the Fenrir appeared at the place and looked at the water.

    He then raised his head and stared at the sun that wasn''t out yet. He waited in silence.

    Once the sun has risen, the Fenrir released his aura, but not recklessly. It was controlled in a way that only the things right below the islet could feel it.

    The concentrated beam of aura dived into the ocean until it reached the ocean bed located atleast 45 kilometers down from the surface. In the place where the light is complete absence, a large pair of glowing eyes with vertical slits were opened.

    And just ten seconds later, a giant serpent head as big as a mountain erupted from the water, causing huge waves around.

    *Hssss*

    A loud hiss escaped from the serpent.

    The soaked Fenrir shook his body and spoke as he raised his head, "I can''t talk with you this way. Transform¡­"

    In the next instant, an old man with long white hair and wearing traditional long white robes like a sage was standing on the surface of the water and looked at the wolf, "It''s been a while, brother. How long has it been since we saw each other? 50 years? The last time we met, you¡­"

    Fenrir interrupted the old man rather unpleasantly, "I''m not here to reminiscence about the past, Jormungandr. I want to know where Surtr is sealed."

    "Eh? Surtr?" The old man was taken aback. "Why?"

    Fenrir replied, "He is the only divine grade spirit I''m acquainted with. That''s why. I need to borrow his power to deliver justice to my daughter."

    "Daughter? You have a child? When? I thought you had taken a vow of celibacy," As the old man was questioning him in confusion, the Fenrir said that he will answer everything later but the matter is of utmost importance.

    Jormungandr fell silent. Seeing the look of hesitation on his face, The Fenrir went on to say, "If you help me locate and unseal him, I will put away my grudge and become Arcana of Loki''s upcoming avatar in place of you."

    "You will do that?" Jormungandr was taken aback. He couldn''t help but wonder what might have happened that his brother intends to go to such an extent.

    Fenrir didn''t give him the time to think too much and stressed, "I''m asking for the last time. Will you help or not?"

    The old man let out a deep sigh and nodded, "Alright. I will help you but you have to keep your word."

    "I will."

    As Fenrir gave his promise, Jormungandr then said, "It''s in a place surrounded by three mountains on each side like a formation. I don''t know the name of the place but I remember the location. I will take you there. Follow me but not in this form. I''m not uncomfortable looking at you in that form while I transformed into a human."

    The wolf nodded and transformed into that handsome hunk with long grayish hair with white streaks here and there. Using his energy, he created clothes resembling that of an adventurer he often sees in his regular life.

    "Let''s go."

    Both of them flew into the air before disappearing.

 Chapter 546 Class 10-A Vs Class 10-B (Part-1)

    ?

    Evening 4:30;

    Indoor Arena, Emerald Academy, Emerald City;

    The students gathered just like in their first combat class with Azzy two days ago. Some of them were excited while some of them were nervous.

    With the Reaper locking their memories of their encounter with the Fenrir using a memory sealing technique, none of the students remembered the events that occurred on the outskirts of the Emerald City.

    Fortunately, the entire scene only lasted a couple of minutes. Hence, no one felt anything amiss too.

    And right now, they were hoping to receive some valuable tricks which will help them on the following day''s combat test, now that their 50% quota was scrapped away by the school management.

    Looking at them, Azzy spoke, "Today, all of you gonna learn a simple sealing technique."

    "A sealing technique?" The students looked at each other''s faces.

    Azzy let out a smile as he nodded, "Yes, this is an intermediate-level technique and is usually taught in college. But, I believe one doesn''t need to become an elementary sealing master to start learning of intermediate ones."

    "What is this technique called?" asked Julius curiously while wondering how will it help them become stronger.

    Azzy answered, "It''s called Super Eye. Just like its name, it will enhance your vision to see the movements of your opponents more clearly so that you can plan for a counterattack. An attack, regardless of its power, is only useful if it connects.

    After you learn how to unleash the sealing technique, we will be moving toward improving your reflexes, meaning, we will be continuing your yesterday''s training from the wild zone."

    "Will we go back to the wild zone once again?" The same thought came to everyone at once before they heard Azzy pay attention to him very carefully.

    Azzy went on to teach them the runes and the hand movements required to unleash the seal. With 24 runic alphabets, there are literally more than 6 trillion combinations that exist. And more than 99.999999998% of them are harmful to the user.

    Hence, Azzy was on his guard as he observed each and every one of them, making sure there are no mistakes. Fortunately, all of them excelled in academics and they have quite a good memory to remember the five required perfect combinations of runic alphabets.

    Twenty minutes later;

    "Well done, Student Margaret. You took time but you still did it."

    *Clap*

    "Everyone, now that everyone successfully learned it, you should all try to maintain the seal around your eyes while fighting your opponents."

    As the students nodded in understanding, Azzy continued, "Now, we shall go into the next step. Pair up. I''m going to divide this place into 24 blocks. All of you must stay in your area and fight. That means you will have very little room to move around but it is what we want to achieve.

    If you have more space to move, you will focus on dodging but if you have less space to move, you will also focus on counterattack. Your job is to try your best to dodge your opponent while successfully landing blows on him/her. I''ll give scores based on your performances.

    Note that you will be fighting against one opponent for a maximum period of 5 minutes. Then, your opponent will be randomly chosen by me. In total, you will have 7 sparring sessions. The scores will be added.

    The top three performances will receive a reward in the form of an activated skill card, which could help you in real emergencies. Good luck."

    As the reward was added, everyone was motivated to score more points in their sparring.

    The next day evening, around the same time;

    In the arena, the students of 10-A appeared to be quite depressed as they lost quite a lot more than they expected. 10-B students, on the other hand, were full of enthusiasm. They were cheering for their fellow classmates.

    Miraculously, so far, they have secured two of three duo teams and two of the five singles. Of course, those two single matches were no surprise as they were won by Raydon and Ace.

    However, the fact that they did a lot better in duo battles showed that they had great teamwork. Adding on top of that, Azzy''s sealing technique had greatly helped these students in counter-attacking their opponents, who looked down upon them because of either lower soul power or lesser Arcana grade.

    Currently, the knockout battles were happening one after another. In these group battles, there were no substitutes. The teams only have five members, and of course, those who participated in other categories couldn''t participate either.

    Eventually, four teams remained in the race by the time everyone''s classes are over and rushed to the arena.

    Of the four semifinalists, three belonged to Class 10-A, and one belonged to Class 10-B. Yet, 10-B students seemed to be more excited in the audience section.

    Led by Julius, team JB made it to the center of the arena, and from the other side, Team DA led by Daniel Eranyl made it.

    All the team members of Team DA weren''t just from influential families. They were also children of noble families, specifically from the kingdom of Rivendell where the monarchism is still thriving. On the other hand, Team JB was full of students with no surnames (commoners) and from humble backgrounds.

    All of a sudden, the semifinal had become a battle between two social groups.

    "JB" "JB" "JB" "DA" "DA" "JB" "JB" "JB" "DA" "DA"

    Perhaps, the spectators were overwhelmed by the performances given by 10-B students. Or perhaps, their fear of these bullies decreased because of Azzy''s presence. Or perhaps, it is because of the fact that they couldn''t be singled out in such a big crowd.

    Whatever the reason it might be, the reality is that the group representing class 10-B was receiving more support from even the rest of the students despite the fact that they were afraid to face these arrogant noble children.

    As the two groups stood before each other, Proctor Snivy spoke, "The same rules as before, nothing changed except that I need to remind you about the sunset. If you take too long, those who make it to the finals might have to battle in dim light."

    The tenth-grade students nodded in understanding and stared at each other.

    Daniel couldn''t help but smirk in response to her warning, "Don''t worry, Ma''am. This battle will be over before you know it."

    "The teams before you also spouted the same nonsense, Eranyl," Julius responded coldly. He was dead serious about winning this match.

    Daniel''s teammate and his girlfriend, Serena Blaze burst out into laughter and commented, "Please, huh. Don''t kid yourselves. We have been teammates for the past three years. We understand your strengths and weaknesses better than them and we also watched your previous matches. Except for those quick reflexes, you didn''t improve a bit."

    "Some people are just born talentless. It''s not their fault but the fault of their talentless parents and ancestors." Another teammate of Daniel also chimed in. He further said, "A noni fruit comes from a noni tree and an apple comes from an apple tree. Originally, you would ignore them but when that noni fruit pretends to be an apple, it becomes one''s duty to show the difference between the two of them."

    "You¡­" Julius clenched his fist and took deep breaths to calm himself down. As the faces of his teammates reddened in anger and they looked like erupting at any moment, Snivy shouted, "What are you lot wasting our time for? Prepare for the battle. 10 seconds."

    *Whistle*

    As Snivy blew the whistle, everyone summoned their Arcana.

    Team JB has only one mutated purple grade Arcana (Julius), one purple grade Arcana (Susie), and three silver grade Arcana.

    On the other hand, everyone from Team DA has purple grade Arcana.

    White, Red, Blue, Silver, Purple, Gold, Platinum, Celestial, and Divine; this is the order of grades of Arcana spirits.

    The average genius during the time of Emperor Arthur used to have a platinum-grade Arcana.

    Then, it was gold grade when Azzy went to the past timeline.

    Now, it was reduced to purple in this new generation.

    It is also why the Arcana Master who oversaw Azzy''s awakening when he was 8 labeled him as a genius when he sensed (misunderstanding) that the death scythe was a purple grade.

    Even Barbara was also termed a genius in the clan as she too awakened a purple grade Arcana, which became platinum due to the mutation caused by the protos energy.

    It is said that those with purple grade Arcana had the potential to reach either the 7-star realm or the 8-star realm. And if they had luck in mutating their Arcana to gold grade, their potential will only increase further.

    On the other hand, those with silver grades only had the potential to reach the 6-star realm. Since they only had one chance to mutate, during the breakthrough to the 4-star realm, these Arcana Masters practically don''t have a chance to reach the Exalt realm.

    Only those who crossed the 7-star realm are labeled as true experts and the pride of humanity. Only those beings receive respect everywhere on the planet.

    Hence, in the views of a neutral spectator, it is obvious that Team JB has no chance against Team DA for the latter is full of geniuses with great potential.

    Even Julius was aware of this fact but due to the overwhelming support from the audience, he wanted to give his best.

    As long as he wins this battle, he will register his spot on the team. The academy is sending a 7-member team but the battles are between 5-member teams. So, where did the remaining two come from?

    The remaining two will be picked from the runner-up team in the finals. They will join the winning team as substitutes and represent the academy. This is how Azzy designed this mini-tournament.

 Chapter 547 Class 10-A Vs Class 10-B (Part-2)

    ?

    "Everyone, get into the formation," roared Julius as he tightly gripped the staff and pointed at their carefree opponents.

    With Julius as vanguard and Susie in the center, they went into an inverted ''T'' shaped formation. The ones at the backline released their Arcana and equipped themselves with bows; all of them are soul beasts.

    The three soul beasts rushed forward and stood before Julius just like they did for the past couple of matches. The formation suddenly became an ''I'' with horizontal lines on top and bottom.

    "Hmpf, we have seen this trick before," snorted Daniel as he tilted his head to the side. "Archie¡­ Break it. I give you permission to go all out."

    The six-foot student, who looked quite buffed for a high school student, stepped forward with his katana and raised it.

    "Soul skill: The lightning cutter"

    Lightning energy gushed out of his body and enveloped the katana. Just as he was about to swing his katana, Julius shouted, "Now."

    Two of the three Arcana beasts, which have earth attribute, acted at the same time.

    Taking a bit of soul energy from their masters, the beasts controlled the ground beneath them. Instead of creating a rocky wall and wasting a tremendous amount of soul energy, they controlled the real ground beneath them and raised it up using attribute energy.

    It is a proven theory that Arcana spirits have the potential to use attribute energy just like the monsters in the wild as long as they spent more time connecting with nature.

    But due to the fact that they live in their mindscape most of the time, using attribute energy no longer comes naturally to them. The lesser their grade, the harder it becomes to learn it.

    Azzy merely advised them to leave them in the real world atleast during the sleeping time and his classes.

    Julius and others followed it and while they could only achieve too little due to the time constraints, they were satisfied with their improvement.

    Coming to the present, with the combined efforts of two beasts type Arcana, a huge block of ground was abruptly raised as high as 50 meters while Archie swung the katana.

    The arc of lightning energy missed its target and made a deep cut into the rocky wall, taking everyone from Team-DA by surprise.

    Meanwhile, the Arcana beasts rushed back to their owners and stood beside them while the wind attribute user Susie slowly rise into the sky with a bow as her Arcana.

    Except for the captain, all the remaining four proceeded as per their plan, pushing out their soul energy towards each other, forming a pyramid-shaped barrier of high-rank-5.

    Once it was formed, Julius walked toward the edge of the cliff and looked down at the opponents who were taking out their flying cards.

    Raising his staff toward the sky, he shouted, "Susie, proceed."

    The girl nodded and conjured an energy arrow, unleashing her soul skill.

    As the energy arrow flew above Julius and fell toward the ground, it generated violent wind from its tip before transforming into a tornado.

    The tornado wasn''t big at first but as it was descending to the ground, the existing wind helped it become bigger and stronger.

    Daniel and the others were just boarding the flying cards to fly to their enemies.

    As they saw the tornado descending toward them while getting stronger bit by bit, although not to the extent that can worry them, Daniel''s girlfriend, Serena volunteered to take care of the problem.

    Serena gathered soul energy in her palm to shoot an energy beam and destroy the tornado.

    Never in the world she expected that a giant bird of flames would appear in the sky and it dives directly toward the tornado and instead of destroying it, boosted its power to form a fire tornado.

    Julius was sweating heavily as he was keeping his entire concentration on the tornado and controlling his soul skill.

    The powerful fire tornado with high-rank-5 strength descended on the shocked students, who felt threatened by the fusion soul skill.

    Daniel couldn''t think straight and shouted, "Everyone, dodge¡­"

    As the flying cards are quite slow, he jumped down and ran away without looking at his teammates.

    Serena and one more successfully escaped the tornado''s range but the remaining two couldn''t.

    They were caught in the fire tornado along with their Arcana spirits. The two of them screamed in pain as their skin started burning.

    However, Snivy didn''t intervene as she judged that it wouldn''t be a life threat.

    Looking down at the result, Julius let out a smile, "Our plan A worked. Now, let''s continue." He motioned to his staff, indicating his teammates to proceed to their next move.

    All of them equipped bows conjured energy arrows and shot into the sky until they couldn''t do no more.

    These arrows weren''t strong and each of them just contained low-rank-4 but still, their sheer number overwhelmed the three opponents who were already distracted by the fire tornado and also the screams of their teammates, who couldn''t escape but getting burned at a slow pace.

    Immediately, the members of team JB took out their SP recovery cards to recover their soul energy.

    In the meantime, the two earth-attribute Arcana beasts started digging a hole under their feet.

    The remaining water attribute Arcana beast helped them by turning the soil softer in the place they are digging. Since they were using their attribute energy, it didn''t impact their owners'' soul energy recovery.

    After digging like five to six meters, the top was closed. And the three Arcana beasts disappeared.

    Once they successfully hide under the ground, the two Arcana beasts controlled the raised block of earth and let it fall back to its original place in the arena.

    "It''s coming down, Dan," shouted Serena as she was on her left knee while blocking the energy arrows with an energy shield.

    "I can see that." Daniel snarled in anger as he was blocked with some kind of umbrella-type shield that the blade of his lance was transformed into.

    Serena looked at her boyfriend in a blank way as if she was saying, ''No, you don''t see it.'' But, she refrained from making any comments at the moment and stayed silent.

    The barrage of arrows was stopped. The block of earth was coming down.

    By the time the level of eyesight became equal for both of the teams, the two teenagers who were caught up in it managed to escape it by expelling all of their soul energy, creating force to push their bodies away. Both of them ended up unconscious.

    Prince Daniel Eranyl, who was consumed by rage because of how their weak opponents outplayed them, didn''t care about anything and just blindly charged forward.

    "Wait¡­" Serena tried to stop him but he didn''t listen to her. Archie, the lightning katana user, looked like he already lost the willpower to continue the battle as he realized the difference in strength between their team and the opponent''s team.

    The shield disappeared and Daniel''s Arcana retransformed back to a lance as he thrust the weapon at Julius.

    With enhanced vision granted by the ''Super Eye'' sealing technique, Daniel''s movements were cleanly captured by Julius and he dodged to the left before swinging his staff like a baseball bat at his opponent''s butt.

    Daniel lost his footing and crashed onto the ground. As he raised his head, he saw the four opponents with their bows pointing energy arrows at them.

    Susie, the one at the head of the pyramid, was the one who took action in a timely manner.

    "Soul skill: Shadowmist"

    As she conjured and released the arrow, it transformed into a sphere of concentrated carbon dioxide gas and enveloped Daniel''s head, making him inhale it by force.

    *Thud*

    Unable to think straight to defend himself against this unexpected move, Daniel ended up collapsing into the group and lost consciousness due to hypoxia.

    "Dan¡­" Serena rushed forward without thinking. Julius didn''t stop her and let her reach him.

    However, once she reached him and was about to take him away from that place, one of her opponents mumbled, "Juer, unleash the Soul skill: Quicksand."

    Serena''s feet started sinking into the soil at a rapid pace and Daniel''s body had already sunk.

    She quickly screamed, "I give up. Stop it."

    A large centipede and a large gopher exited the underground with Daniel, whose entire body was smeared with mud.

    Watching them from the distance, Archie let out a sigh and dismissed his katana before walking away.

    "JB" "JB" "JB" "JB"

    Cheering poured for the team from the audience as how Julius managed to completely overpower a stronger team with his strategy. Perhaps, the only mysterious thing that hasn''t been solved yet is the hardness of the pyramid-shaped joint barrier as Daniel and his team never got the opportunity to test it.

    As the field was cleared within the next couple of minutes, the next semifinal started.

    It was between Team SA and Team VA, meaning Team Serestia of class ''A'' vs Team Victor of class ''A''.

    Team SA contained Serestia Leveret (leader), Navi, Bill, Laura, and another boy named Charlie Stripes. Except for Laura, the rest of them are from Northern Qudour.

    Azzy couldn''t help but cheer for them in his heart as he watched from the stands.

    Unlike the earlier one-sided match, this one went on for quite a while before Team SA ended up victorious.

    After a five-minute break, the finals started. Azzy doesn''t know who to support as he liked all of them.

    *Whistle*

    Just as the whistle was blown by Snivy, Team JB summoned their Arcana but surprisingly, no one from Serestia''s side summoned theirs.

    Instead, they spread out in five different directions, forming a pentagon formation.

    All of them simultaneously took out skill cards and unleashed them at the same time. "Skill card: Descent of the Hydra."

    "No way¡­ How is it possible?" Azzy abruptly stood up on his feet in shock.

 Chapter 548 Cancellation Of Tri-Academy Tournament

    ?

    The five skill cards shone at the same time, unleashing a beam of light toward the center of their formation.

    Soon, a seal with mystical runes appeared on the ground before a giant beast rose from it with five snakeheads.

    "A six-star realm Hydra."

    Not just Azzy, but even the other teachers were also shocked to see the students pulling off such a move.

    However, Azzy was shocked for a different reason. He was familiar with this joint skill card formation.

    This joint skill card formation needs atleast three individuals. Each of them will be holding a part of the skill card, which is nothing on its own. But, when it is used jointly, they can summon a beast from the wild zone and summon it and even control it to do their bidding.

    However, to summon it, during the creation, they must use any solid part of the wild beast containing its DNA and also its blood.

    These students don''t have such capability to do it by themselves.

    Unfortunately, that''s not the important part.

    Azzy had faced this very same skill formation and also this specific beast in the Champions League finals against a team from the Dragon Academy.

    "Is this just a coincidence or is there something I don''t know about?" thought Azzy as he stared at the gold-grade beast that sent shivers down the spine of every member of Team JB.

    As the rest of the members of Team SA backed away, Bill jumped high and landed on the Hydra''s back, and looked at his opponents.

    "We reserved this technique for the tournament but after watching your earlier battle, we decided not to underestimate your team and risk the result," said Bill as he controlled the five-headed Hydra.

    The beast started walking toward its five opponents while Julius hurriedly shouted to go into the pyramid formation and let the earth-attribute Arcana beasts raise the ground as in their earlier battle.

    However, it proved fruitless as the five-headed Hydra could fly and possessed all the basic elements (fire, water, wind, earth, and lightning). Their tricks couldn''t overpower its mighty strength.

    The finals ended up being a one-sided match and Team SA ended up being the representatives of the Emerald Academy.

    As the runner-up, Team JB claimed two spots in the seven-member team as substitutes. As their homeroom teacher, Flora gets to decide it.

    Without any surprises, Julius and Susie made it to the team.

    The next day morning;

    Principal''s office, Emerald Academy;

    "What!"

    Snivy slammed the principal''s desk as she glared at the old man as well as the blindfolded man standing beside him. Meanwhile, Azzy narrowed his eyes and asked, "Why, Mr. Danvary?"

    Principal George meaningfully glanced at the vice principal in response to his question and the latter answered, "We can''t do anything about it, Mr. Gary. There was an attempt made on a student''s life in the Sun Academy. It was the heir of ''Westro Group''. And they are making a ruckus with the investigation."

    "So, our tournament is indefinitely canceled or are we postponing it to some other date?" asked Azzy.

    The principal answered instead of Aaron, "We are in talks with Phoenix Academy, Dragon Academy, and Maple Academy for the moment. Dragon Academy has some conditions that are slightly difficult for us to accept but we will see what the other two academies will tell us. You will be informed in a couple of days."

    "Are you serious, Mr. Principal?" Snivy shouted at him in a fit of rage. "Maple Academy, Dragon Academy, and Phoenix Academy? Do you want to humiliate our students or something? Except for Raydon, no one from our academy remotely has a chance to battle against those students."

    "C''mon Snivy, have some confidence. We have produced two junior world champions," commented Aaron, implying that she doesn''t need to be pessimistic.

    Snivy countered him with a statement, "Those two champions graduated from the academy long ago. Both of them are absolute geniuses who had platinum-grade Arcana spirits and made a breakthrough into the 6-star realm at the age of 15 and 16 respectively."

    As the principal and the vice principal were feeling headaches as they don''t know how to deal with this short-tempered woman, Azzy also joined the conversation with a question, "Mr. Danvary, what is the condition put by the Dragon Academy?"

    "Eh? Ah, well, it''s not exactly a condition but more like a proposal. They said that they intend to introduce the Arcana festival to the world," replied the principal, glancing at his deputy once again to do the explanation.

    Aaron continued, "This Arcana festival will include debates, indoor and outdoor games, art performances, exchange of knowledge, and also a combat tournament. However, it isn''t limited to students. The teachers should also be included including the principals and vice principals of the participating academies too.

    As a preliminary version, they intend to invite three academies to their academy. WAMO''s representative will be assigned to inspect the festival.

    Heavenly Academy seems to be participating. If our academy accepts the invitation, then, we can also have the multi-academy tournament we want but¡­"

    "But, you don''t want to involve the teachers as it affects the academy''s reputation." Azzy finished it for him, understanding their thoughts.

    As Aaron and George Danvary nodded in unison, Snivy asked in confusion, "Why?"

    Azzy gave her the answer in place of the other two, "it''s because the students are temporary. Their bad performance doesn''t affect as much as it affects the bad performance of the teachers, especially if Principals are involved. The admissions will be affected a lot."

    "So, is this about you?" Snivy looked at the principal. "You aren''t confident about facing the unknown?"

    George Danvary bitterly smiled and gave her his reply, "It''s not about facing something, Snivy. We can''t risk our academy''s future just for the sake of participating in some ridiculous festival. Our academy is almost like a baby. It is like cutting our own legs before we even had the chance to grow up into adults. You understand what I am saying?"

    "I''m afraid I beg to differ, Mr. Danvary," Azzy stressed that they don''t need to go all out to participate in this Arcana festival. The principal and a few other teachers could stay back citing the security issues at their academy. Instead, the vice principal can lead the team.

    Since it is an opportunity for the students of Emerald Academy to mingle with geniuses of Dragon Academy, it is quite foolish to lose it. And if they fared better than others, their reputation could even increase further, attracting potential talents.

    Vice Principal Aaron''s face changed a bit as he heard Azzy''s words. He was against participating in such a festival as he might have to reveal a bit of his secrets in a spar against his counterparts.

    However, to his dismay, Principal George was tempted. "Okay, I''ll take your suggestion into consideration. Both of you may leave."

    The students especially the ones selected from 10-B were quite disappointed by the news of the abrupt suspension of the tournament while 10-A students rejoiced.

    However, there were some people like Daniel, who were angry, not just because of their failure but also felt like they humiliated themselves for nothing. Obviously, they couldn''t blame their own bad luck or their actions. Hence, they blamed Azzy and Snivy who brought such a mini tournament with their challenge.

    Meanwhile, Serestia decides to return home as there''s nothing to do on the weekend.

 Chapter 549 Meeting Matilda And Her In-Laws

    ?

    The same day evening;

    Egrein City, Northern Qudour;

    *Ding dong!

    The doorbell was rung inside a lovely mansion located in an affluent neighborhood of the capital city.

    Azzy and Flora were standing outside while wearing matching black hoodies and jeans, following the trend of twinning.

    The doors were opened after a few seconds and Azzy watched an old man neatly dressed as a butler welcoming them at the doorstep.

    "Welcome home, Lady Flora" "Welcome to Edward''s mansion, Master Gary, I presume?"

    As Azzy nodded in return, Flora dropped her usual cold gaze and jumped at him to give a hug to him with a smile like a little girl, "Grandpa Van."

    The butler was startled and whispered, "Lady Flora, your in-laws are here."

    "Eh?" Flora was taken aback, "Why?"

    "Probably to test¡­ *Ahem* your relationship." The butler hesitatingly said as he took a glance at Azzy. Even he was unconvinced that they are a couple, much less the people waiting for them.

    "Alright," Flora nodded in understanding and looked at Azzy, locking her arm with his, "You ready, babe?"

    Azzy felt uncomfortable by her sweet tone and more than so, her way of addressing him but he had to keep his word and nodded firmly. "Yeah, let''s go."

    As they entered the mansion and walked past the foyer, Azzy saw about seven people sitting in the living room and talking with each other.

    They stopped chatting at once as Azzy and Flora entered the living room. Without any surprise, everyone was taken aback to see Azzy. As it appeared, his looks weren''t the only thing they were surprised about.

    Matilda, the gracefully looking lady, unlike her bookish image from the past, had criticized her sister in front of everyone. "Flora, I told you that we will be having guests. Pay attention to your image."

    Matilda then turned toward the middle-aged-looking couple, and slightly bowed with a bit of nervousness on her face, "I apologize, mother-in-law, father-in-law for you had to witness that."

    Shen then gestured for her sister to also apologize to their in-laws. Flora''s expression changed. She looked like she was about to argue that she never heard about it but she swallowed her pride and slightly bowed her head for the sake of her sister.

    Just as she was about to apologize, Azzy grabbed her hand and said with a smile, "Ms. Matilda, we were actually on a date and forgot the time. And this is an unofficial meeting between your family members anyways. Let''s not get too serious by thinking about formalities that change with time, okay?"

    Azzy''s words took everyone by surprise, even including Flora. He supported Flora and mildly lectured Matilda at the same time. What''s more surprising is that somehow the listeners felt like he was stating a fact instead of his opinion.

    "You must be Gary," coldly replied Matilda, who didn''t like Azzy. She further said, "You are quite younger than I expected. If I didn''t hear the details beforehand, I would have thought that my sister is dating her student."

    In response, Azzy maintained his smile and lied with the prepared statement, "I''m 43 years old you know, pretty much in my middle ages, if talk in terms of a civilian."

    "Eh? 43?" Matilda''s father-in-law reacted to his statement. "You are 5 years older than our Flora?"

    As Azzy nodded, Matilda''s mother-in-law commented, "You not only look quite younger than your actual age but also had the demeanor of a high-class noble. I say Flora''s choice is good."

    "EH? Noble?" Matilda was taken aback by the reactions from her in-laws who don''t stand the sight of anything filled with indignity. She clarified them, "Mother-in-law, you are mistaken. He is a commoner."

    However, her reply didn''t appear to go well with her in-laws. The mother-in-law immediately scolded her with the same look of sternness that Matilda was earlier giving Flora, "Hmpf, the surname isn''t everything as a child would usually take the surname from their father''s family. A commoner like you who doesn''t have a shred of nobility in your blood doesn''t understand it.

    I''m sure that this boy definitely has an ancestor of royalty. I can see it from the way he walked earlier, the way he looks at people, the way he defends his love, and the way he talks."

    This time, it was Azzy''s turn to get surprised.

    This old woman was just a civilian. How was she so sure about his ancestry? Or was she just bluffing around by throwing things around to see if she can strike the target in the dark? He wondered. At the same time, he also felt a bit pity for Matilda for getting such a mother-in-law.

    The mother-in-law then looked at Azzy and stood up, raising her hand for a handshake. As the father-in-law also followed suit, Azzy shook their hands with a smile, "The pleasure is mine."

    After her handshake, the woman''s hand shivered slightly and she mumbled as her eyes widened, "A special one."

    "Hmm?" Azzy heard her clearly and his curiosity about this old woman increased. As he felt nothing special about her aura too, he asked the Reaper. Surprisingly, the Reaper also said that he doesn''t feel anything different about this woman.

    Azzy thought that he was thinking too much and proceeded to sit down alongside Flora before Matilda bombarded the couple with questions as if they were called for interrogation.

    Starting from how they met and how they became a couple to Flora''s likes and dislikes, Matilda asked Azzy a number of questions.

    Azzy gave every reply according to what he and Flora prepared together. The more Matilda heard of them, the more she felt suspicious that this is an act as the answers were too perfect. In her view, a relationship cannot be perfect.

    In the end, she asked a decisive question, "Don''t mind me asking such a question but does our Flora have any bad habits?"

    "What are you saying, sis? I don''t have¡­" As Flora tried to defend herself, Azzy nodded with a smile.

    Matilda couldn''t help but smile and point her finger at Azzy, "Well, I don''t think your boyfriend agrees with you."

    "Babe?" As Flora looked at him and made some gestures with her eyes, Azzy ignored her and said, "Glacy is too full of herself, she''s an absolute drunkard, doesn''t know how to manage her finances and squander it away, speaks a lot when she gets drunk and even releases cold mist into the surroundings without knowing, she''s also cold and doesn''t smile to strangers."

    "Uhhh¡­ that''s not¡­" Flora was stumped at once as it wasn''t a part of the script they prepared together. She couldn''t help but glare at him.

    Meanwhile, the father-in-law who was also in the same situation as the others couldn''t help but ask, "Son, do you really love her?"

    In response, Azzy let out a smile and answered, "If you truly love a person, you gotta love their positives and negatives. After all, both of those qualities are the part of a person. And one shouldn''t fall in love with a particular quality of a person but the person themselves as a whole."

    "Incredible." Matilda''s in-laws seemed to be impressed and even Matilda was surprised by how much clarity he had.

    As the final question, she asked the question that''s been circulating around the globe for ages.

    "You seemed to know what you are truly talking about. Then, can you answer this? In the future when you marry Flora, one day, if your mother and Flora fall into a trap and are abducted by the enemies, who will you save?"

 Chapter 550 Requesting Information

    ?

    Mother or wife?

    It was a classic question that''s been on for centuries. The question has often been discussed in person and circulated on the internet, but people say that there is no right answer to it.

    The answer depends on man''s choice and the reasoning behind it.

    And Azzy also made up his choice in two seconds while imagining the scenario where Claire and Izora were being abducted.

    He answered in a firm tone, "Ms. Matilda, I choose Flora."

    "So, you''ll abandon your mother? How ungrateful." The mother-in-law''s great impression of Azzy until now looked like it was going to be crumbled in an instant. Matilda slightly smirked, feeling that she has won.

    However, in the next second, everyone''s expression changed as Azzy explained himself, "I chose to save Glacy, not because I''m here or I think it is common sense. It is because she is the person I chose, Ms. Matilda. I chose her as my life partner. Hence, it is my responsibility to save her.

    If I fail to save my mother, I would probably feel sad and apologize to her grave for the rest of my life but if I abandon my wife, I would be fallen in my own eyes. That is something I cannot bear."

    Matilda and Flora were stunned by his explanation and they stared at him in a daze as if they wanted to comment ''Where did these guys come from?''

    Meanwhile, the in-laws were satisfied with his explanation and the mother-in-law said, "I guess I was too impatient and judged you quickly. You are quite a sincere fellow, Mr. Gary."

    Azzy merely smiled in response.

    After their dinner was finished, Azzy left the house while rejecting Matilda''s invitation to stay for the night. Flora accompanied him, intending to escort him until the portal point.

    When they left, they were grabbing hands like usual couples but after crossing the street, Azzy stopped walking and looked at her, "You don''t need to escort me anymore. I will have to stop by another place."

    After staring at him for a couple of seconds, Flora stepped forward and gave him a tight hug, "Thank you, Azrael. And sorry for troubling you with my selfish request."

    Azzy simply patted her head as he does for his little sister, "It''s not a trouble, although it would have been better if I met your brother-in-law too."

    Flora stepped back and replied, "I know. Neal was really looking forward to meeting you but we can''t do anything boat the urgency at the company."

    "Eh? Neal?" Azzy was slightly taken aback upon hearing a familiar name. However, the guy he knows is dead and is also a commoner, not the master of the noble house of Edward.

    He couldn''t help but ask, "May I see his picture, later on?" He wants to fulfill his curiosity in order to stop making up an absurd theory.

    Flora took out her smartphone, which she only uses in this world as it is not only useless in her workplace but it is also banned to take out one. "I have pics. You can see him." Opening the album app, she further added, "Actually, you could also find him just by typing his name on the search engine."

    "Here," She gave it to him and showed the image where a handsome middle-aged and charismatic fellow was posing with the current King of Northern Qudour.

    "What the hell¡­"

    Azzy took the phone and zoomed in on the image, "Neal is alive? But, his status is KIA (killed in action) in our database. I should talk to Commander Kruger."

    Surprising Flora, Azzy asked her to send the image to his phone before leaving her sight. Since she knows Gary is Azzy, who studied in the same school as her, she thought it is perfectly possible that both of them know each other. She didn''t think too much about it.

    Or rather, her thoughts were occupied by something else. "He spoke really touching words and did a couple of actions that impressed me a lot but I don''t feel any butterflies in my stomach. It''s really a pity that he looks too young. If he had been slightly older, he would have been totally my type of guy."

    *Sigh*

    Letting out a deep sigh, Flora turned around and slowly returned home to spend the rest of the weekend.

    Meanwhile, Azzy went to the airport and boarded a flight like a normal person. He took six hours of nap and reached the headquarters by 5 in the morning.

    Azzy went straight to the "Data Services" department.

    "Morning, Captain Azrael" "Morning, Cindy"

    After the exchange of greetings, the staff member asked the reason behind his visit.

    Azzy first asked for information about Dragon Academy, meaning the complete info of students who had atleast gold grade Arcana and the info of every teacher.

    As his second request, he showed her the image of Neal and asked for complete information about the guy named Neal Edwards.

    His third request was about the forest of death. He wanted the list of all types of beasts living there. If he knows their respective abilities, it would perhaps become a lot easier for him to raise an undead army in the future.

    He then ended with requesting the info on the company named ''Arc'', which is the financer of Emerald Academy. This company is also the one behind Aaron.

    What Azzy wanted to find out is whether Aaron was just using them for his personal mission or if this company was on the same boat as that blindfolded guy.

    "How much it costs?" Azzy asked for the price, knowing that his personal requests for information aren''t for free.

    However, the staff member quoted a high price, "2.35 million credits."

    "Ugh, Cindy, the price is too high. Any discount?" Azzy couldn''t help but complain to this colleague, whom he was acquainted with.

    In response, the woman simply smiled, "Captain Azrael, the discounted price will also have discounted information you know. Moreover, it''s just your 9 days of salary."

    Azzy grumbled as he grudgingly gave her the card, "20% of that will go to my country''s government and 30% of it will go to this nation of Vesna solely in the form of taxes. How much do you think I will be left with¡­"

    Cindy could only smile in silence and proceed with the transaction. Azzy''s net income was about 3.75 million credits per month excluding the share from the mission''s reward.

    If one thinks about his last year''s annual net income, it stands at 65 million credits, which is enough to buy a villa of 2000 sq. meter area at any prime location in the world.

    He has one of the highest salaries in the organization and has a personal wealth of 158 million credits so far, which was just earned during the past three years only. If not for the secrecy of Zero Squad, it would have already blown up on the internet.

    The fact that he was complaining about not getting enough money pains a normal employee like her with a 75k monthly salary.

    After placing his order, he returned to Zero Squad''s pocket dimension and planned to wait there until he gets a call from the ''Data Service department''.

    However, an urgent summoning from his father forced him to go home without reporting to his superior.

 Chapter 551 The Battle With The Celestial Elf Is Near

    ?

    Garcia Palace, Death Clan Village;

    Azzy reached there by the time of dawn and encountered a lot of fellow clansmen, who came out for a morning walk.

    "Greetings, Young master" "Greeting, Young Lord" "Good morning, Young master" "Young master, you returned. Did your mission already over?" "Did you just return, Young Lord?"

    Nodding to every greeting on the way, Azzy reached the palace but went to the throne hall as he was summoned to that place.

    He expected there would be a clan meeting but only his father was seen waiting for him. And he appeared to be quite serious with a scroll in his hand. There''s also a bit of concern on his face too.

    As Vesyrn was sitting on the throne, Azzy first paid his respects to the clan''s monarch with a deep bow. "Your Majesty, I have returned asap upon receiving your summon."

    Vesyrn raised the scroll in his hand and directly came to the point, "This is from Evelon. Read it."

    "The elves?" Azzy walked forward to the throne and took the letter. Once he read the contents of the letter, he finally understood what this emergency summoning was about.

    He asked, "But, Your Majesty, didn''t you tell me that the elves postponed it because of the upcoming invasion?"

    Vesyrn shook his head, "I only told you that they were considering it, that''s all. Judging by how they intended to conduct your match a month later, I believe that celestial elf wanted to command you during the upcoming war."

    "So, I still have a month, huh?" Azzy grabbed his chin and fell into thoughts. He asked the Reaper whether he could make a breakthrough to the Tier-9 physique within this time frame.

    The Reaper replied, "The time limit no longer matters to you, Azrael. You can just go to the future to save time. Or you can go back to the ancient timeline where the concentration of natural energy is a lot higher and train in solitude. You can even train and then constantly rewind the time just like how you did when you are a child, although I won''t recommend the third way unless you gain complete mastery over the hourglass."

    "Hmm¡­ I hope I wouldn''t have to resort to such methods as things tend to happen around me all the time. I don''t want to worry about the consequences."

    ***

    A few hours later;

    Affea Crescent Garcia woke up around nine o''clock in the morning and saw her mother was nowhere with her.

    Due to her special constitution that brings hell to the Garcia clan compound whenever the little girl gets a nightmare, Izora sleeps with her daughter.

    On the other hand, Vesyrn sleeps in a separate room as he cannot afford to lose his sleep.

    The absence of Qridus has brought hefty work upon him, and to make sure not to disappoint his ancestor, Vesyrn is working quite hard.

    There''s also laziness spread in the clan as Qridus is no more and the clan members weren''t afraid of Vesyrn as much as they fear the old man''s anger.

    But, at the same time, people are satisfied with Vesyrn''s leadership as he is kinder, friendlier, and merciful, and takes the suggestions of the pavilion masters and the sub-clan leaders into consideration.

    Perhaps, the biggest thing he worries is his daughter''s state.

    The little girl was born with the power of controlling gravity around her but her emotions are highly unstable even for a kid of her age.

    Vesyrn couldn''t bear to even raise his voice against her and no parent in the clan dares to send their little children to play with her.

    As a result, Affy often feels lonely and hence, she needs her mother on her side.

    Usually, Izora never leaves her side, especially when she was sleeping. Affy felt a bit strange as the room was empty.

    "Mummy? Mama¡­" She called for her mom but it was answered by a maid, who rushed into the bedroom as soon as she heard her voice.

    "Good morning, Lady Garcia." She greeted the little girl in nervousness with her legs slightly shivering. "I hope you had a pleasant sleep last night."

    "Yeah, I did." Affy let out a wide smile. "Auntie Martha, where is mummy?"

    The maid replied, "Young Master has returned in the morning. Both of them are currently at the Violet Pavilion to meet Lady Crescent."

    "Chuckie is here?" The little girl''s face beamed with happiness. She immediately jumped down from the bed and started scurrying out in her panda-themed pajamas.

    "Young Miss, please wait. I need to inform¡­" The maid followed her from behind.

    Meanwhile, at the top of the violet pavilion;

    A small number of people gathered in the arena as Azzy was sparring against Izora and Evelyn in a barehanded fight.

    It looked pretty much even on the surface but if one observes carefully enough, one could see the two women warriors were sweating like hell and their movements slowed down a lot when compared to the beginning while Azzy, on the other hand, looked like he barely expended his stamina.

    For the past 50 minutes, they were continuously sparring and this sparring continued for the next half an hour until Azzy heard the cheering of a little girl from far away. The voice was quite clear to even those two women as the others were silent.

    "Wow! They are so fast¡­ Chuckie, Chuckie, Chuckie¡­"

    Azzy glanced to his right from the corner of his eyes and saw his little sister jumping up and down like a fan in concert even though she couldn''t see a thing.

    While he was happy to see her and also receive such support against their mother, he was still embarrassed to be called like that in front of the other clansmen.

    Azzy looked for the right moment and stopped the match by catching both of their fists at the same time and said, "Okay, Mom, Aunt Evelyn. Affy is here. Let''s stop here."

    "C''mon kid, we are just warming up." As Evelyn complained, Azzy replied, "I have to leave by evening and I don''t want to waste time on meaningless fighting with battle freaks."

    "This brat¡­" Evelyn felt irked by Azzy''s attitude and jokingly strangled his neck using an arm lock. "You have become cheekier these days¡­"

    "Mom," Azzy immediately called for help as her passive skill is affecting him a lot. If he wasn''t controlling his raging hormones, he might have gotten boner because of his aunt.

    And that would be too embarrassing for him to even think about it.

    Her touch is quite lethal for any man or woman regardless of their orientation. The dose will be even higher if they were a virgin. He could free himself through brute force but she is family and he doesn''t want to hurt her. Hence, he cried for his mom''s help.

    As someone who always failed to defeat her cousin, Izora knows that fact.

    She grabbed Evelyn''s collar from the back, "Don''t bully my son, Eve." As Evelyn was surprised and stopped in her tracks, Azzy took this opportunity to slip from her grip and dashed to his sister, who doesn''t have any problem standing in a 44g environment when she was only 3 years old. It comes with her passive skill. So, people have gotten familiar with such scenes.

    After a while;

    Evelyn and Izora were walking side by side while discussing various things.

    Meanwhile, Azzy was giving a piggyback ride to his sister and they were conversing about various things.

    "So, there''s this monster that looked like a cat but is quite clever. It tried to trap my students in a cave full of stronger monsters. Do you know what I did?"

    "What did you do?"

    "I give a tight smack on its head."

    "Wah, you are so awesome¡­"

    Azzy grinned in happiness as his innocent little sister was praising him when his actions were nothing worthy to brag about. It shouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that it was their bond is what keeps him visiting home more often.

    ***

    Somewhere in the Arcana world;

    Fenrir and Jormungandr, in their human forms, were standing at the edge of a cliff as they were staring at a lake surrounded by three mountains on different sides.

    "So, this is the location where he was sealed?" asked Fenrir.

    The world serpent nodded firmly, "Yes, the bed of the lake is where the seal is located. However¡­"

    Fenrir finished it for him, "We need to defeat the guardian."

    As the world serpent nodded, Fenrir then said, "But, if we work together, it shouldn''t be difficult."

    "I hope so. Argus isn''t what he used to be anyways," commented the world serpent.

 Chapter 552 Azzys Conspiracy Theory About Floras Brother-In-Law

    ?

    At around half past eleven in the evening, Azzy bid goodbye to his parents and left for Vesna nation''s silver city, where WAMO''s HQ is located.

    He had to wait until his sister is asleep or else, she will cause a ruckus around and won''t let him leave that easily.

    After receiving the memory card item from the Data Services department, he went straight to the dorm and slept until 8 in the morning.

    Before he left for his current workplace, he didn''t forget to report to his superior and asked him about Flora''s brother-in-law.

    He hasn''t read the information yet and before he did that, he wanted to confirm the status of Neal.

    Azzy was actually slightly afraid that Neal never went after the evil sorcerer, Uphiar. He was afraid to find that everything he learned is a lie, created because of some grand secret mission.

    That is why he asked the supreme commander for the truth. Based on what this elf will say, he will digest it and get his heart prepared to learn the real truth.

    Surprisingly, Commander Kruger said, "We know about him long ago. They could even pass off as twins had Neal been alive but they aren''t the same person. Neal Edwards existed when Neal was alive."

    "They could be clones, we don''t know," replied Azzy, not intending to believe it. He probably wanted to hear that they were the same person.

    Azzy further theorized, "I know of a person who created a physical clone by severing a part of his soul. The clone lives and behaves like a normal human. Is it possible that Neal might have done the same?"

    "Severing a part of the soul?" Commander Kruger was taken aback when he heard those words but he quickly composed himself and replied that the ages of Neal and Neal Edwards don''t match either. They were 14 years apart and even their DNA didn''t match either, ruling out the possibility of any relation. Neal himself did that and reported to us."

    "But, they looked too similar though. Anyways, if they aren''t related, he shouldn''t be my concern. I have more important things to do." Azzy threw away the unnecessary thoughts to the back of his head and talked about this Arcana festival by the Dragon Academy.

    In order to make it official, it needed approval from WAMO, and Azzy wanted to recommend the colleague he was acquainted with as the organization''s representative.

    After having breakfast at the cafeteria, he returned to the academy and went to his dorm, changed his clothes, and then, proceeded to the principal''s office.

    "Morning, Captain Garcia. You aren''t at the staff meeting today and left two days ago. I was worried that something happened while you are on a mission. Anyway, sit down please."

    As Azzy sat down without bothering to give him any explanation about his absence from the academy for the past two days, the principal handed him a file, "I took your advice and agreed to the Dragon Academy''s proposal. We received the draft in return. This file contains all the details of the upcoming festival. And there''s also something that you should know."

    "What is it?" asked Azzy as he took the file.

    Principal George revealed the proposal he received from Aaron, a day ago. The vice principal is hoping for his successor to be 10-A''s homeroom teacher to reduce Azzy''s burden.

    Aaron''s reasoning is simple. Azzy took another extra load on his shoulders by taking the job of teaching practical combat to 10-B students.

    Judging by how the students performed excellently during their test, Aaron said that he felt Gary/Azzy would do even better if some burden will be lifted off his shoulders.

    He also added how there''s a rift between Gary and the students of 10-A. And Aaron didn''t forget to use his financial backing to pressure the principal to do his bidding.

    Azzy didn''t have to think too much to understand Aaron''s intentions. He would never let him do that.

    Hence, he used the authority of WAMO to pressure the principal instead of convincing him. "Mr. Danvary, you must understand that I''m not here to teach some kids but on a mission. There''s no way you are taking away my job. It is the same as obstructing my mission. Since I won''t be here for long, think of an excuse to postpone that new guy''s opponent for atleast two more weeks."

    "Alright." The principal reluctantly agreed.

    Azzy then returned to his apartment and sat down on the bed. He first read the contents of the file.

    Basically, from grade-8 to grade-10, a total of 60 students will participate in this Arcana festival scheduled to start on the 22nd of February, i.e. 6 days later. Since it is just the pilot version, the festival will end on 23rd Feb.

    As the homeroom teacher of class 10-A, he had to discuss with Flora to select 20 outstanding students from 10th grade.

    These 60 students shall participate in various events like debates, panel discussions, talent shows, Chess, Tennis, Futsal, cooking, an obstacle race, practical combat, art and literature exhibitions, and a special lesson conducted by the Dragon Academy''s principal (a supreme realm expert).

    It is mandatory to participate in every event even if it is just one student.

    Apart from the students, atleast six teachers are also required to participate in this festival, led by either the principal or a vice principal of the visiting academy. The teachers can participate in these same events against their counterparts.

    "Okay, this sounds cool."

    Azzy put away the file and then took out the memory item card. He closed his eyes and placed the card on his forehead before pouring his soul energy into it.

    The memory item card dissolved into specks of light and disappeared into Azzy''s head. Suddenly, a wave of information made its way into his brain.

    "So, the Dragon Academy totally has 17 Arcana Masters in the 7-stars realm, 4 Arcana Masters in the 8-star-realm, and 1 in the 9-star-realm."

    He received all the info there is about the Dragon Academy, including the list of geniuses in advanced courses. And it could be considered an alarming thing for Emerald Academy.

    But then again, there''s no shame in losing to such a top-tier academy anyways. Or so he thought and shifted his attention to the next piece of information, which is a bit shocking as Azzy was expecting something else after getting to know from his superior.

    It appeared that Neal Edwards is an orphan who was later adopted into Edwards'' noble family at the age of 8 after awakening a gold-grade Arcana called the Bone sword.

    Due to the worry about losing their assets to a branch family, his adoptive parents covered it up by announcing him as their real child.

    With a necromancer as their ancestor in their family known to the public, it became easier for them to cover it up even easier.

    Neal Edwards awakened the Arcana of their ancestor and was claimed as the pride of the Edwards family despite society''s stereotypic views about necromancers.

    During Azzy''s time in the academy, Neal Edwards was working abroad, developing his company''s branch office and lying low. His parents also lived with him for some reason despite their high standing within the Northern Qudour.

    Azzy felt that he is too suspicious after reading the data.

    "Chronos, I feel like I should meet this fellow in person. I have read about this bone sword in the Book of Death. One of the past clan heads wielded it."

    The Reaper also agreed, "I think we will find out after meeting him."

 Chapter 553 Arc Companys Board Of Directors

    ?

    "The forest of death is as dangerous as I expected. But, I would be fine if I don''t venture deep into the region."

    "And this company Arc also seemed to quite suspicious. For a company that deals with mining rare materials, collecting beast corpses, and manufacturing blank cards, its assets are quite astonishing. Its net worth is over 3.8 trillion credits.

    But, they got a clean chit from WAMO. That means their finances are legit. What''s more, nine of their board directors are anonymous. Even WAMO could only find out a couple of their names. These two are public figures who enjoy high respect in society. They were also damn wealthy. Maybe, that is where the company''s funds are coming from."

    Azzy assumed that this was probably why Agent Alder wanted to get closer to Aaron and get into the inner circle as the latter suspect that the company is somehow involved with the dark organization ''Assad''.

    "Anyways, let''s focus on this Arcana festival. 6 days isn''t a long time. I need to meet Flora and discuss it with her."

    ***

    The next day morning;

    "Everyone, this is Albert. He is going to take my place after the summer." Aaron introduced a buffed fellow standing beside him in silence.

    Albert only bowed slightly as a way of his greeting and stayed silent. Aaron nudged him with his elbow and whispered, "C''mon, say something."

    As Albert sharply glared at him in return, Aaron awkwardly smiled at the rest of the staff members and covered it up, "He is quite a shy fellow and will take time to get familiar with the strangers. Don''t go after his appearance. But, when at work, he is the best man for the job. I can assure you that."

    "A legendary realm expert, eh? It looks like ''Arc'' company is really taking me seriously. Or he might be sent to keep the principal at bay while Aaron thinks that he could handle me. Either way, it''ll be fruitless," thought Azzy as he glanced at the newbie who tried to steal his job.

    Meanwhile, the other guy was trying his best to sense Azzy''s soul but he could feel nothing. He felt as if Azzy doesn''t have any soul orb or soul energy.

    It led him to believe that Aaron did right to become wary of this teenage-looking Arcana Master.

    For the next few days, Albert followed Azzy every time he goes outside the academy.

    As a highly skilled assassin, he knew how to erase his presence, but to his bad luck, Azzy could see the aura of the humans. And his invisible state isn''t strong enough to escape the Reaper''s senses.

    Hence, Azzy knew Albert''s presence as he went out. As he almost completed his investigation, he didn''t need to go out but he just roamed out to have some fun in the amusement parks or sports complexes in order to dash his hopes.

    But, what Albert doesn''t know is that Azzy also followed him every time he goes out on his own. With the Erasure skill card, Azzy was safe from getting sensed by anyone below the supreme realm. Hence, he was able to escape Albert''s senses.

    Unfortunately, Albert majorly goes out to buy either beast carcasses from the market or some high-grade weapons from the black market.

    Four days went by with neither of them getting any useful information they seek from the other.

    However, on the night of the Friday, Azzy''s patience paid it off. Albert didn''t go to the black market that day. Instead, he used the world portal points for the first time during the past week.

    Closely following him from behind, he stood beside Albert without touching him or any other human as the teleportation formation was lit up below them.

    Both of them disappeared at the same time and reappeared in the city of Emberfall, a tier-3 city in the Republic of Llyne with a population of less than 200,000.

    As Azzy was about to follow Albert, the Reaper first advised him to scan the city. They don''t want to have any 9-star realm Arcana Master within the ranks of the enemy as it would make his invisibility useless.

    Luckily for Azzy, no aura present in the city is stronger than this Albert. He then followed his target from the sky, not wanting to accidentally bump into someone on the sidewalk.

    Albert boarded a taxi and went to the branch office of ''Arc'' company. Azzy''s suspicions only increased further and closely followed him until he went to the second floor where a huge projector screen was placed on the wall.

    After wearing a blank mask, he opened the laptop and logged in to a website. Azzy didn''t forget to note down the website name in his mind and continued to watch.

    Soon, the projector screen was divided into nine sections, and one after another, masked men started to appear in their respective sections.

    "Please confirm your codename and code number. I''m Falcon 94," said Albert.

    "Cheetah 11" "Zebra 45" "Gorilla 77" "Alligator 04" "Pegasus 26" "Hydra 81" "Platypus 71" "Orca 60" "Dragon 00" "Elephant 38"

    While Azzy mentally noted down those codenames and code numbers, Albert nodded and continued, "As you all know our previous plans have been canceled due to unforeseen circumstances. Fortunately, we have another opportunity tomorrow but without your help, it cannot be accomplished."

    "Yeah, I know. We have agreed to it long ago but do we really need to send that many experts to kill one person?" asked the woman with codename Pegasus.

    Albert nodded firmly, "Yes, we do. This person isn''t that simple. He has the knowledge of the ancient sealing technique that can seal the soul orbs of his opponents. He also seemed to be able to manipulate the natural energy from the surroundings.

    According to Aaron, this person is highly suspected to be the person who ambushed him on the night Aaron killed Alder after finding out that he is an agent from WAMO, not knowing the real truth about him.

    If his suspicions are right, then, we will be dealing with a necromancer, who can manipulate natural energy, summon a legendary realm undead creature, a strong sealing master, had the Arcana of the mythical genie, and a cunning person who doesn''t hesitate to use underhanded methods.

    Unless we have a team of legendary realm experts and a supreme realm expert as a backup, it is just riskier to deal with him. Not to mention, there will be other teachers alongside him. They might interfere. You never know. If only we have more time, it wouldn''t come to this."

    "I guess you are right," commented the masked fellow with the codename Alligator. "His life is much more valuable for us than for Aaron. We can''t risk him getting executed."

    Hearing that, the one with the codename Dragon, "If it really comes to that, before it happens, we will have to assassinate him in his cell and steal his corpse."

    "Oh, please, come to the ground, Dragon." The person with the codename Hydra chuckled in response. "Did you forget how many times we have tried it and failed? If we could do that, we would be able to escape him long ago."

    "We will go all out and I myself will go with Elizabeth Bathory," growled ''Dragon''.

    ''Hydra'' countered his statement in calmness, "And that way, our cover will be blown off and everyone here will be marked for death."

    "You¡­" As ''Dragon'' looked like he was about to erupt, Albert took control of the situation, "Calm down you two. Let''s focus on what we have now."

    Standing behind Albert in the invisibility state, Azzy mumbled in a bit of surprise, "Elizabeth Bathory? I have heard that name. She''s still alive?"

 Chapter 554 Aarons Plan

    ?

    Elizabeth Bathory, also known as the "Blood Countess" was a nine-star-realm Arcana Master born in the 8th millennia of the 9th Epoch.

    According to WAMO''s database, Bathory has officially killed over 6500 young girls. Unofficially, that number might be ten times higher.

    It is believed that she baths in the blood of youthful virgins in order to keep herself youthful and beautiful.

    It is also believed that she has the power to turn a human into a powerful undead species with just a bite to the neck. The affected one will stay loyal to her. What''s more, the affected one can also affect the other humans and turn them into undead species that become stronger in the dark. The term vampire is a perfect description of her.

    Bathory was truly a menace. In the end, WAMO issued a warrant for her. During the Years 6xxx of the 10th Epoch, they were successful in capturing her and killing all of her subordinates as the affected humans couldn''t turn back to normal.

    But, this is the story cooked by the WAMO for public records.

    According to the Death clan records, she is a descendant of the Blood clan who was also a contender for the clan lord.

    However, she fell in love with an outsider named Zsofia (Sophia) Bathory and married her against the wishes of the clan. As a result, she was expelled from the clan when she was only 680 years old (17-18 in human terms).

    That incident turned her life for good. The hatred she had for her former clan had shifted to human society. In a fit of rage over an argument, she killed her partner and bathed in her blood.

    Over the next 7000 years, she started to kill young girls for pleasure. But it is just to make a name.

    Her plan is to amass a huge army to strike back at the Death Clan.

    And as WAMO didn''t find its manhunt quite successful, the Death clan took matters into its own hands.

    Aelius Crescent, the young dashing 7-star realm expert (back then), started his own manhunt and finally dueled against Bathory and killed her for good.

    To cover up the matter, he handed her corpse to WAMO and made it seem like the organization did it.

    In fact, several feats credited to WAMO in history were actually done by the hidden clans. The world organization is the perfect cover for their actions and the organization used this to gain more popularity among the masses. It is a win-win for both parties.

    "If I had to calculate her age, she must be over 14,000 years old, far older than my ancestor Qridus just like the elves. The blood clan truly doesn''t fit with ours. I wonder if they joined us in the fifth epoch. Ugh¡­ Azzy, you are getting distracted. Focus¡­"

    Putting away his thoughts, Azzy continued to spy on the meeting. He understood their entire plan for the next day.

    First, Aaron will lead a group of teachers and students with him. Albert stays behind.

    Using the excuse of too much waiting time in line, he will propose a traditional travel route.

    On the way, the assassins surround them. Aaron will propose working together with Azzy to fend them off while the remaining stay to protect the students. Aaron will force Azzy to work with him.

    Then, after taking him into a secluded spot, all of them will attack together and kill him.

    In the meantime, Albert will inform the principal about the attack and asks for his assistance. He offers to guard the academy in his stead.

    As the principal hurried to the wilderness and will face a legendary realm expert on the way, Albert will summon the remaining targets and directly abduct them after knocking them out.

    Once Azzy is killed, Aaron will tell them about Azzy''s death and the attack on the principal. He will separate them into several groups to escape in different directions.

    Aaron will be with his key targets and abducts them without causing any suspicion. By the time everyone realizes his betrayal, it will be over.

    This is their grand plan for the next day, and Azzy decided to use this opportunity to put an end to this when they come out in the open instead of acting against Albert right away.

    As the meeting is over, Albert returned to Emerald City and so was Azzy. His Erasure skill card wouldn''t work against someone like Aaron and he doesn''t want this white-haired fellow to realize that he was following Albert. So, he parted ways with Albert at the entrance and returned to Egrein City through world portals for personal business.

    ***

    MindSync Company HQ, Egrein City metropolitan area, Northern Qudour;

    In the chairman''s office, the recent winner of the most emerging Northern Qudour CEOs of the century, Neal Edwards was busy in a meeting with a client.

    The company deals with AI technology, majorly providing virtual assistants for smartphones, computers, and other electronic devices, facial recognizing software for government organizations including the police department, and is currently working on a virtual pilot feature for the flying cars and jetpack suits.

    "Uhh¡­ we ran into some problems in test runs. For a fully functioning prototype, we need more time, Ms. Lyra."

    "But, you have already delayed the project by two months already."

    "I know but as you can see, we have completed our product. We just need to run a few more test runs to make sure that there is no problem during its public appearance."

    As Neal Edwards was trying to convince his client to give them a little bit more time and postpone their launch, the door was knocked twice and his P.A. comes in to inform him that someone wanted to meet him urgently.

    "Can''t you see I''m busy?" Neal fired at his employee and scolded her for interrupting his meeting with a client.

    His assistant bitterly smiled and replied, "Sir, it is a captain-ranked officer from WAMO''s Special Forces. And he says he doesn''t have time to wait."

    "WAMO''s special forces?" Neal Edwards was startled for a second and he immediately apologized to the client before cutting off the call.

    Azzy then entered the office in his casual attire but there was a frown on Neal, sensing Azzy''s soul realm as the latter wasn''t sealing it for some reason.

    As Azzy took his seat, Neal said, "You look quite familiar, although I cannot put my finger on it. So, what is it officer that you want to talk to me?"

    Azzy glanced around and pushed forth his palm. A noise-canceling barrier was erected around them from one side of the table to the other side of the table.

    Neal didn''t pay attention to the barrier.

    Placing his elbows on the table, Azzy leaned to the front and said, "Originally, I didn''t plan on using my ID to force myself in like this but your aura made me do it."

    "My aura? What are you talking about?" Neal really has no idea what Azzy was talking about.

    Azzy didn''t offer any explanation to clarify Neal''s doubt and just said, "I have some questions that need to be answered. The sooner you give me the truth, the sooner you will get rid of me."

    As Neal gestured for him to go on while wondering whether it is about a case, the latter then asked, "Let''s start with a basic one. Why do you have the death energy?"

    Neal''s eyes widened at once.

 Chapter 555 Azzy Vs Neal Edwards

    ?

    A few minutes ago;

    While Neal was on a video call with the client, just like how he spied on Albert, Azzy spied on Neal Edwards while trying to sense his realm.

    Surprisingly, Neal Edwards had the seal on his soul orb, making him look like a mortal. Azzy was left with no choice but to activate his Aura sensing.

    For the past three years, Azzy has been training in his Aura sensing technique. He no longer uses it to see one''s aura. He can also see their realm and sense their true emotions.

    Through Aura sense, he not only figured out the existence of the death energy within Neal but also the fact that the latter is in the 8-star realm.

    As he speculated the involvement of Future Azrael and further asked the Reaper for a possible explanation behind this situation, the latter replied that Azzy should first confront the target to confirm his speculation.

    Following his suggestion, Azzy left the room and came in as WAMO''s captain-ranked officer who is investigating something. As for whether he would recognize him as Gary or not, it doesn''t matter.

    Back to the present;

    Neal was filled with silence when he was asked the question. He neither admitted it nor denied it.

    After 20 whole seconds of silence, Azzy opened his mouth, "If you aren''t willing to answer, then, listen. The death energy can only be awakened in two ways. One, you are a direct descendant of the Death Clan. Two, you are granted it by either the God of Death Thanatos or a certain individual I know.

    The fact that you are using a Decarune sealing technique to seal your soul orb and hide your realm only indicates that it is someone I know. But the only thing that''s confusing me is your resemblance to an acquaintance of mine.

    Your DNA doesn''t match. Your age doesn''t match either. Yet, both of you have the same face and the same name. What are the coincidences for that to happen?

    I give you two choices. One, you tell me the truth, and I leave by keeping this matter between us. Two, you lie or stay silent and I exercise my right as the officer from WAMO to interrogate you on the grounds of suspicions of identity fraud.

    You might end up proving your identity but believe me if I tell you that I will find out every secret of your soul by reading your memories. And no kind of seal or barrier can prevent me.

    So, what''s your choice gonna be?"

    From questioning, Azzy didn''t take much time to directly use threats just so to fulfill his curiosity.

    When he said he will bring him to interrogation, he was actually serious and not trying to scare the target.

    And seeing Azzy''s blank expression as he threatened him, Neal also felt like the boy means it.

    However, that doesn''t mean he was intimidated, probably because of his confidence in his strength and Azzy''s identity as a law-abiding officer. He leaned back and put a leg on the table while folding his hands to the abdomen, "No comment."

    Azzy stared at him for a while. Neal participated in the staring contest without any fear.

    In the end, Azzy nodded and stood up on his feet, "Alright. Follow me to WAMO''s HQ for interrogation. Your required warrant will be here within a couple of minutes. Tomorrow, your parents will be summoned there for questioning. I wonder if they would be able to bear the pain of torture or not. They appeared quite weak when I met them last time."

    When Azzy brought up Neal''s adoptive parents, Neal was triggered. He furrowed his brows in displeasure, "Officer, you are going too far."

    Seeing that the fish bit the bait, Azzy explained, "No, I''m not. Your parents, after all, fooled the world by claiming you as their real child. Using you, they inherited a vast amount of property from your grandparents.

    Your relatives lost a fortune as they didn''t have a talented son born with gold grade Arcana. So, they aren''t exactly innocents either. You have built this company with their money. I will submit what I know. The court will decide what to do with it."

    Neal became silent once again. This time, there''s a look of hesitation on his face.

    Meanwhile, Azzy took out his smartphone and spoke, "I''m going to make a call for the required warrant, excuse me."

    As he made the call and put it nearby his ear, Neal then stopped him, "Wait for a minute. I want to say something."

    Azzy expected him to tell the truth and disconnected it before the receptionist on the other side picked it up. "Tell me."

    However, Neal surprised him with a bribe instead of telling him the truth, "I''m willing to pay you 1 million Krocs (10 million credits) for not bothering me ever again."

    Azzy was displeased as his hopes were dashed away by such a proposal. "How dare you?"

    Neal didn''t back down and raised the price to "2 million."

    "You are trying my patience, aren''t you?" Azzy''s impression of Neal has fallen down steeply. He felt like he made no mistakes in threatening the target.

    Neal then raised five fingers. "Lifetime offer, 5 million krocs (50 million credits). Think about it."

    As Azzy was about to erupt in anger, the Reaper''s words echoed in his head.

    In an instant, Azzy calmed down and stared at Neal. The latter smiled, thinking that his plan worked.

    However, Azzy then surprised him by putting forth a challenge, "Mr. Edwards, let''s sort out this matter like true men. We fight for just five minutes. I will not even use any energy-based attacks or my Arcana. Even in such an event, if you win or atleast draw against me, I will not bother you. But, if you lose, then, you shall let me read your memories. Agreed?"

    "I agree."

    Neal Edwards is an 8-star Arcana Master and he was confident about holding out for five minutes even against a supreme being as long as he goes all out. And seeing Azzy keeping such a heavy handicap, Neal was naturally tempted, thinking that Azzy was underestimating him.

    After a while;

    In the football stadium located on the outskirts of the capital city, Azzy and Neal were standing ten meters apart from each other. This ground was rented by Neal Edwards on the spot. It wasn''t a big deal for a centi-millionaire like him.

    This match doesn''t have any spectators or a referee.

    Placing his finger on the button of his digital watch where a 5-minute countdown timer is being shown, Neal then said, "Are you ready?"

    Azzy nodded and Neal pressed the button.

    Azzy charged forward like lightning while clenching his fist tightly. He ran at mach 6 speed. Neal just saw him all blurry. He tried to block it with an energy shield while stepping aside to dodge the incoming attack.

    However, Azzy was faster. He reached his opponent almost in an instant and gave an uppercut.

    Before Neal realized what happened, the power of a peak-rank-8 had struck his chin. Neal flew at least a hundred meters into the air with two of his teeth falling out, filling his mouth with blood before crashing onto the ground.

    The result?

    Well, it''s an OHKO.

    Staring at the unconscious opponent, Azzy mumbled, "Well, that was over quickly."

    "Obviously, it should be," commented the Reaper in a mumble.

 Chapter 556 Neal Edwards Backstory

    ?

    The year 1968, 10th Epoch;

    35-year-old Neal entered the headquarters and made his way to the President''s office. He just broke through the 7-star realm and was probably called to appreciate him with a promotion.

    Or so, thought Neal.

    But, when he entered the place, he realized that the matter is something else. There are three more individuals in the room. Two of them are in the peak stage of the 7-star realm while the other one is in the 8-star realm. Adding on top of that, even Vice President Ramiel is also there.

    Their presence gave him an ominous sign.

    He saluted the dwarf and stood at attention position, waiting for the order as he cannot act casually with the president in front of the others.

    President Cornelius then spoke, "Lieutenant Neal, you have a mission. These three are from the Zero Squad. Since you made a successful breakthrough to the 7-star realm, Commander Kruger has requested that I should let you experience the work of the Zero Squad. Your leader will brief you about the details on the way."

    Neal saluted him once again while cursing his master inwardly as going with such strong people means the mission is nothing less than life-threatening to him.

    Under Ramiel''s lead, the five of them proceeded to take the flight to Zamaru, a region consisting of the islands and small countries located on the other side of the world.

    After 26 hours of nonstop travel, they finally reached their destination.

    The airport was quite empty with little to no passengers but the staff working there were quite welcoming.

    From the moment he stepped out of the airport to the moment he reached the hotel located a few kilometers away, the smallest adult Neal saw was about 6 feet. And he felt slightly frustrated.

    Suddenly, he thought of his president. This is probably how that little man would feel when he was in the presence of others.

    After checking into the hotel, Neal collapsed on his bed and stared at the ceiling, recollecting the info he was given on the way to this island country of Isla Vista.

    "Some nut job is using the magma down there to break through to 9-star-realm. Because of that, the magma will go out of control and the volcanic eruption is the least of our worries.

    Now, we have to dive into the volcano, swim through the magma river, find the madman, and kill him as it has already become too late to convince him.

    Sigh¡­ what have I gotten myself into? Ever since I betrayed my master to seek power, my life has been thrown onto a rollercoaster. But, I don''t regret leaving him. I decide what I want to do with my life. I won''t give control to anyone."

    "Yes, I agree with you." A voice was suddenly heard in the surroundings, making him spring up from the bed and looked around warily.

    "Who is it?" He asked.

    A figure slowly materialized out of thin air, startling him as it was a hooded figure but under the hood, there is a skull instead of a human face.

    "What are you?" Neal was shocked.

    The mysterious skeletal figure answered, "My identity doesn''t matter. What I want matters more."

    "Okay, what do you want?" asked Neal. He cannot feel anything from the stranger, which actually sounds more terrifying than his bony appearance.

    The skeletal figure replied, "I have a job for you. An event will occur about a century from now. You will have to participate in that event, which threatens humanity. I will also bless you with a more powerful Arcana spirit than your current one and change your fate in a way that you will be a supreme being when the time comes. Your identity will be changed. You will get to live a life of a human who doesn''t have to listen to anyone''s orders. You could do anything you want with your life."

    "What do you think of me? An idiot?" Neal didn''t believe a thing the stranger said to him as they defy logic. Changing fate, changing identity, giving Arcana spirit, and making him a supreme being within a century, all of these sound so ridiculous.

    The stranger responded with a question, "You don''t believe me?"

    Neal replied, "Hmpf, you sound as if you are a god or something. I don''t believe in gods and things like heaven and hell either. So, go somewhere else and play a god."

    The skeletal figure then pointed his skeletal figure at the door, "Check out the outside world. Perhaps, it will be more convincing to you. Go. I will be waiting for you here."

    "What? Did you bring me into another dimension without letting me know or something?" Neal walked at a brisk pace and left the room. At first, there''s nothing that incurred his suspicion. But then, thinking that this stranger played a prank on him, as Neal went to the lounge, he saw the receptionist and a couple of hotel staff members were stood there like statues.

    Neal''s facial expression changed to that of a frown. "What the hell?"

    He tried conversing with them but nothing happened. He touched them but they were completely unresponsive. They weren''t batting their eyes either.

    As the atmosphere was completely silent, he rushed outside of the door only to witness that even birds were frozen in the air but they aren''t falling on the ground. They are just there¡­

    Neal, at once, felt like he was trapped in some kind of illusion. He tried various methods to get out but nothing happened. He rushed to the rooms on the same floor as his where his teammates were supposedly resting.

    However, even they were frozen in their spots. Neal started to sweat in panic.

    Upon returning to his room, Neal saw the stranger sitting on a chair while having chips.

    "Are you really a god?" He asked in nervousness, remembering how rudely he spoke to him earlier.

    The stranger responded with a chuckle, "A god, eh? People call me that but I''m not. You can address me how you want. It doesn''t matter actually. What matters is whether you are interested in this proposal or not. I will give you time to think until a teammate of yours will sacrifice his life for you in the upcoming fight."

    "A teammate will sacrifice his life for me? What are you talking about?" Neal was confused.

    But the stranger will not give any more details. Letting out another chuckle once again, the stranger got up from the seat, "Before I go, I will give you two more facts from the future. One, only three of the five will be returning alive. And two, you are fated to die before you turn 100 years old."

    The stranger disappeared and the time was unfrozen.

    Neal might have been overwhelmed because of the time freeze but still, he doesn''t completely believe the mysterious figure as he is practically a stranger.

    After a while;

    Beneath the surface of the volcano, one of the teammates of Neal was shielding the enemy, who is in the middle of deep meditation.

    He appears to be the elder brother of the target, and despite being a 7-star realm expert, he was willing to risk his life.

    Ramiel was angered by the betrayal and he decides to put an end to his life. Obviously, the man was no match for two legendary realm experts and two 7-star realm experts. He was killed mercilessly but he managed to give his younger brother the time needed for a breakthrough.

    The enraged young brother who is now a 9-star Arcana Master went all out against Ramiel and the others.

    With assistance from the magma river, the target became quite powerful.

    In the end, just like how Neal was informed, the 7-star realm Captain ranked officer tried to save a heavily injured Neal from getting killed. He saved Neal but in the process, he died.

    Eventually, under the collective efforts of two legendary realm Arcana Masters, the enemy was killed and the survived Neal couldn''t help but accept the offer after returning to his room at the hotel where he met the stranger once again.

    Back to the present;

    "And that''s how I became Neal Edwards. I don''t expect you to believe me but this is the truth. I don''t know how that god did it but the next thing I know is that my Arcana spirit was changed, my attribute was changed, my identity was changed, and heck, even my own DNA was changed.

    What''s funny is that I even met my own self in this world. Based on what he said, Neal must have passed away already. I don''t even know anymore whether I came from another world or another reality or whatever that is. It is way above my level of thinking.

    I''m just satisfied with the fact that I get to have everything I want. I''m finally happy to have peace." Neal Edwards finished his story, leaving Azzy in deep thought.

    "I thought my future self probably severed a part of Neal''s soul and gave him the new identity and everything while dropping him off 14 years prior to the original''s timeline using time travel. But, it is something else. Another reality?"

    As Neal was thinking deeply, the Reaper finally decided to shed light on the matter to clear his confusion. "Your future self manipulated the timeline, Azrael."

    "Manipulated the timeline?"  Azzy knows about the manipulation of time but not the timeline itself. He asked for an explanation.

    The Reaper answered, "If I had to make you understand in simple words. It is called Time Hack."

 Chapter 557 The Forest Of Death (Part-1)

    ?

    First, your future self went to the timeline that is bound to be erased in the near future.

    After that, he met Neal and made a deal with him. In the end, he blessed him with the death energy and respective platinum-grade Arcana (bone sword), which consumed his original Arcana, fire salamander. As a result, his DNA has been modified.

    Then, he placed Neal 14 years prior to the timeline of his counterpart of this timeline (Neal). During that process, he used the tenth soul skill: the Rewrite to change Neal''s identity forever.

    Now, you should understand that this method is quite risky.

    If something goes wrong while you are rewriting the timeline of an individual who doesn''t even belong here, then, the entire timeline will be at the risk of going unstable.

    The unstable timeline, depending on its range, might destroy everything into nothingness and you will incur the wrath of the gods.

    Secondly, Neal and Neal Edwards, both of them might be from different timelines but they are essentially the same soul. Hence, the more these identical souls spent in the same timeline, the greater the chance they will get the attention of Moira, the goddess of fate.

    Thirdly, the soul of Neal Edwards cannot go to the spirit realm as Neal''s soul has already gone. Hence, it should be destroyed along with the body.

    I don''t know what the intentions of your future self are, but I hope he is doing something important and not playing around with the timeline."

    The Reaper explained the theory behind this abnormal incident as they were on their way to the world portal point.

    Sealing his soul orb, he stood in line just like a civilian teenager. After traveling to the portal point of the central city of the Arcana World, he paid the entrance fee and entered the city, then, went to the inter-world portal point and stood in line once again.

    His turn came after two hours of waiting and midnight arrived.

    "Where do you want to go?" asked one of the portal guards with the 5-star soul realm.

    Azzy shocked them with his reply, "The Zero Point."

    "Zero point?" The guard was taken aback at once. Naturally, he didn''t take it seriously, "Okay, we don''t have time for playing jokes, kid. Tell me where do you want to go? Be quick. There''s a long line behind you."

    Azzy looked at him and said, "Do you think I have time to joke with you? Just say the damn amount and send me there."

    "Okay, that''s enough. You are coming with us," The guard tried to grab Azzy''s arm to hand him over to his colleagues, thinking that he is a runaway teenager.

    However, before he grabbed Azzy''s arm, the latter unleashed a basic sealing technique, the trap chains.

    Translucent energy chains erupted from the ground and captured the guard''s arms and legs, tightly binding him to the ground.

    In an instant, the scene attracted the attention of everyone around.

    "Nathan¡­"

    As a couple of guards rushed forward to help their colleague in a bind, Azzy looked coldly at the captured guard, "Now, will you stop playing around and wasting my time?"

    The guard named Nathan suddenly was scared of Azzy and his expression made that clear.

    Meanwhile, his colleague, a fellow security guard of the place arrived and warned Azzy, "Hey, free him. We don''t allow any aggression against anyone here."

    Azzy furrowed his brows as he sharply stared at the one who spouted those words. "Aggression? Should I show you what aggression looks like?"

    As the security guard took a step back in fear and gulped his saliva in nervousness for some reason, Azzy turned back to the captured guard and said, "I''m a customer here and I want to go somewhere. It''s your job to take the fee and teleport me to the location. So, first, you will apologize or else¡­"

    Without finishing, Azzy then raised his hand. The natural energy from the surroundings swirled around his hand before it took the shape of a saber.

    "Eek¡­ I¡­ I''m sorry." The guard quickly apologized and Azzy swung down the energy saber, cutting down the chains that captured the opponent. "Now, get to work. We have a long line behind me and everyone''s time was wasted because of your idiocy." He spoke in an authoritative tone.

    "Okay." The guard proceeded with the activation of the teleportation formation and Azzy disappeared by the time the in charge of the portal point arrived there.

    Meanwhile, Azzy teleported to the place called the zero point. It is a medium-sized island located in the vast ocean and was known to be unsuitable for living.

    There are no stores or markets or any of those sorts on this tropical island full of palm trees. There is just one teleportation formation and one guard.I think you should take a look at pandasnovel.com

    However, by the time Azzy appeared on the island, there was no one present. He scanned the entire place with his aura sensing and didn''t find any creature or human.

    But then again, it is not surprising for the guard to be missing as there will be no visitors either way.

    The zero point isn''t some isolated city or an insignificant location either. It is the only gateway to the three level-5 regions of the Arcana world and is considered one of the most important portal points.

    With the island as a center, the three regions located in three different directions form a triangular formation and generated a barrier cast over the entire area of over 350,000 sq. km that included the three level-5 regions.

    This barrier would restrict the entry of anyone coming from outside. One needs to be atleast a demigod to bypass this restriction. The others have to travel to the zero point from the central city and go to their destination from that place.

    With the teleportation formation couldn''t be activated by its guardian, Azzy ended up in a bind as he cannot return now and got trapped.

    ?andasnovel¡¤?om "Uhh¡­ Chronos, what should we do now?" He asked.

    In response, the Reaper chuckled, "Just apply ''Chrono Rewind'' soul skill on yourself and you will return to the Emerald City in an instant.

    "Eh? I thought that soul skill cannot be applied to me." Azzy was surprised.

    The Reaper clarified, "It''s because you have yet to become a true master to the hourglass. Applying that soul skill to oneself is vastly different from applying it to others. I''m going to lend you a hand. So, nothing to worry about."

    "It is no good. It''s been more than 9 years since I awakened the hourglass and I have yet to become its true master. There''s another tough battle coming up ahead and I should raise my strength as much as possible." Azzy complained in his head, making the Reaper rather happier.

    Lately, ever since Azzy lost against Fenrir, his thoughts were often leaning toward darkness. His latest act of dealing with Neal Edwards is the best example of it.

    Unsealing his soul orb, Azzy powered up his body using soul energy before slowly rising into the sky and flying toward the northeast direction at his maximum speed.

    It took him less than ten minutes to cover more than 500 kilometers before finally reaching his destination, a 12500 sq. km large island filled with a dense forest. The Knull Island or more commonly known as the Forest of Death.

    Staring down at the forest from the sky, Azzy mumbled, "Well, I can see how dense the natural energy in this place is, which was left untouched for tens of millennia."

    The Forest of Death is one of the three level-5 regions with monsters starting at the 9-star realm of gold grade.

    The region lord is named Knull and it is its duty to make sure the monsters will not try to escape the forest island.

    But, whatever they do on the island is not a concern of the region lord. It doesn''t care whether those monsters kill each other or whether they just laze around.

    And right now, as Azzy was descending to one of the beaches of the island, the nearby oceanic creatures as well as the ones living on the island suddenly became crazy.

    The smell of an intruder itself is something new for several monsters here.

    Azzy could already see more than a dozen monsters coming onto the beaches and looking at him. They all look like giant iguanas and giant seals. In the pitch darkness, all of their eyes are glowing.

    "There''s no one here to watch you and you don''t need to care about the lives of anyone here either." The Reaper suggested going all out without caring about anything.

    "Nah, let''s not trouble the stronger ones. I''m just here for the breakthrough." Azzy refused to fight as he doesn''t afford such time. He plans to return to the academy by dawn.

    Summoning the Death Scythe, Azzy raised it above his head and unleashed the soul skill.

    "Soul Skill: Rain of Death"

    A dark artificial circular cloud formed roughly about a hundred meters above Azzy''s head and spread for 500 meters on all sides of him, covering about 785,000 sq. meters of area.

    The black rain started falling. And the monsters started screaming and running away. The waters were affected the most.

    Each drop of it was so corrosive that everything it touches starts melting instantly. The tough skin of the rank-9 monsters is no exception. Maybe, the platinum-grade monsters might have greater resistance but for now, these gold-grade monsters couldn''t fight against them and are scared.

    Of course, there are always exceptions and fools.

    Azzy safely landed on the ground and the monsters of the above category jumped at him to shred his body into pieces.

 Chapter 558 The Forest Of Death (Part-2)

    ?

    With his "Eyes of the God" soul skill staying active, he could watch their moves at a 100x slower rate.

    Azzy ducked in a timely manner. Three of them crashed into each other. The fourth one, a 10-meter-big giant seal, which leaped higher than them, also crashed onto the remaining three from above.

    Azzy quickly dashed away and escaped from there as the four monsters fell to the ground.

    He then raised his free left hand and performed a quick seal. "Sealing technique: Trap, level 2."

    Energy chains erupted from the ground and captured all of them at the same time in the form of a dome. As Azzy made a fist, the chains started tightening. The giant seal''s weight crushed the poor iguanas underneath it.

    The giant seal let out a powerful roar and started raising its body with scarlet energy surrounding its body. Flames were erupting out of it, attacking the chains and the iguanas at the same time.

    The chains no longer suppressed it but they were getting destroyed one after another. Because of the black rain, it was already feeling enormous pain. That pain increased its rage.

    Azzy didn''t plan on waiting for it to get free either. Pouring his soul energy into the death scythe, Azzy then slashed at the empty air while unleashing a soul skill.

    "Soul skill: Slice of Death."

    A huge arc of concentrated death energy was formed and made its way to the targets.

    It cleanly sliced the giant seal monster into two and coincidentally cut off the heads of the two giant iguanas underneath it. Only one monster escaped with its life intact, although not for long.

    After realizing that the enemy is not by means a prey but a predator, it scurried away while screaming in pain. As the black rain extended up to 500 meters, its slow speed (due to the damage inflicted by the giant seal) became its doom.

    Before it crossed the range, it ended up a skeleton and fell to the ground. A spirit core was seen above its corpse. This scene further scared away the other iguana and they refused to approach any longer.

    Meanwhile, three large spirit cores were seen floating in mid-air, one is of scarlet color and the two are of beige color, waiting for him to consume them and refine them into his soul energy, thereby increasing his soul power.

    Azzy did exactly the same without any surprises. He walked to the spirit cores and absorbed the three of them in an instant and then, as he moved to the final one, the dark cloud above him also moved along.

    The monsters standing outside the perimeter of the cloud witnessed that and they moved away further while growling at Azzy.

    After absorbing the fourth one, Azzy then closed his eyes and communicated with the Reaper, "Chronos, lend me a hand please."

    "Fine, you focus on the breakthrough to the 9th tier," replied the Reaper as he proceeded to refine the absorbed energy.

    With his palm facing downwards, Azzy then unleashed one of his favorite soul skills, the Rise of the Undead.

    He summoned Taslan, the undead spider; undead Claudius, the Supreme master of Barbara; Undead Ophanim, the Cardinal of the church; the three giant earth Iguanas and the Giant Flame Seal.

    Except for Taslan, the others didn''t have any soul skills. Hence, he used the technique that he failed to finish against Fenrir.

    He merged all of the skeletons to form a single giant skeleton with the strength of a peak-rank-9 and has the skill set of Taslan. However, this technique also comes at a cost. Its soul power consumption was quite heavy.

    For every second, the giant skeletal being will consume 10 million SP worth of soul energy. Hence, he had to keep using SP recovery cards to keep it in play.

    Using the black rain as his protection and the giant skeletal being as his bodyguard, Azzy rushed into the forest.

    After traveling for a couple of kilometers, Azzy found a rock. He sliced it and sat on the flat surface before closing his eyes.

    "Wow, I never experienced natural energy this denser." Azzy couldn''t help but exclaim inwardly, feeling like a kid who stepped into the world of arcade games.  I think you should take a look at

    He spread his senses to a couple of kilometers around him and started absorbing the natural energy while simultaneously feeding his bones and meridians.

    Despite the fact that he was at the doorstep of the tier-9, Azzy could feel them getting stronger with each second.

    Meanwhile, the scenery outside his body is something else.

    The trees that once had been tall and proud were now withering away, their leaves turning brown and falling to the ground.

    12 sq. km of area is nothing more than an ant when compared to the entire forest but in reality, it was enough big to even build a city.

    And such a big area of forest is decaying and slowly turning into a wasteland as its natural energy was being absorbed into Azzy.

    The ocean might rich in natural energy and there''s a huge forest out there that has enormous amounts of natural energy too. They were automatically feeding the area to keep the vegetation alive.

    However, Azzy''s absorption appeared to be higher than the recovery rate. All of the recovered natural energy in his range was also going into him.

    An hour passed away.

    Azzy''s bones were glowing inwardly and they are becoming so dense and hard that they crossed 20gms per cubic centimeter and are increasing further.

    "More¡­ I need more natural energy." Azzy was getting frustrated as he couldn''t just break through. He decided to absorb every bit of natural energy particle present in the world if that will give him the breakthrough that he needed.

    As Azzy continuously refined his meridians and the bones, all of a sudden, he heard the cracking sound in his wrist.

    *Crack*

    "Argh¡­" Azzy let out a painful scream. However, the pain didn''t stop.

    Followed by that, the cracks started to appear all over his body, even his skull wasn''t spared. All the bones of his body were crushed into bits and Azzy lost his consciousness.

    Everything was black around him, making him wonder for a moment whether he died or something.

    It was then the Reaper''s voice heard in the surroundings, "Congratulations, Azrael. You broke through. Your body is currently in the middle of a rebuilding phase."

    "Will it take time?" asked Azzy. He was worried that he wouldn''t make it on time to save the kids and had to resort to time travel once again.

    To which, the Reaper responded with letting out a chuckle, "You have the true divine physique and you are worrying about the kids now? Forget about others and indulge yourself in joy."

    "I will do that once I become a demigod and defeat the Fenrir," replied Azzy.

    The Reaper then said, "You don''t understand it. Anyways, once you regain your consciousness, everything will become clear."

    A few hours later;

    Azzy slowly opened his eyes. It was the time of the dawn and there was light around him. Meanwhile, he was floating in the sky and his eyes were glowing.

    He couldn''t help but look down at the island.

    "What is this?"

 Chapter 559 On The Way To Arcana Festival (Part-1)

    ?

    "What is this? I feel so connected with nature. Why do feel sad about these trees dying? They are just trees¡­" Azzy didn''t know how to describe this new feeling he was experiencing.

    He was feeling sad, happy, angry, and peaceful, all at the same time as he was experiencing the emotions of the trees, land, ocean, air, etc...

    He also felt like he could freely control the particles around him, just like his limbs. The Reaper then dragged his soul to the mindscape to speak with him face to face.

    Upon taking a look at the Reaper, Azzy was taken aback in surprise. "What the hell¡­" Inside the skeletal figure, he sensed the mass of death energy and located the Reaper''s core.

    *Woof* A bark of the wolf was heard on the side. As he turned his head, he saw the dense protos energy in its forehead and the mass of lightning energy at its core.

    The Reaper then said, "Upon reaching the ninth tier, you are reborn with the divine physique of the gods, Azrael. Your regeneration ability is so high that no healing skill card will be necessary for you.

    All that''s left is to improve your mastery over the jewel of life. Once you do that, as long as your soul doesn''t leave the body and there''s enough natural energy in the surroundings, you won''t die.

    Your eyes gained divine sight, which will make you see the emotions of any creature, be it a living being or a monster. Unless one masks their true emotions or is more powerful than you, it works."

    "Okay, that''s a bit overwhelming to hear." Azzy was naturally excited to get a power-up and felt the impulse to test his newfound abilities.

    The Reaper naturally sensed his feelings and further said, "Your body just formed a spirit core like the monsters and the gods. It is currently absorbing the natural energy from the forest. In the meantime, I think you should focus on improving your soul power now that you are here. Kill ten more monsters and I think you could easily make a breakthrough to the next realm."

    "Hmm¡­" Azzy wanted to hurry up and return to the academy but he was feeling a strong inclination to listen to the Reaper''s suggestion this time. He wasn''t interested to raise his soul power too quickly. All he wanted was to go out there and fight the monsters.

    After much thinking, Azzy made the choice of staying behind for the next 30-60 minutes.

    ***

    Emerald Academy, Emerald City;

    By sunrise, the sixty representatives of the academy gathered in the empty land before the administration building. They were divided into six groups and stood in lines with their respective teacher at the front.

    Six of the seven teachers selected to attend the festival also were here. Only Azzy was absent.

    The principal, who was finished with his encouraging speech, asked the vice principal to fetch Azzy.

    Aaron has no idea where Azzy is either. He turned towards Albert, who was secretly assigned to keep an eye on that anomaly.

    Albert could only shake his head in response. Even Flora and Snivy appeared clueless, although wondering the same thing that whether he is stuck somewhere due to an investigation on the missing Alder.

    Feeling a bit lucky, Aaron proceeded to say, "Sir, we were getting late and cannot afford to wait for teacher Gary no matter what kind of personal reasons he have. We will pick a replacement teacher and get moving quickly."

    "But¡­" The principal had a look of hesitation on his face. In his view, Azzy was the one who will not lead them in the combat tournament for the teachers but he should be present for the security of the students.

    Meanwhile, the representatives from 10-B don''t feel good when they heard him. Julius and the others might not have the guts to speak their true thoughts but Raydon is different.I think you should take a look at

    Without any hesitation, he argued with the vice principal, "Sir, have you heard of the saying, The Heroes arrive late? Let those academies wait for us. We shall go when Mr. Gary arrives."

    "Oh, the baby bird is waiting for its mother¡­" commented someone from the back. As the rest of the students burst into laughter, a frown appeared on Raydon as he warned, "We will see how many of you trashes will still be in the mood to laugh after humiliating yourselves in front of those geniuses."

    In an instant, the laughter died out and there was a deafening silence in the place for a moment. Half of them looked worried and half of them looked angry.

    One of the angry students is Serestia, who reacted before anyone else with a comment, "True strength comes not from physical power or talent but from an unyielding determination to overcome challenges and achieve one''s goals. A person like you who doesn''t hesitate to abandon your comrades for the sake of power will never understand what strength is."

    "Hmpf. All bark and no bite. Wastage of noble heritage." Raydon glanced to the side from the corner of his side. She was standing in the same line, not far away from him.

    "You¡­" As Serestia was about to erupt in anger, a voice was heard from the sky. "Stop wasting the time in argument and let''s go."

    Everyone raised their heads to look into the sky, where Azzy was seen floating in the air and looking down at them.

    "When did you arrive?" asked Aaron with a bit of surprise. He was still blindfolded but the fact that his mystic eyes cannot sense Azzy''s presence surprised him. It was the first time this situation happened. And he didn''t feel good about it.

    Azzy answered calmly with hands on his back, "When Mr. Danvary is giving his speech. I missed the right time to land. Anyway, let''s go."

    After giving his excuse, Azzy started flying away at a slow pace, not intending to land and walk with the rest of them.

    Knowing Aaron''s plan beforehand, Azzy doesn''t want to show that he cares about the safety of the students as there is a high possibility that the enemies target the students.

    The last time, Fenrir was just one enemy. This time, despite being weaker, there will be multiple enemies. He doesn''t intend to have any baggage while fighting.

    Roughly about a couple of hours later;

    Five groups were traveling on a large eight-wheeled wagon pulled by four horses. On the other hand, everyone from Azzy''s group was traveling on a platinum-grade flying card belonging to Raydon as they took the route of the sky.

    The remaining members of the team are Julius, Susie, Ace, and Talia from 10-B; Serestia, Navi, Bill, Laura, and Charlie.

    Basically, this team is Team SA and 10-B. Azzy was informed that he will be leading a team that will be representing the Emerald Academy in a combat tournament.

    Hence, he was forced to take Serestia''s team as a whole due to their ability to summon the 6-star-realm Hydra from the wild. Since the team should be 7 members, he selected Julius and Susie as they were originally supposed to join Serestia had the tri-tournament happened as scheduled.

    Raydon and Ace were an obvious choice and Talia was selected as she is very smart but she cannot team up with the remaining 10-A students led by Flora.

    He planned to send Raydon and Ace as a duo while dropping the solo category in the tournament. Meanwhile, Talia will participate in the debate as a solo.

    Fortunately or unfortunately, Raydon and Ace didn''t know it yet. And Azzy didn''t care about how they will react either.

 Chapter 560 On The Way To Arcana Festival (Part-2)

    ?

    Following his plan, Aaron proposed a plan of renting the horse wagons to travel from Emerald City citing the reasons like the long waiting time on a weekend and the crowd in the central city.

    Furthermore, as flying is prohibited in the central city, they would have to take the road route but it will be very difficult to find six horse-wagons to travel either while traveling on foot is just humiliating.

    But, how could they travel more than 3000km in horse wagons and reach in just four hours of time?

    Hence, Aaron convinced the principal by stating that Arc Company will dispatch an expert to the Central City. That said expert has already set up a portal located outside of the city.

    They can just go into the portal and end up on the outskirts of the central city. This works the same way as the teleportation formation at the portal point and doesn''t have any long lines either.

    The principal was forced to believe Aaron''s words as he never suspected him, and arranged this mode of travel.

    The wagons picked by the principal were the best of the best in Emerald City. They could travel at the speeds of 90-100 km/hr with ease, although with heavy weight in the back, their speed is reduced to 50-60 kmph, but still, it is good enough to reach the teleportation point within no time as it was located just about 35km away.

    Under Aaron''s lead, the representatives of the Emerald Academy crossed the city walls and ventured into the wild zone.

    Within no time, they reached the spot and teleported directly to the Central City. Or so, they hoped but in reality, they ended up in the wild zone, located atleast 75km away from the city.

    Thinking that it is just another couple of hours of travel, Aaron told the coachmen to get going.

    After traveling for an hour, they reached halfway and Aaron instructed everyone to stop and take a 15-minute break by the lake, which looked like a tourist spot, although for some reason, there are no people around.

    Azzy and his flying group also landed on the ground to join the others.

    "Be careful students. Monsters are hiding in the lake. So, it is best if don''t go too near." Aaron warned them as a vice principal.

    A teacher named Hannah served coffee and snacks to her colleagues as they sat together and talk about the Arcana festival.

    Azzy joined them but didn''t speak a thing until he was specifically asked something. He didn''t even chat with Snivy or Flora and kept his entire attention on the surroundings.

    Roughly around seven minutes into the break, Azzy finally saw eight strangers with his aura sensing. The strongest of them is in the 9-star realm, two were in the 8-star realm and the remaining five were in the 7-star realm.

    Since they didn''t bother to mask their presence, the teachers also sensed their presence. At once, their expressions changed and Aaron felt like cursing them for flaunting their soul realms like this.

    Snivy got up on her feet and spoke, "Did you also sense them?"

    The others also nodded and a teacher named Caleb tried to ease up the tension, "C''mon, this is the capital city of this world. Experts of such caliber were often seen around. It is not something that we should be concerned about."

    "Not if they were moving toward us," commented Azzy as he too stood on his feet.

    The history teacher named Matthew waved his hand, "Why would they come at us? They must be passing by."

    "Not us, me," replied Azzy.

    Aaron and everyone''s expression became serious once again as Azzy went on to order them, "Now, gather the students and get ready to leave. Don''t blame me if you guys will be caught in the crossfire."

    "Coming for you? What are you talking about?" Flora was stunned and then became concerned.

    Azzy didn''t explain anything more and flew toward the center of the lake and floated above it.

    A giant fish suddenly leaped up from the lake and attacked him with its sharp jaws.

    Azzy raised his hand. Natural energy surrounded his hand in the form of a sharp blade before he swung at it.

    The fish''s head was severed with a clean cut and the two pieces fell into the lake and drowned.

    "What is he doing?" wondered Raydon upon witnessing this scene from the shores of the lake.

    However, the students and their teachers didn''t have the time to ponder on his actions as the eight experts had already reached the spots one after another.

    One of them appeared before Azzy while the remaining appeared before the other teachers, surrounding them.

    "Who are you guys? What do you want?" Aaron questioned them as a part of his act.

    One of the two legendary realm experts responded by taking out a list. "We have some names here. Handover them over to us and we will leave in peace. Resist and there will be bloodshed."

    "Tell that to someone afraid of a battle." Snivy reacted before the others by summoning her Arcana.

    Following her, Flora also summoned her Yeti too, intending to battle them upon realizing that they weren''t here for Azzy but for the students.

    As the two 8-star realm Arcana Masters frowned at their actions, Aaron tried to talk them out of it, "Ladies, please calm down. The lives of 60 students are at stake here. We cannot defeat them even in normal situations."I think you should take a look at

    His words might be directed at Snivy and Flora but he was indirectly giving instructions to his comrades.

    Upon understanding the hidden meaning, the deputy leader of the enemy gang nodded, "Very wise. As he said, you have a great baggage. So, pipe down your ego and stay quiet. Most of their lives are meaningless to us but are quite important to you. So, sit down there and¡­"

    *Swoosh*

    A figure blow past between the deputy leader and Aaron, interrupting their conversation all of a sudden.

    They turned their head to see Elizabeth Bathory crashing onto the ground before picking herself up and staring at the figure floating above the lake. His eyes were glowing in translucent color.

    Everyone''s gazes also shifted toward Azzy with Aaron going into a daze, wondering whether it was real or it is a dream.

    Azzy has a layer of natural energy around his body. And he was making a tight fist with a look of indifference on his face. "Not fast enough. I guess I overestimate you quite a bit."

    The devilish beauty turned serious as she stomped the ground in rage and flew toward Azzy.

    Everyone became a spectator, forgetting about other things.

    Bathory reached him in a fraction of a second and threw a punch at his face. Azzy appeared to be even faster than her. He tilted his head and counterattacked her with a punch to her wrist.

    As her hand moved away while she was feeling extreme pain, feeling as if her bone is broken, Azzy followed up with a left hook to her cheek.

    She spat out a mouthful of blood as she flew a few meters before falling toward the water.

    "That is a fuc*ing supreme being. Where the heck this ba*tard came from?" Aaron''s jaw dropped in shock. "Please tell me I''m dreaming." He quickly removed his blindfold and observed Azzy.

    It was then Bathory slowly rise from the water, covered by scarlet energy and a spear in her hand.

    "Hmm?" Azzy raised his eyebrows in suspicion as he realized that the spear is an Arcana spirit.

    "Shouldn''t Bathory possess the Arcana of blood just like her ancestors? Did she perhaps awaken a second Arcana spirit?" thought Azzy.

    Meanwhile, Aaron narrowed his eyes and observed her a bit more. As his eyes glowed, a frown appeared on his face. "This¡­"

    He hurriedly took out a message item card and sent a word message to someone.

    Bathory swirled around her spear for a couple of seconds before raising it above her head and swinging it down at her enemy. The spear turned flexible like a whip and extended toward its target.

    In response, Azzy closed his eyes as he raised his hand. A knight shield with a brown-colored stone embedded in its center has appeared in his hand.

    The shield blocked the attack.

    Azzy then raised his other hand. Natural energy gushed out of his spirit core.

    The energy was then pushed out of his body, forming a translucent saber in his hand.

    "Now, it''s my turn." Azzy flew forward like lightning. Bathory hurriedly waved the flexible spear but he evaded them with ease and counterattacked with piercing her neck.

    He was expecting her to dodge but surprisingly, she couldn''t. A huge hole made out of her neck and the blood started gushing out like a river.

    Instead of trying to heal with her soul energy, she surprised Azzy once again by taking out a healing card in a hurry.

    He thought that she was panicking and took the opportunity to slash at her neck horizontally.

    Her head was separated from her body and became a corpse just like the fish.

    Staring coldly at her body that was about to drown, Azzy commented, "Elizabeth Bathory aka the Blood Countess. Your strength doesn''t match your reputation."

    Just as he finished his comment, he caught a glimpse at Bathory''s face just before it drowned. It changed to someone else.

    Azzy hurriedly grabbed the severed head before it gets drowned in the lake. "It''s not her. Who is this person?"

    It was then a scarlet-colored portal opened out of nowhere and Elizabeth Bathory stepped outside.

    The students and the teachers who were rejoicing were stunned at once.

    Meanwhile, the newcomer''s eyes fell on Azzy and her eyes widened in surprise. "Aelius?"

 Chapter 561 On The Way To Arcana Festival (Part-3)

    ?

    Year 6218, 10th Epoch;

    In a hidden pocket dimension, Elizabeth Bathory has developed her own hidden village over the past few thousand years.

    The original residents of this village were the Arcana Masters infected by her and turned into vampires. It served as the base of their operations.

    And this was the time when the village''s strength was at its peak.

    Bathory summoned her seven prime servants, who all reached the 8-star realm.

    She called them to say that they should start preparations for the war against the Death Clan in order to fulfill her revenge.

    Everyone was also extremely loyal to her and intended to follow her orders.

    As a past resident of the Death Clan, she knows that they can only enter the clan through the specific entry card that will only work in the hands of the user.

    Hence, she ordered her servants to secretly roam in the Freyles nation and abduct someone weak as soon as they saw a chance.

    Luckily for them, they even found a teenager who flaunted his surname in the streets of Graena City and roused the suspicions of the vampires. As they surrounded him, he admitted his relation to the Death Clan and also about the entry card in a bit of fear.

    They knocked him out and brought him to their village. He was imprisoned there but wasn''t infected as they had the orders that their matriarch would be the one who would infect him.

    After the meeting is concluded, Bathory ordered the kid to be brought to the meeting hall.

    An elder vampire of the 7-star realm dragged him with his hands tied by scarlet energy thread. The teenager looked quite calmer, contrary to his earlier behavior during the time of his abduction.

    As he was brought to the center of the hall, Bathory looked at the teenager and asked, "What''s your name, kid?"

    "Aelius Night Crescent," replied the kid.

    "A descendant of the Night clan, eh? No wonder you are quite calm. The clan of assassins specializes in erasing their emotions," commented the devilish beauty as she stepped down from the throne.

    Aelius then looked at the woman walking toward him and asked, "I heard about the Blood countess in my clan. Are you Elizabeth Blood?"

    "Bathory!" The woman''s mood turned worse all of a sudden as she halted her footsteps. She looked quite angry as she added, "Kid, my surname is Bathory, not Blood. And address me as the vampire queen."

    "Well, you are about to die anyways. Bathory or Blood. Blood countess or the vampire queen, nothing matters," replied Aelius in a calm tone as if he was stating the fact.

    "And who is going to kill me? You? A 4-star Arcana Master?" As Bathory mocked the kid, the latter smiled for the first time and mumbled, "Unseal."

    All of a sudden, his soul realm was raised from peak-4-star to low-8-star and he forcefully broke the chains, taking everyone by surprise.

    "8-star realm?" Bathory was taken aback but didn''t fear him as she felt she was naturally stronger and wiser.

    But, in the next second, the situation completely turned around as Aelius summoned a sphere of black lightning energy and started the massacre.

    During the next 15 minutes, Bathory''s prime servants were killed and even an 8000-year-old Bathory herself was soundly defeated by Aelius, who was only 58 years old at that time.

    But, before she gets killed, she managed to create a Blood clone of hers and then transferred her soul into the clone before escaping the place.

    When the clone disappeared, Aelius misunderstood that it happened as she lost her life, not knowing about her special technique.

    He then set his sights on the remaining vampires. Due to the influence of the Protos energy, he didn''t care whether there might be innocents living in this group of vampires too.

    He massacred every single vampire who couldn''t escape in time and then handed over the corpse of Bathory to WAMO''s president at that time.

    Meanwhile, Bathory, in her blood clone, lost her ability to infect others, lost her chance to make any breakthrough to the demigod realm, and even had to hibernate for atleast 20 hours a day to keep her body alive.

    Neither Aaron nor Arc Company''s experts have any idea about her state and she managed to fool the world.

    Back to the present;

    Bathory never planned on making her presence as she thought it isn''t necessary when two 8-star realm experts are personally going out there. Hence, she sent a colleague who had the ability to copy one''s appearance and physical strength instead of her.

    She planned on just hibernating to prolong her life but her impostor was defeated and Aaron sent her a message to come quick.

    It''s not just Aaron or the Arc Company. This mission was even more critical for her, due to her personal reasons.

    Hence, she was forced to come, only to witness the ghost of her past. Azzy, for some reason, bore a striking resemblance to even Aelius Crescent, atleast in her eyes.I think you should take a look at

    That''s it.

    She lost her reasoning and her purpose of not straining herself. The real Bathory, after screaming his name, charged forward to kill him.

    Azzy was taken aback at first but he knew that he couldn''t afford to lose his focus. Hence, he put forth the shield and blocked her attack.

    Bathory''s fist struck the shield of Amerys and a strong ripple was generated by the collision. The sound wave hit back at Bathory and she crashed into the lake while Azzy was also pushed back a few meters.

    Bathory got out of the waters with a clear look of hatred in her eyes. As she conjured a pair of blood scimitars, the Reaper''s voice echoed in Azzy''s head. "You shouldn''t prolong a fight. The more you do, the more of your secrets will be out. Give a decisive strike."

    Azzy tightened his grip over the Shield of Amerys as he poured his natural energy over it to increase its defense. In the meantime, a crescent moon amulet appeared over his neck.

    "Graaaa¡­" Letting out a battle cry, Bathory used her every bit of strength as she flew at him.

    Her speed touched mach 7 by the time the scimitar collided with the shield.

    The translucent barrier couldn''t block but it surely did absorb half of its power. The remaining power behind Bathory''s strike wasn''t enough to blast away Azzy.

    He showed resistance while getting pushed back. Azzy slightly changed his direction slightly in mid-air and was pushed back into the lake. They dived down until the lake bed and Azzy''s back was hit.

    Bathory increased her force to push him deep into the soil but then, as she saw a familiar smile on Azzy''s face, her heartbeat rose for a second. She remembered her meeting with Aelius.

    She raised her free hand and conjured an energy ball.

    It was at that moment, a crescent-shaped amulet with yellow crystal embedded in it appeared over Azzy''s neck.

    In the next fraction of a second, a tremendous amount of lightning energy spread all over the lake, killing every creature living there. On the other hand, Bathory received something that can only be classified as a legendary fourth-degree burn.

    The electric shock was so high that it destroyed almost all layers of skin, several of her bones were turned into powder, and her tendons were damaged. Her soul energy was trying its best to heal her body.

    Meanwhile, on the outside, everyone just stared at the lake which gave a bright flash. Of course, all of them also sensed how powerful the energy dispersed by the lightning was.

    Since Bathory controls the blood, Aaron and the other experts from Arc became worried, feeling that their enemy is far stronger than they expected.

    And their worries became true when a scorching figure flew into the air, followed by Azzy, whose soul orb was unlocked.

    "Supreme realm," mumbled Aaron in a daze as his entire body was shivering in fear.

    "Soul skill: Spear of the Death"

    Azzy then unleashed the soul skill, conjuring a dark spear before piercing the flying Bathory without giving her any chance to defend or heal herself.

    The spear of death struck her back and turned her body into a black statue, followed by breaking down into a black powder and falling onto the surface of the water.

    Elizabeth Bathory, the expert who was said to be the hidden backing of Arc Company was killed within just 15 seconds of her entry.

    "Run¡­" Someone from the enemy gang shouted and tried to escape, knowing well that they don''t have a chance against Azzy.

    However, will Azzy let them go?

    The moment he killed Bathory, he already anticipated their escape. Hence, he didn''t waste any time in throwing an activated skill card, which unleashed a translucent barrier over a wide scale.

    The first guy who acted decisively by using a random teleportation card had managed to escape before the natural-energy barrier cuts off their path.

    Meanwhile, realization dawned upon Aaron as his suspicion is cleared now. "It''s the same mysterious expert from that time." In an instant, he made his decision and acted against the enemies.

    One after another, the 7-star realm experts started collapsing one by one after letting out a groan of pain as if something stung them on the neck.

    The deputy leader named Ronan instantly realizes what''s going and he growls at Aaron who was standing in front of him, "You traitorous bastard. I will¡­"

    As Ronan tried to attack him, Aaron''s eyes then glowed brightly and Ronan''s attack passed through him.

    Aaron then charged forward, passing through his opponent like a ghost, before materializing behind him and decisively attacking his neck with an energy blade.

    The blade pierced Ronan''s neck. As Ronan let out a painful scream as he lost his balance slightly, Aaron took out a skill card from his pocket and placed it on Ronan''s back.

    The skill card dissolved into his body and in the next second, Ronan''s organs were attacked by countless wind needles at the same time.

 Chapter 562 On The Way To Arcana Festival (Part-4)

    ?

    *Thud*

    Ronan fell to the ground and lay there motionlessly. Soon, he passed away due to internal damage. The 8-star realm expert died just like that.

    As if the students and fellow teachers weren''t enough shocked by Azzy''s performance, they were even shocked to witness Aaron effortlessly knocking out almost all the remaining enemies.

    Just only one person left and the 8-star-realm expert was wracking his brains on how to get out of this situation. Kael realized that Aaron has betrayed them and he doesn''t have the confidence to win against Azzy either.

    In the end, Kael resorted to taking a student as a hostage.

    Quickly grabbing a nearby girl, Kael flew into the sky with a blade nearby her neck.

    "If you value this girl''s life, let me leave." The 14-year-old girl started crying for help but no one appears to be responding.

    Everyone was just silently staring at the man who was shouting nonsense. It wasn''t until Azzy asked him ''What girl?'' Kael realized that he was pulled into an illusion placed by Aaron.

    "Dammit." Kael gritted his teeth in anger as he looked down at a smirking Aaron. He freed the illusionary figure and raised his hand above his head. He shot a beam of concentrated soul energy from his palm.

    The energy beam struck the ceiling of the barrier in about a couple of seconds and disappeared.

    Seeing the shocked Kael, Azzy spoke, "There''s no way out of here."

    Kael''s face reddened in anger as he roared, "Fine, if I don''t leave here alive, then, I will take everyone with me too."

    Soul energy enveloped him and he flew toward the bunch of teenagers.

    But, before he made it halfway, Azzy first cut off his path with greater speed, followed by giving an uppercut to his chin, and finally, sealing his soul orb with a Decarune seal.

    As the guy crashed onto the ground, Azzy found the aura of death on him. Hence, he decided to interrogate him right away. All he needs is a word confession that he was sent by Arc Company and he could officially start investigations against it.

    However, Aaron didn''t let him do that.

    His Arcana, Venomquito; this mosquito is too small and fast for anyone to notice it in one glance.

    As Azzy was slowly descending to the ground, the mosquito went through the nose of Kael and unleashed its soul skill, the Necrotic Poison.

    Within a few moments, the vulnerable Kael''s cells and tissues were damaged, leading to cell death and tissue decay at a rapid rate.

    Followed by that, Kael died due to organ failure.

    Everything happened within seconds.

    Azzy landed on the ground and crouched to inspect Kael''s body as he knew that this guy wouldn''t die just because of his punch.

    "Quick, Azrael. You don''t have much time. Read his memories," said the Reaper. As the brain of the body also contained memories, as long as he acted fast, he would be able to find some useful information from Kael.

    Azzy placed his hand on the head of the corpse and muttered, "Soul skill: Soul Search."

    Since he hadn''t fully mastered the skill and doesn''t want to read more than a thousand years'' worth of memories either, the Reaper helped Azzy in obtaining the information he needed.

    It appeared that Kael and Ronan are members of the disbanded Assad organization. Aaron''s father, the leader of the Assad organization is said to possess an ancient relic called the Orb of Souls, which is used to absorb the souls from the dead before they go to the spirit realm.

    The Assad organization''s true goal is to revive someone named Chaos Lord and to do this, they need to sacrifice more than ten million souls in an ancient ritual. Arc Company is in cahoots with the dark organization for several centuries and helped them to achieve the goal.I think you should take a look at

    During the leadership of Aaron''s father, Orion, they have managed to collect the required amount of souls, and performing the ritual is the only thing left. Elizabeth Bathory volunteered to host the soul of the chaos lord.

    But, somehow, just two days before the date of the ritual, Orion fell into a trap laid by WAMO and ended up in the maximum security prison. There was a heavy restriction in this place that will make anyone below the demigod realm feel useless.

    Aaron wants to save his father''s life and Arc Company wants the orb of souls.

    Since they planned this attack on the outskirts of the Central City, Aaron suspected that there might be an intervention from random passersby. Not to mention, Azzy''s strength isn''t tested either.

    To make sure that their abduction plan becomes 100% successful, Elizabeth Bathory stepped in.

    However, their plans became an utter failure because of Azzy''s overnight upgrade of strength, followed by Aaron''s betrayal.

    And the last piece of memory that Kael has is how he felt his soul orb was sealed and his soul energy vanished, followed by the effect of some strong poison.

    Azzy inwardly frowned and glanced at Aaron from the corner of his eye, "It''s him, isn''t he?"

    The Reaper answered, "Looks like that way. I can sense poison attribute from him. Just like his sister."

    "I didn''t expect Aaron would turn against his comrades," said Azzy to the Reaper. He added, "I thought if I go toe to toe against their boss, he would probably try to join others. But, instead, he killed them to bury his secret."

    The Reaper replied in the form of criticism, "Then, you shouldn''t overpower Bathory like that."

    "In that case, it''s partly your fault too," Azzy argued back. He further reminded the Reaper about how he is the one who told him to not hold back against a supreme being.

    The Reaper defended himself with a counterargument, "I never told you to dive under the water to amplify the strength of the lightning jewel and then finish off the enemy with the Spear of Death. You couldn''t just stop yourself from showing off."

    Azzy didn''t argue with that as he knew that he kinda forgot his plan and went ahead with the killing.

    As a result, it spooked Aaron instead and he changed his plan.

    "There''s still one week left till my mission completion. I can investigate him and the company later on but for now, I need to keep acting as the teacher. Confronting him using force might endanger the students.

    That blindfolded fellow was different from this bunch. With his mosquito Arcana and illusion abilities, he can kill students in a matter of seconds just like how he did it to his comrades. There are so many students here and I can''t take such a risk. Not to mention, I have no idea what else he planned in case he gets caught"

    Azzy decided to forsake his plan of finishing the mission right away as Aaron made it more complex by showcasing his Arcana abilities. When he has nothing to lose, Azzy can do anything he wants but right now, he felt like it isn''t worth it.

    Azzy decided to deal with him after collecting proper evidence against him. Remembering a fellow who decisively escaped from the barrier, Azzy planned to catch him somehow and gets a confession out of him.

    Meanwhile, Aaron was speaking to everyone as if nothing happened earlier, "All of you must have been shocked by this event, but no fret! The crisis has been averted, as long as your teachers are around, your safety is guaranteed. Anyways, let''s get going." Aaron started storing the bodies in his storage card one after another with the excuse of handing over them to the WAMO for investigation. Azzy allowed him to do as he wished.

    Usually, the students would have been filled with fear had they witnessed a proper fight. But, since it is pretty much a one-sided fight, and that too, didn''t last a minute, no one''s mind is affected that much. Even the 8th-grade students are fine as they boarded their respective horse wagons.

    In fact, the battle is over before they just came to their senses to understand their situation.

    Hence, no one is scarred by this event but they sure had gotten nervous, wondering whether they could live up to their awesome teachers.

    Of course, there are some who were looking forward to showcasing their skills too.

    One of them is Raydon, whose eyes were gleaming in admiration.

    He doesn''t know what happened but he could see the enemy''s boss being punched down by his teacher. His thoughts were simple, "If I train under him, my future will be limitless. And I will be free from that Geller family. But, to do that, I need to show him that I can use attribute energy. In this upcoming tournament, I should unleash all of my trump cards if I have to."

 Chapter 563 Arcana Festival: Day 1 (Part-1)

    ?

    Dragon Academy, Central City, World of Arcana;

    The entire academy was decorated as if they were celebrating New Year. Everything is taken care of by the academy''s student council.

    The students created a playful and whimsical display using bright colors, oversized decorations, and fun patterns.

    A large area was accommodated by the food stalls featuring street foods from all over the world of Gaia. It is completely operated by the students too. The food is also free for everyone as the ingredients were provided by the academy.

    As for their hard work, the participating students get merits according to how many plates they have sold in the meantime. A few secret inspectors have been assigned to make sure no one is cheating.

    This theme has clicked with the students of the hosting academy as well as the visitors. Only the true introverts or old ones, who lived for centuries and millennia, were uncomfortable with it.

    But then again, they were not only in the extreme minority but most of them were also the type of people who wouldn''t unnecessarily complain. So, everything is fine.

    By the time Emerald Academy students arrived there, the place was already bustling with teenagers.

    Their green blazers did attract the attention of the people as they walked past them while looking around curiously.

    Under the guidance of the Dragon Academy''s student council members, the group of 67 made it to the campsite, where registrations were taking place. It was also the place where they are going to live.

    At first, the students felt displeased upon assuming that they are going to live inside tents like some sort of campers even with heavy security around.

    But then, as they stepped inside, they realized that these aren''t simple tents. Each of them was big as a grand mansion. Azzy couldn''t help but think of his camping tent (given by Sapphire Magnolis in the past timeline), which was also quite similar to these but slightly smaller.

    As for the girls'' safety, there''s security outside but the onus is on the teachers of respective academies.

    If there''s one thing that the Dragon Academy doesn''t want to take responsibility for, it is the lives of the visiting academy representatives.

    Emerald Academy was given a section of the campsite where six tents were nearby each other. Each tent has twelve rooms inside and will be enough for everyone.

    Likewise, the other two visiting academies were also allotted space in the camping site but there is a stark difference in the treatment.

    The Heavenly Academy has just one tent allotted for 60 of them but there are atleast 25 security personnel guarding their section.

    The students of Emerald Academy heard the student council representatives say that the Dragon Academy went all out to invite the Heavenly Academy. That simple tent had an entire palace built inside.

    But then again, they shouldn''t be surprised by such unfair treatment either. The Heavenly Academy of Arcana is famously known for allowing only kids of noble birth to study there.

    The nobles might be nothing more than people with surnames in the current generation (atleast, in the eyes of the society). Still, for tens of thousands of years, they ruled the world, and every king who marked his name in history has studied in the Heavenly Academy.

    It goes without saying that these princes and nobles of ancient heritage will be getting royal treatment.

    As for the final participating academy which was receiving the same treatment as Emerald Academy, it is called the Marigold Academy of Arcana.

    Also known as the Arcana Academy of Music and Light, this special academy only takes the kids in with light attribute Arcana, music tool Arcana, or someone who is a musical prodigy.

    And the Dragon Academy doesn''t need any introduction either. If one asks what the best Arcana Academy there is, atleast 6 out of 10 will say that it is the Dragon Academy. It has been that way since ages ago.

    And Azzy has an interesting relationship with the Academy too.

    During the finals of the champion league in the past timeline, not only he won against the Dragon Academy''s team, but he also punished them by damaging the soul orbs of his opponents, almost destroying the lives of those geniuses. One of them even died.

    As if that wasn''t bad enough, the final match of the Champions League was telecasted on television, although not live.

    It doesn''t matter who at fault is. It''s a fact that the Dragon Academy''s reputation was damaged quite a bit, back then.

    "More than 30 years passed since then and it is long enough for the teachers and the principal to forget about the incident," thought Azzy as he reached the registration center with the students.

    The registration center has an earth-grade artifact (rank-10/works for demigods and below), a large glass orb that works similar to that of the Death clan''s sacred relic.

    One has to pour their soul energy into the orb and stay connected to it. The latter will display one''s true soul realm, potential, Arcana grade, and density of energy.

    They purposely used this artifact not only to make sure to see no one cheating so that they get to battle a weaker opponent but also to take this opportunity to scout potential geniuses from Emerald Academy and Marigold Academy. The two academies didn''t have any advanced studies and hence, their students are a perfect target.

    The one who was overseeing the registration process was an intermediate-stage Legendary realm expert (mid-rank-8), one of the three vice principals of the Dragon Academy.

    And fortunately or unfortunately, the young-looking fellow turned out to be a familiar-looking guy for Azzy.

    To be specific, it was a past opponent who tried unfair means to kill him but instead got his own teammate killed and had his soul orb destroyed entirely.

    "Alan," mumbled Azzy as looked at him and fell into thoughts. "It looked like not only this fellow regained his soul orb and even managed to reach such realm within a short period of time. How?"

    "Did you forget what your future self told you already?" The Reaper commented, shedding light on his cloudy mind.

    With the Reaper''s reminder, Azzy relocated the memory of his first meeting with his future counterpart. "Oh, yeah! He did say that he gave Alan a second chance. But why though? I never figured out his intentions and didn''t ask about it during our second meeting as I forgot about it. Now, I couldn''t help but wonder about it."

    "Chronos, what do you think?" He asked the Reaper.

    The Reaper replied, "I don''t sense death energy inside him. So, I guess it''s not something you need to worry about. Whatever it is, your future self will tell you when he feels the time is right."

    "Hmm, I guess you are right." Azzy shrugged his shoulders and decided to throw the thought at the back of his head. Since Alan won''t remember him anyways, Azzy decided to behave as if he doesn''t know him either. In case he remembers him from the footage, Azzy prepared a lame excuse for that too.

    Meanwhile, one after another, the students of Emerald Academy were registering their names and placing their hands on the glass orb.

    "Sigh... 4-star silver grade and 6-star potential, not again." A look of disappointment was clear on Alan as he was recording their names and details in the registry file.

 Chapter 564 Arcana Festival: Day 1 (Part-2)

    ?

    After a series of disappointments from tenth-grade students, he no longer had any hope for the Emerald Academy. Cursing his headmaster inwardly, he spoke without disinterest.

    It was at that moment, a male voice spoke, "Raydon Geller."

    "Go on..." He pointed at the glass Orb without taking much notice of Raydon, who suppressed his soul realm to 4-star in order as he felt that the Orb was too overrated.

    However, upon contact with his palm followed by his soul energy, the glass Orb gave off a powerful glow of darkness. It was quite denser than all the soul energies so far and there are five glowing rings inside what appeared like black gases.

    And those glowing rings are gold in color, indicating his Arcana''s grade. Other than that, there are dark rings above those gold rings but they aren''t visible to the naked eye.

    However, for someone like Alan, Aaron, and Azzy, everything is clear as a day.

    Just like Azzy and Aaron, a look of surprise appeared on Alan, making him take another look at Raydon, "5-star realm, gold grade Arcana, and potential beyond 10-star. I never witnessed a genius with a gold-grade Arcana spirit but still has a potential beyond the demigod realm. Raydon Geller, is it?

    Dragon Academy would welcome you with a full scholarship and even add incentives if you are interested to do advanced studies here. We would also welcome you with open arms if you want to transfer to this academy for the rest of the semester too."

    As Raydon himself was overwhelmed by his details along with Alan''s offer, Azzy couldn''t help but comment from the back. "Are all the teachers of the Dragon Academy as shameless as you, Mr. Alan Tauris?"

    Alan furrowed his brows and spoke, "Who is it?"

    The students moved aside and Azzy walked forward with steady steps.

    Alan, at once, stood up on his feet with his eyes widened, "Azrael?"

    "Azrael?" Aaron looked at Azzy and wondered what the story between them is. At the same time, he also couldn''t help but wonder whether Gary is really a fake name as he suspected. His suspicion grew when Snivy and Flora''s expressions changed.

    Azzy didn''t take Snivy and Flora''s reactions into account when he thought of that cliche excuse. But, anyways, now that he confirmed that Alan did remember him or atleast his face, Azzy decided to go through with his plan.

    Upon reaching him, Alan spoke once again, "Azrael, you are him, aren''t you?"

    Azzy simply shook his head, "Nope, he is my younger brother. We are twins."

    "Eh?" "Eh?" Neither Flora and Snivy nor Aaron and Alan expected Azzy to spout such a reply. "Twins? Seriously?" thought the four of them at the same time. Naturally, they didn''t buy it.

    Leaving his friends in shock, Azzy then spoke after a brief pause, "But then again, I should be the one who should be asking the questions, not you. I watched Azzy destroying your soul orb back then with my own eyes. Thousands of people witnessed it. You should be a mortal by now. How did you become an 8-star Arcana Master and that too, in such a short time?"

    "Well..." A look of hesitation appeared on Alan for a brief amount of time but then he calmed himself and answered in a vague manner, "There''s always a way to recover one''s soul orb."

    Azzy knew that Alan wouldn''t obviously give him the answer because of the fact that his future self is involved in this. He just wanted to evade unnecessary questions while protecting his identity.

    Now that Alan was slightly distracted by his remark, Azzy went on to say, "Anyways, we are here for the Arcana festival. If you want to recruit Raydon, you can either send an offer letter to our academy after we return or wait for his graduation and try contacting him personally on your own. This is clearly not the way to do it.

    If you try to abuse your academy''s fame, then WAMO''s inspector will be receiving a complaint that Dragon Academy is using the festival to snatch students from other academies.

    And for your information, my brother is in WAMO''s Special Forces. You can say he has enough influence within the organization that he can make WAMO formally reject your academy''s proposal altogether. So, don''t act too smart with us and just do your job, Mr. Tauris."

    "This..." Alan frowned. He was just complimenting a student''s talent. Does this fellow need to go this far?

    Azzy straightforwardly threatened him and further slightly humiliated him in front of everyone in order to distract Alan. Seeing Alan''s expression made Azzy feel like he was successful in his attempt.

    Alan was now quite angry at this teacher and intends to teach him a lesson very soon. He wasn''t the type to swallow the humiliation.

    But, for now, he has to step back a bit.

    The registrations continued, and it is the turn for teachers to register. For teachers, not only their data but their participation category will also be recorded because of their few numbers.

    Azzy''s turn came very soon. The atmosphere turned tense once again as Azzy stood before the registration counter once again.

    Alan didn''t act any differently. He pointed to the orb and told him to place his hand.

    However, he didn''t do it. Instead, he went on to ask, "Do I need to pay if this gets damaged?"

    Alan narrowed his eyes, feeling like this teacher named Gary was intentionally causing trouble.

    He wanted to berate the guy. But reminding himself that he is a host, Alan took a deep breath to calm down and replied, "It''s an earth-grade relic. As long you are not a demigod, you will do fine. Are you a demigod?"

    He wanted to be calm but in the end, he couldn''t help adding that last question to mock Azzy''s intelligence.

    Azzy simply shook his head with a smile, knowing what will happen next. "No..."

    "Then, you will do fine. Go ahead, Mr. Gary," said Alan with his gaze fixed on the orb to check if this guy also had skills to back up his mouth.

    Azzy then placed his palm and poured his natural energy into the orb.

    The orb instantly lit up for a second before reappearing as if nothing happened. But, the experts could feel the transparent energy inside.

    It was so pure and dense that sweat beads instantly formed on Alan''s forehead and he couldn''t see the rings formed inside at all.

    But, that''s not the worst part.

    *Crack* crack* crack*

    The orb started cracking slowly, making everyone gasp in surprise. "No..." Alan screamed in horror, attracting the attention of people nearby.

    Freeing his hand, Azzy asked, "What now?"

    ***

    Faraway on an island, a short baldy old man was seen captured in energy chains while the Fenrir was drawing some kind of ritual circle below him.

    Jormungandr, who is the human form, due to the constricted space between the three mountains, kept an eye on the guardian.

    The guardian looked like he has lost his willpower and let them do what they want.

    Once the drawing is completed, Fenrir inserted his energy into the circle. The energy traveled in the lines of the drawing before completing the seal.

    "Heavenly Breaking formation, activate."

    Glowing energy erupted from the formation and transformed into a large sphere as it enveloped the guardian. The latter screamed in pain for a while before he was freed and collapsed onto the ground.

    Meanwhile, as the sphere disappeared, a golden key emerged from the guardian and landed in the hands of Fenrir.

    Looking at the key, the great wolf laughed, "The key to release Surtr is here. Now, that brat and his overbearing Arcana spirit will not be able to escape like the last time."

 Chapter 565 Arcana Festival: Day 2 (Part-1)

    ?

    Sometime later;

    In the grand auditorium, all the students and teachers, both visiting and hosting academies, attended to hear the academy headmaster''s speech.

    As a supreme realm expert, he commanded respect from everyone sitting around. The whole place was in pin-drop silence as if the headmaster was talking to himself.

    It''s not like he was giving an important lecture or anything. Just a predictable boring speech given by a senile old man but everyone''s concentration was quite high.

    If there''s anyone who looked disinterested, it is probably Azzy. And there''s Aaron, who became too wary of Azzy''s presence around him more than ever.

    The speech went on for like 15 minutes before he ended by giving everyone his wishes for luck.

    ¦Ñ¦Ánd¦Ás¦­¦Ïv¦Ål ?¦Ïm Once he was done, one of his deputies took over. And there''s a change in everyone''s expressions. They felt like, "Ugh, not him..."

    Jonas Meier, the administration vice principal of the academy, spoke, "The events will start at post lunch. The venue and timings were posted on the notice board outside of the administration building."

    Jonas was reputed to give lengthy speeches. Hence, it took everyone by surprise when he only spoke two sentences. Furthermore, there is no smile on his face. It was as if his mood was sour at the moment.

    And people could vaguely guess what it can be. Azzy felt several gazes over him for a while as he tagged along with the others.

    The news regarding the destruction of the academy''s treasure has obviously spread all over the academy quite quickly. And this brought a huge amount of attention from the students from even other academies.

    Soon, the competitions began.

    The elites were quite curious about how the students from the Emerald Academy would fare.

    However, the reality turned out to be quite disappointing.

    For the whole day, Emerald Academy students underperformed and the academy ended up on the last of the rankings table.

    As the Arcana Festival is an academy event, the scores of the participants will be added up every time an event is over. The top 3 winners of each event will receive the scores and the rest gets zero.

    And Emerald Academy is sitting on the last with a zero score. The top of the table is obviously the Dragon Academy, unsurprisingly, followed by the Heavenly Academy, and then the Light Academy.

    The teachers as well as the students expected to underperform but they didn''t expect they wouldn''t even match the Light Academy too.

    People stopped paying attention to them as the Day 2 performance was also repeated. Even the star teachers, including Flora, couldn''t bring a point to the academy in any event. Since no one is performing great, Aaron didn''t bother to give his all and lost to other vice principals in chess. It gave him the perfect reason to hide his real abilities.

    All of them received mocking glances from fellow teenagers. The depression was so high that no one from Emerald Academy ate their lunches or enjoyed the snacks. Even Azzy was affected but he knew that he cannot help them as he wasn''t confident. He was only 17 years old and didn''t think he could actually compete with fellow teachers.

    The only place he was confident is his battle skills. That is why he never bothered to give reply to those who told him that he should have registered for other events too.

    After numerous events, only one was left. It was where Emerald Academy should have the hopes of achieving something.

    For that, even Azzy dropped his plans to send Raydon and Ace as a team. However, surprisingly, Raydon comes with Serestia and tells him that they are going to team up.

    Since Serestia isn''t the one who had the original contract with Hydra, she opinioned that anyone can replace her. Aaron also readily accepted their proposal for the sake of upholding Emerald Academy''s dignity.

    The junior tournament started with a maximum of two representatives from each academy per category. The first category is solo, then, duo, and finally, the 7-member team. The format is a knockout round.

    As for the senior tournament, it is only the solo category and Duo category where Azzy and Snivy are representing the Emerald Academy. They will also be participating in both categories.

    It is not a world-class tournament where the general public is allowed. Hence, there were no hosts to introduce the participants. It was just one of the vice principals of Dragon Academy who was acting as the proctor. Azzy recognized him in one glance.

    This is the same old man who tagged along with the Dragon Academy during the champions league and he demanded justice for his students as Azzy punished them by damaging their soul orbs in the final.

    He didn''t address the audience (students) and just called the participants to the arena to start the final event of the festival which was allotted the highest score.

    For this event, the Dragon Academy''s principal has revealed one of the treasures for public display. It is called the Mirror of Erised. The mirror can be enlarged to any size as long as enough soul energy was poured into it.

    Its function is simple. As long as its sunlight is reflected into an area, it creates an invisible barrier over it and the people standing outside of this barrier could see all kinds of traps in the mirror. It also works as a video camera that records the battles and later shows them to the public in slow motion.

    The Dragon Academy intended to use this opportunity to enhance the knowledge of the students later on by recording the performance of experts from other academies.

    Azzy and other teachers were at the stands as the participating students entered the Arena and stood together with fellow academy students.

    In the middle of the arena, a huge concrete platform of about 200mx200m in size was erected just like the other battle tournaments.

    The Proctor directly started the event by calling the competitors for the solo category.

    It was decided that Emerald Academy will battle the Heavenly Academy and the Light Academy will be facing Dragon Academy so that these top-tier academies could meet in the final.

    The solo category has a slight breath of relief for the Emerald Academy as Ace managed to win the first match, but in the next match, he battled the 6-circle realm expert who won against 10-A''s Prince Daniel Eranyl. He ended up losing.

    Still, he won against the other losing semifinalist from the Dragon Academy, giving the first score for the Emerald Academy.

    Then, enter the duo who never worked together despite being classmates for several years.

    Some are worried because of that and some are hopeful because of the earlier success. Of course, their individual strengths should also be taken into consideration.

    Their opponents were two high-rank-5 Arcana Masters but with the possession of treasures in their arsenal.

    Both of them were twins of the Vine family, the princesses of the Llyne nation. And it''s not just their faces, even their attributes, personalities, thought processes, soul energies, and the Arcana spirits were identical to each other. Both of them were beauties and enjoy a great degree of popularity too.

    It is their strength and also their weakness too. Firstly, one usually cannot come up with a new idea that the other one didn''t get it. And secondly, because of their tight bond and identical thinking, they fell in love with the same boy a couple of times in the past, but people cannot give the same attention to two partners even if one is interested in openly dating multiple girls at the same time. The breakup is inevitable.

    Coming to the battle, both of the sisters had summoned large white tigresses, and then traditional man-made sabers but of earth grade (rank-10). On the other hand, Serestia summoned a staff while Raydon summoned the off-white dagger in his hand.

    All of them are in gold grade, and even though Raydon has a higher soul power, it is clear that the one with beast-type Arcana has the greater advantage in a battle. It is like a 2 vs 4 battle rather than a 2v2 battle.

    Everyone except the Emerald Academy was confident that the twin sisters will win this battle.

    Eventually, the proctor blew the whistle too. The twin sisters took charge and went on the offensive with their tigresses.

    Serestia raised her staff to launch a defensive barrier over her and her teammate. But, Raydon left her without any warning and charged forward, intending to battle against his opponents, by himself.

    "Rayd..."

    Before she called him out, Raydon surprised everyone once again by turning into a shadow and disappearing into the ground.

 Chapter 566 Arcana Festival: Day 2 (Part-2)

    ?

    the twin sisters tried to halt their movements in wariness, but before they even slowed down, dark chains erupted from the ground in just one second after raydon''s disappearance and captured all of them at the same time.

    "argh..." they screamed in pain at the same time. meanwhile, the tigresses roared while trying to free themselves from the bind.

    raydon then appeared behind one of the sisters and tightly pressed the dagger on her throat, "give up or else i won''t hesitate to slit your throat." he said to the girl.

    both of them looked quite surprised as they were captured by their opponent so quickly when they were actually expecting to win.

    soul energy surged in both of their bodies. the twins didn''t heed his warning and tried to escape from the chains.

    without a change in his expression, raydon motioned his hand and his dagger turned into something like a wisp of dark energy. the throat was cleanly sliced.

    "arghhhh" as she grabbed her throat, her sister''s eyes widened and she screamed, "ella! ugh..."

    raydon quickly made his next move and pierced her neck from behind.

    *thud* thud*

    both of them fell onto their knees and collapsed onto the floor.

    the incident stunned everyone for a moment. they didn''t expect raydon would be so bold and ruthless that he would kill his opponents for the sake of winning.

    azzy rose to his feet just like the others, but not in shock. he pushed his leg against the floor beneath him and flew toward the field as the proctor shouted in rage, "how dare you..."

    before he even got the opportunity to attack raydon, azzy already reached him and blocked his way.

    "you... get lost from my path." ricardus roared in anger with evident of killing intent. he even raised his fist to punch away azzy but the latter swiftly caught it and then make half a turn, ending behind him and pressing his arm against his back, "calm down, mister. look at the girls. there''s no loss of life force and blood wasn''t actually drawn out either."

    only then did vice principal ricardus realize that the girls didn''t die but just collapsed unconsciously. the best part of the evidence is the fact that the white tigresses are still kicking around. if their masters died, then, they should have disappeared by now.

    as azzy released his grip, ricardus went to the girls and checked their condition. after freeing them from the chains, he announced emerald academy''s win, and the girls were taken to the infirmary.

    "okay, the first match is concluded. now, onto the next... hmm?" ricardus was about to call for the next set of participants as raydon and serestia also left the field but then he saw azzy didn''t leave from the earlier spot.

    he paid attention to the troublesome visitor and asked, "mr. gary, aren''t you going to leave the arena? we have battles to conduct."

    azzy put his hands behind the back and replied with a question, "is that it? don''t you think you should be apologizing for your earlier actions? if i hadn''t intervened, you would have assaulted a teenager in a fit of anger. is this how the dragon academy does things?"

    ricardus furrowed his brows, feeling that this guy is trying to cause trouble once again.

    the others curiously watched the scene from their places. a teacher asked aaron to stop azzy but the white-haired fellow stayed silent as he felt it is best if he leave azzy to his own devices.

    back to the arena, ricardus silently stared at azzy. the latter returned the stare with a calm gaze.

    as the both of them entered a staring contest, alan tauris finally intervened by landing beside the old man and requesting in a calmer tone as if he was negotiating, "mr. gary, we''ll sort this out later. let''s first complete the tournament."

    azzy didn''t back down from his demand. looking at alan, he then replied, "when it comes to delivering justice to my people, i don''t waste time. so, mr. ricardus, if you would proceed with an apology to my student, we''ll continue with the tournament. what do you say?"

    there''s a reason why azzy was acting like this. he didn''t forget the incident when this old man joined the supreme realm expert to attack his school back then. although he got defeated in one move by the jinn, still, the animosity was clear.

    vice principal ricardus'' face reddened deeply and he wants to beat up azzy but he is a host and any misadventure from him will only shame his academy. swearing revenge in his heart, he turned toward the emerald academy''s participant section.

    "student raydon, i apologize." he bowed deeply while clenching his fists.

    azzy nodded with a smile, "good. i''m satisfied. let''s continue."

    he flew away without dragging the matter any longer. however, ricardus was shamed in public. he wouldn''t sit around too.

    he slowly said to the young man beside him, "alan, i need you to do something for me."

    the competition resumed while azzy returned to his seat. flora almost scolded him that he is quite reckless, but then as he said that he would do the same for her, she blushed a bit and looked away in embarrassment. snivy couldn''t help but grin for a moment as she observed her junior.

    meanwhile, in the participants'' section, serestia started arguing with raydon. she was displeased with his actions of going alone.n0velusb.c0m

    "you are the one who proposed to me, leveret. i only promised you of the victory using whatever means."

    "then, you shouldn''t have agreed to it and go ahead with participating in the solo category if you never intend to work with me, raydon. if you have agreed, you should be responsible."

    "fine, you just want to be a part of the action, right?" raydon proposed that each one will take care of one opponent and will not interfere in each other''s battles until the end.

    serestia puffed her cheeks in frustration. "you..." she doesn''t mean it that way. and duo battles cannot be won in such a method. but, in the end, she agreed to it.

    the semifinals arrived as the rest of the three matches concluded. the other team comprised of a team from class 10-a lost to the team from heavenly academy.

    it''s a team comprised of a couple with magnolis surname. while each of them isn''t necessarily better than the twins, they weren''t underestimating raydon like his past opponents.

    as soon as the match started, they took out a couple of skill cards and poured their soul energies into them.

    the skill cards lit up and disappeared into their bodies, temporarily increasing their soul realm to the upper elite realm.

    then, the both of them summoned their arcana, one is a large bull with three horns and the other one is an earth golem.

    the boy took out a rank-9 lance and mounted it on the bull while the girl took out a rank-10/earth-grade bow as she landed on the shoulder of the golem.

    meanwhile, raydon and serestia summoned their respective arcana but they didn''t take action. instead, they went in separate directions, increasing the distance between them.

    everyone expected their opponents to split up as well, but both the three-horned bull and the earth golem went in the direction of raydon, bringing a grin to his face.

    gripping the handle of the white dagger tightly, he mumbled, "good. let''s get going..."

    "soul skill: arcana extraction."

    a blinding flash of light appeared before him.

    *roar*

    a powerful roar then echoed all over the arena, shocking everyone including azzy.

 Chapter 567 Arcana Festival: Day 2 (Part-3)

    ?

    as the blinding flash of light appeared in their path, raydon''s opponents halted their movements for a moment.

    and then, as the flash disappeared, a large white tigress appeared as it roared. it looked like an exact copy of those white tigresses summoned by the twins.

    azzy narrowed his eyes as he stared at the white tigress just like the other experts. he realized that it wasn''t an arcana spirit but is made of energy. and despite that, it looked like a complete physical being.

    now, the question remained whether it is just the appearance or is there something more.

    meanwhile, in another part of the battle platform, the ignored serestia stared at the others in displeasure. she gripped the skill card tightly, given by raydon prior to the match while warning her that she could use it in case the opponents focused on him.

    she was skeptical at first, but then as she saw how it went exactly as raydon warned, serestia''s ego was hurt. instead of using the skill card, she chased after the opponents to get into range.

    back to raydon, upon unleashing the soul skill, he ordered the white tigress to take care of the bull and he charged toward the golem.

    the girl quickly came to her senses and fired an energy arrow at the incoming opponent. it was quite precise. she showcased her archery abilities even during the earlier match too.

    however, this is where raydon picked up her weakness. the fact that she is accurate and quite straightforward in her attacks clearly told him the path of the arrow.

    when he knows the path of the arrow, with his superior reflexes, it is like a walk in a park for him to evade those attacks.

    within no time, he closed the gap. the girl ordered the golem to kick him away while she drew the bow.

    she planned to ambush him the moment with a lightning arrow he evade the golem. and once it strikes him, he will not only be injured but also be paralyzed, eventually ending up at her mercy.

    however, little did she know that raydon who evaded her arrows didn''t have any plans to do the same for the golem.

    as the earth golem motioned its giant leg to kick him, raydon raised his dagger and slashed at its foot with all of his strength.

    the blade and the golem''s foot collide.

    on one side, there is a golem with the temporary strength of a high-rank-6 arcana, and on another side, there is a blade with the strength of a peak-rank-5. not to mention, both of them are in gold grade.

    it is obvious that his dagger should be blocked by the foot of the golem, correct?

    but, the reality is something entirely opposite.

    the dagger cleanly sliced off the golem''s foot and the golem lost its balance, falling onto the ground while raydon slid forward a bit and jumped high.

    just as the girl crashed onto the ground and she quickly jumped high to land on her feet, raydon reached her and pierced her back.

    "argh..."

    the dagger pierced deeply into her skin before releasing dark energy into her system. the golem disappeared and she lost her consciousness soon after. the proctor, this time, acted fast and grabbed her through some sort of energy arm and dragged her outside to keep her safe.

    meanwhile, the tri-horned flaming bull was in an intense battle with the white tigress. the latter was almost defeated but it just wasn''t caring about the injuries and in a full-on offensive mode, aggressively attacking the bull.

    it goes without saying that the tri-horned bull is overpowering its opponent, but the white tigress gave enough time for raydon to defeat the golem and its master. hence, its purpose served in his eyes.

    he charged toward the bull while turning into a shadow.

    "dammit." dane magnolis realized that his partner is down in a matter of seconds and the match became 3 vs 1 (including the white tigress).

    he was forced to activate the power of the ring on his left index finger.

    the scarlet gem on the ring glowed a bit, creating an energy shield around him in the form of an ellipsoid.

    gripping the handle of the lance, dane ordered the bull to charge at raydon.

    letting out heavy breaths of snort, the bull charged at the opponent with reddened eyes.

    raydon was confident to defeat him too. in his shadow form, he cannot be touched physically. as long as he was careful about the energy attacks, he will be good.

    however, little did neither raydon nor dane expect that as the latter reached halfway, a large section of the platform suddenly collapses, and the tri-horned bull will fall into a deep pit.

    raydon put breaks to his feet and looked in the direction of his partner, who is standing not far away with a glowing staff raised above her head.

    with an expression of seriousness, serestia looked at her teammate and said, "he is mine to finish. don''t intervene."

    raydon didn''t proceed further but neither did he exit from his current form. he waited.

    in the next instant, almost all of her soul energy was poured into the staff again as she mumbled, "fire."

    a tremendous amount of flames erupted from the pit, roasting the bull and destroying the barrier around it.

    her determination is good, but unfortunately, her power isn''t enough. she failed to finish him.

    "moooo"

    the bull was deeply angered and without caring about its condition, it jumped as high as it can and jumped out of the hole. second-degree and third-degree burns are evident on its body.

    on the other hand, its master is unharmed. however, his defensive shield is gone. and there are also holes in his shirt and pants. he glared at serestia and then at raydon. the latter then raised his hand and gestured for him to go on.

    dane didn''t know what raydon''s problem with his teammate is but more than fulfilling his desire to take revenge for his teammate and the other defeated classmates, he wanted to beat up the girl that interfered.

    and if he will go down, he will take atleast one with him. this way, he can also save his face.

    "rampage, i unleash the soul skill: berserk."

    the tri-horned bull was enveloped by his soul energy and its three horns turned into flames.

    serestia took out an sp recovery card from her pocket and shouted, "raydon, i need you to cover me for a second."

    raydon just blankly stared at her. he didn''t help her.

    the raging tri-horned bull reached her as she applied the recovery card to recover her soul energy. serestia timely jumped to the side, dodging its flaming horns, but dane managed to strike her by extending his lance.

    the lance pierced her abdomen and he raised her with the lance. serestia pushed out the recovered soul energy from her body to escape and crash onto the floor.

    dane controlled the bull and it made a u-turn and rushed back at the girl on the floor.

    raydon continued to be a spectator as if he doesn''t have any intention of helping her.

    azzy deeply frowned as he got on his feet. seeing that the proctor isn''t intervening in the battle, he decided to do it. however, he couldn''t step forward as the reaper told him to wait and watch.

    the bull almost reached the injured serestia, who doesn''t even have the staff in her hand.

    serestia raised her arms to push out the remaining tiny bit of soul energy at a certain angle to deflect herself and thereby, reduce the inflicted damage.

    "arghh..." she screamed as her hands and the bull''s horns collided.

    to everyone''s surprise, instead of energy, a pure gust of wind escaped from her palms, blasting away the bull.n0velusb.c0m

    everyone rose to their feet in shock.

    the tri-horned bull, its master, and the rest of the concrete platform were blasted away from her.

    *thud*

    she collapsed on the ground, leaving behind everyone in shock.

    for a few moments, the whole arena fell into silence.

    forget about sensing peak-rank-6 strength of wind power from the girl in the 5-star realm and that too possessed a purple grade arcana, even azzy didn''t expect serestia to possess two attributes. furthermore, that earlier attack was an attribute attack

    "dane is out of bounds. emerald academy wins the match and goes into the finals," declared the proctor.

 Chapter 568 Arcana Festival: Day 2 (Part-4)

    ?

    azzy quickly got to her in a jiffy as the proctor prioritized checking upon dane, who spurted our blood from his mouth and crashed onto the ground earlier.

    after applying for the instant healing card, he grabbed her hand and closed his eyes, checking her condition inwardly.

    his facial expression changed as he realized something. there was a crack on her soul orb, which couldn''t be healed by the healing card.

    it was then the reaper''s words echoed in his head, "don''t worry. it''s a blessing in misfortune."

    "i know. i have seen it before, chronos," replied azzy while remembering his best friend. he then added, "but, she is still my friend''s daughter."

    "then, help her instead of uselessly worrying," said the reaper.

    meanwhile, raydon finally dismissed his shadow form and slowly walked toward both of them.

    picking up the girl, azzy rose to his feet and then slowly flew away toward the infirmary without saying anything to raydon. the latter raised his head and stared at azzy.

    after a while;n0velusb.c0m

    at the infirmary, azzy was seen sitting beside the unconscious serestia.

    raydon and navi entered the tent with aaron to check on her. the latter is the vice principal and the former was worried about azzy''s anger.

    aaron asked, "how is she, mr. gary?"

    azzy replied without looking at her, "i think your eyes can see her condition more than any other person, mr. aaron."

    the nurses who were free around thought that azzy was trying to be rude to this white-haired fellow, but then, they saw the latter''s eyes glow for a second and heard him reply in a serious tone, "her soul orb is damaged?"

    raydon was stunned for a second and he looked at serestia again. a sense of guilt slightly took over him.

    azzy didn''t comment on aaron''s statement and asked about the tournament.

    aaron informed him about the withdrawal of team rs from the competition for the final and also the loss of the group battle in the finals against the dragon academy''s team.

    "the teacher''s round is only left. we''ll stay here to look after student serestia." aaron asked him to go to the arena for the duo battle. he registered with snivy as a duo for the teacher''s tournament.

    azzy replied, "navi, you stay here. and mr. aaron, you must be with the other students. did you forget what happened on the way? we cannot compromise on the security of the students at any given moment."

    azzy might have given a logical explanation but in reality, he just doesn''t trust aaron with serestia. he would rather put her life in the hands of the guy who was indirectly responsible for this situation. thankfully, there''s serestia''s best friend here. hence, he gave her the job.

    because he showcased his strength against a supreme being, aaron also didn''t intend to go against azzy''s instructions either. he followed him, leaving behind the two students.

    raydon looked like he wanted to say something, but azzy has already flown away without giving him an opportunity to explain.

    upon returning to the arena, azzy went straight to the field, joining snivy as the other duo battle just started.

    it was a high-intense battle with the students watching it in silence and their faces are filled with amazement. surprisingly, almost everyone above rank-4 could watch the battle as the adults were battling with their suppressed strength.

    the shockwaves from their collisions weren''t even reaching the audience.

    azzy, however, was quite bored as he saw nothing but flashing techniques. it''s as if the four men were putting up a performance.

    it went on for another half an hour before the heavenly academy claimed the victory.

    azzy and snivy were then called onto the platform. on the other side, the proctor ricardus teamed up with alan, replacing the other fellow.

    the principal of the dragon academy appeared out of nowhere and volunteered to be the proctor.

    looking left and then the right, the old man said, "i hope the students will learn something from your battle too."

    "they will, mr. principal," replied ricardus as he meaningfully stared at azzy.

    as the principal floated higher, alan took the initiative to converse with azzy, "mr. gary, i see that you suppressed your soul realm to mortal. should we go with a physical fight?"

    snivy tilted her head to look at azzy for the answer. he is the boss here.

    azzy replied, "no need for restrictions."

    alan frowned at his statement, "if we go all out, there will be casualties, mr. gary."

    in response, azzy simply raised his head and smirked, "it should be the job of the proctor to prevent such disasters. and if you want the students to learn something new, i think it is best if they understand why adults would like to suppress their strength. don''t you think so?"

    "hmm, i guess you are right." alan agreed with azzy while ricardus stared at him in silence.

    as if the principal agrees with azzy''s words, without any warning, he unleashes a barrier in the next second, covering the battle platform.

    followed by the barrier creation, his voice echoed in the surroundings, "now, if the participants get ready, we''ll proceed with the round in about 15 seconds."

    ricardus and alan quickly summoned their respective arcana. while the former''s sword is in gold grade, the latter''s arcana surprisingly is a giant ax.

    "what happened to his minotaur?" wondered azzy.

    snivy didn''t appear finding it any strange and proceeded to summon her soul card.

    "azrael, let''s do this..."

    just as she was about to pour her soul energy into it, azzy stopped her from proceeding further. he asked her to leave this battle to him.

    "fine, you owe me one." snivy nodded and stood aside, perplexing the spectators. many thought that azzy and snivy were too arrogant while some were looking forward to seeing their real strength. the principal was also one of those people.

    spreading his feet slightly apart, azzy stood straight and looked at his opponents.

    15 seconds are up and the proctor announced the start of the battle.

    azzy raised his right hand and motioned it back then forth with his palm facing the opponents.

    in just an instant, a giant translucent hand filled with natural energy appeared before azzy and snivy, shocking every spectator.

    "ho!" the supreme realm expert looked at the giant hand in curiosity. it was so big that its width covered the platform. there was no space to dodge here. alan and ricardus felt that they can only block it.

    both of them tightly gripped the handles of their weapons and rushed forward as the divine hand made its way toward them.

    just as they were about to collide, all of a sudden, the giant palm disappeared alongside the weapons in the hands of azzy''s opponents.

    the old geezer floating in the air suddenly crashed onto the platform at a rapid speed. alan and ricardus put brakes to their feet with a look of surprise on their faces.

    "what the f*ck is going on..." cursed snivy as the soul card in her hand disintegrated into specks of light.

    their surroundings changed. a dark-reddish-colored barrier in the form of a dome enveloped the platform, blocking everyone''s vision on the platform.

    "domain?" mumbled azzy as he looked around. he experienced this situation once. hence, he could recognize it.

    however, the reaper shocked him with his reply, "it isn''t just a simple domain, azrael. this is the multilayered domain. i sense three of them. it is time for you to fight with everything you have got."

    azzy''s facial expression darkened.

    and within no time, two figures appeared on the platform while a towering giant filled with flames appeared outside of the platform, causing chaos among the spectators.

 Chapter 569 Revenge Of Fenrir And Unleashing The Full Power Of Cosmic Jewels

    ?

    inside the multilayered domain;

    a strange silence filled the barrier as the wolf and an old man were slowly walking toward azzy and snivy.

    it is not that they want to speak. it''s just that they couldn''t as these experts were paralyzed in fear upon sensing the demigod realm power inside the enemies. even snivy was no exception. all of them felt like they were at the mercy of these beasts, and since they weren''t targeting them

    as the fenrir and jormungandr reached halfway and stopped, the former spoke, "it looks like i have disturbed your battle, but what can we do? we are in a rush at the moment. we came here as soon as we released our friend."

    "you plan on going back on our deal?" asked azzy as he unlocked the seal on his soul orb. however, his soul energy remained still. his access has been cut-off.

    fenrir let out a snort in response to his question. "hmpf, your arcana spirit might have forced the deal on me because i was helpless back then. now, the situation is different. you can neither use any type of energy nor the power of your attribute. furthermore, we are at our full strength this time. you have no chance of escape."

    "i should be honored, i guess. two demigods teamed up to kill someone like me." azzy mocked the two of them in return.

    fenrir replied, "you should be, kid. to kill you, i had to make a deal with two more demigods."

    "two more?" azzy raised his eyebrows. he activated aura sensing instantly.

    it couldn''t penetrate the barrier but at the very least, he realized that the third demigod isn''t hiding inside.

    that would only mean one thing. someone is outside, probably protecting the domain from any unexpected interference.

    and that isn''t something he can feel reassuring. not only aaron is away from his sight, but there''s also an unknown demigod who can massacre everyone around to eliminate the witnesses.

    in order to hide his worry, he acted as if he wasn''t much concerned about this situation. he further provoked them by stating, "you did a good thing. you reduced my efforts so much by bringing those targets to me. once i absorb their core, i can directly break through to the demigod realm. for your service, i will leave you alive. don''t worry."

    "you..." fenrir was enraged by how this brat was looking down at them. the wolf roared, "i will shred you into pieces."

    azzy replied with a straight face as he went into a battle stance, "i''ll let you try."

    alan and the others felt like azzy is too bold. they didn''t understand how he got such courage to talk in such a way. just looking at those beings is making their souls tremor in fear.

    the world serpent stayed back while fenrir charged forward at a speed azzy couldn''t follow without the help of his eyes of god soul skill.

    its figure was quite blurry, but azzy, nevertheless, wasn''t nervous due to the fact that he can track its movements with aura sensing.

    but then again, tracking it and reacting to it are two different things.

    while azzy managed to see through its attack at the back of his neck, he couldn''t react in time as its claws scratched him.

    azzy flew into the air and crashed ten meters away.

    "hmm?" fenrir raised its paws and looked at its claws. "i cannot kill him in one move? even his neck felt like a durable metal. his body is changed from the last time we encountered him," thought the wolf as it stared at azzy, who slowly got onto his feet with a black crown appeared on his head. the injury on his neck healed instantly.

    seeing that he was fine, azzy''s confidence increased. he spoke as he summoned the shield of amerys, "you did a foolish thing to lock our energies too. your current physical power isn''t enough to kill me, fenrir."

    "that gem... he didn''t just have one, but two cosmic jewels." fenrir realized why his opponent is acting so arrogant. jormungandr, the world serpent became excited when he saw those two jewels. a look of greediness appeared on his face.

    meanwhile, the supreme realm expert also appeared to have recognized the jewel of life. the other two were clueless.

    "grrr"

    fenrir growled at azzy and charged forward once again, this time, accelerating to the max.

    if the earlier attack was a blur, the current one isn''t even visible to azzy. not to mention, there isn''t enough time to think of a strategy either. he had less than a millisecond to react.

    as a result, azzy was forced to tightly grip the shield and braced himself for the impact.

    luckily for him, the wolf didn''t attack his back like earlier. this time, it was a frontal attack. there''s also probably fenrir''s ego in the play too.

    as the great wolf threw its entire body at the shield, the jewel of earth glowed in response, increasing the durability of the adamantine shield by a thousand times.n-(ovelbin

    azzy was pushed back and the shockwave generated by the collision also pushed away fenrir as a result.

    it was then the standby jormungandr took action.

    in a timely manner, the world serpent stretched his arms. they turned into that of two grey-colored snakes as one of them captured azzy and the other bit his neck, inducing poison into his system.

    the jewel of life glowed and removed the poison on its own while the reaper forced out the amulet of crescent moon to be summoned around azzy''s neck and controlled its lightning energy to attack the enemy that ambushed his host.

    "argh..."

    jormungandr let out a painful scream and freed azzy as his arms were burnt by the tremendous amount of lightning energy. the memory of thor odinson once killing it in a spar with the power of natural lightning was invoked in jormungandr''s memory.

    the world serpent couldn''t help but shudder for a second as he looked at his arms with third-degree burns. since the healing factor is pretty much banned in this domain, he felt extreme pain, but fortunately, it can be bearable for now.

    on the other hand, azzy was completely fine because of the fact that cosmic jewels can ignore the laws of the domain even if it was created by gods. only true gods, chronos, and personifications of life and space have the ability to restrict their powers.

    this is why cosmic jewels are so special and sought by every being in the universe.

    meanwhile, fenrir slid for a while before managing to find his footing. it silently stared at azzy, this time, taking him quite seriously.

    "this brat''s soul was bound to three of them? how is the fu*k he even stayed alive until now? even i don''t dare to do that. is he an avatar of a true god or is his soul a cosmic jewel itself?"

    fenrir couldn''t help but fall into deep thoughts. rather than rushing without any plan, he felt that he should be more careful.

    "more than him, i''m now worried about his arcana spirit. it is a celestial grade for sure. the fact that it can control time indicates only one thing. znuvo, that troublesome time-traveling beast."

    meanwhile, outside of the barrier;

    as the students and teachers alike started running away from the fire giant, mysterious figures started appearing one after another while surrounding it. all of them are in the supreme realm except for one guy.

    filled with shock, vesyrn mumbled, "what the hell is going on here?"

 Chapter 570 Arrival Of Qridus Garcia

    ?

    as soon as the fire giant surtr along with the other demigod realm beasts appeared in the central city of arcana world, the nine hidden clans and wamo received the news and they acted quickly to resolve the situation.

    unlike fenrir who keeps his power suppressed to make sure that no one detects his presence, the fire giant couldn''t do the same way. and the fact that this incident is happening at the headquarters of arcana world makes it easier for the hidden clans to travel.

    vesyrn also received the news but unlike the other clans, the death clan lacked a supreme realm expert, well atleast publicly, and to keep it that way, he made a personal visit while leaving pierre garcia at the clan to protect it in his absence.

    but, when he arrived at the location, he saw that the fire giant isn''t in a rampage mode but is only guarding the dome-shaped barrier.

    to understand the situation completely, he asked one of the few teachers who stayed behind in the arena. it was a teacher from dragon academy.

    the exalt realm expert told him everything, concluding that this might be an attack on the dragon academy''s principal.

    vesyrn didn''t take his words for granted and looked above in the sky, or specifically at one person.

    he flew back to the group and consulted wamo''s supreme commander (kruger), who looked quite surprised by the appearance of another elf like him.

    as wamo typically has more information than the hidden clans, he thought that this elf would probably give him the info that the teacher didn''t give him.

    kruger come out of his senses and replied, "let''s try talking to it."

    "if you go near to that violent thing, you will be roasted to death, mister. so, let''s not do that," said a voice in reply. it sounded like a girl or probably a child.

    vesyrn and kruger raised their heads to look toward the source of the voice. the other experts who were reluctant to lead the attack the fire giant also raised their heads.

    they saw a golden-haired little girl sitting on the left shoulder of a buffed man, whose biceps were as thick as atleast 10 inches. they slowly descended toward the level of others.

    the experts were taken aback to see the little girl isn''t just in the same realm as them but even stronger than them. they felt like she is a supreme being. the buffed fellow, on the other hand, is at the peak stage of the legendary realm.

    while vesyrn wondered who she was, kruger greeted her by cupping his fists, "it''s been a while, lady ila."

    "hundred years, give or take," replied the cheerful little girl with a smile.

    "ila? that ila?" vesyrn looked at her again in a bit of surprise. the supreme realm experts who have heard the name too couldn''t help but look at her once again.

    ila was a known figure in the history books as the one who gave the finishing blow to aelius crescent when he went on a rampage, 6000 years ago. she is the current leader of abel tower.

    "excuse me, earlier, you sounded like you know what that thing is," said the celestial elf named neremyn. he might be a haughty one but that doesn''t mean he would be running off his mouth in front of a legendary figure like ila. n(/0ve1bin

    she has more or less the same status as qridus garcia, although slightly less considering the fact that qridus is the person behind almost every high-magnitude natural disaster occurred in the world for the past five thousand years.

    that bag of bones from the death clan is like a god of destruction who had the license to clear out civilizations.

    anyways, back to the current situation, ila answered neremyn''s question by pointing out her finger at the heavy build warrior with a broadsword on his shoulders and the look of someone willing to fight to his death, "i believe he is the best person to ask. after all, that thing is the mess of asgard."

    as the gazes moved onto magnus stormborn, the latter answered in his deep voice, "surtr used to be the ruler of muspelheim, a volcanic region in our old asgard. back during the era of our great lord odin, surtr used to be a guardian of our home.

    then, we had a prophecy stating that surtr will become our doom. the event is known as the ragnarok. to prevent it, he was sentenced to death. he rebelled.

    after a great battle, he lost to our great lord and escaped. however, by that time, his soul was damaged to quite an extent. no one knows how he did it but, he somehow merged with his arcana and became the immortal fire giant himself.

    in the end, he ended up causing the ragnarok, forcing our ancestors to abandon the place and look for a new home. when our great lords ascended to the god realm (rank-11), they sealed him at a secret location. it looked like someone released him on purpose.

    but, the strange thing is that he should have gone on a rampage after the release even though he is working with another demigod. the fact that he is staying silent means that he is getting something worth in return. he is famous for collecting treasures."

    "okay, so, how do we defeat him then?" asked the celestial elf in a bit of impatience.

    there''s a war coming up ahead and the last thing he needed is to deal with a demigod right now. even the others were in the same opinion as him.

    his question was met with silence from magnus. the others gave him weird glances.

    "what is it?" asked neremyn.

    ila let out a sigh and shook her head, "you elves..."

    as neremyn only grew confused further, vesyrn said, "if they know how to defeat him, would you think they would seal him forever?"

    "after evolving into a divine being, it has become immortal. if you want to defeat it, then, you have three methods. one is to destroy its core, and the other is to extinguish it using the jewel of water.

    first one is impossible for even the other demigods even if they come down from heaven. the other is in the hands of a weakling despite having a strong soul to control it."

    "what is the third solution?" asked elyssa moon, the matriarch of the moon clan.

    the pink-haired little girl let out a smile as she glanced at vesyrn, "the secret records of abel tower say that the death clan''s founder received a certain treasure from the god of death which can be used once to destroy all the life on gaia when the time comes. if you target a single individual, you could potentially kill even a demigod."

    everyone''s gazes shifted to vesyrn this time. he looked quite surprised as he said, "i don''t know. this is the first time i''m even hearing of this story."

    "the weapon should probably be with qridus garcia," commented agasthya, the leader of the kuru clan.

    neremyn looked at vesyrn and asked, "can you communicate with him?"

    ila answered in place of vesyrn, "well, i don''t think he needs to."

    everyone followed her gaze and saw a ball of light in the sky.

    it slowly got brighter and bigger until everyone was forced to close their eyes for a moment. when they reopened, they saw a familiar-looking old man.

    "ancestor!" "it''s qridus" "something feels different about him" "he looks a lot younger and healthier"

    ila let out a smile as she mumbled, "you finally did it. congratulations, my rival."

 Chapter 571 The Sealed Arena: Qridus Law Of Equality

    ?

    the appearance of qridus attracted everyone''s attention, including the fire giant.

    he was no longer the same person he was from more than three years ago. qridus already entered the realm of demigods (rank-10).

    as for the reason why didn''t he return to the clan, it was likely because he was training to master his newfound strength.nove)lb(1n

    while ila was happy for him, the others weren''t comfortable with such a situation. he was the last person they wish to attain the demigod realm. perhaps, only the celestial elf isn''t worried as they already had a pseudo-demigod to protect their clan.

    meanwhile, qridus went on a staring contest with the fire giant without bothering about the presence of the group of supreme realm experts that gathered only to stay as spectators rather than take action.

    after about twenty seconds of silence, a deep frown appeared on qridus and he raised his hand above his head.

    a giant seal was formed in the sky, alerting every expert.

    his voice was then heard in everyone''s ears like a whisper of a dying old man on the deathbed, "i''m sealing this place. everyone except for ila, leave if you want to live. you have five seconds."

    as soon as his words ended, without any hesitation, every expert nearby rushed away from there.

    vesyrn was no exception either. he too rushed away from the battlefield, listening to the orders of his great-grandfather.

    however, just as he was about to leave, he saw a woman petrified as she was watching the fire giant while the others escaped for their lives. she looked like she passed out while standing with her eyes open.

    he immediately changed his direction and grabbed her arm before dragging her away.

    flora suddenly got to her senses and saw that a stranger was taking her away. she tried to get away in reflex.

    and that momentary resistance caused vesyrn to lose his focus and they ended up crashing into the stands.

    it was at this moment, the seal was finished. without a glance at his descendant, he simultaneously pointed his left hand in vesyrn''s direction.

    a ball of energy, looking like a bubble, was shot toward him.

    it enveloped vesyrn and flora as the entire arena was sealed by a similar-looking dome.

    the fire giant didn''t take any action as it wasn''t attacked yet.

    qridus'' voice then resounded across the arena, "domain: law of equality."

    upon his words ended, a mysterious force was released within the domain and enveloped the fire giant, qridus, and ila. vesyrn and flora were unaffected because of the bubble around them.

    finding herself on top of vesyrn, flora''s eyes met his at a close range. she blushed and quickly got onto her feet. as vesyrn followed suit, both of them became spectators.

    meanwhile, ila felt an overwhelming surge of energy inside her. the ever-silly smile on her face was replaced with shock. "did i make a breakthrough or something?" she wondered out loud.

    qridus answered, "this is my domain, ila. the law of equality. when i invoke the law, everyone in my domain will be forced to have equal strength. either everyone has the same power as the strongest or the weakest. a 50-50 chance. but, not everyone had the capacity to hold the strength of a demigod. you are the only one who fits the bill in that bunch."

    "no wonder." realization dawned upon the pink-haired little girl as she glanced at vesyrn and flora from the corner of her eyes. "so, it is a protective shield, huh."

    there are two types of domains. the first type is the rule-invoking domain where the demigods will put any type of rules within the domain which have to be followed by everyone. it is usually exclusive to arcana spirits.

    the second type is the law-invoking domain where the demigods will apply the great laws of the universe which will be followed by everyone in the domain. if one''s mastery is high enough over the laws, they can exclude some people just like how qridus saved vesyrn and flora from the effects of the domain. this is exclusive to arcana masters and other divine beings.

    qridus then continued, "ila, look over them for me. and look for an opportunity for the finishing blow."

    the leader of abel tower obeyed his instructions and flew toward vesyrn while qridus started his offense against surtr.

    meanwhile, inside the multilayered domain, fenrir and jormungandr teamed up against azzy while the others stayed as spectators as they aren''t sure whether they can involve in the fight now that their soul orbs were sealed.

    snivy also got away from azzy as far as she can, feeling that she will drag her friend down.

    radagast starhelm, the supreme realm expert, decided to assist azzy after seeing him in complete defense mode and still getting beaten up, not that he was getting injured in any way.

    the jewel of life is keeping him alive and the two demigod realm beasts somehow lacked the physical strength to kill him in one blow as the death clan''s heir reached tier-9 divine physique, just a while ago.

    in return, fenrir and jormungandr were the ones getting injured by the jewel of lightning but they stubbornly stayed aggressive, knowing that azzy would eventually lose the stamina to use the cosmic jewels as they would take a heavy toll on his body for sure.

    radagast knew that he lacked the strength to go against them. hence, he went on conjuring a great seal at a slow pace.

    the beasts of asgard didn''t pay too much attention to him for he is nothing but an ant in their eyes and also due to the fact that they don''t have the knowledge of sealing techniques.

    when azzy learned of the sealing technique name from the reaper, he stopped thinking about counterattacking for the moment and focused on dodging and defending only.

    as the great wolf is the one that has a grudge, he made sure to focus on blocking its attacks through the jewel of earth and ignored the world serpent that kept on attacking his vitals, but not with enough force as it doesn''t want to kill azzy.

    this way, despite getting pierced in almost every location in his body and then instantly healed by the jewel of life, azzy took control of the battle.

    fenrir''s rage only increased further and he was roaring at his brother to open an opportunity for him to injure his enemy.

    this went on for the next three minutes. while the beasts were at their peak, azzy felt like his movements became a lot heavier due to the toll on his body. the time limit between each attack from the jewel of lightning has increased considerably. his vision became a little blurry. even the instant healing is no longer instant. from an instant, it increased to a fraction of a second.

    in such a situation, he should start getting nervous, but strangely, azzy wasn''t afraid. if anything, he was smiling inside as he was looking at the beasts.

    "raaaa"

    as the great wolf collided with his shield for the nth time and jormungandr attacked his legs, tripping him up, azzy fell on his back and saw the wolf lunge at him with its claws.

    azzy, this time, missed the timing and the wolf''s claws finally pierced his chest and the beast pushed its claws deeper to reach out for his heart.

    looking closely at the beast, azzy thought, "its aura is getting thicker. the time is getting near. let''s not attack this time and go all out at the right time."

 Chapter 572 The End Of Fenrir

    ?nove.lb-in

    a while ago, the aura of death appeared over fenrir and it was getting stronger as time is passing by, despite the fact that azzy has yet to give it a powerful blow.

    the lightning energy from the jewel of lightning only gave them first and second-degree burns usually because of their high-speed dodging capabilities; the third-degree burns on the world serpent''s hands are just a one-time thing as it holds on to him for a bit of time and was ambushed as a result.

    azzy''s aura sensing was at its maximum and he started playing tag with the two beasts while trying his best to stay untouched for the next half a minute.

    as radagast completed his seal, azzy attracted the attention of the wolf with a provocation, "what happened, doggie? tired already? i''ll give you last chance to run away from here."

    *grrrr*

    fenrir growled in anger and shouted, "brother, release your domain right now."

    "but..." jormungandr hesitated at first as it would give azzy access to the natural energy from the surroundings but then again, they also will get the same opportunity.

    in his eyes, azzy''s time manipulation is far scarier. the rest shouldn''t be bothered too much. they only did it to make sure azzy dies without being able to defend himself.

    the world serpent didn''t expect that their job would become this tough.

    since it is fenrir''s business in the first place, jormungandr went ahead with the release of the domain and let the natural energy flow into the barrier. the restriction on the flight was also removed.

    jumping high in the air, fenrir started rapidly gathering an enormous amount of natural energy from the surroundings into its mouth.

    azzy''s sage orb was also unsealed. hence, he planned to defend himself with everything he has got.

    before the great wolf even completed his technique, radagast finally finished the sealing technique and unleashed it.

    it is neither an offensive type nor a defensive type. while the seal is just a support type, azzy felt like this is what he needed the most.

    upon seeing the appearance of a familiar slimy-looking creature with a big mouth and countless teeth, azzy charged forward toward it without caring about anything.

    jormungandr failed to recognize the thing and he didn''t sense any great power in the gluttony beast too.

    while the world serpent could only think of holding him back, he didn''t stop azzy as fenrir''s upcoming technique is something like a target-lock type. it cannot be evaded and can only be blocked.

    everything went well for azzy and he managed to reach the beast in time.

    radagast was surprised by azzy''s actions upon realizing that this young man somehow recognized the gluttony beast, which is said to be a long-lost ancient sealing technique.

    but then again, after watching how he managed to tackle such powerful beasts on his own until now, although the jewel of life contributed the most, radagast still felt like it should be within his expectations.

    he watched as azzy collided with the gluttony beast and the latter disappeared.

    "okay, good. now, all i have to do is to attack his soul orb and remove the rule over it," thought the principal of dragon academy as he closed his eyes.

    however, his connection with the gluttony beast was severed in an instant. "what!" he let out a cry of surprise.

    as alan and ricardus looked at him, azzy, meanwhile, let the reaper take control of the gluttony beast that invaded his body and made it attack his soul orb just as radagast wanted.

    fenrir''s technique was finished and it spewed out a giant sphere of darkness while azzy''s soul orb was freed from one of the rules implemented by the multilayered domain or more specifically, freed from surtr''s domain rule.

    an hourglass appeared in azzy''s hand and he reversed it without waiting, unleashing the soul skill.

    "soul skill: time stop"

    for an instant, the time was frozen all over the solar system and azzy flew toward fenrir.

    the great wolf and the world serpent could sense the time freeze; their eyes could move. however, they aren''t immune to the soul skill.

    upon reaching fenrir, azzy unleashed the full power of the jewel of lightning alongside a soul skill of his.

    as the lightning energy seeped into the body of fenrir and attacked every part of his body, equivalent to 700 peta joules of energy.

    "soul skill: the spear of death"

    as he unleashed everything he had, his body became so heavy that the death spear in his hand couldn''t even move. the jewels of life disappeared, leaving him vulnerable.

    even after his transformation with a divine physique, it became too much for him. azzy also felt like he was going to crash onto the ground as he cannot maintain flight any longer.

    azzy roared inwardly, "chronos, help me..."

    the reaper forcibly pushed azzy''s body beyond the limit and moved his hand to pierce fenrir with the death spear.

    fenrir, who cannot recover his health due to its own domain rule, realized it is too late as the death energy destroyed every cell in his body completely while he was in a time freeze.

    fenrir''s instantly turned into stone before becoming black powder and scattering into the wind, leaving behind a bright and dense spirit core in the sky.

    meanwhile, azzy slowly started to fall toward the ground. his consciousness started fading away as time resumed, leaving the spectators in shock.

    ricardus, who had beef with azzy, found out to be shivering in fear. his legs couldn''t support him and he fell on his knees.

    snivy, meanwhile, got to her senses quite quicker than the rest and rushed forward to catch azzy.

    however, jormungandr beat her to it.

    the enraged world serpent had his face reached azzy in a matter of seconds. jormungandr''s head turned into that of a serpent and opened his mouth widely to bite him with his powerful fangs.

    "no," snivy cried in shock, trying her best to summon her hammer arcana, but to no avail.

    it looked as if azzy was about to die without being able to defend himself. however, just as the world serpent gave the finishing blow, the protos energy gushed out of his body and formed a defensive barrier with spikes protruding in every direction.

    one of the spikes pierced the skin of the world serpent''s head. jormungandr quickly retreated in pain. in the meantime, a bit of flesh was corroded from his head.

    "this cosmic energy is too evil..." jormungandr instantly realized the potency of the protos energy and made the decision in an instant.

    the serpent gave out a powerful hiss, giving a signal to his partner guarding outside.

    meanwhile, outside the last remaining domain of the beasts, surtr and qridus were in a high-pace battle.

    the fire giant reduced his size to that of qridus so that his attacks may connect, but due to qridus'' domain law, both of them have perfectly equal amounts of strength. hence, neither of them could get an edge over the other.

    gaining the strength of a demigod at once, ila took this opportunity to study the great laws of the universe by connecting with nature instead of trying to find a way to defeat the fire giant.

    she doesn''t want the battle to end soon, but jormungadr''s call forces surtr to release his domain and free everyone inside.

    qridus halted his movements upon seeing the familiar-looking protos ball that was slowly rising toward the spirit core. "azrael?"

    ila snapped out of her senses and a frown appeared on her face as she too saw it, "that corruptive energy of aelius?"

 Chapter 573 The Abduction Plot Unfolds

    chapter 573 the abduction plot unfolds

    after a while;

    qridus released his domain and let the fire giant, as well as the world serpent, teleport far away from the city.

    staring at the horizon for a few seconds, let out a deep sigh, "my dear descendant never fails to attract trouble." he then shifted his attention to the spiky sphere that reached the spirit core and swallowed it.

    the defensive protos energy soon disappeared and azzy started falling freely toward the ground.

    qridus quickly teleported and caught his descendant.

    as he landed on the ground, vesyrn rushed toward him in a hurry while others stayed in their places while letting out sighs of relief at the same as the danger was averted.

    two days later;

    garcia palace, death clan village;

    azzy slowly opened his eyes to see a high ceiling and quickly tried to get up but failed to do and collapsed back on the bed. as he looked around, he saw familiar things. "how did i end up home?" he wondered out loud.

    the reaper''s voice then echoed in his head, "your father brought you here."

    "eh?" azzy was slightly taken aback. he asked the reaper as something clicked in his mind, "did it attract the attention of the hidden clans or my master? what happened after i defeated fenrir?"

    the reaper started his explanation with qridus.

    "that old geezer made a breakthrough?" azzy felt like it was too quick. he expected it would take several years for his ancestor to become a demigod.

    but then again, as a weird fellow who became a supreme realm expert at the age of 17 when an average genius takes thousands of years to become one, azzy knew that he shouldn''t use the word ''quick'' for someone''s breakthrough.

    "so, did he defeat the other monsters?" azzy asked.

    the reaper replied, "no, he let them go as they threatened the lives stuck in his domain. one of them was your father. there''s no way your ancestor would risk collateral damage when his family is involved.

    anyway, i used fenrir''s spirit core to evolve your undead hydra instead of letting your body absorb it or using it on fenrir''s skeleton. right now, your hydra has the same strength as the hydra progenitor of the past. with skeletal fenrir on the side, you would be fine with the majority of the demigods as your opponent as long as it is a one-on-one battle.

    now that the good part is over, let''s talk about the bad news."

    "there''s bad news too?" azzy wondered whether something was wrong with his body or something. the fact that his body isn''t supporting at the moment is quite suspicious.

    the reaper then answered in a grim tone, "the appearance of three demigod realm beasts at a civilian city and one of them being surtr will surely receive the attention from the gods as the guardian god was away on a mission.

    that isn''t the worse part. the problem is the fact that the cosmic jewels were exposed to those two beasts. if the gods come and find the truth, you might be targeted.

    you have to increase the strength of your undead army. you should hunt the beasts from level-5 region as many as you can and add them to your arsenal. it''s the only way."

    "fine," azzy let out a deep sigh, wondering when he can just live in peace. he is just 17 years old. why is his life so complicated? and this isn''t the first time he has thought this way.

    seeing through his thoughts, the reaper said, "the people who are destined for greatness don''t have the luxury to enjoy a normal life like the rest of humans. get used to it."

    "i know, don''t need to lecture me again..." azzy grumbled.

    a day later, he finally was able to move on his own, although with great difficulty. it took him another three days to become completely normal.

    during this time, what azzy tried to prevent happened. despite the setback that occurred due to bathory''s defeat to azzy, he went ahead with the plan and successfully abducted all the sixty kids while on their return to emerald city.

    the teachers were knocked out by him alone.

    fortunately, no one was killed in the process, although snivy was badly injured as she fought a bit too hard. later on, she went into a depression due to her helplessness in both fights.

    because of this, she made the decision on quitting the academy after this semester and go on a journey in the wild zones.

    as for flora, she wasn''t at the scene as qridus knocked her out and vesyrn volunteered to take her away and erase the memory of this incident.

    and by the time principal got the news, aaron''s two partners in crime also escaped the academy, leaving behind some of the candidates with influential parents.

    with sixty lives in his hand, aaron felt that it is enough. hence, he didn''t bother to abduct more of them.

    the demand was also put on the table through anonymous mail, but wamo has yet to make the decision as the organization still has a couple of days before the deadline. the secret agents were trying their best to locate aaron or the kids but couldn''t find the kids for the past three days.

    the organization behind aaron claimed innocence and the key witness (azzy) to their cooperation was recuperating in the death clan without knowing what was happening outside.

    wamo''s supreme commander also received a stern warning from qridus to not unnecessarily involve azzy in this matter.

    and when azzy finally realized the truth, he wanted to confront the old man but the latter didn''t return to the clan for some reason. however, he did leave a few skill cards behind for vesyrn and azzy to protect themselves.

    as for his dad, vesyrn became quite busy in training at the violet pavilion training ground, trying his best to upgrade his strength. the helplessness he faced in the battle of demigods affected his mind.

    the next day, i.e. one day before the deadline set by aaron; azzy left the death clan and reported for the duty.

    commander kruger didn''t act anything out of the ordinary and just sternly told him that he failed his mission.

    just because he respects qridus'' power doesn''t mean he would do a favor to azzy. kruger has certain principles and he will follow them to the death.

    after informing him of the failure, kruger then said, "you are benched until the next mission comes up. use this time to take a rest. i believe you must have already been informed by the elders of your clan about the upcoming war. according to wsa (world space administration), the aliens have already entered our solar system and will reach here in 8-10 weeks. you should also be ready."n(-o(-v-)e(.l)-b-/1--n

    "i understood, but..." azzy nodded in understanding but he begs to differ on the rest part cuz there is something he could do at the moment. he argued that he can save the kids.

    however, kruger didn''t give him such permission. "sorry kid, but your ancestor clearly warned me of the consequences if i allow you to pursue this case."

    after a brief pause, he continued, "there''s a reason why demigods aren''t allowed to exist on this planet. it is because people don''t have the means to go against them. their word is the final say."

    "not exactly, you could kill them with nukes," azzy pointlessly argued in return, to which, his superior made a counterargument without needing to think, "more than 500 mt yield of tnt is needed just for the starters if we consider 40-50% energy conversion rate. we only have one such bomb so far."

    "hmm?"

 Chapter 574 Uncovering the Mystery: The Chaos Lord

    chapter 574 uncovering the mystery: the chaos lord

    as azzy looked at his superior in surprise, the latter said, "what? do you think our r&d is doing nothing? ever since we tested the first atomic bomb more than a century ago, we were always looking for ways to develop weapons to annihilate demigods and supreme beings. keeping them in check is necessary.

    there''s a debate on whether it is viable or not, but after the attack of demons, president cornelius is favorable to continuously upgrade our weapon technology."

    "and even if we develop it, it doesn''t mean they will work," argued azzy after getting the gist of it. he further said, "the most difficult issue is the collateral damage."

    "yeah." commander kruger nodded in agreement and let out a sigh. "too many factors needed to consider it. but, i believe in our progress. give a century or two, we will have the technology to solve those issues too. luckily for us, the advanced alien spacecraft are on their way here. our job is to not only protect people but also acquire all of them. and we cannot let them fall into the hands of others."

    after talking for a bit about various things, azzy realized that he drifted far away from his original purpose and he once again came back to it, to which, kruger said no but added that wamo doesn''t have the right to restrict him if he wants to pursue a criminal for his personal reasons.

    and as an employee of the organization, azzy can also request backup or any information at any given moment. in the event of apprehending the criminal to wamo, he would be rewarded too.

    the commander would then have the right to remove the failure remark from azzy''s file and replace it with a successful covert operation.

    azzy got the hint and he quickly left for the information desk to learn everything wamo has found out so far from its agents on the mission.

    after learning everything he needed to know, azzy went to a remote location in the silver city and took out his hourglass.

    he unleashed the hidden skill of the hourglass.

    "hidden skill: time travel"n-/o((v-.e-/l).b-)i(-n

    azzy''s surroundings changed and he returned to the familiar-looking time stream. ignoring countless versions of himself passing through him like ghosts, azzy walked along the corridor to find the right door and step in.

    this time, he ended up in a desert spanning hundreds of kilometers. he then flew toward the nearby city and traveled to arcana world through the world portal.

    he didn''t go to central city but went to emerald city as he doesn''t want to be spotted by aaron right away.

    upon reaching the academy, he used the erasure skill card to remove his presence and patiently followed maria, aaron''s secret sibling.

    at the same time, azzy also constantly scanned about 100 km of his surroundings with aura sensing so that he sense aaron''s presence first. as for albert, azzy could care less about him at the moment.

    moving at a casual pace to not draw any attention to herself, maria reached the outskirts of the city but didn''t go through the world portals. instead, she ventured into the wild zone.

    azzy followed her to the cave formations nearby the waterfalls guarded by the boss of the region.

    strangely, the gold-grade beast didn''t fight her or show any animosity. instead, the beast gave her a way to go past it. azzy, meanwhile, also went past the beast in a state of invisibility without any trouble.

    however, he couldn''t follow for very long as when reached the deepest part of the cave, she took out a golden key and inserted it into the empty space, opening up a door.

    "it''s a pocket world," thought azzy as he stared at her.

    the reaper''s voice then echoed in his head, "it''s time for our return."

    "no," azzy shook his head, not intending to leave yet despite the fact that he has the ability to break down the pocket world''s entrance (using the gluttony beast sealing technique).

    just as maria was about to walk through the door, azzy made his move and gave a chop to her neck, knocking her out.

    "what are you doing, azrael?" the reaper''s voice sounded like he was surprised by azzy''s actions.

    azzy replied as he picked up the key from the floor, "aaron cares about his sister''s life more than his. i believe she could be my perfect leverage. and i don''t think she''s significant enough for the timeline."

    the reaper became silent for a few seconds and said, "it could work but you have to hide her in a perfect location. you don''t have the prison item card."

    "hmm..." azzy thought for a bit and replied, "well, there is a place i could think of. but, i need your help."

    the reaper learned of his thoughts and praised, "i guess you are getting better at thinking."

    after getting out of the cave, azzy returned to his timeline. and the first thing he did is to get back to the same place, this time, he didn''t bother staying invisible.

    instead, he just went on with boldly massacring everything that comes in his way. neither did he store their corpses for selling nor did he absorb their spirit cores so that it leaves a perfect trail that someone has been there.

    after reaching the exact location where maria was supposed to go, azzy just turned to the right and unleashed a mystical seal, opening up a small door and revealing a medium-sized room inside.

    it''s a pocket world but a small one created by azzy with reaper''s help, using runes.

    inside the room lies a busty woman in a state of motionless (?)

    for a second, azzy wondered whether she died due to the difficulty of breathing, but just as he reached her to check in person instead of activating his aura sensing, maria suddenly opened her eyes and swept his legs with her entire strength only to feel like she has kicked powerful steel block.

    "agh!" as she let out a painful scream, azzy looked at her coldly. he realized that she tried to trick him and that worsened his mood further.

    "you won''t be able to escape, ms. maria. your soul orb was also sealed. if you don''t behave, it will be destroyed." he warned her as he crouched to look straight into her eyes.

    it was then she finally got a good look at his face. "it''s you, gary..."

    "azrael garcia, captain ranked officer at wamo''s zero squad. a pleasure to meet you, aaron''s sister," replied azzy with a smile on his face. maria''s whole body shivered in fear when she looked at his smile.

    since the truth is already out, she commented, "my brother warned me to be wary of you. he told me that you are not who says who you are."

    "perhaps, instead of staying wary of me, if you had been wary of assisting your brother in doing evil acts, this situation wouldn''t have come," replied azzy to her comment with a straight face. it looked as if he wasn''t arguing but simply stating the truth.

    maria furrowed her brows in displeasure, "my brother is not evil. he is a hero trying to save the world."

    "by kidnapping 60 innocent kids? by killing our agent?" azzy''s voice dripped with sarcasm before giving an extremely cold gaze to her. "do you take me for a fool? i know about your organization assad and your father''s imprisonment."

    roughly around 3 weeks ago, he read her memories. hence, he knew that she is lying.

    in the heat of the moment, maria firmly defended her brother by shouting at azzy, "my brother doesn''t want to save our dad. he was trying to save the world from him. it is to prevent the emergence of chaos lord."

    "chaos lord?" this time, it became azzy''s turn to frown deeply.

 Chapter 575 A Sudden Summons

    chapter 575 a sudden summons

    chaos lord is an entity from more than three hundred thousand years ago, even before the empire of arcana. he lived back when there are hundreds of kingdoms ruling over the continent and fighting for the land and dominance.

    he is recorded as the first demigod in the history of mankind. everyone who went to an arcana academy in their childhood knows about him.

    no one knows his real name. all people know about him is that he wasn''t exactly a human, but a half-demon and half-human born to a demon king from ars goetia and a human princess from the kingdom of eden, which is now known as llyne.

    it is said that he is so powerful that people hailed him as a god as they don''t get to see any real gods.

    for thousands of years, he enjoyed the status of a god, protecting the supercontinent from demons. during his reign, he also made sure that there is a wave of peace between demons and the other races.

    as for the wars between human kingdoms or the deadly diseases that are killing humans, he never cared about them.

    however, one day, everything changed when a second demigod emerged. this one is a half-angel and half-human.

    luminael tried his best to bring peace to the supercontinent. he constantly roamed the world to help the sickly people. he protected them from natural disasters. because of the bloodline of an angel and light attribute, he also appeared friendlier to the masses. he became more popular than the chaos lord.

    enmity has been formed between the chaos lord and luminael. previously, the kingdoms fought wars for the land. now, they fought for whose lord is more superior.

    it went on for thousands of years before demigods started emerging one after another from all over the world. the natural energy in the world also became a lot denser as time passed and people no longer treated them as gods.

    as the humans teamed up against chaos lord, the latter resorted to violent ways. from protector, he became the destroyer. from a god, his status dropped to that of a devil.

    chaos lord was eventually killed and his corpse has been cremated.

    it is all azzy and the rest of the world knew so far.

    but what does chaos lord from such a period have anything to do with aaron''s dad? is he a reincarnation of that demigod or something?

    and more importantly, why couldn''t he see this from when jinn possessed her and extracted her memories back then? azzy wondered for a moment before he said, "go on..."

    maria then collected herself and explained, "my brother told me that our organization assad originally was created by our ancestors for the sole purpose of resurrecting the chaos lord. we used to have a treasure that absorbs the souls of the dead that hasn''t gone to the spirit realm.

    according to my brother, our ancestors found a way to resurrect him but we need 100 million souls and a host. for thousands of years, the members of the organization collected in any way they can while moving in the shadows. in my father''s rule, they finally achieved the required amount of souls.

    my father volunteered as the host. however, just before the day of the ritual, he had a change of mind and secretly informed wamo himself. after absorbing the treasure in his body, he went to prison and hoped for a life sentence as he pleaded guilty.

    however, little did he expect that he would receive a death sentence. now, the moment my father dies, the chaos lord will resurrect in his body. my brother wanted to stop this execution and likes to seal him forever.

    as for the agent, he isn''t what you think he is. that alder is a double agent of arc company. he isn''t at school just because wamo assigned him the job. it is to find out the info we are withholding from those directors of arc.

    lightsn¦Ïv¦Ål i actually thought that he is genuinely interested in me until i found out the truth about him. we might have decided to dispose of him to save ourselves, but i was involved in it directly because of my heartbreak.

    since you said you are from zero squad, i believe you have considerable influence within the organization. talk to your superiors and stop this execution. or else, the world will fall into danger, mr. garcia."

    azzy stared at her without speaking. the deafening silence increased maria''s heartbeat as she was hoping that this young man will believe her. she said everything she can and doesn''t have any more info that can make him free her.

    meanwhile, the boy was conversing with the reaper, who appears to be under the impression that she is telling the truth.n(-o.-v.-¦Å/-l(.b()1--n

    as azzy was wondering whether he should summon jinn and possess her or not, an envelope made of energy suddenly appeared before his eyes and went into his forehead, taking him by surprise.

    "azzy, return home this instant." the voice belonged to his father and it sounded quite serious.

    azzy then looked at his hostage and said, "fine, let''s say i believe you. but, you still have to stay in this place until i decide what to do with you."

    azzy backed off and closed the door of the pocket world. he left as the door disappeared, locking her again.

    roughly about an hour later, azzy returned home and went directly to the throne hall as it is where his father is currently at the moment.

    as he entered the place, he saw an elf standing in the center of the hall while vesyrn has a scroll in his hand.

    the stranger took a glance at azzy and furrowed his brows a bit before controlling his expression to normal. forget about aelius crescent''s corrupt energy, he couldn''t even sense soul energy from the boy.

    meanwhile, azzy formally greeted his father in the presence of other pavilion masters and asked for the reason for his summoning.

    vesyrn garcia then spoke, "azrael garcia, your battle with neremyn searvale is going to be conducted as scheduled as we see you are deemed fit. you are going to leave this evening as requested by the elves. pavilion master evelyn and clan leader crescent will be joining you on your journey."

    "eh?"

 Chapter 576 Time Constraints and Travel Arrangements

    chapter 576 time constraints and travel arrangements

    azzy had so much going on in his life that he forgot about his challenge with that celestial elf.

    now that he is on an important case, he was reluctant to leave.

    hence, he asked, "milord, the battle is on the day after tomorrow, correct? may i request to leave tomorrow evening?"

    "not possible, mr. garcia," the elven messenger answered him instead of vesyrn. as azzy looked at him, the elf went on to explain, "it''s a tradition of elves to invite our challengers to our home a day prior to the battle and serve him with our utmost hospitality so that he goes to the battle in his peak state, both physically and mentally."

    "then, we will leave by dawn," said azzy, hoping for the elf to accept.

    however, the elven messenger rejected that idea too. "not possible. the day and night are slightly different in our homeland. the time of dawn for you people is the time of lunch for us. and unlike in this place, our homeland is more in sync with the material world. so, it will already be midnight by the time we reach there."

    azzy felt the urge to punch him but he controlled his emotions to the core and acted in a calm manner, "alright, we will leave at 6 p.m. you shouldn''t have any problem with this arrangement, right?"

    the elven messenger nodded, "that''s right."

    azzy then looked back at his father, "milord, if you excuse me, i would go and make preparations for my journey."

    vesyrn nodded. "go on."

    azzy slowly walked away and stepped outside. after leaving the clan village, he quickly got to the portal point to travel to emerald city in arcana world and then traveled back to gaia through the world portal, this time to northern qudour''s ecrin city.

    from there, he flew to the ghost town located in the mountains and entered the pocket world of his alien friend, dr. mac.

    just like always, he found her quite busy with something. at the moment, she appeared to be speaking with the avatar of fallen angel berith.

    he waited outside until she was done and then surprised her with his presence.

    both of them went back to the control room after he told her his plan.

    dr. mac was ready to assist him and quickly got to work, taking control of the satellites of all the nations.

    somewhere in the nation of llyne, aaron was in front of his computer and was chatting with some people in the group who are also using their designated codenames

    mosquito 09 (aaron): has wamo taken the decision yet? what are the odds of fulfilling our demands?

    dragon 00: according to my sources, the execution is going to be postponed for now.

    orca 60: those officers were breathing down our necks. it is tough to get their eyes off our backs. for the moment, you are on your own, mosquito.

    mosquito 09 (aaron): nothing to worry about. until now, we only pressed wamo. from this moment, we will focus on pressuring the parents of the hostages.

    pegasus 26: what the fu*k

    mosquito 09 (aaron): ???

    dragon 00: ???

    orca 60: sh*t

    platypus 71: f**k

    as aaron wondered what the heck is going on with the board directors of arc, the second most influential director in the company shed light on the matter.

    alligator 04: switch on televisions. all the channels were displaying something.

    a moment later;

    elephant 38: o'' boy. mosquito, you are fuc*ed up.

    mosquito 09: what is it?

    a photograph was shared in the chatroom. it wasn''t exactly what you call a high-quality picture but it is enough for aaron to understand what''s going on.nove)lb/1n

    the image contains a photograph of maria and a message. it states, "your sister is with us. i give you one hour to come to the place where her hideout was supposed to be. i''ll be waiting. if you don''t come by the time this timer hits zero, she dies."

    below the message has a countdown timer of 60 minutes.

    the entire world was taken by storm in just that instant. no tv channel is working in any country. the white hat hackers or the ethical hackers working for governments went to work but they couldn''t get back the control.

    even wamo found itself in a helpless situation but kruger felt like azzy was involved somehow as maria is involved in this abduction case. the question is whether he should question azzy just based on assumption or not.

    meanwhile, aaron logged out of the chat room without any hesitation or bothering about how it could be a trap. wearing a mask and hood, he rushed to emerald city.

    as for how he went undetected completely, he used illusions on everyone he encountered on the way. the satellites of llyne''s government that are now under the control of dr. mac, though have managed to track him down.

    by the time aaron got to the caves of eldnirg, azzy already reached there and waiting for him.

    the white-haired fellow saw dozens of corpses on the way and his suspicions only increased further. and at the end of his path, his eyes spotted the familiar teenage-looking troublesome fellow who had maria kneeling beside him in sadness.

    aaron''s steps slowed down as he approached azzy.

    "brother," maria let out a cry for help.

    azzy raised his hand, gesturing for aaron to stop. as he halted his footsteps, azzy spoke after wiping off his smile, "well, let''s talk."

    a couple of hours later at garcia palace;

    "no, i''ll go with chuckie," firmly said the three-year-old little girl, not letting go of azzy''s leg.

    her manipulation of gravitational force was at its best and azzy felt as if he was standing on top of violet pavilion''s training ground. nevertheless, he was fine.

    "affy, don''t be stubborn. you can''t go there. it is too dangerous," izora was stern with her daughter. meanwhile, vesyrn didn''t know what to do. he helplessly stood on the side as he failed to convince his daughter.

    "no, i will go. chuckie will protect me," replied the little girl. she further added, "mama never let me out of this village."

    "azzy, tell her." as izora exploded in anger, azzy let out a sigh and knelt down to his sister''s height.

    looking straight into the eyes of little affea, he said, "affy, mom is right. here, the entire village is there to protect you. but, once we step outside, the situation will be different. if your powers are exposed now, then, later on, when you go outside without me or any pavilion master, you will be targeted. it''s for your safety."

    he hoped for his sister to understand the graveness of the situation but little affea is just 3 years old. it would be too much for him to even expect her to under the consequences or listen to his advice.

    the stubborn little princess of the death clan puffed her cheeks with fat tear drops filling her eyes, "no one supports me. i hate you all."

    as she shouted, her powers went out of control, increasing the gravity in her 10-meter surroundings to over 70 times the original gravity, almost forcing izora to her knees.

    the palace suddenly started shaking but it withstood the impact of change in the gravitational force, but not for the servants who are in the affected area on the above floors. they collapsed to the floor immediately. some threw up blood and fainted in just a one-second span of time. fortunately, no one died.

    azzy quickly acted by creating a natural energy barrier around her, negating the effects of gravity outside of the barrier and freeing the pressure on his parents at the same time.

    he then proceeded to hug her and said, "fine, you win. we are going together. now, calm down, little devil."

 Chapter 577 The Princess and the Guide: Azzys Unexpected Encounter

    chapter 577 the princess and the guide: azzy''s unexpected encounter

    in the skies above 36000 ft altitude, a private jet was moving at supersonic speeds amidst the bad weather.

    it was raining heavily and the thunder was rumbling as if zeus is angry, but the aerial vehicle didn''t land at any safe location.

    with translucent natural energy covering the plane, the elf was just piloting it as if there was no problem at all. his superior visibility only helped him better.

    meanwhile, in the passenger section, azzy was entertaining his stubborn sister by playing along with the children''s toys while their mother was quietly watching them from the side.

    every mother in the world wants her children to get along with each other. izora wasn''t any different.

    a few years ago, when little affea was born, azzy became distant from his family, and despite how he visited them for dinner or lunch every once in a while, she could still feel that her son felt a bit lonely.

    fortunately, affea was very much attached to her brother and the latter treats her like a princess, willing to follow her orders and spoil her very much.

    she has a complaint about that spoiling part but she couldn''t say no to azzy and let him spoil her as much as he wants as he only meets them once in a while. she can try disciplining her daughter during the rest of the time as the little girl slowly grows up.

    the plane traveled for atleast six hours straight before it suddenly touched an invisible barrier and disappeared from the material world entirely.

    after a while, the garcia family of three and kylan crescent were shifted from the airplane to a chopper as they flew toward the tallest building one could see in the region. shaped in the form of a pyramid, its height almost reached 2000 meters, almost double the height of the tallest building in the world of gaia.nove-lb)1n

    azzy and his family were quite surprised to see the buildings around. they looked quite similar to that of metropolitan cities contrary to his expectations.

    when one thinks of elves, one would think of forests, bows and arrows, and probably a beautiful castle for the royals. but, the scenery before azzy''s eyes is completely different.

    there were flyovers, flying taxis, metro trains, and skyscrapers all around. it is more modern and busier than any modern civilian city.

    and yet, the elves who were escorting them were wearing traditional robes and such. it doesn''t match azzy''s views. neither could izora believe her eyes.

    as for little affea who never stepped out of the clan village, it was a completely different world. her eyes are glued to the window as she was staring at the magnificent city glowing in the darkness.

    azzy couldn''t help but activate his aura sensing, extending his range as much as possible.

    a look of surprise appeared on his face as he saw the sheer number of elves present in the village, "nearly 1 million elves? the elven community is thriving well. 14800sq.km of area is by no means small; this land is as large as a small country. compared to this, our death clan village is just nothing. no wonder that guy (neremyn searvale) acted so arrogant. i thought it is because he is in the supreme realm."

    as azzy became slightly envious of how prosperous the elves had become, the reaper''s voice echoed in his head, bringing him back to the earth, "still, they only have only one pseudo demigod, three supreme realm arcana masters and less than ten legendary realm arcana masters."

    "hmm, that''s correct." azzy felt like the death clan is more powerful regarding the strength side. "ancestor qridus is a true demigod and i have the undead hydra in the demigod realm. both of us should be enough to defeat them all."

    "well, in theory, you could." even the reaper didn''t think it was arrogant of his host to underestimate the others. he actually believed that azzy practically could end the elven civilization on his own if he goes all out without caring about consequences.

    sometime later, the chopper landed on the lowest helipads of the building at around 300 meters height, where two elven elders dressed in their usual traditional white robes were waiting for them. both of them are in the 7-star realm.

    alongside the messenger, the two elven elders escorted the four of them to their guest rooms. since affea was a child, she and her mother shared the same room while azzy got his own room, which is more like a triplex with about 12 rooms.

    as azzy was looking around in curiosity, a smirk appeared on the elven messenger before he spoke, "i hope young master garcia will enjoy our hospitality. please rest for the night. your escort will wake you up seven hours later. she will take care of you and your family until your stay in imladris (the capital city of the elven empire of eden)."

    azzy nodded nonchalantly, "alright."

    the elven messenger turned around and walked away. just as he was about to leave, as if he remembered something, he turned around again and said, "by the way, there''s a small communication device in the drawer of the tv unit. it would be white and shaped like a handheld console. there would be a guide below too. you could use it for anything from controlling the devices in your room to asking for help."

    azzy nodded again and the messenger left the room, leaving him alone.

    after closing the door, he went to the tv unit and took out this elven technology''s all-in-one communication device to play with it for a while.

    more than remotely controlling the devices, he was curious about the tv channels.

    however, he ran into a wall right before even fulfilling his curiosity because of the unfamiliar script in the device. it was completely different from orlon, the language followed by every nation in the world.

    not intending to overly depend on the reaper even for the language, he just tossed it aside and just slept on the couch right away.

    the next day morning, a few knocks were heard on the door before it automatically opened and a strikingly beautiful elf stormed into his room without even bothering to take azzy''s permission.

    at this time, azzy just woke up with his messy hair and looked at the girl who appeared to be coming straight from a fairy tale.

    slender and graceful physique, long limbs and lithe figure; flawless and radiant complexion; high cheekbones, elegantly shaped eyebrows, and almond-shaped green eyes; long, flowing silky silver hair that reaches to her hip; of course, elongated and pointy ears like every pureblood elf.

    lightsn¦Ïv¦Ål lastly, her regal attire indicated that she was of royal blood. is she related to neremyn or something? azzy wondered as he tilted his head and took a glance at a female elf that was standing outside. her attire clearly stated that she is a maid, although she is in the 6-star soul realm.

    just as she saw him on the couch, her feet froze and the elf let out an awkward smile she introduced herself, "hello, mr. garcia, myself isolde searvale. i your guide, you come with me. we leave the fountain of youth. you bath. i wait here."

    azzy: "..."

 Chapter 578 Of Royalty and Arcana: Insights into Elven Society

    chapter 578 of royalty and arcana: insights into elven society

    the woman blushed in embarrassment as azzy stared at her blankly as if he was asking, "are you kidding me?"

    since he knew that the elves have a different language and script, he could understand her not being to speak properly. what he couldn''t understand is why in the hell she was assigned as his escort. didn''t the elves find anyone better?

    "perhaps, they want to give you the utmost honor. or else why would a princess of royal blood is willing to be your guide and even embarrass herself like this?" the reaper responded to him in a positive way. he further added, "but then again, she has quite a potential for her soul appears to be a strong one."

    after getting convinced by the reaper, azzy sighed inwardly and acted as if he doesn''t have any issues. he replied while forcing out a smile, "hello, miss searvale. please wait here. i''ll be back within no time."

    lightsn¦Ïv¦Ål he went upstairs and returned about 20 minutes later. the elven princess was standing in the same position as she was standing 20 minutes ago. if there is one change, it is that there is a cute and tiny nine-tailed white fox sitting on her shoulder and licking its paws.

    azzy''s attention was grabbed by the nine-tailed fox as soon as his eyes fell on the arcana spirit. it''s not because of its cuteness but it''s because of the fact that it is in platinum grade and seemed like it is also mutated.

    seeing azzy''s attention on her arcana spirit, isolde said, "this is caineno?ra. i call it ''kai''."

    "hello kai," azzy waved his hand while keeping a smile on his face. isolde didn''t appear to be satisfied by his reply. she asked, "your arcana?"

    azzy thought for a bit and released seven seals on his soul orb in order to appear as a 7-star arcana master, and then, he summoned his soul card before the death scythe appeared in his left hand and an hourglass in his right hand.

    in response, the nine-tail fox quickly retracted its head and curled over its master''s neck, staring at the scythe in wariness.

    "this is death scythe, and this is the hourglass," azzy introduced the weapons of the reaper instead of summoning the other arcana spirits. he further said, "they don''t have any special names as i don''t hold any specific emotional connection with them."

    "so, death energy is this i heard from the stories?" isolde''s eyes were filled with curiosity as she observed the death scythe and the black-colored energy dancing around the edge of its blade. unknowingly, she started walking with her glowing eyes glued onto the scythe. the fox jumped away from her in the meantime.

    with her face just a few feet away from the scythe and her head almost raised as high as possible, she mumbled, "ar este? alcarinqua ar u?me?a na? moique? fuin?a vilte?. ya i licuva u?carindoron, ca?le?a si?menya a? mar."n-(0velbin

    as isolda started mumbling in her elvish language of quenya, the curious azzy asked the reaper for translation, just for this time.

    the reaper obliged his request and said, "she said that it is very powerful and different from dark energy. it looked evil but very divine at the same time. awesome..."

    "ah, i see..." azzy understood that she don''t mean any bad and thanked her.

    his response brought her back to the senses and her eyes met his eyes.

    her pointy ears and her pale neck turned red and she just jumped away as if he was going to attack or something.

    landing behind the white fox, isolde bowed rapidly and apologize to him for her odd behavior

    azzy dismissed the weapon of reaper and told her that it was okay. the nine-tailed fox then jumped back onto her shoulder and opened its mouth, "my host isn''t good at speaking the language of humans. so, allow me to be her translator."

    earlier, it was so afraid of death scythe and now, seeing it acting like an aloof beast, azzy felt the urge to laugh but he controlled himself and nodded.

    for the rest of the day, azzy and his family spent their time mostly touring the most important places within the empire of eden, whatever the elves call it.

    azzy thought it was all pointless as he was never going to come here again. but, his little sister had grown quite attached to the nine-tail fox, treating it like a pet while the latter didn''t express its discomfort due to its obligations as the escort.

    meanwhile, azzy learned a few interesting things. one of them is the royal family''s connection with the bard, who hailed to be the greatest elven spy and had his statue erected in the south due to the fact that he had somehow managed to bring the seed of the world tree to the elves.

    1000 years after the plantation of the seed, the new world tree eventually grew up to its peak and started blessing individuals randomly.

    since then, it became mandatory for the 12-year-old elven arcana masters to visit the place for blessings. every elf worships the yggdrasil, hoping to get chosen as its host.

    azzy thought that the story of the bard is just something he doesn''t need to pay attention to, but he didn''t expect he would remember him after all these years.

    secondly, the elves have their own headache in the form of dark elves that live in forests, unlike the rest. they live in the same pocket world but they refuse to bow before the royal family, i.e. the celestial elf race.

    their thinking was in the same line as azzy first earlier thought of the elves. they don''t want fancy buildings and technology. this race of high elves class only wanted to live with nature.

    for the sake of peace in the empire, the forest of valandor was declared an autonomous territory, and the dark elves were given full power over it. more than ten thousand common elves followed the ideology of dark elves were now living in the forest.

    in return, they will not raise their weapons against the mainlanders outside their region and neither would they ever leave the empire of eden to settle in the material world.

    back to the present, after covering various important places except for yggdrasil as the elves weren''t interested to get their challenger blessed by their world tree, azzy and the others returned to the searvale tower by midnight. all day, they only ate the food in fancy restaurants.

    isolde escorted each of them to their room, one after another. azzy''s turn came last.

    as her maid opened the door for azzy, the princess let out a smile and spoke, "armar na? hlarindon nelde? i la? vanda laire?a. ai yando na? i menelien avaquelinde? lo?melinde? ar lissenen. anar calindon i armar na?, mal a?tie? i ne?r winye?. neldor na? carwalta, ar liryale? cenien alassenye sina na? lestanen hi?sie?, ar i mal u?ve? ar caluvalye? mate?a haryanwe?."

    as a look of surprise appeared on the maid, the little white fox on her shoulder opened its mouth to translate it, "your battle with my..."

    the princess dismissed her arcana spirit before it finished the sentence and bowed, "good night."

    "ah, yes, good night." azzy bowed in return and isolda quickly turned around to walk away at a hastened pace. the maid also bowed to azzy and followed the princess.

 Chapter 579 A Bold Wager and a Single Punch: Azzys Triumph

    chapter 579 a bold wager and a single punch: azzy''s triumph

    upon closing the door, azzy asked the reaper for translation as the nine-tail fox disappeared before telling everything.

    the reaper let out a chuckle in amusement and explained, "she said that your battle with her eldest brother will start in about 10 hours. she hoped for you to have a night of good sleep and sweet dreams. she will not be able to watch your battle, but she prays for your win. her brother is arrogant, and it would be nice if you were to teach him a lesson so that she may get the hell out of his control."

    "so, there''s some story, after all. i sensed it a while ago as she always changed the subject whenever neremyn comes up in the discussion. hmm..." azzy fell into thoughts.

    the next day morning;

    at the biggest colosseum of the empire, located within the capital city, thousands of elves took their seats and waited for the two contestants. within no time, the entire colosseum was filled with hundred and fifty thousand elves.

    soon, azzy and neremyn entered from opposite sides and meet each other in the center of the arena where a supreme realm expert was standing in silence with his hands on his back.

    other than neremyn, he is the only supreme realm expert of the elf race. the last one is a dark elf who doesn''t come out of his abode.

    named glorfindel starfrost, a star elf and one of the three elven grand elders, he is now considered the second most important person in the empire after neremyn now that the former leader had merged with another elder to become pseudo-demigod and is currently in closed-door training.

    neremyn is the acting emperor for the elves and to watch him battle is something citizens would love to see in person.

    on the other hand, there were many who were curious about azzy for they never have seen a human in their lives.

    glorfindel starfrost, the proctor for the battle, introduced azzy and their king to the audience before revealing the stakes of the challenge.

    some were surprised, some were angered at azzy for being disobedient, some were angered at their prince/acting emperor for taking this too far, and some wondered whether they have wasted their time as this would be pretty much a one-sided battle.

    the proctor continued to address the public, "hlarin na? hya mahtane? i armar na?. auta i qualme? aica?ran, aran neremyn ar cu?de?a i alcare? sinome?a la? karili?re? melme?a 7-telderon. melme?ar a?mahale? yulme?a?re? tultina ne?. i armar na? siure parmanen illuvalmin ar ulyuvalmin pella. si?la sa."

    orlon translated the meaning: "there aren''t many rules in this battle. as the stronger party, prince neremyn will be suppressing his strength to the 7-star realm. no pre-activated skill cards are allowed. there''s no time limit; the battle will go on until one of them gives up or ends up in a state of not being able to continue. that''s all."

    he then returned his attention back to azzy and neremyn and told them to get ready.

    neremyn calmly looked at azzy and nodded. azzy stayed silent. just as the celestial elf was about to walk away in order to take his position, azzy opened up his mouth, "wait. i have something to say."

    both of the elves looked at the young adult.

    the heir of the death clan then spoke, "there''s no need for the suppression. mr. searvale can battle with his entire strength. however, in return, i would like to increase the stakes."

    neremyn furrowed his brows while glorfindel''s eyes widened in surprise. both of them reacted at the same time, asking him, "what is it?"

    azzy then spoke in a firm tone, making himself loud and clear, "if you win, i will serve your clan for the next hundred years. but, if i win, i take your sister, isolde searvale, as my subordinate for the next ten years."

    "what!" glorfindel was taken aback at once. neremyn, on the other hand, stepped forward to close the distance between him and azzy to just one foot away.

    azzy didn''t move an inch from his spot and fearlessly stared at the elf.n-.o-)v--e.)l.)b()1//n

    "you are quite bold, azrael for daring to use such a wager," neremyn commented while clenching his fists tightly in anger. his rage was clearly seen on his face.

    azzy looked back straight into his eyes and asked, "do you dare? or do you think you cannot beat me?"

    his provocation worked perfectly, turning neremyn''s gaze to extreme coldness as he replied, "the world should know what would happen if an arrogant newborn calf provoke the hungry tiger."

    neremyn agreed to azzy''s conditions and turned around to walk away.

    "i hope you have the skills to back up your words too," commented azzy before asking for the proctor to announce their change of stakes to the public too.

    the proctor''s words shook up the entire colosseum. even izora and her father were shocked when their translator told them of the stakes. did his son take a fancy to the elven girl or something? this is the thought that came to izora.

    if it is someone else that beautiful, izora would welcome her to the family at any time, but her son is only 17 years old and the elvish princess is more than 500 years old, far older than even herself. as a mother, she would never accept such a marriage until her son is more than a hundred years old.

    however, the situation isn''t that. serving the elves meaning that azzy wouldn''t be able to get home until the time is over. they could still visit him every once in a while but still, she wasn''t comfortable with such an idea.

    izora hoped that her son had tricks up his sleeve. or else, she could only make her husband request qridus garcia to free her son. he is the only demigod in the world. so, they might listen to that old man.

    on the other hand, the elven audience became angry and started cheering for their king, thinking that this human is too arrogant and shameless. how dare he eye their princess?

    kylan could even feel several gazes upon him from all sides. he only let out a deep sigh and watched his grand nephew.

    meanwhile, the proctor slowly rose into the air. azzy placed his lead foot slightly turned inward and rear foot parallel to his lead foot, creating a slight angle.

    he then kept his hands up to protect his face and head. placing his right hand in front of his face with his forearm angled downward, he positioned his left hand near his chin to guard against the attacks.

    neremyn didn''t understand what kind of battle stance is it, but at the very least, he could see it is defensive. a smirk appeared on his face, thinking that azzy doesn''t plan on going on the offensive.

    he also didn''t understand why azzy wasn''t summoning his arcana spirit but it is the latter''s problem. he just wants to win this battle and make the arrogant boy his slave.

    as the proctor gave the signal for the start of the battle, neremyn absorbed the natural energy from the surroundings and created an energy sword before charging forward.

    he was fast, almost like a blur to most of the audience. but for azzy, it is a different story.

    even without his eyes of god, he could see him pretty much clearly, albeit in slow motion. as neremyn reached him and swung the sword, azzy tilted his upper body to the left to dodge the attack and threw a fist at his face.

    neremyn captured azzy''s movements but the latter turned out to be faster. the fist connected with his nose, blasting him away for atleast a hundred meters.

    azzy''s fist was smeared with blood while the fallen neremyn had his nose punctured. the celestial elf stood up with great difficulty as the blood was flowing down to his mouth. the soul energy in his body rushed to the head and healed the injury.

    however, that didn''t eliminate the side effects. his head was spinning. his legs were trembling. he tried to walk forward. amid the shocked gazes of more than a hundred thousand people of his kind, neremyn fell on his side and lost consciousness.

    one fuc*ing punch; that''s all it took for azzy to defeat the celestial elf, who is hailed as the most talented elf of the generation.

    using the natural energy from his sage core, he cleaned the blood from his fist and put his hands into his pockets. he calmly gazed upon the high elf who reached the celestial elf, "so, i guess that''s my win?"

 Chapter 580 Rumors and Speculations: Love in the Air

    chapter 580 rumors and speculations: love in the air

    the cheers in the entire colosseum came to a halt for a moment as they saw the young kid they were looking down had knocked their prince/acting emperor in just one move.

    most of them didn''t even understand how this happened. all they saw was that neremyn charged forward and then in the next second, he blasted away.

    the proctor and the other elven elders finally realized why azzy raised the stakes. it''s because he was confident about winning.

    in the meantime, the wealthy high elves were impressed by azzy''s overwhelming display of strength and several schemes started going through their head. they weren''t too different from humans. everyone desires power and authority.

    some loyalists to the royal family had the urge to stage an assassination of azzy, abduction of his little sister, and everything, but whether they dare to go through it is quite questionable.

    azzy reunited with his family outside the colosseum and made their way to searvale tower.

    that day, he and his family received a number of guests they never met in their life. all of those high elves wanted them to visit their house for lunch or dinner. some even invited them to stay at their residences as guests for a day.

    one of them was queen amara moonstone, the leader of moon elves who rules the northern lands of the empire as the vassal of the throne.

    izora couldn''t ignore her invitation with any excuses and neither she was able to say that she will think about it because of the fact that princess isolde is her half-sister.

    amara is neremyn''s eldest half-sister from a different mother and was later married into the moonstone family of ithildinore, or known as the land of moonstone in the orlon language. after her husband''s death, her son ascended to the throne.

    due to some unexplainable circumstances, her son dies and she took over the control due to the fact that no qualified heirs. for the past thousand years, she ruled the land as the queen regent of ithildinore and people also accepted her as their leader due to her moon elf bloodline from her mother''s side.

    the next day morning, isolde tagged along with azzy and his family as they traveled to the northern lands of the empire. all the way, she couldn''t just stop smiling and acted way more cheerful than normal as she chatted with izora, excited about leaving the pocket world and going to the real world.

    the day was spent with nothing that happened as izora expected. amara didn''t expose any of her intentions and it appeared as if they were on a vacation at a friend''s place.

    the group of five returned to death clan, where everyone already got the news of azzy''s win. but, just like izora, the others also misunderstood that azzy was bringing the daughter-in-law to the clan village. the fact that isolde looks too attractive and the fact that she couldn''t just stop smiling in excitement didn''t help either.

    those who are in certain higher positions in the clan know the truth but what about the majority of the clan members with no access to such information?

    they could only celebrate the fact that their young master fell in love with the beauty and won her in battle by defeating her brother. is this why neremyn challenged him? if so, when did they meet?

    their young master had been missing for a couple of years before his return. perhaps, it happened then?

    okay, what now? will they get married? there''s a war coming up and the results of wars were always unpredictable. is that why azzy will get married off?

    some opinioned that he is too young while others argued that he is already considered an adult once he crossed 16. some argued that elves have long spans of time and she''s probably a lot older than him and some made a counterargument that their young master is destined to be a demigod and only an elf with long life is worthy.

    several rumors spread all over the village during the next few days.

    vesyrn tried to put off the rumors by spreading information that his son is not going to get married and neither did his son have any relation with the celestial elf, but he didn''t try too hard as he, himself, didn''t completely believe azzy''s words completely. isolde''s beauty is enough for a young adult like azzy to fall in love at first sight.

    not to mention, the next invasion is almost here and will probably start within a week or two. he cannot afford to think about other things, at the moment. thinking that it will disappear as time passes, vesyrn put his focus on more important things.

    meanwhile, azzy made a visit to his workplace and informed his decision to recruit someone as a trainee for zero squad. isolde''s application process went smoothly due to the fact that she is already in the 7-star realm and probably because she''s an elf, just like commander kruger.

    on the fourth day after isolde entered the death clan village, she finally left the pocket world along with azzy and reported to her new superior, an elf who should have been bowing to her if they were at the eden empire because of her royal bloodline.

    but, her superior turned out to be different from her initial expectations. despite learning the existence of the whole elven empire and the fact that she is a celestial elf, he still treated her the same way as the rest of his subordinates.

    azzy then took her on a brief tour of the zero squad''s pocket world. after escorting her to her room, he said, "i''m going to make a visit to prison because of an ongoing secret mission and will return by evening. you can rest here or do whatever you want in the dormitory. you have the key pass for that. okay?"

    isolde shook her head in response and replied while slightly struggling to speak in orlon, "no, i come with you. i, your subordinate, you go, i follow. i take promise seriously."

    azzy wanted to say ''no'' but then the reaper''s voice echoed in his head, telling him to take her with him.

    according to azzy''s view, the reaper never says things without any deep meaning. he thought she or her arcana spirit might be helpful to him in some way and agreed to take her with him.n/)0velbin

    soon, both of them made their way to the maximum security prison of wamo, which looked exactly like a normal pyramid made of stones from the outside.

    once they stepped inside, azzy and isolde felt suppression on their soul orb. both of their soul realms were completely suppressed which made them feel like civilians without any powers. even azzy''s second core was sealed.

    azzy didn''t feel much different because of his confidence in his divine physique but the elf jumped away like a scaredy cat while letting out a scream of surprise.

    "kyaaaa"

    the guards at the entrance didn''t move a bit as it was something they often see. azzy, on the other hand, calmly turned around and asked, "do you want to stay outside and wait or follow me?"

    isolde hesitated a little bit and stepped inside again, "i follow."

    "good, let''s go, miss searvale." azzy nodded with a smile and started walking forward. isolde looked around in curiousness as she followed him from behind.

    after walking for a while, going through three more checks on the way, the two of them reached a cell where a healthy-looking clean shaved old man was seen meditating.

    just as they reached the cell, the prisoner opened his eyes on his own and let out a smile as he gazed upon the young adult, "you must be gary." his eyes then shifted to the elf and his expression changed to that of a frown, "and you are... elf? i thought that commander kruger is the last of your kind."

    "eh? gary?"

 Chapter 581 Unleashed Chaos: The Protos Revelation

    chapter 581 unleashed chaos: the protos revelation

    isolde was confused why this man is addressing azzy as gary but the latter didn''t bother to correct him and just went along with the same identity.

    "i guess you are in touch with your son, after all," commented azzy in response to the old man''s greeting while ignoring his statement about the elves.

    the old man''s frown deepened further, "first of all, that brat isn''t my son. he is just my daughter''s playmate and guardian. and secondly, our assad''s network is vast and deep. don''t underestimate those elders."

    azzy was slightly surprised by the new piece of information. he didn''t expect that they weren''t siblings. or, maybe, he was lying?

    he doesn''t know but in this current situation, he doesn''t have the luxury to care about such minor things. azzy directly opened the topic, "anyway, whatever he is to you, because of him and your daughter, your execution was postponed by one week. now, only two days left. i''m formally assigned to your case. and here''s my offer.

    i need the details of all the spies who intruded on the ranks of several organizations and members who are in hiding. i also need your confession of assad''s collaboration with the "arc" company. in return, your execution will be removed and your punishment will be changed to 100-year imprisonment; the souls from your body will also be released along with the destruction of the treasure."

    for a couple of seconds, silence filled in the surroundings before the prisoner burst into laughter. he laughed so hard as if he heard the joke of the century, clearly mocking azzy.

    after he was done with his laughing, his expression turned into anger and he shouted at azzy as he tightly grabbed the bars of the cell, "hundred million souls were already merged with mine. there''s no going back now. either executing me or extending my prison time will no longer have any use.

    if you want to save your world, then, imprison me in cryogenic chamber under near absolute zero temperature (-272 celsius) for eternity. i know that your wamo has developed the prototype. once i receive the confirmation, i will give you all the information you need, boy. now, go and meet that damn elven boss of yours and convince him, or else, the destruction of the world will be upon your head."

    isolde didn''t completely understand the situation but judging by the conversation that happened before her eyes, she could atleast understand it is serious and it is related to the souls.

    luckily, there''s something she can do in this situation too. well, atleast that''s what she felt.

    after closing her eyes for a couple of seconds, she opened her eyes. her pupils disappeared and her eyes turned golden in color and they started glowing dimly.

    an invisible barrier appeared around azzy, blocking her special vision. however, the old man appeared completely different.

    she saw a slim figure, purely made of some black-colored energy. its aura is so powerful that it made isolde lose her breath for a moment. letting out a scream of fear, she quickly dismissed her passive ability, attracting the attention of azzy.

    her whole body started shivering as if she was experiencing extreme coldness at once. her shaking finger was pointing at the prisoner and her voice quivered as she opened her mouth, "you... evil... being. you, no human. your aura... what are you?"

    "hmm?" azzy and the prisoner, both of them turned serious as they looked at her.

    the old man then commented that he knows he had done several crimes in his life and his soul is corrupted with sinful souls too. however, azzy didn''t buy it as he heard of the word "aura".

    he activated his aura sensing right away to observe the target. he couldn''t see what the elf had seen but something has already become clear for him. "the protos energy," he spoke in his head.

    "you need to talk with the elven princess to learn what she saw earlier," replied the reaper.

    "so, this is the reason you wanted her to tag along with me?" azzy was almost sure about it now.

    as the reaper casually reminded him that he couldn''t use his eyes of god soul skill in this place, azzy ignored him and placed his focus on the prisoner. he didn''t argue with him and just nodded, "alright, i will take your words into consideration and pass it to my superior."

    he didn''t wait there any longer and walked away without turning back again. once both of them disappeared from his sight, the old man''s eyes glowed in scarlet and he tightly shut his eyes as he shouted, "fu*k off you monster."

    "it''s no use human..." a whisper was heard in his head. it further said, "your greed to snatch my power has brought you to this state. whatever you do, my resurrection cannot be stopped now. hahahaha" a malevolent wave of evil laughter echoed in his head.

    meanwhile, azzy exited the prison and have a talk with the elf.

    isolde summoned her nine-tailed fox and let her arcana spirit give him the description she saw using her divine vision.

    azzy nodded calmly as he walked forward without saying any more. however, inwardly, he conversed with the reaper.

    "chronos, is it a demon with protos energy?" he asked.n-.ovelbin

    the reaper explained, "not a demon but the being of chaos, the anti-divine being or in simpler terms for you, a being of protos race."

    "the protos being?" azzy was slightly taken aback. remembering the past memories, he asked, "but, all the protos beings are said to have been locked away. one escaped?"

    "the universe is vast, azrael. not even the gods could roam everywhere and catch the ones that escaped and merge with living things," answered the reaper in a grim tone as if he was implying that it is a huge problem.

    azzy then learned that the person who was possessed by a protos being is almost a lost cause unless one''s soul is very strong. due to the fact that 100 million souls were already ingested by the protos being, the reaper has opinioned that killing the host body is the only way to rescue his soul.

    if assad''s leader was a good man, azzy would have tried his best to save him. despite his efforts to save the world, it remains the fact that he has done a lot of crimes.

    the best azzy could do is to give him a quick death for his noble attempt and then take care of the emerged chaos lord. but, if he does that, it might unnecessarily trigger aaron.

    it''s not that he was afraid of aaron or anything. azzy plans to recruit him for wamo as he felt those mystic eyes will be a lot useful in the missions.

    hence, he had to make a choice and he should do it as quickly as possible.

    after deep thinking and discussing with the reaper, he returned to the dorm and went into closed-door training, not replying to any of aaron''s messages and removing himself from the case.

    aaron felt like he was cheated by azzy. he might be willingly walked into the trap because of marie but the reason he released the hostages is due to azzy''s promise.

    he swore revenge against azzy, but before that, he decided to risk his life and break out his adopted father at all costs.

    two days later, at the execution tower behind the wamo''s maximum security prison, assad''s leader was dragged into a chamber with his mouth sealed by a sealing technique, not giving him any opportunity to even plead.

    after throwing him in the chamber, they sealed the room, and vice president ramiel who was overseeing the execution gave his signal.

    by pressing the switch, toxic gases were released into the chamber. upon inhaling, the vulnerable convict will struggle for more than thirty seconds, experiencing hell for a while and eventually die.

    there have been legal issues going on because of ethical concerns, but for the moment, wamo still holds the right to execute death row criminals using this way.

    and just as the subordinates were about to press the two switches, the man inside the chamber suddenly disappear, throwing everyone into confusion.

    "what the..." ramiel crescent went into a rage. "where is he?" he roared.

    at the same time, in the skies of silver city, an unconscious aaron was seen carried by azzy as the latter flew away.

 Chapter 582 Aarons choice

    chapter 582 aaron''s choice

    a while ago;

    assad''s leader was in his chains as he was dragged out of the prison and then escorted to the execution tower with more than twenty guards. even vice president ramiel personally tagged along with them so that no one will try to liberate him.

    little did know that he and everyone else were already under aaron''s illusion who replaced himself with another guard.

    usually, ramiel would have been able to find something suspicious and resist the illusion. however, as aaron made a forceful breakthrough to the 8-star realm due to azzy''s betrayal of his promise to him, he was able to fool the thunder emperor and quietly slipped away by imprisoning his adopted father in a jail card.

    and this was where a twist was waiting for him. azzy was patiently waiting for aaron to fall into the trap.nov¦Å-lb-1n

    once aaron slipped away from the guards and flew away in a hurry, he was ambushed by an attack at a breathtaking speed. aaron didn''t even know what hit his neck and lost consciousness.

    after taking him to a remote location in the mountains, azzy placed him on the ground and proceeded with the sealing technique under the reaper''s supervision.

    "now, use the 4th, 11th, 18th, and 24th runic symbols to form the cluster rune." the words of reaper continued to echo in azzy''s head.

    azzy followed the reaper''s instructions diligently as he created functioning runes one after another and transformed them into mystical symbols and characters.

    after three whole minutes, the seal was finished and azzy directed the seal toward the unconscious hostage.

    once it disappeared into aaron''s body, azzy summoned his jewel of lightning and used it to give him a slight bit of shock and forcefully woke him up.

    "arghhh..."

    yelping out in pain, aaron sprung up to his feet and saw azzy standing before him.

    "you bastard," aaron couldn''t help but let out a curse with a look of anger evident on his face.

    azzy, however, responded calmly, "your adopted father can no longer be saved. the soul of the chaos lord has already taken over his soul orb and there is no way out. now, take him out and let me finish him. at the very least, his soul could be returned to the spirit realm and enters the circle of reincarnation."

    "no, you are lying," aaron bared his teeth like a beast, not intending to trust azzy''s words. his sister was first abducted and used as a bargaining chip to release the students. followed by that, azzy made a promise that he will help him, only to betray his trust. then, he suddenly ambushed him out of nowhere and abducted him. after that, he shocked him using lightning energy. aaron would be a fool to still trust azzy.

    in a determined tone, he further said as his eyes started glowing, "you might be in the supreme realm but don''t underestimate... huh?" the glow disappeared in just a second.

    however, azzy wasn''t interested in getting into a feud with this white-haired fellow. he was already prepared for this scenario beforehand.

    the moment aaron activated his ocular powers, azzy''s unnamed seal was also activated and disabled aaron''s inborn ability.

    adding on top of that, aaron already discovered that his soul orb was sealed by azzy''s decarune seal.

    "you... how did you do that?" aaron was shocked as he never heard of the technique that can disable one''s passive ability. not even demigods could do that.

    azzy simply sat down on the ground and replied, "if you want to leave, you can try to leave, but i say no one in the world will help you to unseal the powers of your eyes. now, sit down and listen to me carefully."

    aaron clenched his fist and gritted his anger, but he was clever enough to know his circumstances. he reluctantly sat down and looked at the boy, "go on."

    azzy inwardly sighed in relief and explained calmly, "your father has a 0% chance of survival. whether you believe my words or not, it is but the simple truth. however, i can help you save him.

    first method, i can transfer his soul into a corpse after killing him, but that will only make him something like a zombie. he will live as long as you keep healing his rotting flesh.

    and second, you will have your father back in full health, but have his memories removed from the moment he was arrested by wamo authorities. the chaos lord and those millions of souls will be removed from his body, but that also means he will turn into a mortal with the complete removal of the soul orb and soul energy from his body.

    it''s your choice to make now.

    if you chose neither, then, you can walk away, and both of you will be dealt with appropriately, as every criminal does, once our superiors order for a manhunt. but, if you choose one of them, then, you have to work for wamo, with me.

    of course, that also means you will help me take down your ''arc'' company and its spies in our organization. in return, we will erase your father''s crimes from the record and let him peacefully as long as he turns good."

    raising five fingers, azzy finished it with, "you have five minutes."

    after observing for the past couple of weeks, aaron already got the gist of azzy''s personality. he was angry at azzy, but helpless at the same time too.

    after much thinking, he decided to take a leap of faith once more time and nodded as he handed the prison item card to azzy, "fine, i''ll agree to your conditions. free my father from chaos lord''s control."

    he opted for the second method. even if his father becomes a mortal, he can still turn the situation around. he still has one more hidden trump card to use as a last resort and wasn''t worried about azzy betraying him again which would result in his father''s death.

    sometime later;

    in a pocket world created by azzy, the death clan''s heir was seen silently staring at the card with the image of aaron''s adopted father. he appeared to checking with himself, having second thoughts about his decision. the reaper, meanwhile, stayed silent.

    "okay, let''s do this. there''s no need to feel guilty. by doing this, i''m saving 100 million souls from getting extinguished. it''s way better than walking away from the problem like a coward."

    azzy no longer hesitated to pour his soul energy into the jail/prison card and freed the man inside.

    once he was freed, assad''s leader was found to be in an unconscious state. his soul orb wasn''t unsealed yet.

    azzy raised his hand and summoned the soul card of the reaper. a scythe was pulled out of the soul card with his eyes fixed on the unconscious man.

    azzy stepped forward and swung the scythe with his eyes tightly shut. an arc of death energy was released by the scythe and swiftly cut down the head of the victim.

    *thud*

    as the head rolled down on the ground, azzy stared at the fallen body with his hand tightly gripping the handle.

    soon, the headless body was covered by a powerful dark energy, which is quite familiar to both azzy and the reaper.

    the head also flew to the body by itself.

    "get ready," said the reaper.

    azzy patiently watched the scene of the man adjusting the head on his neck while reconnecting it with the protos energy. meanwhile, the man''s eyes turned pitch black with no visible pupils.

    "finally, after so long, i''m free..." the man bursts into laughter like someone who became crazy. the seal on his soul orb was shattered by the raging protos energy and his soul realm was forcefully pushed to 9-star-realm in a matter of seconds.

    azzy, meanwhile, stared at him in silence until the latter was done with his celebration and focused on him.

    "boy, you freed me," said the chaos lord with a look of amusement on his face. as he raised his hand, protos energy erupted from his body and transformed into a sword, "for that, let me give you a quick death."

    azzy didn''t waste time talking and directly went to action by unleashing his favorite seal.

    the decarune seal was instantly formed below the chaos lord and suppressed his soul realm.

    the chaos lord, however, didn''t feel surprised a bit. instead, his amusement turned into excitement as he praised his opponent while the protos energy struck the seal and ate it up, "the ancient seal of guardians; good... very good. you even mastered up to the ninth realm. boy, tell me, what is your name."

    azzy responded by raising the scythe above his head and unleashing the soul skill while removing the seal on his soul orb, displaying his 9-star realm status.

    as the eyes of chaos lord widened in surprise, azzy''s words echoed in the room, "soul skill: claws of death."

 Chapter 583 Azzy travels to the future

    chapter 583 azzy travels to the future

    the claws emerged out of nowhere pierced through the body of the chaos lord and dragged his soul out of the body without giving any opportunity for resistance from the target.

    it was when azzy finally saw its true form. unlike the other souls which either take the form of a wisp or the form of the being it was previously inside, this one seemed vastly different.n).ovelbin

    it is completely black in color, neither female nor male, covered by protos energy, doesn''t have eyes, nose, or mouth, and its entire body was filled with images of galaxies from head to toe. these galaxies appeared to be in motion.

    azzy couldn''t understand what they were, but he didn''t have such luxury to ponder on it as the protos being wasn''t helpless like with the spirit of demigod amerys from the past timeline.

    the protos being resisted the soul skill and got freed itself as soon as it was pulled out of its host body.

    once it was freed, it latched onto the only living thing it could find, azzy himself.

    it happened so fast that azzy, even with his superior reflexes couldn''t evade the attack and had his body invaded by the protos being. he lost his consciousness in an instant without being able to react.

    the soul of the chaos lord started exploring azzy''s sage core and soul orb. it looked quite excited, sensing the potential of its host.

    little did it expect that as soon as it touched azzy''s soul orb, it would get sucked into azzy''s mindscape where a specter was waiting for it.

    "zi zi zzzzi zzi?" the protos being looked warily at the reaper as it genuinely felt threatened. however, it was a malevolent spirit without any control over its willpower.

    it dashed toward the reaper, intending to consume him.

    "foolish creature," mumbled the reaper as he summoned his tools. the hourglass stopped the time, followed by the swift motion of the death scythe.

    however, unlike azzy''s, this one in control of the reaper didn''t erase the invader. instead, it was cut down into two wisps of protos energy before they were sent down to the barren land below the cliff where undead creatures were lying down.

    at once, commotion rose in the barren land, which is usually silent most of the time.

    more than a hundred creatures rushed toward the wisps of energy as if they were looking at the tastiest food in the world. they were jumping on each other, attacking everyone around without worrying about getting injured or killed in the process. the reaper, however, calmly stared at the scene without making any move, letting them resolve on their own.

    and it was then the new boss of the region that stepped forward to take control of the situation, thereby, controlling the chaos.

    *hisssaaaa*

    the nine-headed skeleton hydra let out a powerful hiss that echoed all over the place, even forcing the other three arcana spirits living in the mindscape to jump up in fright for a moment.

    every beast came to still. the hydra raised its upper body and hissed a few times in a row, bossing every skeletal creature. under its orders, two skeletal creatures came forward. one was aurora, the rank-6 snow wolf. another was taslan, the rank-8 spider.

    despite the fact that there is a rank-10 undead fenrir skeleton, hydra still chose its weak companions as the receivers in the end. the reason? they have their soul cores intact and can use soul skills. hence, the protos energy is extremely helpful to them. the fact that it super evolved a while ago also pushed her to make this decision.

    little did it expect taslan would disobey its orders at the last second. first, it quickly swallows its share of protos energy before shooting a jet of web at the skeletal snow wolf and snatching the other part too.

    hydra got enraged by its behavior. its nine heads stretched forward to attack the skeletal spider right away but were blocked by an invisible barrier.

    followed by the incident, a deep voice was heard from above the cliff. "let it go, hydra."

    the voice commanded so much dominance that every undead creature bent their knees and lay down on the ground with their heads raised up to look at the majestic figure standing at the edge of the cliff and watching them.

    "good," the reaper nodded in satisfaction and turned around to walk away from the edge of the cliff as a cocoon of energy formed over the undead spider.

    a couple of hours later;

    azzy''s consciousness returned and he was hella mad at himself for underestimating the chaos lord. at the same time, he also wondered why the reaper didn''t feed the protos energy to his soul orb and instead, gave it away to an undead creature.

    but then again, he cannot complain here anyway as this deity is the one who saved his ass in this situation and in numerous situations where his carelessness got him into trouble.

    thinking that the reaper has his own reasoning to do it, azzy put his doubts over the back of his head and went ahead with summoning the hourglass.

    taking a deep breath, he turned it upside down and closed his eyes, "hidden skill: time travel."

    the surroundings changed to that of a familiar long corridor with an infinite number of doors on either side and infinite versions of himself passing through each other like ghosts.

    "okay, let''s see... year 2132." azzy started walking in the direction of the future. this is the year the demigod azrael visited him. hence, azzy thought this year would be appropriate to choose it.

    eventually, he reached the year that has more than 200 doors to choose from. since azzy doesn''t know the month, he chose the last one.

    "4:43 p.m., december 21st, year 2132." azzy saw the date and proceeded to turn the door knob clockwise.

    the door opened and azzy stepped in.

    his surroundings were changed to that of plain grasslands with wild cows, goats, and other animals grazing around.

    "welcome to the future," azzy let out a pleasant smile, upon successfully arriving to the future for the first time.

    however, he didn''t expect someone to be waiting for him.

    "yes, welcome to the future, azzy," a familiar yet unfamiliar tone greeted him from behind, making him turn around to find a young man with round glasses standing there in sci-fi armor that looks quite similar to that of the soldiers from arcturian federation azzy fought against.

    "gideon?" azzy''s eyes widened in surprise. he took a step back in reflex.

    the man in glasses had a smile on his face as he asked, "which time period you are from, azzy?"

    azzy involuntarily replied, "2025."

    "2025, huh?" gideon went into a daze for a second before turning serious all of a sudden, "you are here for the secret to enter the destroyed timelines, correct?"

    azzy was once again taken aback, "how do you know?"

    "how else? you are from the past, azzy," replied gideon of the future. his facial expression remained serious as he added, "anyway, follow me. it isn''t safe around here."

    he stepped forward and touched azzy''s shoulder. in the next instant, they disappeared from the location.

    just a few seconds later, two figures in black robes and masks appeared in the place where azzy was earlier. one of them spoke in a high-pitched female voice, "we are late. they must have gotten hold of the time breacher."

    "nothing to worry about. we will find him and those troublesome terrorists," replied the other fellow in a deep male voice. his eyes were glowing in scarlet without any visible pupils.

 Chapter 584 The founders living daughter

    chapter 584 the founder''s living daughter

    in a pocket world, unknown location;

    "this is fujiwara kai of the minamoto clan; this is liu wei of the sun clan, and this is karna of the kuru clan. you know these people, estella moon, the super android aria, alan, raydon, cindy, and isolde searvale. finally, dr. mac''s successor from her home planet, han sung jun. after dr. mac left, he replaced her as the team''s brain. leah, rudra, and aaron are currently on a mission and our leader is on his way to meet you."

    gideon introduced azzy to the members that gathered at the lounge of their secret facility before his arrival to this timeline.

    everyone also welcomed him with pleasant smiles but without any surprises or talks about the past too. azzy suspected that it might not be their first time meeting him or in general, the past versions of their azrael. the fact that gideon was waiting for him at the location also supported his suspicion that they have the necessary methods to track down time travel.

    azzy didn''t know what''s going on, but he knows that he shouldn''t learn about the future too much as it might change his actions and put danger to the timeline. hence, he didn''t try to pry into their group and just shook the hands of the strangers as a greeting and directly came to the matter.

    and the moment he speaks about himself, a strange silence filled the room. everyone became serious while a look of sadness appeared on the elf. azzy was taken aback by their reaction and asked, "what happened?"

    "that is..." as isolde was about to answer, gideon interrupted her, "he is actually away."

    followed by that, aaron then spoke, "he went to train for a breakthrough. it isn''t easy to enter god''s realm, you know."

    azzy felt something amiss. he could sense that they were hiding something but he cannot pry into the future at any cost. hence, he acted as if he believed their words and nodded, "fine, if you give me the date before his disappearance, i can go back to that timeline and ask for his help. it''s important that i should get access to destroyed timelines."

    "yeah, we know," nodded estella. gideon then said, "our azzy told us everything and he already prepared something for you to directly go to the time period of a certain erased timeline. however, you have to wait for our leader. she canceled the meeting with wamo''s president just to meet you."

    "she? who is your leader?" azzy became curious, all of a sudden. several people here are friends of his. the ones he didn''t know would probably be his future friends too. hence, the leader should be someone he respects or someone he was willing to be a subordinate. "don''t tell me it''s claire," azzy couldn''t help but wonder.

    gideon answered with a mysterious smile on his face as he pushed his glasses up, "be patient, azzy. you are going to find out soon."

    azzy''s curiosity increased. his heartbeat slightly rose as he thought of meeting claire here. the person from this timeline might not be his claire, but still, he missed her very much. just meeting her once would give him the confidence to wait for her return.

    azzy spent the next 20 minutes touring around the facility. he was already familiar with the layout but there are several changes too. meanwhile, the others casually fooled around by playing arcade games in the gaming zone like teenagers even though most of them are over 100 years old.

    eventually, he returned to the lounge to find a new person he hasn''t met before. however, a few features of hers were also found quite familiar. gideon introduced her, "meet, devorah garcia, our leader."

    azzy''s face was crestfallen instantly. his disappointment was clearly evident on his face. she wasn''t the one he was waiting for.

    but, at the same time, he also wondered about her identity, considering the fact that she has the same surname. azzy observed her face once again. a few of her features are familiar, making him feel like he has met her before but he couldn''t quite put his finger on it.

    then again, she appears to be in a higher realm than his. since he had to pay his respects to a stronger one, he politely shook her hand with his eyes on the ground, "hello, saint garcia. it''s a pleasure to meet you."

    the woman let out a smile in response, "no matter how many times i see you and your versions of the past, this feeling of nostalgia never goes away. anyway, let me introduce myself, i''m devorah garcia, daughter of azrael orkney garcia and celeste."

    "orkney? celeste?" azzy knew the full name of his ancestor very well. hence, he easily understood which azrael the woman was talking about. but, he never heard of this person named celeste.

    he immediately confronted the woman with a look of confusion on his face, "i''m sorry but i suppose your father is the founder of our death clan, correct?"

    as devorah nodded with a smile, azzy further said, "but, i didn''t see your honorable mother''s name in our clan records. if you don''t mind me asking..." he didn''t finish the sentence and just meaningfully stared at the woman.

    after a few seconds of silence, devorah patted his shoulders and answered, "a lot has been omitted from our clan records and many things were changed in the historical records, son. and there is a reason for that too. anyway, come and sit. since you are the version from the year 2025 and came here for the first time, i need to tell you a few things about our clan that our azrael requested me before his departure."n..o.-v./e--l).b-/i/.n

    gideon was sent away and azzy was left alone with devorah in the lounge. as they took their seats, devorah slowly opened up the topic.

    "hmm, where should i start? a long time ago, when arthur pendragon just began his conquest for peace, my father, as one of his generals, once lead his soldiers to the kingdom of elysiora, inhabited by angels. he fell in love with the princess and put forth a proposition of alliance, but the angels were too proud of their race despite their weak strength. the king neither was willing to yield nor willing to allow his daughter to wed a human.

    lightsn¦Ïv¦Ål my father was bound by the duty and he had to sacrifice his love for the sake of his promise to his king. he defeated the elven king in the battle and princess celeste had to become a prisoner.

    do you know what happened next?" devorah looked at azzy, asking him to guess the answer.

    azzy thought a bit and answered in hesitation, "he didn''t violate her out of lust, did he?" if his suspicion becomes true, azzy would feel disgusted with his ancestor. not to mention the fact that he is the reincarnation of the founder.

    fortunately for him, devorah shook her head and cleared his worries with the explanation, "no, on the contrary, my mother who was aware of his feelings proposed to marry him in exchange for the freedom of her clansmen."

    "thank goodness." azzy let out a sigh of relief upon learning that his worst fears didn''t come true.

    "the story isn''t over yet, azrael," devorah continued, "my foolish father accepted it out of his kindness and love for her, not being able to see the burning desire for revenge in my mother''s heart. she kept it for more than two hundred years before finally striking arthur when he was most vulnerable on the battlefield. she assassinated the greatest emperor of all time and ended the glory of the empire of arcana."

    "huh?"

 Chapter 585 The founders living daughter (part-2)

    chapter 585 the founder''s living daughter (part-2)

    azzy knew that there is friction between angels and elves due to the fact that the former took over the latter''s land, which is known as the kingdom of triastal.

    but, he didn''t know that his founder''s first wife is the one that killed leah''s ancestor.

    in an instant, everything suddenly became clear to him. why this celeste''s name never recorded in the historical records or their clan records; why the existence of angels became a myth itself; but, what he didn''t understand is how celeste managed to kill a person like arthur pendragon, who is not only a demigod but also has a celestial grade arcana like the excalibur.

    he asked for more details, but it appeared even devorah was clueless about it. she only said that her mother who was supposed to be in a 7-star-realm suddenly became a supreme being, strong enough to deal a blow to emperor arthur.

    azzy was more intrigued by the story. he continued, "so, what happened after that? did your father forgive her or did he expel her? don''t tell me she was executed?" several options popped up in his head.

    devorah shook her head while letting out a deep sigh, "she then proceeded toward the enemy camp. she sacrificed her life by taking down two demon generals with her and heavily injured the demon emperor. her actions almost ended the war, but her existence itself disappeared."

    "wait a second." azzy felt strange about this explanation. "didn''t emperor arthur end the demon emperor and the war with demons by himself? he was killed before the event?" it was what was recorded in every history book. hence, the confusion.

    devorah meaningfully smiled as she replied, "the ones who wrote those historical records are the hidden clans and the pendragon family. obviously, they changed to suit their needs and also to make sure the empire of arcana remain stable. a clone was established in place of emperor arthur and the fake king ruled for the next thousand years before passing the throne to the real heir. it was necessary for the society to not fall into chaos."

    "the concept of greater good, eh?" azzy''s expression darkened. he hates this concept the most. he was okay with slight manipulation, which he was doing now, but without compensating the victim, if the victors just enjoyed the fruits of their manipulation, they were as good as sinners in his eyes.

    devorah probably sensed azzy''s thoughts too. she continued, "it''s a given that you would become the monarch of our clan, one day. then, you will be tasked with killing thousands or even millions of innocents to balance life on our planet. too many people will lead to the rapid decline of natural resources, quality of life force, and even one''s own potential. i believe you could already see that in your time how it became so hard for elites like arcana masters to make a living."

    "i can understand that, but it''s no longer the age of arcana." azzy didn''t agree with her. he further said, "we have already entered the age of science and technology. i believe by now, the scientific achievements of you people should have let humans populate our moon and other habitable planets in the galaxy,"

    devorah smiled in amusement, "if everything would go as one planned, son, we would have become gods."

    "what do you mean?" azzy furrowed his brows, wondering whether a cataclysm occurred. after all, if they can build technology that can track time travel, they could build spaceships too. as for locating the habitable planets, azzy was confident that dr. mac already

    however, before devorah opened her mouth, something clicked inside his head and he quickly raised his hand, "no, don''t say it. i don''t wish to know about the future. just the things of the past are more than enough."

    "relax, son. i''m not a fool to tell you the things that can impact the timeline." devorah once again reminded him of her identity.

    lightsn¦Ïv¦Ål azzy nodded and stayed silent for a while, wondering how he should gradually bring up the real matter. however, devorah wasn''t done yet. she proceeded to tell her own story like how she was brought up by surviving angels on the planet, how she met a prince of llyne''s kingdom and became the ancestor to the royal family of llyne, how she and her descendants were hunted by the other hidden clans after the death of her father and ascendance of fellow demigods, how she took her revenge, how she completely disappeared for a whole century from the eyes of public, and finally, how she emerged as a demigod.

    azzy patiently listened to her story for the next half an hour and devorah rewarded his patience with the secrets of reaching the demigod realm.

    there are three ways to reach the demigod realm.

    the first way is the traditional way. get one''s soul power to 9.9 billion and venture into the wild zone. kill a demigod realm beast and absorb its core. it will either make one lose the mind and become a beast or emerge as a demigod.

    the second way is to create a clone of oneself by splitting the soul into two. after that, both of them cultivate to peak-rank-9 and merge back to become a demigod. this method can be done with two different souls too, but that will only make them a pseudo-demigod without any future potential.

    the last method is to absorb cosmic energy like the dark matter or natural energy of the stars or divine essence directly from the true gods (advanced/peak-rank-11) in heavy amounts to forcefully make the breakthrough.

    upon listening to devroah''s words, azzy couldn''t help but remember his first meeting with his future self. from the conversation between him and the reaper, sometime in the future, he would absorb the powers of the reaper and make protos energy his own, making the breakthrough. it is more or less the third method.n)/o(.v)(e(.l--b.)i(-n

    the reaper stayed silent and didn''t offer any kind of opinion from his side. he continued to stay as a silent spectator.

    meanwhile, devorah continued to explain more secrets, this time about the level-5 regions and the monsters that are living there. monsters don''t just mean beasts. it included humans that failed to make a breakthrough and were trapped there by the guardian of the region as they lost their minds.

    azzy recently ventured into a level-5 region when he was in an 8-star realm but didn''t go into a deeper region as he knew that he was not a match for a demigod realm. now that he has hydra on his side, azzy no longer feared the place. he planned to go there once again and amass a huge army of rank-9 beasts and rank-10 beasts, but after hearing out devorah, he postponed those plans.

    once this topic was also done, she then asked him whether he has any questions to ask her, especially about the knowledge of runes and other things. she urged him to not hesitate.

    but, to her surprise, azzy simply responded by stating his original intentions of visiting this timeline.

    devorah didn''t feel offended or even surprised about it. she casually took out a 10-star card from her storage card and tossed it to him. "use it and you will get to the destination you wanted."

    as soon as azzy caught the card, he felt the weight of it. it was atleast around 10-20 kg of weight. he observed the card made of adamantium.

    on the backside, the stars were gold in color, meaning it was of high grade. and on the front, there is a live image of a pocket watch. it reminded him of that tempus thing he got from his future self and later used to ask for a favor.

    "so, this will get me access to all the destroyed timelines?" asked azzy while observing the card.

    devorah shook her head, "not exactly. this will just get you to the specific time period of a specific destroyed timeline that is recorded in the card."

    "i see..." azzy nodded in understanding with a slight bit of disappointment. but then again, since he just got it for free, he felt like he should be satisfied with the item and forcefully smiled as he thanked her.

    it was then devorah went into a bit of a trance and silently stared at him for a few seconds as if she was thinking of something. azzy found her behavior slightly strange but he threw the thoughts at the back of his head and rose to his feet. "saint garcia, i think i need to leave now."

    devorah wanted to say something but she swallowed down the words in the end and just smiled, "okay."

 Chapter 586 Descent of a God

    chapter 586 descent of a god

    after a while, azzy bid farewell to the others just like a guest who doesn''t have much history with them and used the hourglass to return to his timeline instead of using the mysterious card given by devorah.

    the moment he returned to his present, azzy rushed to the same secret facility which is currently occupied by only dr. mac, her creations, and the avatar of the imprisoned demon, berith.

    she has been researching demonic energy for the past three years to trace the realm of hell one only sees in books. as for building the machine for azzy to travel to angel''s heaven or silver city, it is still in progress. it''s not that easy to build such a thing even with a super android like aria as an assistant.

    on the advice of the reaper, he handed the card to her and asked her to analyze it without exactly informing her about what it is. after she scanned it and gave it back to him, he then exited the control room and poured his soul energy into the card.

    the 10-star card lit up and the live image of a pocket watch started spinning around itself rapidly before the card emitted specks of light and envelop azzy.

    azzy''s surroundings changed to that of a cavern filled with the echoes of reciting of ancient orlon language. meanwhile, the card was still in his left hand''s grip.

    "hmm... that sounds like a ritual is going on," thought azzy and activated his aura sensing to track their location.n)-0velb1n

    a group of nine entered his vision. he saw eight of them standing in different positions with the remaining one standing in the center.

    "hmm, judging by the aura, this man is assad''s leader but he wasn''t the same as earlier. that means there is a hope of saving him and the souls too. yeah, let''s act right away." azzy didn''t bother to hide his presence and instead, released his aura in order to attract the attention.

    however, azzy knew the impact his aura will be on the individuals. since he has to rescue a fellow, he cannot harm him too. hence, he made sure to control his aura to the minimum while still keeping his realm to an 8-star rank.

    just as he expected, his 8-star realm did manage to disturb the ritual. meanwhile, he placed the card back into his pocket and slowly started walking in the direction of the enemies without any hurry.

    soon, he was confronted by a couple of guards who also sensed his presence earlier. both of them are wearing military-style armor protection and have rifles in their arms. of course, these weren''t ordinary rifles. they looked so advanced that it made azzy remember the champions league, where the students from central academy used them.

    "stop, right there. state your identity," said one of the guards; his voice shivering from how he could die at any moment. after all, he is also a human and fears a stronger opponent that he cannot defeat.

    just as he feared, the moment he opened his mouth, azzy charged forward, raising his hand. within a fraction of a second, both of them were seen crash onto the walls and fell on the other side. azzy continued to walk.

    no one was able to stop his movements for a second. everyone who entered his path was blasted with a lightning punch and got knocked out without knowing what struck them. some of the elders of the organization were also present in those knocked-out opponents.

    little did he expect in the next second, the surroundings would suddenly change.

    "hmm?" he looked around. the clouds suddenly covered the skies. rumblings of thunder were heard all over the world. earthquakes and tsunamis suddenly occurred at several places at the same time, though of low magnitude.

    as the entire world came to a still because of a mysterious phenomenon, the reaper''s words echoed in azzy''s head. "a powerful force is descending, azrael. judging by the timing, it is likely because of you. no matter what happens, you shall not reveal the cosmic jewels. just let me handle the situation for now."

    the 17-year-old never thought that 100 million is a huge number. releasing at once would certainly bring attention to him. that small thing escaped from his calculations.

    and that is what happened when the sealing orb was destroyed and enormous souls were released.

    to capture them, the death reapers from all over the world rushed toward the wilderness in the south to capture all the souls and send them to the spirit realm.

    and it is a known fact that all death reapers are just an extension of the death god.

    azzy never expected that a divine being would suddenly descend onto the planet the moment he released the souls.

    as azzy was digesting the warnings of the reaper, a beam of light descended from the sky and fell right in front of azzy, just a few meters.

    it only lasted a couple of seconds and disappeared quickly, leaving behind a handsome young man with pure white wings. his wings, despite being divine, however, are different from a typical angel. they were shaped more like a butterfly.

    he was emitting an aura that reminded azzy of the mother goddess gaia. in his presence, azzy felt very peaceful in his mind.

    now, the only thing azzy could think of is trying to guess his identity.

    "butterfly god? was there someone like that? no, it cannot be. perhaps, he is an angel? quite possible." he thought for a bit before asking the reaper, "who is it, chronos?"

    before the reaper gets to answer, the young-looking man opened his mouth while suddenly furrowing his brows, "azrael orkney garcia? you are still alive? or did you misuse your power of time and traveled to this timeline?"

    the angel-like being didn''t appear to be pleased for some reason.

 Chapter 587 Blessing from the God of Death

    chapter 587 blessing from the god of death

    "so, you are his descendant, huh? i must say you share his appearance, soul energy, and even his potential. even among reincarnations, it is almost impossible for such a thing to happen." the stranger commented after realizing that it wasn''t the one he knew.

    however, the displeasure on his face didn''t disappear a bit.

    instead, he went on with the inquiry before azzy even get to speak properly. the heir of the death clan could only utter the words thank you.

    the question was simple. where did he get so many souls? 100 million is an astronomical number and there has been no event in the past hundreds of thousands of years that can wipe out such population in little time.

    adding on top of that, his senses couldn''t penetrate azzy''s brain. as a result, he cannot see the memories, which only means one thing, or atleast in his view. it is that the boy was protected by a deity. gaia came to his mind as he knew that the mother goddess is quite protective of her children when it comes to a possible threat from cosmic beings.

    hence, he can only depend on azzy''s answer and then judge whether the boy is telling the truth or not.

    unfortunately for him, azzy had the support of the reaper who guided him in replying.

    forcefully calming down himself, thanatos replied, "no, your request cannot be granted. i answer to zeus and if he says that i should take your life, then, i will have to do it. moreover, i have no reason to form enmity with the other gods for the sake of a promise to a mortal. ask something else."

    azzy then quickly changed his condition without pondering on it, "then, how about the protection in the realm of angels? just once during my first visit would do."

    "the realm of angels? and only on your first visit? are you sure about that?" thanatos didn''t think azzy would change the reward like that and not being stubborn as his ancestor. seeing the difference actually made him slightly happy, and he was ready to give the boon, "alright. from the moment you step on the realm of angels to the moment you leave that place, i will protect you from death for one time."

    a spark of divine energy escaped the god of death and entered azzy''s forehead as the latter accepted in, following the reaper''s advice.

    once it disappeared, thanatos then continued, "drive it to your mindscape and store it. when you are in trouble and need my help, you will just have to call for my help and i will go to you in an instant wherever you are. however, if i found out that you are not in the realm of angels, then, you must understand that death will welcome you."

    "i understand," nodded azzy before thanking him again.

    thanatos didn''t stay there any longer as he had other things to do. he returned to his domain, but not before he mentioned to azzy that they will meet again once azzy become a supreme being.

    azzy was quite satisfied with his move. not only he got aaron as his ally, but he also got protection from the god of death himself.

    "now, i wouldn''t even need to wait for my master to return. i can just activate the machine and go there by myself..." azzy already started imagining traveling to the celestial realm to meet his girlfriend and even arguing with her father if it is necessary now that his life was secured by thanatos.

    however, in the next second, a great tsunami crushed his hopes of reunion as the reaper''s voice echoed in his head, "hold your horses, kid. we are going to use the divine spark, right now. your plans have to wait until your master finishes his mission."n-)0velb1n

 Chapter 588 The birth of a divine being

    chapter 588 the birth of a divine being

    "what do you mean?" azzy didn''t understand what the reaper wanted to do with the divine spark. does using it will make him a breakthrough or something? or will he receive some kind of new power?

    the reaper explained, "the divine spark of a true god contains the very essence of divinity. because of your sage core, you were already considered a half-divine being. and now, if we merge it with your sage core, you could practically turn into a true divine being, meaning the divinity will even pass to your descendants."

    "eh? but, won''t this aggravate the death god?" asked azzy in wonder. he didn''t know that the reaper had plans for fooling a god and forming unnecessary enmity.

    the reaper replied in a nonchalant tone as if he wasn''t bothered by the consequences, "don''t worry about it. we can use the reward however we can. furthermore, he isn''t an ally, azrael. don''t go by his angelic features and easygoing attitude. his soul is more corrupt than you can imagine. anyway, let''s stop talking about him. let''s proceed."

    "okay, what should i do?" azzy didn''t question the reaper too much and just went with the flow, although a bit reluctantly for losing an opportunity to visit the realm of angels sooner. he understands that the reaper is doing it for his sake and he can even see the benefits, but still, azzy''s heart wasn''t completely in this act.

    the reaper then told him to just close his eyes and meditate. the former took control of the divine spark floating in azzy''s mindscape and guided it to azzy''s second core, where the natural energy is sitting still.

    upon contact with the foreign object, the natural energy in his core suddenly stirred. it started going out of control.

    azzy started feeling pain in his head as if thousands of needles were pricking him at the same time. he couldn''t help but groan out loud, but the reaper advised him to bear it and try to concentrate on something else. azzy was strictly told not to move from the spot.

    as azzy was following his arcana''s instructions, the latter became busy merging the divine spark with the core.

    soon, the divine spark released threads of energy in all of its directions.

    meanwhile, on the outside, the earth started shaking in the ten-kilometer range around azzy. the wind was blowing really strongly. and then, the dark clouds filled the sky before rumblings of thunder started hearing. the tribal people living in the small villages within the area couldn''t help but come out of their houses and kneel to pray for their god to stop being angry at them.

    this phenomenon continued to occur for the next 14-15 minutes but azzy firmly sat like a rock, looking as if nothing affected him. however, in reality, he was feeling an unimaginable pain. it made him remember the pain his body expressed during the time he broke through tier-9 of the divine physique.

    eventually, the process is completed with a translucent sky blue-colored core transformed into gold in color. the changes could also be felt by azzy, but unfortunately, he wasn''t the only one though.

    far away from the planet of gaia, in the celestial realm, several deities sensed the same thing, the birth of a new divine being. and one of them was quite mad at this development.

    in the realm of death, there was a floating island above the river of lava. on the tiny island lies a simple throne. no beautiful palaces or handmaidens, like was seen elsewhere in the celestial realm.

    there was a simple throne and the butterfly-winged young-looking man was seen sitting on top of it. his expression looked very cold. his hand swiftly moved.

    azzy nodded as he commented, "i guess we are lucky."

    "or it might be a trap set for us," replied aaron right away.

    azzy shrugged his shoulders, "not that it would matter anyway.

    "i guess so..." aaron let out a smile as he raised his head to look at the sky, "so much has changed, huh..."

    after azzy handed over aaron''s adopted father, the latter fulfilled his promise of joining wamo''s zero squad as his subordinate and revealing all the confidential information on arc company.

    with that info, under commander kruger''s orders, azzy launched a secret operation while working with a few selected individuals.

    he captured every spy working at information desks, members of special forces, the research and development division, and high-level officials of several other divisions within the organization and governments across the supercontinent.

    after that, a formal arrest was issued on the directors. a couple of them were caught and the rest of them managed to escape. for the past few weeks, azzy has been working on capturing them one after another.

    apart from his mission, another interesting thing that has happened in his life is the mysterious disappearance of the spaceships.

    the spaceships of the arcturian empire were supposed to arrive long ago. at first, their speed was delayed after they entered the asteroid belt located about 400 million kilometers away from the planet.

    and when they were only 50 million kilometers away with nothing to stop them, they just disappeared out of nowhere. even dr. mac''s satellites with powerful sensors couldn''t find anything.

    the matter is still being investigated by the world space agency, under wamo''s jurisdiction. however, nothing has been found so far except for the fact that space distortion occurred before their disappearance. for now, they can only assume that the invaders changed plans at the last minute.

    as a result, azzy was able to completely concentrate on his work. he diligently worked harder at wamo to complete missions and gain merits for later use while continuing to teach the tenth-grade students at emerald academy.

    back to the present, after capturing two more directors and gaining two more merit points from the organization, azzy focused on the upcoming graduation exams for the tenth-grade students.

    usually, he only had to create a tournament using a format of his choice. however, azzy wanted to try something different. he wanted to create something like a realistic environment for the students.

    after thinking of various ideas, he ended up deciding on one. "there are still two weeks for the examinations to start. and if i request the principal to place the practical combat at last, i will get another ten days of time. i hope it will be enough."n)-0velb1n

 Chapter 589 Attribute test for the mission

    chapter 589 attribute test for the mission

    the next day morning, at the death clan village, elites were seen gathering at the hall of missions, located in the same building as the hall of judgment.

    in the list of a-grade missions, a new one was added. this was a personal mission from azzy, meaning it wasn''t issued by the clan and the rewards entirely would be provided by the heir out of his own pocket.nove(lb/in

    while the mission only stated that it only involved labor work and didn''t need fighting ability but had to be proficient in controlling their attribute, the rewards were something that even other elders were tempted to accept. if not for minding their status, they would have done that.

    but then again, they can''t be blamed either. the one who completes the mission can choose either a customized rank-8 weapon a piece of armor of their choice, or a one-time use activated-rank-9 skill card of defensive type.

    at the same time, they also wondered why this was only included in the a-grade list, meaning the minimum amount of soul power to accept it should be atleast 1 million (rank-6) to accept this mission. just based on rewards, one would expect it in atleast s-grade. maybe, it is because there is no risk of death?

    adding on top of that, it was clearly stated all the participants must go through a test at once, out of which five to seven members will be selected by azzy.

    by the end of the day, an unprecedented number of 47 members accepted the quest and all of them gathered at yellow pavilion by the dawn of the next day.

    the most notable of them all was avia night, the judge who was feared by many. the other notable presence is the elven princess, who was technically not part of the clan but since this isn''t a clan mission anyway, azzy asked her to apply as he doesn''t want to see her as someone playing favorites.

    as everyone was checking out each other in order to analyze their chances of making it to the top 5 or 7, azzy arrived at the arena with his father.

    everyone went onto their left knees in unison upon witnessing their clan head. vesyrn nodded with a smile and gestured for them to get up, informing them not to mind his presence.

    he flew away to the stands and took a seat, becoming a spectator.

    as everyone''s attention was shifted to azzy, the latter then spoke, "the test is simple. each one of you will get 2 minutes. in that time limit, you just have to attack me using energy techniques or soul skills. apart from the sp recovery card and healing card, nothing else is allowed. of course, there won''t be any counterattack from me. i will be focusing only on defending. now, who would like to challenge me first?"

    he expected avia to swing her hand over her shoulder to slam him down, but the latter took him by surprise by transforming them into energy chains, which swirled around and captured him tightly, taking him by surprise.

    "ohhh, that''s a veteran for you..." a majority part of the crowd appeared to be impressed by her tactic. on the other hand, some had darkened expressions. reed blood from the blood clan was one of them. watching how avia outwitted azzy, he muttered, "there goes a spot. dammit. i need to act before the others."

    meanwhile, after capturing azzy with dark energy chains, she clenched her fist and jumped at him.

    just as her fist was about to be connected with azzy''s cheek, the latter showcased his flexibility by bending down backward while raising his right leg simultaneously to kick her in the abdomen.

    due to the vast difference in physique, azzy''s casual kick ended up blasting away avia for dozens of meters and making her cough out blood as she rose to her feet again.

    the shock was also clearly evident on her face. since she was a veteran assassin, she instantly figured out the difference in strength between her and former student who isn''t even 18 yet.

    following that, as her head started spinning, azzy tightened his muscles and broke out of chains through brute force, "congratulations, you passed."

    "eh?" "huh?" "what the hell?" "it''s not even a minute." "does capturing him for a few seconds count as a win?" "what are his requirements?" "what is young master thinking?" "young master cannot be partial during a fair contest. it''s not fair." "shh, he will hear" "hey, don''t you know that young master has a feud with her?"

    as the rest of the challengers started mumbling over azzy''s decision with some of them being dissatisfied, the latter addressed them and gave an explanation, "as i mentioned in the quest details, i''m looking for those who are proficient in controlling their attribute. by the way, i will be selecting only one person for one attribute. if there are multiple candidates, there will be another round of selections. now, who will come next?"

    azzy''s explanation caused a bit of frenzy among the challengers. they didn''t know what kind of task azzy was preparing to do, but judging by his words and the rewards he was willing to pay, they thought it would be something worth remembering.

    meanwhile, reed let out a sigh of relief as he realized there was no competition for him at all. he was the only one representing the blood clan.

    since there will be more rounds in the future, everyone also became calmer and took their time instead of rushing forward in a hurry.

 Chapter 590 Rules of the man-made dungeon

    chapter 590 rules of the man-made dungeon

    over the next 3 hours, azzy continued to spar with every candidate who took the mission. and after that, he fought against multiple people of the same attribute in the second round to decide on one. n..o.-v).¦Å()l))b-.1-(n

    all this time, vesyrn patiently watched them from the stands with more and more people joining him in the middle as it seemed fun.

    in the end, alongside avia, reed, and isolde, 6 more members were selected from various attributes. surprisingly, three of them have the earth attribute and no one from the lightning attribute was selected. as a result, azzy decided to handle it by himself.

    after deciding on the time and place, azzy left the clan village and made a visit to egrein city to ask for his friend''s help as she was the only wood user he knew.

    three days later;

    emerald academy, emerald city;

    leaving behind aaron to watch over the academy, the principal followed azzy to eldermist lake, which is located within the city limits and relatively considered a safe place.

    there''s not much to say about this lake to discuss anything, atleast until now.

    its history is going to change and might even become a popular tourist location in the future with azzy''s new move, or so the principal thought as soon as he entered through the portal opened up on the tiny island located in the middle of the lake.

    roughly an hour later, both of them exited the portal. as azzy closed the portal, the principal asked, "captain garcia, is this really necessary for a simple graduation examination?" he was impressed for sure, but at the same time, he felt like it was overkill.

    azzy turned toward the principal to look him in the eyes and firmly nodded, "yes, it is necessary. i want them to understand how dangerous the outside world is. and i don''t mean the monsters."

    the principal stared at this young man for a few seconds, trying to understand what the latter meant. after realizing it, he thought for a few more seconds before saying, "still, i feel that is a bit of a loss. so, i have an idea. why don''t we use this opportunity to improve our relations with other academies?"

    "hmm? what do you have in mind?"

    the battle zone and the safe zones are isolated from the rest and can be recognized by the signs placed before them. however, the wild zone and monster zone merge with each other on the same field. there are hints of warning placed outside of the monster zone but you have to depend on your vision to find them.

    coming to the point system, monsters below rank 4 are worth 1 point. rank-4 monsters are worth 2 points. rank-5 monsters are worth 5 points. and rank-6 monsters are worth 20 points. kill them and earn the points.

    those who don''t want to kill can search for the black crystal orbs, which are spread all over the wild zone and monster zone. each one is worth a point.

    the one who reaches the finishing line within the time limit will receive a full score, and the one who cannot reach it will have their score tallied by the number of points they have accumulated. each point is worth 1 mark. so, if you have 100 points, you will also score full marks.

    another important thing that i need to mention is about the prohibitions. everyone is prohibited from using any kind of skill cards, item cards, or any external items like weapons and armor in the dungeon. not even healing cards and sp recovery cards are allowed. you can only use the ones they found during the test.

    remember that all of you will be secretly observed by the experts. they will be the ones who will decide how many points each of you will earn if you team up and kill a monster.

    now, coming to the rule breakers, obviously, rule breaking will cause a deduction in your points.

    but, based on the severity of the rule-breaking, you might also be expelled from the competition altogether or you might also be punished on the spot. so, don''t be complacent just because you have strength or background. here, where you come from doesn''t matter. everyone will be treated impartially.

    last but not least, principal danvary asked me to inform all of you that a scout from wamo will be observing this test. those with excellent performance might get a recommendation.

    now that everything that needs to be said has been said, let''s proceed with the examination."

    *snap*

    with a snap of his finger, a door appeared on the island, making almost everyone''s entire attention shift to it.

    as the door opened on its own, revealing a portal, azzy stretched his hand toward the door, "go."

 Chapter 591 Raydon and Serestia (part-1)

    chapter 591 raydon and serestia (part-1)

    upon entering the pocket world, all the students are randomly scattered all over the wild zone.

    some ended up in groups, and some ended up alone. some have a great amount of luck that they ended up in safe zones while some have high bad luck that they had to appear right in the middle of a bunch of undead beasts.

    two of those teenagers who faced bad luck were raydon and serestia. in fact, they might have the worst of luck, if seen through the lens of the secret guardians.

    both of them ended up together in the monster zone where rank-5 undead beasts roam. adding on top of that, it is an open field of barren land with nowhere to hide.

    "f**k that bastard" "eek..."

    raydon and serestia were quite surprised as they realized their situation.

    usually, the soul realm of azzy''s undead beasts cannot be sensed due to the fact that they were merely skeletons. but, the bosses of the monster zones were quite special.

    they retained their core due to the reaper''s special technique of merging their spirit core that was behind after their death with their skeleton in azzy''s mindscape.

    it''s just like with hydra, the skeleton snow wolf, and the rank-8 skeleton spider. retaining the core will let the others sense their realm.

    since neither of them was willing to look for an escape, both of them summoned their arcana to face whatever coming at them.

    until that moment the undead beasts acted as if they didn''t see them. but, the moment arcana spirits were out, the rank-4 and rank-5 beasts rushed at them. combined, they were about 30 in number.

    "take the altitude and attack from above. i will take care here." raydon quickly formulated a battle strategy.

    however, he doesn''t have a great relationship with serestia and the latter has no intentions of teaming up with him, much less acting as a support.

    ignoring his instructions, she rushed forward.

    "damn it," raydon was slightly frustrated a little bit, but he followed her instead of taking care of the beasts around him.

    seeing that the boss wasn''t moving, serestia sat on a rock and concentrated on recovering her soul energy. she wants to be at her peak when facing a boss like that.

    shimmerwood tortoise is something well known to her. even though it is in an undead state, she is still recognized by its four eyes.

    the monster is a rank-6 of gold grade. it is an earth-type beast that has a high defense. unless you have attacks with an armor penetration effect or you have far higher strength, it is difficult to beat this boss.

    however, luckily for them, the boss is an undead with nothing but a skeleton. even if it tries to hide in its shell, they can still attack it through the gaps, although from the front. its huge size and slow speed are another advantage for raydon and serestia.

    serestia was meditating, raydon was staring at her and he was lost in his thoughts.

    this silence went on for 15 minutes, but serestia couldn''t bear it anymore and shouted in frustration as she broke out of her meditation. "what is it?" she asked as she turned toward him.

    raydon shook his head, "nothing."

    "then, why do you keep staring at me?" serestia looked quite annoyed. she further added, "go and kill the monster if you want to. or just leave the zone. no need to stick with me."

    raydon replied, "i was just wondering. whether it is luck or not, you are talented enough to release the attribute energy. you must have great potential. why did your mother arrange your marriage with him? it''s not like he is intelligent, wealthy, or has high potential. not to mention, you are neither born in some 7th epoch nor the ruling royal family."

    "hmm? why do you have a sudden interest in my personal life?" serestia continued to speak in a rude manner, not intending to forgive him.

    however, raydon showed patience, unlike his usual self, replying to her that he was merely passing the time and she wouldn''t need to bother herself to answer him.

    upon staring at him for a few seconds in silence, serestia let out a deep sigh and looked at the false sky, "nearly four decades ago, during my grandpa''s second term as the president, the police arrested bill''s grandparents in a money laundering case. it hurt the company''s reputation badly and it went bankrupt. not being able to pay money to the investors, they committed suicide.

    however, a few years ago, it was discovered during an investigation of another case that they were innocent and were framed by their in-laws. a life for life; that''s what bill''s parents asked my mom when she went to their house to apologize and propose compensation. since she cannot just give away her life, she promised them to marry me to their son and make them our in-laws."

    raydon blinked his eyes twice and asked, "then, what would you do if bill was in a secret relationship with someone else?"

    "hmm?"

 Chapter 592 Raydon and Serestia (part-2)

    chapter 592 raydon and serestia (part-2)

    somewhere in the middle of the dungeon, there is an island surrounded by millions of metallic spikes, extending up to atleast more than fifty meters away.

    each of those spikes isn''t that big. they were as small as two inches in height and one inch thick but sharp enough to pierce anyone below rank 5. it is the last hurdle for the students to finish the race.

    on the island, azzy was standing alongside his superior from wamo, emerald academy''s principal george danvary, dragon academy''s vice principal alan, phoenix academy''s principal amelia hearth, maple academy''s principal elowen, and sun academy''s principal eldric frost.

    apart from the dragon academy, respective principals of the remaining top-tier academies volunteered as representatives to watch over this annual trial, not because they were interested in this dungeon or the competition between the students.

    it is due to the presence of the chief guest, the supreme commander of wamo, kruger. they wouldn''t miss such an opportunity to interact with such an expert.

    azzy had to use several merits he accumulated over the years to invite his superior and also to buy the rewards he promised to give his clansmen who joined him in making this dungeon.

    if not for the principal roping in the other academies, azzy wouldn''t have invited the supreme commander. due to the availability of talents, he thought it was a good opportunity to recruit them.

    just like the others, commander kruger was also staring at a floating giant mirror. the treasure belongs to wamo and azzy just rented it for this occasion.

    with the help of this divine mirror, the user can watch everything within a 1000-kilometer radius.

    azzy, who was connected with his undead beasts, controlled the mirror to display the live videos of various candidates.

    until a while ago, the mirror was displaying raydon and serestia. after they decided to take the break, azzy changed it to some students of phoenix academy and sun academy. they were working together to clean up a monster zone in the fire habitat, where pits of volcanoes are randomly spitting flames.

    however, the elephant in the room still happened to be those two.

    maple academy''s elowen couldn''t help but comment, "that girl is seriously a contender for becoming a pillar of the future. it''s extremely rare to find such arcana masters who can unleash attribute energy at such a young age."

    "i agree," dragon academy''s alan nodded. "if not for that past incident, i would love to scout her for advanced courses. it''s a pity that she won''t choose our academy. " he lets out a deep sigh.

    "hmm?" "hmm?"

    regardless of whether they are undead or free ones, the beasts have this natural instinct toward their predator and they can sense which opponent is more threat to them.

    serestia didn''t like how she was being ignored but she kept her calm and took advantage of the situation to launch her first soul skill, the fireball.

    sensing the fireball descending onto it, the shimmerwood tortoise finally raised its head to look at the attack and quickly acted on instinct, retracting its head into the shell.

    the fireball descended onto its shell. it didn''t do any direct damage but the flames spread apart its shell and started burning it slowly.

    "kraaa..." a scream escaped from inside the shell.

    "good..." serestia let out a smile and proceeded with her next attack.

    serestia went on unleashing her fourth soul skill, pyropenta lances, and went on adding wind attribute to it.

    as a result, five spears made of blazing fire made their appearance above her head. "die." she launched all of them at the undead tortoise.

    it was at that moment, the secret guardian who was observing them saw cracks appearing on its shell at once.

    his eyes squinted as he saw some kind of shadow figure leaving the place before those blazing spears reached it. "an intervention from the outside or..." the observer''s attention was momentarily shifted to the boy standing simply.

    in the next instant, two of serestia''s fire spears completely broke its shell, letting the other three strike what was beneath it.

    the vulnerable core was instantly struck by one of those spears, releasing a massive amount of energy in the form of an explosion, throwing away raydon who stood there like a statue, as if he was stunned.

    ten seconds later, serestia landed before the boy who was still lying on the ground. with a simple glance, she saw that he had no external injuries. she couldn''t help but ask, "what are you doing there? come on. let''s go and get the loot."

    "ugh..." raydon let out a painful groan in response, "you go and collect the loot. i have a muscle spasm in my legs. it''s yours to take it anyway as you defeated it by yourself."

    serestia stared at him for a few seconds, thinking something, before she turned around to walk away without a care, "fine, suit yourself."

    meanwhile, raydon looked at the sky while clutching his legs, "man, i overkilled myself this time. i should be careful about using that technique in the future."

 Chapter 593 The mysterious teenager with space attribute

    chapter 593 the mysterious teenager with space attribute

    just like how items are dropped after killing a monster in games, azzy designed the dungeon in a way that every time a boss monster dies, a sealing technique will be activated automatically and a storage bag filled with items appear on the field.

    as a result, a dark blue-colored drawstring bag appeared in the place of the disappeared undead tortoise.

    these were called storage pouches. they weren''t expensive and available everywhere.

    unlike storage cards, these bags cannot be linked to one''s soul and the space they hold is also relatively small.

    serestia opened such a bag and saw a pair of rank-6 equipment, two earth-attribute-related skill cards (one-time use) of six-star rank, a flying card, and an sp recovery card.

    serestia looked at them for a while and then glanced at raydon who slowly sat up on his butt.

    she walked toward him with the bag.

    upon reaching him, serestia neatly placed a pair of bracers, a flying card, and an earth attribute skill card named the stone armor in front of raydon and said, "i divided the spoils into 50/50, but since i was the main contributor, i took whatever i desired."

    raydon looked at her and then at the things spread before him. he merely took a flying card and said, "i practically did nothing. just this flying card is enough. you can take the remaining two."

    "the loot was already distributed. whether you want to take it or leave it here is your wish," said the girl as she turned around to fly away from the location.

    raydon picked up his share of the loot and mumbled, "all three of them are useful to me." he then raised his head to look at serestia''s back, "your act of kindness just complicates things more. i guess i will have to stick with you, after all. i don''t want to wish you bad luck but i really hope for you to encounter trouble so that i will become debt free."

    boarding on the flying card, raydon then followed her from behind.

    meanwhile, somewhere far away from raydon and serestia, in a normal wild zone, three elite students of dragon academy were seen attacking two female students, one from the maple academy and the other from phoenix academy.

    the two girls ended up with heavy injuries and were forced to announce that they quit the competition.

    one of the secret guardians, wearing masks, made his appearance right away and applied a skill card to both of them without speaking of anything. they turned into specks of light and were transported directly to the outside world.

    after his job was done, he simply disappeared away from the place, bringing grins to the three students.

    one of them couldn''t help but sigh in relief, "i thought we would be scolded or worse, punished by them."

    "nah, they can''t even if they want to," replied the leader of the group. he is clarke roger, the heir of the roger family and the descendant of dragon academy''s principal.

    neither his family nor his connection to the principal earned him any special benefits in the academy, but he was nevertheless a popular one in his class. clarke knew how to play with the rules, often exploiting the loopholes in his favor.

    the parents wanted their kids to get close to him to form connections. the popularity went over his head, eventually turning him into a bully.

    the latter nodded.

    they decided to inform everything to azzy, following their duty.

    ***

    meanwhile, thousands of light years away, on a planet that looks similar to that of gaia and arcana world;

    a pair of elves, of the 9-star soul realm, was battling against an army of giants that looked similar to that of orcs, except that these had horns on their heads and multiple eyes; the foot soldiers had one horn and a pair of normal eyes, and the strongest one in the back has four horns and four pairs of eyes.

    regardless of their division of strength, the elves bombarded the whole battlefield with a series of arrows and spells as if they had an inexhaustible supply of energy.

    after 17 hours of continuous battle, the couple managed to eradicate every monster and is fighting their final opponent, the orc lord.

    "louis, give it the final blow," roared the female elven beauty as she launched a powerful illusion on the orc lord.

    upon being hit by a beam of translucent energy, the orc lord went into a trace for a second and the male archer took this opportunity to launch his ultimate technique.

    "soul skill: stellar arrowstorm"

    the archer fired the stellar arrow, which cut through the air like lightning and pierced the chest of the orc lord.

    upon impact, it created a brilliant explosion of starlight, incinerating him in an instant.

    however, due to its high blast radius, the archer didn''t waste any time creating a portal by shooting another arrow and saved his partner from collateral damage.

    after a while, they were seen sitting on grassland and gazing at the stars in the sky. due to no light pollution on the planet, the sky looked incredibly beautiful.

    for a while, there was a complete silence between them.

    fey of the summer eladrin race then broke the silence and asked, "louis, it''s been a while since we last saw our son. shall we return to earth?"

    the husband replied by shaking his head, "there''s a lot to do, fey. i''ll go back when i finish up my tasks."

    "c''mon, you can take a few days of break," fey became slightly annoyed by his rejection.

    the husband let out a deep sigh, "fine. don''t make that face. but, only three days. after that, we are leaving."

    "yay, i knew you would agree... muah. as a reward..." "hey, what are you doing? my pants..." "c''mon, it is not like there is anyone to spy on us" "but, still, it is outside. i... argh..."

 Chapter 594: The guardian and the snow wolf

    A few hours later at Azzy''s dungeon;

    "Look, a student finally arrived," said the principal of Maple Academy, pointing his finger in the east.

    Azzy turned in the direction and saw a familiar-looking teenager far away, walking toward them. "It''s Ace..." Principal Danvary of the hosting academy let out a cry of surprise. He couldn''t contain his excitement and shook Azzy''s right shoulder. "Can''t believe the student of 10-B would beat others to the race."

    "Ace is talented. Too bad he can''t fit into a team," commented Azzy in response, indicating that he isn''t the right candidate for an organization like WAMO.

    "No, what he needs is a good mentor," The Principal disagreed with his statement, not intending to let the scout hear such bad things about their student. He added, "Unlike other elite students, he came from a poor financial background and studied under a scholarship program. If he gets enough support, he will reach great heights in the future."

    Contrary to how the principal thinks of the boy, Azzy doesn''t have a great impression of him. But then again, he doesn''t need to argue with him on this matter.

    Hence, he didn''t comment on it and simply changed the matter, putting up an act of surprise, "Oh, it looks like five students were out from the competition in one sweep. Three managed to escape though."

    "Five of them?" Principal Danvary''s attention was simply shifted to the energy mirror and Azzy changed the scene with a wave of his hand.

    In the forest, the guardians were seen checking out the unconscious bodies as a skeletal wolf ran past them and started running in some direction.

    Soon, the guardians and those five unconscious students disappeared from everyone''s view and they saw the wolf chasing down three injured students. They were Navi, Bill, and Laura from 10-A.

    It didn''t take long for the skeletal wolf Aurora to catch up to and swipe its claws at the one running closely behind the other two. It''s Bill who was trying to look after their backs.

    "Ahhh..." Letting out a painful scream, Bill fell to the ground with its claws penetrating atleast an inch on his back.

    *Thud*

    He fell to the ground.

    "No..." Laura stopped at once and so was Navi after a couple of seconds. Quite surprisingly, the skeletal wolf also stopped running and stood beside, putting one of its feet on his injured back. It looked at them as if it was challenging them.

    "Argh..." Bill let out another scream of pain. With great difficulty, he raised his hand and tried to gesture for her to run away.

    Navi shouted from the distance, "Laura, let''s go..."

    Laura looked back and then at the wolf staring at her. Pouring her remaining soul energy into her right hand, she clenched her fist and charged at the wolf.

    A mutated stage purple-grade broadsword made its appearance. Grabbing its handle with both of his hands, David charged forward.

    The snow wolf took it as an offense and pushed its hind legs, taking a leap at him while opening its mouth.

    Just as the broadsword was about to clash with its mouth, Aurora controlled its head in mid-air, twisted it to a horizontal position, and caught the blade.

    David didn''t hesitate to unleash the soul skill with the intention to kill it. The sparks of lightning and the soul energy enveloped the blade but Aurora didn''t leave its grip on the blade as it landed on the ground.

    David was feeding the broadsword more and more soul energy as Aurora tried to take the sword from his hands with force. He was dragged on the ground for a few seconds until the soul skill was finally unleashed in the form of an arc of lightning energy.

    He expected his attack would cleanly cut through its mouth and even its body in half to some extent.

    However, the result was quite the opposite. The attack was launched. It struck Aurora''s jaws and disappeared as if it didn''t exist.

    David''s facial expression changed all of a sudden as Aurora successfully took away his broadsword from him and threw it away.

    It then put one of its forelegs on his chest and looked at him coldly. Without giving him any chance to counterattack any further, an energy beam escaped from its eyes and struck his chest, freezing his whole body just like how it did with Laura, earlier.

    At once, the remaining two guardians were panicked. One of them quickly took out his message card to send the emergency signal to Azzy, not knowing that everyone was watching them through the energy mirror.

    "What is this, Mr. Danvary?" Maple Academy''s Principal raised his voice as he turned around.

    Principal George Danvary nervously looked at Azzy for the answer.

    The latter spoke in his stead, "I gave the instructions to my Elite pets to knock out the participants that enter their respective zones. Bill was not unconscious. So, Aurora was merely trying to knock the student out, not kill him. The guardian misunderstood the situation and raised his weapon. The result is here. Nevertheless, as the host, we will take responsibility for his safety too.

    I''m gonna take care of this by removing the beast with my own hands. Nothing to worry, I''ll leave right away and..."

    Azzy calmly defended Aurora''s actions and he tried to make sure the VIPs also didn''t feel like they were being lectured. So, he volunteered to solve this situation by himself and not leaving it to the other two guardians. But, before he finished the sentence, he suddenly stopped talking for a couple of seconds and changed his words, "Why don''t we wait for a bit?"

    "Huh?" As the others looked at him in a bit of confusion, their attention was quickly grabbed by the scene displayed in the energy mirror.

    Several portals appeared in the surroundings of the snow wolf before they shot energy chains at hypersonic speeds and captured the beast in an instant.

    "Archie... this student is really something..." mumbled Alan with clear shock on his face.

 Chapter 595: Serestia awakens

    A while ago;

    When the Sun Academy student named Archie alias Ark reached the monster zone of Aurora, he already sensed that a battle was going on.

    He didn''t participate in it and decided to wait until they finished the boss and leave. However, he didn''t expect everyone to be defeated despite collective efforts.

    As the beast was chasing down the remaining three, Archie unleashed his soul skill that let him create an invisible spatial barrier even within a pocket world. As a result, Laura disappeared from Aurora''s sight and senses.

    And then, seeing that a guardian was going against it, he thought it broke the rules or something. He decided to act when it was vulnerable.

    While that situation never came due to the fact that Aurora easily overpowered David, it still gave Archie a window of opportunity and he took it without any hesitation.

    As soon as he captured the undead beast, Archie successively launched another soul skill. Something that seemed like a singularity was created right above its head, sucking it entirely before it got the opportunity to react.

    The so-called singularity then turned into solid black marble and fell to the ground.

    Archie then came out of a portal while carrying Laura above his shoulder and picked up the marble while putting her down.

    He then used the remaining feeble amount of soul energy inside him to crush the marble, effectively killing the undead beast.

    As soon as the marble was crushed to dust, a wisp of energy flew away from it. Archie kept his attention on that wisp until it disappeared from his sight and nodded to himself, "Okay, found where I should head next, but before that..."

    Continuing to carry the frozen girl on his shoulder, he looked at the guardian and asked in a bit of a lazy tone, "By any chance, are there any hidden rewards or benefits to those who saved the guardians or other students?"

    His lazy tone made it appear like he was rude but David could care less about it. The guardian came out of his shock and answered truthfully as he sat on the ground, "No, there is no such instruction passed down to us."

    "Oh, I see..." Archie lost his interest and threw away the unconscious girl from his shoulder. She fell to the ground like a sack of rice.

    Just as the boy was about to leave, David took a heavy breath and said, "However, it remains a fact that you saved me. As a thank you, I shall tell you a little secret. A scout from WAMO was watching everything."

    As Archie stopped moving and turned around to look at the guardian, the latter continued, "Whether they were watching now or not doesn''t matter. Your abilities will be reported by us either way. So, if you were to help them out, the scout will be more impressed."

    However, as the second and third and the subsequent needles continuously struck them, the effect of those needles stacked upon each other, and it came to a point that they seemed like they were frozen for a long time by the time Serestia was only about a few meters from him.

    Archie took advantage and continuously shot the spatial needles without stopping for the next minutes, striking the immobilized targets for atleast a couple of hundred times each.

    Due to the fact that none of them have any external support, the three of them found themselves under the mercy of Archie, who just finished melting down all the ice on Laura and even making sure that her body stayed warm, as he left her and started walking toward them.

    Archie stopped a foot away from Serestia and raised his hand above his head. As a dagger with a black blade appeared in his hand, he spoke to her, "Missy, I don''t know who you are, but since you tried to attack me, you shall face the consequences. Consider yourself lucky that we met like this in a friendly contest, not in a real dungeon..."

    He proceeded to pierce her stomach with the dagger. David was shivering a little bit as he was staring at the scene. He didn''t expect this fellow to be very decisive.

    However, just as the dagger was about to strike her, Raydon''s body was warped in pure dark energy, making him look like a 3D shadow.

    Archie''s attention was slightly disturbed by the sudden changes in Raydon, and this pause from him became enough for the latter to rush forward a bit and throw himself between the dagger and the girl.

    The black dagger pierced his chest and Raydon''s attribute energy left him subsequently, taking everyone by surprise.

    *thud*

    Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Raydon fell to his knees before collapsing on the ground.

    "No..."

    In the next second, Serestia''s loud scream echoed in the surroundings while the black needles were expelled from her body alongside strange and yet mysterious energy that pushed away Archie for several meters.

    "Ugh..." Letting out a groan of pain in his chest, Archie got up on his feet and looked at Serestia in a daze, "This layer of energy around her was extremely similar to mine. The spatial energy?"

    Meanwhile, at the finishing line, Azzy was surprised just like the other spectators.

    Unlike others who merely drew various speculations, Azzy had something click in his head, "Louis'' spatial energy. Now it all makes sense as to why her birth date was years before Mia''s marriage with Calder. Now that I think about it, even her other attribute is also wind, just like Louis, although she didn''t have a bit of elven features. Must be taken after her mom...

    Anyway, I think I should step in right now..."

    He disappeared from there soon after.

 Chapter 596: Raydon and Serestia (part-3)

    Back at the dungeon, Serestia was consumed by the newly awakened spatial energy and the space around her started misbehaving due to her lack of control.

    Space is getting torn randomly around her, revealing a pitch-black world on the other side and then disappearing swiftly.

    As soon as the experts saw it, everyone mumbled at the same time, "Spatial Tears." Their expressions weren''t good at the moment.

    Spatial tears are different from portals. In theory, Portals operates on the principles of advanced quantum entanglement and multi-dimensional geometry. They harness the extraordinary properties of quantum physics to create a network of interconnected gateways, allowing for instantaneous travel across vast distances.

    On the other hand, a spatial tear is a mysterious and unpredictable rupture in the fabric of spacetime. It is something beyond the understanding of humans of the present.

    According to the ancients, it is described as something like a curse from the deities.

    However, what they know is that if one gets caught in a spatial tear, then, it is an end as there is no one yet to return home.

    So far, it has been observed that spatial tears are temporary as the world''s healing power will remove them in a jiffy.

    The reason why spatial tears are known to mankind is because of their occurrence during the creation of long-distance teleportation cards by a 1 in 100 chance.

    Everyone was worried about the potential casualties by Serestia''s lack of control and even Azzy was the same.

    He didn''t waste a second and flew to the site where Serestia was seen struggling with the chains that captured her tightly. Navi was still under spatial paralysis and Raydon was unconscious on the ground.

    "Missy, come to your senses, or else, I will be forced to destroy your soul orb," warned Archie in a determined tone.

    "Raarrrr..." As a beastly roar escaped from Serestia while destroying a few energy chains and creating spatial tears around Archie, the latter jumped away from them and motioned his arm, "It is indeed a pity to destroy one''s potential but you are one of the gifted individuals who are selected by the universe.

    Destroying your soul realm right now probably won''t have a high impact on your future anyway."

    "Soul skill: Descend of the Styx."

    Using the remaining amount of soul energy left in his soul orb, Archie unleashed his most powerful skill. The flames generated by this skill can penetrate through the target''s body and directly attack the soul orb/ spirit core.

    As long as the target has nothing to defend against this attack, it will surely destroy the soul orb. However, he also has to be careful with it as it could potentially damage the soul as well. That is why it was named after the River Styx.

    An orb of flames, in the size of a fist, formed in front of his palm.

    Just as he was about to release it, his view was blocked by the appearance of Azzy. The latter landed right in front of Serestia and raised his hand, "Stop it, student Archie."

    "Ah, you are reading that book huh," Laura nodded in realization and then said, "Actually, we came here to say..."

    Before she finished her sentence, Serestia interrupted her, "No need to thank me. I''m not the one who saved both of you. It was..."

    This time, it was her turn to get interrupted by Bill, "Serestia, we heard it from the staff. It''s not about that. We came here to reveal something you deserve to know. After almost facing death, I realized that I should be completely honest with you and myself."

    "Hmm? Honesty? A secret? What are you saying?" Serestia couldn''t understand what he was talking about.

    Bill and Laura took a glance at each other and took a deep breath before they said at the same time, "We are in love with each other."

    *tap*

    Closing the book in force, she stared at both of them in silence for atleast ten seconds. Her facial expression was quite serious.

    "Serestia, it is not her fault. It is..." Bill was trying to say something but Laura caught his hand firmly. He became silent.

    After another few seconds of silence, she finally spoke in a calm tone, "Fine. I don''t need any other explanation. However, my mother owes your family and our marriage is the one that fulfills that debt. Admit it to your family and cancel our engagement from your side. I won''t report to my mom that you cheated on me.

    Now, if you excuse me, I need both of you to leave me alone for a while." She then closed her eyes.

    "Thank you for your understanding. Sorry once again. I..." Bill apologized again and again but couldn''t hide his happiness as he left the tent.

    After a few seconds, Serestia shyly opened one of her eyes. "They were gone."

    In an instant, her expression brightened. With a big smile on her face, she started jumping with joy like a little girl, "Is this my lucky day or what... All of that bitter feeling of failing the exams disappeared in an instant. I''m now free to date anyone that I li.... aaa..."

    Too much excitement caused her left leg to twist a bit and she lost her balance, falling on top of Raydon.

    "Ugh..." As a painful groan escaped his face, she turned her head to look at Raydon''s face, which was as close as a few centimeters.

    His eyes were still closed but Serestia went into a daze for a couple of seconds and mumbled, "Now that I look at him closely, Raydon indeed has a handsome face. I wonder whether that white hair is natural like Vice Principal Aaron or dyed it..."

    "It''s natural," a small whisper escaped Raydon''s mouth, taking her by surprise.

    She immediately got up in embarrassment as Raydon slowly opened his eyes with a smile. He teasingly spoke, "I know that I''m handsome but don''t fall for me okay? Raydon''s fandom club already has too many members."

    "Hmpf, dream on..." Serestia let out a snort and looked away with a reddened face.

 Chapter 597: Confronting Mia

    Year 1994, Aclein City;

    It was in the middle of the first semester and the time period was noon.

    Louis, along with his mentee, Raven Passel of 6th grade, was seen just coming out of a restaurant located downtown.

    They were discussing the next mission assigned to them.

    "Senior, I honestly don''t understand what the teachers are thinking about taking us to a place like Quenaris for the next weekend," said the 6th grader in a complaining tone as he was asked about his opinion. He further added, "I mean... Glimmerroot vines are no longer used to heal our wounds. In today''s age, we have healing cards that can instantly do the job.

    Moreover, the rock guardians are too strong for us."

    The 6-foot pointy-eared and animated-faced 10th grader shook his head with a smile, "The rock guardians are considered one of the most intelligent beasts on the planet. Despite their brawny build, they would rather use their intelligence instead of fists to deal with their enemies. The Canyon would allow them to blend with the surroundings in the form of rocks and attack us from the top."

    "Isn''t that even more dangerous?" Raven''s face went pale for a moment, imagining a scenario where he was going to face such an attack.

    Louis couldn''t help but playfully slap the kid''s back, "What are you afraid for, Raven? We have done enough missions together for you to know about my abilities to keep you out of trouble. No matter what kind of opponents we face, as long as you have me by your side, at the very least, you can be assured that you will be saaaaafeeee..."

    Just as he was almost at the end of his little pep talk, Louis was suddenly blasted into the sky with a heavy bruise on his chin as if someone punched him from below.

    And, when he reached the peak altitude, he was once again blasted onto the ground as if someone punched him, this time in the gut.

    Thankfully, the force was only strong enough to knock him out. This sudden occurring event created panic among the passersby. As for Raven, he just ran away from there in fear.

    After a while, the ambulance arrived and the unconscious elf was carried away on the stretcher.

    A man wearing a hood was secretly watching this from far away as his servant, the jinn returned to him with a few strands of hair in its hands.

    Taking the strands of hair, he clenched his fist and mumbled, "It is a pity that I couldn''t punch him myself but surely, once I confirmed my suspicion, I will do it with my own hands. Whatever might be the case, this bastard deserves it for not being on his daughter''s side."

    ***

    "Yeah, of course. I was the one who painstakingly built that entire forest. In exchange, you also promised me that you owe me a favor," replied Mia with a frown on her face. She wasn''t displeased but was merely thinking about what her friend was going to say about it.

    "Yes, I did that," Azzy nodded in agreement and then continued, "Your daughter failed the examination."

    "Uhhh... okay?" Mia went speechless for a moment. She looked meaningfully at him as if she were asking whether this was the shocking thing he was going to tell them.

    Of course, it was a surprise, but it wasn''t something she was expecting.

    However, before she even spouted those words, Azzy shocked her by revealing the truth, "The reason she failed is because of the breaking of exam rules by launching a battle against another combatant in a non-battle zone, but that isn''t the concern. She awakened the spatial ability, Mia. You know what this means..."

    "Spatial ability?" Mia''s father looked at him in confusion. On the other hand, Mia appeared to be shocked with her face becoming pale, "What... what are you... what are you implying?" The cold-faced beauty who never panics stuttered for the first time. And this increases her father''s curiosity even more.

    Looking straight into her eyes, Azzy replied, "You know, for a while, I was wondering why you registered your marriage with Calder 13 years ago. Seeing that she had wind ability, I had a suspicion. But, awakening the spatial ability almost confirms my suspicions. She is not Calder''s daughter but Louis'', isn''t she?"

    Mia went silent and hung down her head, suddenly remembering her past memories for a few seconds.

    "Mia..." The voice of her father brought her out of her senses. As she turned her head to look at him, she saw anger on his face. "Answer it. Our Sera was that bastard''s daughter? You told me that she was born out of a one-night stand you had with a stranger you met in the nightclub."

    "Dad..." As Mia became silent, not being able to answer, Azzy took out a sheet of paper from his storage card and threw it on the table. "Here, this is the DNA report."

    Mia and her father''s eyes were captured by that document for a moment before she expressed her shock, "How did you get that... Ah, you are..." She remembered that he was a time traveler but thankfully he interrupted her in a timely manner to keep his secret, "I have my own ways."

    Pushing the document toward her, Azzy continued in a serious tone, "You might not believe WAMO, but you believe Dr. Mac''s work, right? Sorry for intruding into your personal affairs but if you think I have such right to question you, then, I need the truth.

    The Mia I know will not do the wrong thing and neither will she ever tell a lie to a friend. So, I''m automatically assuming that Louis is the one who broke your heart.

    Tell me that I''m right and I will drag that bastard, wherever he is hiding, and bring him to you. This is my promise. Don''t think I''m doing this because I owe you or something. I''m just doing this for my niece.

    As a person who grew up believing the lie that his parents died in the Arcana world, I also firmly believe that it should be Serestia who needs to decide whether she wants him in her life or not. The rest depends on your decision."

    "I... I... I..."

 Chapter 598: Azzys next mission: Search for Louis

    Year 2008, 11th Epoch, Egrein City, Northern Qudour;

    Mia with a noticeable belly bump was sitting in a rooftop restaurant, waiting for her boyfriend with all smiles.

    "Louis was getting late. Shouldn''t be here before me?" She wondered. Based on the conversation she had last night on the phone, she was expecting an official marriage proposal from him. She was happy but at the same time, she was anxious too.

    Soon, Louis arrived and she couldn''t help but hug him in excitement, not getting a glimpse of his face that appeared quite serious.

    Forcing out a smile, Louis then sat down with her.

    "So, what is it that you want to talk about?" She asked him right away in a hurry.

    Hesitation appeared on his face but Louis didn''t let her wait for long. He took a deep breath and said, "Actually Mia, there''s something about me you have yet to learn."

    "Hmm?" Mia became confused as it appeared that the matter ended up different than she expected. "What is it?" She asked.

    Louis then spoke, "My full name is Louis Knight and I''m the last living heir of the Knight family of Nuberung."

    "Nuberung? Never heard of it." Mia felt like there was some heavy story and she couldn''t help but become curious.

    However, Louis'' reply to her was shocking, "That''s because it is neither in Gaia nor Arcana world. It is more than a hundred light years far away from this planet."

    "You are an alien?" Mia yelped in surprise. Thankfully, there was no one around apart from the staff members and they didn''t care what kind of conversation they heard no matter how interesting or absurd it appeared.

    Louis silently nodded and continued to explain, "We were living peacefully for several millennia but one day, everything changed due to the summoning of a demon by an idiotic group of college students. No one knows how they did it and who gave them the ritual method." His tone became lower and his expression became deadly serious.

    "The demon brought its army and brought hell upon our world, eventually bringing an apocalypse. More than three decades ago, every kid below 10 years old was sent away to the worlds where soul energy exists. Now, the twenty-year time limit is up and I have to return to serve my homeland, and fight for freedom."

    Mia stared at him in a daze for a few seconds, finding it very difficult to digest the information, "You are leaving?" She couldn''t help but raise her voice.

    "Eh?" Azzy was taken aback, "Then? Which one is it?"

    "The metal used to create the brooch belonged to the Jewel of Earth," answered the Reaper before adding, "I know what you want to ask next. When you master the Jewel of Earth, you can create any type of metal from it. This one is a fragment and not the real deal. Hence, they merely transformed it into a metal with the properties of an adamantium but light as titanium.

    But, that isn''t what you must focus on. It''s the seal placed on the gem. It is a teleportation seal that lets you travel to a specific world located far away."

    "Hmm?" Azzy''s eyes widened in realization and he took another look at the brooch, picking it up from the box and startling Mia with his weird expression that doesn''t align with the situation.

    "What is it?" She asked as he intently observed it.

    Azzy looked at her and shook his head, "Nothing. Can you lend this to me? I''m thinking of doing an Aura tracing to track him down. But, I need to experiment on it a little bit."

    "He is worlds away, Azrael," Mia quickly retorted, not accepting his idea and stretching her hand forward to snatch it away as she didn''t want it to be destroyed. However, in the next second, she quickly took back her hand, changing her statement in an instant, "Anyways, I don''t care about it. You can keep it if you want."

    A couple of hours later;

    "Thanks for the dinner, Mia. I will meet you later." Azzy said goodbye to his friend and left the place by flying. He flew until he found a remote location without any population and took out the brooch from his storage card.

    "Well, here we go..."

    As soon as he poured his soul energy into the item, it glowed up brightly. In the next second, Azzy disappeared from the world.

    As he reappeared on barren land and had his vision restored, Azzy found himself in the middle of what seemed like a safe zone.

    Hundreds of people were cowering in fear as guards in military outfits were firing rounds at enemies, who weren''t caring about their injuries at all.

    "What the... Are those zombies?" "And why is there a heavy suppression on my soul orb here?"

    Planet unknown, Age: 4.58 billion years old.

 Chapter 599: Zombie virus (part-1)

    A few days later;

    In the city of Shengzen, currently swarmed by the zombies, four injured teenagers with baseball bats in their hands and a bunch of Molotov cocktails in their backpacks were taking a rest in a dark alley and administering their wounds.

    There are several reasons as to why they didn''t choose to rest in the house.

    First of all, this was merely a short break.

    Secondly, staying at a house was risky as it would restrict one''s movements if a horde of zombies suddenly swarmed inside. They want to keep their escape paths more open.

    Thirdly, because most of the residences are made of wood, throwing a Molotov cocktail to save themselves will only hurt them in the end.

    Last but not least, they cannot just barge inside a house without knowing whether there are zombies lurking in it or not.

    Hence, they decided to hide in dark alleys as they hoped to exit the city through the ships.

    Zombies cannot operate the vehicles and certainly cannot chase them in the waters when the river''s depth is very high.

    So, as long as they could board a ship and sail along the "Han" River, they would be fine. Luckily for them, GPS signals and the network still working normally. Hence, their path is very clear.

    "Ssss" The only girl in the group, Shi Yejin, the daughter of the City Mayor, let out a hiss of pain, but her mouth was quickly closed by a tough-looking fellow with scars on his right arm, "Xiao Yejin, bear the pain. Those zombies will hear you." He kept his voice as low as possible and then nodded to his twin''s ex-boyfriend, who was tending to her wounds.

    "It is indeed strange though," The nerdy-looking teenager Zhao Yu commented in response before adding an explanation, "For a while, we stopped hearing the sounds of any footsteps of these zombies. It''s as if they were gone."

    "Maybe, they were sleeping," replied Shi Zhen.

    "Have you seen any zombies sleeping during the past few days?" Zhao Yu argued, strongly believing that there might not be zombies in the vicinity.

    Meanwhile, the handsome boy didn''t try to be gentle and just focused on speeding up on clearing the wounds on her leg with hydrogen peroxide and then applying antiseptic ointment, which was still a common practice in this current world.

    Once the wound dressing process was finished, the boy asked others to take care of their light wounds and bruises and rested his back on the wall, closing his eyes and taking a small nap. Tiredness was clearly displayed on his face. He also started sweating like crazy.

    The girl emotionally stared at her ex, who was suffering from a high fever yet still tended to her wounds earlier.

    A look of guilt appeared on her face as she remembered their breakup incident initiated by her. She stretched her hand toward him.

    Just as she was about to touch his face, a voice was heard from above, "found you."

    Azzy patted his shoulder, "we are going to leave at dawn. I have already sent the message to General Hamid. So, tell the rest to prepare themselves."

    "Yes, Sir," Ren Jiayi saluted once again, asking the teenagers to follow them.

    ***

    Roughly five weeks ago, at City Arland, a team from World Federation''s Special Forces infiltrated Star labs to steal a virus codenamed ZE-45.

    However, in an attempt to escape the place undetected, one of the samples fell on the floor and the glass tube was broken, thereby releasing the gas into the chamber.

    As a result, all of them were accidentally infected by the virus.

    At first, there were no symptoms or so whatever. But then, as they boarded the chopper and were on their way to return to HQ, the soldiers started becoming crazy, and they were thrown off from the vehicle one after another.

    In the end, the rest of the virus samples reached the HQ without any damage, but when another team was deployed to retrieve the bodies, they were found missing.

    Within the next couple of weeks, crazy things started happening all over Arland City.

    People started fighting each other and some even turned into cannibals. However, the strangest is the fact that no one ends up dead when they are killed and instead start acting like a zombie, causing chaos everywhere during the day.

    Due to the inability to take swift action by the city council, the disease started spreading all over the world.

    It spread so rapidly that the entire world was caught up in it. The rest is history.

    A few days ago, Azzy coincidentally landed in the middle of Arland City as he teleported to this world.

    Showing out-of-the-world reflexes and incredible strength, he managed to put down thousands of zombies on his very first day and earned the rank of a captain directly.

    During the next few days, he helped Arland City from the horde of zombies coming every day from surrounding towns due to the influx of human population gathered there.

    Not only did he protect the zombies coming from outside, but during his free time, he also put down selfish individuals who were running gangs inside the city and stealing the food or the resources given to the poor.

    In mere five days, he was already given the title, Hero of Arland City by the Mayor.

    The General, who was deployed to protect the city that was sheltering more than a hundred thousand survivors, deployed him to Shengzen City to make it another shelter, but by the time Azzy arrived there, the entire region was already taken over by the zombies.

    As a result, he opted to gather the survivors and bring them back to Arland City.

 Chapter 600: Zombie virus (part-2)

    Three days later;

    Refugee Camp 7, Arland City;

    In one of the refugee camps, where refugees from outside lived until their accommodations were settled by the city council, Shi Yejin and her ex were seen helping out at the infirmary.

    Because of Eren''s experience of helping out at his father''s clinic, his help was greatly appreciated. His good looks only became a bonus.

    Of course, he is merely a high school student. Hence, there was no such thing as attraction from the lady staff or patients. He merely looked pleasing to their eyes. That''s all.

    On the other hand, Shi Yejin was seen struggling to work out as a helper. She grew up as a spoiled rich daughter of a Mayor and granddaughter of a six-time former Mayor of Shengzen City. Hence, it is expected. But, it isn''t just that.

    Fortunately for her, no one dares to try taking advantage of the situation and molesting her or sexually harass her in any way. Her identity and the support from Arland''s City Mayor could be credited for that.

    The fact that she is volunteering for this job instead of spending her life at the Mayor''s house itself is surprising for most of them.

    How would they know that this girl is working hard, just for the sake of that boy?

    It was obvious to the staff working there at the infirmary, but the person in question had a different thought entirely.

    It was the time of noon and Eren was given a lunch break. Shi Yejin, on the other hand, was told to work by the stern head nurse who was jealous of her background.

    Making a sad face, she continued to work as the helper for one of the nurses as Eren left from there.

    Soon after, Azzy entered the tent with an injured young man on his back and an unharmed child on his side.

    "Excuse me..." As his voice was heard, Shi Yejin''s face lit up.

    She looked like a little girl who was excited that her dad came home after work.

    "Azrael, you are here..." She greeted him with all smiles on her face, almost blocking his path.

    Just as the others around wondered whether this girl was in love or something, she added a question before Azzy got to reply to her greeting. "Did you bring it?"

    Azzy calmly nodded and took out a smartphone from his pocket, "It was damaged by the way."

    "Hurry up. We don''t have time for distractions," Azzy urged her to place the order.

    "Sorry," The girl bowed a bit in embarrassment, "Give me five minutes."

    As Azzy looked away, the girl thought a bit and asked, "By the way, you didn''t have lunch right? Let me give you a treat as thanks."

    "It''s alright. I''ll eat later," Azzy refused it, but the girl insisted on giving him the treat, telling him that she hadn''t eaten since morning and was too hungry. Since he had to wait until then, she requested him to join her.

    Now or later, since he had to eat anyway, Azzy couldn''t help but nod, "Fine."

    "Great." Shi Yejin let out a bright smile and turned around to the counter, "Hi. Give us three premium sets. Pack one for the takeout. Thanks."

    With trays filled with bowls of food, Azzy and Shi Yejin walked to the table near Eren''s and sat down.

    "What are you doing here?" Eren, surprisingly, took the initiative to talk to her as soon as sat down. With a frown on his face, it made him as if he was displeased.

    "Eh?" Shi Yejin was taken aback at first but then nodded, "Yes, I''m visiting my brother. Since I was afraid to go alone, I asked Azrael''s help."

    "Stop being selfish," He instantly scolded her while displaying his displeasure, "Mr. Garcia is an important person. His every minute is valuable for the city. Don''t waste his time."

    After scolding her, he looked at Azzy and apologized, "Sorry about her. I can take her to the barracks. No need to waste your time on such a menial task."

    "You will come with me?" Shi Yejin''s eyes widened in surprise.

    Azzy glanced at her face which was glowing and then at Eren''s. Before she reacts, he responds with a nod of agreement, "That''s good. Just don''t hesitate to call me if anything happens out of your control."

    Azzy finished up his lunch as fast as possible and left the place before reporting to the General in order to receive his so-called surprise reward.

    Imagine his shock when General O''Dwyer gave the photograph as his next mission. It contains a picture of a man and a young boy. One look at the picture and eight out of ten people would say that the man is an archeologist.

    But that''s not why he was shocked.

    "Louis? And this is... Eren, isn''t he? Is this a fate of what?"

    As Azzy was shocked by the photo, the General spoke, "Mr. Garcia, based on the rough sketch you have given us, I believe this is the man you were looking for." After a brief pause, he added, "It looks like I''m right. But, I''m not sure whether he is alive though."

    "He is alive. I''m sure of it." Azzy clenched his fist. He saluted to the general and left for the barracks.

 Chapter 601: Zombie virus (part-3)

    In the streets of Arland City, Shi Yejin and Eren were slowly walking together in silence.

    Both of them wanted to talk something but neither of them could initiate any piece of conversation.

    Shi Yejin glanced at him from time to time.

    After 15 minutes of silence, she finally mustered up the courage to talk about the past, "Say Eren, why do you volunteer to escort me? I mean, we have this history and it is not like we are stuck in the midst of zombies."

    Eren continued to look straight at their path as he replied, "I don''t trust him."

    "Eh?" The girl was taken aback by his reply. "But, he is the one who helped us to get here."

    "I''m grateful for his help, but even so, he is still a stranger and a boy. The fact that he is rumored to be stronger than MMA fighters only indicates that he should have a very high ego and delinquent personality. What if he tries to take advantage of you and use force when you deny his advances?" Eren countered her statement without bothering to hide his animosity against Azzy.

    Eren''s words have logic but Shi Yejin understood it in a different way. "Are you worried about me?" Shi Yejin stopped walking and blinked her eyes twice.

    "What... what if I was?" Eren stuttered a bit and made a face as if he was going to argue with her.

    "Nothing, thanks I guess," She continued to walk while giggling in happiness.

    Soon, the distance between them became closer and they were already seen chatting like good friends, laughing all the way.

    However, such a pleasant atmosphere didn''t last long as the soldiers suddenly nabbed Eren like a criminal on their way to the barracks.

    Standing in the middle of the road, the panicked Shi Yejin immediately took out her smartphone and dialed a number.

    After a couple of rings, the person from the other side picked up, "Yes, Ms. Shi?" The voice belonged to Azzy.

    "Mr. Garcia, Eren... Eren was taken away by the military." The panic in her voice is clear and Azzy sensed the same.

    Eren collapsed on the chair with a bit of a mental breakdown and grabbed his head in frustration. He was busy cussing Louis under his breath, but not long after, the door was opened and an officer let him out, stating that they got a call from their superior to free him.

    Then, he was told to wait there for half an hour until Azzy arrived and took him out, telling the military personnel that he would take responsibility for keeping an eye on Eren, henceforth.

    Eren''s last bit of ill feelings toward Azzy had gone when he got out and was hugged tightly by his worried ex-girlfriend.

    Soon after, the three of them sat down on the bench near the grounds behind the Barracks where new soldiers were seen doing pushups.

    Azzy took the opportunity and interrogate Eren in a sublime way, "So, is it really true that your uncle was innocent?"

    "Hmm?" Shi Yejin and Eren looked at him.

    Azzy continued, "Don''t get me wrong. I merely want to catch the culprit, who created this virus so that we get the antidote and save the world from this mess."

    In response, Eren let out a deep sigh, "I''m not sure actually. A part of me says that he cannot be the terrorist behind the zombie virus but another part of me says that he could be related after all."

    "Huh? I thought you believed that he was innocent. Did what those army guys said change your opinion?" Azzy asked.

    Eren shook his head, "No. Actually, this might sound silly, but a couple of years ago, I remember watching that Destiny 4213-AD TV series and joking about immortality. My dad said that he and Uncle Louis were working on a thesis on that very topic and they strongly believed immortality exists, or atleast a way for a human to live past even 200 or 300 years.

    They talked about cellular senescence, manipulation of cells through the use of stem cells, genetic modifications, and some other complex stuff I didn''t understand properly. I don''t know whether Uncle Louis stole my father''s research and created the virus or they were just innocent but I remember the name of their project, Zenith Evolution."

    "Zenith Evolution?" Shi Yejin gasped in surprise. "The news says that the virus was named ZE-45. Could it be..."

    "No, that was named as Zombie Elixir though," Azzy shook his head. "It was probably a sheer coincidence."

    "Yeah, it could be," Eren mumbled while looking down at his feet. Azzy glanced at him from the corner of his eyes and thought, "Slowly, the pieces of the puzzle seemed to be connecting together but I still don''t understand why Louis was here in the first place. There''s no way a person like him with a strong sense of justice could do something like that.

    I need to first investigate everything this guy has revealed so far. All the questions can be answered once I find Louis. But, what if he had already left? No, no, no, that cannot be possible. Be positive, Azzy. Fuu..."

 Chapter 602: An ambush by a Dark creature

    Nanjing road, Chaoyang district, Shengzen City;

    Above in the skies of Shengzen City, Azzy was seen floating and looking at a map on his smartphone.

    "According to the GPS, this must be the neighborhood. But, the houses are completely identical and located very close to each other. Can''t rely on the GPS anymore. Now, I must locate No. 56, Oliver Cruz."

    Azzy slowly landed in the empty city of Shengzen, which appeared very clean and peaceful at the moment.

    After Azzy and others left, the World Federation sent a large team of volunteer army that focused on gathering all corpses and burnt them together.

    They were so thorough with their job that Azzy couldn''t even find a single corpse, atleast on the way, as he was walking on Nanjing road and checking on the house plates at the entrance.

    Eventually, he found the house he was looking for.

    Azzy entered the house and started searching for something. After one whole hour, he exited the house in depression and took out his smartphone, "Sigh... I thought I would find some clues that connect to Louis, but there isn''t even a photograph. Well, let''s go to the next place."

    Following the GPS navigation, Azzy reached Princeton Biotechnologies.

    Raising his head, he sighed once again, "Oh boy, this is a 28-story building. It won''t be easy to find the lab." After a brief pause, he then thought, "Or maybe, it is easy to find one. The Internet in this world is vastly developed. I could use it. Let''s see..."

    Azzy opened the browser, typed the company name, and added labs to it, in order to check whether there were any articles or any forum or something that could make his job easier.

    Little did he expect that there would be an entire video on it with over 100 million views. A famous self-claimed exorcist uploaded it just about six months ago. Surprisingly, this was also his last video.

    He clicked on the video with the title, "Exorcism at Princeton Labs part-1."

    In the description, however, it was mentioned that there is CGI involved in the editing and the video was made for entertainment purposes only.

    "Hello everyone, this is..."

    The video features a young man who entered the company, claiming that he was invited by the chairman to exorcise the demon, which was causing chaos at the labs, and abducted his granddaughter.

    He goes to the 21st floor''s restricted section where no one seems to be there. The place looked like it was abandoned until he entered a lab and saw the dead body of a girl.

    "Oh my god." A gasp escaped from the vlogger who was shooting this from first-person view. His camcorder also shook for a couple of seconds before he got a clear view.

    But, the focus here wasn''t the girl. There was a creature beside her that looked like it was eating her.

    This creature looked like it came out of a fantasy TV series, well, especially for the people of this world.

    "I guess I will have to meet this fellow if he is still alive. There must be a link between these dark creatures and Louis. After all, even I cannot use my soul energy or summon my Arcana. How could monsters appear here? Anyway, let''s return and... Hmm?"

    *Srrrrr*

    As he was about to leave the room, a strange sound was heard in the room.

    Azzy looked around to check where it was from.

    However, before he pinpointed the source, something pierced his neck.

    "Argh..." Azzy felt a sharp pain in his neck, followed by experiencing dizziness all of a sudden.

    "What''s going on?" He felt like the world was spinning around him and fell on one of his knees while touching the back of his neck. He could feel a wound, similar to that of one made by a bullet.

    Meanwhile, inside his sealed mindscape, the Reaper was seen merely standing at the edge of the cliff and watching his host in silence.

    *Awoooo*

    The howl of Vajra grabbed his attention a bit as he saw a strand of Protos energy escape the gem on the black-lighting wolf''s forehead and strike the invisible barrier.

    "Hmmm, I guess it is time..." The Reaper didn''t try to stop it and continued to be a silent spectator.

    Back to the outside, Azzy was on his knees, his breathing was becoming harder as each second passed away, his head was spinning, and he was feeling as if something was moving in his body. With his access cut off to both of his soul cores and the Reaper isn''t there to help him out this time, Azzy felt like he is going to die.

    Several scenes of his life flashed away in his mind, including his family, friends, lover, master, and everyone he was acquainted with.

    Even then, there was no regret in his heart. He didn''t regret coming for this mission.

    He was now almost lying on the stomach, trying his best to stay awake.

    It was at this moment, all of a sudden, a piercing scream was heard behind his neck as a creature as small as a mosquito exited from his neck wound before it was struck with a beam of Protos energy.

    The insect crashed onto the wall and its size grew into a large winged ant.

    All that pain has gone in an instant and Azzy found himself protected by a layer of Protos energy. This time, he wasn''t taken over by it. Instead, it was merely acting as a guard.

    Azzy slowly got on his feet and took a good look at the creature that looked like it was unconscious but not dead.

    "The Jewel of Dark''s aura... hateful... hateful... hateful... kill it... kill it now... use my power... use my power..."

    Strange whisperings began to fill inside his head, making him unable to think properly.

 Chapter 603: The Jewel of Darkness

    Under the influence of Protos energy''s whisperings in his head, Azzy slowly started walking toward the unconscious dark creature.

    He was wobbling left and right with blurry vision on the front, just like someone who is fully drunk.

    Upon reaching the creature, Azzy made a tight fist.

    Just as he was about to punch it with all of his strength, an adamantine crown with an emerald colored jewel embedded in it appeared on his head, an adamantine shield with a brown colored jewel in the middle appeared in his left hand, and finally, a crescent-shaped amulet with a yellow-colored jewel in it appeared on his neck.

    All of them made their appearance at the same time, releasing their respective attribute energies to suppress the Protos energy.

    However, as the Protos energy looked like it was resisting their collective suppression and trying to influence Azzy''s head, the three of the cosmic jewels also started their own whisperings in Azzy''s head.

    "Kill it... Use my power and kill the enemy"

    "Use our power to track its main body."

    "Master, killing it will serve no use to you."

    "Use the creature and lure the Jewel of Darkness to you"

    The Protos energy was asking him to kill while the cosmic jewels were asking him not to do that for a greater purpose.

    Azzy''s headaches were spiked up so much by their whisperings that he fell on his knees and started screaming instead of staying in a daze.

    His screaming went on for a continuous period of eleven minutes before the Protos energy was finally subdued by the three cosmic jewels and Azzy finally broke out of their control by his sheer willpower.

    "Would you stop fuc*ing shouting in my head? It hurts a lot," He swore at the cosmic jewels and sent them back to the mindscape.

    The next few seconds were filled with silence.

    "Phew... finally some peace." Azzy let out a sigh of relief, feeling so much peace as if he could sleep right away if he lay down on his back and closed his eyes.

    He then went into deep thinking.

    Azzy had to request the General for another favor to get this information, which included all kinds of secrets unknown to the public and the media.

    As he scrolls down the screen, various emotions overcome him. He felt anger, pity, sorrow, and a kaleidoscope of feelings that defied easy categorization.

    But, one thing became clear to him. Louis has no prior record before 18 months at all even though it said that he was a longtime friend of Eren''s father.

    Coincidentally, that is also the time the exorcist changed his videos from ghosts to dark creatures.

    "Are those incidents related or am I just trying to connect the incidents for the sake of my mission?" Azzy wondered out loud.

    "What incidents?" A voice was heard from behind, startling Azzy.

    He jumped high and made a vertical spin, landing his feet on the ceiling for a brief moment to observe the room.

    Someone was crouching on the floor, not far away from where he sat earlier.

    No, Azzy couldn''t say whether it was someone or something. It wasn''t a human but it wasn''t some dark creature either.

    Its appearance is humanoid but its entire body is shrouded in darkness, although without any physical body. Azzy couldn''t even see its eyes as it raised its head and looked at him.

    As Azzy landed on the floor, the mysterious creature said, "Excuse me, human but not so human. Just a while ago, I sensed the presence of my siblings. Do you happen to know where they have gone?"

    "Siblings? What is it talking about?"Azzy took a quick glance behind him and shook his head, thinking that it might not be here for the dark creature as it used the plural word.

    It was then something clicked inside his head, "Wait a second... I couldn''t sense its presence at all, and it was talking about the siblings when it was just me, this dark creature, and... is it..."

    Taking a deep breath, he asked in uncertainty, "Are you the Jewel of Darkness?"

    "Hmm? You know me?" The shadow being looked at him in curiosity. Taking another look at him, it motioned its head forward and smelled him while maintaining its distance.

    After a couple of seconds, it said with a nod, "Indeed, you must know me. You are after all a divine being, although human but not human at the same time. You smelled just like Gaia and Thanatos. Hmm... who are they by the way? Those names just came to me..." The shadow being''s personality confused Azzy a bit.

    "Uhh... guys, my dear cosmic jewels, if you are listening, I think it would be the best time for you three to come out right now," thought Azzy while thinking about his next course of action.

 Chapter 604: The crazy plan of gambling with the death

    As the cosmic jewels didn''t respond to him again, Azzy felt like he should just follow his original plan.

    He suddenly made his move, giving a light punch to the Shadow Being. The latter was taken aback by surprise as the punch was connected to its face, but due to a mediocre attack, the Shadow Being only slid for a while before it managed to hold its footing.

    Azzy couldn''t gauge its expression as it lacked any proper features but the eruption of its aura clearly showed that it was angry.

    "Good..." He nodded to himself and charged forward.

    The Shadow Being also charged forward toward him. However, this time, it was Azzy''s turn to get hit.

    With a powerful punch to his abdomen, Azzy crashed onto the wall and fell into the adjacent room.

    "Ugh..."

    Letting out a groan of pain, Azzy tried to get up but the Shadow Being didn''t give him any opportunity to resist. It gave another punch.

    Of course, his reflexes are fast enough to dodge its punch even at such close range. But, Azzy didn''t do it and got punched.

    This time, the force broke the floor and Azzy fell into the chemist''s lab, the room below the one he earlier fell on.

    The liquids spilled on him, melting a bit of his clothes and giving a bit of tingling pain to his skin.

    The bruises were now clear on his skin but for the first time, they were healed.

    Azzy couldn''t help but become confused, "Are they rebelling or are they truly disconnected? Never mind, it is here..."

    His eyes met with the Shadow Being looking at him from the top of the hole in the ceiling.

    "Should I take this matter into my own hands?" Azzy thought about whether he should fight back as its attacks didn''t seem life-threatening.

    However, he still didn''t get any confirmation that it was a cosmic jewel. It was the first time he was witnessing that a cosmic jewel in the form of a monster, and not a stone.

    As it jumped down with its fist, Azzy got another crazy thought and he evaded at the last second.

    Rolling to the side and then jumping a few meters away, Azzy held his footing and looked at his opponent, "With such meager attacks, you aren''t going to kill me, weakling. Unless you kill me, you aren''t going to see your siblings either." He taunted it.

    "Grrrrr"

    A growl escaped from the Shadow being and its aura got much stronger than before.

    "How dare a mere fragment threaten my master," Words escaped from Azzy''s mouth as it stretched its hand.

    "St... stay away you evil fiend... Ack..."

    The Shadow Being''s chest was pierced by Azzy''s hand that stretched like rubber string. It was so fast that Shadow Being couldn''t even see it.

    Azzy''s hand was then moved back and came out of its body, only that there was a small black crystal in his hand now.

    *Thud*

    Upon falling down, the Shadow Being slowly disintegrated into specks of light, and the large dark creature that lay unconscious on a floor transformed into a naked young man.

    ***

    Meanwhile, far away from Shengzen City, on the other side of the world;

    At Mansion Wu, Aclor City;

    A bald man in traditional clothes was having tea with a middle-aged person who looked like he was a high-ranking soldier.

    The military man looked like he wasn''t pleased at the moment.

    "The casualties are increasing at a rapid rate, Mr. Wu. But, you have yet to give us the vaccine," The General furrowed his brows.

    Wu Weibao, the chairman of Omnisphere Holdings, calmly took another sip of tea, "It''s only been a few weeks since the virus began to spread. You cannot expect a vaccine to develop in much less time."

    "You think I''m not aware that your people are secretly getting vaccinated?" The General slammed the table in anger. "Don''t take me for a fool. It''s best if you release the formula and cooperate with other pharma companies."

    Wu Weibao wasn''t intimidated by the other party and calmly replied, "Releasing the formula will get you nowhere. The vaccine''s main ingredient is the blood of an individual. We are diluting the serums developed from his blood and making the vaccines.

    Since we are allowed to only take 100 ml of his blood every time, the rate of production is merely 200 per day at most, which is clearly not enough to even vaccine our own people, much less take care of the world."

    "Oh? Who is he?" The General suddenly became curious.

    Wu Weibao shrugged his shoulders, "Sorry, it is confidential."

    "You need me to influence the government to sanction you that 12 billion Yenzos, Chairman Wu. Think about it once again," The General tried to press him.

    Wu Weibao firmly shook his head, "Still no."

 Chapter 605: memories of the fragment

    "Hmm, this is..." Azzy observed the black crystal in his hand as soon as he got control of his body. It was as tiny as a nail.

    "No doubt about it, this is definitely related to the Jewel of Darkness," Azzy felt the same vibes from this crystal as the other cosmic jewels, but the fact that it looked very tiny indicated that it was not the real deal. It is either a replica or a fragment. Azzy''s bet is on the latter.

    It was then he heard a series of whispers in his head, belonging to the cosmic jewels, making his head spin once again.

    "Master, throw it away. It is dangerous to touch it directly. Your mind will be corrupted."

    "Using it, tracking down the Jewel of Darkness will become easier."

    "We can use it to create our own minion to track down the others. All you need is a thought and willpower."

    "Okay, thanks for your suggestions but it would be great if only one of you talked. My head hurts when you talk together," said Azzy, this time, as politely as possible.

    As the senior of the three, the Jewel of Life took the duty of spokesperson and explained to him, "Master, first, you shouldn''t touch cosmic jewels with bare hands. It''s probably because you aren''t feeling its side effects due to acquiring the physique of the divine beings but it is just temporary. Once certain time passes, it will start corrupting your mind with evil thoughts."

    "Oh, is that so?" Azzy at first felt like it was overreacting, but then, he thought, taking its words seriously wouldn''t hurt him either way. "Okay, what do you want me to do?" he asked.

    The Jewel of Life should have been the one to answer his answer, but instead, he heard a whisper that was very familiar and different from the rest.

    In comparison, if the whispers of the cosmic jewels sound like ladies, this one sounded like a guy.

    "Don''t listen to them, my host. They are just innocent lambs who don''t know the ways of the world. I''ll tell you what to do," said the Protos energy, indirectly insulting three cosmic jewels.

    "How dare you?" "You fiend" "Preposterous"

    Go on, the creature of the chaos. Whatever you do will only help him get closer to reaching my goal."

    The Reaper then closed his eyes and raised his skeletal hand. The three cosmic jewels instantly returned to his side before receiving orders of cooperation.

    Back to the real world;

    Azzy was seen sitting on the floor with Protos energy covering his body like a layer of energy. This time, it didn''t affect his consciousness and acted like soul energy/natural energy, helping him merge the fragment with his soul orb in order to corrupt him to the core.

    While the process went smoothly, the Protos energy discovered that the fragment had no effect on his soul orb.

    In the meantime, Azzy was hit by a wave of memories, belonging to the fragment. He went into a dream-like state.

    In the first-person view, Azzy saw the face of a middle-aged-looking man with chubby cheeks staring at him.

    Azzy then felt as if he was picked up and placed on a flat surface before his vision was blocked by something. It wasn''t clear what it was, but Azzy was sure that it was a scientific instrument.

    A few seconds later, a ray of purple energy struck him and Azzy saw the oval-shaped dark jewel embedded in a large ring that looked like it could fit a giant (10ft and above humanoids).

    "Okay, it is the Jewel of Darkness," thought Azzy as he continued to observe the scene.

    For the next 60 seconds, small fragments started falling down from the Jewel. There are a lot of them spread on the table.

    "Dammit, even with this highly concentrated plasma beam, I can only scrape a little. To think the most sophisticated equipment of our 361B Fleet can only do this much," The scientist looked frustrated. "I want to break it down into half, not create fragments like these. What to do... what to do... Hmm... yes, I got it.

    Let''s use these fragments to keep that brat Louis busy while I take this away and hand it over directly to headquarters. By the time he cleans up the mess here, I would probably get far enough to escape his radar."

 Chapter 606: The call of the cosmic jewels

    The next set of memories contained 12 sizable fragments turning into Shadow Beings with a spell in an alien language, each one eventually infecting a human and turning them into dark creatures.

    Surprisingly, one of the dark creatures created by this Shadow Being was captured by the military and brought to the Star Labs. Azzy saw Eren''s dad there with the other scientists as they experimented on the unconscious dark creature.

    Louis wasn''t seen anywhere though.

    The unconscious creature then got up and went on a rampage, killing some and infecting some. The ones that were killed stayed dead but the ones bit by the creature became zombies.

    Another memory showed a bunch of soldiers killing a dark creature somewhere, reducing the zombies into dead bodies.

    In what seemed like several hours in the dream, only one minute passed away in reality and Azzy opened his eyes in realization, "So, there was no virus in the first place and everything was fabricated to hide this truth? But then again, it is understandable.

    In the world of mortals, an unknown creature infected the scientists and made them zombies, which in turn, creating more and more zombies, would have greater panic among the public compared to the virus. After all, in the latter case, people could atleast hold onto the hopes that a cure or atleast a vaccine could be created.

    Speaking of which, let''s go and check that dark creature. If a dark creature is killed and the zombies become dead bodies, then shouldn''t it apply the same to the creature if its creator (Shadow Being) is dead?"

    With a push onto the floor, Azzy jumped high and broke the ceiling, entering the upper floor.

    After reaching the lab, instead of a dark creature, he saw a young man lying on the floor in a dead state.

    "Hmm... it looks like my theory is true," Azzy used the Protos energy to reduce his body into charcoal powder before deciding to leave the facility and return to Arland City.

    Since it is where the entire problem started, he wanted to inspect Star Labs for once.

    But, before that, he had to take care of another matter.

    "Uhh... Protos energy, would you mind going back? I can''t be seen with the energy of layer over my skin. People would freak out," Azzy requested before leaving the building.

    The Protos energy complied with his request but before it left, it surely reminded him of something good.

    "Really?" For a moment, Azzy was elated to realize that he could now have access to the storage card during the time protos energy was outside but then again, except for clothes and snacks, everything available there will probably freak out the people of this world.

    Since he could not take out any suspicious thing, Azzy thought for a bit and finally took out something that looked like a steel rod.

    Eventually, they stopped flying at 136km altitude, where the atmosphere of this planet ends, and so were the world laws.

    Gaining their maximum power in space, the cosmic jewels embedded in their respective items started to give off a bright glow, enough to be called three mini suns and attract the attention of the space agency.

    "Come to us, our sibling." "We are waiting for you" "Let''s reunite like the old times" "Remember, we are one and the same no matter how much time has passed."

    Maybe, it is because he is connected to them or maybe, it is because of the fragments fused with his soul orb. Whatever the reason it could be, Azzy''s ears were filled with nothing but their whispers. He cannot see or hear anything.

    Thankfully, it didn''t last long as the Protos energy came to his rescue and nullified those effects, helping him to focus on his job.

    Not long after, Azzy''s senses picked up something in the east.

    There were two auras traveling together at supersonic speeds, traveling toward him.

    "Hmm? This feeling..." Azzy furrowed his brows as he shifted his concentration on the incoming auras.

    The three cosmic jewels floating in space started falling down like meteorites.

    Azzy was unaware of it as he was baffled by one of the auras which was completely familiar to him.

    And it wasn''t the Jewel of Darkness.

    "A cosmic jewel? Louis? What the hell is going on here?"

    "Ummm... my host, now it is not the time to get distracted," The Protos energy interrupted his thoughts and brought him to his senses.

    "Hmm?" He raised his head to look at what seemed like fireballs coming at him at blurry speeds. "Ahh, I almost forgot about them."

    He quickly reestablished his control over them and stopped them in midway.

    Jewel of Lightning: Who is it that said our master is a once-in-a-mega-annum genius? If we had fallen, a sizable portion of this world would have been gone.

    Jewel of Earth: He is still a kid. Mistakes happen, hahaha...

    Jewel of Life: Master, you idiot...

 Chapter 607: Azzy vs Louis

    After a while;

    "Sorry, Mr. Garcia, but I can''t join you," he said with a certain determination in his voice. Louis had no recollection of Azzy. "I''ve got a mission to save my people. Once it''s done, I''ll find my own way to meet them. I don''t know how you managed to bring me here against my will, but I hope that won''t happen again."

    Azzy''s dissatisfaction with Louis'' refusal was evident in his response. "Are you really telling me you can''t spare just one day to see your daughter? Your spatial abilities should make it a breeze for you to travel back and forth in an instant."

    Louis asserted his boundaries firmly, his tone unwavering. "This is about my daughter and my ex-girlfriend. It''s a personal matter, and you have no role in it. I''m not obligated to divulge any more details about my complicated issues.

    I appreciate you bringing me the news about my daughter, but from here on, the decision is mine." Louis made it clear that Azzy''s task was completed, signaling that it was time for him to leave.

    "Well, if you excuse me..." Louis, without further ado, summoned a portal with a mere thought. He turned away, walking directly into the shimmering entrance he had conjured.

    Suddenly, Azzy''s hand clamped down on Louis''s shoulder, halting him in his tracks.

    Louis narrowed his eyes, turning to look at Azzy who had seized his shoulder. Azzy''s words cut through the air.

    "I''m not just some messenger hired by Mia that I would return empty-handed just because you don''t want to return. She''s my friend whom I think of as my sister, Louis," Azzy explained. "I made a promise to her that I''d bring you back, no matter what.

    I get it if you have genuine reasons, but if you''re using those reasons as an excuse to avoid your responsibilities, I''m afraid I''ll have to resort to force to bring you back to Egrein City."

    "You dare..." Louis'' gaze turned ice cold in an instant.

    Dark chains of energy emerged from Louis'' back, swirling around before enveloping Azzy.

    "This..."

    Azzy, taken aback by the sudden capture of the chains, found himself restrained.

    Louis turned his head, his gaze cold and unwavering, "These are my spatial chains. You can only break them if you have the brute force of a demigod or use the soul energy eruption technique, which you cannot do because of the world laws. Don''t worry, when I leave, they will automa..."

    Before Louis could finish, Protos energy surged from Azzy''s body, swiftly dissolving the spatial chains in an instant.

    Louis: "..."

    Azzy calmed down by his automatic defenses; he then glanced at his astonished friend and quipped, "Were you saying something?"

    Meanwhile, Azzy''s surroundings changed to that of a bustling city, full of skyscrapers.

    "Oh, fuck..."

    He was back to his planet, or more specifically, the capital city of Northern Qudour.

    Azzy couldn''t help but let out a curse in frustration, feeling like his entire hard work so far has gone to waste.

    "No damage has been done yet, Azrael," The Reaper''s voice echoed in his head, calming him down a bit.

    "Oh, Chronos, I missed you so much..." Azzy felt a sense of security after hearing the Reaper''s voice. He felt safer with the Reaper around than with cosmic jewels and the Protos energy. "What happened back there? The Protos energy and the cosmic jewels could come out but you couldn''t break through the world laws?" he asked.

    "I''m one of the four primordial forces in the universe, Azrael. If I of all the beings break the world laws for convenience, don''t you think creating world laws will have any meaning at all?" He answered in his usual, deep and stoic tone.

    "Uhhh..."Azzy fell silent for a brief moment before he nodded in agreement, "I guess you are right."

    "Well, anyways, there are others that looked after me, so, no complaints over there. Not to mention, my connection with cosmic jewels has grown stronger and I could even converse with the Protos energy, just like how I talk with you..." Something suddenly clicked in his head, "Wait a second... Chronos, tell me something. Can cosmic jewels turn into souls?"

    Surprisingly, his question was met with silence. Azzy waited patiently, but after an extended period of no response, he asked again, "Chronos? I asked whether the cosmic jewels could turn into souls, I meant Arcana spirits. Just like I have you, is it possible for a cosmic jewel to become an Arcana spirit for someone else?"

    "Yes," replied the Reaper in a whisper as if he answered after going through a heavy dilemma. "It is possible."

    "Hmm..." Azzy grabbed his own chin and thought about what happened in the alien world. He remembered Louis, who was unknowingly dragged to the cosmic jewels because of some spell cast by them. "And Protos energy?"

    "No, it cannot be possible," The Reaper''s tone was firm and swift for this one.

    He further explained, "The Protos energy merely feeds on your negative emotions and forms its consciousness. It is why even the gods couldn''t escape from its influence. Only three types of beings cannot be corrupted by Protos energy."

    "Oh, Who are they?"

    "First, a pure soul who doesn''t have any negative thoughts about any situation or person can stay unaffected, such as the Goddess of Light.

    Second, beings that exist everywhere and nowhere, like the primordial forces.

    Third, the cosmic jewels that have..."

    "Hmm?"

 Chapter 608: Seeking a friends help

    "Third, the comic jewels that have..."

    The Reaper stopped in the middle of his explanation, and took a brief pause before giving an excuse, "Well, you are not ready for that."

    "Huh? Even to know it?" Azzy scratched his head, baffled.

    His brain buzzed with curiosity, "It is related to cosmic jewels for sure, but based on my understanding so far, the Protos energy in my body seems to be more powerful than the three cosmic jewels." His thoughts raced, speculations flooding his mind, "Will they gain immunity after becoming Arcana spirits or something? But, that kind of info doesn''t seem as serious as Chronos mentioned though.

    What could it be? There must be more secrets to the cosmic jewels and their powers."

    "Don''t try to overthink the matters that will serve no purpose to you, Azrael. When the time comes, you''ll understand everything," The Reaper interjected, his words cutting through Azzy''s spiraling thoughts. The message was clear ¨C he was tuned in, "Focus on the current matters at the moment. Think about how you get back there and bring your friend here to fulfill your promise."

    Azzy''s attention snapped away, a successful distraction in action. The reminder that Louis had defeated him did the trick.

    Strolling through the city streets like any regular teenager, Azzy got down to business, crafting a solid plan. He realized Louis had the upper hand with his powers. The Reaper, Arcana spirits, Sage techniques, and sealing tricks were off-limits thanks to the world''s laws.

    "Hmm, the powers I could definitely use are the Protos energy and the cosmic jewels. The problem is that Jewel of Life has no use other than making sure I don''t die from any injuries. The Jewel of Lightning, on the other hand, is purely destructive. It is a type of comic jewel that is used on enemies, not friends.

    The only cosmic Jewel I could depend on is the Jewel of Earth. I haven''t been able to spend time mastering it to see what it was capable of, but theoretically, I could create metals out of nothing and I could probably control the rocks and other things to use in a battle.

    "Azrael!" Leah''s face lit up with joy the moment her gaze met his. Swiftly leaving her father by the guest room entrance, she closed the distance and enveloped the teenager in a warm hug. It was as if it''s been years since they last met.

    "What brings you here? You didn''t even send a message. Is everything alright? I heard that you brought the elven princess with you. Are you going to get married to her? You are still very young, you know.

    You should not be hurried on these things. Oh, and by the way, I finally made a breakthrough, and..."

    *Ahem*

    Leah steamrolled on, leaving Azzy no chance to talk. Her father intervened with a fake cough, indicating to her to let the other person speak.

    Azzy greeted the King of Camelot and settled in beside the duo. He dipped into the purpose of his visit, speaking vaguely, "I''m actually here to ask for a favor."

    Leah chimed in, "Come on, don''t be so modest. We go way back." She gave Azzy''s shoulder a friendly slap, acting like a close pal.

    "Way back?" Her father looked surprised. Even Azzy raised an eyebrow; Leah wasn''t the type to make mistakes.

    Leah realized her slip and covered it up, "I meant the Garcia family. Pendragon and Garcia have a history of a hundred thousand years."

    "Yeah, right," Azzy went on with the flow and said, "I need you to create the tracking seal that couldn''t be broken even by the cosmic Jewel, in case of discovery." He then shifted his gaze to the middle-aged-looking fellow, "Uncle, I wish to borrow your Jewel of Water for the test run."

    "Eh?" "Huh?"

 Chapter 609: Husband and wife?

    The next day;

    Somewhere in the middle of the White Mountains, Leah, with her soul orb sealed by the Decarune seal, was hiding in one of the caves.

    "Based on our deal, I''ll be tagging with him to the alien worlds. But, to settle at any location, we have to establish a relationship between us in order to blend into society and live in the same house. I bet Azrael didn''t take it into consideration. So, I have to think about it.

    Friends ain''t gonna cut it as it is the vaguest relationship.

    Martial disciples? Nope... Not all worlds have martial arts.

    Lovers or husband and wife? I like that but unfortunately, that too won''t work. Our ages are too different. Even though I look young, I still look like I''m in my twenties and he looks like a high school kid. People might give me weird looks and who knows some might even report me to the police.

    Wife and the brother-in-law? Nope, people will get judgmental about such a relationship if we stay under the same roof.

    Elder sister and young brother? Hmm... that works but I don''t want to be his family in such a way.

    What about an elder sister and younger stepbrother? Nah... step brother is still a sibling. It''s not some adult video. This is real life.

    Mother and stepson? Ugh... that''s worse and even more disgusting to even think about it.

    What is left then?"

    As something suddenly clicked in her head, her eyes lit up, "Yup, got it. I''ll be the distant elder cousin, who is related to his stepmother.

    His parents passed away and due to the lack of any guardians, it fell upon me to take responsibility to take care of him as his guardian, until he turns 18. That works, since we are related not by blood but mostly, any society with moderate social values wouldn''t have any problem with us living together.

    Yes, this is better than the rest. I can convince him of this. And who knows, by living together under the same roof, things could happen... hihihi..." She giggled to herself, imagining the scenario, and mumbled, "Now, all that''s left is to convince him."

    Suddenly, a voice disturbed her imagination and brought her to reality, "what is there to convince me?"

    Leah was startled. Her whole body shivered in surprise and she jumped to the side, scanning her surroundings, "No one? Is it my imagination?"

    Moving back and forth, she was looking at her watch from time to time. "Is it really that easy to accomplish this task? He has only gone since the morning."

    The Excalibur''s voice then echoed in her head, "If he comes before nightfall as he promised, it would only mean that he time traveled more than once, perhaps, several times."

    "Eh?" Leah was taken aback by her Arcana''s statement, "Why?" She asked.

    The Excalibur explained, "Time travel might be a hidden skill of the Hourglass, but it is still the same as soul skill. In fact, it is even more complicated than other hidden skills. Going to the exact moment that he envisioned will need mastery over the skill, which could only occur by..."

    "Practicing," Leah finished it in realization, not knowing about the time corridor or Azzy''s meeting with his future self. "Even with his immense inborn talent, Azrael would have atleast taken half a dozen times to master the hidden skill. Or else, there is a high chance of getting lost in the timeline. Who knows, he could even go as back as hundreds of thousands... Hmm?"

    *sssh*

    Her senses suddenly picked up the presence that was moving at unprecedented speeds, several times faster than even sound.

    In an instant, her facial expression changed, frown disappeared and replaced with a smile, "He is here."

    Soon, the blurry figure climbed the stairs with enhanced gravitational force and reached the top before entering the gravity dome guarded by two gargoyle statues.

    Stopping right in front of her, Azzy raised his hand as a way of casual greeting, "Hey Leah, it looks like I''m on time." He said.

    Leah nodded with a smile, "it seems so, Azrael." After a brief pause, she asked, "By the way, what time period did you go to apply the sealing technique on Louis?"

    "It''s a couple of months to the semester, a weekend when Louis went on a date with a senior girl from another division," replied Azzy.

    Leah''s eyes widened, "you destroyed their date? Don''t tell me your intervention is the reason he ended with Mia?"

    Azzy calmly shook his head, "Not really. He dumped the girl for some unknown reason. I just knocked him down afterward and applied our skill card."

    "Our skill card?" Leah raised one of her eyebrows and folded her hands to her chest, meaningfully staring at him.

    Azzy scratched his cheek while looking away in embarrassment, "I mean, I helped with my attribute (Death) energy too."

 Chapter 610: Journey to Proxima Centauri

    In the Gravity dome, Leah was staring at a spherical-shaped thing that Azzy took out from his storage card.

    "Is this really the spaceship your secret backer gave it to you? It''s not a prank you are pulling on me, right?" Leah asked with a look of uncertainty on her face. Well, her worries were not unfounded.

    The object literally resembled a baseball created for giants, if there is such a race.

    Azzy responded by speaking out loud with his gaze on the object, "Aria, open the door."

    *sssh*

    The door opened to reveal a barrier sort of entrance.

    Azzy then walked towards it, "follow me."

    As Leah followed him into the spaceship, she found out that the interior was a lot bigger than she expected.

    It was divided into several sections, one attributed to controls, a dorm with about ten rooms, a large gravity chamber, a dining area, a bar filled with various alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, an entertainment zone, a storage room, etc...

    She felt as if she entered a pocket dimension.

    Then, they were greeted by a moving holographic 3D image of a girl, "Hello, Captain. Greetings, Ms. Pendragon. I''m Aria, a super artificial intelligence program designed by Dr. Mac. At the moment, my designation is the pilot of this spaceship."

    "Ah, hello," Leah nodded in return with a bit of surprise on her face. Azzy casually waved his hand, "Hey, Aria. Everything good on your side?"

    "The Ship''s condition is good. We leave whenever you are ready, Captain. But, before that, I advise both of you to equip the spacesuit in case of an unexpected malfunction or an ambush from an unknown during the travels between each space jump," replied the holographic 3d image. After a brief pause, she added, "Since this is going to be a test run, we will be doing several space jumps for safety.

    The first space jump will be the smallest in order to escape from the radar of the World Space Agency."

    Leah couldn''t help but marvel at the advanced scientific technology before her eyes and commented, "I thought those battle robots were the greatest invention of mankind."

    "Ms. Pendragon, the Battle Robot was also an invention by Dr. Mac," replied the holographic Aria right away.

    "Oh!" Leah exclaimed; she wasn''t aware of it, for she always thought it was the work of the Northern Qudour government''s R&D.

    Or perhaps, this Dr. Mac works for the government? "Hmm... it could be possible," thought Leah.

    Soon, Azzy and Leah wore spacesuits and sat down in the lounge while Aria operated the ship as the door closed.

    Her voice was heard all over the ship.

    "Destination selected: Planet Xula, Star system: Proxima Centauri/Gliesse 551

    Distance: 519.56 light-years

    Needed space jumps required: 18

    But, Leah interrupted his words by saying, "We''ll take a break, Aria."

    "Hmm?" Azzy looked at his partner. Leah replied, "It''s been more than two days since we started. I need some fresh air. Exploring the world for a few hours will not do much damage to your mission."

    Seeing that Azzy had no reaction, Leah further added, "You can also see that the cooldown timer is increasing with each space jump. Perhaps, it is due to continuous space jumps. Giving it more time of cooldown right now might decrease it in the future."

    "Is it true, Aria?" Azzy asked the super A.I.

    "Yes," The 3d holographic image appeared before them and gave a firm nod. "However, the total journey time will also be increased the longer you take a break." She didn''t forget to warn them.

    As Azzy was weighing pros and cons, Leah reminded him of a simple logic that turned in her favor, "the longer the space jump is, the higher the risk of getting discovered by unknown forces. Wasting our time here might benefit us in the upcoming days. We only had like 7 so far. There are still 11 to go."

    "Hmm... I guess you are right," Azzy gave his nod for the break, "Aria, scan its atmosphere, planet, and everything, and report."

    Half a minute later;

    "Scanning is completed."

    Planet: unnamed, not recorded in our existing data

    Age: 6.4 billion years

    Size: 1.8 times that of Gaia (in comparison)

    Mass: 12 times that of Gaia (in comparison)

    Gravity: 3.7 g

    World laws: Restriction on Soul orb, Natural energy manipulation is permitted.

    Land: 79.1%, Water: 20.9%

    Atmosphere: 40.4% oxygen, 58.2% nitrogen, 1.4%-others

    Water composition: Heavy water (D2O-67%), ethanol (32.1%), others (0.9%)

    Number of species on planet: 1 million-6 million (approx).

    Civilizations: Yes

    Known intelligent species: Yer, Aeni

    Scientific technology: N/A

    Superpowers are discovered.

    As Leah and Azzy were reading the details displayed on a holographic screen created by Aria, the latter spoke, "Need to activate deep planetary scanning function for further details."

 Chapter 611: The world of Yer and Aeni (part-1)

    Yer, the intelligent humanoid species found to exist on hundreds of planets in the present, were once the natives of a planet named Yvern.

    Due to a battle between the army of Gods and demons, that occurred long ago, their planet was caught in crossfire, and in a desperate attempt to save millions of lives, the Celestial Empire of Heaven separated the survivors and randomly sent them to habitable planets, across the galaxy.

    As a result, a batch of a few thousand Yers ended up on this unnamed planet, only to realize that the planet was already ruled by an existing intelligent beast-type race called the Aeni.

    At first, it was all about survival.

    As time passed, the nature manipulation techniques that were passed down the generations and further improved by the descendants made it possible for Yers to claim a share of the land as their right too.

    Fortunately for them, Aeni don''t depend on water for survival. Hence, Yers managed to build settlements around the lakes, eventually developing them into kingdoms.

    Based on the Yer species'' images provided by Aria by performing deep planetary scans, Azzy and Leah used them as a reference to use disguise skill cards when they were still in space and transformed into a Yer couple.

    Both of them transformed into the humanoid race of Yer, with pale white skin color, alongside distinctive facial features such as long, pointy ears like the elves, large and expressive eyes with gray pupils, silver-haired, and finally, lightning-shaped markings that extended from their left eye to the middle of the cheek.

    As the spaceship continued to orbit around the planet like its moon, it launched a beam of light onto the planet.

    Through this, Azzy and Leah were teleported to the wilderness with their soul orbs being sealed.

    The first thing, upon entering the world, is to calmly sit on the ground in a lotus position and meditate. It was something their master, the guardian god, taught them to do whenever they visited an unfamiliar world.

    Both of them went on familiarizing themselves with the planet''s atmosphere, gravity, natural energy, etc...

    As the planet''s gravity is only 3.7 times that of their home planet, it didn''t pose any problem. And the natural energy was the same everywhere, for it is nothing more than a part of Goddess Gaia''s divinity.

    The second most major problem both of them had to deal with was the oxygen levels on the ground. They are way too high.

    Getting accustomed to unfamiliar Gravity is something normal for top-tier Arcana masters as they experience places with gravity manipulation atleast once in their lives. But, breathing is different.

    Without soul energy protecting the body from hyperoxia, either they had to constantly use natural energy manipulation to expel excess air from their body or breathe very slowly.

    Azzy, with this divine physique, is capable of adjusting to any environmental condition within seconds.

    Hence, his meditation only lasted ten seconds.

    Azzy didn''t bother to learn it because of his dependency on the Reaper in unexpected situations but Leah mastered it.

    Using sign language, she basically said that they were not enemies but mere travelers who wanted to rest in the village for some time.

    Azzy, meanwhile, observed the guy.

    This fellow had retracted his natural energy layer, threw down the weapon, and was currently staring at them in shock.

    While Azzy had no idea whether the guy understood the meaning behind his partner''s actions or not, at the very least, that animosity disappeared.

    Surprisingly, Azzy felt the emotion of fear from this guy.

    "Hmm... was he afraid of us? Is it because of our skin color or something? Or did he sense my Sage core and realize the gap of strength?" he wondered.

    His suspicions became evident as the strange who came out of his daze quickly jumped onto the ground and kowtowed to them, "Greetings, Your Highnesses. I... I... extremely apologize for my rudeness. Please show mercy upon me."

    Azzy and Leah looked at each other in surprise.

    "What is he saying?" Azzy went closer and whispered in her ear.

    Leah looked back at him blankly, "How the fu*k do you expect me to know that? I don''t know their language."

    "Ah, that''s right. I forgot." Azzy cussed himself in his head, for acting like a stupid.

    *Ahem* He cleared his throat out of embarrassment and asked, "So, what now?"

    Leah looked at Azzy and then at the kowtowing Yer, "Let me handle this and just do as I say. We''ll be fine. Now, follow me."

    "Aye, Aye, Your Highness," Azzy jokingly said as he gestured to her to take the lead.

    Leah then straightened her back and walked toward the stranger. He remained in the same position and said many things like he had a family, kids, and so on...

    She slightly bent down and patted his shoulder twice.

    As he raised his head to look at her, Leah then pointed her finger to the village and gestured to him to follow them and walked into the village without looking back.

 Chapter 612: The world of Yer and Aeni (part-2)

    All along the way to the village head''s house, the natives were seen halting their work for a moment and went on their knees as they saw Azzy and Leah, who were accompanied by the villager named Soma.

    It wasn''t until they met the village head''s second daughter, who coincidentally happened to be the only person in the village that knows the sign language, did neither of them understood why the villagers were revering them with great respect.

    The pale white skin and the mark below the eye signify the royal blood in this world.

    Now, they had no idea why these two individuals suspected to be a prince and a princess of some kingdom came to their village on foot and why they were talking in sign language, but it became obvious to both of them that the natives here extremely fear the royal family.

    Azzy could sense fear in everyone he met on the way. Since he cannot even properly communicate with them while Leah can''t convince the others that they are peaceful and kind through her sign language, he starts feeling uncomfortable about staying on the planet.

    Because of their appearance resembling royal family members, they abandoned their plan to move elsewhere and decided to stay in the village for the night and leave in the morning.

    With the village head accommodating them in his house, they secured a place to sleep too.

    For the next few hours, Leah was on a mission to acquire as much information about this world as she could.

    Their supposedly royal bloodline also helped her evade the doubts of the village head''s family by using a simple excuse of memory loss and voice due to an attack from Aeni in the wilderness. According to the customs here, the commoners aren''t qualified to question her. Hence, whatever Leah told them, they had to take it as the truth.

    Meanwhile, Azzy, who couldn''t play any part in a conversation, left Leah with the rest of them and went to his room using an excuse to take a rest.

    Summoning the cosmic jewels, Azzy went on practicing his Aura sensing ability to improve their bonding as well as increasing his range by adding his natural energy manipulation, the Sage core.

    As time passed, his range was steadily increasing. More and more auras of life were added but he was perfectly fine without experiencing any headache, unlike when he just learned the skill.

    Soon, the night arrived and lanterns lit up all over the village, followed by the traditional dance music.

    Wearing the villager''s traditional wear, i.e. plain loose-fitting tunics and trousers made from magical plant fibers, practical headscarves made from the same magical fibers, and basic sandals from woven plant fibers, Azzy and Leah joined the rest of the villagers as they were celebrating the evening with wine, music, and dance.

    This wine is different from traditional wine available on Gaia. Of course, Azzy didn''t know how that wine would taste either way and since he is still not considered a legal adult, he couldn''t touch the alcohol and just enjoyed it with other soft drinks.

    However, the main issue is the significant presence of ethanol and heavy water in the water composition of this planet.

    The regular water drunk by the natives of this planet is like a strong alcoholic drink for Azzy and Leah.

    With his cosmic jewels resting in the mindscape and his Sage core sleeping, the water mixed in those soft drinks intoxicated Azzy a little bit.

    As he drank more and more while enjoying the liveliness of the villagers, who eased up a little bit after seeing the supposed royals in common attires, Azzy felt more and more dizzy.

    But, this dizziness is out of pleasure. He doesn''t know the ingredients in the soft drink he was served but he liked it very much.

    A surge of natural energy gushed through his body, destroying all the toxic substances that entered his stomach and making him sober.

    Once his head became clear, Azzy went on practicing his Aura sensing while staying there to guard his vulnerable friend.

    However, the calmness on his face didn''t last long and was replaced by a frown, "this... damn our luck. How could this happen on the same day we arrived here..."

    ***

    Meanwhile, far away from the world;

    On the planet of Xula;

    At the castle town of Rogan, located deep beneath the ground, about six humans in traditional mage outfits gathered in what seemed like a dim-lit cave.

    The fire torches on the wall burned brighter as they sat down in their respective positions on the ground, where something like a circle with mystical images was drawn.

    All of them started spouting the words of an incantation.

    Zaroth k''hulthra Beelzebub, darkened lumthra Zythoros,

    (In the shadows of Beelzebub, where darkness reigns)

    R''lygorn k''vathrak, n''ghaoroth shalthrak,

    (Awaken the ancient power, let it course through my veins)

    Vor''kalthor Beelzebub, lord of the abyssal moros,

    (Beelzebub, ruler of the abyss, I call your name)

    Thulgron malchathor, Beelzebub, come forth!

    (By the forces of the underworld, to this realm, you I claim)

    The incantation kept on echoing throughout the cave until the empty circle in the middle glowed brightly, followed by the appearance of a humanoid figure with obsidian skin color that is adorned with mystical markings, and massive wings that resembled a raven''s.

    As the rest of the five mages kowtowed to the demon prince they summoned, the leader of them spoke, "Revered Abyssal Sovereign, help us change the tides of the war and claim the cosmic jewel of darkness as your prize."

    "Did you just say the cosmic jewel?" A grin escaped from the demon, followed by his laughter filling the cave.

 Chapter 613: Elias, the hybrid

    One day earlier;

    Roughly around 350 kilometers away from the village;

    More than 200 giant quadrupedal creatures were seen marching in a valley between two hills in an orderly fashion of ten groups, each led by a bipedal humanoid-looking creature.

    All the quadrupedal beasts resembled giant wolves but with slight changes, such as multiple heads (some have two and some have three), black stripes on their extremely thin yellow fur, a horn on each of their head, and lastly two tails.

    On the other hand, the bipedal creatures leading the army of beasts looked like a fully transformed werewolves that more or less retained the same features as their pack.

    All of these are called Aeni, and unlike Yers who seemed to have divided into classes based on their skin colors like light blue (commoner), pale yellow, golden yellow, Orange, Scarlet, Red, and white (pure royal bloodline), there was no further racial distinction between them regardless of their appearance differences.

    The only thing that mattered was their strength. The bipedals are a next-stage transformation of Aeni and hence, are usually stronger than the quadrupedals.

    Of course, there are those abnormally strong quadrupedal Aeni that toppled over bipedal counterparts and had high ranks in their respective pack, but for this specific army, no such thing has happened.

    As for their hierarchy, it is quite simple. Foot soldiers < leader of the pack < Queen of the region. They only have three ranks.

    Usually, the females are stronger than the males and the system of matriarchy is firmly established in any region one could pick.

    Perhaps, this was the only rule that kept Aeni from being united. The males that are the strongest in the region still cannot rule it. So, most of them either become lone Aeni or challenge the strongest female and kill it to bring disorder to the rest of the pack.

    As the army of Aeni crossed the valley and settled down on another hill, a group of Aeni climbed up it. A village is sighted from the top.

    There was also a Yer waiting for them. As they arrived, the leader ranked Aeni named Thalia spoke to him, "Is that the village?"

    The Yer nodded, "Yes."

    A young farmer named Elias was tending to his cattle when a distant rumble caught his attention. Squinting against the bright moon in the sky, he spotted a dark mass on the horizon, moving steadily toward the village. Panic gripped his chest as he sprinted towards the center of Eldora, shouting, "Everyone, to the village square! We''re in danger!"

    Something similar to fireworks was seen blasted into the sky, startling the villagers.

    Within no time, they gathered in the square. Fear painted their faces as they tried to discern the source of the approaching threat. Elderly villagers exchanged worried glances, and children clung to their parents.

    As the ominous rumble grew louder, the ground beneath them trembled. Suddenly, a cloud of dust billowed on the outskirts of Eldora, revealing the nightmarish sight: the Aeni army advancing with relentless determination. The giant quadrupedal creatures, their multiple heads and horned features, moved in unison, a fearsome spectacle of coordinated chaos.

    Among them, the bipedal Aeni, resembling werewolves in their fully transformed state, led the charge. The villagers gasped at the sheer number of these creatures, their feral eyes fixed on the unsuspecting settlement.

    Elias, standing at the forefront, urged the villagers to take refuge in the sturdy town hall. "Quickly! We must gather inside and barricade ourselves. We can''t let them reach us!"

    As the panicked villagers rushed to safety, the ground shook with the approaching army. The Aeni, guided by an eerie intelligence, surrounded the village with a deadly intent. The air filled with guttural growls and the clattering of their massive paws against the earth.

    Inside the town hall, huddled and terrified, the villagers exchanged fearful glances. A young female Yer, Emily, clutched her baby tightly, tears streaming down her face. Elias, determined to protect his community, approached the makeshift barricades lining the entrance.

    "We can''t let them in. We''ll fight for our homes!" Elias declared, his voice trembling with a mix of fear and determination.

    The village blacksmith, a burly male Yer named Gruff, nodded in agreement. "We''ve faced challenges before, and we''ll face this one too. We won''t go down without a fight."

    As the Aeni army closed in, the villagers armed themselves with whatever weapons they could find¡ªpitchforks, axes, and even kitchen knives. The atmosphere inside the town hall was tense, the air charged with the anticipation of battle.

    The first Aeni breached the barricades, its monstrous form casting a shadow over the brave defenders. Elias, Gruff, and the others engaged the creatures in a desperate struggle. The clash of weapons against scales and fur echoed through the air, accompanied by the snarls and roars of the Aeni.

    Amidst the chaos, Elias caught a glimpse of the bipedal Aeni¡ªone of the leaders of the army. One, more formidable than the rest, locked eyes with him. It spoke in a guttural yet articulate voice, "Your resistance is futile. Surrender the hybrid, and your suffering will be swift."

    Elias, surprised at first, fueled by defiance, retorted, "We''ll never surrender to the likes of you."

 Chapter 614: Elias, the hybrid (part-2)

    Amidst the chaotic battleground, Elias fought with unwavering determination, leading a group of villagers against the relentless Aeni army. His eyes glinted with a mixture of fear and resilience as he swung his makeshift weapon, a sturdy wooden staff empowered with a layer of natural energy, against the ferocious creatures.

    "Keep pushing! To the secret tunnel!" Elias shouted, his voice cutting through the din of battle. The group of villagers, fueled by his courage, followed him toward the outskirts of the village where a hidden entrance lay concealed beneath thick foliage.

    As they neared the entrance, Elias spared a glance over his shoulder.

    The Aeni, determined to crush the resistance, pursued them relentlessly.

    The ground shook with their thunderous approach, but Elias pressed on, his heart pounding with every step.

    The secret tunnel, carved into the hillside, provided a momentary sanctuary for the villagers. Elias, his chest heaving, gestured urgently. "Get inside! We''ll hold them off as long as we can."

    The villagers hesitated for a moment, their eyes locked with Elias''s determined gaze. Without a word, they disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel, leaving Elias to confront the approaching Aeni alone.

    As the first wave of Aeni closed in, Elias unleashed a flurry of strikes, his staff cutting through the air with a swiftness born of desperation. The villagers inside the tunnel heard the snarls and roars, the clash of metal against scales, and Elias''s commanding voice urging them forward.

    Within the tunnel, whispers of fear circulated among the villagers. "Will Elias make it out alive?" one asked, while another murmured, "He''s buying us time; we have to trust him."

    Back outside, Elias fought fiercely, his movements fueled by a primal instinct to survive.

    The Aeni leaders, recognizing him as a significant threat, closed in with calculated aggression. Despite the odds, Elias held his ground, a beacon of defiance against the encroaching darkness.

    In the midst of the battle, Elias felt a surge of energy coursing through his veins. The ground beneath him trembled as he underwent a transformation, his body shifting and contorting into a powerful, hybrid form. Fur sprouted from his skin, and his senses heightened to an otherworldly level.

    Tosva, the mysterious savior, led the way through the dense forest, his dark cloak billowing in the wind. The air was heavy with the scent of blood and the distant echoes of the Aeni''s roars.

    As they traversed the shadowy woods, Elias couldn''t shake the feeling of being watched. His senses, heightened by his recent transformation, tingled with unease. "Tosva," he began, his voice a low murmur, "Did you feel that presence too?"

    Tosva cast a sidelong glance at Elias, and furrowed his brows, "What you mean?"

    "Nothing," Elias shook his head. "I guess I''m just paranoid," he tried to assure him with an awkward smile.

    To change the atmosphere, he shifted the topic by asking, "How did you find me, by the way?"

    Elias replied, "Coincidence, Elias. I was just roaming the lands to vanquish the Aeni as a part of my monthly quota but luckily spotted you."

    "Monthly quota?" Elias was confused.

    "At our village, if we choose to become a warrior, we go through basic training and once we finish it, we will be given monthly quotas to fill, in order to gain more techniques," Tosva explained as they walked into the forest, not hiding the information to gain his trust.

    "I see..."

    Tosva''s footsteps echoed through the silent forest. "You''re strong, Elias. Stronger than you realize. And your strength can be an asset against the Aeni. We could use someone like you in our fight. But, whether you become a warrior or a normal citizen is entirely your choice."

    "I wish to become a warrior." Elias, with a steely resolve, told his decision within ten seconds after being given a choice, taking Tosva by surprise.

    "Really?" Tosva couldn''t believe his ears for a moment.

    Elias stopped walking and looked straight into his eyes, "From today onwards, my job is to save as many people like me." His face is full of seriousness.

 Chapter 615: Elias, the hybrid (part-3)

    The two continued in companionable silence, the distant sounds of the Aeni fading into the background.

    After walking several hours without any stop, they reached the edge of the forest, revealing a hidden path that led to Tosva''s village.

    The village, nestled in a clearing, exuded an air of quiet resilience. A palisade of sturdy wood surrounded the settlement, and the inhabitants moved with purpose.

    As Elias entered the village, he felt a mixture of curiosity and trepidation.

    Tosva guided Elias through the village, introducing him to the wary but welcoming inhabitants.

    A sense of camaraderie pervaded the air, a stark contrast to the chaos he had left behind in Eldora. The villagers exchanged cautious glances, but Tosva''s presence seemed to reassure them.

    As they approached the village center, Tosva spoke to Elias in a hushed tone. "We have a council that leads our village. They''ll want to meet you and understand your abilities. Don''t worry; they mean no harm."

    Tosva left his side briefly and returned, informing him that they would be entering the hall of the elders.

    Elias nodded, steeling himself for the upcoming encounter. The council, comprised of elders and skilled warriors, gathered in a circular hut adorned with symbols that hinted at a rich history. They scrutinized Elias with a mix of curiosity and wariness.

    One elder, a wise-looking female with silver hair, stepped forward. "Welcome to Yume village. Tosva speaks highly of your strength, Elias. We need every able fighter to join our cause."

    Elias, meeting the elder''s gaze, spoke resolutely, "I''ll be honored to join your cause."

    The elder gave a glance at Tosva, who gestured with a nod and smiled at Elias. "We will give you the chance to prove yourself. In the meantime, rest and recover. Tomorrow, we discuss our plans against the Aeni nest we recently discovered."

    Elias was pleasantly surprised by how they planned on deploying him directly to the battlefield, instead of training him.

    Didn''t Tosva tell him that each one would go through mandatory training to become a warrior class?

    Why is the reality different from what he imagined?

    Elias didn''t understand what was going on and he planned to ask Tosva. However, once he settled in a new residence, the latter disappeared. Elias was informed by a warrior that Tosva left for another mission.

    The only person he knew was no longer beside him, and Elias couldn''t help but become more nervous as that feeling of being watched never disappeared.

    Due to these suspicious glances and wariness from the villagers, who seemed to be avoiding him, he couldn''t make any conversation.

    Since he was too tired from all the fights and subsequently walking for hours, Elias washed himself and slept on the cold stone bed.

    As lunchtime arrived, the silver-haired wise-looking elder, who first welcomed him, entered the house with a tray of food in her hands.

    Elias was taken aback by her hospitality. "Elder Kasol, this..."

    More than half a day later;

    By the time of midnight, the entire village gathered at a large open space filled with strange markings and mystical symbols drawn on the ground, using the blood drawn from Elias.

    Almost disfigured Elias, near to his death and in an unconscious state, was placed in the circle and the elders started manipulating natural energy in their surroundings.

    Meanwhile, Elias'' consciousness found itself in a strange place. It was a plain white room with a pitch-black humanoid creature chained in the center.

    "Free me and I shall grant you the power, Elias..." "Why hesitate when you are on the brink of death?" "Don''t you want to destroy this cursed world?" "If you to live, then, you should kill everyone who wants to kill you..."

    Influenced by its words, his spirit walked to the creature.

    Back to the outside, the ritual was at its peak.

    A scarlet translucent barrier was slowly forming over the village as Elias'' life force was being slipped away at a rapid rate.

    Half a minute more, the barrier would have been completed, but something happened.

    Elias, who was unconscious, for several hours, suddenly had a layer of black energy covering him.

    The cuts and wounds were recovered instantly before his appearance changed. It wasn''t Aeni he transformed into.

    It was something else entirely, something sinister.

    The village elders, alarmed by the halt of their ritual and the sudden transformation of Elias, conjured weapons out of natural energy.

    "Gashhhaaaaa..."

    The creature started going on a rampage, killing every elder, each with a single strike, before going on massacring the rest of the villagers.

    The warriors fought but they were no match for the creature.

    In the end, except for the warriors like Tosva who were away, every single villager including children became a victim.

    But, the creature wasn''t done yet.

    Filled with rage, fueled by Elias'' hatred for Tosva who deceived him and the surviving villagers of Eldora who were ungrateful, the creature went on its way to destroy the survivors.

    Back to the present;

    Roughly a few minutes after it was done with the rest of the survivors, Elias'' former villagers, and rushed away into the forest to look for Tosva, Azzy arrived there to see the dead bodies on the streets, "Damn it. I was late." He clenched his fist and set his sights on the forest. "I need to kill it at all costs. A Protos being cannot roam in these lands."

 Chapter 616: Elias becomes a prisoner

    By the time Azzy found his target, the latter was seen busy massacring a small group of Aeni.

    As Aeni resembled beasts in the wilderness he usually kills to train, Azzy didn''t meddle until it was done with everything and finally chose the only thing it could sense life in; Azzy himself.

    With his soul energy sealed and his cosmic jewels stayed in the mindscape, Azzy appeared like a teenage Yer.

    "gashaaaaa"

    The shadow creature rushed toward Azzy.

    Azzy stayed on the spot, letting it approach him.

    The shadow creature tried to stab his chest, just as it did with every target it encountered so far.

    However, Azzy turned out to be faster than the others.

    Before its hand struck his chest, Azzy''s kick landed perfectly on the side of its right thigh. The shadow creature lost its balance and crashed to the ground.

    Azzy didn''t give it any chance of counterattack. As soon as the shadow creature fell, the adolescent acted by giving another kick at its abdomen, this time, with more power.

    Placing his feet on its chest, Azzy used all of his strength to crush its chest underneath his foot.

    "Ka..."

    As the creature coughed out blood, Azzy gathered natural energy from his Sage core into his hand and threw several translucent energy spears, piercing them one after another.

    Its screams echoed all over the surroundings, scaring the hell out of whatever creatures currently living in the forest.

    It lasted for atleast half a minute before the shadow creature transformed back into a heavily wounded Elias in an unconscious state.

    Staring at him coldly, Azzy conjured a spear for the last time to finish off the evil guy as the images of dead bodies at Eldora village appeared in his head, including a pregnant woman and lots of children.

    After freeing himself from her grip, Azzy sat down on the floor while trying his best to calm his heart, "Okay, that was unexpected. I seriously don''t understand this girl. One time, she said that she wasn''t interested in me, and then, she dreamed about such a thing... Cool, Azzy. Cool... no need to be flustered about such things. As long as you ignore it, nothing happens.

    It''s not like she is trying any advances on me anyway. If she ever does that, I will make sure to make it clear that I belong to Claire and her alone.

    Anyway, let''s forget that, and let''s focus on what to do with this guy." He cast a sidelong glance at the unconscious body on the floor, "Hmm..."

    A couple of hours passed away and the sun rose in the west, signifying the planet''s retrograde rotation, and a few more hours later, Leah''s eyes opened fully this time as she woke up and stretched her arms with a smile. "That was some good sleep I had in like... Hmm?"

    As soon as she sat on the bed, she saw Azzy in a meditative pose with an unfamiliar Yer tied by translucent energy threads in an unconscious state. There was also a wall of translucent energy at the doorless entrance to the room, preventing the others from entering.

    Leah''s eyes widened and the drowsiness suddenly washed away as she called him out, "Azrael..."

    Azzy''s eyes slowly opened and his gaze met her, "Morning, Leah. It seems like you slept soundly. Anyway, we have something to talk about." His facial expression changed to that of seriousness.

    Leah responded by pointing her finger at the unconscious stranger in her room, "Does it have anything to do with him?"

    Azzy nodded.

    "What happened?"

    After a while;

    "So, he turned into this thing called the Protos being and massacred a lot of natives in that state. You brought him here because you are unsure of what to do with him. This Protos being is something the natives of this world might not be able to handle and you are confident that you can take care of it. You don''t want to kill him but don''t want to leave him alone too.

    And most importantly, you also have this Protos energy, which is nothing but the negative energy released during the formation of the universe and didn''t turn into matter. Did I get everything correct?" Leah put up a summary after hearing everything from Azzy.

    The 17-year-old nodded, "Yes."

    "What should we do?" He asked.

    "Hmm..."

 Chapter 617: Entering Proxima Centauri

    After thinking for a while, Leah came up with a solution.

    Following it, both of them bid goodbyes to the village head and his family, leaving the village during the lunch hours with an unconscious Elias, who continued to be tied up.

    It''s not that he was unconscious this whole time.

    Elias woke up once a while ago but Azzy once again knocked him out with a chop behind his neck before he got to ask what the hell was going on.

    As for the villagers, they thought the royal prince and princess came to the village to apprehend a criminal, who probably did something that incurred their wrath.

    Once again, no one dared to question Azzy or Leah, and they too didn''t feel any obligation to fulfill their curiosity. Their fake appearance helped them a lot.

    Eventually, they returned to the spot they landed and a beam of light fell upon them from the sky, teleporting the three of them into the spaceship.

    "Welcome Back, Captain Garcia, Ms. Pendragon." The holographic image of Aria welcomed them with a smile.

    She didn''t ask about the stranger on the ship and merely asked permission to leave.

    As Azzy nodded, the spaceship left the planet''s orbit and resumed its journey.

    Roughly, four hours later, Elias opened his eyes again but this time, he wasn''t knocked out.

    Instead, Azzy and Leah let him speak everything. And Elias seemed quite angry.

    "Who the hell are you guys?"

    "Why was I tied up?"

    "What kind of creatures are you?"

    "What place is this?"

    "What''s going on?"

    Elias will be in his control until he gets full control over the Protos energy and then returns to his home planet and serves his whole life as a hero or a guardian, protecting the innocents using his dark power.

    Azzy doesn''t believe that light is good and dark is evil. It is all about how one uses such power. It is why he took a leap of faith in giving an opportunity to Elias, the rare hybrid of a Yer and an Aeni.

    Of course, this doesn''t mean Azzy would release the Decarune seal he cast over Elias'' soul, right away.

    He merely released one of the ten seals, giving Elias access to connect with natural energy. However, he was still so weak that he wouldn''t be able to escape in case such an opportunity arrived.

    Fortunately, Elias behaved himself and toned down Azzy''s suspicions on him a lot. He turned curious about a lot of things over the next few days.

    First things first; he started learning sign language to communicate with Leah.

    Secondly, he familiarized himself with the concept of soul energy and soul orb and began training on how to use activated skill cards by pouring down the natural energy into them.

    As regular skill cards are designed to be used through soul energy, Leah and Azzy knew that it was almost next to impossible for Elias to use them.

    Special skill cards, developed by Leah over several years, that use natural energy as the medium are too strong to hand over to a stranger like Elias.

    Even when they consider containing the damage, the space still lacks the natural energy and Elias can only use whatever natural energy is left in him, and his rate of drawing out that power is extremely slow due to the seals.

    As a result, they stuck on only training him on using 1-star activated skill cards created by themselves on the spot.

    Eventually, the day when they neared their destination arrived. Or so, it was supposed to be.

    The alarms rang all over the ship and the announcement was made by the artificial intelligence as the three of them automatically returned to the lounge to tie themselves in seat belts.

    "We will be entering the star system, Proxima Centauri. Get ready for the final space jump." Aria''s announcement brought a smile to Leah and relief to Azzy.

    "Finally... we are here..." mumbled Azzy as the spaceship entered the star system with only two exoplanets, one is a large planet comparable to Gaia and another is a small planet, both of which are in a habitable zone.

    However, in the next second, everyone''s facial expression changed as another announcement was heard on the ship.

    "The target''s location has changed. Captain, would like to redirect the ship to the new destination or continue our journey?"

    "Huh?"

 Chapter 618: Ra of Astralon

    Roughly 20 years ago, Planet Xula;

    A woman and a child were seen trudging toward the only entrance of the city surrounded by a high steel wall, mounted by thousands of energy cannons.

    The guards deployed outside looked even scarier with every one of them bald with strange tattoos displayed on their foreheads, advanced weapons in their hands, alongside armed vehicles on the side.

    Strangely, despite being the only entrance of the city that spans over 65 sq. km, there was absolutely no one going in or out; well, atleast for the moment.

    As the exhausted woman and the child reached the entrance, they were suddenly pointed by atleast a dozen handheld energy cannons, scaring the hell out of her.

    "I... I... I... have come from the town of Xrusha. Ever since our town was razed by the demons, we were been on the run. We traveled more than a thousand kilometers to reach this safe haven for Terrans.

    Please let us go in..." The woman wept as she fell on her knees. Grabbing the arm of the 8-year-old to kneel with her, she further pleaded, "If not me, atleast show mercy on my child. He hasn''t eaten food for more than a week. Unlike a normal Terran like me, he is an Arcanian, and my son is blessed to awaken a tier-5 Arcana spirit (gold grade). After growing up, he would be extremely useful to the city.

    I beg you..."

    The child was silent and had his gaze on the ground. However, he was shivering crazily.

    The guards looked at each other before one of them took the mother and child to the registration cabin on the side.

    There, both of them had their fingerprints taken and were given a tag jointly.

    As the woman showed the tag to the captain, the large gate was opened for them, revealing a translucent white barrier.

    For a few seconds, the woman looked at the barrier in a daze until a guard nudged her with the cannon to move forward.

    She thanked them and continued to walk into the barrier while grabbing the child''s arm.

    However, just as both of them passed through it, all of a sudden, the barrier turned scarlet in color before the woman suddenly turned into a scarlet-skinned demon and the boy developed demonic wings and horns just like a demon, taking the guards by surprise.

    The envoy finished reading and wiped off his sweat with a hanky.

    Meanwhile, the eight sentinels furrowed their brows in displeasure and their attention swiftly shifted to their lord, who seemed very calm and just busy silently staring at the envoy.

    The woman on his lap leaned her head to the City Lord''s ear and whispered, "What are you going to do, Lord Ra?"

    The man turned his head to look at her, "Nekhbetra, what are you going to suggest?"

    "You have yet to unlock your latent abilities," replied the woman before adding, "I will tell you once again. If the tribe of Serkheti stands by your side, you will rule this land."

    Following her words, an image popped up in his head and the young man named Ra let out a sigh as he mumbled, "Louis, huh."

    After sending away the envoy, Lord Ra then dismissed the assembly without stating his opinion on the matter.

    However, on the very same day evening, he left the city protected by the walls in a flying boat all alone. It was glowing so brightly that spectators could not even see it directly.

    Within no time, he traveled more than 300 kilometers, almost halfway to his destination.

    However, he was forced to stop his vehicle midway upon witnessing a giant demonic beast bashing something crazily on the ground in rage, which was shaking like an earthquake.

    Furrowing his brows, Lord Ra mumbled, "Which idiot offended that crazy Qigong? They will die for sure. Anyway, it''s not my problem. I don''t need to interfere. As long as I mind my own business, it won''t attack me either. Let''s not waste our time.

    I have enough headaches as it is. After it is done with its prey, it will go to sleep. Rampaging on human territories is not its forte."

    He was about to operate the flying boat to continue his journey, leaving the place. However, before he did that, he saw a tiny figure jump far higher than the beast that stood more than a hundred meters tall before an even larger golden palm appeared in the sky.

    "What in the devil..." lord Ra just stared at the scene in a daze as the golden palm landed on the demonic beast and crushed it to the ground in one move, leaving behind a large spirit core on the ground.

    He changed the direction of the flying boat immediately and flew toward the location.

 Chapter 619: Leah breakthroughs to the Supreme realm

    As the beast was down and Leah was absorbing the giant spirit core it left behind, Lord Ra arrived at the location and got down from the ship.

    Azzy, who was guarding her in the disguise of a young man, or precisely, his future self he met, walked forward with a smile on his face, stopping him in his tracks, "Hi, how may I help you?"

    Since they already knew that people on this planet speak and write the same language, it made Azzy''s job easy.

    He also didn''t show any animosity, thinking that it was best to form a connection with a local here and use him to get information that their spaceship couldn''t gather by deep planetary scanning.

    Of course, this doesn''t mean he would not be guarded against the stranger. Azzy knew how vulnerable one would be when they were absorbing a spirit core. He was prepared to defend themselves at any moment.

    Fortunately, the stranger didn''t show any animosity either and introduced himself like an amiable person, "Hello, I''m Ra of the Astralon City." He further praised them, "I''m sorry I was just passing by and I saw you fight that beast. Who are you people? Qigong is something that cannot be defeated by the likes of a human."

    "So, this beast is named Qigong, huh?" Azzy showcased his cluelessness by blurting it out by mistake. Upon realizing it, he covered it up by stating, "We were from an unnamed village located in the mountains. After we were engaged, we started our journey to travel all over the world. We merely encountered it by accident and thought it was a good opportunity to make a breakthrough."

    "Your fiance?e?" Lord Ra turned his attention to gaze at Leah, "that is one hot chick."

    As he stared at the beauty, observing her face for a while, a frown appeared on Azzy''s face. With displeasure clearly written on his face, wiping off his earlier smile, He snapped his fingers in the stranger''s face, "Eyes here, Mister."

    "Ah, I''m sorry." Lord Ra apologized with an awkward smile, "Say, after this, where you two were planning to go?"

    Azzy answered, following what they planned in advance, "There''s an acquaintance we wanted to meet. But, we are not sure where we should start. However, his unique abilities cannot be hidden from the world. As we travel around, we search for him."

    Lord Ra''s eyes lit up when he heard that. "I can help you with that. As the lord of Astralon city, I have connections enough to find a person. If you have a name, photo, or sketch, we could find your friend. Until then, you are welcome at our Astralon City."

    "Hmm..." Azzy thought for a bit and slightly turned his head to glance at Leah and a confused Elias, who was also in disguise, but as a random human with ordinary features one could find on the streets of a town.

    When equipped with his Arcana spirits, it could raise to 80-90 million. Clearly, he is not a challenge for me and neither is he a worthy individual for someone like her who had more than 900 million CP. The strong get what they want. That is the rule of the world. But then again, I don''t think even I''m not a match for her now that she made a breakthrough.

    So, I will only dig my grave if I have inappropriate thoughts. Maybe, I should challenge him for a serious battle after this? Will she be impressed or get angry? Or maybe, it is better to challenge her."

    As Ra was busy with various thoughts going over his head, Leah walked past him and went into a battle stance, roughly around ten meters away. Azzy, on the other hand, stood there in the same spot. He gestured for her to come at him.

    Leah charged forward and threw a punch at a blazing speed, only to be evaded by Azzy with a simple sidestep. She followed up with a series of punches during the next few minutes that only seemed very difficult to count for even Ra, but Azzy perfectly evaded down to the last punch, until Leah stopped on her own.

    Ra: "..."

    Taking deep breaths, she commented in a bit of a disappointed tone, "It looks like I can''t catch up to you, even after the breakthrough."

    Azzy let out a smile and replied, "If it is just pure physical combat, it is obvious that you are not a match for me. First of all, I''m in the Supreme realm for a while and my powers are more stable. Secondly, my divine physique is far superior to yours, Leah. Unless you go all out, you won''t able to find the difference in our strength."

    "Nah, it will generate too much commotion," Leah ruled out such an idea. As something clicked in her mind, she suddenly burst into laughter, "hahaha..."

    "Hmm? What''s funny?" Azzy was perplexed.

    Leah replied, "Nothing, I just thought you are so mighty and all but still got your ass beaten by Louis."

    Azzy blushed in embarrassment, "He didn''t defeat me. I was just careless."

    "But, even your superior might is useless against his spatial prowess, isn''t it?" As Leah tried to make fun of him, on a whim, Ra, who was watching in a daze, raised his hand, "Umm... excuse me... Is this Louis you are talking about, the heir of Serkheti tribe?"

    "Serkheti?" Both Azzy and Leah turned their heads to look at Ra.

 Chapter 620: Azzy clashes with Serkheti tribe

    "Thousands of years ago, when the demons and magical beasts ran amok all over the world, thousands of elite warriors formed a troop to defeat the demon king and his troops.

    After the war was over, most of them dispersed but few stayed to form the Zuhu tribe.

    The Zuhu tribe prospered and several civil wars occurred over the period of eight hundred years before they finally separated into three tribes.

    Osiriket inherited the land. Ankhseti inherited the gold and all the treasures. Serkheti inherited the guardian.

    Louis belonged to the Serkheti tribe, but he didn''t grow up in his homeland for some reason. He was under the care of the City lord. We went to the same elementary school but he left afterward.

    I heard that his family picked him up and I didn''t see him until 17 years ago. As soon as we reunited, he proposed to form a team and we worked together in exterminating beast hordes for atleast a decade, but went on separate paths due to our own situations.

    So, that is the basic story of us, Mr. Garcia..."

    Lord Ra briefed his history with Louis, realizing that it was indeed that brought them together.

    It doesn''t matter to him whether his friend and their friend are the same. They were the ones who wanted to come along with him and he was more than happy to journey with them, or specifically, her.

    Furthermore, Leah and Elias didn''t have any friendship with Louis, and the one who had a friendship with him only knew him for barely a year.

    So, he didn''t ask Azzy how he and Louis knew each other and placed more focus on answering Leah''s questions about the world background.

    Seventeen hours later, by the next day morning, they reached the mountainous village of Serkheti, lying on top of the snow-clapped Mt. Ku, the tallest mountain on the planet with over 13km peak height from the sea level.

    The village was located at 8200 meters altitude and it was below -50 degrees Celsius. Chilly winds are blowing up at around 70-80 kmph. Yet, the villagers seemed actively roaming in the streets in their casual wear.

    The flying boat easily made it to the village buried in snow and fog. Upon landing on a flat surface, they were quickly surrounded by a bunch of experts in robes and masks.

    As they got down from the boat, Elias stuck to Azzy, who bested even Leah, the one who killed that powerful monster a while ago. Meanwhile, Lord Ra took out some sort of medallion from his dimension ring and spoke out loud, "I''m Ra of Astralon City. Take me to your leader."

    One of the masked men immediately drew out a sword, taking Ra and others by surprise, "Sorry, but Lord Clain is away. In his absence, no outsider is welcomed here. Return at once."

    Lord Ra composed himself and replied, "Then, inform whoever is in charge of the clan. We will wait here. This is very important."

    "No, our leader''s orders are absolute," The leader of the masked men firmly refused the request. Pouring his soul energy into the sword, he further threatened them, "Leave or be prepared for the consequences."

    "This..." Lord Ra was greatly embarrassed, feeling the gazes of his new friends from behind. But then again, he knew how stubborn the tribe members of Serkheti were. Having no choice but to adhere to their demands, he threw the medallion to the captain. As the latter caught the medallion by reflex, Lord Ra requested, "Then, please do me a favor. After Louis returned to the clan, give him the medallion.

    You can do that much, right?"

    Once he stopped the opponents, Azzy didn''t proceed forward. Instead, he just stood there in patience. As for the wolf, its aura was also expanding more, reaching a wide range and covering the entire village. Both of them waited patiently in the same spot.

    Soon, Azzy and his party are welcomed by a bunch of elders, flying toward him with weapons in their hands. They seemed quite prepared to take down their enemy.

    As they landed before Azzy, an elder was slightly taken aback as he noticed Lord Ra nearby. "Ra! Are you declaring war on our tribe?" he shouted at Ra before shifting his attention to the wolf and then at Azzy, "A 9-Tier expert with twin Arcana spirits? This is going to be troublesome." The others, meanwhile, paid attention to the unconscious bodies, spread around.

    They were quite relieved to see that no one was dead.

    Azzy responded with a cold chuckle, "It is called a war if two forces fight. This isn''t war, mister. This is a conquest. My conquest. Now, bring out your guardian. It is the only one that can put a stop to this."

    The prime elder was taken aback while the other furrowed their brows. Some looked confused and gazed at each other.

    "Guardian?" Lord Ra exclaimed, drawing attention from the others for a moment. "But, it has long been dead."

    Azzy let out a chuckle once again and said, "The moment we step on this land, I have already sensed its presence. Why else do you think I let my Vajra release its aura?"

    Shifting his gaze to the elders, he continued by taking out a skill card from his pocket, "Well, you don''t want to bring it yet? Fine. Let''s see how long it will hide."

    Pouring his soul energy into the skill card, he unleashed the spell, "Skill card: Meteor Shower, activate."

    Ten large meteors formed above in the sky. Azzy controlled their movements with a telepathic connection and moved them apart, spreading widely. Everyone''s attention was in the sky and they seemed ready to defend their village.

    "Azrael..." This time, Leah felt worried instead of getting impressed by the skill. "There are innocents in the village. What''s going on with you, all of a sudden?"

    It was at this moment a wave of energy came out of nowhere and reduced it to nothing. Not even a fragment of stone was left. Following the scene, a voice filled the surroundings, "Stand down. I''ll take care of this."

    Azzy narrowed his eyes and activated his Aura sensing to the limit. "Ruby, up. Vajra, protect my friends," he ordered his Arcana spirits as a portal appeared in the sky.

    As the black lotus slowly rose in the air, a large pure-white lion with feathery white wings flew out of it.

    The prime elder immediately fell onto his knees, "Saint Leon." The remaining followed suit and greeted the lion.

    Azzy stared at it for a few seconds and surprisingly became disappointed. He let out a deep sigh, "Here I thought I would battle a demigod and planned on going all out. It is just a pseudo demigod..."

    The winged lion replied in a mighty tone, "And I thought you were a genuine divine being who needed my intervention. Looking at you now, I can see that you are just a pretender. But then again, there is no way a divine being would be able to command such corrupted Arcana spirits. Nevertheless, for your audacity, I shall send you to the spirit realm."

    "We will see about that." A great sense of competitiveness rose within Azzy. Without any hesitation, he summoned the plasma scythe from his storage card.

    Inside his mindscape, the Reaper shook his head, "the seed that protos energy placed in his mind finally sprouted. From here on, I should be careful, or else, he will be lost in darkness..."

 Chapter 621: Divine Palm of Death

    After unleashing two spells, one that encompassed the whole village as a protective barrier and the other imprisoning Azzy''s allies in a small prison barrier, the winged lion went on assaulting Azzy.

    Azzy used this time to activate his Eyes of God soul skill and get ready to battle. As a result, he perfectly evaded its claws by bending his upper body to the side before swinging the scythe at its belly.

    The Adamantine blade tore its flesh apart like a knife cut through a tofu block; its blood gushed out and spilled all over Azzy and the black lotus.

    The beast flew past Azzy while letting out a painful groan, but Azzy heard another groan beneath him. It came from the black lotus as the blood smeared on it transformed into golden specks of light and left behind tiny holes in the black petals.

    Azzy, on the other hand, didn''t get affected by those specks of light. If anything, they gave him a sense of familiarity.

    "No doubt about it. This is divine energy, although very weak. If only this beast would be of celestial grade, I would probably face some trouble. However..." Azzy then shifted his gaze to the weapon in his hands, "Dr. Mac wasn''t exaggerated. This blade could cut through any defenses.

    Not even a pseudo demigod is a match for a blade made of adamantium."

    Meanwhile, the winged lion that flew past through a bit far healed its wound before making a U-turn and charging toward Azzy at its peak speed.

    As if he had eyes on the back of his head, Azzy evaded its attack once again with a timely jump and shot an energy orb at its back.

    The winged lion''s tail deflected the attack with a simple wave, but instead of hitting elsewhere, as soon as it was struck, the energy orb exploded and released a wave of energy; the winged lion blasted away a few meters.

    Azzy didn''t wait for it to recover. He was aware that every fraction of a second was important in this high-speed battle. He swiftly conjured six Protos spears while simultaneously ordering the black lotus to attack their opponent with its own soul skill, almost extinguishing his soul power entirely.

    The winged lion''s eyes widened as it saw the formation of the spears one after another. "This... so dense and more corrupted than even demonic energy. What kind of cosmic energy is this?" Its soul trembled at the sight of those spears made of pure Protos energy.

    Directly gazing at Azzy with its ears pinned back and its legs stiff, indicating its seriousness, the winged lion mumbled, "An evil entity like you is a menace wherever you go. You should be eliminated at all costs..."

    It motioned its head back while taking a deep breath and went for a big move.

    The black lotus turned into a black crystalline dragon; spreading its wings, it raised its forelegs to protect its master from the sea of golden flames, breathed out by the winged lion.

    Azzy gently pushed his leg against Ruby''s back and landed on its head before throwing those Protos spears one after another.

    The first Protos spear cut through the flames and struck its target''s arm, stopping its assault at once.

    As the winged lion pushed away the corrupted energy that invaded its system, another one struck it.

    "Graaa..."

    Letting out another painful groan, the winged lion flapped its wings to move away as more such spears chased it.

    "Damn it... I underestimated him..."

    After negating the effects of the second Protos spear, it conjured a barrier to protect itself.

    "Divine Palm of Death"

    A giant golden palm resembling that of a human-made its appearance in the sky, covering several kilometers in area.

    "That''s the divine palm," mumbled Leah.

    Lord Ra remembered the divine palm he saw a while ago, "This looks a lot bigger and feels like..." He couldn''t help but pause as he commented.

    Leah, who heard it, gave a nod, "Yes, Azrael had reached Tier-9. At such a level, the divine palm would be as powerful as a strike from a genuine demi... Hmm..."

    All of a sudden, the palm that looked like an attack from the heavens suddenly changed its color.

    It changed to black and the eerie atmosphere filled the area that was under the palm.

    "This is..." Leon stared at the sky in shock, seeing the illusion of a giant reaper with a scythe behind Azzy as the latter pushed the palm toward the ground.

    The palm first came into contact with the tip of the mountain and it just disintegrated into dust with a touch.

    "You... evil fiend..." Leon roared in anger, filled with rage. It quickly transformed the fireball it was supposed to conjure into a giant wall, applying another layer of security to the barrier that covered the village.

    "This attack..." Leah was stunned for a moment, going down into a memory lane.

    In the world dominated by lava and toxic gases, Leah was hiding behind a rock and observing Azzy''s sparring session with the guardian god. She saw the black divine palm leaving a scratch on their master, who is as powerful as a true god.

    Meanwhile, far away from the mountains;

    In an underground settlement, a place that looked like a large tavern, a demon in royal attire seemed to be in the middle of drinking while girls were feeding him fruits or massaging his shoulders and body.

    There were small demons with insect-type wings gathered around a large plus-shaped platform where girls were seen dancing. All of them seemed to be enjoying drinking and watching the show.

    The people in robes and hoods were simply standing behind the demon king, just like bodyguards.

    Everything seemed peaceful, but then, all of a sudden, the demon king rose to his feet while turning serious, alerting the hooded men and scaring the girls. The demon soldiers went stiff and looked at their lord. The dancing girls stopped dancing.

    "Hahahahaha"

    The entire place fell into silence as the demon king suddenly started laughing in a crazy manner.

    One of the hooded men came forward and asked politely, "wha... what happened, Milord?"

    "A demigod and the power of Death... hahaha, a worthy opponent. Now, I''m interested in your request, Anuzida. Gather your men."

    The elderly man''s eyes widened in shock and he swiftly fell to his knees; the others followed the suit as they collectively spoke, "We are in your service, Lord Beelzebub."

 Chapter 622: Soul skill: Time Prison

    With Azzy''s palm as the center, the Divine Palm of Death was slowly descending from the sky, disintegrating the mountain bit by bit as villagers stared at the sky in fear of death.

    Seeing that Azzy was pushing down the divine palm at a slow pace, the winged lion took this opportunity to rapidly absorb more and more natural energy, melting down all the snow in one-kilometer surroundings in the process.

    In the end, it managed to conjure its earlier dense fireball once again, shooting at the palm, or more specifically, aimed at Azzy''s palm.

    "Idiot," mumbled Azzy as he saw the incoming attack. "Anything that has divine energy will be nothing more than a fuel to my attack."

    The Divine Palm of Death and the divine fireball clashed; Leah and Ra expected an explosion while Leon, the winged lion expected to break down the corrupted energy and strike Azzy. However, the result is that the fireball only merged with the palm, increasing its power and range further.

    When the winged lion saw the phenomenon, it lost its hope and closed its eyes in defeat. The villagers kowtowed, praying for the gods to save them from the disaster.

    Leah was the only one who looked a bit confident. She patted the shivering Elias''s shoulder and assured him with a smile, "We won, Elias."

    "What do you mean we won?" Lord Ra who heard those words snapped at her, "Your husband there is going to kill us all. Why in the hell do you people even come here?"

    Leah answered calmly, "Don''t worry, Mr. Ra. I, myself learned the technique. There are two kinds of palms. One is throwing at the enemy. The other is carrying it to the enemy.

    Azrael is doing the second one. In such a state, he can dismiss it at any moment."

    "Ah, is that so?" Lord Ra was stumped by realization before raising his head to look at the palm that blocked the sky.

    Meanwhile, Azzy, watching this, had a smirk of victory on his face, "It looks like the battle is settled." Dismissing the plasma scythe, he had his other hand placed on his right hand, intending to absorb it back into his body, "Dismi... Hmm?"

    Before he gets to dismiss the technique, a portal appears in its path. Followed by it, the entire palm that spanned atleast ten kilometers in length suddenly stopped descending and just getting sucked into it at a rapid rate, returning the light to the region.

    Azzy quickly detached himself from the divine palm of death as it was entirely sucked by the portal, revealing a couple floating beside the portal that disappeared along with the giant palm.

    He didn''t recognize the lady but the man was a familiar one for sure, although they looked quite angry at him.

    "What a bad timing..." Azzy sighed inwardly and flew down while dismissing his transformation. His appearance returned to his teenage self as he reached them, "Hello there. It has been a while, Louis." He greeted them with an awkward smile.

    Louis summoned his bow and aimed at Azzy, "It''s you again. This time, you crossed a line, Garcia." The displeasure was clearly written on his face.

    Now that the result is sucessful as he expected, Azzy dismissed the scythe and just carried the hourglass in his hand, flying toward Louis. The latter shot the arrow but it struck the bubble and disappeared. "What''s going on?" He looked around.

    The woman floating a few meters away hurriedly summoned her weapon to join the battle.

    "Soul skill: Illusion of the..."

    However, once he trapped Louis, Azzy has already set his eyes on the 8-star Arcana Master. He charged forward, reaching her in a jiffy and giving a powerful chop at her neck before she got to unleash a powerful illusion on her target.

    She didn''t even see what was coming and ended up unconscious. Louis saw his woman in Azzy''s arms in an unconscious state. "You bastard...." He growled in rage, unleashing a portal. He gets in but gets out of the same one.

    Carrying the woman in his arms, Azzy flew toward the bubble and calmly said to his friend in rage, "There is only one way to get out of this prison, Louis. And you know how."

    Azzy then raised the woman with his free left arm and threw her down without looking in the direction, although while shouting, "Oy, you weird lion over there, catch her."

    She was thrown like a baseball, but the winged lion managed to catch her swiftly before slowly going downward.

    For the next thirty minutes, Louis tried various techniques. Neither his soul skills nor his spatial skills worked out. As for the sage techniques, since he was imprisoned, he couldn''t gather any natural energy from the surroundings.

    In the meantime, Azzy patiently waited for him, just floating outside the bubble-like prison.

    Once all of his SP recovery cards were exhausted, Louis spoke in a hushed tone, looking as if he wanted to compromise as Azzy didn''t plan on attacking anyone, "Look, I admit that you are stronger than me, but I can''t just go back with you. My world is plagued by the demons and I need the treasure of our tribe to evolve our guardian and end this war, once in for all.

    Your actions stopped my mission two times when I was just closing on. I won''t blame you, alright. Just let me go. Once my mission is over, I will visit Mia myself."

    Azzy could see the sincerity in Louis'' tone, and based on what he said, Azzy guessed what the treasure was supposed to be.

    After consulting the Reaper, he replied to Louis, "How about we strike a deal? I will not only help you end this war but also help your guardian to evolve without the need for the treasure. Once I do that, you will return with me and take responsibility for your actions."

    "Eh?" Louis was taken aback by Azzy''s words, "Why do you go so far? Just what is Mia to you?" he couldn''t help but ask.

    Azzy dismissed the hourglass in response. As the prison was lifted, he answered, "I don''t have many true friends in my life that don''t fear my power, Louis. So, whether it is 6 months or 600 years of friendship, I cherish them all the same. To give them justice, I would even go against the gods if I had to."

    Louis hung down his head and let out a sigh, "Fine, you win."

 Chapter 623: The Crypt of the Forgotten King (part-1)

    Three weeks later;

    The Crypt of the Forgotten King;

    Hidden in a desolate valley, shrouded in an eternal mist, lies the entrance of this dungeon.

    Legends speak of a once-mighty ruler whose pact with dark forces led to his kingdom''s downfall. Now, his crypt serves as a cursed resting place for him and his loyal subjects.

    For hundreds of years, this dungeon remained stable, never to show signs of breaking and it was so formidable that only three warriors ever said to have succeeded in even entering this place, although they never got out.

    So, what was in the dungeon is a huge mystery.

    Historical books all over the world say that the Crypt of the Forgotten King is one of the three dungeons that are impossible to conquer.

    The reason is its pair of guardians at the entrance.

    This native world of Louis divides the warriors in terms of combat power and the natives of this world are born with the gift of gauging one''s combat power, although their accuracy depends on their expertise.

    These two guardians are known to have a combat power of 980 million each. If compared to the terms in Gaia, each of them is more or less a Supreme Being.

    As if that wasn''t enough, they are immune to all kinds of energy attacks.

    So, just the first step itself is nothing more than facing death.

    However, Louis and his wife were standing there and watching the scene in a daze as both guardians were being toyed by Azzy and Leah respectively.

    After killing the stone gargoyles at the same time without getting a single scratch on their skin, they looked at each other and walked toward one another with smiles on their faces.

    Fey was almost trying to cover her eyes as she watched them reach each other, but to her disappointment, they just gave a one-hand high-five to each other and walked together toward the giant door that was opened.

    "Aww... I expected them to kiss..." Fey slowly spoke under her breath.

    Louis shook his head with a smile, "I told you many times, Dear. They are nothing more than friends."

    "Friends?" Fey instantly scoffed at his remark, "A man and a woman cannot be friends. They can be siblings, lovers, a couple, relatives, and only acquaintances. She definitely likes him and he knows that. A woman''s intuition cannot be wrong."

    "Yeah, yeah, whatever..." Louis rolled his eyes, clearly not taking her words seriously, "Let''s go. They will leave us behind."

    Louis and the others hurriedly followed into the dungeon.

    For a while, they walked through a narrow path in complete silence. It is not that they don''t want to talk. They couldn''t.

    Not even the sounds of their footsteps could be heard in the dark corridor until they reached the end of it to enter a wide space, where they found skeletal mages waiting for them.

    There are about six humanoid skeletons in black robes and have wooden staffs adorned with a scarlet gem on top of them.

    At first, they were merely sleeping against the wall, like tired travelers, but as soon as Azzy stepped in, all of them rose to their feet and raised their staffs. The scarlet gem then started glowing.

    In a matter of seconds, everyone found themselves in the middle of a graveyard and the sounds of distant moans filled their ears.

    Azzy furrowed his brows as he observed his surroundings. Corpses were slowly getting out from the ground.

    "Kyaaa..." Leah let out a scream of fright and hugged Azzy from behind, bringing a grin to Fey''s face.

 Chapter 624: The Crypt of the Forgotten King (part-2)

    "Seriously, you are still afraid of zombies and ghosts? You are a 9-star Arcana Master who just killed a gargoyle," Azzy couldn''t help but let out a chuckle, finding her actions cute.

    Leah continued to bury her face onto his back while holding onto him, "I... I can deal with undead but can''t handle ghosts. It''s a past trauma from childhood."

    Due to their mind sync, Azzy knew that she was genuinely afraid of them and not lying.

    Hence, he could only turn around and hold her, patting her back as zombies rose from the graves with their disfigured bodies and spirits surrounded the party of six and started circling around them, "Now, now... you can fear the real ones but it is quite shameful to fear the illusion. Or just close your eyes and fight."

    "Illusion?" Louis, who heard it, couldn''t help but observe his surroundings once again. "It doesn''t seem like one."

    His leg was instantly kicked by his wife, startling him. "Read the room, will ya," She whispered.

    "Ah!" Louis realized something and quickly changed his words, "Oh boy, we haven''t even explored the dungeon yet and we already encountered trouble in the form of illusion masters. I guess they must have been working together to conjure this world. That is why it became impossible to break through sheer will."

    Azzy slightly raised his hand and gave a thumbs-up to his friend, as Leah broke free from his arms and focused on her surroundings, albeit with her eyes closed.

    Elias only tilted his head in confusion, not understanding what was going on with these couples. But, the enemy surrounded them and he prepared himself to battle, just like the rest of his companions.

    While the enemies weren''t strong enough, their onslaught was never-ending.

    For five hours straight, they kept on coming at the group of invaders. As Azzy and others could not use their energy, their stamina was slowly being chipped away as time passed.

    "Damn, these pests just don''t stop at all," commented Fey, shooting the last arrow of the quiver and going on changing to a new one.

    She was sweating hard and breathing heavily. The speed of her arrows also got reduced significantly.

    Louis, who depends majorly on his spatial skills, also started taking a bit of a break once in a while and increasing the workload of the white-winged lion and Elias.

    Leah''s eyes looked quite bigger as Azzy looked at them so closely. His eyes wandered all over her face.

    He had seen this face many times in the past but never observed it before. When he did, he felt like her face was like a work of art, with high cheekbones, a slender jawline, and smooth, flawless skin. "Wow, didn''t expect your features to be delicate and symmetrical, like a perfectly sculpted statue of a goddess."

    "Eh?" "Huh?"

    "Huh?" "Huh?"

    "What?" "Huh?"

    Azzy and Leah are surprised at the same time. Leah was stunned for a moment as she stared at Azzy. The latter appeared even more surprised by the words that came out of his mouth.

    Freeing himself from her grip, Azzy let out a cough and changed the topic, "*Ahem* let''s go. We wasted too much time because I wanted you to get used to those zombies because we might face stronger ones later."

    Azzy was about to go to their next destination instead of inspecting the mages as he originally wanted to, but Leah instantly rushed after him and caught him once again. Grabbing his arm, she asked, "Did you just praise my beauty?" There was this glow on her face and Azzy could swear that she was trying to tease him, based on her expression. "I''m like a goddess, huh?

    Never thought you have such thoughts about me," She added in a hushed tone as she pulled him closer.

    Embarrassed by his own act, Azzy looked away and scoffed, "Please, wh... why would I have such thoughts? I was just kidding to distract you, that''s all."

    "Really?" Leah leaned her body to the front and looked at his face. As their eyes met, Azzy turned away his head again, "When you get a compliment, you just say thank you and forget. Mind I tell you that I have a girlfriend..." he freed himself and hastened his footsteps.

    "Yeah, yeah, whatever," Leah watched his back with a playful smile on her face and folded her hands to the body, "Leah, it looks like you need to push this brat further to force out his true feelings. Let''s practice mind synchronization more..."

    Meanwhile, Fey let out a chuckle as she put her arms around her husband''s hands, and whispered, "Told ya. There is some spark between those two."

    Louis shook his head with a smile. Elias remained in confusion and the white-winged lion didn''t understand why these human companions were wasting too much time on silly matters.

 Chapter 625: The Crypt of the Forgotten King (part-3)

    17 hours later;

    Everyone reached the sanctum of Morlun, the deepest part of the dungeon and their final destination.

    However, they didn''t enter it, but instead went back to climbing the staircase and took a break to recover their stamina, as whatever they were going to face should be very powerful.

    Of course, due to having a true divine physique, Azzy had an inexhaustible amount of stamina. But, he had to sit down with the others, taking their relatively poor stamina into account. Not to mention, everyone also needs sleep, for they have been fighting nonstop for the past 24 hours.

    The fact that their last enemy has the prowess of a pseudo-demigod only made him take their next opponent more seriously. Hence, he wanted everyone to be at their peak state before confronting the boss.

    Unfortunately for them, the white-winged lion hasn''t progressed a bit.

    No enemy left behind a spiritual core after their death, and through his God''s Eyes, Azzy was able to see that all of those undead enemies are merely puppets with strings attached to this room before them.

    Every time they defeated the enemies, those energy strings were cut off on their own.

    Hence, Azzy was sure that what they face is going to be the final boss.

    The only issue here is that none of them could use any form of energy. Only Azzy could use plasma energy from the Plasma scythe.

    Adding on top of that, for some weird reason, he could also use the soul skills associated with the Reaper without any problem.

    His soul orb was sealed and his connection with the Reaper is also cut off. So, where was that energy being consumed? Azzy couldn''t help but wonder all the time. After all, he experienced the loss of soul power whenever he used the Reaper''s skills before. So, what changed now?

    Leah and the others have the same doubts but Azzy can''t answer them, because he doesn''t know.

    Louis, however, didn''t seem convinced. "But, the Jewel of Darkness is missing. There is no way another cosmic jewel could control the undead."

    "What about the Jewel of Death?" Azzy argued, insisting that he was right. "If one has it, they could easily control the undead and even bring them back to life. I think that is why those stone gargoyles at the entrance are always even though they were defeated a few times and people managed to enter this place."

    "Jewel of Death? Isn''t it usually with the Deity of Death? I don''t think the Gods would allow such cosmic jewel in the hands of a mortal," Louis didn''t back down and made a counterargument.

    Azzy returned his gaze to the front and shrugged his shoulders, "who knows. If the Gods were that protective of those cosmic jewels, three of them wouldn''t end up in my hands."

    Louis stared at him for a while before letting out a sigh, "Well, nothing surprises me anymore after experiencing the prowess of your hourglass. But, I still don''t understand why can''t I remember you. My memories are my own. Not to mention I have traveled light years away and you aren''t even a demigod either.

    How your hourglass could just wipe a specific set of my memories, just because my Eva (The Bow Arcana spirit) isn''t a mythical celestial grade. It just doesn''t make sense."

    In response, Azzy simply let out a chuckle, "Time works in mysterious ways, Louis. Creating logic for the thing you haven''t discovered or cannot understand is akin to foolishness. So, don''t try to understand. Just try to adapt. Your life will be a lot easier."

    "Sigh... whatever..." Louis could only sigh in defeat, not intending to waste his energy on an argument, and that too, with a youngster who is full of himself. However, one thing is for sure. He wasn''t completely convinced yet.

    Just like that, four hours passed away. The three who slept earlier now stood as a guard while Azzy and Louis slept. The ladies started talking about various topics while Elias mostly stayed silent.

    Finally, after another four hours, everyone got up and made their way back to the deepest level of the dungeon.

    As the strongest of the group, Azzy took the lead to push away the giant door, where the face of a scarlet demon was engraved on it.

    It didn''t take much effort for Azzy to open it.

    However, when everyone walked in, they witnessed nothing but a sea of gold and jewelry, spread over hundreds of meters on all sides. No enemies in sight at all.

 Chapter 626: The Crypt of the Forgotten King (part-4)

    "So much gold..." The elven beauty, Fey''s eyes were glistening in excitement. "Wow," Even Leah and Elias couldn''t help but exclaim at the same time.

    "Azrael, do you sense any enemy? I can''t sense the presence of any life," commented Louis.

    Fey responded with a burst of laughter, "It is because the enemy we fought earlier is more likely the dungeon boss. This is his treasury, our reward. Can''t believe we wasted so much time because of our wariness."

    Azzy, however, is silent and trying his best to scan the plan with his Aura Sensing.

    It was then Leah who voiced her opinion, "Maybe, it is because the enemy is already dead and was controlled by the cosmic jewel all the time, like Azrael said. The dead don''t have life. So, they cannot be sensed."

    "Soul skill: Eyes of God"

    After failing to sense any presence, just like the rest, Azzy unleashed his soul skill to see if there were any traps and also to locate the cosmic jewel that controlled the dungeon earlier.

    As he observed around, there was an object far away that he couldn''t see through.

    "Wait here..." Azzy flew toward his 2 o''clock, bringing surprise to his companions.

    He flew for atleast a minute, almost disappeared from their sight, and stopped right above the gold-made coffin-type object lying on the ground. It was actually opened and Azzy saw a man lying in his traditional royal attire but had his face covered up with a cloth tightly and a seal was placed on top of it.

    Beside him resting a sword, with a word of an unfamiliar language, inscribed on top of its hilt. There was no sheath nearby, but the blade looked brand-new.

    "There is no life in him but his body is in a perfect state," Azzy descended to the ground to take a closer look. Of course, he took the plasma scythe, hanging on his back, into his hands, just in case.

    Just as he reached within ten-foot radius of the coffin, he observed a slight movement from the sword.

    "I knew it," Louis clenched his fist tightly. He couldn''t help but curse Azzy under his breath, "That show-off tried to convince me that it is a comic jewel. Now that this bastard fell into a trap and was possessed by the malevolent spirit, he literally became the reason for our deaths."

    "What to do now, Dear?" Fey gripped her husband''s upper arm. She gulped saliva and her facial expression changed from ecstasy to panic. After watching Azzy''s prowess through her own eyes, she was aware that they weren''t a match for him, not without their soul orb in a sealed state.

    The white-winged lion and Elias also looked tense, but Leah appeared different. Contrary to others, she was smiling with her tightened fists. The Princess of Camelot was already prepared to battle, "I don''t know who you are, but you are going down. Azrael isn''t that weak."

    "Oh, we''ll see about that," Mors raised his eyebrow. Brandishing his sword like a whip, Mors then continued, "I see that you all would also make fine specimens for my brethren. As for you..." He pointed the finger at the white-winged lion, "You will make good fertilizer for one of us."

    *Snap*

    With a snap of his finger, six humanoid figures rose from the ground. From top to bottom, they looked the same as any other human and not even undead.

    At first, they all looked lifeless at first, but another snap of his finger made them raise their heads and look at their prey.

    "Faunus" "Diana" "Neptune" "Janus" "Pluto" "Mars"

    "They are all yours to hunt," Mors passed the orders to the six of them as he turned away to walk toward the coffin.

    "Guys, get ready to engage," shouted Louis as he took out the spear hanging on his back.

    "Oraaaa"

    Elias transformed into his Aeni form and collectively roared at the enemies with the white-winged lion.

    Leah charged forward at her peak speed and managed to precisely strike Neptune and Pluto, Dii Consentes'' the god of seas and the god of the underworld respectively, at the same time.

    As they flew away and crashed onto a heap of gold without managing to resist the force, Leah managed to pick up the scythe on the ground before rushing toward those two.

 Chapter 627: The Crypt of the Forgotten King (part-5)

    In the grand treasury, amidst mountains of gold and rivers of jewels that flowed between the heaps of wealth, Leah stood defiant.

    The air, heavy with the scent of metal and the electric charge of impending battle, buzzed around her.

    Her opponents, Neptune and Pluto, had chosen this place of opulence as their arena, perhaps as a reminder of the power they once wielded over mortals and gods alike.

    Neptune, his form towering and imposing even within the confines of his human vessel, held a trident that seemed to draw the dim light into its prongs, casting shadows that danced like living things.

    Pluto, quieter but no less menacing, stood slightly behind, his gaze piercing through the darkness, a silent testament to his dominion over the underworld.

    Leah, undaunted by the spectacle, tightened her grip over the handle of the plasma scythe. "You might have been gods," she called out to them, "but here, the bodies you possessed were nothing more than the losers that couldn''t clear this dungeon."

    Neptune laughed, a sound that echoed off the treasury''s walls, carrying the weight of the oceans. "Mortal hubris," he boomed. "You believe you can stand against us, even diminished as we are?"

    Pluto''s response was a mere whisper, but it filled the space with a cold that went beyond physical sensation, chilling the soul. "There is no victory against death," he intoned.

    The first move was Neptune''s.

    With a thrust of his trident, he summoned a geyser, water bursting from the treasury floor, aiming to engulf Leah.

    She spun around herself rapidly, dispersing the water with a mini tornado that erupted from her rotation.

    Pluto, seizing the moment of distraction, commanded the shadows, which stretched and reached for Leah like tendrils. But she was ready. Her foot simultaneously moved aside and created a clone of hers in her place.

    The battle became a dance, Leah weaving between water and shadow, her attacks a series of strikes and feints that tested her opponents'' defenses.

    Neptune roared with frustration, his attacks growing more ferocious, and waves crashing with the force of a storm.

    Pluto, in contrast, waited, his shadows lurking at the edges, striking in the moments Leah''s attention was on Neptune.

    It was during one such moment, dodging a particularly vicious wave, that Leah felt the cold grip of shadow around her ankle, pulling her down.

    "Sorry, but the battle is over the moment the seal was broken," replied Leah, becoming more confident now.

    She conjured a quick seal, trapping the former god of the underworld. Pluto saw it but his mortal body couldn''t react quicker than Leah''s attack. As a result, he was frozen in the spot.

    "This humiliation... Ugh..." It was clear that Pluto, without Neptune to balance the battle, could not overpower Leah alone, who now had access to her Excalibur.

    Now that the plasma scythe was no longer of any use to her, she threw it aside and summoned the celestial grade Arcana, turning the tides of the battle completely.

    With a series of swift, precise strikes, she broke through his defenses, her sword finding the core of his borrowed human form.

    Pluto''s form crumbled, the shadows dissipating as he, too, transformed into a wisp, giving her his essence as well as pushing his will onto her.

    However, unlike Neptune''s essence, which strengthened her other Arcana spirit, Pluto''s essence of darkness only tried to harm her instead.

    "Ack..." Leah grabbed her chest and coughed out a mouthful of blood, sitting on the ground and trying to either refine Pluto''s essence or expel it out of her system.

    "Old man, need your help here. Hurry," Leah pleaded for the assistance.

    "Nothing to worry. You just need to feed it to me instead of absorbing it by yourself," as the words echoed in her head in response, she sighed in relief and proceeded with the process.

    A couple of minutes later, the last bit of essence was absorbed into the sword, giving it control over a new element.

    "Phew..."

    Breathing heavily and wiping off her sweat, Leah looked around the treasury.

    The battle had taken its toll on the room, gold and jewels scattered and tarnished, but the threat had yet to be subsided.

    The other battles were still going on, but her attention was placed upon Azzy, who was about to finish his incantation.

    "No, you won''t," Leah charged toward him with the sword.

 Chapter 628: The Crypt of the Forgotten King (part-6)

    The clash of metal rang through the treasury, a stark counterpoint to the silent glint of scattered gold and jewels.

    Louis stood facing Mars, the god of war, in a mortal form that belied his immortal ferocity.

    The god, even constrained within human flesh, exuded an aura of battle and bloodshed that had defined him since the dawn of myth.

    Louis, with a spear in hand, faced Mars with a determination that was as much a weapon as the blade he wielded.

    The air between them crackled with the tension of impending conflict, an invisible audience to history repeating itself¡ªman versus god, the timeless struggle.

    Mars made the first move, a sweeping strike aimed at Louis with the speed of a striking serpent.

    But Louis was ready, parrying with a skill honed through countless battles, both physical and those fought within the depths of his soul. Their weapons met with a sound that echoed off the treasury walls, sparks flying from the collision.

    "You fight well, mortal," Mars acknowledged, his voice tinged with a respect that was as surprising as it was unsettling. "But do you have the heart to stand against a god?"

    Louis responded not with words but with action, pressing forward with a series of strikes that pushed Mars back.

    Each swing, each maneuver, was a testament to Louis'' resolve, to the strength of his will against the divine force he faced.

    But Mars was no mere mortal to be easily bested.

    With a roar that shook the very air, he unleashed his godly might, his sword glowing with an otherworldly light.

    The treasury room, with its treasures untold, became a battleground where light and shadow danced in the wake of their duel.

    The god''s attacks grew more ferocious, a storm of strikes that sought to overwhelm Louis.

    An elf of the ancient forests, she was no stranger to the hunt, but today she found herself the quarry of a goddess renowned for her prowess in the very same art.

    Diana, the embodiment of the hunt, her presence commanding even within the limitations of her mortal shell, eyed Fey with a predator''s focus.

    The goddess held a bow, its curve elegant, deadly, fashioned from moonlight and shadow. Her quiver seemed endless, each arrow thirsting for a target.

    Fey, aware of the disadvantage in range, moved with a grace that was almost ethereal, her steps leaving no trace on the treasury''s gold-littered floor.

    She knew the dance of battle well, the delicate balance between attack and defense, the need to close the distance between her and Diana without becoming a target.

    Diana loosed the first arrow, its flight swift as a thought, but Fey was swifter still.

    She moved like the wind, her own bow, a slender thing of wood and magic, coming to hand as she darted behind a column. The arrow sought her, guided by Diana''s will, but Fey was no ordinary target. She leaped, the arrow passing harmlessly beneath her as she loosed a special arrow in mid-air.

    The arrow, a whisper of green and gold, found its mark, but not in flesh. It struck Diana''s bow, entwining it in vines that sprouted with impossible speed. Diana''s surprise was fleeting; with a gesture, the vines withered to ash, and her bow freed.

    But Fey had closed the distance. Now, with a dagger drawn, a gift from her husband, she met Diana''s gaze. "The hunt is not only about the pursuit," Fey spoke, her voice clear, "but understanding the heart of the one you pursue."

    Diana, accepting the challenge, drew a blade of her own, its edge sharp as the crescent moon. They clashed, the sound of their weapons a symphony of steel, each strike and parry a testament to their skill.

    The battle shifted with each moment, Fey''s agility against Diana''s divine prowess and centuries of experience. They were reflections of each other, hunter and hunted, each move mirrored, and each attack met with a counter.

    Fey, though, was not just fighting for victory; she fought for her people, for the ancient forests that had nurtured her, for the harmony of the natural world. Her resolve lent her strength, and her movements, influenced by the ancient dances of her people, became a blur, a storm of gold coins.

    Diana pressed on, her own resolve unwavering, but the limitations of her mortal form began to tell. Each movement was slightly slower.

    It was at that moment Louis joined the battle and slipped past Diana''s guard with a portal, his spear piercing the goddess''s neck. "Yield," He whispered, as a command.

    Diana''s eyes, wild with the joy of the hunt, the thrill of the battle, softened. She nodded, lowering her weapon. "You are fortunate, elf," she conceded the fight, her body disintegrated slowly, followed by the essence of the goddess merging with Fey. "But remember, the hunt is never over. It merely changes." The words echoed in Fey''s head.

 Chapter 629: The Crypt of the Forgotten King (part-7)

    Meanwhile, amidst the chaos of battle that echoed through the vast halls, a solitary figure stood out starkly against the backdrop of gold and jewels¡ªa white-winged lion, majestic and fierce.

    Leon, his mane catching the light like a halo, paced with a grace that belied his power.

    His opponent, Janus, the god of doorways, transitions, and duality, watched with two faces, one looking to the past, the other to the future. But it was in the present that their conflict would be decided.

    Janus, in his human guise, still carried the aura of divinity, an unsettling presence that seemed to warp the very air around him.

    He held no weapon, for his power lay in manipulation, in the bending of possibilities and the twisting of outcomes.

    Leon, understanding the nature of his adversary, knew that brute strength alone would not guarantee victory.

    The first move was made by Janus, who, with a mere gesture, caused the environment to shift.

    The walls of the treasury seemed to stretch and fold, creating a labyrinth that sought to confuse and disorient Leon.

    But Leon met this challenge with a roar that reverberated off the gold-laden walls, a sound filled with power and defiance.

    *Roar*

    Leon''s wings unfurled, beating against the air as he took to the sky, rising above the shifting maze below.

    From this vantage, he could see the path to Janus, and could chart his course through the chaos. He dove, a streak of white against the gleam of treasure, his target in sight.

    Janus, however, was not so easily bested.

    With a turn of his head, the future face gazing now at Leon, he altered the flow of time around the lion.

    Moments stretched into eternity, movements slowed to a crawl. Leon, caught in the temporal snare, struggled to push forward, his strength seemingly ebbing away.

    But within Leon burned the heart of a creature not wholly bound by the laws of gods or men.

    He summoned his will, his determination, focusing on the core of his being, where his power lay not in magic or divinity, but in the purity of his spirit.

    With a monumental effort, Leon broke through the temporal distortion, his movement regaining its speed as he hurtled toward Janus.

    But Elias, calm amidst the chaos, saw the opening he had been waiting for. With a final word of power, he bound Faunus in a cocoon of vines, not to harm but to hold.

    "If you keep up at this rate, you will die," Faunus warned him.

    "I should have already been dead if not for those two who saved me," Elias replied, his voice steady.

    While he didn''t speak Orlon, The former Diety''s spirit understood his will.

    Catching up something from the corner of the eye, Faunus became humanoid again.

    With a nod, the god conceded the battle. "This fight ends now," he declared.

    "Eh?" Elias stood there confused. Why? He didn''t understand.

    As Faunus suddenly sprinted toward Azzy, his eyes widened in realization and he ran after him.

    There, a portal appeared out of nowhere and Louis trapped Azzy''s body with spatial chains.

    Leah was pointing her sword at Azzy''s back. She looked resolute. However, Mors, who occupied Azzy''s body, continued with his incantation without a care. Meanwhile, Azzy''s body looked unchanged despite the fact that a tremendous amount of life force was fed to the sleeping King.

    Leah intended to stab Azzy with her sword, connecting their spirits and forcefully breaking his seal, but just as she was about to stab him, Mors ended his incantation by raising his voice too loud, "Arise, My King."

    His request was answered by a sudden gust of air, pushing away Leah and Louis.

    The atmosphere charged, a pressure that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand. Everyone turned their heads, and there, manifesting in the center of the room was a presence that dwarfed those that had come before.

    The man''s face was slowly uncovered as he slowly rose in the air. When he opened his eyes abruptly, a powerful gravitational force descended onto the ground, forcing everyone to kneel on the floor.

    Jupiter, the king of the Roman gods, his form radiant and commanding, filled the space with divine authority. The air crackled with power, the gold and jewels of the treasury dimming in his brilliance.

    "My King, You have returned," spoke Mors, through Azzy''s mouth.

    "Your Majesty," Faunus went down on one of his knees and greeted him with his right fist on the floor.

    "Azrael?" Jupiter furrowed his brows, his eyes fixed on Azzy. His words filled the room, taking everyone by surprise, including Mors and Faunus.

 Chapter 630: The Crypt of the Forgotten King (part-8)

    "You know this human, My King?" asked Mors.

    "Of course, why wouldn''t I know him?" Jupiter''s frown only deepened when he heard those words.

    Mors didn''t understand what connection these two had, but since Jupiter wasn''t giving any sort of further explanation, he said, "This boy is Chronos'' successor and the inheritor of the white sands of time. The best vessel we can hope to acquire for My King."

    "Human?" Jupiter was the one whose eyes widened in surprise this time. In an instant, something clicked in his mind. "I see, it is a Reincarnation." With realization dawned upon his face, he further asked, "Did you say that he is my next vessel? You have possessed him and yet recommending him to me?"

    Mors didn''t understand it at first, "Yes? If My King acquires the power of the sands of the white, Zeus will no longer be your opponent."

    Jupiter silently stared into Azzy''s eyes for a while and eventually said, "Fine, I understand that you haven''t understood everything. Get out of that body and make sure not to connect with his soul."

    "Huh, soul?" Mors got curious and went deep into Azzy''s soul orb, trying to see what Jupiter was trying to say, but the moment he did it, intense death energy erupted from his soul and started sucking him, like a black hole.

    "Wha... what''s going on? This... is... the..." Mors'' essence was completely sucked by Azzy''s soul, by the time he understood why His King was cautious.

    But, it was too late.

    Mors disappeared just like that, and Azzy''s consciousness as well as his powers returned immediately, making Jupiter slap his forehead and shake his head while letting out a sigh and looking down, "How could he be so foolish despite possessing the essence of Death?" After a brief pause, he shrugged his shoulders calmly, "Well, it doesn''t matter.

    He can always be brought back, as long as I acquire my throne."

    As soon as his consciousness returned, Azzy, who was already aware of what was going on outside, leaped back and landed beside Leah as she got up to her feet and grabbed her stomach.

    "You alright?" He asked in a bit of a worried tone.

    Making an expression that seemed like she was still in pain, she nodded in silence. Louis also got up and conjured a portal to get to his wife and stood beside her in wariness.

    Followed by her, the other two also brought out their Arcana spirits to fight against Jupiter and Faunus.

    "Your Majesty, give me the orders. I''ll wipe out these mortals," said Faunus, once the god of nature, forest, fields, and fertility.

    Jupiter shocked the others by shouting, "Vajra, what are you doing there? Come back to your master." He looked agitated at one glance.

    "Huh?" Even Azzy couldn''t help but be taken aback, "Chronos, I thought Vajra was the weapon of Zeus."

    The Reaper''s words echoed in his head, "Vajra was neither a weapon of Zeus nor Jupiter. It was originally a weapon belonging to a divine being of another universe and ended up in the hands of Jupiter as a gift. After the fall of Jupiter, Zeus snatched it away from him and fed it his own essence, the primordial thunder, transforming its shape into an orb.

    As a result, Vajra served Zeus for a long time, until it was corrupted by the Protos energy."

    "I see..." Azzy understood why the King of Heavens didn''t hesitate to abandon him and went as far as trying to destroy the weapon despite its outstanding abilities, when it corrupted his maternal ancestor, Aelius Crescent, eight thousand years ago.

    As he gazed at the wolf that was standing beside him, the latter raised its head to look at its former master and let out a powerful bark in response to his call.

    Jupiter''s face hardened and different colors of thunderbolts erupted from his body and started dancing around him, destroying the ceiling above them into specks of dust and melting down the gold.

    "You dared to snatch my loyal slave?" Jupiter displayed his anger at Azzy. "We might have fought together on one side, but you have crossed the line. The punishment is only death. Owing to your past life''s connection with me, I shall give you an opportunity to have a warrior''s death. Follow me."

    He flew through the giant hole made by his lightning bolts.

    Confused Azzy motivated by the Reaper, "Go on and fight him. His essence was corrupted by the body of the mortal he merged with. In such a state, he is the same as a demon right now. If you don''t end him, he will end this world."

    "Understood," Azzy sorted out his thoughts and flew toward the hole in the ceiling, following Jupiter.

    "Azrael," Leah called him but as Azzy disappeared from her sight without any response, she tightened her fist and also followed him.

    Meanwhile, Louis created a portal to take the rest of them out of the dungeon, now that the dungeon laws disappeared.

 Chapter 631: Jupiter vs Azzy (part-1)

    Landing on a barren hill without any inhabitants around, Jupiter stood straight and had his gaze on the sky.

    He didn''t have to wait for a long time though.

    Azzy and his Arcana spirits reached the location, Vajra, the black lightning wolf sitting on top of the Black lotus, took a leap from the sky as soon as it saw its enemy.

    It was the first to land on the ground and bared its fangs at its former master.

    Jupiter couldn''t help but look at the wolf affectionately, "Your form might have changed and your loyalty might have changed, but it doesn''t change the fact that your soul was a part of mine. Open your eyes and recognize your true master, Vajra."

    "Grrrr..." Vajra responded with a growl; its face looked like it wanted to shred this God into pieces.

    Jupiter didn''t seem like he was angry at the wolf. Instead, his frown was aimed at Azzy, who landed behind it.

    "Before we begin our fight, tell me your full name, mortal," said Jupiter, conjuring an energy weapon shaped in the form of concentrated lightning in his hand.

    Azzy answered, "Azrael Crescent Garcia."

    "No wonder you didn''t find it weird when I said your name earlier," Jupiter muttered under his breath. He then raised three fingers, "Alright, Azrael Crescent Garcia, when you are ready, you may proceed. For the debt we had from your past life, I will give you three chances to attack me. I will not evade them."

    Azzy was aware that this Deity was looking down on him, because of obvious reasons.

    But, he decided to take it as an advantage and accepted it, "Since you insist, then, don''t go back on your word."

    He raised the death scythe above his head and mumbled, "Soul skill: Slice of Death."

    Azzy unleashed the very first soul skill he mastered and swung the death scythe vertically, creating an arc of death energy that was only as big as him but was too dense. Jupiter sensed it too but he stayed calm. There was no change in his facial expression.

    The Arc of concentrated death energy made its way toward Jupiter, who raised his hand and stretched forward. Azzy expected him to conjure a barrier shield to defend against the attack but there was no such thing happened.

    Jupiter''s hand was struck by the attack.

    His palm had only bruises while the death energy entered his system, only to be dissipated rapidly.

    "What?" Azzy''s eyes widened in surprise. He expected the demigod to be strong but didn''t know it was this strong. "Chronos, didn''t you say Death energy even works against the Gods? He wasn''t even in his real form and possessed the body of a demigod."

    Within the next second, the Reaper''s words then echoed in his head as a reply, "Death energy doesn''t work effectively against three types of beings. One, if someone is far stronger than you. Two, if someone possessed death energy too. Lastly, it doesn''t work against cosmic jewels."

    His Divine energy erupted from him and formed a layer over his skin, increasing its toughness by several folds.

    Just as he managed to stop it and mumbled, "One more to go", Azzy, who was watching the scene, turned the hourglass upside down, "Time Stop."

    Everything in the world stopped moving.

    Jupiter also couldn''t move but he could see around and he could sense the time freeze.

    It was then Azzy leaped from its head and slid across the golem''s arm before flying toward Jupiter at his peak speed.

    At a speed of mach 8, he struck Jupiter''s chest with the Spear of Death and the release of tremendous energy from his attack pushed him away while unfreezing the time.

    Meanwhile, Jupiter''s body slowly started turning into stone and his expression was frozen in bewilderment, followed by gritting his teeth. "Argh..." For the first time, he let out a roar.

    Flames suddenly erupted from his body, removing the fossilization and also negating the death energy in the process.

    By the time Azzy found his balance and stood on the ground, Jupiter was bathing in flames with lightning bolts dancing around him.

    With his eyes remaining closed, he raised the lightning-bolt-shaped weapon above his shoulder, "Your three attacks are over. Now, it is my turn."

    "Goodbye," Jupiter motioned his arm back and then threw the lightning bolt at Azzy, who stood there in silence.

    Just as the Lightning bolt weapon was about to strike Azzy, a wooden shield appeared in the latter''s hands.

    The brown jewel, embedded in the center of the shield, glowed brightly and transformed the wood into the purest form of adamantium, the strongest metal in the universe.

    The lightning bolt struck the shield and released a tremendous amount of energy, which was absorbed by the shield.

    "The Jewel of Earth, no wonder he was so confident," Jupiter motioned his hand. The lightning bolt returned to his hands.

    Lowering down the shield, Azzy stared at his opponent, "So, my assumption was right, after all."

    "Yes, no doubt about it, Azrael. It is the Jewel of Fire," replied the Reaper. After a brief pause, the latter added, "Fortunately for you, you have exactly something that could suppress its power."

    "Protos energy?" As Azzy wondered, the reaper answered, "No, look above."

    Azzy didn''t have to raise his head to understand what this deity was trying to say. He could sense a being who was flying around randomly. He mumbled, "Leah''s Izarok."

 Chapter 632: Jupiter vs Azzy (part-2)

    Soon, Leah and her Arcana spirit, Izarok, now became Queen Izarok with the addition of Neptune''s trident and an oddly-looking black tiara on her head, landed beside Azzy. The latter had to dismiss the transformation of Ruby, turning back into its usual crystalline black lotus so that her vision may restored and she could find him.

    Jupiter didn''t take any action during this time and waited in patience, for some reason.

    For a few seconds, he glanced around. "Hmm, it looks like Mars'' inheritor didn''t intend to come. Anyway..."

    Meanwhile, Azzy took this opportunity to use the SP recovery card and replenish his soul energy to get ready for the second round.

    "Leah, you..." Azzy turned serious.

    Leah interrupted him while tightly gripping the handle of Excalibur, "I know it is too dangerous, but I can help you out. So, no question of leaving you alone here and running away."

    Azzy''s facial expression suddenly changed, replaced with a bit of awkwardness. "Uhh..." He couldn''t help but look away as he said, "Actually, I want to say that I really need your help at the moment."

    "Eh?" Leah''s eyes widened in surprise. "Seriously?" She leaned her head forward.

    Feeling her face closer to his face, Azzy slightly stepped aside and nodded, "We need to merge our Arcana spirits."

    Leah gave another glance at Jupiter who was standing straight and silently staring at them. As their gazes met, she didn''t feel any animosity against her supposed enemy. If anything else, she felt like he was a friendly character.

    However, she knew that it was the result of Neptune and Pluto''s essence and would merge with her.

    She averted her gaze and proceeded to grab Azzy''s hand. Jupiter folded his hands to his chest, watching them calmly.

    Soon, Queen Izarok merged with Azzy''s Black Lotus to become ''Izaru.'' The water body turned black and shiny, the Arcana spirit grew hair like lotus leaves, and lastly, her trident looked like it was made of a black diamond.

    "Oh, the fusion of Arcana spirits, belonging to different people and temporarily creating a new Arcana spirit with both of their abilities. Interesting technique," Jupiter gave a nod of acknowledgment, for it is something that is unheard of, back in his time. He couldn''t help but praise mankind''s evolution in his heart.

    Hence, he consulted with the Reaper right away.

    The Reaper, however, gave his permission but under the condition that he wouldn''t be able to use the hourglass, the Death scythe, or the rest of the soul skills related to Death.

    It means that Vajra, which was tied to the Reaper also couldn''t help in this fight. This also means that the Protos energy is out.

    With so many things becoming restricted to use in the battle, will this still help Azzy to win against this formidable enemy?

    As Azzy fell into a dilemma, the Reaper further added that he could possess him to take care of the enemy, instead. Here, the Reaper guaranteed the success. With the white sands of time in his hand, no mortal, regardless of their strength, could escape from defeat.

    But, Azzy wasn''t in favor of that idea. After all, he intends to go to the world of Angels sooner or later. So, he had to prepare himself to fight against strong opponents.

    After sorting out his thoughts, he dismissed the Hourglass and gave an order to the Jinn through their own telepathic connection.

    Jinn, who only stayed as a spectator following his master''s orders, received the instruction, and he snapped his fingers right away.

    The hidden soul skill of Jinn was unleashed and Azzy asked for the wish, exactly what Leah wanted.

    Jupiter momentarily lost his patience as he saw his opponents were wasting too much time.

    Just when he was about to make his move, he saw a blinding flash of light envelop Azzy and Leah, leaving Queen Izaru alone, standing in front of Jupiter while not being affected by the intense heat radiated by the flaming bolt.

    The result was quite surprising.

    Leah disappeared and Azzy''s body reverted to its normal state. However, there was a sword in his hand. It was the Excalibur.

    "What in the Chaos'' name is this now?" Jupiter''s mouth was widely opened in shock for a moment.

    "The name is Azrle," A dual voice, male and then followed by the female voice''s echo, came out of this new Azrle (Az-er-uhl). "Shall we start round 2?" As the sword brandished like a whip, Pluto''s dark essence naturally flowed through the blade of Excalibur and then enveloped Azrle''s skin like a layer of energy.

 Chapter 633: Azrle, a being born from the fusion

    The battle between Jupiter and Azrle looked quite intense at one glance, but in reality, the deity was losing against the mortal.

    Whatever attacks Jupiter was using, Azrle was blocking them with the shield, where the Jewel of Earth was embedded. Azrle''s attacks, on the other hand, were wounding the former.

    Pluto''s essence was making sure not to let Jupiter''s wounds or his energy recover while Neptune''s essence was rendering his body''s defenses, useless.

    Azzy''s durable body, inexhaustible stamina, and powerful sage core made it easier for Azrle to launch sealing techniques from Leah''s memories that the latter usually couldn''t, due to her feminine mortal physique.

    The battle went on for an hour, and Jupiter looked anything but fine, filled with injuries and wounds from top to bottom while Azrle looked very imposing.

    It forced Jupiter to unleash his most powerful technique, combining both the firebolt and the lightning bolt to create a fire & lightning sphere in his hand. Its size was originally as big as 10 meters but as he compressed the energy inside, its size rapidly decreased.

    Almost all the energy stored in the body of the demigod, his essence taken over a long time ago, was gathered in that orb that looked as big as his fist.

    "Hmm... this..." Azrle couldn''t help but remember a memory of Azzy''s second awakening ceremony. Vajra was also in this form when they met for the first time. Azrle couldn''t help but wonder whether the true form of an element is a concentrated orb.

    "Goodbye..." Jupiter threw the orb toward his enemy with his entire strength, like a pitcher throws a baseball, hoping to destroy the adamantine shield too.

    Azrle put forth the shield to block this attack too.

    However, even the strongest metal in the universe, known to mankind as well as the deities, couldn''t do the job this time.

    While the adamantine shield with the jewel of earth embedded inside was able to absorb half of its damage, in the end, the orb of lightning and fire managed to melt down a part of its surface, making a hole out of it and striking Azrle''s chest.

    "Argh..." "Argh..."

    The dual voice of masculine and feminine echoed one after another, in painful screams, as Azrle flew away and crashed to the ground.

    Seeing the lightning energy and the fire energy left a huge injury on his enemy''s chest, followed by making a mess inside the body, Jupiter developed a smirk on his face, "I guess this battle has been fini..."

    His happiness couldn''t even last five seconds. As the black crown appeared on Azrle''s head, the wound on the outside was healed completely while Azrle''s divine energy/sage energy from the sage core neutralized the foreign energies automatically.

    Excalibur, Queen Izaru, and Jinn disappeared at the same time while a blinding flash of light enveloped Azrle, separating Azzy and Leah after a few seconds.

    Leah found the Jewel of Fire was slowly fusing with her soul while Azzy received the true essence of Jupiter.

    Unlike the others who received the deity''s essence so far, Azzy was experiencing something else entirely.

    His soul was seen floating somewhere in space, where he watched a giant woman shrouded in light pressing an orb-like thing between her palms.

    The orb compressed over and over until it suddenly exploded and even enveloped this giant in the process, giving birth to early stars, cosmic jewels, Angels, gods, and other cosmic beings.

    The scene quickly changed to a scene in a large hall where different chief deities were having arguments about how to govern the universe together.

    After all, most of their powers are similar to each other and they don''t want to share their authority over the mortals with deities from other pantheons.

    Zeus, Jupiter, Odin, Ra, Dagda, Marduk, Yu Huang, Amaterasu, Huitzilopochtli, Inti, Perun, Manitou, and Olorun represented their pantheons and the wishes of their brethren.

    Some are weak, some are strong, and some have only a few deities in their pantheon, like on Odin''s side. He had only Frigg, Baldr, Freyr, Freyja, and Njord.

    The negotiations appeared to have failed in the end.

    The scene changed to a series of battles between various pantheons, the Olympians and Dii Consentes allied together to eradicate others while the Angels stayed neutral.

    Using others'' essences, both of these pantheons have agreed to create another universe, where one of them could rule it for eternity, only for Jupiter to realize that Zeus betrayed him, using those divine essences to empower the Olympians.

    The Angels had to ally with Dii Consentes to suppress the Olympians and free the essences of other deities fallen in the great battle of gods, but Hades used the demons and the fallen angels to keep this allied army busy while the Olympians killed their counterparts and absorb their essences too.

    Zeus won in the end and became the supreme ruler of the universe.

    As a result, Jupiter and his brethren were eradicated, albeit freeing a lot of essences, which spread all over the universe and merged with mortals, giving rise to heroes and legends. On the other hand, the Angels were forced to relinquish all of their rights over the universe.

    Once the cinematic view ended, Azzy''s mind was then flooded with the knowledge of Jupiter''s abilities.

 Chapter 634: Jupiters memories; Leah becomes a demigod

    As the Jewel of Fire was slowly merging with Leah''s soul orb, she went into a deep state of meditation, and the soul card was seen revolving around her body.

    Meanwhile, her soul power rose rapidly.

    Within no time, 1 billion SP on her soul card changed to 2 billion, then, 3 billion, and eventually, reaching 9.9 billion.

    However, it didn''t seem like it wasn''t slowing down at any time.

    Her Soul power pushes past through 10 billion in number, making her breakthrough to the legendary demigod realm just like that and it continued to increase until it reached 70 billion before it finally stopped as the Jewel of Fire was successfully integrated with her soul orb.

    At the same time, her mind also experienced Azzy''s memories she automatically received because of their earlier soul fusion technique.

    While she understood Azzy and Claire truly loved each other, she still couldn''t understand why their bond was so strong when they only dated, for like a year. This agitated her even more, which only caused her soul energy to go unstable for a moment.

    In the meantime, Azzy also received the memories of Leah. Her struggle and the pain, she felt to fulfill the expectations of her family, the burden to carry the responsibility of Camelot''s future, and the unrequited love. Azzy saw everything.

    He couldn''t help but feel bad for her as he could not reciprocate her feelings.

    As it disturbed his mind, Azzy decided to put those things away and shifted his focus to exploring the knowledge of lightning manipulation.

    In the meantime, Jupiter''s essence was slowly being integrated with Azzy''s sage core.

    The Reaper was overseeing the process and it was incredibly slow as unlike Thanatos, who only gave a speck of his essence for just tracking purposes, Jupiter''s essence was wholesome. It was as if Azzy was inheriting everything that Jupiter owned, like memories, knowledge of techniques, lightning manipulation, and even secrets to the universe.

    Unfortunately, this true essence doesn''t have any soul energy. Hence, his soul power remained unchanged.

    Time passed away slowly.

    A day turned into two, two into three, and three days eventually turned into five days; Leah was still meditating on the ground, at the same location as before, and Azzy took this time to explore his new abilities while making sure to protect his partner.

    Meanwhile, Louis, who also defeated Faunus a while ago, was doing the same at his clan village. Elias stayed there as a guest and was in the process of improving his language prowess.

    A couple of hours later, Azzy reached a snowy desert, to find an intense battle going between a blonde-haired woman with angelic wings and a man with insect-type wings alongside a twelve-legged giant spider-looking creature, having the strength of a demigod.

    Other than both of them, there was someone else. The robust figure, standing tall with almost perfect features of a man, also had eyes that looked very pure and innocent. Even with a simple glance from far away, Azzy felt a disturbance in his heart, as if he felt envious of this stranger''s features.

    However, Azzy didn''t have time to focus on someone else. His attention was swiftly returned to the blonde-haired Angel and soon, his vision went slightly blurry as tears filled up in his eyes. However, he didn''t go ahead and interrupted the battle and watched it from the ground, far away.

    Back to the battle, the woman was using her broadsword to fight against the creature while her divine pillars kept Beelzebub busy.

    Had the battle been in outer space, it would be one-sided but the true demon of God''s realm has his strength suppressed to the demigod realm due to mortal world laws. Not to mention the suppression of divine energy on demonic beings like him.

    As a result, he couldn''t gain an advantage over his opponent.

    As he was wondering how to deal with the situation, he suddenly sensed the presence of a mortal standing on the ground, a couple of kilometers away. A mysterious grin appeared on his face as he took a glance at the other spectator floating nearby.

    Stretching his hands away, Beelzebub created a transparent glass-type barrier around himself, which blocked the divine pillars once and cracked.

    The woman, slashing another leg of the spider, glanced to the right and spotted the glass barrier. She mumbled, "More power, Agatha."

    The broadsword in her hands glowed for a moment before the five divine pillars glowed and thrust at the barrier once again. The cracks filled all over the barrier. "Again."

    The third strike of the five pillars successfully destroyed the barrier, only for the woman to realize that the demon wasn''t inside at all.

    She looked around and activated her senses but failed to find him at first. It was then she heard the charming man let out a sigh and say, "We can''t expect honor from a demon, after all. Girl, enhance your range to 5000 cubits."

    Cubit is the unit of measurement of the Angels, with each cubit roughly around 48.5cm.

    As the woman understood the task and enhanced her senses, she found Beelzebub standing behind a mortal.

    She flapped her wings and flew to the location, only to find Azzy was seen standing beside Beelzebub, but he seemed to be in a trance.

    "Rael? What is he doing here?"

    At once, her eyes flickered and her lips shivered.

 Chapter 635: Reuniting with Claire?

    "Rael? What is he doing here?"

    At once, her eyes flickered and her lips shivered, but in the next moment, it was replaced by a frown on her face, "What''s the meaning of this, demon?"

    "What does it look like, Angel of Light?" Beelzebub let out a scoff.

    "Despicable. How dare you involve weaklings in our battle? Where is your sense of honor?" Her blue eyes filled with hatred and her angry voice filled the surroundings. "Leave the mortal, alone." As she stretched the broadsword and pointed at the demon, divine energy formed a layer over its blade.

    Beelzebub shrugged his shoulders, "Sorry, can''t do it. Our battle was disadvantageous to me. There is no question of honor, here. It is all about survival. Now, if you and your master don''t back away, I shall kill this boy."

    "Heed to my call, Number 9..."

    As the woman responded with a short incantation, a divine pillar shot from the sky and trapped Azzy as well as Beelzebub inside like some sort of prison barrier, taking the demon by shock. "A single-digit pillar?" His voice quivered a bit. "It''s impossible. Only an Archangel can control a single-digit pillar.

    Who in the hell are you?" He shouted, banging on the insides of the barrier without doing any damage to it.

    The woman let out a smile, "I''m not just the disciple of Adam, demon. I''m also the Angel of Light, daughter of Michael, and the future goddess of creation. The name''s Claire Lefeuvre. Nice to meet you."

    Yes, it was none other than Claire, Azzy''s lover from the past whom he had been desperate to see for the past few years.

    "Michael''s daughter and the future host to ''his'' soul?" Beelzebub furrowed his brows, thinking deeply.

    Pointing the sword at him, Claire spoke, "From the start, I can capture you at any time. I merely want to test my battle prowess as such chances are hard to come by. There is so much you have yet to show, but unfortunately, you had to resort to threats against me. Hence, our battle is already over from the moment we met, Beelzebub. It is time for you to return with us."

    "Not yet, lady," Beelzebub quickly caught Azzy''s neck from the back and pressed it with his claws with a malicious grin on his face, "You made a big mistake by revealing your identity as the Angel of Light and the successor of the Creator''s throne. That only means you are obligated to prioritize the mortal''s safety over anything."

    With the Adamantine crown appeared on Azzy''s head as soon as he fell to the ground, an enormous amount of life force was flown into his body and healed him instantly. However, for some reason, he didn''t regain his consciousness yet.

    Claire dismissed her Arcana spirit and nodded as she took a glance at Azzy, "I know that mortal from the past, Master. He was a friend. That is why I dared to take the risk."

    "But, he should have died," Adam''s response remained cold. He continued to speak in a disapproving tone, "The Jewel of Life isn''t invincible. If not for his sturdy physique and aided by the luck, your earlier attack would have killed him in the process."

    "In that case..." Claire took out an emerald gem, which is as tiny as a finger, out of nowhere and showed it to her master, "I planned on taking responsibility by using this Jewel of Time''s fragment on him and reverse his death."

    "Ssss..." Adam couldn''t help but hiss at her response, "Cosmic Jewel fragments aren''t supposed to be used for such selfish reasons. They were gathered to protect worlds."

    Claire didn''t say anything for a while and looked down. Eventually, Adam''s anger subsided and he let out a sigh, "Let''s go."

    "What to do with him?" Claire pointed her finger at the unconscious Azzy. To which, Adam responded by pushing his palm toward Azzy. In an instant, an oval-shaped barrier appears over the seventeen-year-old. "He will be fine unless a true god tries to kill him. After he wakes up, the barrier will dissolve on its own. Anything after that is not our responsibility.

    Let''s go."

    Claire nodded in understanding.

    Soon, a portal was opened by Adam and both of them walked into it while carrying their prisoner.

    Once it disappeared, another portal opened and Leah walked out of it with Louis.

    They hurriedly reached Azzy, who also seemed like he gained consciousness but wasn''t moving from the spot. There was also a teardrop that was hanging at the edge of his right eye.

    "Azrael, are you alright?" Leah shook his arms as she asked worriedly. Louis calmly watched from the side. He had questions but kept his mouth shut, as it was not the right time to ask.

    Azzy slowly opened his mouth in a hushed tone, "Why? Why did she abandon me? Am I just an acquaintance for her that is of no significance?"

 Chapter 636: Thanatos revenge

    Earlier, when Azzy was put under illusion by Beelzebub and got captured, he didn''t free himself because the Reaper didn''t let him do so.

    Azzy was forced to watch everything from inside his mindscape. He heard every word she said. He saw every action she made.

    And, when the portal opened and she turned around to walk away with her master, Azzy got control over his body but he didn''t move. In heartbreak, He didn''t call her either and let her walk away.

    Meanwhile, Leah arrived at the location when Azzy was captured inside the divine pillar but couldn''t come out because of Louis, who didn''t want unnecessary trouble. The latter firmly didn''t open the portal and just let her watch the scene from another dimension, stating that she is not in a state of battle and they could certainly be killed if go there recklessly.

    After all, if Claire wouldn''t hesitate to attack Azzy, what are the chances that she cares about their lives? Leah agreed with his reason and helplessly watched it.

    Over the next few days, Azzy rarely talked to others. He stayed as a guest at Louis'' house but mostly spent on the top of a snowy mountain watching the stars.

    Leah, unfortunately, couldn''t properly talk to him either as she had to resume stabilizing her realm. Unlike lower realms, which pose a danger of losing control only when one fights, the demigod realm is different.

    When one becomes a demigod, one can study the Great laws of the universe.

    They could weaponize those laws to wipe out mortal races; they could absorb life from mortal beings such as human civilians and animals to increase their life span; they could inflict natural disasters at will; they could absorb too much natural energy from the planet to refine it into their soul energy, and several other things.

    It is why a demigod can lose control even when they are not fighting. Stabilizing the realm is the foremost priority for their safety and the world''s too.

    As a result, Leah had to suppress her emotions and completely put her focus on the goal, of achieving stability as soon as possible.

    Roughly two weeks later, under Excalibur''s guidance and with the help of Neptune and Pluto''s essences, Leah achieved the stability of her realm and she immediately rushed to the mountain where she sensed his presence, as soon as she was done.

    Velez Garcia, once the scion of Garcia''s family and now nothing more than a disgraced prince, was currently battling Vesyrn Garcia once again.

    But, this time, the location was in the wilderness and Vesyrn actually seemed heavily injured, trying his best to survive in the woods by evading the attacks of a giant skeleton, a merged form of Velez'' undead creatures but has the strength of a supreme being.

    "hahaha, dodge well, hahaha, dodge..." Velez was laughing at the top of his lungs, standing on the skull of the skeleton king and looking down at his opponent. "C''mon, call for help. Call that prodigious brat for help. Out of station? No worries. How about you call for your clan''s secret guardian?

    Perhaps, he could save his acting clan head. Or maybe, that old Patriarch? Too bad that he won''t be able to interfere in our battle."

    Meanwhile, in the Arcana world, at the Forest of Death;

    Qridus Garcia was trapped in a bony prison and in an unconscious state. A skeletal body that looked like a soul collector was guarding it as two deities of the true god realm were arm wrestling without affecting their surroundings or even destroying the rock beneath their blows. It was Thanatos, the God of Death, and Mother Goddess, Gaia herself.

    It looked like Gaia was at an advantage but just slightly.

    "You might be able to halt me for a while, but you won''t be able to escape from the consequences if the kid''s father dies. You do know who is behind him, don''t you?" Gaia doesn''t look pleasant at all, "You will have to face the wrath of the Guardian."

    Thanatos let out a smile and answered, "That false god? Your mortal lover merely takes advantage of the powers we gave him and acts all bold, but do you think he dares to go against Olympian Palace? Regardless of our differences in ideologies, we Olympians always stay united against foreign threats. You should know that very well.

    My fellow Gods are already angry at his antics for a while (2 million years). As long as they get enough justification, they will make their move against him. Your neutrality will not let you interfere in the matters between those in God''s realm."

    "You might be right," Gaia nodded while letting out a smile, all of a sudden, and further said, "But, you see... he is different from us who were born with everything. He is always improving. The last time he fought a serious battle was over two million years ago, well if I had to count the time according to this world. No one knows how powerful he is at the moment.

    Even I can neither see through him nor the depth of his potential."

    "Hmpf... whatever... keep boasting..." Thanatos scoffed at her statement and focused on the arm wrestling.

 Chapter 637: New mission: Placebo drug

    A few months later;

    Everglade City, Republic of Llyne, Planet Gaia;

    On the evening of the last day of the year, Azzy was seen accompanying a young lady, as they lined up in front of the nightclub.

    However, the eighteen-year-old looked quite uncomfortable, constantly glancing at the crowd around him as they made their way into the place.

    The lady, on the other hand, was vibing to the music and subtly shaking her body; she was so natural that it makes one wonder whether she was a regular at clubs. Her beauty and hourglass figure also made it harder for the boys around to avert their eyes away. Azzy felt several gazes of envy aiming at him, and that actually calmed him a bit and helped him refocus on his mission.

    As Leah sat on a couch nearby, Azzy walked to the bartender.

    With a knock on the table, he gained the bartender''s attention. "Yes?" He looked at Azzy, wondering whether this fellow was really an adult or a teenager disguised as an adult.

    Azzy calmly placed a stack of notes on the table and said, "Mr. Placebo recommended me this place."

    "Placebo?" The bartender''s facial expression suddenly changed when he heard the codename. He silently stared at Azzy for a few seconds before taking the cash and replied, "Follow me."

    Azzy followed the bartender to the door on the second floor, which says it is restricted to staff, only to see a couple of buffed guys suddenly block the exit as soon as he entered the place.

    "What are you doing?" Azzy raised his eyebrow.

    The bartender grabbed his collar, slightly pushing him in an aggressive way, "Placebo drug isn''t even in circulation in the market yet. Who told you the code?"

    Azzy swiftly grabbed his throat and raised him a foot above the floor instantly, "It doesn''t matter who told me the code. What matters here is that I want the drug."

    "You bastard... Get me down..." The bartender struggled to free himself but to no avail.

    The two bodyguards charged toward him, intending to grab him. However, before they make a move, Azzy''s free arm moves. Both of them were knocked out with an uppercut to their chins, almost at the same time. Blood seeped from their noses respectively.

    Connecting her with various wires to a machine, Dr. Mac went to her 1000-inch computer and did her own thing that Azzy had no idea.

    Azzy quietly observed her until she was done with analysis and spoke to him, "There''s no abnormality detected. She was completely, Azrael."

    Azzy nodded in understanding, "okay."

    "Do you want another model?" She asked, after thinking for a bit.

    Azzy shook his head, "No, I think I''m more comfortable with her, although her succubus bloodline is mildly irritating. It would take more time for me to get used to it. Not to mention, the organization will get suspicious if something changes about her and they start investigating."

    In response, Dr. Mac put away her spectacles and let out a sigh, "Who could have expected succubi bloodline to be extracted from that Demon King Berith''s avatar? Even after I had given her a body made of adamantium, her fighting prowess remained mediocre. Project L.I.L.Y is more or less a disappointment for now."

    Azzy couldn''t help but sigh too, agreeing with her. "It''s indeed a pity."

    That''s right. The woman who accompanied Azzy to the club was not a human. She was an android, created from the captured Demon King''s demonic energy and Aria''s data.

    L.I.L.Y., i.e. Logical intelligence learning yielder was supposed to be a demonic android capable of having Aria''s intelligence and the prowess of Berith, but she could only end up as assistant capable of doing menial tasks and able to hypnotize men.

    For some unknown reason, she got the powers of a succubus.

    Some could seduce and manipulate men''s thoughts through mind control as long as they are below the Supreme realm, some that are created by nanotechnology could shapeshift into any being they want while even copying their aura, and some could invade the target''s dream to create new thoughts into them, and some engage in sexual activities to drain the life force from them.

    The problem was that they would lose a bit of control over their powers in the presence of virgin men. This is dangerous because if these virgin men weren''t Arcana Masters, their life force would be drained.

    Requesting Dr. Mac to try and reduce this side effect on his partner, Azzy left the place and returned to the clan village, where its skies were filled with nonstop fireworks while the people were busy spending their time with their loved ones.

    The streets were also too crowded, specifically at the food stalls and shopping centers. Theatres were set up where plays were going on. At some other place, an orchestra is being played. And in another place, a marching show of the clan''s police force is going on.

    The scene doesn''t look as modern as it was in the outside world, but for Azzy, it smelled like home. After entering the clan village and watching everything from the skies, Azzy put away his worries from the outside world and went straight to his home.

 Chapter 638: On the eve of New Year

    "Chuckie, taste this dango. Here..."

    "Chuckie, buy me that carp bread"

    "Chuckie, I want to play that game"

    "Chuckie, carry me. I''m tired from walking"

    "Chuckie, take me for a spin in the sky" "Yay"

    "Chuckie, look at that... look at that... wow, those fireworks are amazing..."

    5-year-old Little Affy (Affea Crescent Garcia) spent the whole evening with her dear Chuckie (Azzy), knowing very well that it would be a while before she gest to meet her brother again. Azzy had to oblige her request and gave his time to her, leaving his parents to celebrate with other relatives.

    By midnight past 2 when all celebrations ended, they returned home. Little Affy was tired and asleep. After placing her on her bed and asking the servants to look after her, he left her room and made his way to one of the gardens of the palace, where he saw his father lying down on the grass and staring at the moon in silence.

    Azzy walked to him and sat beside him, "Dad, what are you doing here alone?" He couldn''t help but ask.

    In response, Vesyrn lets out a sigh while fixing his gaze to the sky, "Nothing, son. I was just thinking about that incident."

    "You mean that assassination attempt from Velez?" Azzy raised his eyebrow in displeasure. Remembering that man''s face made him momentarily destroyed his mood.

    "Sigh"

    Vesyrn sighed once again as he nodded, "Yeah. That day, Velez accidentally revealed that he was ordered to kill Elder Pierre. I didn''t reveal it to the clan because they don''t even know that the clan has a hidden guardian. It has been weighing on my mind quite a lot, among other things. If not for the fact that I used an activated skill card given by Great-grandfather Qridus, I would have been dead.

    The announcement echoed three times in a row, instantly alerting every civilian, Arcana master, official, and the leader of the sub-clans whether they were sleeping or having a party with their friends.

    It goes without saying that the sub-clans were forced to set up meetings with their respective elders to discuss who needed to be sent. After all, Vesyrn also baited them by throwing more funds into the rewards and a clan treasure as the ultimate prize.

    By dawn, the news passed to every villager.

    Several hours later;

    Red pavilion, Death Clan village;

    It was the time of New Year again and the arena filled with thousands of clan members as usual for the awakening ceremony, followed by challenge rounds.

    Standing 6 feet 2 inches tall, 18-year-old Azzy casually entered the arena with the elven assistant, and the entire place suddenly erupted with loud cheers; it was so high that other pavilion masters and sub-clan leaders were forced to close their ears for a moment while Vesyrn and Izora looked all happy, meaningfully staring at the pair.

    Meanwhile, the representatives from all the hidden clans were busy observing the stadium, checking how many experts were in their vicinity.

    As the Elven princess in servitude stayed behind him in silence, Azzy addressed the crowd as the host while taking out a list, "Welcome to another year of Awakening Ceremony. This year, we have five children who will go through their first awakening and eight Arcana masters who will attempt their second awakening. After the ceremony, the clan tournament will be started right away.

    Hence, the selected participants are required to stay in the waiting area, until then.

    Before we proceed with the ceremony, I would like to remind everyone that the clan will be under strict lockdown during this event in order to prevent thefts and trivial crimes. Hence, if you leave in the middle of the event, you either have to stay inside your homes or on the premises of Pavilions.

    All other places, including the stores, agricultural fields, and clan institutions are closed down today.

    There is a banquet area arranged nearby for everyone. You can have lunch and dinner there. Without further ado, let''s give a round of applause as the upcoming generation checks their potential."

    Amid claps from the audience, kids below 12 years old enter the arena and get separated into two groups, standing with their competitors.

 Chapter 639: Malgrim Garcia

    "Bairstow Silver ¨C 77 stars lit up ¨C Potential: high-7-star realm ¨C Arcana spirit: Platinum Bull (Gold grade)"

    "Hogg Smoke ¨C 56 stars lit up ¨C Potential: mid-5-star realm ¨C Arcana spirit: Aqua Platypus (Silver grade)"

    "Violet Blood ¨C 89 stars lit up ¨C Potential: peak-8-star realm ¨C Arcana spirit: Blood manipulation"

    "Andrea Crescent ¨C 68 stars lit up ¨C Potential: peak-6-star realm ¨C Arcana spirit: Lightning sword"

    "Now for the last child, Malgrim Garcia," announced Azzy, raising his voice slightly higher, cheering for the boy from his family in his own way. They were distant relatives but still had the same surname. Adding on top of that, Azzy and Vesyrn have already sensed Death energy inside the boy.

    As a result, Vesyrn was looking forward to seeing the results and Azzy also paid his attention to the stone tablet placed in the center of the Arena.

    The boy calmly greeted the clan leader and other elders before placing his palms on the stone slab, a treasure of the death clan used for more than a hundred thousand years.

    The runes on the stone slab lit up one after another. Within no time, they crossed 90 and raced towards 100. Unfortunately, the number stopped right at 98 while a staff with a white orb on the top manifested in the hands of the boy.

    "98 stars?" The sub-clan leaders all seemed to be surprised by the results displayed before them, for they never expected the son of a farmer to have such potential. It even grabbed the eyeballs of the representatives from hidden clans.

    Even Azzy himself was surprised by the boy''s potential and the grade of his Arcana spirit.

    After all, in the present generation, a platinum-grade Arcana spirit manifestation has become so rare that one could count their numbers with fingers.

    It goes without saying that it brought strong reactions from the spectators.

    "Congratulations, Your Majesty. Garcia family gains another gem." The Crescent Clan''s leader and Vesyrn''s uncle-in-law were the first to congratulate him.

    Followed by it, a few congratulatory wishes came from around. But, the Blood Clan''s leader, Francis Blood, had a different reaction from the rest. He let out a sigh, "It is indeed a pity for this boy to be born in the generation of Azrael and Little Affea."

    As the others turned their heads to look at this 9000-year-old man, the latter shook his head and continued, "Had he been born in a different era, he could have been groomed as the clan leader."

    "Hmm, yeah, that''s right"

    "Young Miss Affea''s inborn skill is just enough to put down everyone below the 4-star realm with ease"

    Five minutes later;

    "Okay, since no challenger appeared, we will give the opportunity to the participants of the awakening ceremony." Azzy turned his head to look at the children silently standing in a line, "Each of you will be given an opportunity to have a spar with a Pavilion Master for five minutes.

    Interested ones may come forth and use this opportunity to prove their skills to the clan and earn a direct entry to the Pavilion."

    Azzy''s attention was on the twelve-year-olds as they would be the likely challengers and just as he expected, the girl from the Night clan came forward. But, what she didn''t expect is the one she wishes to spar against.

    With a raise of his hand, a twelve-year-old stepped forward and spoke loud and clear, "I wish to spar against Pavilion Master Garcia."

    "Eh? Me?" Azzy was slightly taken aback. It has been three years since he became the Pavilion Master. However, he has yet to receive a single challenge request from any true expert, much less teenagers who have yet to enter the 4-star realm, which is also known as the privileged realm. More importantly, one doesn''t need to spar against him to get an entry to his Pavilion though.

    Nevertheless, he was happy about the fact that someone was willing to spar against him.

    Azzy nodded with a smile, "Please come forward."

    The girl with a usual blank face, a trait common to Night clan members, walked forward to the center of the field as the stone slab was taken away.

    After taking her position, she brought out her dual swords; Azzy, on the other hand, placed his hands in his pocket and stood straight.

    "You are not going to take out your weapons?" The girl asked him, pouring her soul energy into the swords and turning them into shadow blades.

    "Nope. My weapons are meant for battles, not for friendly spars, kid. If I had to point it out, so were yours," replied Azzy with a smile on his face. The unusual smile on him only made it appear like he was mocking her. At the very least, she took it that way and readily charged forward.

    On the midway, she disappeared from everyone''s sight, but Azzy could see the shadow on the ground moving toward him.

    Upon reaching him, she jumped out of her shadow and slashed at his back.

    However, Azzy timely sidestepped to the left and made her miss it, before giving a light kick to her abdomen without looking at her.

    She flew away a few meters and crashed to the ground.

    As she got up and raised the swords once again, Azzy turned around and said, "You are a member of the clan of Assassins, kid. Straight attacks like that don''t work against people who are mindful of their surroundings. Combine your earlier technique with Night clan''s cloning technique would be a good idea."

    The girl furrowed her brows and tightened her grip on the handles, showing a frustrated expression on the outside while her inner voice was squealing in her head, "Wow, Lord Azrael is so knowledgable and caring."

 Chapter 640: Azzys new disciple

    Following Azzy''s advice, the girl from the Night clan started running around him at her maximum speed. After a while, the spectators saw another image of her running on the opposite side of her before both of them charged toward Azzy at the same time.

    Followed by the charge, both of them disappeared midway, impressing the crowd in the process. However, Azzy glanced to his left and shook his head with a sigh, "too foolish."

    He moved back a couple of steps and the girl was seen flying to the side with her sword stretching forward. The clone on the opposite side passed through her and disappeared.

    She missed the mark and rolled on the ground for a couple of seconds and pointed the shadow sword at Azzy with an intense glare in her eyes, taking heavy breaths. "How is it?" She asked.

    Azzy replied in a disapproving tone, "I guess you haven''t been taught properly. You know how to create a clone but don''t know how to use it wisely."

    "Eh?" The twelve-year-old was taken aback by his comment. She didn''t expect to be scolded as she thought he would praise her skill. "What did I do wrong?" She couldn''t help but ask.

    Azzy answered, "Clones don''t have shadows. What''s the use of expending so much energy, trying to trick your opponent?"

    "Huh?" At once, she realized why she was lectured. Just as she was about to offer her apology, something clicked in her head and she argued, "But, you are the one who advised me to combine both techniques."

    "I didn''t know that you haven''t learned the physical cloning technique," replied Azzy with a shrug of his shoulders. "I heard from Elder Avia that it was one of the primary techniques taught by your clan."

    "Well..." The green-eyed girl looked down at the ground in disappointment, "that technique is only reserved for main branch members or the ones who were taught by Elders or Elite assassins. I grew up in an orphanage."

    Azzy''s expression softened as he looked at her. He had his grandfather to pamper him since he was a baby, but still knew what it was like growing up without parents.

    Feeling pity for her situation, He changed his tone a little and praised, "Well, in that case, I guess you trained well. Now that your Arcana spirits have evolved to gold grade, I don''t think your clan elders will ignore your potential."

    The girl broke out into a smile for a second before controlling her emotions and going back to her emotionless state as she asked, "What if I want to train under you, instead? Will you take me as your disciple and teach me?" The clan leaders and elders, who heard her words clearly from the stands, fell silent in surprise.

    However, Azzy spotted a rare smirk on her face as she replied, "I''m not done."

    The long blade of the broadsword suddenly wobbled and split into two, each part going around Azzy with the intention of capturing him. In the meantime, Emma was falling down toward Azzy with the rest of her soul energy gathered in her palm.

    Azzy immediately sensed that she was going with an energy eruption technique, not some kind of palm blast.

    With no time to dwell on the other possibilities, Azzy pushed his left hand onto the ground and slightly raised his right foot before spinning around himself at his maximum speed.

    At once, a mini tornado formed with Azzy as the eye, pushing away everything in the vicinity.

    The experts got up on their feet in shock. Looking at the scene, Vesyrn asked the old man sitting beside him, "Elder Blood, were you able to see that?"

    The leader of the Blood clan, with his eyes widened to the max as if they were going to fall out, gulped his saliva as he replied, "More than te... ten... ten thousand rotations in two seconds? Only... only a supreme being who reached the pinnacle of his physique has such strength."

    "What?" The other clan leaders, representatives, and others who heard his words, abruptly turned their heads to stare at their young master in shock. "A supreme being?"

    Meanwhile, Emma, who was about to strike him with everything she had, was blasted away dozens of meters away while spitting a mouthful of blood. Before that, her Arcana spirit was destroyed into a million pieces and disappeared while she was flying away.

    *Thud*

    She crashed onto the ground and lay there without any motion. Upon waiting for a couple of seconds, Azzy rushed to her and looked at her in pity, "You are talented but some things aren''t fated to be." He, who was busy with his work all the time, didn''t have even time to spend with his family. How could he even teach someone?

    Azzy was merely happy that his rotational wind vortex technique didn''t kill her and picked her up, casting a sidelong glance at the servants who stood there in a daze, "What are you looking at? Come and transfer her to... Hmm?"

    All of a sudden, he sensed something was touching the upper part of his abdomen two times and he looked down. There was a fist on his chest and Emma spoke in almost like a whisper after letting out a smile, although continuing to close her eyes, "The time limit isn''t over yet. I won."

    "This little lad made quite a fool out of you, pfft... I could see you would make a fine master-disciple pair in the future, hahaha... sorry, the future is so funny... hahaha," The Reaper''s laughter was echoing all over his head, making Azzy let out a sigh and shake his head.

 Chapter 641: The Intra-clan tournament of Death clan (part-1)

    After a while, in one of the private chambers of the Arena;

    "Your Majesty, you cannot just take away our girl. She is still a minor and the decision of her future still lies with the clan. We don''t accept it. Please revoke the results," The Night clan leader was quick to act, in the break time. He was against the girl to become Azzy''s disciple, for her potential has now increased enough to become a pillar of the clan.

    "I understand what you are trying to say, but it is a fact that you allowed the spar in front of thousands of eyes, and my son has already accepted her as his disciple. If I don''t honor the results, then, it would be considered as an abuse of power," replied Vesyrn; his tone was firm as if he was implying that he won''t interfere at any cost.

    Then, the Grand Elder of the Night clan opinioned as she took a sip, "Young master isn''t participating in the tournament. So, that only leaves us to put forth a formal challenge."

    "Fine, if you think you could defeat him, I will arrange that challenge whenever you want," Vesyrn folded his hands to the chest, leaning to the back. His words showed confidence in his son''s strength.

    Grand Elder, Sasha Night, placed the cup on the table with a smile, "can we put anyone to represent our clan?"

    "As long as they belonged to the Night clan," replied the clan head, Vesyrn. Of course, since this is the problem of the Night clan, only their descendants should have the right to fight for their rights. Seeking outside help is the same as stating that they are weak.

    "Don''t worry, Your Majesty. It is going to be the member of our clan," Sasha Night got up right away as if the deal was made. "The challenge will happen three days from now. Please do inform Young Master about it." The leader of the Night clan followed her to exit the room together.

    Once they left his sight, Vesyrn let out a deep sigh, "The best candidate for this match was Avia, who has been in her closed-door cultivation for the past few months. Based on her confidence, she probably made a miraculous breakthrough. Even then, there is no way she would be able to defeat Azzy."

    Meanwhile, in the corridor, as Night Clan''s grand elder was walking in steady steps, the clan leader caught up to her and asked, "Aunt, it is too risky to offend Azrael over such an issue. Moreover, people think we are too petty and overbearing. Let''s abandon this challenge."

    Sasha Night halted her footsteps and turned around to look at him, developing a smirk on her face, "Do you really think I would want to offend the Garcia family just for that girl? For hundreds of generations, we stayed loyal to the throne and we will do the same for the next hundreds of generations too."

    "Then why?"

    "She was merely a reason for us to prove our domination within the clan. You should also prepare to hand over the throne to the rightful heir, very soon."

    As she left, the interim clan leader momentarily stared at his aunt and muttered, "Did Avia accept the position, finally? I wonder..."

    .

    Group 15: Arwen Crescent, Kian Smoke, Eira Ash, and Mira Silver

    Group 16: Riven Blood, Lyra Night, and Ivy Ash."

    Maintaining an emotionless facial expression as he was expected to behave as a pavilion master, he took a glance to the left and right, watching everyone''s reaction to the allotment, and continued, "All groups will be participating in a battle royale format as you were all informed earlier, in the announcement. The winners will proceed to the top 16.

    Also, as the host of the competition, I must remind you all that this is a competition that is conducted in order to pick skilled candidates to represent our clan. The better you show your value to the clan, the better support you will get from the palace. So, everyone expects you all to give your best.

    However, that doesn''t mean you will be spared from punishment if you try to break the rules by any means.

    Those who think they can break the rules as they have the support of the elders of their clan, drop those thoughts right away. Because the dignity of the clan is at stake here and not even your clan leaders can give you such pardon. With that said, there are no unwritten rules in the competition.

    Just go through the rules once again, written on the announcement board there." He pointed his finger to the board on the wall, with a paper pinned to it.

    Once he was done reminding the things to the kids, Azzy turned around to walk through the exit to get back to the field and address the audience.

    Meanwhile, in the room, Azzy''s reminder/warning brought various reactions from the children. Some thought that he was too overbearing, some defended it as he had the strength to do so and took his words seriously, and some thought he was just bluffing to scare them as they believed that the clans now had greater status than before.

    After all, among the villagers, Vesyrn was often touted as one of the weakest clan heads in history as there hasn''t been a legendary realm expert sitting on that throne for thousands of years. While some focused more on their opponents, some decided to form alliances.

    On the other hand, Riven Blood hugged his body which was shivering in fear, "F**k. He is so scary. Could Nigel really save me if I do this? I can''t even contact him right now. This seal prevents me from contacting anyone through a message card. Fu... Take a breath and calm down.

    Earlier, Young Master said that we cannot only ignore the official rules. Let''s see..."

    His scarlet eyes glowed as he took a glance at the board. With a simple glance, he read everything in a jiffy and muttered under his breath, "Found the way. But, I need to be careful if I have to do this. Luckily for me, my group is the last. So, I guess I have enough time for the breakthrough."

 Chapter 642: The Intra-clan tournament of Death clan (part-2)

    "The winner of Group-1 is Damon Silver"

    "The winner of Group 2 is Esme Ash"

    .

    .

    .

    "The winner of Group 15 is Kian Smoke"

    "Now, last but not least, welcome the participants from Group 16."

    Amidst the applauses of the audience, two eleven-year-olds entered the field, making big strides as if they were competing with each other to reach the central platform before one another.

    As the two Arcana masters in the 3-star realm climbed onto the stage, Azzy took a glance in the direction of the entrance and spoke out loud, "Participant Riven Blood, you have 60 seconds to enter the Arena."

    "Umm, Sir... Riven won''t participate," said the girl from Ash girl, in a bit of a timid manner. As Azzy turned his head to look at her with a frown on his face, she averted his gaze and looked down at the floor and explained, "Earlier, he made a sudden breakthrough to the 5-star realm and requested Elder Cain''s presence (Orange Pavilion Master).

    Elder Cain took him away to register him in the higher division."

    "Without my permission?" Azzy couldn''t help but feel slightly displeased by the actions of another Pavilion master. After all, he is the current host and atleast expected elders to send him a message even after taking the action.

    Whatever the case, Azzy didn''t have the time to focus on other things and placed his attention on the current scenario. After confirming the matter with Cain Blood, he addressed the crowd, "Due to unforeseen circumstances, Participant Riven Blood withdrew from the competition. Hence, the winner of this group will be decided by the battle between these two individuals."

    Once again, Azzy slowly rose in the air before signaling the match to start.

    Ivy Ash and Lyra Night charged at each other with their respective weapons out.

    After what seemed like an intense battle of three minutes, Ivy Ash was declared the winner and proceeded to round 16.

    In the following hour, round 16, round 8, and the semifinals were successfully completed, leaving Kian Smoke and Damon Silver to battle for the first prize.

    Postponing their finals to a later time, Azzy went on to announce the start of intermediate division battles after a 30-minute break.

    As usual, the registered candidates arrived at the waiting room one after another. Riven once again quietly sat in a corner not to acquire any attention from the others, but this time, his gaze was fixed on the door with anxiousness, constantly muttering, "Come on, come on, come on... come before I lose my mind to this drug effects..."

    Fortunately, his prayers were answered as the short boy in a casual t-shirt and shorts entered the room, attracting everyone''s attention in an instant he stepped inside.

    "Woah, would you look at that?"

    Riven couldn''t help but grin under the hood after hearing Redgar''s order to take out Alastor right at the start of the match.

    One after another, the battles are finished, with the winners returning to the waiting room to rest and the losers leaving the arena.

    After a long three hours of wait, Riven finally entered the arena, alongside the remaining five. His heartbeat rate was going crazily, sweatdrops could be seen on his face, and his veins were bulging out from his muscles all over his body. He was trying his best to calm himself as he reached onto the stage.

    Azzy observed them, with his gaze a bit longer on Riven compared to others, but he didn''t stare at him for too long and went on informing them to take their positions as the battle would start in 30 seconds.

    With the countdown of 30 seconds over, a burst of energy was shot from Azzy''s palm toward the sky, signaling the start of the match. As if Redgar and Gredor were prepared beforehand, both of them shot an energy blast toward Alastor, who stood on the side, close to the edge.

    Filled with atleast mid-rank-5, both energy blasts reached Alastor in a jiffy and struck him head-on, but got deflected into different directions without inflicting any damage, taking them by surprise.

    "Wow"

    As a collective gasp escaped from a portion of the audience, a smirk escaped Alastor as he placed his hands in his shorts'' pockets, "Good try, weaklings. Now, it is my turn." His eyes glowed in scarlet.

    "Soul skill: Blood Daggers"

    In an instant, dozens of daggers made of blood appeared above Alastor''s head before splitting their directions as they shot toward their targets.

    "Hmpf, big talk"

    Gredor stepped forward and conjured an energy shield, trying to block the blood daggers.

    The blood daggers struck it one after another, leaving behind blood each time they failed to pierce. Soon, the entire shield was smeared with a large amount of blood, which blocked his vision.

    "Dismiss"

    When he tried dismissing the shield he conjured, it didn''t.

    Meanwhile, on the other side, Aya took out her twin daggers and destroyed the incoming blood daggers at a blurring speed. It only took her three seconds to destroy them but just as with Gredor, every time the blood daggers were destroyed, they turned into a pool of blood and fell upon the opponents.

    Riven escaped it due to his knowledge of the skill and Redgar also did it with the help of a clone due to heightened senses, but Aya Smoke had the blood fall onto her like a bucket of water.

    But, every blood dropped onto her disappeared right away.

    Alastor nodded in satisfaction as he glanced to the right and snapped his finger, "Blood drain."

    "Argh...":

    A piercing scream startled the entire stadium.

 Chapter 643: The Intra-clan tournament of Death clan (part-3)

    Through her eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, steams of blood rushed out as if it wanted to be free from the human''s body. Meanwhile, the fifty-seven-year-old Rank-5 with over forty years of battle experience was helplessly levitating in mid-air, turning paler every second as Alastor collected her blood in the form of an orb in his hands.

    As her blood levels reached an alarming rate at which she could die, Azzy was about to take action but fortunately, the blood drain stopped and she was then blasted away as if her body was being controlled by invisible hands, crashing to the ground outside the battle arena.

    After taking care of one, Alastor then glanced to his left and raised his arm. "Scram," Amidst the gazes of shock, Gredor''s conjured energy shield also slowly rose in the air and shot back at Gredor.

    As the Crescent clan''s heir conjured the energy shield right in front of him, he couldn''t evade it completely and got slammed onto his side.

    "Hoho, never expected your successor would master the Blood Drain, Clan leader Francis," commented the Ash clan''s Matriarch, Demure Ash, who is all dolled up in a traditional witch''s attire, the robes with a hat. Placing a leg on top of the other knee, she then let out a seductive smile, "Too bad that he won''t be able to succeed you."

    "What do you mean by that, Demure?" The eight-thousand-year-old clan leader of the mutated human race furrowed his brows in displeasure.

    It was then Demure looked back into his eyes and replied, "I heard that Remia made a breakthrough and we all know what that means, don''t we, Elder?"

    Her voice wasn''t loud but it was enough to spark discussions among the nearby spectators like the Pavilion master, higher judicial and civil officials, clan leaders, etc...

    "Remia made a breakthrough?"

    "Then, our clan finally had a second supreme realm expert?"

    "Is she going to return?"

    "I heard that she loves adventuring in the outside world and hasn''t been to the clan for atleast a thousand years. I don''t it would be a matter"

    "But still, this is a matter of importance. The equations will change. There could be political turmoil in the clan"

    "As if. With Young Master Azrael here, nothing would change. Did you forget how he singlehandedly destroyed the Elf clan''s successor even though the latter is a supreme realm expert"

    "Please, Elder Monroe. It''s just nothing more than an exaggerated rumor. That man purposely went easy on Young Master for the sake of his sister. Princess Isolde requested her brother to support her love. That''s all."

    "Eh? Then, it is true that Young Master and Princess Isolde are a couple? How could that be possible? She is way older than him."

    "C''mon, Brother. What does age have anything to do with love or marriage? Look at His Majesty (Vesyrn) himself. Isn''t he quite younger than Lady Crescent?"

    "Hmm, now that I think about it, it does make sense. But, I wonder what Young Master''s children are going to look like. A mixture of a human and an elf... I have never seen a half-elf before"

    In an instant, his soul realm raised to peak-5-star as Redgar''s dagger slipped away from his hand, and flew toward Alastor while spinning rapidly. The black dagger turned scarlet as he caught it and pointed it toward the master assassin, "shall we start round 2, Elder Night?"

    Redgar Night stared at him for a couple of seconds and let out a sigh, "Well, it looks like I''m right, after all. You truly don''t have battle experience at all, or else, you wouldn''t have dared to touch the dagger of a Night Clan''s assassin."

    "What? Are you offended or something?" Alastor brandished the dagger like a whip.

    "Not at all," Redgar Night raised the other dagger in his hand and spoke, "Just want to remind you that almost all Night clan members that reached the 6-star realm have a soul skill in common."

    "Soul skill: Sacrifice."

    The dagger in Redgar''s hand as well as the stolen one in Alastor''s hand glowed in darkness at the same time.

    Before Alastor could react, the scarlet dagger in his hand transformed into dark energy and disappeared into his skin, just like how the dagger in Redgar''s hand disappeared into the assassin''s body.

    Following that scene, Alastor let out a continuous piercing scream as Redgar transformed into a faceless dark being, "Thank you for the meal, kid."

    The screaming stopped and Alastor collapsed onto the floor with cracks on his skin.

    "You..." His entire body started shivering as he slowly got up onto his feet once again, albeit his head was hung down and his gaze was on the floor.

    Riven tried to take advantage of the situation and rushed toward him once again while conjuring Blood Spear.

    Just as he attacked his abdomen with the blood spear, Alastor caught it with his bare hand.

    As he raised his head to look at Riven, the latter saw his opponent''s eyes were completely glowing in scarlet with no visible pupils, "I will kill you, you bas*ard." He roared in anger before pulling Riven toward him using the spear and grabbing his throat.

    Riven was helplessly flapping his legs in the air as his body was raised high with the throat.

    "Tch, The Blood possession," Francis clicked his tongue in annoyance. "It can''t be helped. Cain, bring the kid. He is not allowed to participate in the tournament anymore." He passed an order to the pavilion master.

    As the seven-star realm expert rose to his feet, Demure Ash once again commented, "I don''t think it will be necessary. He had made his move."

    "Hmm?" Francis furrowed his brows as he saw Azzy slowly descending toward the platform but shortly stopped just above it, facing Alastor, and spoke in a stern tone, "Participant Alastor Blood, you have violated the rule of using Arcana possession. You are hence disqualified from the competition. Free him and step down from the platform."

    However, there was no response from Alastor. If anything, his grip over Riven''s throat only became tighter. "Ack..."

    Azzy couldn''t help but frown, "..."

 Chapter 644: Make your choice, Riven Blood

    "Ack... Help... I..." Riven Blood flailed his legs like a fish out of water, his face growing paler by the second, devoid of any sign of recovery.

    Seeing his warnings ignored, Azzy sprang into action. He swiftly moved behind Alastor and delivered a precise chop to his neck before the teenager could react.

    Thud

    As the heir of the Blood clan collapsed unconscious, Riven fell alongside him.

    "Hmm?" Azzy frowned at the sight. He grabbed Alastor by the collar and tossed him aside. To his astonishment, Riven was flung away as well, Alastor''s hand still clasped around his neck as if glued together.

    Sensing Alastor''s life force dwindling dangerously, Azzy dashed forward, catching them before they hit the ground. He tried prying Alastor''s hand off but realized that it would hurt Riven too.

    Crouching down, he placed his hands on both of them, assessing their conditions.

    "This is unexpected," Azzy muttered, a trace of surprise flickering across his otherwise stoic face. "The presence of these purple spots in his soul energy can only mean one thing."

    Cain Blood, who had stepped into the arena to retrieve his young master, intervened. "No need for concern, Your Highness. It''s a side effect of Blood Drain through prolonged physical contact. We can handle this."

    Azzy looked up at the old man in his white shirt and baggy pants. "I''m afraid not, Elder Cain. You may take Alastor. This boy stays here. I have questions for him." His tone was calm but carried an edge of displeasure.

    Cain frowned at Azzy for a moment before glancing meaningfully at Riven. "I apologize, Your Highness. Only members of the Blood clan can unbind this. Even we elders require time to remove it. However, we can sustain Riven''s life force while we work on it..."

    Dim

    The Decarune seal materialized on Azzy''s palm, and he pressed it against Alastor, sealing his soul realm. Alastor''s hand dropped from Riven''s neck.

    "You were saying something?" Azzy inquired.

    Cain was speechless. "..."

    "Anyway, take him away."

    "Ah... yes..." Cain used threads of scarlet energy to lift Alastor and carry him from the arena.

    Azzy healed Riven''s internal injuries with an advanced healing card.

    "The winner of the round is Redgar Night," Azzy announced, then personally carried Riven away using soul energy threads, mirroring Cain''s technique.

    As the tournament referee was temporarily replaced, Azzy took Riven to a secluded spot in the clan village and set him down. He sat before the teenager, carefully observing his condition.

    "Hmm? Alastor''s Blood Drain seems to have suppressed the purple patches. What to do now? A Decarune seal will worsen it by reducing his system''s resistance. My death energy could kill this virus, but it would destroy his soul realm. Plus, without evidence, the Blood clan might blame me," Azzy thought, then asked silently, "Chronos, any suggestions?"

    "Simple, absorb," echoed the Reaper''s voice.

    "First, you made a breakthrough in the middle of the tournament. Then, Elder Cain, who is from your clan, misused his authority to move into the intermediate division. You were somehow added to the same group as Alastor Blood by sheer coincidence.

    When people attempted to form groups, you didn''t approach Alastor, and neither had you helped him when it appeared like everyone wanted to defeat him. While that is not suspicious at all as he is capable of fighting them by himself, it is strange that you revealed his weaknesses to the one from the Night clan. Were you hoping the assassin to kill him? I wonder.

    Well, after Redgar Night did inflict heavy damage to Alastor, you didn''t try to fight your remaining opponent to win but instead rushed toward Alastor while trying to conjure a soul skill. Why?

    All those things made it clear that someone in the clan doesn''t want Alastor to succeed and they used you. Am I right?"

    Riven stood there like a statue; his face was so pale that one might wonder whether he saw a horrifying ghost and stopped breathing.

    *Snap*

    "Answer me now, Riven."

    As Azzy''s voice turned even colder, Riven returned to reality and nodded like a chick, "Yes, but young miss don''t want to murder him. She just wants me to eliminate him in the first round."

    "Young miss? Who?" Azzy pressed him further to reveal the name.

    However, Riven shook his head and pleaded, "No, please don''t ask that. I cannot say it or else my whole family will be obliterated on the grounds of treason."

    Azzy silently stared at him for a few seconds and sighed, asking him softly, "Fine, I won''t pry into the internal matters of your clan, but I need to know who gave you that drug. Is it your young miss?"

    Riven stayed silent and hung his head on, with his gaze on his feet. It was clear that he didn''t want to say it.

    "Fine. I''ll tell you about the drug you have taken. Take your decision after listening to it."

    Riven raised his head to look curiously at Azzy as the latter explained, "When someone takes Placebo Drug, their cells will go under a forceful mutation program, aiding one''s cultivation and even potential. Those who get stuck at either the advanced or the peak stage of a certain realm will achieve a breakthrough for sure.

    But, the problem is that nine out of ten times, the mutated cells will not be eliminated by the body''s defensive mechanisms. Hence, they coexist with the remaining normal cells, corrupting them in the meantime and mutating them into their own kind in the process.

    When that happens, the cellular energy released by your cells and gets stored in the soul orb, or should I say soul energy, mixes with the mutated purple energy inside.

    As the mutated cells grow, the purple energy grows along. When all of your cells mutate, you will go mad, without being able to distinguish foes and allies, ceasing to exist as a human.

    I have already sensed the purple spots inside you, which I have eliminated for now. But, the situation will revert in 24 hours. And if left unattended, one will lose themselves in 7 days of time. Then, there is no option but to kill them.

    Now, you have two choices.

    One, I will interrogate the entire Blood clan to find out who is involved in acquiring this drug. Of course, I''ll have to tell everyone the truth about your involvement.

    Two, you give me the name and save me the time. I won''t implicate your entire clan but focus on the mastermind without giving your name. I will save you from death and also secure your family''s future.

    You have three days. Ponder on it deeply and make the choice wisely."

 Chapter 645: The Intra-clan tournament of Death clan (part-4)

    The tournament continued.

    Azzy returns to the Arena but lets the current referee finish his job, as he doesn''t want to be seen as a bully.

    He took his seat beside his dad, alongside the other clan leaders.

    It goes without saying he was questioned right away, although by his dad, in place of the Blood clan leader.

    Azzy casually told his dad that he sensed foreign particles inside Riven when he checked his condition and merely took him away to eliminate it. He added that Riven Blood was completely fine now.

    While he was explaining the reason to his dad, Azzy made sure to keep an eye on Francis Blood until the end so that he could see if he could suspect the old man.

    Had Francis Blood been completely calm, Azzy would have suspected him.

    But, Francis Blood was actively involved in the discussion, asking him what the foreign particle looked like and further wondering if someone tried to control the kid and hurt his successor. In Azzy''s eyes, his reaction appeared perfectly normal and neither did the Reaper sense any deceptive behavior.

    After all, Riven''s behavior toward Alastor was quite questionable, especially when Alastor was down. The audience couldn''t sense it because it is vague but Francis Blood sensed a trace of killing intent when Riven made his move.

    Azzy didn''t correct Francis and neither did he discuss too much about Riven''s condition; instead, he spent time asking his dad''s opinion about the kids who participated in the beginner division.

    By 7 p.m., all matches except for the finals were completed from the Intermediate division. Surprisingly, the Night clan claimed this division, even though it appeared like they were shameless in bullying juniors with little experience.

    Sia Night and Sebastian Night, both of them who are veteran assassins aged more than 200 years and 600 years respectively, will compete the next day to become the division''s champion.

    Since there was no concept of night in the death clan village, the advanced division battles continued after giving three hours for dinner.

    People were tired and many wanted to go home but in the end, everyone returned to their seats, not just out of loyalty to the clan but also because of a one-in-a-million chance of being able to watch high-level battles through their own eyes.

    Azzy returned as the referee, despite concerns from the other pavilion masters as this one won''t be as easy as before. A referee''s job is not just to observe the contestants up close but also to protect the audience from stray attacks.

    As for energy barriers, the stronger the barrier, the thicker it is and those things always give trouble to the spectator''s vision from the outside and the Death clan isn''t as prepared as WAMO to use other types of barriers and provide special goggles to the audiences.

    Hence, the referee has to take care of everything.

    Azzy exuded confidence in dealing with those things and others let him do as he wished; some thought he would learn a lesson and some thought that he might have tricks up his sleeve to back up his confidence.

    As the waiting time for the tournament was finally over, Azzy entered the waiting hall to see the participants and announce their matchups.

    A total of 15 clansmen registered for the tournament and everyone was seen in the hall.

    They all rose from their seats to greet their young master. Azzy found some familiar faces and many unfamiliar faces in the group.

    "Now, for the last match of this round-16. Welcome participants Izora Crescent and Aiden Smoke." Azzy raised his voice slightly higher, compared to when he introduced the previous match participants. It was not on purpose but happened involuntarily.

    Izora and Aiden entered the arena, walking side by side, until they reached the stage set in the middle of the field.

    As they stopped and faced each other with a couple of meters distance between them, Aiden let out a smirk, "You shouldn''t have participated in the tournament, Izora. You are no longer the same warrior you were once."

    Izora responded by letting out a snort, "Hmpf, we''ll see, Aiden."

    After exchanging words, both of them jumped back to increase the distance between them and Azzy slowly flew higher, before finally shooting a sphere of energy into the sky that exploded a few seconds later, signaling the start of the match.

    Izora and Aiden summoned their Arcana spirits, the former summoned the lightning dragon and the latter summoned a cauldron (?). Azzy never witnessed a cauldron Arcana spirit. He couldn''t help but stare at the cauldron filled with green color liquid as soon as its master poured his soul energy into it.

    Izora jumped and mounted on top of the lightning dragon, which used to be Azure color in the past but it looks black currently. Azzy knew the reason very well.

    "Soul skill: Lightning Beam"

    Izora gave the order.

    Seeing that the dragon was gathering energy at its mouth, Aiden Smoke poured even more soul energy into the cauldron.

    "Soul skill: Shield"

    Green-colored liquid escaped from the cauldron and gathered before Aiden, transforming into a giant round shield.

    The black lightning beam was completed and shot from the dragon''s mouth. It cut through the air at the speed of light and struck the shield.

    The green shield vibrated for a while as the beam attempted to break it and Aiden continuously provided it the soul energy. This lasted for five seconds but in the end, the beam disappeared and the shield survived.

    Shortly, as Aiden also stopped supplying it with his soul energy, it disappeared. "I told you, didn''t I? You weren''t the same as before, Izora," Aiden commented, pouring his entire remaining soul energy into the cauldron. Now, it''s my turn. Let me finish it in one move.

    "Soul skill: Stamina Drain"

    Visible aura of dark green rapidly erupted from Izora and got sucked into the cauldron.

    Izora didn''t even know what happened and she first experienced dizziness, then, the loss of strength in her body, followed by her dragon voluntarily returning to her mindscape, and eventually, she fell to the ground and became unconscious.

    At once, the entire stadium went silent.

    "Mom..."

    Azzy couldn''t help but descend in a hurry to check on her condition.

 Chapter 646: The finalists

    "The winner is..." Azzy bit his lip in frustration, his head hung down and his gaze was on his unconscious mom who was slowly shifted to a stretcher, "Aiden Smoke."

    Seeing his actions, Francis Blood commented, "Vesyrn, I must say that I acknowledge your son as the referee now. His mother was lying there unconscious and he made sure not to show an ugly expression on his face."

    The others also wanted to say something but they didn''t dare to do it after witnessing Vesyrn clench his fist tightly, with a silent gaze fixed on the woman carried away by the helpers.

    The tournament continued as usual. Azzy continued to do his job and Vesyrn tried his best to sit on his throne. At the moment, Vesyrn is not Izora''s husband but the Monarch of the clan. He cannot show weakness.

    For the semifinals, a 15-minute break was announced.

    Once he did it, he calmly left everyone''s sight and then proceeded to rush to the infirmary on the second floor of the Arena.

    There, the healer informed him that Izora had already left the infirmary with her daughter and the foreigners (Isolde Searvale and Elias).

    Azzy swiftly scanned the clan village with Aura sensing and found out that all of them were in the palace. He went to the palace, without wasting any time.

    He didn''t meet the other three who were elsewhere in the palace and went straight to his parents'' bedroom, where he sensed his mother''s presence.

    *Knock* knock*

    He knocked twice but there wasn''t any response.

    Azzy knocked once again and spoke out loud, "Mom, it is me."

    The sounds of the footsteps were heard this time and soon, the door was opened. "Come in." Izora then turned around to walk to the bed and sat down. Her hair was messy and depression was clearly evident on her face.

    Azzy dragged the chair and sat nearby, grabbing her hands in worry, "Are you alright?"

    Izora let out a sigh, not even looking into her son''s eyes, "I would be lying if I said I''m alright. No, I''m not fine at all. I was too confident about my winning and lost terribly. Your father might have also been humiliated in front of other clan leaders." She continued to face the window and added, "Aiden was right. I shouldn''t have participated in the tournament."

    The winner and the runners-up of various divisions in the tournament were automatically selected as the representatives from our side. Four weeks later, those who have reached the top 8 shall battle for two of the remaining three spots per division.

    As for the last spot, the opportunity will be given to the warriors who haven''t registered for this tournament due to various reasons. The selection process for them will be revealed later on.

    With that said, let''s welcome the finalists and give them a round of applause as congratulations in advance on their selection.

    "From the beginner division, the finalists are: Kian Smoke and Damon Silver"

    Two teenagers who weren''t even 15 years old entered together, walking at a steady pace amidst the cheers from the audience.

    As they reached Azzy and stood in front of him, he continued, "From the intermediate division, the finalists are: Sia Night and Sebastian Night."

    The veteran assassins of the Night also followed suit. The audience''s reaction was slightly mild, compared to when they cheered for the kids. One could guess why it was that way. First of all, the Night clan is feared by the villagers. Secondly, they are too brooding and neither of them pays attention to their surroundings, killing the mood of the audience.

    But, it is going to be changed very soon.

    "Now, from the advanced division, the finalists are: Sasha Blood and Avia Night"

    The cheers were louder than ever as two beauties entered the arena, in their battle wear. In all of her battles, Avia always wore her one-piece body suit, which quite highlights her breathtaking figure, although the main intention is to give her fluid movements.

    On the other hand, Sasha Blood was wearing a scarlet leather jacket over her tee and short jeans. Her new red and gold streaks of hair also looked stunning on her. It wasn''t a natural look but a hair dye she applied for the sake of the final match. But then again, who cares about it? She looks beautiful and that is enough for the public.

    Their legendary realm cultivation is also attributed to the sudden rise of their fan base.

    While Avia''s gaze was cold as usual, Sasha maintained a warm smile on her face as she waved to the audience, on the way. The screams only intensified even more, especially among the female audience.

    Upon reaching the stage, Sasha walked past Azzy, giving him a brief glance. As Azzy''s met hers, her gaze became sharp, and killing intense rose within her for just a fraction of a second but quickly subsided.

    Azzy didn''t miss it too. However, he didn''t pay too much attention to her and continued to address the audience, "Now, as a part of a special event decided by His Majesty, we''ll be inviting some special kids who went through awakening before last year, last year, and this year. They will be given the chance to spar against these representatives of the clan to broaden their horizons."

    "Eh? Spar?" "Huh?" "C''mon, we want to see the finals" "Why?" "Interesting" "What is the Palace trying to do now?" "It is just a waste of time. What surprise could these kids who don''t even have much training show us?" "I pity those kids who went through awakening just a while ago. Atleast, they should have been excluded"

 Chapter 647: Wagers between the clan leaders

    Various thoughts occurred in the minds of the audience, but no one complained outwardly as Azzy mentioned that this decision was taken by the Clan Head.

    As for the participants, they were informed beforehand. So, they stayed calm and composed.

    But, the surprise is yet to come.

    Azzy continued to speak, "During the selection process, when we met the kids early in the morning and asked them to pick their choices, some of them were quite interested in getting teachings directly from their clan leaders and pavilion masters.

    Hence, I request, all pavilion masters and sub-clan leaders to participate in this special event to have a friendly spar against each other, giving the future generation a memorable lesson to remember as well as reassuring our villagers that the clan is still as strong as ever. Who knows some spectators could even draw inspiration from these spars to choose their path."

    "Vesyrn, what is your brat doing now?" Francis couldn''t hold his speech, commenting on Azzy''s cheeky request. He straight away took it with the Clan Head.

    This wasn''t something they were prepared for. Azzy took them by surprise, including his own dad.

    Vesyrn awkwardly smiled as he replied, "I guess he wants to put up a show for the scouts. Moreover, it isn''t a big deal. Just spar a couple of minutes against each other using flashy techniques," His words attracted the attention of other clan leaders and pavilion masters who were nearby. "Are you serious?"

    As they collectively turned their heads to look at him, some of them had questioning gazes as if they wanted to ask whether he would let his son do whatever he wanted, Vesyrn added in the end, "I''ll reprimand him later on. But the words are already out and it has now become the question of the Palace''s prestige. So, please..."

    The Night clan''s grand elder was about to protest but the interim Patriarch grabbed his arm and gestured not to say anything.

    The Crescent Clan''s leader and Vesyrn''s uncle-in-law, Kylan/Kyle Crescent, acted as the others were murmuring among themselves, "Alright. If it means dragging out experts from the other clans, I will gladly show these scouts why our clan is often touted as the strongest hidden clan for the past hundred thousand years."

    Perhaps, everyone is waiting for someone to act first.

    Once Kyle poured for others to slip down together with him on the floor, Francis added the flames to it, burning their egos with his comment, "Well, the future clan head has spoken and we shall abide by it. Moreover, it doesn''t also concern the scouts. I also needed to show my fellow delusional clan leaders that Blood Clan is still the strongest sub-clan in the village."

    "Blood clan? Dream on, Lord Francis. Unlike you people who majorly stay lazy, our Silver clan''s Central Order is the one that''s been actively defending the clan. Without us, the crime rate would have been incredibly high." Silver clan''s Patriarch, Ares Silver, was triggered by Francis'' comment.

    "Eh?" Vesyrn was taken aback by his words and so was everyone else. "But, I was only the acting family head."

    "So, what? In the absence of Qridus, you are representing him," argued Francis. After a brief pause, he pointed at the Night clan''s leader, "Roger Night was also an interim clan leader. He is still participating in the wager, right?"

    Roger Night''s facial expression turned even uglier when he heard that. He wanted to say that he didn''t do it but his great aunt forced him to do so. But, since he has already fallen into the abyss, he dragged Vesyrn with him too, "Your Majesty, don''t think too much. It is just a spar. I don''t know about others but I acknowledged the power you displayed against Prince Velez years ago.

    Moreover, you just heard what Young Master has said, right? He wants to reassure the villagers that they are safe and secure under our protection."

    At first, those words made sense but at the same time, some clan leaders also felt like something was amiss.

    "Power struggle?" That''s the only thing that came to the minds of these power-hungry leaders as they thought a bit.

    If Vesyrn would humiliate himself here, there is no question that villagers would have reservations about his position. He won''t be dethroned but that also gives them a bit of advantage when discussing policies in the future. Moreover, when Qridus returns, he will surely punish his dear great-grandson for losing their ancestral treasure.

    But, what if Vesyrn proves himself?

    Well, in the future, they might have to act more courteously toward him. It shouldn''t be a big deal.

    Compared to the gains, the losses appeared minimal.

    As if they were all made of the same brain cell, everyone surprisingly had the same thought and each one echoed with one another.

    "Yes, I agree with Clan Leader Night" "Me too" "Your Majesty, please state your decision. Young master was looking at us, to come down." "Your Majesty..."

    "Alright, I too join you all," Vesyrn was convinced in the end, bringing out a skill card instead of a treasure, surprising them all, "My great-grandfather had given me two life-saving treasures a while ago. I had to use the offensive one, in a certain situation. This one is defensive. It contained the power of a demigod that could render anything below the demigod level power useless.

    I put this as the wager, hand it to the one who could land a strike on me."

    "Oh"

 Chapter 648: Clan leader Sparring matches: Silver vs Smoke

    As the finalists became spectators and stood at a corner of the field instead of resting in the waiting room, Azzy invited the leaders of the Silver clan and Smoke clan to the stage, reminding them of two things.

    One: Apart from the tournament rules, soul skills are also not allowed in the friendly spar

    Two: The time limit is 100 seconds.

    The reason why soul skills are not allowed in the match is because they only show one''s power, which is not his aim. Techniques derived from their soul energy are what display their experience and mastery.

    The entire stadium erupted in cheers as Ares Silver and Harvard Smoke gracefully flew from the VIP box and landed on the battle platform. Silver Clan and Smoke Clan, together make up almost half of the population in the village. Obviously, a significant portion of the audience would also be from these two clans.

    "Shine Bright, Silver Clan" "Shine Bright, Silver Clan"

    "Smoke Clan, Burn with Glory" "Smoke Clan, Burn with Glory"

    As if they were prepared beforehand, the cheering was quite organized. Azzy never heard of these slogans in the past. So, yeah, it was quite surprising for him.

    However, he could understand that they can''t cheer with their names. The social hierarchy in the clan prohibits them from speaking their names directly, although that hierarchy only exists for those who lived past 100 years.

    Amidst this entire chaotic atmosphere, Ares and Harvard got ready with their Arcana spirits out.

    Ares was like a Knight from ancient times, he had a lance in his right hand, his body was covered by shiny armor, and a brown horse below him. His Arcana spirit is considered one of the most unique as from the horse to even the knight''s helmet, everything is just one spirit.

    On the other hand, Harvard possessed the same Arcana spirit as the guy who defeated Azzy''s mom. It is a cauldron, although in pure white color.

    As soon as the energy blast from Azzy''s palm exploded in the sky, Ares charged forward.

    Not many could capture his speed. Before they blinked their eyes, everyone saw Ares'' lance strike a white-colored barrier that formed a dome shape around his opponent, as white gaseous substance flowed out of the cauldron and constantly fed to the barrier.

    *Cough* Cough*

    Coughing out a mouthful of blood, Harvard let out a chuckle, "Do you know that I became the leader of my clan, a century before you?"

    "So?"

    "Since ancient times, the Smoke clan has followed a simple tradition. The clan heir who manages to defeat the leader of other clans is the final step to becoming the leader of our clan." *cough* cough*

    "What are you getting at?" Ares Silver furrowed his brows. He couldn''t help but wonder, whether his opponent is trying to waste time to recover some soul energy. Hence, he kept his senses active.

    Harvard continued, "Five hundred years ago, I challenged every other clan leader and defeated every time. After being defeated by five clan leaders about 26 times, in the end, I managed to win against Lord Liam Silver, your great-grandfather. Fighting you reminded me of my battles with him, especially the last battle which exactly went the same way as now.

    I tricked him into participating in the battle without the use of our soul skills. Although he didn''t have the horse you have, Lord Liam used everything in his lance and used his feet to cover our distance in an instant and destroyed the barrier, as well as injuring me in the same spot.

    But, it wasn''t enough for him. He wants me to say that I''m lost and came near me just like you, pointing his lance at my neck. In the end, he fell into my trap and lost."

    "Trap?" Ares'' frown deepened. His senses couldn''t spot any sealing techniques around and neither did he sense the other party''s energy reserves even filled 5%. So, what kind of trap this fellow was talking about? He didn''t understand.

    It was then Harvard took out a 1-star skill card from his pocket, which had the symbol of. "That''s a 1-star skill card, Clan Leader Harvard," Ares felt even more mocked when he saw that. "Do you think I would be harmed by a 1-star skill card, just because I have insufficient soul power to create a barrier?"

    Harvard chuckled once again as he poured a minute amount of soul energy into the card. Meanwhile, Ares motioned the lance to push away Harvard from the platform.

    All of a sudden, his head went dizzy; the lance fell from his hand, followed by his fall from the horse and crash onto the floor. His Arcana spirit vanished soon, leaving the leader of the Silver clan motionless.

    This time, the entire audience went silent, not understanding what happened all of a sudden.

    "Ugh... my knees..." Harvard slowly got up, staring pitifully at the unconscious opponent, "Well, this is how your ancestor was also defeated."

    "The cauldron vanished and he fell down?" mumbled Azzy as he stared down from the sky. "Chronos, can you clear my confusion?"

 Chapter 649: Clan leader matches (part-2)

    "There was already a spell put on cauldron before it materialized into the living world. When the time comes, it destroys itself and turn into invisible toxic gas that enters the target''s body through skin. Now, usually, it doesn''t work as the soul energy inside the target will resist it.

    But, when the target doesn''t have much energy reserves or have their soul orb sealed, they were bound to become unconscious. The most potent of this technique is that not even a demigod can sense it, unless they possess special eyes. Of course, it is useless against you."

    Upon listening to the Reaper''s explanation, Azzy couldn''t help but furrow his brows in displeasure, "isn''t it cheating?" He commented.

    The Reaper chuckles, "he didn''t break any of your tournament rules. If anything, he should be lauded for showing such method."

    "But..."

    "Moreover, your intention isn''t to show your clansmen that their clan leaders are strong and upright but to show your guests that your clan is still strong, isn''t it? Now, if you try to point out their fault, it will be akin to humiliating your own clan."

    *Sigh* "Yeah, I guess..."

    Azzy also doesn''t want to implicate the clan leaders further as he has already did so by dragging them into battling each other. Hence, without commenting on their battle, the young clan heir declared Harvard Smoke as the winner of the match and gestured for the helpers to carry an unconscious Ares Silver away.

    After they were gone, he announced the next battle.

    "That was some *Ahem* unexpected outcome, but anyway, I hope some of you have learnt something valuable from this battle.

    Anyway, let''s move on to the next battle."

    Azzy turned toward the VIP section of the stadium and spoke, "Clan Leader Kylan Crescent and Clan leader Demure Ash, please make it to the Arena."

    As Kylan/Kyle Crescent and Demure took a glance at each other, the latter let out a flirtatious gaze, "Ho, didn''t expect my opponent would be you, Kyle. I wonder if young master knew that you were once my student and wishes for his granduncle to defeat his master."

    Kyle Crescent coughed in response, "Mind your manners, Clan Leader Demure. You merely mentored me for a few years on our former Clan leader''s order. For your information, you never fought me when we were on same soul realm."

    "We''ll see about that," Demure opened her fan, looking like she was amused by his reply, "You remembered your wager, right? I hope you are prepared to handover Thunder Pagoda to Ash Clan."

    Kyle''s facial expression hardened and slowly flew into the air. He didn''t give any reply and left the VIP Box. Demure maintained her amusing smile, following the suit.

    As they landed on the battle platform, Azzy flew high and signalled the start of the battle.

    Every time the sparks of lightning energy struck the magnetic sand wall, the sparks were being repelled while the soul energy striking the magnetic sand and a portion of the sand absorbing the energy and transforming into soul energy that resembles Demure''s. But, within a micro second, more magnetic sand appears to fill the void.

    Every time this happens, Demure''s soul energy reserves are reduced. But then, the fan in her hand constantly absorbing the transformed energy and feeding it to Demure. As all of this is happening simultaneously, this is how she appears like her situation hasn''t changed a bit while Kyle was being drained of his soul energy as well as his stamina.

    Of course, it didn''t go unnoticed to someone like Kyle, who was engaged in a close combat with Demure. Yet, he kept his momentum, continued to make failed attempts as if he was determined to break his opponent''s arrogance.

    And so, 80 seconds passed away, with most of the spectators not being to understand what''s going on. All they could see sparks of lightning here and there inside the dark cloud.

    In the end, just around 20 seconds away from the time limit, the dark clouds dissipated and Demure was seen standing in the same position with a smile on her face while Kyle was seen on one of his knees, panting heavily and supporting his body with the saber stuck in the reinforced concrete floor.

    As the magnetic sand returned to the black orb, which started floating around her, Demure let out a chuckle, "You haven''t changed a bit, Kyle. You pointlessly trying to keep break out of my Magneto''s defenses, which are considered one of the best in the realm of Arcana. There''s no way you could break it, especially when you are of lightning attribute.

    Now, you are almost out of your energy reserves and also your stamina. Hmm... I guess about 7-8 seconds away from the battle. So, I''ll end this now."

    "Go..."

    The magnetic sand once again rushed out of the orb, but suddenly, it was frozen in mid-air, taking everyone by surprise.

    For the first time, Demure''s annoying smile disappeared from her face and replaced with a frown. Kyle, on the other hand, developed a smile, "Crucification of the Crescent Moon, complete."

    Using the remaining energy, he charged forward; lightning burst out of his body and the saber as he leaped at her.

    Demure stayed there like a statue with her eyes widened.

    *Ugh*

    The saber''s blade pierced her abdomen and came out of it.

    "H... How?" She forced out the words in shock.

    Kyle, who reached her, forced out words, "I have precisely struck you 1028 times. You should know this technique better than anyone, Clan Leader Demure."

    "Crucification..." She forced out the words as blood tricked down her lips.

 Chapter 650: Clan leader matches (part-3)

    "Time''s up. Move away, Clan Leader Kylan," Azzy''s voice filled their ears and Kyle retracted the saber and stepped away.

    Demure spat out a mouthful of black blood and spoke as she tried her best to stay on her toes, "It looks like I have really underestimated you."

    Kyle dismissed the saber and rose into the air, looking down at her with his hands back, putting up airs of a senior, "I may not be the most talented that Crescent clan has produced, but I''m still the leader of Crescent Clan. The minimum qualification to become the leader of our clan is to master all 8 Crescent clan techniques that passed down by our ancestor.

    You have probably forgotten it because of your arrogance."

    Kyle didn''t give another glance to his opponent and flew back to the VIP Box where everyone offered him congratulations.

    Meanwhile, Azzy placed his palm on Demure''s back and expelled the remnants of lightning energy from her system, releasing her from the paralysis state.

    "Thank you." She slowly got up and took out a deep breath, gazing at the VIP Box.

    A memory came to her head, where a young stubborn boy refusing to train as he doesn''t want to compete against more talented cousins of himself in clan techniques and become humiliated.

    She eventually smiled as she mumbled, "well, I guess it is my loss."

    "Let me heal you." As Azzy took out a healing card to heal her wound, Demure waved her hand with a smile once again, "No need to trouble yourself, Young Master." Specks of light escaped the fan and entered the wounded part of her body. Azzy saw that her body healed almost instantly and somehow, he felt it too familiar.

    She then nodded to him and flew toward the VIP Box too, making the young clan heir wonder whether there was any fragment of the life jewel was imbued inside that artifact.

    As Demure reached the stands and threw a unbounded storage card at Kyle, who caught in reflex, and she proceeded on calmly taking her seat, Francis got up, "I guess it is my turn now. Judging by that kid''s personality, Roger, you will spar me."

    "Eh?" Roger was taken aback and so was Vesyrn. The latter couldn''t help but frown, "What do you mean, Clan leader Francis?"

    He was also in the list of participation. So, Francis'' comment made him displeased, feeling that this old vampire is looking down on him.

    It was then Azzy announced the names of Francis Blood and Roger Night, surprising him.

    Francis let out a chuckle, "see, I was right. You should be ready to fight your peers, Vesyrn, not old age people like us who lived for a long time and hold an undisputed advantage of experience."

    Unless you promise that you won''t involve in the matters of the clan, sooner of later, I will visit your clan compound to challenge you a death match. So, you might as well agree to it, right away."

    "Matriarch..." The Grand Elder was all smiles earlier, glancing at Vesyrn to see his reaction after trapping him into giving the word of letting Azzy battling their Night Clan''s representative. But, Yashna''s words surprised her so much that she failed to control her tone and raised it. "You can''t be serious..."

    Yashna gave a sharp glare to her descendant, "Shut up."

    As the Grand Elder closed her mouth, Matriarch Yashna Night turned her attention back to Francis, "So, what is it that you have decided?"

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    Francis Blood stared at her in silence for a few seconds before giving a nod, "very well, since you crave for death, I''ll fulfill your wish."

    Francis and Yashna leaped to the back to create significant distance between them as the remaining two Night clan elites left the battle platform. Azzy stood there on the side, with his hands folded to the chest, in silence.

    Meanwhile, the entire stadium filled with murmurs, discussing what the tournament has turned into.

    Francis saw his actions and said, "Kid, this is a death match. No need for a referee here. You can rest for the time being."

    Azzy coldly replied, "You cannot just decide on having a death match on a whim, Clan leader Francis. Even if you did, this isn''t the right place to do it."

    Francis furrowed his brows, upon witnessing Azzy''s behavior. In the entire clan, not many would talk to him in such a way.

    Before he responds, Yashna spoke out loud, "Young Master, this is a matter between two sub-clan leaders. Not even the clan heir has any right to interfere. It is better if you don''t involve in this and leave."

    Azzy turned his head to look at the old woman. He felt the urge to teach her a lesson right away by resorting to violence. But, before he voice it out, Vesyrn got up from his seat and slowly flew in the air as he spoke to her, "I should have the right to interfere, right?"

    Instantly, everyone''s attention was grabbed by Vesyrn. He looked at the both of them and ordered, "Both of you will not have death match, neither today nor in the future. The death of one of you will turn your clans become mortal enemies with each other and reduce our clan''s strength. It is not worth."

    "You don''t understand it, Your Majesty. I''ll open your eyes a little bit," Yashna replied, her 9-star-realm aura released from her body but she controlled it in a way that the aura release traveled in a cylindrical beam, targeting Francis. However, the experts could sense it from far away.

    When hit by the invisible cylindrical beam of a nine star aura, Francis Blood staggered a little bit and he was forced to reveal his true strength of a Nine-star to stand still as before, letting out a comment, "I must say that your control over your aura has improved a lot compared to 250 years ago, Yashna."

 Chapter 651: Clan leader matches (part-4)

    "Clan Leader Francis is a 9-star?" "How? When did this happen?" "How long has he been hiding his strength?" "I heard Blood clan is conducting suspicious experiments lately. Is it related to it?" "Nah, just take a look at that layer of aura around him. It is perfectly stable. He should have achieved it years ago" "Maybe, that is why Lord Qridus left the clan in His Majesty''s care?

    Cuz, he knew that he had someone to rely upon?"

    "Brother, forget about him for a moment. Even Night clan''s Matriarch has made the breakthrough. We now had two nine-star realm experts. In a century or two, His Majesty and His Highness will also reach that stage. Then, we will become a formidable force in the world"

    "But, they are talking about death match here. Doesn''t that mean one of them will die?" "I believe in His Majesty. He can stop them." "How could he? They are 9-star rank Arcana Masters, you know.

    Only Lord Qridus had the power to stop them and now, he is away." "Ugh...why do I get a feeling that soon, our clan will experience civil war between two factions?" "What will happen to Young Master and His Majesty, then?" "As long as Lord Qridus, no one dares to touch them. But, they might control His Majesty''s actions from now onwards."

    Various discussions were happening all over the stadium, with everyone from commoners to elites were discussing of the consequences. None had interest in the tournament finals anymore. They were more focused on these two clan leaders.

    As if both of them wants to create more havoc in their hearts, Yashna Night then said to Vesyrn, "Your Majesty, as you can see Clan Leader Francis is a nine-star Arcana Master and so am I. If both of us are active in the village affairs, I''m afraid the village will experience chaos.

    Unfortunately, Lord Qridus has become a demigod and cannot interfere in the affairs of mortals anymore, unless our survival is at stake. If Clan Leader Francis takes the oath that he will retire and only spends his time in his home, I will drop my challenge."

    It doesn''t take an intelligent to understand what she meant. Even a commoner understood it.

    Vesyrn isn''t powerful enough to control them. So, if both of them go against each other, the other clans would be divided into factions.

    Naturally, Vesyrn wouldn''t like if someone calls him weak too. But, he was holding himself to be calm, out of respect for the elderly who had the strength to act arrogant to some extent. But then, Francis'' reaction changed everything.

    "Why would I retire?" Francis scoffed at her remarks. "As long as you don''t interfere, the clan will continue to stay in peace, with everything under my control. I promised Qridus that I would make sure the clan remains stable until the kid sits on that throne, whether through influence or force.

    I used my influence so far to prevent all kinds of conflicts among the other clans but since you forced me to reveal my true strength, I will resort using force if it is necessary in the future too."

    No one knows whether he said it on purpose or was it a slip of a tongue, but a certain part of the sentence triggered Vesyrn''s ego. ''Everything under my control,'' those four words are enough to hurt Vesyrn deeply. He couldn''t help but remember how the other clan leaders are obeying Francis'' words earlier.

    To prove himself that he was an able clan head, Vesyrn flew into the Arena and landed on the battle platform.

    He then raised his voice to both of them, speaking in a deep tone, "Fine then, since you think both of you will have to take the clan in your hands because of Lord Qridus'' absence, let''s do this. I''ll let both of you give an opportunity. Force me to get out of this battle platform during the next 3 minutes and you can have a death match between yourselves.

    The resulting barrier is of peak-stage 9-star rank with incredible self healing capabilities. More than a barrier, this is like a prison where none could enter from outside nor escape from inside, unless they destroys it.

    Azzy wasn''t worried about the barrier. He had the power to destroy it. However, his father was adamant on taking this to the end. If it was someone else, he would care less about their opinion and use force to convince them, but it is his dad. He can''t help but respect his decision. The only one who could help in this situation is Qridus and he cannot be contacted.

    What other options he had? Azzy wondered.

    He had to protect his father''s integrity in the front of the clan and also make sure not to hurt his feelings too.

    Meanwhile, a giant Dracolich of light and death, Raya, made its appearance on the platform and Vesyrn landed on its back, looking down at the oldies, "What are you waiting for? Make your move."

    "Fine, since it had to come to this, I''ll do my best," Yashna Night was the first to respond this time. "Come out, Nisha." Six daggers appeared behind her at the same time, forming a circle and moving around.

    Francis followed the suit, summoning a trident in blood red. "I''ll send you off with minimum pain, Vesyrn." He grabbed the spear and threw it at Vesyrn, making everyone letting out a collective gasp out of their mouths.

    Meanwhile, far away from the Death clan village;

    Inside the Forest of Death, Arcana World;

    All the powerful rank-9 beasts were seen running away from a certain section of the forest where an intense battle was going on.

    Qridus Garcia and some other woman were working together against a young man in black suit. The fellow, who looked like he just returned from attending a wedding, had a death scythe in his hands and he was absolutely overpowering both of them.

    With every swing of the scythe, he leaves a cut on their skins, which not only heal up but also slows them down heavily.

    During the past hour, they were struck so many times that their speed reduced to that of a rank-6 Arcana Master.

    The stranger swings down the scythe one more and blast both of them away. As they crashed to the ground, he charged forward and grabbed the head of Qridus, "I''ll give you a better choice, for the last time. Surrender yourself and I''ll leave your master with life."

    "You bas..." The woman was about to curse out, but the stranger gives a glance at her and proceeds to kick her. She blasts away and crashes onto a tree, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

    "So, what''s your choice going to be?" He turned to look at the old man, waiting for the choice. "Watch the death of your master and destruction of your entire clan or surrender yourself and your one precious descendant?"

 Chapter 652: Clan leader matches (part-5)

    Battle Arena, Red pavilion, Death Clan Village;

    Every single audience in the entire stadium was speechlessly watching the battle that unfolded before their eyes.

    Not every one of them could clearly witness the fighting but they could see the results of each blow.

    What is that result that shocked even Azzy?

    Well, it is the complete dominating performance of Vesyrn, who used the hidden skill to merge with the Dracolich and grew up the undead wings and horns, his left eye turned pitch-black with no visible pupil while his right eye turned golden.

    Francis Blood and Yashna Night, the two 9-star rankers were forced to be on defensive as they had a hard time in following Vesyrn''s movements after he was going through berserk mode too. An Arcana spirit usually has 1 soul skill per rank and then later develop a hidden skill after reaching rank-7.

    But, Vesyrn had so far displayed nine soul skills so far, higher than his soul rank, and then merged two hidden skills to raise his realm to the advanced stage of Supreme realm, albeit temporarily.

    His skin turned deep red and several patches of the removal of the skin were happening all over his body; nevertheless, he continued to keep his assault against the two clan leaders.

    Had it been someone else like people that harbored ill intentions, they would have used counterattack measures to make sure Vesyrn doesn''t stay alive, but it is Francis and Yashna, who were loyal to the clan village for thousands of years.

    They couldn''t help but become impressed with Vesyrn''s ability to force them into defense and neither of them wanted to defeat him, acknowledging his prowess and focusing on playing this out. If the Clan leader is strong, then, it would only benefit the clan anyway. Moreover, the one who was assaulting them is someone who hadn''t even reached 100 years of age.

    As a result, neither of them launched any soul skills against Vesyrn but made sure they don''t get hurt too.

    In the end, three minutes were up and Azzy shouted that the time is up, declaring Vesyrn as the winner of this challenge and stopping the battle.

    Vesyrn finally halted, taking heavy breaths. As he dismissed the transformation, he looked very haggard and most of his fleshy muscles is visible under patched skin.

    "Monarch" "Monarch" "Monarch" "Monarch"

    The cheering of the monarch resounded in the stadium higher than ever and Vesyrn raised his fist above his head, with his head hung down and taking heavy breaths.

    Azzy couldn''t help but stare at his bank, thinking, "this oldie from the Night Clan. She is just like Avia, unrestrained, bold, but still think for the welfare of the clan. On the other hand, the Blood Clan''s leader sure looked mighty.

    I saw Yashna Night struggled a bit not to use her soul skills and purely relied on her speed, but this man just played along by pretending to be serious, or I should say, he clearly toyed with dad. Many times, he even purposely gotten hit. No wonder even the ancestor treats him as an equal.

    Anyway, I need to take care of the current scenario. While their battle served the purpose that the tournament was held in the first place, we still need to finish it to declare the result. Hmm... postponing is better."

    As the helpers took away Vesyrn on a stretcher, Azzy announced that the clan leader sparring sessions were concluded and after the lunch break, the finals will be started. He asks the candidates to use this time in digesting whatever they learned from the earlier battles they witnessed.

    He escorted his father to the palace, where his mother was also staying. She didn''t attend the finals with an excuse of having a social gathering with her friends, the noble ladies from different clans who weren''t interested in fighting but still wants to use this opportunity to get out of their houses.

    With her daughter on the side, she was engaged in their usual ladies'' gossiping session but the female soldier''s sudden barging into the quarters and secretly informing her about Vesyrn''s state forced her to leave the room and go to the Monarch''s chamber, where he was seen in an unconscious state with Azzy standing on the side.

    "Azzy, What happened?" She gasped at the sight of her husband lying there on the bed in an unconscious state and she couldn''t sense a droplet of soul energy inside his body.

    "Dad..." Little Affea scurried toward the bed, worried about her father.

    Azzy patted his sister and explained everything to his mom, who teared up after listening to everything, "why did he have to risk his life for such a thing..." She caressed her husband''s face, speaking in a hushed tone.

    Azzy could only let out a sigh, "You know why."

    "It''s all that old man''s fault," Izora became angry at once, the Protos energy lightly seeped out of her body and formed a layer over her skin. "He left the clan in Vesyrn''s hands when he wasn''t even ready to take over the throne. That selfish old prick wants to focus on gaining his strength without thinking about what his successor would have to go through."

    Azzy frowned at the sight of Protos energy trying to take over her body and he quickly placed his palm on her back, sending a streak of his death energy into her body, commanding, "Go back right now."

    As if the consciousness of the Protos energy inside her feared Azzy or his death energy, it quickly retracted into her soul orb, returning Izora to her senses.

    "Wha... What happened, just now?" Her face filled with confusion.

    In response, Azzy asked in a serious tone, "I thought you had Protos energy under your control since the start. Since when did you start losing control over it, Mom? Is this the reason you wanted me to suppress your soul realm?"

 Chapter 653: Tournament finals (part-1)

    Izora''s body shivered by Azzy''s sharp tone, followed by her eyes widened in realization, "That thing took over my body again?" She then saw her son''s expression and forced out a smile, sitting down at the edge of the bed, "You are thinking too much. It just happens every once a while and it will not stay permanently. It will stay like for half a minute or so and will disappear on its own.

    You don''t have to worry about it."

    "Hmm..." Azzy''s frown deepened, watching her suspiciously. He doesn''t want to believe her words but he cannot do anything about it. After all, unlike him, where the Protos energy is associated with his Arcana spirits, the Protos energy inside his mom is linked to her soul. Either she controls it or he had to suppress her soul orb with the Decarune seal.

    Those are the only ways to put away the Protos energy.

    Since his mother has already reached the legendary realm, she will have the maximum life span of 5000 years, meaning she will easily live for at least 2000 years without a problem. Moreover, Azzy and the entire clan is there to protect her anyway. Hence, he wasn''t worried about even destroying her soul orb in case of a worst case scenario.

    But, just in case, he decided on teaching decarune sealing technique to his parents so that they can manage on their own too.

    A few hours later;

    "Welcome back to the Finals of the Intra Clan tournament. Without further ado, let''s proceed to the main event, starting with the finals of beginner division.

    Kian Smoke and Damon Silver, please make it to the battle platform."

    Roughly eight minutes later;

    "Oraa..."

    Kian Smoke''s abdomen was pierced by the Spear and raised high in the air before he was swung away, crashing to the ground outside the platform.

    "The winner of the competition is Damon Silver."

    In the VIP Box, Ares Silver couldn''t help but applaud him, taking revenge for him by winning against the Smoke clan in the finals.

    "Now, for the next battle. Let''s welcome the finalists of the Intermediate division, Sia Night and Sebastian Night."

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    "The winner of the competition is Sebastian Night"

    "Last but not least, Finalists of the Advanced division, let''s cheer with a round of applause for Sasha Blood and Avia Night."

    "Kyaaaaa"

    More than that, it looked like the Reaper is also in favor of his decision, although the latter feels like his host is still very soft.

    The battle started eventually as neither of them wants to be seen as experts who depend on their Arcana spirits.

    Both of them brought out their attribute energies, Avia still created pure dark energy twin daggers and Sasha slashed her own wrist with her long and sharp nails, bringing out a significant amount of blood to create hundreds of needles made of her blood.

    As she threw all of them at Avia, the latter charged forward, slashing them with the daggers. The needles turned into droplets of blood upon getting slashed but Sasha, with her telepathic control over her blood, transformed them back into the needles almost instantly and attacked Avia.

    Seeing the effect, Avia halted her moments and let the blood needles pierce the body and enter her system to attack her organs.

    "Argh..."

    She couldn''t help but let out a piercing scream, which echoed all over the stadium. However, fortunately, the pain didn''t last for a long time.

    By the time Sasha reduced their distance with a blood saber in her hand, Avia destroyed all the foreign particles inside her body with her attribute energy and blocked the saber with one of the daggers and slash Sasha''s abdomen with the other dagger.

    Sasha''s body couldn''t block the dagger and had a wide cut just above her stomach, spilling out more blood.

    However, Sasha didn''t back down. Instead, with her telepathic connection, she transformed the spilled blood into a dagger, which shot directly toward Avia''s chest.

    Avia''s eyes captured it and she twisted her body at the last fraction of second and ducked before sweeping her feet to trip her opponent.

    Sasha Blood lost her balance and had her head hit the floor but her eyes are on the blood dagger hovering above them and she controlled it to attack Avia once again, this time, right on her head.

    Avia knew that she couldn''t dodge this time. She instinctively moved her hand to to protect her head and let the dagger pierce her left wrist and wound it.

    "Ugh..."

    Letting out a groan of pain, Avia, who was already feeling dizzy due to extensive usage of her attribute, forcefully brought out more dark energy from her legs as she stomped onto Sasha''s body.

    Just as it was about to strike the wounded abdomen of Sasha, which hasn''t healed yet, blood gushed out of the cut skin and transformed into a spike.

    "Argh..."

    A scream escaped from Avia''s mouth once again as her foot was pierced by the spike, which came out of the other side of the foot and transformed into the shape of an anchor.

    "Hehe... you are too young to defeat me, Avia," A sadistic smile appeared on Sasha as their eyes met.

 Chapter 654: Tournament finals (part-2)

    Attribute energy is something that existed inside every Arcana master. However, not everyone could bring it out. Stats say that only one in every ten thousand Arcana master can have the talent to bring it out.

    But, what''s the truth?

    Well, ninety nine percent of those Arcana Masters who could do it were all experts that reached Rank-7.

    Inadvertently, one can say that those who reached Rank-7 has 99% chance of extracting the attribute energy from their cells.

    However, this theory also applies to those who lived longer than the longest ever lived mortal (at least 200 years). The longer one lives, the more they could extract the attribute energy.

    For someone like Avia, who was only 44, it is already amazing that she possessed the talent to extract the attribute energy from her body. But, her lack of experience made it tough for her to keep extract the attribute energy and use it in battles.

    Furthermore, she had no knowledge of sealing techniques or a way to use natural energy.

    Hence, the moment Azzy sealed her soul orb, she has already lost her battle. But, she didn''t complain cuz that is how she was.

    Sasha, who complained a lot earlier and felt disgraced, shifted her anger she had on Azzy to Avia.

    For six minutes straight, Sasha kept on using all kinds of techniques with her blood, wounding Avia over and over but didn''t go to the extent of defeating her. For one''s eyes, it clearly looked like she was toying with her opponent and that smile on her looked quite sadistic.

    Azzy stared down at both of them. His gaze was calm and collected as if he wasn''t bothered at all. Meanwhile, the scene at VIP Box is quite in contrast. Francis Blood looked all displeased but Yashna Night had this strange smile on her face.

    18 minutes into the battle, which was completely one-sided from the start, Avia was seen lying on the ground with cuts and wounds all over her body while a perfectly alright-looking Sasha Blood had her foot on Avia''s stomach, pressing her to the floor.

    Sasha grabbed a wobbly Avia by her throat and pulled her closer, whispering, "thanks to you, my frustration has been reduced quite significantly. I don''t think I would find any more joy in tormenting you more. So, I will put an end to your misery. Goodbye."

    Sasha swung her away, intending to throw her out of the ring, and Avia was also about to exit the platform, but just at the last fraction of second, she managed to twist her body and managed to land on the platform, earning a deep frown from Sasha.

    "You still haven''t had it enough?" Sasha''s earlier smile of amusement turned into seriousness as Avia used last bit of attribute energy to conjure one dagger in her hand. Sasha gathered her randomly floating blood needles and a blood spear, merging them together to give spikes to the blood spear and caught it.

    Avia, taking heavy breaths, with her gravely injured body, replied in a determined tone, "You gave me enough pain, Sasha. All that pain, you should receive multifold."

    "Look at your state. You could barely stand and you want to hurt me?" Sasha gripped her blood spiky spear tightly and motioned her hand backward, preparing to throw it. "Let''s see if you still be in a condition to practice Arcana arts after this."The spear was about to be released from her hand and Avia''s brown pupils eyes turned pitch black with slightly increase in size.

    "Haa.."

    A collective gasp escaped from the audience. They looked at the clan leaders to take some action but neither Yashna nor Francis moved from their spots.

    As Sasha formed a sphere of soul energy with a slight amount of blood attribute energy inside it and shot it toward her unconscious opponent, Azzy landed on the ground in between them and blocked it with his bare palm.

    The attack left a scratch on his palm and Azzy hissed lightly but looked completely fine. He stared at Sasha with a cold gaze and spoke, "The match is over. Stand down, Participant Sasha."

    Sasha opens her mouth and bares her fangs against Azzy, gathering soul energy in her mouth and shooting a powerful beam of energy at him.

    Azzy stretched his palm once again, blocking the continuous energy beam and walking forward. Due to his sheer display of dominance, Sasha stopped her attack after a few seconds and charged forward.

    However, Azzy is no Avia. She might have reached him in blurring speed and swiped her claws at his chest too but she couldn''t strike him. Azzy evaded it at the last fraction of second with a duck, followed by giving a powerful uppercut to her chin at even higher speed.

    Her teeth were smashed onto each other, cracking in the process, as she flew high in the air. Azzy then disappeared and appeared above her and giving a punch to her abdomen, using almost 90% of his power.

    Her ribs were smashed as she crashed onto the floor, letting out a painful scream.

    However, Azzy, through his Eyes of God, saw that her cracked teeth and her ribs were recovered almost instantly by her blood aura before she slowly got up to her feet, letting out a roar of a mindless beast.

    Everyone heard a distorted tone from her roar and the aura on her body got even stronger.

    "It looks like I have to paralyze her." Azzy raised his hands, and Jupiter''s blue lightning sparks slowly conjured over his palms.

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    *Zzzzing*

    It was at this moment a beam of dark energy came out of nowhere from the sky and put a hole in Sasha''s chest, all of a sudden, stupefying everyone for a moment. Not even Azzy could sense it.

    Everyone felt like their heart beat stopped for a second. The scene was that shocking to the viewers, especially to Francis.

    Azzy, the clan leaders, and thousands of people raised their heads to see a young-looking man in a suit, "So, you guys finally noticed me." He let out a smile.

    "Careful Azrael, it is a demigod with the power of death," The Reaper''s voice echoed in Azzy''s head at the same time.

 Chapter 655: Apostle of the Death God (part-1)

    The stranger looked quite striking at one glance, making one would easily take him for a celebrity. There''s also this mysterious charm he was exuding that made a lot of spectators couldn''t help but just stare at him in admiration, despite the fact that he just killed Sasha Blood in front of everyone''s eyes.

    But, for the Exalt and above realm experts, it was an entirely different experience. They felt enormous amount of pressure just by looking directly at his figure and some of them couldn''t help but shake in fear.

    Only legendary realm experts could resist it while the Supreme realm Arcana masters were unaffected by his presence. Yashna instantly disappeared and reappeared beside Azzy, intending to protect the clan''s young heir, while Francis slowly floated above in calmness. He seemed like he was unaffected by Sasha''s sudden demise at all.

    But then again, he lived for more than 8200 years. It''s to be expected, when the girl isn''t the clan heir after all.

    Rising to his level and looking straight at the stranger, Francis surprised the clan villagers by showing politeness in his speech, "We didn''t recognize His Grace. Mind telling us your identity?" He didn''t even bring up Sasha''s death too.

    The stranger chuckled, gazing at him in amusement, "You are indeed interesting, descendant of Akasha. Your lack of empathy for your own descendant reminds me of her. She too didn''t seem like she cared when her eight out of her nine children were mercilessly hacked to the death right in front of her eyes. But in fact, just like you, she merely suppressed her killing intent too deeply.

    And when she finally got stronger than him, she hunt down the man responsible for the death of her children and didn''t stop until the man''s entire bloodline was erased."

    Francis stayed calm and didn''t respond to his comment. Instead, he said, "Your Grace hasn''t told your identity and the reason for your visit yet."

    The stranger replied, shifting his gaze to the battle arena with his smile of amusement turned into coldness, "well, I''m here to take two lives. One, the cheeky bas*ard that dared to make a fool out of our Sovereign of the Afterlife, Lord Thanatos, despite being born into the clan that serves him. Two, the killer of Velez Garcia. Just don''t come in my way and I''ll leave your clan intact as it is.

    Or else, every one in the clan will be escorting my targets into the afterlife."

    It isn''t a secret among the clan leaders of who killed Velez Garcia. But, they didn''t have an idea about this cheeky one this demigod was talking about.

    Fortunately for them, they didn''t have to think about it, as the stranger continued, "Azrael Crescent Garcia, your time of living has been ended. Do you have any last words to speak?"

    The spectators were stunned and their attention was abruptly shifted to their clan heir, who was standing straight in the arena and staring coldly at the visitor.

    Summoning his death scythe without any hesitation, Azzy replied, "I don''t know what''s your name, mister, but you have made three mistakes today. One, you have intruded into our clan village without permission. Two, you have disturbed our tournament. And three, you dared to threaten to kill my father. Hadn''t you made that third mistake, you would merely get beaten up.

    Azzy''s attempt of provoking him was successful as a frown of displeasure appeared on the visitor''s face.

    Azzy took it even further by raising the scythe and pointing the blade at him, pouring his soul energy into it, "Do you think just because you are a demigod and have the backing of Thanatos, you think you can go anywhere to bully the young? Today, you will either run away with tail between your legs or return to your master as a spirit."

    "Preposterous," A thunderous roar escaped the visitor''s mouth, making everyone shudder at once.

    "Young master..." Yashna became worried for this kid who seemed like he was ready for the death. But, she still couldn''t make the decision, on whether just to grab him and teleport away or listen to him.

    Azzy waved the scythe and no longer paid attention to her, not wasting any more time, "Vajra, attack."

    *Grrrr*

    The Black lightning wolf growled at the demigod, baring its fangs against him before charging forward at its maximum speed.

    "Hmpf...." The visitor swung him arm casually as the wolf lunged at him. The black lightning wolf blasted away at the speed, crashing onto the ground and sliding for a couple of hundred meters away. "Just a mere demigod? When I was roaming these lands as a demigod, your clan didn''t even exist."

    "A veteran demigod?" Yashna had like her heartbeat stopped for a second. Even Francis and other clan leaders realized that not even Qridus would be able to save them and they lost their silver lining of hope right away, upon hearing those words. Only the guardian god can defeat him but who can contact that person? Absolutely, no one.

    However, Azzy''s gaze was different. He didn''t lose an ounce of confidence and gave a sharp reply, "Lived for more than a hundred thousand years and yet still act like an arrogant mortal, getting offended by every little thing. Thanatos'' blessing is a waste upon you."

    Azzy expected another roar from the enemy, but instead, the visitor became calmer and went on summoning a death scythe that looked almost identical to that of Azzy''s, although a bit smaller. He glanced in his surroundings once again and then announced, "You know what. I changed my mind. I will kill every single mortal in this village in front of your eyes, and then, give you the death."

    Azzy deeply frowned this time.

    He responded to the threat by summoning two more soul cards; the black crystalline lotus came out in its flower form and became his mount, and the Jinn came out of the other soul card to float behind him like a bodyguard.

    Followed by the appearance of Numen and Ruby, Azzy also took out the Adamantine Shield with the jewel of earth embedded in its center and equipped to his free left hand.

    Looking down at the visitor who was surprised by the sight of two more powerful Arcana spirits and a cosmic jewel, Azzy said, "as I have quoted earlier, you need to have the ability to do that in the first place."

 Chapter 656: Apostle of the Death God (part-2)

    It goes without saying that Azzy''s sheer display of his Arcana spirits and also his treasure not only awed the clan leaders but also took the visitor by surprise.

    The visitor didn''t care about the black lotus, but he knew about those demonic but cheeky cosmic beings, Jinn. Adding on top of that, there is also a cosmic jewel.

    The humans might not take it too seriously because of the high risk of death just from binding their souls to the cosmic jewels while not being able to bring out their maximum powers, but he was aware of their full potential, both Jinn and the cosmic jewel.

    The visitor couldn''t even bothered to hide his greed in his eyes and gathered his soul energy in his hands and conjured a dark orb, "Never mind. I''ll kill you first before sending your clansmen with you to the afterlife."

    Azzy inwardly rejoiced at his declaration, "Chronos, you were right. He did take the bait from the cosmic jewel. But, why did you specifically tell me not to reveal the Jewel of Life?"

    *Swooosh*

    A beam of energy was shot by the visitor then, cutting through the wind like lightning and reaching its target within a fraction of second.

    Azzy pushed forth the shield, effectively blocking the attack but got pushed away along with the lotus beneath him continuously by its sheer force.

    "Hmpf, an arrogant runt. We''ll see where you can escape."

    The visitor''s eyes glowed for a second, instantly creating a powerful invisible dome shaped barrier within the arena.

    As soon as it was launched, the spectators felt that enormous pressure on them vanished as if it didn''t exist in the first place.

    But, at the same time, their worries about their young master didn''t reduce a bit. If anything, they grew more. Well, at least, for those who are worried about him more than themselves in the first place.

    Meanwhile, the Black lightning wolf acted on its own, unleashing its strongest soul skill without waiting for its master''s instruction upon witnessing Azzy being pushed back.

    "Soul skill: Descent of Black Lightning"

    As the target is only one, the soul skill didn''t take too much time to be unleashed onto the enemy.

    There was no thunder, no clouds, or anything. The black lightning bolt just descended from the sky without any warning.

    The visitor''s eyes did move when it descended but he didn''t attempt to dodge it, letting himself be struck by the black lightning bolt.

    The lightning bolt struck him directly on his head but only disappeared afterward. Not even a strand of his hair appeared damaged, greatly shocking the wolf. Its pupils constricted by the result.

    "Foolish dog, I''m the Apostle of Death. I''m immune to the death energy," The visitor conjured another orb in his free left arm and shot a concentrated sphere of energy, "Die."

    As it happened a few times successively without him being able to defend himself, the apostle of death was forced to stop attacking Azzy for a moment and focused on protecting his soul orb.

    The black lightning wolf materialized as it landed on the ground and slid a bit before turning around with clear sense of joy described in its eyes. Inside its head, it was squealing like a little boy who was proud of his actions, "Yay... I freed Master."

    The Jinn''s deep voice followed afterward, reminding it of the current scenario, "Don''t be so excited, Vajra. The battle is far from over."

    "Yeah, I know," Vajra came to its senses right away and concentrated on the enemy, who managed to seal that specks of protos light and extinguished them down to the last one within no time.

    This period of eight seconds were enough for Azzy to counter attack but he didn''t move from the spot. Instead, he simply stood against the wall of the invisible barrier and stared at the enemy, conversing with the Reaper instead. Or more like trying to argue once again.

    "See... he is vulnerable against the Protos energy. I think Vajra did great and I should focus on controlling the Protos energy instead of wasting time like this." Azzy seemed to have gained confidence on dealing with the enemy without even going all out.

    However, the Reaper was not responding as earlier. All Azzy could hear the same whispers as the reply, "Hold and wait... Hold and wait... Hold and wait..."

    "Just give me a proper explanation so that I can understand," Azzy flared up a bit. As the Reaper continued with the whisper, an irritated Azzy raised his arm and mumbled, "Fine, since you are blocking my access to the other cosmic jewels, I have no choice but to take this into my own hands."

    "Vajra, return to me."

    The black lightning wolf was charging at the demigod who had his back widely opened while the Jinn is gathering the Protos energy for the next attack, trying to increase the potent.

    However, the order in its head instantly made the wolf deviate from its path and rushed toward its master.

    The demigod, meanwhile, returned to his senses and stared at the wolf with his deepened frown. He was lost in his thoughts, "What sort of negative cosmic energy is this? I never faced such corrupted energy that could threaten the very existence of divinity. Not even the demonic energy has such power. I need to capture it and take it to Lord Thanatos.

    The Lord will also be extremely pleased if I present it with the cosmic jewel. Perhaps, I would be able to use his power a few more times." The frown on his face replaced by excitement all of a sudden.

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    It was then words escaped from Azzy''s mouth as the Jinn got out of the wolf''s body.

    "Hidden Skill: Merge."

    As the blinding flash of light dissipated, Azzy was standing in front of him with a black gem on his forehead.

    Azzy who was fused with Vajra raised the scythe above his head, the natural energy from his core rushed out and formed a layer over the blade, before the protos energy flew from the gem and formed another layer.

    The scythe was then swung down.

 Chapter 657: Apostle of the Death God (part-3)

    The death scythe has been swung down by Azzy, unleashing an arc of three layered energy with soul energy as the core, layered by natural energy, and then the Protos energy at the top.

    For the first time in his life, the stranger with demigod realm felt fear from a weaker opponent''s attack.

    This time, he didn''t dare to take it head-on. Instead, he simply evaded it with a minor teleportation, appearing behind Azzy as the arc of energy reached him.

    An orb of soul energy conjured by the demigod''s palm and struck Azzy''s back almost in the instant he disappeared, and Azzy wasn''t fast enough to react to such speed. The adamantine shield tried to protect its master by conjuring up a layer of adamantine on Azzy''s back.

    However, the latter''s attack turned out to be fast enough that it could only form a thin layer, which was destroyed by the beam of soul energy and pierce Azzy''s back.

    "Argh..."

    A painful groan escaped Azzy as he staggered forward; the beam of energy constantly destroyed his insides, almost paralyzing his movements at the same time. "F**k off..." He roared as loudly as he can, feeling hatred for this stranger. The Protos energy in his forehead reacted to his negative emotions and it gushed out like a wave of sea, striking the demigod head on and blasting him away.

    As Azzy turned around with a layer of Protos energy over him while still keeping his consciousness intact, he saw the demigod sliding away while trying his best to block it.

    Azzy took advantage of it and charged forward, only to instantly hit his face against the wall of the invisible barrier and crash to the ground.

    "Ugh... Damn it."

    "He could go in and out but I can''t get out of this prison. The barrier should be destroyed..."

    Letting go of the scythe, Azzy stretched his hand to the front and closed his eyes.

    "I need to use Jupiter''s power." With a thought in his mind, the sparks of usual bluish white lightning was seen all over his palm and they swiftly formed threads of electric current, attacking the barrier''s wall in a wide range and cracking it; the barrier slowly materialized where it was struck by the divine lightning energy.

    The demigod, whose hands were burned by the wave of Protos energy after he tried to crush it, was stunned on the spot for a moment. He stood right there with his eyes widened in surprise, watching Azzy cracking the barrier more and more with the lightning, "This is pure divinity, not a borrowed one.

    Only a fellow apostle born in the celestial realm or someone with the power of a God could destroy my barrier. How could this be possible?"

    As a huge hole made out of the barrier and Azzy flew out, the stranger voiced his assumption, "Are you the Apostle of Zeus?"

    Azzy didn''t respond and charged forward while slightly raising his hand; the Death scythe on the floor flew to his hand on its own. Grabbing the weapon, he swung it at the stunned enemy.

    The stranger raised his arm and blocked the blade of the scythe with his bare hand; he then held on it so tightly that Azzy couldn''t move it. Taking a closer look at him, the stranger firmly shook his head in denial, "There is no way Lord Zeus would accept a mortal like you who had such a demonic energy. You must have the blessings of a fallen angel that controls divine lightning.

    The only one who had such power was..." His face suddenly showed a look of revelation. "Lucifer Morningstar," A whisper escaped his mouth.

    Azzy couldn''t help but frown at the stranger''s words. First Apostle of Zeus? And now, blessings of the devil? He felt like the stranger had gone insane. But, at the same time, Jupiter''s sheer hatred for these two beings hurt his ego a lot, even thought he personally doesn''t have any opinions about them.

    "Ack..."

    Azzy''s throat was being crushed by the firm grip of the stranger''s hand while whisperings continuously fill his head.

    "Master, survival is most important."

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    "Master, only I can protect you"

    "Master, Chronos abandoned you." "Chronos took away your potential" "I''m your true ally" "Free me and win"

    The Protos energy from the gem on his forehead was constantly whispering in Azzy''s mind, taking advantage of his current situation. An exhausted and struggling Azzy felt more and more tempted by the whisperings of the Protos energy.

    Azzy slowly closed his eyes, feeling as if he passed out.

    His consciousness was then seen floating before what it seemed like a jail. A humanoid figure, looking just like him but without any body and just in the form of pure energy was seen inside the jail and is constantly leaking threads of energy, spoke to him, "I''m the personification of Protos energy, the very first existence of the universe.

    You don''t need to depend on Chronos, Vajra, or anyone like that who will eventually leave you once you become a God. You just need me who will stay with you for eternity. Master, let us become one, and we will no longer be on mercy of anyone else. Since you found me, you don''t even need the Jinn''s wish to free me. Just summon the Gluttony beast.

    We will protect your family and destroy everyone that dares to disturb our peace."

    The Protos energy whispering this time was unlike anything Azzy had experienced before. While it always responded to his negative emotions, it never used the word protect. And it had never spoken like a human.

    But then again, Azzy''s consciousness also looked too muddled to reply.

    He slowly started making a seal of gluttony using the Protos energy as the medium.

    Soon, a dark beast appeared before him with nothing but a huge mouth and infinite teeth on his body.

    "Master, you did it. All that''s left is to eat this jail up. Hurry up. We don''t have much time to counterattack. Come and free me, master." The humanoid figure of the Protos energy grabbed the cell bars and its actions looked like it was excited.

    Azzy raised his hand to order the beast.

    Just as he was about to motion his hand, suddenly, the atmosphere in the surroundings changed.

    Everything became plain white and Azzy''s consciousness became clear all of a sudden.

    His eyes widened as he saw a mirror version of himself, except that this one has strange tattoos over his cheek and also his arms.

    "Where am I?"

 Chapter 658: The founders remnant spirit

    "Where am I?" Azzy looked around in his surroundings and then at the guy, "What''s going on?" He couldn''t help but wonder aloud.

    The guy let out a smile, "Well, in short, you were beaten by your enemy and under the influence of anti-divine energy''s personification, you were about to release it and bring destruction to the timeline. So, I stopped the time and here we are."

    "Uhh..." Azzy felt like it was lot to take it in, when he suddenly remembered what he was about to do earlier without thinking about consequences, but at the same time, he couldn''t help but become curious of this one''s identity. After all, this guy isn''t the that older one he was familiar with. "Just want to ask, which future version are you?"

    In response, the person chuckled once again, "I''m neither your future nor past, kid. Well, if I think about it, I can be considered your past too. We are the same in a way, but we actually aren''t in the same way you think it is."

    "I don''t understand," Azzy only felt confused by the latter''s words.

    The person then spoke, "I guess this will clear up your confusion. My name is Azrael Orkney Garcia."

    "Orkney?" Azzy''s eyes widened in realization, "as in my ancestor, the founder?"

    The ancestor nodded.

    Azzy looked at him with his confusion still not being cleared, "I still don''t understand. Why would you... I mean how... Is it time travel?"

    The ancestor shook his head, "Not really. This is just a remnant of my soul that''s left as I have gone through reincarnation." He then followed it up with a sigh, "unfortunately, only I could hold it out for this long. The other remnants were extinguished over the time."

    Azzy simple stared at this ancestor of his as the latter walked back and forth while continuing to ramble more mysterious words that generates questions, "But then again. I get to meet all eighteen of them and even lasted until I meet the last reincarnate too. So, I guess it is fine, I guess. Oh, I''m sorry. Let me explain. Sit."

    Azzy sat as he was told. The ancestor did the same and continued to speak, "I have been watching you since you were born just like other reincarnations. So, I will limit myself and speak of the information that needs to be spoken. You can ask any doubt but if I say I can''t, then, you should just forget it, understand? In time, you will find answers to the questions."

    Azzy nodded in understanding. Discover tales on m_vl_em_p_yr

    The ancestor started his narration.

    "You have already heard the story of the creation of cosmic jewels. So, I won''t repeat it again. But, what you should know is that when cosmic jewels are being shaped into oval gems to fit into various adamantine accessories and such, fragments were scattered all across the universe.

    "So, what should I do now?" Azzy couldn''t help but ask.

    To which, the ancestor asked in return, "Speak your thoughts, my child. To think of a solution, you must understand what is your problem first."

    Azzy explained, "The cosmic jewel of earth is only used for defensive purposes. I don''t know how to use it other than detective metals in earth or creating metals through its power. If only I could use the other cosmic jewels or even an hour glass, this battle should not be as hard as now. And without Chronos'' support, I just can''t think of a proper strategy to take on the enemy.

    With the amount of soul energy I have left, I can go with one big move. I don''t have instant soul power recovery cards in my storage card either. Sage energy is the only way to win this battle, but natural energy is too limited in our clan village cuz it is a pocket dimension.

    As the Protos energy and Jupiter''s powers were of opposite nature, the toll of my body is beyond one could imagine. It was already too much for me to control the Protos energy at will without losing my mind and the little control over Jupiter''s divine powers made me mentally weaker and weaker. I don''t have time to train Jupiter''s powers either.

    Chronos has suddenly logged off and wasn''t responding to my calls. All I get a response like wait and hold. I cannot even enter my minds cape anymore to question in person. I don''t understand what he want me to do, when I was on the brink of my death and I''m the only one who was standing behind that demigod and my clan''s destruction.

    A number of my soul skills cannot be used because of the fact that Chronos never imparted the knowledge of them to me. Neither my Arcana spirits nor my soul skills have much effect on the enemy. The only thing that could hurt him is the protos energy. If ancestor has any solution, I''m willing to follow it."

    After listening to everything, the founder of the death clan simply let out a smile as he stretched his hand, patting his descendant''s shoulder, "The solution is quite simple. Just ask for the help."

    "Eh? Help?"

    "You have elders in the clan who have way more experience in battles that you have. You have a demigod friend who you trust more than even your own parents and who seemed like she is willing to do anything for you. You even have a master whose prowess rival that of Thanatos. Why not ask for their help?"

    When Azzy heard his ancestor''s suggestion, he was quite surprised at first, but then as he listened to the rest of the explanation, he couldn''t help but blankly stare at his founder as if he was asking whether the latter was serious.

    In the end, he let out a sigh and replied, "Since you have been watching me over, you should have known that my master is away and out of contact. Leah is a demigod who still hasn''t stabilized her powers, and as for those elders, sure, they have experience. But, they could die with a simple slap from my enemy.

    Do you think I would have time to discuss strategies with them while making sure they don''t die?"

    Earlier, he was being polite but his current mood was so much spoiled that he was speaking quite sternly as if he was scolding his ancestor.

    However, the ancestor didn''t seem he minded Azzy''s tone. He simply responded by resting his elbow on his thigh and his cheek on his fist, thinking for a bit, "Hmm... I see..."

 Chapter 659: Tellus, the personification of the jewel of earth

    A couple of seconds later, he got up. As Azzy followed the suit, the ancestor then spoke, "then, how about I help you out? But, you have to make a choice."

    "Make a choice?" Azzy slightly furrowed his brows but then calmed himself and asked about it. "Please explain."

    The founder of the death clan raised his two fingers and said, "One, I will impart you the knowledge of how to activate the defensive technique of the clan, which I developed it during my later years and instructed my successor that it can only be learned by the guardian of the clan. This will ensure the survival of the clan but doesn''t necessarily ensure your enemy''s defeat.

    However, this also means that you will have to bear the burden of becoming the guardian of the clan, meaning you can never involve in the affairs of the clan even if it involves your own family.

    Two, I will help you in merging with the cosmic jewel of earth and ensure your win, but that also means that you''ll have to live rest of your life with two different personalities until you attain the qualifications to ascend to immortality, or should I say the God realm. Both personalities will not only split your Arcana spirits but also your soul energy.

    You can avoid this by giving up the Sage core to the Earth Jewel so that your other personality will only use natural energy. However, you can never use the jewel of earth''s powers in your current state as before. Fortunately for you, whatever your other personality does, you get to experience as your own.

    So, what choice would you like to make? lifetime of solitude or lifetime of struggle with dual personalities?"

    Azzy thought just for a single second and answered out loud, "there is no need to ponder on it. I made my choice. I''m ready for the merger."

    The ancestor was pleased by his descendant''s choice and gave a nod, "good. I will now initiate the process. Keep seated and close your eyes."

    As Azzy sat back once again, the ancestor put his palms together and started reciting an incantation in ancient Orlon language.

    Meanwhile, in the outside world, the stranger in his grim reaper form saw that his entire surroundings were frozen in time. He could see everything but couldn''t move an inch.

    His target was in his grasp. However, he couldn''t use his strength at all to crush Azzy''s throat anymore. It was as if he became completely paralyzed.

    Scanning the surroundings, the stranger mumbled, "none of the deities have the power to freeze time, well, except for Lady Moira, the Goddess of Fate. Is her apostle here? Or is it the Znuvo, the time beast? Apart from a few people that were blessed with a little bit of divinity, I cannot sense any divine presence here.

    Perhaps, I should contact Lord Thanatos for the answers... Hmm... No, that would be unnecessary. I can''t trouble him with every little thing I encounter with. Let''s stay vigilant for now and ask for the help if I would face someone from the God rea... Hmm?"

    The stranger''s attention was shifted from his surroundings to the adolescent boy in his hands, as the adamantine shield floated up on its own.

    Tellus'' hand then raised slightly and the same whitish unknown metallic block appeared between them. As the scythe''s blade struck the unknown metal, it left behind sparks but the attack was nullified in the end.

    Unlike when the barrier is made of the adamantine, the stranger, despite raising his strength to the peak stage of the demigod after transforming into a grim reaper, couldn''t even push his enemy away.

    As the stranger surprised, Tellus then said in a distorted tone once again, "it is useless, mister Apostle. This is Aetherium, the origin of all metals. It is indestructible against those weapons made by Hephaestus and his descendants. You have one last chance, mister Apostle. I don''t like killing. Put away your pride and return to your home in peace.

    It is not as if you have any personal enmity with my master."

    The stranger raise the scythe above his head, "We have personal enmity, Tellus. Your master made a fool out of my lord. A mere mortal dares to insult the God of Death. The punishment is nothing but the death."

    Tellus calmly put hands behind the back and commented, "humans make mistakes all the time and my master is just a youngster who is still in his adolescence. Someone who lived for a significant time should be magnificent enough to show them the right path. Instead, you come here with an intention of killing and torturing his soul for eternity.

    Moreover, your greed to obtain my power hasn''t gone unnoticed either. Your intentions aren''t pure for someone who serves a deity."

    "Your power?" The stranger suddenly felt like he realized who this new guy is. He also remembered earlier this guy also addressed Azzy as master two times and the fact that he could conjure up a metal stronger than adamantine.

    Suddenly, everything made sense for him. He figured out that this is the consciousness of the Jewel of Earth which took over Azzy''s body.

    If Jewel of Earth didn''t have any consciousness, it could be used as a weapon. But, if it has consciousness and free will, by the law of cosmic order, one cannot claim it and can only recruit its avatar as a subordinate.

    But that doesn''t mean a cosmic jewel''s consciousness cannot be wiped off. Thanatos is the God of Death. He could do it. Or at least, that''s what this stranger believed, cuz he saw how Thanatos wiped out the consciousness of lots of fragments when they didn''t do a good job as the Apostles.

    With a firm belief in his strength and in his lord''s prowess, the stranger poured death energy into the scythe and swung it down, intending to eliminate everything before his eyes.

    Tellus let out a sigh and pushed forth the hand, the block of Aetherium grew bigger and took the attack head on, nullifying it completely, "Why do these mortals won''t forgo of the pride for the sake of peace.

    Why do they keep rush for the death?" Tellus'' words echoed all over the region this time, with a hint of sadness contained in those words and made everyone who heard them feel guilt for no reason.

    Meanwhile, the stranger got enraged and raised the scythe above his head once again, shouting, "the Death Miasma."

 Chapter 660: Apostle of the Death God (part-4)

    The blade of the scythe released a power toxic gas, but before it could spread around, Tellus conjured a prison of Aetherium on all sides like a sphere, imprisoning him inside in order to protect the others from that miasma of death energy, which would kill anyone who breathes it.

    Tellus then slowly controlled the spherical Aetherium prison and made it slowly float in the air.

    No one knows what was happening inside but it was completely silent for the spectators.

    Tellus nodded with a smile, mumbling, "unless you have any primordial force, you won''t be able to escape this prison, mister Apostle. For now, you can stay there and reflect on your actions. Well, I have enough action on the day I''m born. It is time for me to go back to sleep and leave the rest in master''s hands."

    Tellus'' eyes closed momentarily, followed by a blinding flash of light and the appearance of Azzy, the lightning wolf, and the scythe in his hands.

    Azzy couldn''t help but raise his head to look at the floating whitish sphere in the sky and mumble, "He won''t get out of it, right?"

    "Unfortunately, he would, Azrael."

    "Eh?"

    Azzy was expecting to communicate with Tellus but instead another kind of familiar tone responded to his mumble. It''s the Reaper who suddenly left without any warning.

    "Chronos?" Azzy shouted aloud in his head.

    The Reaper''s voice echoed in his head, "You shouldn''t have done that, Azrael. You have started something that you can no longer stop it. Even I will be helpless against what''s to come."

    "What do you mean? I won the battle," replied Azzy. He further added, with a bit of unpleasantness in his tone, "moreover, for someone who cut me off of my powers and made me almost die, you shouldn''t lecture me of the choices that I made. You should be thankful of my ancestor''s remnant spirit that saved me from releasing the Protos energy''s core spirit and instead assisted me in defeating the enemy.

    On the side note, don''t you think you should offer an explanation to me?"

    The Reaper made a counter argument by stating, "You are smart and been with me for years. I expected you to figure it by now that I cannot lend my powers when you face apostles or the deities, especially if it it concerns Thanatos."

    "What do you mean?"

    "An apostle is like the extension of the Deity. Whatever an apostle sees, the Deity sees. What would happen if Thanatos learn that I chose you as his successor? Naturally, he will do anything to prevent that and you will die.

    Shutting myself with the hourglass and two of the cosmic jewels inside your mindscape was obviously the part of the plan. You have already faced a demigod. You should know how they could sense things from the mindscape. The moment he tried to sense my presence, I had to lock my presence.

    The hourglass and the scythe represents me. Once you present both to an existence like an apostle, it will be like you are announcing that you are challenging Thanatos for his throne. Why else do you think that your ancestor died in the first place when his lower talented brethren managed to enter god realm and became immortals?

    Using the last remaining portion of all the natural energy inside his core, he gathered it in his palm.

    "Attack."

    Fenrir and the Hydra charged toward their target who was also moving toward them.

    "Die..."

    The demigod slashed down the sword of radiance, destroying Fenrir''s skeleton body in one move, which gave Hydra an opportunity to attack with all nine different elements from all sides as it stretched its heads.

    The sword of radiance released a golden barrier around the demigod, blocking its attacks before he slashed it horizontally while spinning around, releasing a ring of golden divine energy.

    The ring expanded in all sides and cut through the heads of the undead Hydra.

    Due to its core stayed intact, as the cut off heads were returning to their places, the demigod charged forward to went past it and flew toward Azzy like lightning.

    Azzy was ready and about to give the palm attack but he couldn''t react in time as the sword aimed for his head.

    Just as his head was about to be struck by the glowing divine sword, Azzy disappeared from there and replaced by Yashna Night, taking him by surprise.

    Azzy was found more than a hundred meters away, and his eyes captured Yashna''s head being pierced by the golden sword.

    *Thud*

    His facial expression frozen instantly in shock as the demigod retracted the sword and Yashna plopped to the ground, lying there motionlessly.

    Fortunately, in the next second, the corpse turned into shadowy form and disappeared.

    Yashna Night, with her real body, then reappeared right in front of Azzy with her daggers pointing out at the demigod who was probably displeased by how he was tricked by a weakling.

    Followed by her actions, the floating figures, the supposedly clan leaders and the spectators, all around the stadium transformed into several women identical to that of Yashna. For a second, Azzy was entirely confused of what''s going on.

    It was then he felt another figure landed behind him before feeling a touch on his back, followed by the flow of a strange energy into him. His heartbeat became stable and his nerves calmed down all of a sudden.

    "Hmm..."

 Chapter 661: The sword of radiance and the redemption of Vajra

    As he turned his head, he saw Francis Blood looking at him. "Don''t be so surprised, kid. We lived for so long. We naturally have a trick or two to protect ourselves and the clan."

    "But..." Azzy wanted to say to him that he isn''t a match for the enemy anyways but Yashna cut him off by stating, "We saw what you are capable of and understand why you are still hesitating to do it. Don''t bother. Everyone is safe in my Shadow Palace. So, go all out."

    "Hidden skill: Attribute Bestowal."

    Using his hidden skill, The eight thousand year old leader of the Blood Clan tapped Azzy''s back once again, which gave him temporarily control over blood attribute, "No wonder Brother Qridus put his entire hopes of the clan''s future on you. Go and fight without thinking anything. We will help you to the best of our abilities."

    Yashna Night also acted simultaneously, "Night clan''s ancestral technique: Power transfer." The shadowy forms of Yashna disappeared one after another and entered Azzy''s body at the speed of light.

    Azzy gained a boost of significant strength by Night clan''s technique. He felt as if he reached the peak stage of supreme realm and his entire soul power recovered instantly.

    With the replenishment of the soul energy, Azzy didn''t hesitate to spend it all by unleashing a series of soul skills as his enemy conjured the barrier to imprison the area before he raised the sword and preparing a technique to replicate the swords dozens of times so that his prey won''t be able to escape with any tricks.

    "Soul skill: Eyes of God"

    "Soul skill: Puppet Ghost Creation"

    "Hydra, use soul skill: Void Gaze."

    With ten wasps spread out so that he may swap with their positions at any time just like how Yashna help him out earlier, Azzy had brought out whatever Jupiter''s lightning he could invoke at the moment and proceeded to rapidly absorb every bit of natural energy he found in the clan village, turning all vegetation and streams of river into barren land.

    *Hissss*

    The Undead Hydra which returned to its peak state took the action, once Azzy finished his absorption.

    "Soul skill: Void Gaze"

    Since it is a demigod beast, Azzy''s entire reserves were emptied in an instant but he got one second of time as the demigod found himself to be trapped by void energy from all sides.

    Azzy didn''t waste that second and charge forward with a few wasps while the enemy is still in the middle of invoking the skill but couldn''t move at the moment.

    Azzy reached him in a fraction of second and struck his chest with Jupiter''s concentration beam of raw lightning while simultaneously striking the demigod''s head with a punch that released every bit of natural energy that he absorbed so far.

    "Oraa..."

    *Sigh*

    "You have left me with no other choice, huh!"

    now

    The Reaper''s whisper echoed Azzy''s head just as the energy sword was released by the angelic figure.

    Azzy still couldn''t sense his connection with either hourglass or the other two cosmic jewels. Hence, he felt like the Reaper really forsaken him and Azzy closed his eyes to embrace the death in disappointment.

    But the sword never reached him.

    It stopped right in front of his forehead while he sensed another connection right at the forehead. It was such a familiar feeling.

    When he opened his eyes, his eyes witnessed a black colored orb with lightning sparks dancing over it, blocking the energy sword from moving further while letting its black lightning sparks envelop the sword.

    "Hmm?" The angelic figure developed a frown on its face as its eyes fell on the scene, where its supposed energy sword attack turned into a black sword of lightning and turned against it. "The anti-divine energy mixed with death energy and also divine lightning energy of Zeus?" It roared as if it was in anger, "It''s you, the betrayer."

    "This..." Azzy''s eyes widened as he remembered a thing from the past. It was a memory of his second awakening that started a whole chain of events.

    The Reaper''s voice then filled in his head, "I don''t make exceptions for the sinners, but for you, I''m going to give another chance for Vajra''s soul."

    "Vajra''s soul?" While Azzy grew confused at first, he remembered a conversation from the past and revelation drawn upon him, "Vajra isn''t exactly a true Arcana spirit. It was just the beastly form of an Arcana spirit with its true soul imprisoned in the eternity jar.

    Meanwhile, the black lightning orb controlled the energy sword and attack right back the angelic figure. The latter''s sword and the energy sword clashed.

    The black orb glowed at this instant, bringing down a black lightning bolt from the sky that''s been torn apart by the sword of radiance earlier.

    The angelic figure pushed away the energy sword and flapped its wings to dodge the black lightning bolt, but in this instant, the black orb teleported right behind its enemy and released a torrent of black lightning current to blast away the angelic figure, forcing it to abandon its host and flew high in its sword form.

    The black lightning orb responded to this move by unleashing a couple of chains of lightning, capturing the sword tightly.

    "You... betrayer, free me this instant. Lord Thanatos won''t leave you until you were destroyed..." The sword started screaming in its usual distorted voice but the lightning orb paid no heed to it.

    The black lightning orb slowly made its way to its master who was stupefied by how easily the battle is completed, and spoke through telepathy, "Descendant of Aelius Crescent, consider this as a present for my redemption."

 Chapter 662: The Ascendants oath and the Reckoning of fate

    A while later, Yashna Night and Francis Blood returned to the Arena and saw their young master sitting on the ground in meditative pose; their eyes fell on the corpse lying not so far away.

    They spared a glance at each other. Yashna observed Azzy and found that his soul power was steadily increasing at a rapid pace.

    She shifted her attention to Francis and spoke, "Clan leader Francis, are you also thinking the same as me?"

    Francis nodded solemnly, "The young lad is currently the strongest Arcana Master in the clan. He must ascend the throne. We, the clan leaders, will help him in whatever way we can."

    "What about His Majesty?" Yashna asked, although, she didn''t seem to be that interested in an answer.

    But, Francis Blood still gave his opinion, "Strictly speaking, Vesyrn Garcia is still the acting clan head. He never ascended the throne. He was only there in the absence of Qridus Garcia. Hence, his opinions don''t matter in this issue."

    Meanwhile, inside the mindscape of Azzy, a female humanoid figure, with six pairs of angelic wings and wearing white robes, was tied to Azzy with a long golden rope. Each of them is having a weapon in their hands; the Arcana spirit has the golden energy sword and Azzy has an identical-looking golden sword of radiance too. Both of them were engaged in a sword fight with a wager attached.

    After a series of attacks and counterattacks from both sides, Azzy eventually managed to graze her shoulder with the sword, using his fencing technique, ending their fight and dissolving the rope.

    The energy swords in their hands disappeared and the angelic figure fell on one of her knees and bowed to him, "As part of our agreement, you bested me in battle and I will fulfill my promise of staying by your side for the next twenty solar years while showing my utmost loyalty to you. I will defy the laws of nature to protect your allies or kill your enemies.

    I, Lux Aeternum, pledge you my service."

    As her words echoed in Azzy''s mindscape, the Abode of Death was shaking as if an earthquake occurred, with a gentle-looking god of death staring down at the mortal realm in an intense manner.

    We will find a solution."

    "You are too sentimental for a brat who lived for nine millennia," The woman let out a deep sigh and then glanced at the clouds in the sky, this time, her smile looked quite pleasant, "If there is anything that I would like to do before I rest for eternally, it would probably to meet that descendant of mine who is destined to end the curse of our clan.

    Too bad that he is too young to succeed you and I don''t think I would live for long to see him ascend the throne."

    Qridus went silent for a couple of seconds and said, "Your wish will be fulfilled very soon, master. I think Little Azrael is ready to lead the clan. With the branch clan leaders standing by his side, I''m sure he will bring our clan to new heights."

    "But, didn''t you say he is only 18?" The daughter of the clan founder was taken aback by her disciple''s proclamation. "Do you want to put such a heavy burden on such a young soul? That age is for exploring one''s youth, not taking responsibilities."

    "Sigh... I know but..." Qridus reminded her about the foreshadowing of a full-scale alien invasion within five decades and he was worried about betrayal from other hidden clans once again. Thinking of the bigger picture, he felt that the commander of the hidden clans should be someone one can have hope for the future. Preparing him as the commander since young is necessary, or so, Qridus concluded.

    Devorah Garcia doesn''t agree with him but she can''t argue anymore as she is pledged to not be involved in the affairs of the clan. In the end, she can only sigh and watch the clouds.

    Back to the Death clan village, upon successfully forming a bond with Lux, he used the hourglass to restore the village''s vegetation back to the time when it was perfectly alright. Even the barrier was repaired by the Hourglass'' soul skill: Chrono Rewind.

    However, the casualty cannot be undone. Sasha Blood, who died under the hands of the demigod, couldn''t return to life. Well, not that the sword of radiance, the primordial sword is incapable of doing it, but it is because of the fact that the Reaper is against disturbing natural order. Or at least for a sinner like Sasha. Only on m v|le|mp|yr

    After extracting the blood source from his descendant, Francis Blood performed her funeral rites within the private space of the clan compound. Her powers were stored in the clan treasury with other blood sources that were too corrupted and powerful enough that they could not be given to others unless it was an emergency.

    The clansmen returned to their homes from Yashna''s shadow dimension, Azzy spent the rest of his day with his family members, fully aware of what was going to happen in the next few days now that he had displayed his abnormal strength.

 Chapter 663: Azzys announcement of departure for his next adventure

    The next day morning, Vesyrn Garcia called for the assembly and Azzy went along with him as one of the Pavilion masters.

    He stood there with the Pavilion masters on the right while the six clan leaders stood on the left.

    Since the moment he stepped inside the throne hall, Azzy could feel several gazes from the clan leaders, filled with either reverence or envy. He acted as if he didn''t see that.

    Vesyrn sat on the throne and scanned the room for a moment, before opening his mouth and speaking in his monarch''s voice, "You must have already guessed the reason why I called you all here. Azrael Garcia." He called out his son.

    Azzy stepped forward and walked until he reached the center of the hall and bowed on one of his knees with his fist on the chest, "Your Majesty."

    "Get up"

    As Azzy stood on his feet, Vesyrn spoke, "Yesterday, you protected the clan from destruction. That is indeed commendable. I haven''t seen it in person but according to Clan Leader Francis Blood and Clan Leader Yashna Night''s words, your strength has surpassed a demigod. With such strength, there is no doubt that you should lead..."

    "Wait a second, Your Majesty," Azzy hurriedly stopped Vesyrn without letting him finish those words. "I apologize for the interruption but I would like to say something very important. I believe you will change your thoughts after hearing it."

    "Hmm? What is it?" Vesyrn''s facial expression was filled with curiousness.

    Azzy took a deep breath and revealed the truth to shed light on everyone''s ignorance, "first of all, I cannot accept any praise for this act, Your Majesty. If anything, I was the one who put the clan''s future in danger."

    "What do you mean?" Vesyrn furrowed his brows. He clearly didn''t agree with Azzy''s self-blame, "I heard of the matter. That Apostle of Death wasn''t just aiming for your life. He also want to take revenge for Velez Garcia. You are probably not aware that Prince Velez actually used the fragment of the jewel of death in order to kill me. He said that it was given to him by his mentor.

    Little did he expect that this 8000-year-old Vampire would stand in the way and put forth a suggestion.

    "Your Majesty, in order to secure the future, it is best if Young Master marries and leaves behind a child. Having a child will become an unbreakable attachment for even a god."

    This was the suggestion Francis Blood put forth, in order to make sure to tie Azzy to the clan.

    Since the Blood clan doesn''t let any of its descendants marry outside, Azzy doesn''t feel like it is some sort of selfish scheme. But then again, he was going there to claim his love. How could he marry someone else and have a child with them?

    Hence, Azzy quickly tried to counter it while his dad''s expression seemed like he was also seemed to be in favor of that suggestion, "Clan Leader Francis, don''t worry about me running away from the clan. I have a mother, a father, and a younger sibling here. My attachment to them is unbreakable. Not even the time would be able to break it. So, your worries are baseless."

    He then shifted his gaze back to his dad, "Your Majesty, if I want to leave, I could do it in secret while leaving behind an avatar. You wouldn''t notice a difference. But, I don''t plan on deceiving anyone. I genuinely wish to get stronger, and at the moment, none in the clan would be able to help me achieve the heights I''m aiming for. This is something I have to do on my own."

    Seeing that his dad''s expression softened and filled with a bit of sadness, Azzy knew that he managed to convince his dad. He struck the nail further, "Moreover, you can be confident in my potential. It only took me ten years since my awakening to reach where I am. Do you think I will take centuries and millennia of time to become a demigod and achieve complete mastery over my powers?

    My return will be much earlier than you think it is."

    Vesyrn instantly replied, "If that is the case, you won''t bother explaining so much, Azrael." As Azzy went silent, Vesyrn let out a deep sigh, "Fine, I understand. You can leave."

    "Vesyrn..." Francis Blood raised his voice, calling him by the name, to which Vesyrn raised his hand and gave him a stern look, "even if I''m the acting clan head, I''m still the head of the clan. And my decision is final."

    As Francis shut off his mouth, Azzy bowed with his hand on the chest, "Thank you, Your Majesty. Once I finish my preparations, I will be leaving in a week of time."

 Chapter 664: Tower of Abel (part-1)

    Three days later;

    Said to be the Arcana world''s first city, dating back to more than two million years ago, Canaan City''s history predates even the existence of Arcana Masters and the Great Apocalypse.

    It was once known to have civilization but for unknown reasons, everything just wiped out without a trace of existence, apart from one bird that was chained to the middle of an altar.

    The immortal bird known as Ziz formed a friendship with a wanderer known as Abel Ben Adam, more than seventy thousand years ago. It was the time when the founders of all hidden clans either died or ascended to godhood, leaving the planet in the hands of their descendants.

    A monster of the legend and a man formed a pact, tying up their fate. Ziz gave it all to make Abel the strongest of his time. After becoming the strongest demigod, Abel left the monster in search of the forbidden knowledge that could release it from imprisonment.

    However, he never returned for the next ten millennium, and Ziz waited in solitude but eventually, someone else turned up.

    Claiming to be Abel''s descendant, the legendary Runic Master, Yareh, constructed the tower and bound Ziz''s soul to the tower, shifting it from the altar.

    Mystical runes were carved all over the 900ft tall tower, which not only turned out to be powerful enough to contain Ziz''s soul but also made it indestructible against any attacks below the god realm when they were activated.

    Of course, as Yareh too passed away in the course of time, the power of rune magic dwindled and can only be used once every millennium.

    With the power of rune magic protection and Ziz''s sea of knowledge, the Tower of Abel swiftly climbed up the ranks to attain its legendary status and became the ruler of Canaan.

    "I still don''t understand it," Gideon''s clone let out a deep sigh, "I guess it is because I''m merely a clone who had to act in his place so that no one here misses his disappearance. Even those memories I have in my mind don''t feel like my own. Well, it doesn''t matter anymore. Once he arrives, I will merge back with him."

    Azzy stared at him for a few seconds and replied, "Do you know why I have never treated you as Gideon?"

    "Hmm?" The clone looked at Azzy.

    "Because you aren''t his replacement, Gideon. You are your own, and I think it is time for you to think that way too and have a life of your own, not the one you are trying to fill someone else''s shoes. Treat his existing memories as a foundation and build your own house on it. Don''t merge with his soul. I will make him understand that. Don''t worry."

    Azzy left the clone and flew away. The clone couldn''t help but look at his back through his spectacles and mumble, "You are a good friend, Young Master. Unfortunately, I couldn''t tell you that my main body doesn''t feel the same way as you do. I fear the moment when you learn it. From the memories I have in my head, you are someone who... Sigh..."

    Meanwhile, at Canaan City, Abel Tower;

    On the 21st floor''s restricted room, also known as the Hall of Ziz, a man in a sleeveless vest, showing off his buffed body, which was currently enveloped by dancing sparks of scarlet lightning, was standing in front of an albatross-looking large monster with vibrant feathers, glowing golden eyes, and silver-ish sharp beak. The latter looked like it was in a bad mood.

    With its gaze on the man, it let out a powerful screech, sending him a few meters in flying. As he managed to hold off the ground, the bird then spoke, "Gideon, no matter how many times you challenge me, the result won''t change a bit. A fickle-minded person like you can never hope to receive my acknowledgment. Now, leave. Or else, I would forget the fact that you are Tower Master''s successor."

    Adjusting his spectacles, the man let out a smirk and flexed his muscles, turning the scarlet lightning sparks into purple lightning sparks, "I''m different from the last time, Ziz. Let the party get started."

    He charged at the beast.

 Chapter 665: Tower of Abel (part-2)

    A while later;

    *Swoosh*

    A ball of light flew like a flash and crashed onto the walls, falling to the ground. As the flash of light diminished, Gideon''s face was filled with bruises, especially his blackened right eye.

    "Ugh..."

    He was groaning in pain while rolling on the ground left and right, and the immortal bird scoffed at him, "If you think you can be a match of my strength with such power, you can try again after training for ten thousand years."

    It then flapped its wings, releasing a gust of wings and throwing Gideon out of its chamber.

    Gideon slid on the floor and hit the leg of someone. A familiar sweet voice heard from above, "Babe, you don''t give up, do you?"

    "Ugh..." Gideon looked above to meet his eyes with the woman''s and forced out a smile, "One day, I will definitely receive an acknowledgment from the guardian and receive its blessing."

    The woman bent a little and commented as she stretched her hand, "That won''t happen anyway. Come, let''s go home."

    Gideon took her hand but instead of getting up, he pulled her down. She fell upon him and he tightly held her, looking at her with just an inch of gap between their faces, whispering, "I''m feeling low now, Zora. How about a quickie for encouragement?"

    "Are you sure?" Zora asked in a bit of surprise. Gideon didn''t catch that and gave a kiss to her and replied, "Why not? It''s not like there is anyone who would come here at this time."

    "I''m a clone though. Haven''t you figured it out yet?" Zora responded with a mischievous smile. She touched her lips, "That was a good kiss but I''m not authorized to have s*x with you in my master''s absence. So, whatever you want to do will come under s*xual assault. You sure you want to proceed with it?"

    Gideon''s face was immediately crestfallen and his mood for romance disappeared in an instant. He got up quickly and dusted off his clothes, commenting, "Let''s just assume that we didn''t talk about this in the first place."

    "How though?" The clone gave him a look of innocence, "When I disappear, the memory of our kiss will go back to her though."

    Azzy replied, "You are at the Supreme realm already. Shouldn''t you have left the tower to keep up your promise to Estella?"

    "Wha... How do you..." Gideon was taken aback by Azzy''s reply but then he remembered something and sighed, "Yeah, I forgot about my clone at the clan village. You must have known everything from him."

    "So, what happened? Why are you still here?"

    Gideon let out a sigh once again, looking at his friend, "We broke up, bro. Two years ago."

    "Wha...? Why?" Azzy too shocked at first but then he remembered something important and he asked, "Did she break up on her own or something?" Exclusive tales from m v lem|p-yr

    "Hmm?" Gideon was once again surprised. "She did it. How do you know?"

    Azzy could only let out a sigh, "No wonder. It''s the Moon Clan that''s behind it."

    "Moon Clan?"

    "A couple of days ago, we got a proposal from the Moon Clan, a marriage proposal for my father. And the bride is..."

    "Estella?" Gideon took a step back in surprise.

    Azzy explained, "I believe the Moon Clan has been forcing her to take this step for a while. If not for this situation, I would have still waited for you to finish your goal of reaching the supreme realm and leave this place. But, thank goodness that it happened while I was still here.

    Or else, who knows what would have happened." After a brief pause, Azzy patted the shoulder of Gideon who collapsed on the nearby seat in shock, "Look, you got to talk to her and resolve your misunderstanding."

    "I..." "I..." "I thought we broke for truth as she told me that she moved on. So, I said yes to Zora a couple of months later to forget her, and we are now... damn it... I should have pursued the matter."

    "Uhh... Zora? That Zora?" Azzy knew one Zora who was recruited into the Tower of Abel. He was friendly with her and didn''t have any hard feelings for her. It''s just that he never imagined Gideon and her together. At once, the situation became awkward for him, making Azzy whether he really made a bad choice or something.

    "Uhh... So, Gideon, you are in a relationship with Elder Zora just to forget your old love? My successor, You have really done it this time." The Tower Master''s words echoed in Gideon''s ears, making his face paler.

 Chapter 666: Tower of Abel part-3

    The two friends who were catching up with each other after so long; both of them actually forgot the presence of a third man in the room.

    While Azzy didn''t care, Gideon started sweating bullets upon hearing the tone of the tower master. He couldn''t help but stiffly turn his head to look at the old who was giving him a meaningful gaze, Gideon stammered a little bit, "Uhh... Tower Master... that is... you know... how it happens... in relationship... misunderstanding... break up... anger... sadness... hooking up..."

    "Gideon!" Tower Master turned serious and let out a powerful roar. Its power was equivalent to that of the roar he experienced a while ago against that immortal bird. The sonic wave generated by the roar was so powerful that Gideon just flew away and crashed onto the rack full of books.

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    "Ugh..."

    As Gideon let out a painful groan, feeling the aftereffects of the beating he had gotten from the immortal bird, the Tower Master raised his hand to conjure a baton, "You are my successor, Gideon. You are supposed to be the future master of this tower, the one who was prophesized to become the final lightning emperor. You dare to toy with a girl''s heart? You really deserve to be punished."

    Azzy furrowed his brows, "Wait, what are you doing?"

    The Tower Master took a glance at the boy from the corner of his eyes, and replied in a calm tone, "Don''t worry. Your friend is merely being disciplined. He won''t be badly hurt or anything. Just be beaten enough to be on the bed for a few days."

    "Damn you, you bipolar geezer," shouted Gideon, getting up while supporting his waist with his hand, "Regardless of my future sand prophecy and whatnot, this is the matter between me and Zora. So, you shouldn''t be involved in it in the first place."

    "You dare to talk back to me when you should be apologizing and beg for mercy?"

    *Ting*

    The baton struck the floor with a wave of the old man''s hand, generating waves precisely targetting Gideon like a beam of concentrated waves instead of traveling in all directions from the impact. Azzy wasn''t affected in the least, which explains his sheer control over his power.

    The concentrated sonic wave had struck Gideon once again, making him crash to the wall and fall to the floor one more time.

    "This unreasonable geezer," Gideon complained in a mumble. "It looks like I have no choice but to fight even if I have to surpass my limits one more time."

    As they reached the corridors, where there were only two of them, he couldn''t help but ask about what could that old man do, now.

    Gideon had the same opinion as Azzy''s thoughts. He thinks it is probably the beast that will try to stop them. After all, the rune magic will only work once in a thousand years. The Tower Master surely wouldn''t be so foolish to activate it, for such an incident.

    Since Azzy can beat a demigod, Gideon thought that he could beat the demigod beast too. Azzy felt like he was confident about defeating it too, now that he had the sword of radiance in his hand and his Vajra''s soul returned, unleashing its full potential of a mutated celestial-grade Arcana Spirit.

    Climbing down the stairs, Azzy talked about several things on the way.

    He was really surprised that Gideon knew what was going on at the clan village and he knew about Azzy too, although the information was quite limited.

    Gideon just knew what everyone else knew but because of the new goal of becoming a demigod, considering demigods are popping out one after another these days, he had to stay in the tower.

    Azzy was nevertheless quite happy that he gets to talk with someone freely, other than his family, after a long time, and he couldn''t help but wonder whether he could have a reunion too.

    Little did either of them expect that they would be frozen in their paths just as they reached the bottom of the stairs, where they saw several disciples staying at the walls and a displeased Zora was standing there in the center of the hall alongside a familiar figure.

    Gideon went down to one of his knees with his fist on the floor and his head bowing in respect, "Your Majesty."

    Azzy meanwhile frowned at the sight of the old man, "It''s not an illusion. It is Great Great Grandpa Qridus. Why is he here?"

    "Azrael Garcia," As Qridus called him out, Azzy too went down to one of his knees, "Greetings, Ancestor."

    Several curious gazes fell upon the two of them.

    "Mind telling me why the future leader of my clan is acting like a spoiled arrogant brat in my alma matter?"

    "Well..."

 Chapter 667: Gideon and Zora

    "Mind telling me why the future leader of my clan is acting like a spoiled arrogant brat in my alma matter?"

    "Well..."

    Azzy was prepared to face the rune magic with Lux, the sword of radiance with the power to break any kind of power that isn''t primordial.

    As for Ziz, it is on the same level as Fenrir and not a problem for him either, now that he doesn''t need to hide his powers.

    The rest don''t matter.

    Little did he expect to meet his ancestor, the clan head, of all the opponents he could think of.

    Who could have known that this nine thousand-year-old geezer was once a member of Tower of Abel...

    Azzy tried to reason with him for once, not intending to act against his own great-great-grandpa, "Your Majesty, I believe our clansmen here, Gideon Crescent, is facing unjust punishment from the Tower Master. As his friend, it is my duty to protect him. Moreover, not only..."

    "That''s enough," Qridus raised his hand, stopping Azzy from speaking further, "I heard what happened from Tower Master Cenric. Gideon might be your friend but he is foremost an elder of the Tower, and so was Miss Zora here. You cannot be involved in the matters of the Tower of Abel, unless your friend is gravely injured or on the brink of death or damaged his soul orb.

    You are the heir of the Death clan; every action of yours is considered the clan''s interests. Now, stand aside and let them resolve their own issues."

    Azzy didn''t even ponder too much on his ancestor''s suggestion. Instead, he grabbed Gideon''s hand and spoke loudly, "As you have said earlier, I''m the future clan head and the heir to the clan. My actions represent the clan''s interests. And my decision is clear to everyone. Gideon is coming back with me and he cut off his relations with the Tower already.

    Those who stand in my way will have to force me."

    Qridus furrowed his brows in displeasure.

    Azzy and Qridus silently observed the couple, especially Zora, who just stared at him in silence. Neither of them could see a shred of emotional change on her face. She appeared completely calm.

    Azzy wanted to understand what she was thinking and he activated Aura sensing, checking her emotions.

    However, before he could get that part, he saw something else that stunned him. There was his tiny aura of life inside her.

    It was then Zora took a step back from Gideon, "Alright, Gid... Sorry, Mr. Crescent, you are free to go. Whether your true love accepts you or not, it doesn''t matter to me, for I''m some pathetic woman who would like to cling to her lover who likes someone else. Officially, consider our relationship is over."

    "I''m sorry," Gideon apologizes to her once again before stepping past her. She stayed silent and stared at the floor in sadness, trying her best not to cry.

    As he walked a few steps, suddenly, a voice rose from Azzy, "Wait, Gideon."

    Gideon halted in his footsteps, turning around to see his friend who was standing in his place, "Azzy?"

    Azzy replied, "I''m afraid the matter isn''t settled yet. We have to stay here for a moment."

    "Hmm?" Gideon shifted his attention to the back of the old man who was also standing in his place, "Your Majesty?" He wondered whether he should now convince the clan head or something, now. But, when he thought about it for a second, he felt like that may be the case since the Garcia Family got the marriage proposal from the Moon Clan.

    As he was worried about being rejected, Azzy then said, "It''s not my ancestor, it''s Zora."

    "Hmm?" Gideon looked at her. Zora also seemed puzzled.

    "She''s pregnant," revealed Azzy.

    "What!"

 Chapter 668: Killing the unborn baby?

    "She''s pregnant"

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    Those two words from Azzy caused waves, no... a giant tsunami in Gideon''s heart. His heartbeat rose to the peak and his soul energy started running wildly from one organ to another. On the outside, Gideon was frozen in his place, his face turning paler, "Wha... what did... did you just say?" He couldn''t believe his ears for a moment.

    Azzy spoke in a clear tone, one more time, "I said, Miss Zora is pregnant. I''m sensing the life of a human growing within her stomach. There''s no doubt about it."

    While Zora looked at Azzy in surprise, not expecting him to have such powerful senses, Qridus then opened his mouth, "There is a reason why I made the trip personally, Gideon Crescent. You know the rules of the clan. Unless there is mutual consent between the couple, if a man makes a woman pregnant but refuses to marry her even after she decides to keep the baby, he shall face exile from the clan.

    Likewise, if a female descendant of the clan becomes pregnant but refuses to have any relationship with the man that made her pregnant, she shall either abort it or present it to the clan.

    In this case, if Miss Zora wishes to have the baby and also marry you, then you must either marry her or face exile. Polygynyis accepted by the Clan. Hence, after marrying Miss Zora, if you want, you can pursue Estella Moon too. But, that will be your personal issue and not the clan''s.

    So, decide your future now, Gideon of the Crescent Clan."

    "Ancestor..." Azzy was surprised this time.

    "Azrael, I told you before. Stand down and don''t interfere," Qridus warned his successor once again.

    However, Gideon didn''t actually pay attention to the old man and simply walked back to Zora, who turned around to look at him and coldly said, "You don''t need to worry about your exile, Mr. Crescent. I won''t be marrying you. I and my baby don''t need you, and soon, I will be erasing my memories of you anyway. So, forget about us and go and live your life."

    Gideon acted like he didn''t hear those words too. He affectionately grabbed her shoulders and asked, "How many weeks?"

    "Five," replied Zora, swatting his arms and freeing herself to maintain a distance from him.

    Gideon then asked, with his shivering tone, "And how long you have known about this?"

    "You..."

    "Azzy... what the hell are you saying?" Gideon displayed his shock and rushed toward Zora, standing before her like a shield. "You want to kill my child?"

    "Once you return to the clan, your strength will automatically grant you the position of a Patriarch. The child then will become the heir to the Crescent Clan and will be filled with incredible potential. He could become a Supreme realm Arcana master and be able to live for thousands of years. She cannot have such an existence to herself.

    Moreover, who knows, how the child''s life is going to be?

    When a man refuses to take responsibility for the baby, the mother''s love for the baby will only grow. But, when the mother breaks up with the father for whatever reason and has a hatred for him, then, the child will face the consequences.

    Did I say something wrong, Ancestor?" Azzy looked at the old man.

    Qridus let out a sigh and nodded, "You are not wrong."

    Azzy brandished the scythe and turned toward Zora, who stood there like a statue, "Since I felt your hatred for Gideon, I can''t let his child have a life filled with trauma. I would rather end his life before the birth and let him reincarnate, hoping for a better family next time."

    "Anyway, we wasted too much time. Let''s get to the matter."

    Azzy charged forward, raising the scythe. Zora was rooted on the spot in fear. She couldn''t help but close her eyes and covered her stomach with her hand as Azzy lessened the gap in an instant and swung it down.

    "No..." Qridus gasped. The spectators also gasped in shock.

    "Ugh..."

    But, when she opened her eyes, she saw Gideon standing in front of her, with the right part of his chest getting pierced by the scythe''s blade.

    "Why?"

 Chapter 669: For a friend

    "Why?"

    Azzy asked, making a face that indicated he was surprised. The drops of Gideon''s blood spilled onto his face.

    "Because that is still the woman I love and my baby growing in her," replied Gideon, in a bit of struggle.

    Azzy argued, "You idiot. I told you I merely would take out the life of that fetus. She will not be harmed at all. Moreover, do you think you can protect both of them forever? In your absence, even if his childhood ends up better than we feared, he is still going to be your eldest son. Do you think your other children will let him stay alive when his existence is a threat to their position?

    The human greed and envy know no bounds. You both are breaking up anyway and the baby is still only a few weeks old, not enough to feel the pain or anything. Let me just end it for the greater good."

    Gideon grabbed the blade, coughing out a mouthful of blood, "Never. You have to kill me."

    "You save her today. What about tomorrow? Day after tomorrow? I can still come and kill her at any time. But, I have to do this, if you are not a couple," Azzy seemed a bit adamant about his decision. He further added, "I know what is it to be growing up without the love of parents, growing up without the protection of the clan.

    I know what it is like to be very different from my friends of the same age. I know what it is like to be threatened by people who are envious of my potential and no one else to protect me. My circumstances might have been different but the baby''s life will not be much different."

    "As long as I''m alive, I will protect my child and Zora, if I have to stalk them in secret. I''m a 9-star rank Arcana master. Not many people in the world would have the power to break my defense and hurt them. So, back off, Azzy."

    "Tch... you ungrateful brother of mine... You deserve this for trying to protect the woman who just doesn''t care about you but still wants the baby in order to take revenge on you. Die then..." Azzy swung the scythe, throwing him off to the side, and started walking to the exit, "Ancestor, we don''t have any more business here. Let''s go. I have something privately to talk with you."

    Azzy disappeared right away, followed by Qridus.

    As Gideon was continuously groaning in pain with an injury on his chest, Zora rushed toward him and grabbed him, "Gid... Gid... stay awake." She took several healing cards from her storage card and became busy in healing his injury.

    Panting heavily, Gideon spoke to her in a hushed tone, "Can you give me another chance, Zora? I promise that I... ugh... cough cough..."

    Well, if he thinks about it, Azzy realized that it kinda made sense. He just acted like an evil villain to kill her. So, obviously, she doesn''t want herself or her baby near to him at any cost.

    Azzy also planned on talking with the Moon Clan to arrange the marriage between Gideon and Zora, like a political marriage, when he heard that she is okay with sharing him, but then, when he realized that they would not be having any relationship with the Death clan, he felt like this could become an obstacle in his plan.

    But then again, his feelings are not the important factor. What Gideon thinks is more important.

    Hence, he asked him about it.

    To which, Gideon merely answered that he doesn''t have much attachment to the clan either way. So, he doesn''t have any problem with staying away, as long as both of them remain friends. He promised to convince Zora to have Azzy as his best man for the wedding.

    However, Azzy shook his head, rejecting it, telling him that it was better this way. He can still be his best man when he marries Estella.

    Gideon could only apologize in return.

    Soon, Azzy said goodbye and departed from Canaan City, returning to the clan village with the ancestor who wanted him to tag along.

    Another assembly was called in the palace, but this time in the throne Hall, Qridus sat on the throne and Vesyrn stood beside him.

    The pavilion masters and the clan leaders were standing in their places. And just like the previous assembly, Azzy was called forward.

    Wondering what this might be, Azzy went forward and greeted the clan head.

    Looking straight at him, Qridus announced, "I have three missions for you that you must accomplish if you consider this village your home. First, never try to become a demigod during this time. Second, marry a girl of your choice or the clan''s choice and have the heir. And third, ascend to this throne as the official clan head in three days.

    You can then appoint your father as the acting clan head before you leave for your journey and he shall continue to lead the clan as he was doing at the moment."

 Chapter 670: Azzy at the forbidden region (part-1)

    Leaving an astonished Azzy, Qridus shifted his attention to the clan leaders, "This is a suggestion, not an order. Hence, you don''t have to follow it. But, in order to face what was about to come at us, I need all of you to focus on trying to reach the Supreme realm and retire from your posts permanently or temporarily, giving the next generation to lead your clansmen.

    We have 43 years before the invasion happens. According to the information I received from my master, the enemy is sending thousands of spaceships to conquer this world. You all know how powerful just one of them was.

    As for me, once Azrael ascends to the throne, I shall take my master''s place as the prison guard of the forbidden region in Arcana world, protecting the world from Rank-9 and Rank-10 beasts.

    Also, in a couple of days, the next hidden clan meeting must take place, which will be my last meeting. There, I will put forth the proposal of letting one of the banished clans return to their place and let Blood Clan fill the remaining vacant position.

    So, Francis, as I have observed, you are a 9-star Arcana Master and your clan is perfectly eligible to have a separate clan village of its own, considering our roots are different. Due to Azrael''s latest act and the fact that I''m also a demigod, not to mention, that this hidden clan meeting will occur in the absence of Saint Ravens, my proposal will go through without any problems.

    If you are interested in that position, you must make the decision, on whether to have a separate clan village or not. If you stay with the clan, then, you will lose the opportunity to become the pillar of the world forever. The choice is yours to make and you have 24 hours."

    Qridus didn''t give time for Francis to respond to him right away. He simply gave his order for everyone to leave, except for Azzy and his father.

    As they left, Qridus conversed with Vesyrn, about Pierre Garcia. Azzy wondered why the clan guardian never arrived when the demigod was here to destroy it.

    It''s because Pierre Garcia actually went to help out Qridus and his master who were attacked by the stranger before the clan village was infiltrated.

    For Azzy, everything suddenly made sense as to why Qridus also didn''t respond to his call, why Qridus must take his master''s place, and why Qridus is forcing him to ascend to the throne.

    Though Azzy wanted his dad to become the clan head, he knew that wasn''t going to happen. Not just because the clan leaders won''t acknowledge it but also because of the fact that he knew the future in the first place. He was going to be the next and the final head of the Death clan.

    Qridus took out an orb-like thing from his storage card and presented it to Vesyrn, "Uncle Pierre said that he wanted you to have this power. This contains the power of a Reaper, but absorbing it will also give you a greater responsibility. Make the choice when the time comes. You can also just give this power to someone else."

    "Thank you. I will give it a serious thought, great grandpa," Vesyrn stored it in his storage card, even though he had already taken up the job of becoming the next clan guardian years ago when he woke up from the coma.

    Dad is still young, he will take care of the clan.

    The next day morning;

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    "No, I''ll come with you."

    "You can''t Affy"

    "No, I''ll come with you, Chuckee"

    "No, you can''t, Affy. It is too dangerous"

    "Papa, Chuckee is there to protect me. I''ll come"

    "Affy..."

    Affea Crescent Garcia stubbornly grabbed onto Azzy''s leg, not letting him and their dad leave home without her.

    Azzy seemed helpless for he could not say "No" to his spoiled little sister while his dad was trying his best to convince her.

    She went as far as releasing a gravity field around her with over 10 times the normal gravitational force. It might not be a big deal for Azzy, Izora, or Vesyrn, but they were worried about the consequences of leaving her without convincing her properly.

    In the end, both father and son admitted defeat to Affy''s stubbornness and it ended up as a little family trip of the Garcia family to the Forest of Death, where Qridus'' master is residing at the moment.

 Chapter 671: Azzy at the forbidden region (part-2)

    Forbidden region, World of Arcana;

    The forbidden region refers to the region that encompasses the three level-5 regions, Knull Island, Hel''s Prison, and Mt. Lo.

    The three regions were guarded by a powerful barrier that restricted the freedom of the beasts residing inside.

    From time to time, some rebellious but powerful beasts breach through the prison barrier and get out. And the guardian''s job is to make sure to prevent those monsters from invading the human cities.

    As a result, the guardian could always be seen at the zero point, the only official way for experts below the demigod realm to enter these three forbidden regions.

    But, right now, the guardian isn''t present there.

    She was currently resting in the deep region of Knull Island, also called the Forest of Death, leaving the task temporarily to Qridus.

    However, as Qridus returned to the clan village for the entire day, he sealed the entire zero point in his strongest barrier technique. He did so in fear that some monster would take advantage of his absence and escape.

    As if his fears became true, by the time Qridus and his descendants came to the zero point, they saw more than a dozen giant monsters from three different regions trapped inside the barrier, trying their best to escape.

    *Graaa* *Kraaa* *Sceee* *zzzz*

    Various types of platinum-grade rank-9 highly intelligent monsters were attacking the barrier, not intending to work together at all for whatever reason.

    As the four of them appeared on the portal point, the monsters sensed their presence and swiftly charged toward them as if they saw their favorite food.

    Giant monsters, each one hundreds of meters big, charged at the center of the island like a gust of wind, scaring the hell out of Izora and Vesyrn for a moment.

    As the husband and wife shivered, Little Affea hugged Azzy''s arm, "Chuckee..."

    Within just a few seconds, all of those monsters reached the center of the island at the same time, and Qridus quickly acted.

    "Preposterous!"

    Qridus'' roar echoed in the region, unleashing a disc of light energy from his body which expanded at a rapid pace and struck the beasts.

    All of their bodies have a huge cut on their bodies as they were blasted away by Qridus'' attack and crashed to the shores of the island in different directions.

    They dispersed like lightning and reached the floating spirit cores, swallowing them up and merging with the cores to retain their soul skills.

    While Azzy looked quite imposing and cool on the outside, only he knew what kind of mental pressure he was facing. He couldn''t even speak out anymore, answering his ancestor or responding to his parents, and he stayed in complete silence. But, he didn''t show it at all on his face and focused on speeding up the process.

    Eventually, within a couple of minutes, the skeletal monsters with the cores glowing up behind their respective ribcages stood on their ground and walked back to their master, who was wiping out his sweat and replenishing his soul energy.

    "Master"

    A collective greeting came from those undead monsters, upon reaching him. They all bowed in unison.

    Azzy finally opened his mouth with a weak smile, "Two of you lead in the front, warning the potential enemies to move away. The remaining will act as guards on all sides."

    "Azrael," The clan head, who felt like his successor was disrespecting him by not answering his earlier comment, raised his voice a little bit. "I didn''t know you had this ability to retain cores, but even then, you shouldn''t have killed them.

    In the future, the monsters in this region will become our allies." Qridus didn''t get down and rooted in the same floating position he was, about a couple of minutes ago.

    Azzy calmly raised his head to stare at the old man, "Your Majesty, first of all, I don''t have any sympathy for the monsters that see us as nothing but food. Secondly, I don''t know if you didn''t sense it or didn''t bother to do so. But, I have sensed all of these monsters were connected to someone. They were controlled by an Arcana Master. I had to do this to protect my family."

    He expected his ancestor to understand, but the old man still had his displeasure, "If you had known that much, then, you should have already realized that my master is behind this. However, it is not a test for you, Azrael. This is a test for me, who had left this place for a day. Regardless, it is not your place to act when I''m here.

    Don''t grow so arrogant over your strength that you ignore your elders. I told you at our first meeting, didn''t I? Strength and Authority are two sides of the same coin. Displaying sheer strength without authority is nothing but arrogance."

    Azzy''s eyes widened in surprise and he just fell silent, cussing him inside, "this old geezer. He used to be completely supportive of my actions but ever since I defeated that demigod, he was criticizing me a lot. First, at the Tower of Abel, and now this... Was he uncomfortable that he isn''t the most powerful being on the planet anymore or something?"

    "No, Azrael. Your ancestor is right," The Reaper''s voice echoed in Azzy''s head. "You sure grew more arrogant lately."

    "C''mon, you can''t be serious," Azzy shouted back at the Reaper, "For someone who didn''t come to my rescue when I was on the brink of my death, both of you sure love to lecture me."

    "Are you still in the rebellious phase or what?" The Reaper scolded him in return. After a brief pause, he added, "I guess you have to meet your equals or stronger beings to understand yourself."

    "What does that mean?" "Hey, reply to me" "Here we ago. After lecturing me, you once again cut off my access to Mindscape." "Hey, let me in..." "Forget it. I was doing better without your advice and help lately anyway. Tch..."

    Meanwhile, the undead monsters distanced themselves a couple of hundred meters away from the group of four, doing their job, as Azzy and others proceeded toward the island. However, their enormous sizes still cast a shadow on the group, making it seem like the sky is cloudy at the moment.

    Affea, despite having the ability to fly with her gravitational manipulation inborn ability, was being carried by Azzy on his back as they flew over the sea. As for the monsters, they could walk on the water. Hence, it is not an issue for them.

 Chapter 672: Azzy at the forbidden region (part-3)

    On the way to Knull Island, Azzy stayed completely silent. Izora and Vesyrn couldn''t help but become worried about their son, who was scolded instead of getting praised by their clan head. Ever since he was lectured by Qridus, Azzy hadn''t spoken a word.

    He was carrying Affea on his back and was nodding as she was talking nonstop.

    In reality, his soul was in a separate mind space, which the Reaper didn''t have access to. He was sitting before the remnant spirit of the clan founder, who was probably the one who understood him the best; well, atleast, in Azzy''s eyes.

    Azrael Orkney Garcia was completely supportive of Azzy''s actions and never felt that it was arrogance at all, cuz when it comes to the safety of beloved ones, none can expect to think logically.

    The clan founder''s remnant spirit is currently working with Azzy, trying to summon Azzy''s other personality, Tellus, to this mind space.

    Not only the natural energy reserves in his Sage core was emptied, but his body was also absorbing an enormous amount of natural energy from the sea, using it as a medium to complete the task.

    By the time they crossed the sea and reached the shores of Knull Island, Tellus'' spirit finally materialized in the mind space and he sat with them.

    Azzy came face to face with Tellus'' spirit for the first time, cuz in the mindscape, he is usually in the form of an earth jewel and doesn''t talk at all. However, he didn''t feel like he was meeting a different person.

    Tellus'' spirit just looked the Azzy and the clan founder. It just looked like three identical spirits, apart from the fact that Tellus doesn''t have any pupils. They glowed in white without any visible pupils.

    Obviously, Tellus'' personality was also quite different.

    In Tellus'' view, happiness or sadness, arrogance or humbleness, righteousness or evil, all are just the same. Only the existence of life and death is all Tellus cared about.

    While Azzy was working on how to work together with Tellus, the group of four, escorted by the undead beast kings, reached the central region of the forest, where a woman was seen in the presence of a 15-foot-tall humanoid monster with its body partially composed of black and shiny rock, with cracks and crevices emoting a faint and eerie flow of violent light.

    Find adventures on m v l e m p y r

    Qridus got up and commented, "It is truth, Master. Saint Ravens personally wished for Azrael to become his disciple. I''m sorry for failing to mention it before."

    "I see." Devorah nodded calmly; or rather forced herself to calm down, "Anyway, let me formally introduce myself. I''m Devorah Garcia, the eldest child of Azrael Orkney Garcia. You don''t have to call me ancestor though, as you aren''t exactly my descendant and neither am I a citizen of Death clan. Just call me Miss Devorah or if you want to be formal, you can address me as Miss Garcia."

    Azzy then put down his sister on the ground and bowed to the woman with his hand on the left part of his chest as a formal clan greeting, "Let me introduce myself, Saint Garcia. I''m Azrael Crescent Garcia and these are my parents and she is my little sister."

    "Hello, Ancestor. I''m Vesyrn." "I''m Izora Crescent" "Umm... beautiful grandma, my name is Affea. People call me Affy though."

    "Shh..." Vesyrn attempted to grab his daughter''s arm, feeling that it was disrespectful to address an elder in that way. However, Devorah didn''t mind it and simply let out a smile, "Oh, little one, your potential is endless, just like your brother. I think it is fate for us to meet like this. Say, what do you think about her?" She pointed at the humanoid monster that didn''t move from the spot.

    It was only then did everyone''s attention shifted to it.

    "Is that your Arcana spirit?" asked Affea, observing the monster with big oval-shaped eyes, constantly blinking in curiosity.

    The humanoid monster scoffed in response, "This little brat as my host? That could never be possible. I''m Knull, the lord of this region."

    "Knull?" Even Qridus was taken aback and involuntarily stepped away a little, upon realizing that it wasn''t actually his master''s Arcana spirit. He met it a few times but never questioned it because he thought it was foolish to ask. After all, the monster and his master are connected by their soul. As it always stays silent, he never expressed his curiosity either.

    Little Affea is different though. She is still small, unaware of the outside world''s danger, and a spoiled child who just speaks without filtering her thoughts.

    Like Qridus, Azzy too thought that the rocky humanoid-shaped monster was her Arcana spirit, for its aura was too calm. There wasn''t even a drop of killing intent emitted from the monster.

    As he heard that it was the lord of the region and the strongest being in the Forest of Death, he immediately stepped forward and shielded his sister, immediately summoning Vajra and Lux to keep it in check, "So, you are Knull, huh? Nice to meet you. Let me introduce my partners, This is Vajra and She is Lux." He introduced the radiant sword in his hand and the floating black lightning orb.

    As Knull shivered for a second and got up, Qridus furrowed his brows in displeasure one more time, "Azrael, what are you doing? Stand down." But this time, his aura exploded from his body and his gaze was threatening as if he meant to discipline his descendant at all costs.

 Chapter 673: Qridus finally lost it

    Devorah is the founder''s only living daughter and is considered the oldest surviving Arcana Master on the planet; filled with vast knowledge and wisdom gathered over one hundred thousand years, every little action of hers had a deep meaning. Suspecting or questioning her actions is akin to a grave sin.

    Or atleast, that''s what Qridus believed so far.

    Hence, even after learning that the humanoid monster he was familiar with for a while was actually none other than Knull herself, Qridus didn''t question her.

    Seeing his successor summoning his Arcana spirits in a way that indicates a battle, Qridus got incredibly angry.

    He didn''t hesitate to use his demigod aura to pressure Azzy while ensuring others weren''t affected, "Stand down, Azrael."

    Little did he expect Azzy to stand without feeling an ounce of pressure on his soul. Instead, he would stare back at his ancestor, whom he was also unhappy with. "Ancestor, is there something wrong with you? I was merely introducing my Arcana Spirits?" He furrowed his brows in displeasure.

    Qridus'' frown deepened, "I can sense killing intent in your Arcana spirit. You planned to attack Lord Knull." The others were taken aback by Qridus'' accusations.

    "Vajra has Anti-divine energy. His killing intent is displayed against every kind of monster. Meanwhile, Lux hates Vajra as it bonded to my soul against its will. Its killing intent is naturally aimed at Vajra," explained Azzy. "Uhh..." Qridus became embarrassed, not being able to react properly, while Azzy continued to stare at him as if he were expecting an apology. Read exclusive content at m v l em pyr

    Seeing her disciple''s situation, Devorah stepped in, gaining attention with a clap before easing up the atmosphere with a change of topic, "Anyway, listen to me until the end. So, Knull here is at the end of her lifespan, just about a few hundred years away, and she decides to prolong her life by becoming an Arcana spirit without going through the spirit realm before that time.

    Considering the fact that little Affea here can manipulate gravity, which will complement Knull''s void element, I was wondering if she would be willing to become her host."

    "Eh?" "Huh? Devorah, what are you saying?"

    Even the monster was caught off guard by her comment, "I still have a lot of life span left. Do you want to kill me off that early or what?"

    Azzy responded by stretching his arm to the side and catching the floating divine sword.

    He shouted, "Fine, Ancestor. I also had enough of you to keep questioning my actions over and over again. Instead of siding with me, you keep trying to discipline me. Let''s settle this with a battle."

    Vajra responded to his feelings. Sparks of lightning thicked over the black lightning orb, ready to attack its enemy.

    Vesyrn finally opened his mouth, stepping forward and shielding his son, "Great Grandpa, please calm down. Azzy, what the hell are you doing? Stand down."

    "Dad, please move aside. Let us settle this matter once and for all. Or else, even in the future, after I become the clan head, Ancestor will keep on interfering in the clan affairs, trying to force his opinion on mine."

    Azzy slowly flew into the sky and floated a few meters away from Qridus, who was further enraged by his descendant''s response, which he felt was filled with arrogance.

    "Go, Chuckee..."

    As the adults worried about the outcome, Little Affea was cheering out loud, supporting her brother.

    "Umm... Saint Garcia, can you please stop them?" Izora came forward this time, requesting Devorah, who didn''t interfere this time and merely stared at them in silence alongside Knull.

    Devorah shook her head, "It is best this way. Qridus will also learn something in this battle. But, don''t worry. If things go out of hand, we''ll step in."

    "I should, too? That brat ambushed me..." The humanoid rocky monster complained instead.

    Devorah gave a stern glare to it, and the monster nodded immediately, "Fine, I will help."

 Chapter 674: The clan founders mission to Tellus

    Meanwhile, in the sky, Qridus finally made his move, unleashing a giant golden palm.

    The black lightning orb moved forward to face it head-on, but Azzy beat it to the race, charging forward and swinging down the sword at the incoming palm.

    The sword of radiance gave off a divine glow for a second as it collided with the golden palm, cleaving it into two halves and letting Azzy charge forward even more and reach his opponent.

    Qridus wasn''t surprised the least by Azzy''s strength. He actually retained calmness by the time Azzy reached him.

    As Azzy swung the sword at him, he stayed in his spot. The sword, however, passed through his body. Qridus then pushed his hand forward, striking Azzy''s chest head-on, blasting him for several meters.

    While Azzy controlled his body in the air and stopped flying away, Vajra acted. The black lightning orb released a torrent of lightning currents at its opponent, but none struck Qridus at all. They passed through him as if he were a ghost.

    Qridus then mumbled, "Domain: I reject all Arcana spirits with grades of celestial and above."

    An invisible barrier was unleashed into the surroundings, pushing away Vajra.

    In an instant, the black lightning orb was found hundreds of meters away from Azzy''s body while Lux was glowing brightly, trying to resist the law. As a primordial sword, it could resist the laws of the domain.

    "You are strong but still have a long way to think you can defeat me, Azrael," said Qridus, putting one of his hands behind his back as if he were showing off his superiority.

    The black lightning orb was about to attack it from outside the domain, but suddenly, it disappeared alongside Lux as Azzy''s eyes changed. The pupils were gone, and the eyes were glowing in white.

    A distorted voice then escaped his mouth, stating, "Sorry, but your opponent is me."

    Qridus furrowed his brows, "I cannot sense any soul energy inside Azrael for some reason. What is this power?"

    Tellus then raised his hand, conjuring a block of adamantine and throwing it at Qridus.

    Qridus hurriedly evaded it, but the adamantine block that missed him changed its direction immediately and struck his back at a terrifying speed.

    Once you do that, you can force leaders of other hidden clans to create the world barrier and protect the planet from the influence of any god. Even Thanatos couldn''t claim the souls without having your permission.

    Later on, I''ll also teach you a method of releasing the core from the monster and giving it to your friends or family, increasing their power, too. Then, you can even raise a bunch of demigods if you want.

    Of course, if you don''t want any of that, you can just keep the undead army in your mindscape and use them when you face the threat from Thanatos'' army. After all, you killed an apostle of death and also captured the sword of radiance. You might survive, but you can''t protect your clansmen with your current strength."

    "Umm... that''s okay but..." Azzy, after listening to his ancestor''s plans in patience, asked, "Is there a need to interrupt my battle with Lord Qridus?"

    "Oh," The clan founder casually replied, "that''s because I don''t want you to go against your family even if your ego is hurt in the process. Both of you are my direct descendants, regardless of our connection to reincarnation. Family is important. It is their existence that makes you think of the word home. People don''t say that blood is thicker than water for nothing, you know.

    Moreover, I knew that you would win against Qridus anyway. But, in that process, you will not only hurt his confidence but also disappoint your parents, who will think that it is their fault that you grew up this way. You are someone who gave up your dignity to help out your friend. Here, it is your blood.

    As a youngster, it is your duty to treat your elders with respect if you think they are your family. Give a proper apology to him later on, understood?"

    Azzy wanted to say something in defense, but in the end, he inwardly sighed and nodded, "I understand."

    "So, popcorn?"

    The clan founder stretched his arm toward Azzy, inviting him to take the popcorn.

    Azzy took a couple of kernels and tossed one into his mouth. The popcorn dissolved immediately in the form of energy, giving him a sense of peace for some reason.

    "Hmm?" Azzy''s eyes widened, and he looked at another kernel in surprise. "This..."

    "Created from pure natural energy. Gaia''s pure energy always gives you peace because it is filled with the essence of the mother goddess, who loves every mortal who resides in every materialistic world with all her heart. When you feel peace, you will be calmer and a calm person often makes the right decisions compared to the one who was influenced by seven deadly sins.

    I also added a bit of Jupiter''s essence to give it crispiness." The clan founder smiled.

    Azzy let out a pleasant smile, "yeah, it tastes good."

 Chapter 675: Destruction of the Forest of Death

    *Scraaaa...* *Screech* *Graaa* *Rawrrr*

    "Stop this madness right now, You damn brat," Knull was roaring at the top of their lungs as adamantine blocks were striking the Forest of Death like a meteorite fall.

    Various screams of the monsters echoed across the forbidden region, enough to reach other islands, too.

    Qridus and everyone else, meanwhile, were imprisoned inside an indestructible white dome made of Aethrerium. They couldn''t escape it, and neither did they have any idea what was going on the outside. Due to primordial metal properties of nullifying all kinds of vibrations, they couldn''t even feel the tremors of the island, which was shaking like an earthquake struck it.

    Knull was also imprisoned just like the rest, but it was imprisoned separately, although by Aetherium flexible ropes from head to toe in a spiral binding. Knull could see what was happening around it, and yet, it was too helpless to even do anything.

    Never in its hundred and fifty thousand years of lifespan did Knull ever think that there would come a day that it would feel so vulnerable. If it is a god that is deployed by the Celestial realm, it would understand.

    But the one is merely a boy who isn''t even a proper adult by human standards. An adolescent boy was destroying rank-10 and rank-9 beasts, its subordinates like nothing. Knull shivered at the sight of it.

    During the next half an hour, several monsters reached the center of the forest to attack Tellus, and several of them also tried escaping. However, the adamantine blocks, each weighing billions of tons, kept on smashing into these things without any mercy at all.

    In about an hour and 45 minutes, the entire forest of death was damaged to the extent that it couldn''t be recovered for the next hundred years. More than eight hundred dazzling spirit cores, each one is atleast as big as a thirty-story building, were seen floating all over the island.

    Knull was the only being left alive. Its rage was gone to dust, losing its will to live anymore, and prepared to die. Since there is nothing left to hold onto, Knull, which only had a few hundred more years to live, decided to explode its core and commit suicide. This was the only thing that was still in its hands.

    The Aethrium ropes couldn''t block it. But it didn''t do it yet. It wanted to take the boy with it. The monster was waiting for Tellus to finish and come near to it to have a talk. After all, since it was left alive, there must be a reason, too. In fact, the Aetherium ropes that covered it from head to toe also helped it in a way.

    As expected, Tellus, who finished part of his mission, slowly descended to the ground, reaching Knull, "You have two choices, Knull. Die and become a part of Rael''s undead army. Or serve me as my Arcana spirit until Little Azrael enters the God realm and gain the freedom to live in the world of humans. And don''t even think about committing autocheiria (suicide).

    Little Azrael here can turn back the time, and you are a celestial-grade monster. You will remember that experience. So, it will be useless."

    Knull stood there in silence. It couldn''t figure out whether Tellus was bluffing about reversing the time or not. But the humanoid monster did understand that it wasn''t a match for him. Not to mention the fact that it did experience a lot of times when the time was frozen around him, and sometimes, it was reversed, too.

    Perhaps it is because it is a monster. Like every other monster trapped in the Arcana world, Knull too had a dream to get out of the forbidden zone and roam freely. Seeing that option to choose that life, the demigod realm monster suddenly had second thoughts about it.

    In Azzy''s mind space;

    Azzy and Clan founder Azrael were finished with their movie: Destruction of Forbidden Region (part 1), and Azzy switched places with Tellus to deal with the after-effects.

    The problem isn''t to deal with the spirit cores. It is to explain to his family who were freed by Tellus before the latter switched places with him.

    "So, that''s what it happened."

    Azzy had to explain everything from how he met the clan founder''s remnant spirit, how Tellus was created from the Jewel of Earth, and how the clan founder gave the order to Tellus.

    Fortunately for him, neither Devorah nor Qridus blamed him or complained at all.

    Qridus couldn''t reprimand him when it was the orders of the clan founder. And Devorah was overwhelmed that not only did her father still live inside Azzy but also the fact that her father wanted to protect her too.

    When inside the mind space, Azzy also found out about the seal of death on Devorah which is eating her life force. Hence, he used his clan founder''s name to unleash the Seal of Gluttony to eat up the seal for good and free her from the curse.

    As a result of his actions and Tellus'' overwhelming performance of wiping out an entire monster civilization in the Forest of Death, Azzy''s earlier behavior is forgotten and everything returns to normal between Azzy and Qridus.

    However, for Azzy, things are only going to get complicated now.

    As Azzy went on merging the spirit cores with their undead skeletal counterparts to create a powerful army, far away from the Forest of Death, in the center of another island, a cow was seen approaching a giant with over a hundred eyes who was seen resting against a tree.

    "Argus..." The cow nudged the giant''s arm, waking him up from his deep sleep.

    Some of the eyes of the giant were opened at the same time, "Hmm? Lo?"

    With a fearful gaze on its face, the cow spoke, "A disaster occurred."

    "Hmm?" One of the giant''s eyes closed for a moment and opened abruptly, "This..." He got up and took the sword that was resting on the ground. Brandishing his weapon like a whip, the giant looked down at the divine cow, "How dare he hurt the balance? That human will pay for it." The sword gave off a red glow and a mouth appeared in the middle of its blade, "Hehehe... food... finally... food... Hehehe..."

 Chapter 676: Hels prison

    The last spirit core was successfully merged with a platinum-grade demigod realm monster, the Trihorned armored boar king.

    "A total of 54 rank-10 monsters and 682 rank-9 monsters... that''s quite an army, I should say," Azzy couldn''t help but look at the army of skeletons with their respective cores standing uniformly on Knull Island.

    His family members were also flying alongside him, with Affea being carried by her mom this time.

    Qridus then slowly flew forward to stop beside him and ask, "Azrael, what do you intend to do with these monsters?"

    Azzy continued to stare down at the monsters, albeit in a weak state of extreme tiredness, "Don''t know. Never actually thought about it. Founder says that I can use this to either control the world or pressure the hidden clans to cooperate with us." He sighed in the end, having complicated thoughts. After all, there are two more islands to go. He doesn''t know how much stronger he could get.

    "Did you think about the consequences?" Qridus asked in a mild tone this time. He didn''t outrightly blame him for destroying the eco-balance, as Azzy claims that he didn''t do that in the first place.

    Azzy sighed once again, "I know. Once this is over, I will either become the savior of this world or the destroyer."

    "Huh?" Qridus was expecting a similar answer, but then, Azzy''s exact words echoed in his head, and a memory suddenly popped up in his head.

    In the memory, Qridus received the prophecy from a 50,000-year-old Druid. He blurted out the words in a bit of trance, "Show him the light, and he will become the savior, but show him the darkness, and he will become the destroyer."

    "Huh? What?" Azzy looked at his ancestor, wondering what it was about.

    Qridus shook away his thoughts and gave off a friendly smile, "Nothing. I just remembered something, that''s all. Anyway, since you now have the power that probably cannot be stopped by any mortal in this world and certainly not by me, I can only give you a small suggestion. Try your best not to use the powers of Reaper or that black lightning orb.

    It''s best to rely more on techniques from natural energy and that divine sword you have. When you are sitting on a throne, people should look up to you in respect and not fear you."

    Instead of expressing his displeasure or trying to lecture him, Qridus tried to act like a friendly grandpa to advise Azzy.

    After the arrival of Tellus, the lindworms rushed at him as if they found a feast, not linking him to the tremors they sensed earlier. After all, the prey before them looked like a 9-star Arcana Master. In their eyes, he was weak. Continue reading at m|v-l''e-NovelFire

    Little did they expect to be smashed with giant blocks of adamantine over and over without being able to resist it.

    Unlike the Forest of Death, Hel''s prison island was a large barren island filled with cliffs and valleys. There isn''t any exact place to hide, except for the tower built right in the center of the island, where a giant white dragon had its tail swirled around the tower and slept on top of it.

    The screams of the lindworms didn''t disturb its sleep a little bit, and every adamantine block that aimed at it was somehow deflected by an invisible barrier, falling elsewhere.

    Tellus saw that but didn''t try to purposely aim at the region lord anymore. He focused more on the lindworms crawling on the ground and sometimes jumping at him and spitting powerful white flames.

    Without an ounce of expression on his face, Tellus continued to conjure the adamantine blocks and threw them randomly all over the island. He also telepathically controls the fallen adamantine blocks to rise high and strike the fleeing lindworms.

    In a span of thirty minutes, almost one-third of the inhabitants of the island were wiped out, which is a lot longer than he expected. Lindworms were indeed more agile than monsters in the forest of death.

    "No, this cannot do. Let''s just wipe out the entire island in one attack instead." Tellus stopped attacking and raised his arms high, conjuring a small mountain-sized giant block of Adamantine.

    The huge block cast a shadow on a large part of the island, making the lindworms fearfully gaze into the sky.

    Tellus was about to throw down but stopped himself at the last second and turned around to see an arc of energy coming right at him, or more like the block.

    As the arc of energy struck the Adamantine mountain and cleanly cleaved it into two, a figure materialized not far away from Tellus.

    It looked like a giant 10ft human but with dozens of eyes. Eyes scattered all over his body in the front as well as in the back, some of them closed, and some of them opened. With a giant broadsword in his hand, the figure coldly spoke in an unfamiliar language, "So, you are the disruptor of our peace, huh?"

    Tellus, in his usual distorted tone, spoke in the same language of gods, "Argus Panoptes, the most trusted servant of Hera. I thought you were killed by Hermes. It looks like you survived."

    "Hmm?"

 Chapter 677: Battle against Argus (part-1)

    The battle went on for sixteen hours straight, and the result was quite devastating for the surroundings.

    The entire island of Hel''s Prison was destroyed, forcing the region lord Nidgorr to join the battle against Tellus, too.

    Tellus was already in a disadvantageous situation, battling in the sky against an opponent in the elementary god realm, although with powers restricted to that of a demigod due to world laws.

    Adding on top of that, there was now a wingless dragon with the ability to increase its ally''s strength significantly and reduce the damage taken by its allies, too.

    As a result, Tellus had to take his new partner, Knull, to take care of Nidgorr while he focused on Argus.

    Tellus'' ability to create Aetherium and adamantium also diminished significantly over time as the physical body of Azzy reached its limit, even with his true divine physique of celestial beings. Hence, he also had to resort to manipulating the created ones that were thrown at the opponent and submerged in the sea.

    Argus couldn''t defeat Tellus as he expected. However, he knew that Tellus'' body was also reaching its limit. Hence, he was merely prolonging the battle as long as he could.

    Instead of unnecessarily wasting his energy by taking on those indestructible blocks of Aetherium, he relied on his speed to evade them and kept close to his opponent for close combat so that Tellus would be forced to use his body strength and become tired eventually.

    After sixteen hours of continuous battle, Tellus started thinking that he might not be able to best Argus in battle either. Unlike Argus, he had a weak physique. At the same time, he couldn''t switch out to Azzy, who barely defeated an apostle of death earlier. In his eyes, there is no way Azzy could beat someone like Argus.

    Tellus started thinking of other ways. He didn''t hesitate to consult the clan founder''s remnant spirit for advice. After all, it was his order that forced Tellus to start this whole extermination thing in the first place.

    A suggestion came to him, and Tellus followed it, releasing all of those floating aetherium and adamantine blocks from his control. They fell to the sea except for one that was transformed into a sword and a triangular-shaped shield.

    Meanwhile, Azzy''s soul lost interest in the battle after watching it for very many hours, and Tellus wasn''t interested in tapping out or running away.

    With the Reaper effectively shutting off Mindscape once again to protect Azzy from Argus and the clan founder being very much interested in the battle, Azzy''s soul just spent his time in meditation, trying to see if he could connect to the outside world at the same time and absorb the natural energy.

    Knull shrugged off his shoulders like a human, "I told you before. It doesn''t matter. If he wins, it is good. And If he dies, it is even better. I''ll be free from this servitude."

    "Now, die..." Argus swung down the sword. The energy dragon descended from the clouds, opening its mouth widely as Tellus stayed in his spot without bothering to defend himself this time.

    Just as it was about to swallow him, natural energy rushed out of his body, forming a translucent energy barrier.

    "Useless," mumbled Argus.

    The barrier didn''t last for three seconds. It was broken in a couple of seconds, and the Dragon continued to swallow him. However, it didn''t proceed further.

    There was a glowing sword standing in between them, releasing a pure divine aura and keeping the dragon at bay.

    "Hmm?" Argus frowned at the sight. He recognized it at one glance, too, "The sword of radiance? What is it doing in the mortal realm? Which Deity is protecting him?"

    Tellus let go of the shield and stretched his hand, catching the sword. Of his two eyes that had a white glow without any visible pupils, one of them turned normal at the same time, and he spoke, "Clan founder was right. Gaia''s essence can connect everything."

    "Hmm? Gaia''s essence? What is he saying? And what happened to his voice? It no longer sounded distorted," Argus entered into a moment of confusion before he shook off his thoughts and concentrated on the dragon, trying to push it toward Tellus.

    "So, we can share our powers like this? Good," commented Tellus in his usual distorted tone once again, swinging the sword horizontally.

    The horizontal swing of the sword generated an arc of condensed death energy, which cut down the dragon in half and eliminated it right away; Argus'' eyes widened as he involuntarily shivered a little bit. "Primordial death force? This is the Abode of Death''s sword of radiance. Is that host an apostle of Lord Thanatos? No, it required a primordial death attribute to work.

    An avatar?" He couldn''t help but wonder out loud, taking Azzy by surprise.

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    "Primordial death force?"

 Chapter 678: Battle against Argus (part-2)

    "Tellus, what is this primordial death force?"

    "I''ll tell you what it is, Azrael," replied a voice in his head. It didn''t belong to the Reaper but his clan founder.

    It goes without saying that Azzy was surprised, as this never happened before to him. Usually, he had to go to the mind space to talk to his ancestor.

    "The Primordial attributes are usually the ones that existed at the beginning of the creation. The true gods, Archangels, the united cosmic gem, cosmic beings, Chronos, Space, Life, Protos beings, etc.

    Since these are all primordial beings, their attributes were too pure and untouched.

    Now, the sword of radiance is a type of guardian sword with the spirit of an angel, each one dedicated to a separate realm. Lux was the guardian of the Abode of Death. Hence, it could use the primordial force of death without a problem. But, usually, only Thanatos could use it.

    I faced one such sword of radiance in the past. It belonged to Eros, and it brought a terrifying headache to my love life... anyway, the point is that the sword of radiance can only activate its primordial attribute in the hands of a user born with a primordial attribute force.

    I guess my theory is true after all. Our soul is indeed born from the consciousness of the Death jewel''s fragment."

    The clan founder''s voice sounded excited at the end of his explanation, as if he proved his hypothesis. But Azzy wasn''t completely convinced.

    He asked, "Wasn''t that Apostle of Death also a Death Jewel''s fragment? How come Lux couldn''t use the primordial death power against me or Vajra?"

    The clan founder replied, "I think it is because you didn''t give it an opportunity to use its full power from the start. Not to mention, Vajra has Protos energy, the negative primordial force that could effectively destroy anything divine. Death is still a positive primordial force.

    Either that or the apostle isn''t a soul born out of the fragment''s consciousness but is merely a being that probably merged with the fragment. Merging with the fragment will mix your own soul energy with it. Naturally, the fragment will lose its raw form of energy."

    "Hmm... that seems plausible," Azzy nodded.

    Meanwhile, on the outside, the battle resumed already. Tellus was using the twin sword style to aggressively fight against Argus, who focused on parrying the attacks.

    Tellus'' stamina is also being recovered at a rapid rate by the sword of radiance.

    Argus was still superior in reflexes and made sure not to let the sword reach his body as its blade has the power to injure even the gods and archangels, but when their blades met, the suppression on him turned out to be costly for Argus, and he was pushed away and away.

    Tellus replied, "Only 17 hours have passed. There is still a lot of time left before their disappearance."

    Usually, rank-4 or lower-rank spirit cores dropped from the dead monsters can be claimed for only 10 minutes. As their strength grows, the time will increase, too.

    These rank-9 spirit cores will stay there for 40 hours, but the beast energy inside will also diminish after 20 hours have passed. As for rank-10, they can stay there for a week. Hence, Tellus believed that it wasn''t an issue.

    However, Azzy was a bit skeptical about it. After all, 17 hours had passed since the destruction of Hel''s island, and Azzy didn''t know what other powerful monsters were out there on Mt. Lo. 3 hours might not be enough.

    Well, soon after, he found out that he was wrong.

    As Tellus flew to the east and met Nidgorr, who was floating near Knull, the wingless demigod realm dragon immediately accepted its defeat, becoming Tellus'' servant in the end.

    Both Nidgorr and Knull took care of monsters on Mt. Lo within an hour. The divine cow didn''t resist either. She admitted defeat. But Tellus didn''t kill her. Instead, he spared her on the account that he won''t be able to maintain that prison for eternity, meaning that Argus will be released sooner or later.

    It is considered foolishness to unnecessarily gain his wrath.

    To make sure Argus wouldn''t chase after them for revenge, on Clan founder Azrael''s advice, Tellus forced Lo to make a divine oath that she wouldn''t be leaving the forbidden region without his permission. And if Argus ever tried to kill him, she had to fight Argus instead.

    The divine oath is the highest kind of oath that could be enforced by divine beings. When one makes that oath, their existence will be bound to the oath, and failure to meet the promise will erase their existence for good.

    The only way to bypass this oath is to either fulfill the conditions or kill the user who enforced the oath.

    As a result of the oath, Lo was now restricted to the Forbidden region. Once it was done, Tellus released Argus.

    As soon as the Aetherium prison dissolved and Argus got free, he was prepared to attack Tellus, but the divine cow floated before Tellus as a guard, telling Argus that she had to fight him if he raised the sword against him.

    Argus saw his surroundings with his eyes. Once a formidable region enough for humans to fear visiting this place, it reduced to sinking islets left and right.

    He couldn''t help but sigh and put away his sword, saying, "My mission is to guard Lo from Lord Zeus and make sure the curse on her won''t be broken. Even for the sake of my pride and my principles, I cannot fail my mission. As long as Lo is in front of me, it is fine. Leave this place, Tellus."

    "Not before Little Azrael here claims those spirit cores," replied Tellus calmly, pointing at hundreds of floating orbs several kilometers away.

 Chapter 679: Ascension Ceremony of Death Clan

    The next day;

    Garcia Palace, Hidden Village of Death Clan;

    As nearly sixty-four thousand citizens of the clan were arriving at the Red Pavilion Arena at a slow pace, the throne hall of the Garcia Palace was bustling with Clan leaders and their close relatives waiting for the main party to arrive.

    The entire place was filled with whispers and murmurs with their arrival.

    "Man, this is one of the craziest ascension ceremonies in our clan history. He is what, 18? A tenth of my age..." "Shh... how dare you use that tone... even at 18, he is still a Supreme Being. If someone hears it, you''ll be punished severely." .net

    "Hey, I heard a rumor that Young Master defeated Monarch?" "Really?""Yeah, the servants heard Young Miss bragging about it." "C''mon, she is a four-year-old spoiled brat. Don''t need to take her seriously"

    "Look at you and Young Master. Both of you are of the same age and participated in the second awakening ceremony and awakened your Arcana spirit at the same time. He is already a Supreme Being, and you are still loitering around the Elite realm (rank-5)." "C''mon, Dad, you can''t compare both of us.

    It is like comparing a peddle on the side of the road and the mountain that you look at from far away." "No, with your talent, you should have at least been in the Exalt realm by now. You should stop studying in that academy and return to the village and train under the clan head.

    After all, you are going to be the future leader of our Silver clan." "Ugh... I hate that sound of it..." "Marius..." "hiik... sorry..."

    "Say, this is the ascension ceremony of our Death Clan. Why do these elves come here? I also heard that the Moon Clan''s princess and even the Minamoto Clan''s heiress are also going to attend the ceremony." "The early bird gets the worm, Brother." "What do you mean?" "Obviously, our Monarch is young and has the potential to reach God''s realm just like the hidden clan founders.

    They would want to form a solid relationship with our clan by marrying their daughters to him. The first wife of our Monarch will have a lot of authority, you know." "Do you think they are even qualified?" "Unfortunately, I don''t see any girl in this world who is qualified to marry our Monarch.

    Maybe Camelot''s princess, but she is a bit too old for him." "Well, that age difference will be nothing after a few decades." "Well, that is true, I guess."

    "Hey, I heard that Blood clan is going to leave?" "Hmm? Where did you hear it?" "Some blood clan members are spreading the rumor that their clan will become a new hidden clan." "Well, it will be their loss if they do that. It is actually better this way. They are nothing but strangers anyway."

    "Hey, look at Lady Avia. I never expected she could look like this way, too." "Yeah, she is so beautiful in those clothes." "I wish she could wear such clothes from time to time, you know, like her on off days." "Yeah, she is usually very cold, grumpy, and terrifying.

    Qridus then called out to Azzy, "Azrael Crescent Garcia"

    Azzy stepped forward, walked a few steps, fell to one of his knees, and bowed, "Your Majesty."

    "Rise."

    Qridus got up from the throne and stood on the side. Azzy, who knew of the procedure beforehand, walked forward more and started climbing up the steps.

    There were a total of twelve steps to the throne; each was a foot in height and a couple of meters wide. Each step represents a month of the calendar.

    Upon reaching the throne and taking a seat on it for the first time, Azzy''s eyes fell upon the guests who were there to look at them. Some of those gazes had envy, some of them had admiration, some of them were filled with respect, some of them had hope, and some of them actually had disapproval too.

    This was different from feeling gazes from the surroundings. Cuz, this time, he was actually seeing their faces head-on. It was a first-time experience for him; nevertheless, Azzy maintained his cool and calmly sat on the throne.

    Qridus then raised his hand, which glowed in light for a second.

    Soon, a tetrahedron-shaped object materialized in the hands of Qridus. It looked like a solid adamantine and a gold alloy object at one glance because of its black material with the shape of a typical weighing scale engraved with gold on each of its sides, but Azzy, who was sitting so close to the object, could sense terrifying power inside of it.

    Qridus then raised the object and addressed the crowd, "This is the Death Clan''s most prized treasure, The Pagoda of the Death. Our Clan founder won this treasure from the Lord of Death, Thanatos himself, in a wager. Since the founding of the clan, various clan heads have used this treasure to maintain the balance of life and death on the planet.

    Carrying this is the same as carrying the fate of the world in your hands. Misusing this power means you are going to doom the world, too. This was passed down to me five thousand years ago, and once again, it is going to change its owner."

    "Azrael."

    Azzy looked to the side and finally had his gaze on the object that made his insides uncomfortable for some reason.

    "I entrust the responsibility of the clan and the treasure to you."

    As Azzy grabbed the heaven-grade treasure, Qridus announced, "I hereby declare Azrael Crescent Garcia as the 64th Head of the Death Clan."

 Chapter 680: Azzys shocking announcement

    *Clap* Clap* Clap*

    The guests clapped, but the clan leaders and their families gave a slight bow with a hand on their chest, chanting, speaking loudly in unison, "By your will, we endure. Eternal be your flame."

    As the treasure glowed and disappeared into his hand by itself, Azzy faced the crowd and grabbed the armrests of the throne, addressing the clan members, "As the new head of the clan, I have something to announce."

    "Hmm?" Qridus and the rest of the clan leaders looked at Azzy in wonder, as announcements weren''t in the schedule at all. But they couldn''t voice it out anymore as Azzy was now their clan head. Even Qridus was silent, as he already entrusted the throne to his successor.

    Azzy''s gaze fell upon his family, "Vesyrn Garcia and Affea Garcia. Come forward."

    Everyone was just taken aback as he called out his dad and his sister. Even Vesyrn and Izora were surprised and looked at each other.

    "Yes..." Affea squealed in delight, forgetting for a moment that it was an official event.

    Izora had to give her a nudge before Vesyrn grabbed her hand and slowly made their way to the center of the hall, standing in direct sight of Azzy.

    Azzy then spoke, "Vesyrn Garcia, receive your orders."

    Vesyrn had to kneel to his son in front of everyone, although it was more like he was kneeling to the one on the throne, "Your Majesty." His tone was firm.

    "Under my absence in the village, you shall act as the Acting Clan Head. Except for using Pagoda of Death, you shall have full powers of the Clan Head. You can pass any law at your discretion. And questioning your decision is the same as questioning my authority. Rejecting your order is the same as rebelling against the throne."

    A collective gasp escaped from a few around. Some of them, especially Gredor Crescent, didn''t like the way Azzy said it. Some pavilion masters felt like Azzy was indeed acting like a proper clan head and not some young brat. However, some thought that he was arrogant and still looked down on him because of his age.

    "Okay."

    Qridus then addressed the guests, "Now that the official ceremony has been concluded... let''s move to the next event. Except for our important guests from far away, everyone shall depart for the Arena."

    "Eh? Mom, we are not going to stay with Chuckee?" Affea asked her mother with a not-so-quiet tone. Qridus gazed at them, and Izora hurriedly hushed her daughter, "Let''s go. We will meet up with Azzy later."

    "But..." "Shh... Let''s go..."

    As everyone left, except for the guests, Qridus and Azzy, the young clan head let out a sigh of relief and looked at his predecessor, "Ancestor, how did I do?"

    In response, Qridus put up a frown on his face instead, "Your demeanor matched that of a Clan head, but I hope you had informed me beforehand regarding the appointment of the clan heir. Honestly, you should have refrained from appointing your heir until a few years."

    "But, it is my clan heir. I should do what I think is best for the clan''s future, right?" Azzy asked calmly. It was as if he was telling him that it was his throne and the old man shouldn''t put his nose in his affairs anymore.

    "Yes, but I also expect you to take responsibility for your actions too." Qridus went on placing a counter-argument, "Affea is still a little girl. Once you were gone, did you think of the danger you could put her in?"

    .net

    "Don''t worry, Ancestor, I will ensure her safety before I leave," Azzy calmly responded before focusing on the royal guests, who didn''t look that pleased at the moment, "Elf King Neremym Searvale and Minamoto Clan Head Fujiwara Ryuji, both of you are interested in my plans to secure the clan''s future. This is my answer.

    When Affea becomes qualified enough, I will step down from this throne by myself and hand it over to her."

    Qridus: "..."

 Chapter 681: Marriage proposal from the guests

    The ambitions of the Elves and the Minamoto Clan are clear from the start. They might be subtle in their actions and words, but they didn''t hide their interests at all. They intend to make Azzy their clan''s son-in-law for political gains.

    However, Azzy''s shocking announcement of his heir hurt their goals quite a bit.

    Now, they were left with two choices. One, they continue to pursue their goal and later take away Affea from the path with either death or expulsion. Two, they give up on Azzy.

    Even Azzy knew that when he made the announcement. That is why he did it in front of everyone, as if he was telling them to give up on him.

    So, what choice do they make in the end? Azzy wondered after making it clear to them. The guests went silent for a few moments. The Elven Princess appeared a bit sad, and her brother''s face hardened.

    Thinking they would need more time to answer, Azzy got up from the throne and was about to climb down the steps. Just as he climbed down one step, the Minamoto clan heiress opened her mouth for the first time since they met, "I guess you aren''t interested in clan affairs, and neither do you want your future generation to lead this clan. Clan Head Garcia. That means you would have no problem having your children inherit their maternal clans, correct?"

    "Uhh... Yes?" Azzy fell into a trance for a second, not expecting such a reply from the woman. Her voice was quite melodic. For a second, Azzy felt an illusion of soothing music in his ears and felt peace in his mind. He just doesn''t want her to stop.

    .net

    A frown of displeasure appeared on Qridus'' face as he responded with a comment, "I never expected the Minamoto Clan would adopt such a sly method, Shuichi."

    "Eh? Sly? Clan Head Shuichi was taken aback once again by Qridus'' accusation, "What do you mean Lord Qridus?"

    "You never wanted to plan this little lady to Vesyrn in the first place. You know that Azrael would never accept having a stepmother when his mother was alive and well in the first place. Your objective was him all along. You shouldn''t try resorting to such tricks, Shuichi. It was a great disrespect to Vesyrn and the Death Clan," Qridus'' eyes turned cold, with his gaze on Shuichi. The latter was a Supreme Being, but feeling that cold gaze made his soul shudder for a moment. He instantly felt the difference between him and a demigod.

    Shuichi immediately grabbed his descendant''s head, using his force to let her bow. He, too, bowed long and apologized, "We apologize if we make Saint Garcia angry, but we genuinely came here in the interest of having a marriage alliance with Lord Vesyrn, for he is already married, and the curse on my daughter will be minimized. As for Clan Head Azrael, I apologize but we don''t dare to have any designs on it. In fact, no hidden clan or an ancient family that has the knowledge of the curse would dare to give away their precious child to an unmarried direct descendant of Clan Founder Azrael. If something happens to their child, it will only destroy the relations between the two clans."

    "Not all clans, Clan Head Fujiwara," a comment came from the side that was too silent until now.

    The Elven King, Neymerin Searvale, outrightly displayed his arrogance on his face, "We Elves have different body constitutions and have a lifespan usually ten times more than your average human. The humans would have to live for atleast 10,000 years to make the curse ineffective, but it is impossible for them unless they reach the demigod realm. However, we just have to reach a 7-star rank to have that lifespan. It is more or less the same for those Asgardians, too. This is a common knowledge known to every Clan Head. So, please don''t group us together when you are making a statement."

    Fujiwara Shuichi bowed with a smile to them as well, "It was an oversight of mine. I apologize if you were offended by my statement."

 Chapter 682: The clan for the forsaken

    The Minamoto clan is one of the strongest hidden clans in terms of power, but they are well known for valuing respect, humility, and politeness, deeply rooted in their traditions, emphasizing harmonious relationships and mutual consideration.

    Displaying arrogance is something they deeply avoid, even in front of weaklings.

    As the Clan Head of such a clan, Fujiwara Shuichi couldn''t get angry with others unless it was necessary. But Neymerin, despite his haughtiness, also knew when to back down. He didn''t prolong it and merely folded his hands to his chest, shifting his gaze to Azzy instead, "Clan Head Azrael, I was going to bring up this matter at another time, but since it has come, I might as well speak up. You defeated me and took away my sister from the clan. Even after the supposed servitude time was over, you still kept her with you, making her work for you. Now, went as far as rejecting a proposal from Lord Faelar, all because she likes you."

    "Eh?"

    "Brother..." Isolde grabbed her brother''s sleeves in embarrassment, but he ignored her and continued, "Anyway, I''m just to settle this matter once and for all. Age is nothing more than a number in our race. If you are old enough to kill, drink wine, and reach the maturity of an adult, you are old enough to marry. That''s all we care about. So, do you wish to marry my sister? No need to worry about the curse. If you don''t want to, just tell it to her face right away so that this stubborn lady gives up and returns with me."

    "Brother, stop it, will you..." Isolde''s face turned beet red in embarrassment. She hurriedly looked at Azzy, "Azzy, Don''t take my brother seriously. He was just trying to get back at me because I rejected his recommended groom."

    "Well..." Azzy went speechless for a moment. Isolde is a good friend of his. He cherishes their friendship very much. As for whether she likes him or not, he wouldn''t dare to think about it as it would only make their relationship awkward.

    As he didn''t know how to react, he cast a sidelong glance at the old man. His pleading gaze met with his, and Qridus immediately acted by commenting, "Decisions like this cannot be taken by Azrael alone and also not in haste, Clan Head Neymeryn. Azrael is now the Head of the Clan. As this involves the clan''s future, if the Elven clan wishes to formally propose a marriage, we will discuss and give you a reply after the hidden clan meeting."

    "Hmm... that''s fine with us," Neymeryn didn''t try to make things harder for the Death Clan, as no other hidden clan was currently in a situation to offend the Death Clan. Alongside big-name organizations, the hidden clans, too, were aware of the destruction of the forbidden region, which is somehow related to Azzy and Qridus. As for who is responsible for that act, different people have different opinions on it. Regardless, Death Clan got the credit in the end.

    Of course, some would see this a good move as there is no longer a great danger to mankind from possible invasion of demigod realm beasts, while others would see this as a selfish move from the Death as they got a demigod for themselves but cut away the path for others for that realm.

    Minamoto clan is the former type, and the Elves are the latter type. But, in the end, everyone is out for themselves.

    Since the matter was over, Azzy didn''t dare to speak too much to prolong it anymore and instead changed the topic to leave for the Arena, where various events were arranged for the newly appointed Clan Head.

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    The citizens swiftly rose from their seats and had their hands on their chests; the clan warriors waiting on the ground went down to one of their knees, touching the ground. The subordinate clan leaders stood up. Only the royal guests were found sitting in their chairs.

    After reaching a certain stage, Shadow Corps stopped, and only the Commander escorted Azzy to the seat of Monarch, lying in the center of the VIP section.

    "By your will, we endure. Eternal be your flame"

    "By your will, we endure. Eternal be your flame"

    "By your will, we endure. Eternal be your flame"

    Tens of thousands of citizens of the clan chanted the Death Clan''s salutation to their monarch in sync as Azzy made his way to the throne.

    Once Azzy reached his seat and gestured for them to stop, the arena became silent, and Azzy''s voice echoed the arena, "Thank you, everyone, for your support and loyalty to the throne. The Clan Head has been changed. Naturally, the policies of the clan will also see a change. It will take time for all of you to adjust to the new changes. While I hope you welcome it rather than persistently stick to the old ways, I prefer free will over customary practices. You don''t have to be bound by clan rules, but it is also equally important that every choice you make has a consequence, and you should own up to responsibility for your actions. Keeping this in mind, on the day of my ascension, I''m bringing the first change to the clan village as the Clan Head.

    A new clan shall rise within the village. This specific clan isn''t like the others. This clan will take in every exiled member of various subordinate clans who want to return but can''t do it due to strict punishments or a clan member who doesn''t want to stick to their clan''s traditions but is forced to do so because they were born in that clan, or a descendant born outside the clan but cannot return due to various reasons, or even a clan member who was bullied by the strong but don''t have any means to protect themselves because of the hierarchy within the clan. Their identity and circumstances don''t matter.

    Yes, they may feel like outcasts by the citizens who continue to stay loyal to the clans and their traditions, but that is a consequence they must bear. However, the Palace will ensure a home for every descendant of the clan to return to."

    "Qridus, what is he doing?" Francis, who sat beside the former clan head, couldn''t help but send a complaint of whisper directly to his ears. "He wants people to break their clan traditions? This will cause chaos. And this law mostly seemed like it was aimed at our clan."

    Qridus replied with a simple statement, "Azrael is now the Clan Head, Francis. His will is the will of the clan. Neither you nor I have any say in this anymore. As a friend, the only thing I could do is to give you a way out."

 Chapter 683: Divine lightning bolt of Jupiter and Gaia

    The citizens sitting in the stands have no idea how to react to such an order. More than half of the clan members weren''t warriors. Just like normal people outside, they just farm all day, eat, sleep, and go on...

    Hence, having this free will never bother them in the first place. But, in the other half, more than ninety percent were loyal to the clan. The concept of Free will never existed to them.

    Following the rules of the clan has been ingrained in their body from the moment they were born. They were naturally displeased but couldn''t dare to show it on their faces.

    The remaining 10%, the odd one out of their respective families, welcomed the decision. They couldn''t hide the smile on their faces, as if they had found a ticket to escape the imprisonment.

    The Night Clan and the Blood Clan had some of the strictest rules within the clan. The Silver Clan is known for discipline. As for the Ash Clan, the unique body constitution of the women born in this clan ruled by a Matriarch allows the women to give birth to a pair of fraternal twins for their first delivery, whereas sisters are bound to marry their own male counterpart twins to give birth to another pair of twins. Gredor Crescent is going to inherit the clan leader position from Kylan within a few days, and he doesn''t like Azzy much.

    It goes without saying that most of the clan leaders are against this law.

    Azzy was aware of this truth, too, but still pushed it forth because he knew that they wouldn''t question his decision. Moreover, he isn''t a benevolent leader like his dad, nor is he a dictator like Qridus. Azzy was the type to listen to only those he acknowledged by his personal experience.

    Now, what can they do?

    Azzy smirked inwardly as he took his seat, gesturing the audience to do the same.

    As they sat down without any complaint, the Parade of six clans started.

    Led by their flagbearers on the front, each group paraded in the arena, shouting their clan slogans first before they reached the center of the field, putting up a performance of their clan''s unique techniques.

    The Crescent Clan warriors were too flashy with their sword dances; the Silver Clan warriors were all about spear techniques in a simplistic manner; the Smoke Clan warriors used their alchemy techniques to create beautiful explosions in the sky; and as for the Ash clan, their wind and dust manipulation is something else to experience it.

    More than their performances, Azzy felt impressed with the fact that these clans were all putting in such an effort for him. Not to mention the sudden announcement of his ascension and the lack of preparations for the event.

    The Night Clan''s turn came, and quite surprisingly, Avia was leading the group in an orderly fashion as a flagbearer. Forty-eight clan warriors of the Night Clan, all covered in shadowy forms, reach the center of the field after their round of parade. All of them are in the 7-star realm except for Avia, who is in the 8-star realm, showcasing the clan''s strength not just to Azzy but also to the others.

    They soon changed their positions. With Avia standing as a center, a series of concentric circular formations formed around her. The warriors in one circular formation were moving in a clockwise direction while their adjacent formations had a counterclockwise motion. It gave an illusion of a spiral movement.

    As Azzy was wondering about their following act, Avia raised the flag higher and shouted, "Invincible Spiral of Eternity, activate."

    Cylindrical beams of dark energy shot up toward the sky, forming a five-layered barrier around all of them.

    "Oh!!!"

    A collective acclaim of surprise was let out by the audience, making Azzy lean to the front of the seat and observe it closely, "Hmm... interesting technique but weak." He thought.

    Qridus commented with a nod, "The Night Clan surely lives up to its expectations."

    He put his hand behind his back like an expert and returned to his seat.

    "Your Majesty, this formation has five sets of barriers. Even Clan Leader Blood can only destroy one of the barriers. As long as you can destroy two of these barriers, the doubts in every clansman will be dispelled. I request you to display your full strength to open the eyes of ignorants."

    At once, the clan leaders and their respective clan elders'' gaze shifted to Azzy, who was calmly staring at the barrier in silence.

    The entire stadium also fell into silence.

    "Azrael..." Qridus patted his shoulder after waiting for about ten seconds of silence. "This barrier is nothing to you, I''m sure about it." He said.

    Azzy replied, "Nothing, I was just wondering whether I should just control my strength to save her face or just go all out to instill fear in everyone."

    "You should..."

    Before Qridus could give his reply, Azzy waved his hand, "Never mind. I know what to do."

    Sitting on his throne, he raised his hand slightly and pointed his index finger at the barrier. Sparks of Jupiter''s lightning mixed with translucent natural energy emerged from the tips of his index finger before shooting out a bolt of lightning.

    The Lightning bolt swooshed through the air and struck the barrier before anyone even blinked their eyes.

    Once the barrier was struck, the lightning bolt expanded to release a torrent of lightning currents within the arena, temporarily blinding the eyes of the spectators.

    A couple of seconds later, the entire barrier disappeared, leaving behind unconscious warriors of the Night Clan in their human forms. Avia, who is the only one with consciousness, was seen standing in her place; her entire body was shivering with sparks of lightning attacking her body, and her gaze of fear was placed on Azzy, "The innermost barrier around me was supposed to block even an attack from the demigod. Impossible. Did our books lie?"

    *Thud*

    She, too, fell to the ground eventually.

    Azzy casually shifted his position to leaning to the side and keeping his elbow on the armrest and his chin on his fist, "Well, I guess that went well."

    Qridus: "Seriously?"

    Clan Leaders: "This power..."

    Audience: "..."

    Fujiwara Shuichi: "Hikari-chan, You know what. I changed my mind."

    Neymeryn Searvale: "This is the power of a god. An apostle of Zeus?"

 Chapter 684: The first clan meeting under Azzys rule (part-1)

    On the same evening, the very first official assembly was called out by Azzy; the clan leaders answered the summons and reached the Garcia Palace within no time.

    The first to arrive was the Night Clan''s new leader, Avia Night, despite having her home the farthest. Perhaps, it is the unique relationship they had or it might be because he gained her acknowledgment by soundly defeating her earlier in the Arena. Nevertheless, she responded the fastest, proving her loyalty to the throne.

    When she arrived at the throne hall, she saw the new Clan Head was already there, waiting for them.

    But, it isn''t his early arrival caught her by surprise. It was the presence of someone else.

    She saw little Affea sitting beside Azzy, having snacks and chatting with her brother with all smiles.

    Her presence interrupted their chat, and Azzy gave her the nod of acknowledgment, wiping off that earlier laugh he had on his face. "You are here, Clan Leader Avia."

    Avia steadily walked forward and stopped at the center of the room, going down onto one of her knees with the fist on her chest, "Your Majesty."

    "Arise."

    As she got up and stood to the side, Azzy suddenly asked, "Did you appoint your successor for the position of the new presiding Judge?"

    Avia calmly reacted to his question, "Not Yet, Your Majesty. But I have made a shortlist. The job will be done by tomorrow noon."

    Azzy replied, "No, scarp off that list."

    "Huh? Your Majesty?" Avia abruptly raised her head to look at Azzy in surprise. The latter spoke, "You shall continue as the Judge." .net

    "Will? What is will?" Affea turned curious.

    It was then Avia suddenly realized that Affea was only four years old. "Eh? Will?"

    Azzy couldn''t help but grin inwardly, enjoying the scene. At her age, Affea had a lot of questions to ask and it is not easy for adults to patiently explain everything the four-year-old kids in a way they understand.

    Usually, the adults would give a straight answer for that, but the kids don''t understand it properly, giving rise to more questions from them. It is why parents at that age would want their kids to spend their time more on playing.

    "You see... will is something that..." Avia was about to explain it in a way that the little girl would understand the concept of will but they were interrupted by the arrival of another clan leader, representing the Ash Clan.

    Surprisingly, it wasn''t the old clan leader. It was the young woman, whom Azzy was quite familiar with, someone he knew from the past timeline but never met during these past few years of his stay in the clan. He was quite surprised at first, seeing her white hair, as the last he saw her, it wasn''t white.

    The white-haired woman gracefully walked to the center of the room and greeted Azzy, just like Avia, although at a slow pace and quite elegantly, "Irene Ash greets the Clan Head. Lady Demure has passed her position to me this noon, Your Majesty."

    "Arise, Clan Leader Irene."

    Irene had no memories of meeting him in the Champions League. Hence, he acted as if he was meeting her for the first time, asking her, "I heard that you have been under Close door training for many years to break through into the legendary realm, but I see that you are still at the peak stage of Exalt realm. Why did Demure appoint you as her successor when you should be focused on your breakthrough."

    "Uhh... this..." Irene couldn''t see him directly in the eyes. She averted her gaze instead and answered slowly, "Your Majesty, after a meeting among the clan elders, it has been decided that the clan will pour all the resources into Lady Demure''s close-door training to the Supreme Realm."

    "Chuckee... this auntie is lying..." Affea suddenly made a comment; her voice was loud and clear, taking all three of them by surprise.

    "Huh?"

 Chapter 685: The first clan meeting under Azzys rule (part-2)

    Avia intensely observed the little girl because of her comment. She fell into deep thinking.

    Irene, who was taken aback, couldn''t help but raise her head to look at Affea. "That''s not true..."

    Azzy, who was also surprised, had his attention on Irene, who was panicked for a moment. He sensed the change in Irene''s voice and her heartbeat spiked up for a moment.

    Before that, he focused on his little sister, "Affy, what do you mean by she''s lying?"

    Affea innocently replied, "I don''t know. I can just tell."

    "Chronos?" Azzy called out to the Reaper immediately, in his mind.

    The Reaper replied swiftly, "You have to wait until her awakening to find the answers."

    Azzy put away his thoughts about it and focused on Irene, "Explain." His gaze turned colder on purpose, showcasing that he was displeased with her behavior.

    Irene hung her head down in silence.

    "Irene..." Azzy shouted. She shuddered at his shout but didn''t open her mouth.

    Is it because he was worried whether Blood Clan would try to take over the village during his absence in the future? Francis couldn''t help but wonder.

    He objected to it, almost shouting emotionally, with his scarlet aura of Blood forming a layer over his skin, "Your Majesty, while all of that is true, our clan has been loyal to the throne since our inception. There have been cases in which several warriors emerged from other clans that challenged the Garcia family''s authority, and some even rebelled against the throne. But there haven''t been any instances when any member of my clan did that. We are exempted from holding any duty, but we have sacrificed hundreds of elites to protect the Death Clan''s honor and saved the teams from other clans countless times whenever they found themselves in trouble. Even Sasha, my promising descendant, a legendary realm Arcana Master, has lost her life because of the situation she has nothing to do with it. Yet, we never blamed you for it, and neither did we ask for any justice. Are you repaying our loyalty with the expulsion, Lord Garcia?"

    Francis'' emotional words literally shook the souls of the clan leaders present in the room. They could sense how Francis felt betrayed by Azzy. Of course, the majority of its part has to do with the vibrations sent by the voice itself, which didn''t affect Azzy''s body a bit. For some weird reason, Affea was also not affected. She was only enjoying the scene, tossing out another puff of corn in her mouth, as if she was watching a play.

    Azzy kept his composure and calmly stared at Francis for a while.

    Ares Silver stepped forward in support of the 8000-year-old man, "Your Majesty, we had our differences, but we have been coexisting with each other for fifty millennia. There is no need to disrupt the balance right now."

    "I second that, Your Majesty," Smoke Clan leader also joined them. "Your Majesty has already brought a big change, by announcing a new clan for the ones that don''t like to stick with the clan rules and for the ones that have been expelled. While it is understandable that new policies will come into notion whenever the clan head changes, too many changes right from the start will bring nothing but instability. Please think about it, Your Majesty."

    Trying to pressure Azzy even more, Gredor Crescent took this opportunity to join the three of them as he could not let Francis leave the clan and let the Night Clan gain tremendous power, "Your Majesty, Blood Clan''s presence in the clan has also indirectly stopped many civil wars in the past. Please think about it once again, Your Majesty."

    He cast a side-long glance at the ladies, but Avia has been nonresponsive. She stood straight and was clearly not interested in joining them, while Irene was in her own world, with her head hung down.

    Regardless, four of the six clan leaders were against Azzy. Gredor wondered what would Azzy do now.

    However, Azzy calmly said, "Let me ask you a simple question, Clan Leaders. If I''m going to bring in another clan, a strong clan that has no blood ties with us, and give them the special benefits that Blood Clan is receiving at the moment, would you welcome the decision or not? If you are going to say Yes, okay, we will not talk about this matter anymore. If your answer is No, then, step aside and go back to your positions."

 Chapter 686: Francis Bloods response

    The clan leaders were forced to go back to their positions as they would rather let him kick out a neutral Blood Clan than allow another clan to enter the village.

    As Francis Blood remained in his spot, Azzy said to him, "You have two days to decide, Lord Francis. Either you let your clan forget those special benefits and only enjoy the same level of autonomy as the other clans, or detach your relationship with our clan completely. As I promised earlier, I won''t take away the home you have developed for several millennia. Whatever lands your clan was allotted by my ancestors, they were yours for eternity. I would merely cut it off from our clan village and place it in a separate pocket dimension. Now, you may return and discuss your clan''s future with your clansmen."

    Francis clenched his fists tightly with a reddened face, but he controlled his anger and bowed to Azzy, walking away from the palace. He then stormed to his clan in rage.

    Meanwhile, the excitement in Affea''s oval eyes only glowed further as she clapped, "That was awesome, Chuckee. You scared off that grandpa."

    Azzy let out a smile as he ruffled her hair, "I didn''t scare him, Affy. I gave him a choice that our predecessors never dared to give his predecessors in the past. Now, whatever happens, it is on him."

    Clan leaders: "... "

    Azzy then shifted his gaze to the silent subordinate clan leaders, "Anyways, I have something to tell you all. I intend to create a division other than Shadow Corps that serves directly under the throne. However, unlike the Shadow Corps, this new elite corps won''t interfere in clan affairs. Instead, they will focus on matters in the Arcana world, making sure to keep an eye on powerful organizations. I need you all to submit your recommendations in 24 hours. The qualifications are that the warrior should be at least 12 years old but not greater than 500 years old, be 5-star rank or higher, have a gold grade or higher ranked Arcana spirit, and most importantly, their loyalty toward the throne should be greater than their own clan."

    Clan leaders: "..."

    All of them couldn''t help but glance at each other''s faces, not knowing how to react to the order. But one thing has become clear for all of them. The clan is expected to go through tremendous changes under Azzy''s rule, and change is something that these clans are definitely not comfortable with.

    But then again, they can''t object to Azzy''s order. Not that they are afraid to state their opinions. It is because they don''t see any major demerits to this new policy.

    "The Night Clan has been the watchdog of the Garcia family for a hundred thousand years. Everyone in the village knows that. It is obvious that the young Clan Head wouldn''t suspect Clan Leader Yashna."

    "Even so, have we ever rebelled against the throne in the past? So, why would he feel threatened by the Blood Clan?"

    "Wait a second. A while ago, didn''t the former Clan Head give us the option to become a hidden clan, which we rejected on a majority vote? Perhaps, he was trying to force us to accept the offer?"

    "Or maybe the Night Clan is behind this. Even before her breakthrough, Clan Leader Yashna was always against the Patriarch. Now that she has realized our Patriarch is stronger than her, she probably manipulated him to make a decision against us."

    "Silence..." The Grand Elder stopped the Elders, who started voicing their opinions and arguing amongst themselves, "Patriarch, what is our decision?" he asked their clan leader.

    "We are ready to go to war if the Patriarch wills it," said one of the elders. The others nodded in agreement. "Blood Clan''s dignity cannot be tarnished by a kid who hasn''t even grown facial hair properly."

    Francis shook his head firmly, "We do no such thing. Using force against someone like him is like throwing eggs against a wall. We will be broken in the end. We have to act smart. If he wants to use his authority and strength against us, we have to use our brains against him." Letting out a smirk with an idea popped up in his head, he added, "And we will do just that. We''ll make him understand that if he tries to take our head, we will make sure he will be left with no limbs."

    "What are your orders, patriarch?" Asked the Grand Elder.

    Francis Blood replied, "Grand Elder Alf, I need you to go to the treasury and retrieve some blood orbs."

    "Elders, we are going to have a banquet in a couple of hours. I need everyone to get ready to work. We don''t have much time. And fetch that brat right now."

 Chapter 687: The Blood Clans history

    A couple of hours later, the leaders and elders of the Crescent Clan, Smoke Clan, and Silver Clan were invited to a banquet at the Blood Clan compound; the occasion was the sudden breakthrough of Remia Blood''s soul realm.

    While the timing was awfully bad, the fact is that the Blood Clan has now seen the emergence of a second 9-star Arcana Master, which indeed calls for a celebration worth inviting every clan in the village.

    However, it is only after these three clan heads arrive at the banquet that they realize that the Ash Clan, Night Clan, as well as Azzy, weren''t invited to this event at all.

    Gredor was already on the side of the Blood Clan. Hence, he didn''t feel awkward at all. Even more, his support for them only grew further in his mind as well as in his heart.

    However, for the other two, it was a complicated situation. They could guess his intentions, probably support his clan, and go against the throne, but on the other hand, there is an 18-year-old Supreme Being who will surely become a demigod in the near future. Getting into Azzy''s good graces will ensure their clan''s prosperity for many thousands of years to come.

    Suddenly, they felt like they were walking on a tightrope tied to two mountains.

    As the elders and the invited elite warriors of their respective clans were busy enjoying the delicacies and dance events, the three clan leaders had a private meeting with Francis Blood in his study room, which was equipped with a noise-canceling barrier.

    Gredor Crescent, Harvard Smoke, and Ares Silver were handed a silver jewelry box by a servant as they took their seats.

    Gredor was the first to open it and found a scarlet-sized pill resting on a soft cushion in the box. "This..." His eyes widened in surprise. "So much spirit energy..." The others followed suit and had similar reactions.

    Francis crossed his arms and said, "They are blood orbs, which we collect from our deceased clansmen. The ones you have belonged to peak-stage Exalt realm experts, which will raise the chances of a breakthrough by at least 50% for an Exalt realm Arcana Master and around 10% for a legendary realm Arcana Master. Consider these my gifts to you all."

    Ares observed the pill between his fingertips as he raised it to his eyesight. "I''m sure Clan Leader Francis wouldn''t give us such treasures for nothing. What do we have to do in return? Let me say this in advance: our Silver Clan won''t support you if you intend to rebel. If anything, we will go against you." He placed it back in the box and shut it firmly. Harvard Smoke and Gredor cast sidelong glances at Ares and then looked at Francis.

    Francis Blood didn''t get angry or feel offended by Ares'' comment. Instead, he calmly replied, "I don''t intend to do that either. I''m not foolish. I witnessed Azrael''s strength with my own eyes. Even if all the clans unite to fight against him, they will all be soundly defeated."

    "Huh? Is he that strong?" Gredor felt a tremor in his soul, thinking about how he was trying to scheme against Azzy. Continue your saga on m|v-l''e -novelhall.net

    Francis continued, "I merely want you all to write a petition."

    "Petition?" The clan leaders glanced at each other in wonder.

    "I accidentally got my hands on this a long time ago. At first, I thought it was merely a history book that recorded our clan''s history but recently, I have learned that it is much more than that. When its user had a doubt about his clan, a record that linked to his doubts would automatically appear randomly in the book. I think it is linked to the timeline somehow. Anyway, according to the Book, fifty millennia ago, in the fifth epoch, back when werewolves were created by experiments, the Blood Clan isn''t actually a clan in the first place. It was actually just one individual, a demigod afflicted with the curse of sunlight and sometimes, an uncontrollable urge for bloodlust. Due to this curse, he locked himself in the crypt of his castle.

    His daughter would come down to him to talk atleast once a day and that piece of conversation would actually suppress his bloodlust for the entire day.

    One day, his daughter doesn''t come to visit him. One day turned into two days, then, a week, and eventually a month.

    The demigod grew worried and impatient. He got out of his own crypt, only to find out that his family was killed by the onslaught of werewolves along with the villagers around.

    The demigod was enraged and he started hunting down the werewolves but they were too many and scattered across the continent. Not to mention, he cannot go out in the morning either. So, he started infecting the humans to turn them into vampires and make his own army.

    The werewolves were out, and he had peace, but the vampires he created became a menace to society as he never expected them to lose their control over the beings they had infected. The hidden clans acted. They worked together with Abel Tower and other organizations to hunt them down.

    Feeling responsible for his own act, the demigod eventually made a deal with our former Clan Head, Zyga Garcia, to have a place for the first-generation vampires in our clan to protect them from persecution.

    Over the years, vampires disappeared and became a myth, in both the outside world and here too. This is why the Blood clan can never let themselves have offspring with outsiders. Perhaps, even the current generation of Blood Clan probably has no idea about their own history. Or atleast, the branch family members."

    A long silence filled the room.

    "That''s too much to take, son..." Vesyrn couldn''t help but sigh in disbelief. He never expected the Blood Clan to have such a story. All this while, he thought they were just the clan with the specialization to control Blood.

    Izora, on the other hand, digested the matter quicker, and asked, "But, what''s their history has anything to do with expelling them out."

    Azzy grimly looked at his mother, "Because of the future I have seen this afternoon."

    "Future?"

    "Kekekeke" "Ha ha ha ha"

    A scene came to Azzy''s mind as laughter echoed in his ears where hundreds of vampires caused destruction all over the village burning in flames and laughing crazily. Dead bodies are seen all over the streets.

 Chapter 688: Azzys uno reverse card

    Six Hours earlier;

    The event at the Arena was completed and Azzy was on his way to the palace.

    He was with his family, alongside Qridus, on the flying card.

    Looking down at the crowd rooted in their places and having their gaze upon their clan head filled with awe, fear, and respect, Qridus couldn''t help but let out a smile and comment as he patted Azzy''s shoulder, "Look at them. Whether it is that move of yours against the Night Clan''s invincible formation or your decision to build a home for the exiled clan members who are willing to repent, your clansmen surely look forward to the future you build for them."

    "Future, huh?"

    Qridus'' words brought a desire in Azzy''s heart and he asked the Reaper to help him see the future.

    However, the Reaper firmly rejected it, stating that the future is just one of the possibilities that change with every decision of his in the present. There is a good future and there is also a bad future. And if he wants to fulfill his curiosity, he can see it through his hourglass.

    Azzy summoned his hourglass and unleashed the soul skill, "Precognition," which sees the random future of the target, although it is the one with the highest probability based on the current events.

    His surroundings changed.

    He was standing in the middle of the street filled with dead bodies.

    "Kekekeke" "hahahaha" .net

    Crazy and hysterical laughter could be heard all around as Blood Clan members having pointy ears, pale faces, fangs, and some with wings too, were causing chaos everywhere.

    The Garcia Palace also seemed damaged from far away.

    Before Azzy gets out of his trance, his surroundings change back to normal. He returned to the reality.

    "Azzy..." "Azzy..."

    The servant nodded, "Yes. They are waiting for you at the Throne Hall."

    "Must be here to shield Blood Clan again," mumbled Azzy before jumping down to the ground.

    As he entered the throne hall, not bothered to wash himself or anything for meeting them, Azzy saw three of them standing together with serious-looking faces. Ares Silver had some sort of scroll in his hand.

    "What is it?" Azzy asked, walking toward the throne.

    As Harvard nudged Ares, but the latter didn''t budge a bit, Gredor Crescent took a deep breath, snatched the scroll from Ares, and stepped forward, "This is a formal petition from Crescent, Silver, and Smoke Clans after an intense discussion with our respective elders."

    Azzy didn''t take a look at him or the scroll and calmly climbed the steps, sitting on the throne, "Even if you bring a petition from the remaining two clans also, my decision won''t change. The Blood Clan must either leave or sacrifice their autonomy."

    Gredor tightly gripped the scroll and said, "The Blood Clan has been a loyal subject to the throne for more than fifty thousand years, and they have protected our clans many times. If they leave and then if Your Majesty also leaves the clan to go on a journey, the Death Clan will be subjected to the threats. Hence, we have come to a decision that if Blood Clan leaves, our three clans will leave with them."

    "Hmm..." Azzy frowned at the words he heard from Gredor, "What did you say?"

    As Gredor stepped back in a bit of panic, Harvard Smoke patted Gredor''s shoulders and spoke, "We apologize, but we are representing more than 4/5ths of the population here. If His Majesty is not interested in listening to the will of his people, we have no other choice but to make a new home elsewhere. After all, you are tremendously strong and even if we united, we would never be able to convince you with force."

    Ares, too, steeled his mind and stepped forward, although not intending to look directly at Azzy, as he spoke, "Our Silver Clan is heavily debted to Blood Clan. We cannot abandon them."

    Azzy intently stared at them for a couple of seconds and then leaned back to the headrest, crossing his legs, "Hmm... I heard that Blood Clan held a banquet over the emergence of a second 9-star Arcana master, and you three are invited. And then, overnight, Clan Leader Gredor, who was supposedly at the elementary stage of 6-star rank, made two minor breakthroughs to reach the advanced stage of 7-star rank. I can also sense two additional 7-star ranks in the village too. And here I thought they returned from a mission."

    He took another look at them. The three of them became silent as if they were guilty.

    Five seconds of silence later, Azzy opened his mouth again, "Alright. I accept your petition. Along with the Blood Clan, your three clans can move in with them. But, since you are all voluntarily leaving on your own, you can live in Blood Clan territory or whatever. You won''t be able to claim your lands."

    "What!" "What!" "What!"

    The three of them reacted at the same time.

    Azzy freed his legs and leaned to the edge of the throne, resting his arms on his knees as he coldly gazed at them, "Hand me the petition. Your wish be considered granted. I''ll make the announcement right away. After all, I respect the freedom of choice. But, please do remember that you don''t own the people even if they bear your clan surname. You can take away as many people as you want, as long as they are willing to follow you guys."

 Chapter 689: Inspection of the clans (part-1)

    The three subordinate clan leaders walked out of the palace in great embarrassment; they didn''t give the petition to Azzy, of course, as they were merely trying to threaten him at Francis Blood''s request.

    How would they expect Azzy to be so resolute in his decision that he is willing to kick them out away, too, if they intend to side with the Blood Clan? At the very least, the Blood Clan is getting their lands, but they won''t be getting theirs. Moreover, their clansmen wouldn''t leave the clan village to settle elsewhere. The majority of their folk are simple farmers who have no idea about the outside world. They were actually scared to go outside of the village in the first place.

    While their plan failed and Azzy also promised them that this matter would be deeply buried between themselves, their ego was deeply hurt in the process, and Gredor has now sworn to have revenge on Azzy no matter what.

    But, before that, there was something else he had to do now. That is to go through the account books. Before they leave, Azzy warned them to be prepared for a formal inspection of the clan, and he would deal with them accordingly.

    After sending the message to Francis, Gredor hurried back to the Crescent Clan compound but little did he expect to see Azzy already at the entrance of the clan compound by the time he reached there. The elders gathered around him.

    "Oh, you are here, Lord Crescent. I was waiting for you. You are quite slow," said Azzy as soon as he spotted his distant uncle/first cousin once removed.

    Gredor awkwardly greeted him, "Your Majesty. I apologize for letting you wait. Please come to the mansion and enjoy our hospitality..."

    Azzy shrugged his shoulders, "Nah, I''m not here as your distant nephew, Lord Crescent. I''m here on an official business. Follow me." Amid curious gazes, he glanced at the elders, "You all should too. Lord Kyle, you are retired. You may take rest."

    As his maternal granduncle nodded in understanding, Azzy started walking. The others were forced to follow him.

    Kyle Crescent grabbed Gredor and pulled him to the side, asking him what he had done now that brought Azzy to their doorstep. After all, he knew the party happened the previous day and Gredor''s visit to the palace not so long ago.

    Gredor didn''t reveal it and simply said, "he wants to do a sudden inspection of all the clans. Just let me handle the problem, father."

    "I hope so," Kyle furrowed his brows in seriousness, "there is something off about him for sure."

    "Lord Crescent?" Azzy''s voice then heard from a distance and Gredor rushed at the group.

    *Tap*

    The Elder lost the grip on his teacup, which fell to the floor and broke into pieces, "there are too many farmers working in the fields, Your Majesty, and land per farmer is getting lesser each year. Raising their wages would put a dent in the clan''s treasury. Meanwhile, the prices of other products are also being raised by other clans every year. So..."

    Azzy glanced at the steward of the mansion, "Go and fetch a farmer."

    In a minute, the steward of rank 6 returned with a farmer who was rather wearing good clothes. The latter looked quite afraid.

    Azzy questioned him in rather a soft tone, "What is your name?"

    The farmer looked a bit surprised but still answered nervously, "It''s Al... Alcaraz, Your Majesty."

    "Okay, Mr. Alcaraz, how much do you earn per week?" Azzy asked, crossing his arms.

    The farmer nervously glanced at the elders and then at the steward who squinted his eyes and gave a subtle nod as if he gestured something. "It''s 30 necra shards per week, Your Majesty."

    "30 necra shards, huh... wow..." Azzy started clapping as he got up from the seat. As the elders followed suit, Azzy''s voice turned colder as he said, "At the moment, hundred necra shards is equivalent to 1 clan merit here and 12 credits in the outside world. To get a temporary village pass for 24 hours, the normal citizens that aren''t associated with any pavilions would need to pay 1 clan merit at the Merit shop. And we need to pay 250 credits for one-way travel to the Arcana world.

    Here is a citizen of one of the strongest clans in the entire world, who seems to be in better condition than 80% of his fellow farmers of the village and yet could only afford to make one trip to Arcana world for one entire fuc*ing week."

    Azzy clenched his fists tightly, trying to control his raging soul energy inside his body. He suppressed it with his sheer will but stared coldly at the clan lord, "Gredor Crescent, I''m giving you four days to come up with a solution to reform your clan''s policies and improve the conditions of your clansmen. And I''m not merely talking about farmers. I''m also talking about the warriors too. If you fail to accomplish this task, the Garcia Palace will strip you and your elder council''s powers over your clansmen, enforcing the Monarch''s rule on the Crescent Clan."

    "This..."

    "Monarch''s rule?"

 Chapter 690: Inspection of the Clans (part-2)

    Leaving the Crescent Clan in absolute chaos, Azzy went straight to the Night Clan, without even informing them in advance.

    While it seemed like a sudden visit, he received a warm welcome from the Night Clan, for they had already anticipated his visit. After all, the clan of assassins had their eyes everywhere in the village. The Night Clan elders knew what transpired in the Crescent Clan a while ago and they were fully prepared to be inspected, with nothing to hide.

    His former teacher and now subordinate, Avia Night, was there with Yashna Night and other elders as they escorted him on a tour of the village.

    Unlike the Crescent Clan compound, where there is a clear, stark gap between the wealthy and the poor, the Night Clan compound almost has similarly-looking wooden houses, although the environment feels a bit eerie here. There''s mist everywhere, making the houses partially visible to the naked eye. The residences also looked quite similar to each other, making one confused about whose house was whose.

    Avia Night also personally explained on what basis their clan compound is divided into different sectors and all.

    The Night Clan is one of the lowly populated clans in the village, with about 5668 overall population, out of which more than 1800 were currently stationed in the outside world, spread all over the continent and doing their missions.

    Of the remaining, three thousand were normal citizens, with their respective spouses or parents working for the clan.

    Those with strength work as laborers, blacksmiths, carpenters, and butchers and do all kinds of odd jobs required in the village, and those who are too old, too young, or too weak, can only help out with housework and depend on the breadwinners of the family.

    The ones with no families or no one to depend on were funded by the main family''s trust department, which impressed Azzy more than anything. But then again, it is the clan of assassins. They are in the line of work when they can lose their life or, worse, their limbs at any time. So, the main family has been looking after its clansmen for several millennia. Moreover, assassins get paid handsomely. They don''t just do the job posted in the mission hall. They do private jobs too. Azzy had no issues with that either.

    However, the stubborn former clan lord, Yashna Night, didn''t hesitate to object to his suggestion, "I''m thankful for your suggestion but we cannot accept the changes."

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    Azzy''s face was hardened by her firm rejection, "Fine, but you won''t say no if I ask you to send the copies of all of your Night Clan techniques to the palace, right? Not just your clan. I intend to collect the techniques from all the clans and intend to give them to the forsaken clan individuals on a merit basis."

    Azzy''s reply, this time, surprised them instead. Yashna was about to reject once again, but Avia beat her to it and said, "The Night Clan is the subject of Your Majesty. Whatever we had is for yours to take. But, can we get a promise from His Majesty that the contents of our clan techniques will not be revealed to the outsiders?"

    "No, I cannot promise that," Azzy shook his head, bringing a frown to both the ladies. But then, after a brief pause, he added, "However, I can promise you that you can put a restriction on a couple of your secret techniques that require the consent of your clan Matriarch before I can share them with others."

    "Well, I suppose, it will be our choice to select which secret techniques to put the restrictions on, Your Majesty?"

    Azzy raised his thumb, index, and middle finger in response, "Not more than three. And you can withhold the most important technique of your clan for yourselves. I cannot compromise more than this."

    Meanwhile, in the Blood Clan compound;

    Francis Blood and the elders were once again gathered for a meeting, discussing the events that occurred since the waking hours.

    In the end, Francis made the decision, announcing it to the elders, "Alright. It''s better to leave rather than lower ourselves to be mixed with outsiders. I''ll go and have a chat with the young clan head to secure our future."

 Chapter 691: Azzys protective instinct

    Azzy left the Night Clan to visit the next one without any specific one in his mind. But, before he was about to leave, he remembered the disciple he had taken in but never taught her anything so far.

    He inquired about her whereabouts with Avia and went to the Red Pavilion, where the girl was training.

    Emma Night was in the middle of sparring with some boy Azzy didn''t recognize. More than sparring, he was just taking the blows and Emma was attacking him left and right at high speeds.

    As Azzy arrived there with the Assistant Pavilion Master who is currently presiding over Red Pavilion as an interim Pavilion Master, Emma halted her movements just as she was about to strike his armor once again, but couldn''t exactly put an instant break and collided with the guy.

    The guy didn''t budge a little bit. She hit him and fell on her butt. "Ugh..."

    Azzy walked to them in steady steps; the guy went down to one of his knees and greeted him with his sword pierced into the floor like a knight, "Your Majesty." Emma hurriedly followed the suit and did the same.

    Azzy didn''t respond to his greeting immediately and silently walked forward. The guy started being all nervous as Azzy walked toward him without an emotionless face. He couldn''t help but wonder whether it was because of Emma. Yet, he was still rooted in his spot, continuing to kneel on one of his knees, although they were uncontrollably shaking. Not just him, but even the acting pavilion master couldn''t help but slightly panic. According to his knowledge, the new clan leader''s personality changed a lot from when he was a pavilion master and the clan heir.

    Upon reaching him, Azzy looked down at him and finally opened his mouth, "Your name?"

    "Jo... Joseph Silver, Your Majesty," replied the young man.

    Azzy said, "What are you doing in this pavilion, Joseph? This is more of a training ground for the children, and neither you don''t seem like a ten-year-old kid nor you seem to be in the privileged realms (rank-1, rank-2, and rank-3)."

    "Umm..." Joseph glanced right and left in hesitation and replied, "Emma asked me for the spar."

    Azzy shifted his attention to the girl kneeling not so far away. He cast a sharp glance at her, "Emma? Aren''t you allotted to the Green Pavilion? Why are you here?"

    "Yes, Your Majesty?"

    "How well do you know Emma?" He asked him, squinting his eyes. Maybe, it is because he had already accepted Emma as his own family. A bit of protective instinct took over him for the moment.

    Joseph hurriedly shook his head, "we are merely acquainted through Green Pavilion. It has only been a couple of days. She was uhhh... having trouble because no one was willing to be her sparring partner as they were worried about hurting her and offending His Majesty. So, I volunteered to act as her sparring partner. Since I was born with a robust physique, I thought I was suitable for it."

    "You have been acquainted for only two days and yet, she addresses you with a short name? It''s not even a first-name basis and neither you are in the same age group as her." Azzy''s tone slightly changed a bit. He couldn''t help but suspect the man''s intentions.

    "Umm... um... it''s a misunderstanding. She reminds me of my niece, who was studying at Freyles Academy," Joseph was sweating so badly at the moment that he wished to jump into the lake right away.

    Azzy became calmer at his response and merely nodded, "It is fine, then. Rise."

    As he slowly rose to his feet, Azzy raised his hand and summoned his storage card. He took out a rank-6 armor and tossed it to him. As the Elite realm expert caught it in reflex, Azzy said, "I saw that your rank-4 armor wasn''t in good condition. It also had a lot of scratches, probably that came from a sword blade. Anyway, despite not being closely related, you still looked after my disciple for the past couple of days. Consider this a reward. "

    Joseph kneeled again, stretching his arms forward as he carried the titanium-steel armor, "Your Majesty, I don''t deserve such a reward. I only sparred with her a few times."

    Azzy waved his hand, "when your clan leader is giving something, just take it."

    "Your Majesty is too generous. I promise that I won''t disappoint His Majesty."

    "That''s alright. I''m giving you as a reward for the past deeds; not giving you it for your future deeds. Anyway, with that said, return to Green Pavilion. If you wish, you can go and visit Emma, bidding her goodbye."

    "Eh? Goodbye?"

 Chapter 692: Blood Clans proposal to Gredor Crescent; Trouble at Camelot

    After inspecting the remaining clans, except for the Blood clan since Francis had yet to give a formal answer for the eviction, Azzy returned to the palace to spend time with his family until the evening.

    As the sun set down on the supercontinent back in the material world, Azzy left the clan village alone.

    At Crescent Clan''s Lord residence, Gredor Crescent was seen deeply frustrated while going through the clan account books.

    A tall old man with an 8-star soul realm suddenly appeared before him, alerting him for a second before he recognized him, "Grand Elder Byron? What brings you here? Any message from Lord Francis?"

    The man gave a subtle nod and said, "The Monarch has left, Lord Crescent. Lord Francis wants to meet you right now."

    Gredor got up from his seat with a bit of surprise on his face, "Just in the morning, he started sudden inspections of the clans and giving orders. Without taking any look at the records, he left the village on his adventure already?" He couldn''t hide his smile at the assumption he made.

    Byron Blood frowned in response, "Don''t build castles in the air, Lord Crescent. A hidden clan meeting is coming up this week. He won''t be leaving until then."

    "Oh, I see... So, I guess he is out for something else?"

    "We don''t know his intentions. And we had no idea when he would return either. Before he returns, our current Matriarch wishes to talk to you in person," replied Byron before adding as an afterthought, "personally, I recommend you not to waste time on thinking."

    "No, I don''t intend to think," Gredor Crescent agreed to go with him right away.

    As he gestured for the old man to escort him to the Blood Clan, the latter patted his shoulder instead and covered him with his aura, warning him in a hushed tone, "Don''t resist."

    As Gredor calmed down, both of them instantly disappeared from Gredor''s office and teleported directly to the small pond behind the Blood Clan Leader''s mansion, where Francis was seen fishing with his niece Remia Blood.

    It was the first time Gredor saw the heiress of Blood Clan, who had been missing even before he was born, and he just stared at her in a daze for a couple of seconds as if he had trouble believing that it was her in person.

    Francis patted the empty space beside him and said, "Clan Leader Gredor, won''t you join us for the fishing?"

    "Ah, Yes..." Gredor nodded like a chicken and walked forward to sit beside the former clan leader. He couldn''t help but shoot off his glances at Remia and then look away atleast ten times in a row as he sat down.

    Francis commented, "You must have been surprised to see Remia. She is different from the rumors you have heard, right?"

    Azzy stepped forward, and one of them immediately launched a beam of energy through its eyes.

    The beam of natural energy struck Azzy''s palm as he raised it in time. It was blocked completely.

    Azzy then mumbled, "Vajra, come out."

    The black lightning orb quickly materialized before him, and he ordered, "Trap them."

    *buzzzz* buzzzz*

    The lightning sparks over it grew intense all at once, and in response, the gargoyle statues rushed forward with their weapons.

    Before they even covered half the distance, threads of lightning energy formed something similar to fishing nets and dropped onto them, halting their movements and imprisoning them thereafter.

    Azzy walked past them and entered the Gravity Dome. He instantly felt a huge amount of pressure on his body, almost bending his knees for a few seconds before he pushed out some of his soul energy and formed a layer over his skin, negating the effects of gravity.

    All of a sudden, a familiar-looking sword, covered by divine energy, suddenly came at Azzy with the intent to kill him. Azzy was taken aback at first but still evaded its first attack.

    The sword missed its target and made a U-turn to attack the back of his head.

    Azzy evaded it once again by tilting his head to the side, but this time, just as it missed him, he raised his hand to grab its hilt, stopping its movements by force.

    The sword vibrated a lot, but Azzy firmly held it, "Excalibur... it is me." He called out, but the sword didn''t respond.

    Instead, Leah, who was seen in deep meditation and floating in mid-air, opened her eyes and turned her head to look at him.

    "Leah?" Azzy saw that her pupils were gone, and her eyes had turned yellow and glowing. "Preposterous." An unfamiliar tone escaped her as she stretched her hand. Excalibur released a huge amount of energy, pushing Azzy away with force and escaping his grip.

    As Azzy stabilized his footing and stared at his friend, Excalibur returned to Leah, who brandished it like a whip and said, "You dare disturb my training, human? You will pay for it."

    A frown appeared on Azzy''s face. "Hmm?"

 Chapter 693: Leah vs Azzy

    Leah charged forward with Excalibur and swung at him in a mere fraction of a second, even under 100 times the gravity environment, within the dome.

    Azzy, who was taken aback by her decisiveness, still saw her movements but his body couldn''t dodge in time and was struck by the sword.

    The soul energy that was covering his body like a layer absorbed into the sword as a clean diagonal cut appeared from his chest to the abdomen, and his blood spluttered.

    As Azzy''s eyes widened in shock, at receiving such a heavy blow, Leah''s kick landed on his chest, blasting him away until he crashed onto the wall and fell to the floor.

    *Thud*

    The earlier gravity suppression crushed his body to the floor while his soul energy started rapidly healing the wounds given by Excalibur''s blade.

    Leah didn''t follow up with the attack and simply stood straight with hands crossed behind her, staring at him down like an expert, "Consider this a warning, human, for entering here without my permission. You seemed to have great potential. That''s why I''m sparing you. Now, get lost out of my sight."

    It was then the Reaper''s voice echoed in his head, "I don''t think I should mention it to you, Azrael. You know that wasn''t your friend, Leah."

    Azzy replied in his head, "Yeah, I know. It''s the consciousness of Neptune''s will that is talking. So, basically, it is Neptune who remembered nothing about our battle."

    "Neptune is, however, loyal to Jupiter," commented the Reaper before taking a brief pause and adding a suggestion, "All you need to do is to reveal Jupiter''s divine essence."

    Azzy resolutely replied, "No. I think I would use this opportunity to test my strength."

    "This is one battle you cannot win unless you go for the kill, Azrael," replied the Reaper, further reminding him of Leah''s new powers, "Not only is she now a powerful demigod who had created seven star systems, but she also has the divine essences of Neptune and Pluto. Not to mention the fact that the Jewel of Fire fused with her soul orb. Hence, your hourglass will be ineffective against her. Most importantly, she isn''t currently Leah, who will hold back herself. How do you hope to defeat this opponent without giving your best? And giving your best means you have to go for the kill..."

    Azzy stayed silent without giving any reply to that.

    At the same time, Neptune-possessed Leah was also getting incredibly frustrated, unable to defeat a mortal even with the help of Pluto''s divine essence. Not to mention the fact that Leah''s original spirit was trying her best to block their access to the fire jewel''s powers or her domain ability.

    Leah''s attacks were getting faster and more intense, but Azzy, too, was only focusing on offense.

    For the nth time, he was blasted away and crashed to the walls of the dome. As he got up, Leah grabbed his throat, raising him high, and started pressing him against the wall. Azzy stared directly into her eyes.

    The Reaper then said, "If you want to win this battle, then switch to Tellus." .net

    Azzy firmly rejected the advice, "Chronos, you know that I''m not trying here to win a battle. I''m trying my strength to the max in a way this fight doesn''t turn into a battle. Leah is not my enemy here."

    "And you already know the result. What is there to try?" The Reaper counterargued. He further scolded him, "Just end this meaningless battle. You are only hurting Leah''s soul by letting her stay as an imprisoner for your selfish reasons. Now, stop being a brat and suppress them."

    "But, I haven''t yet shown my full strength." Azzy cut off their connection and returned to reality as his throat was being pressed to the indestructible wall by Leah''s hand.

    With a thought in his head, the crescent-moon-shaped amulet appeared on his neck, and the jewel embedded in it instantly released a torrent of electricity as Leah was momentarily surprised by its appearance.

    Leah pushed away and crashed to the floor. As she got up, Azzy finally let go of the death scythe and summoned the sword of radiance into his hand. Raising it with one of his hands, Azzy poured Gaia''s divine essence into the sword using his left hand, empowering its strength, "Alright. Let''s do this."

    Leah''s face hardened, "First, the jewel of life, then, the jewel of lightning, and now, the sword of radiance? This mortal surely is an offspring of one of those damned Olympians. Only they are brashed enough to do such deeds..."

    At that thought, Neptune and Pluto''s hatred for Olympian gods thickened their aura to the extreme. Leah tightly grabbed the Excalibur, which was brimming with the aura of darkness, "Die." She charged forward. Azzy did the same.

    Both of theirs clashed, unleashing a huge amount of energy and a blinding flash of light.

    *Boom*

 Chapter 694: Jupiter Transformation; Gideon at Moon Clan

    *Boom*

    A huge explosion occurred as the two swords collided, and Azzy was thrown aback as a result.

    But, before he could control his path in mid-air, Leah reached him and struck him with her palm, releasing the combined strength of Nepute and Pluto''s divine essences in the form of a concentrated beam.

    Azzy, who was struck head-on, had a hole in his chest as he flew out of the dome and flew away. "Master..." While Vajra hurriedly rushed to his rescue and grabbed him with ropes of lightning energy, Azzy''s injury was healed as always, but he had a dazed look on his face instead, "I lost..."

    "You yourself knew very well that you can only show your full potential in a battle of life and death, not in a fight with a superior opponent, Azrael," The Reaper''s words echoed in his ears but Azzy''s mind was only occupied with one thing. "I lost even with the sword of radiance? I?"

    The Reaper''s voice then echoed in his head, "Let me give you a glimpse of what you can do with Jupiter''s powers, Azrael. Just be a spectator and watch."

    Following those words, A buzz was heard all over his body for a moment before his eyes suddenly turned blue with no visible pupils. Sparks of bluish-white lightning appeared over his skin. His veins came out, his muscles all over his body bulged, and his hair grew longer.

    As Leah flew out of the hole she made in the gravity dome, she saw the changes in Azzy. Her eyes widened in surprise, "This essence... it is..."

    "Neptune & Pluto, You dare attack your King? Preposterous." Azzy''s voice turned very deep and reverberated all over the white mountains, releasing electric currents in all directions in anger.

    "Uhhh... My King?" As Leah was stunned for a moment, Azzy disappeared from his position, instantly teleporting to Leah''s side and striking her abdomen with a punch.

    Leah crashed onto the dome, falling inside.

    "Vajra. Come to me..."

    Azzy was about to return to the gravity dome, but the released gargoyle statues blocked his path one more time. However, Azzy charged forward, swinging down the sword in his hands at them, slicing them apart with a huge arc of energy.

    In a dimly lit room that looked more or less like a mini library, Estella was seen reading a book that looked more like a traditional diary. Her face looked quite serious at the moment.

    Her ears perked up for a second as the footsteps were heard outside the room before it was opened slowly and a man in silvery knight armor entered, looking all confident, "Cousin, here you are. I was looking for you all over the castle. You even blocked communication cards..." He called out to her.

    Estella didn''t raise her head and plainly replied, "Get out Ajax. I''m not in a mood to spar with you."

    "Reading that diary of your so-called past life again?" Ajax said in a sarcastic tone. "Anyway, your ex-boyfriend is here to visit you."

    Estella asked without raising her head and continuing to read as if it didn''t affect her a bit, "Tell him to leave. I''m busy."

    "Well..." Ajax paused for a moment and said, "In the case of your denial to meet him, Aunt told me to pass you a message that she was willing to have second thoughts about her initial thoughts. Even the Matriarch seems to be willing to accept the marriage proposal as long as you agree."

    "What?" Estella abruptly raised his head to look at her cousin. More than surprised, her face only got more serious, "Did he talk about our marriage with my mother and Matriarch?" She couldn''t help but ask.

    Ajax gave a subtle nod, "Among other things like blaming them for breaking you two, trying to use you as a pawn to cement a strong relationship with the Death Clan, convincing them by how he is a better choice as a groom, how he is willing to live in the moon clan, etc. The Grand Elder became angry at him but was defeated with ease. The matriarch was quite impressed by his strength. Why didn''t you say that he is a Supreme realm Arcana master?"

    *Tap* .net

    She shut the diary in force and asked, "Where is he?"

    "At the royal guest chambers," Ajax answered with a stiffened face.

    Carrying a diary in her hands, as the doll princess of Moon Clan walked past her cousin, the latter heard her muttering her breath, "Fine... since that shameless bastard came to my doorstep to trouble me, I will break his heart and soul..."

    Ajax: "..."

 Chapter 695: The Reapers offer to Neptune; Gideons determination for power

    At the guest chambers of the Moon Castle, Gideon was walking back and forth in nervousness. His heart rate was quite unstable at the moment, repeating the lines he had prepared in his head in case Estella asked about his marriage with Zora.

    The Moon Clan Elders never pointed it out. So, he isn''t sure whether they knew it or not. After all, it wasn''t any secret wedding.

    However, he got to be real with his love. So, he plans to reveal it to her. He was also prepared with all kinds of reactions he could expect from her based on her personality.

    Eventually, he saw Estella in his sight on the other side of the door. Gideon couldn''t help but rush toward her.

    Just as he neared her, as if Estella thought he was going to hug her, she raised her hand, gesturing him to stop. She then walked past him and walked into the room, calmly sitting on the sofa and gesturing him to do the same.

    As he sat opposite her, Estella looked straight at him coldly and said, "State your business, Gideon."

    "I... uhh... I''m here... I''m here to meet you," Gideon replied in nervousness. Estella responded with a statement, "Okay, you have met me."

    Taking a deep breath, Gideon slowly got up and went down to one of his knees and reached her arms to grab them but she didn''t let him touch them and retreated her arms to cross them to her abdomen, "Estella...Can''t we get back together? Your family also accepted me."

    Estella responded by freeing up her arms and showing him the diary, "Do you know what this is?" She asked.

    Gideon was confused as he looked at it, "A diary? Looks very old..." He observed it curiously for a moment before looking back at her, "Whose?"

    Estella looked back into his eyes and answered, "It belonged to your ancestor, a heiress of Moon Clan who later went on marrying the Garcia family''s head, giving birth to the Crescent Clan. You must know her name."

    "Estella Moon," replied Gideon involuntarily. "You two share the same name." He commented after a brief pause.

    Leah gritted her teeth and questioned, "You are not the mortal that absorbed my King''s powers. Just who are you?"

    "Merely someone who wants his host to reshape the celestial empire filled with corruption and self-centered and selfish Olympians, whose priorities lie in fighting among themselves to get more believers all over the universe, rather than managing it properly."

    The Reaper deactivated Jupiter''s mode, Azzy turned back to his original appearance as he continued, "Last chance as a good sign of faith, Neptune. I''ll say it again. The girl''s soul cannot handle your divine will, and neither could her Arcana spirit. So, I''ll want you submitted to her, and you''ll get your justice. Refuse, and I''ll have no choice but to erase your entire existence. The reason I even bothered to put up with your foolishness is because of two things. One, I want to show my host how much of an idiot he was, thinking that Jupiter''s powers are nothing more than just manipulation of lightning. Two, I want Arthur''s descendant, your host, to be stronger, too, for my host needs powerful allies to fight against Olympians. Your powers will help her go against Poseidon. I can help you fuse with her Arcana spirit instead, serve her as one if you wish to be more independent."

    **

    Back to the Castle at the Moon Clan Village;

    Estella was standing at the entrance of one of the castle gates, watching Gideon fly away above the waters toward the large exit gates at the end. His head was hung down, his speed was slow, and visibly disappointed for sure.

    Estella let out a deep sigh after staring at his back for a while, "well, I guess I got a good closure." After a brief pause, she tilted her head, glancing at her behind, "What do you think, Ajax?"

    The knight armor-wearing behind her, in silence so far, replied with a scoff, "Well, cousin, I must say... your excuse is too lame. Any Arcana Master could reach the Supreme Realm? Only the strongest man in the world is qualified for you? Seriously? Who do you think you are, cousin? Why don''t you go and reach the legendary realm first and then talk about qualifications?"

    Estella squinted her eyes as she turned her head to look at him, "You know what? I think we should spar. Come with me."

    Post hour, the entire training ground of the clan village was filled with nothing but the screams of a man as he was chased around by a Leviathan.

    Meanwhile, Gideon, who was aimlessly flying over the sea in the material world, finally landed on an uninhabited island in the middle of nowhere, mumbling, "Why... why... why... why is that it should be you again that had to make me miserable, Azzy... why... why?" He roared in the end as purple lightning sparks enveloped his body and even his eyes, turning dark violet, destroying everything around himself, "Fine then... Estella, you want me to become the strongest man in the world and I will just do that. I''ll make you feel regret for making a bad choice."

    "Hmm... that''s some willpower, human.." A voice was heard in the surroundings. "I''ll help you."

    "Who?"

 Chapter 696: 321st Hidden Clan meeting (part-1)

    A few days later;

    The Death Clan Village had seen incoming guests on the day of the hidden clan meeting, one after another. It was seen the appearance of the heads of all remaining six hidden clans that were invited for the meeting. Even Valhalla sent their representative in person, after ignoring the meetings for the past six millennia, although it is only the clan heir that attended this event, just like the Kuru Clan.

    As both of their clan heads went into closed-door training, their original clan heirs became interim clan heads, and the ones who visited were interim clan heirs. Still, representatives are representatives. Hence, the hospitality from the subordinate clans of Death Clan were extended towards these two were same as the clan heads who made a visit in person.

    In the noon after lunch, the heads of various hidden clans, some alone and some along with their heirs, were all gathered in the throne hall; an elongated table was arranged with specially made high-backed thrones with unique insignia inscribed on their back, the symbols of each clan. The thrones with Phoenix, Dragon, and Skull were currently empty. The remaining were filled with the heads of hidden clans and their heirs standing behind them.

    For the first minute, there was nothing but silence, but then conversations started among each other.

    Einridi Odinson (Valhalla''s representative): "The new head of Death Clan has some nerve, letting us wait."

    Ayush (Kuru''s representative): "Putting away your clan policy or whatever you might want to call it, You came all the way from your clan village to a hidden clan meeting, that too, a day before as a guest, Lord Odinson. You can afford to wait a few more minutes. The host is supposed to come at the end anyway."

    Einridi Odinson: "Since when did the Kuru Clan put away their pride and become the Garcia family''s lackey?"

    Ayush: "Unlike some other clans, we follow the path of dharma (righteousness). We do what''s right."

    Einridi Odinson: "Is this why your clan once wanted to get out of being guardians? If not for Sun and Dragon Clans weren''t punished, where would your clan be now?"

    Ayush: "Honestly, we didn''t get a majority on passing the resolution of shifting our residence to the material world. It''s not because of the punishment on those selfish clans that betrayed humanity, helping out the invaders."

    Einridi Odinson: "Yeah, whatever."

    Ayush: "Keep that attitude; one day, your Valhalla will face real Ragnarok."

    Einridi Odinson: "You dare to threaten Valhalla, Ayush?"

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    Following the voice, everyone saw a 6ft2in figure standing outside, with an old man on the side; they entered the room together and started walking toward the table.

    In an instant, the clan heads got up one after another, not out of respect for Azzy but for the old man beside him. It was Qridus, who is now a demigod, a realm that deserves such kind of respect from the guests.

    A wave of admiration and a bit of fear could be seen in the eyes of clan heirs standing around; the same goes for Eirindi and Ayush.

    At the same time, they couldn''t help but stare at Azzy too, for his 9-star rank isn''t hidden so that everyone is able to sense it.

    The three clan representatives that are affected by the lightning paralysis couldn''t move an inch as Azzy calmly sat in his seat while Qridus went past them and went on, sitting on the throne, which is usually reserved for the overseer, such as the guardian god, usually. But, in this situation, no one would want to complain either way.

    Taking his seat, Azzy snapped his fingers that had bluish-white lightning sparks dancing around, and the three victims were immediately freed of their paralysis state immediately.

    "What is this, Azrael?" Elyssa Moon, the Moon Clan Matriarch, lost her temper once again, but this time, she didn''t release her aura.

    Before Azzy replied, Qridus Garcia responded with a comment, "That was Lord Garcia for you, Elyssa." His cold gaze and tone sent shivers down the spine of this old woman who lived for thousands of years.

    "Ah, Yes, Lord Garcia... I apologize," Elyssa Moon corrected her attitude right away. The others went speechless for a moment, as to how she behaved earlier and how she was behaving now. It was as if a lioness became a house cat.

    Everyone couldn''t help but wonder whether this was the power of a demigod.

    *Ahem*

    Azzy cleared his throat a bit and reacted to Elyssa''s apology by waving his hands, "It is alright, Lady Moon. I''m friends with Estella. You can call me by first name."

    Estella was momentarily surprised, thinking, "We are? But, I never met him in my life before." She couldn''t help but stare at Azzy with a few gazes falling upon her, "I saw his pictures, but seeing him in person is quite unbelievable. He looks exactly like Azrael from my past life, too."

    As Elyssa didn''t know how to react to it, remembering Estella''s crazy theory of her past life, Azzy shifted his focus to other guests, scanning their realms, and Qridus opened his mouth, "You can discuss whatever personal issues you all have, later in the banquet. First, let''s get this over with."

    Everyone nodded to it and Qridus announced, keeping his arms on the armrest on either side, "With the authority as the interim judge of the round table, I hereby commence the 321st Hidden clan meeting."

 Chapter 697: 321st Hidden Clan meeting (part-2)

    Following the protocol of the meeting, the first to start the introduction should always be the Sun Clan but as the Sun Clan and Dragon clans were currently not in the hidden clan list, they were skipped and the first chance directly went to Elyssa Moon.

    As the one who was humbled earlier, Elyssa was quite embarrassed to go up first but she clenched her fist and rose to her feet, announcing, "Moon Clan''s representative - Elyssa Moon."

    After her, it was the turn of those two troublemakers, quite coincidentally.

    "Representative of Asgardians - Einrid Odinson"

    "Kuru Clan''s Representative - Ayush"

    "Representative of Angels - Ingrid Lefeuvre"

    "Minamoto Clan''s representative - Fujiwara Shuichi"

    "Representative of Elves - Neymeryn Searvale"

    The last to get up from the seat was Azzy, not because he is the host here but because the Death Clan''s introduction always comes at the last. It has been in this same order for the past 320 meetings.

    "Death Clan''s Representative - Azrael Garcia"

    He calmly stated his identity and sat down, and Qridus, the judge, spoke, "As the host of the event, Azrael Garcia, you may speak."

    As a result, the clan representatives, who accepted the invitation and walked through their respective tunnels, all ended up at the edge of the cliff where Azzy was waiting for them.

    They wanted to question him a bit, but all of them just stared down at thousands of skeletal monsters lying around. Hundreds of them have cores and it is not a big deal for these experts to spot them.

    More than numbers, it is the presence of 9-star monsters and some even beyond that realm that terrified them.

    Fujiwara Shuichi gathered his courage and was about to question him but Azzy didn''t make them stay there anymore and snapped his fingers, letting them back to reality within a few seconds.

    And then, his eyes swept all over them as he said, "I believe you have witnessed several special undead monsters in my mindscape. Now, I don''t need to tell you how I acquired this large, powerful, undead army. If you were aware of what''s happening in Arcana world, you would already have found out about the incident. Now, these special undead monsters with cores could be released in the wild whenever I want, in the form of cores and these could be claimed by anyone as they are considered without any owner. Here comes my proposition. For the clans that agree with my earlier propositions, I will present a 9-star core for each agreement.

    And, all four agreements will give you eight whole cores instead, which should be enough for any legendary realm Arcana master with atleast Gold-grade Arcana spirit to enter the Supreme realm with ease. If there are high-potential warriors with platinum-grade Arcana spirits, you might be able to see multiple Supreme realm Arcana masters emerging from your clans. So, who is interested in this open offer?"

    Clan representatives: "..."

    Everyone just went into a trance for a second, as if they had a hard time believing their ears.

    Qridus'' facial expression was frozen. He couldn''t help but stare at Azzy''s back after watching everyone''s instant reactions, "This brat..."

    Silence filled the room for a while. Everyone seemed like they were in deep thought.

    Eventually, subtly shaking his head while sighing inwardly, "I''m not even sure whether to call him thickskinned or arrogant."

 Chapter 698: 321st Hidden Clan meeting (part-3)

    Usually, when something is proposed, the hidden clans would make arguments or participate in discussions, trying to get clarification on the matter of how such implementation of the act will benefit them or the world.

    But, at the moment, all they could think of was that giant undead army they saw in Azzy''s mindscape earlier and Azzy''s promise.

    Azzy also knew how selfish these hidden clans were. They hold themselves on high moral ground, but in the end, all they care about is dominance. WAMO even suspects that some of them actually have secret connections with other civilizations from other star systems, as they have spotted interspace travel from certain locations of Gaia over the past few centuries.

    Azzy doesn''t know their secret, and neither does he care about it. They have greed and appetite to grow stronger; that''s all he needs to know. Hence, he wasn''t that worried about a complete rejection of his propositions and calmly waited in silence.

    And, the ice was broken by the Elf King, after a mere 20 seconds of silence; Neymeryn opened his mouth, stating, "Unlike the humans, the Elves cannot absorb the cores of the wild monsters. So, your so-called bribe doesn''t really help us a bit."

    Azzy''s face twitched for a moment, hearing the first rejection. As he wondered whether the cards he placed on the table might collapse soon after, Neymeryn then said, "We agree with your propositions but on agreeing of our proposition to the Death Clan instead."

    "What is it, King Searvale?" Azzy asked seriously. He couldn''t help but wonder whether this elven king would once again put forth a marriage proposal. As far as he understood about him, this Elven King was quite straightforward and haughty. Hence, he was really worried about what he was going to say.

    Everyone''s eyes were also on Neymeryn. They want to see what kind of deal he would put forth so that they can see Azzy''s limits and they too can put forth their own deals in place of those cores.

    However, Neymyrn put forth an unthinkable proposition that even Qridus never saw it coming.

    "The same thing you proposed for the Sun and Dragon Clans. I propose the merger of our two clan villages to create a small country with two states. The Elves decided to stop living in the past and take the next step. Oh, and also, on a side note, we would like to take responsibility for the Sun Clan."

    "Uhhh..." Azzy was stumped for a moment, and so was Qridus. The latter was clearly about to comment on it, but Azzy beat him to it and said, "Alright. I agree with your proposition."

    "Sit down, Elyssa," Qridus''s voice was heard in the room, and then, suddenly, Elyssa collapsed to her seat, and her soul energy retreated into her body and she went stiff as a robot.

    Everyone couldn''t help but glance at the throne as Qridus said, "If you are representing your clans, then do remember that your actions also represent your clans, too. Only those with observer status (clan heirs) are allowed to state their personal opinions when they are asked.

    Now, let''s get back to the voting process. The Minamoto Clan and the Elves were in favor of the proposition. The Sun and Dragon Clans automatically abstained from voting. Let the voting continue..."

    As soon as his words flew out, the clan heads went to action quickly.

    "Moon Clan agrees to all propositions and accepts the deal proposed by Lord Garcia."

    Once the Moon Clan made its decision, Azzy already had four out of seven votes in favor of his propositions, meaning the others'' opinions weren''t important anymore. Hence, he no longer intended to agree with their special demands too.

    As a result, The Angels and the Kuru Clans were forced to go along with the majority.

    However, Eirindi Odinson was silent. Read latest stories on m_v-l''e|-novelhall.net

    "Odinson, vote your opinion. You are the only one left."

    Einridi: "Well... I reject... all of your nonsensical propositions... We refuse to be a part of it."

    Everyone: "..."

 Chapter 699: Azzys private meetings (part-1)

    After promising that the proposals would come into motion within three years, Azzy ends the hidden clan meeting.

    And, of course, the Sun and Dragon Clans received their pardon, and the new tri-state hidden country will be responsible for keeping them in check.

    The news reached the Blood Clan, and Francis put forth his scheme into motion behind Azzy''s back.

    Meanwhile, Azzy called for a private meeting with the two clan heads that put up rather an interesting but same demand, as if they had discussed it beforehand. Coincidentally, these two are the same ones who personally attended his ascension ceremony and both of them wanted a marriage alliance with the Death Clan.

    He didn''t have a one-on-one meeting with either of them but instead had a direct meeting with two of them with their respective clan heirs involved too.

    As the room was covered by the noise cancellation barrier and everyone sat down with the Elf clan heir, Neymeryn''s cousin seemed to be the one who looked disinterested, Azzy brought up the topic right away.

    The first thing that came out of his mouth as soon as they were seated was, "Alright, be honest, those demands you brought up. Was it done on a whim or a carefully planned thought?"

    A brief silence filled the room before Neymeryn opened his mouth, "To be honest, we were having thoughts about mingling with human society for a while but never knew how to proceed until you claimed that you could actually move the pocket dimensions and even merge them." He then took a pause for a moment and then asked, "Are you sure that you can do it?"

    Azzy gave a subtle nod, "Yes. However, I''m not sure whether it hurt the people if they were inside. So, I recommend that everyone residing in your pocket dimension stay in the material world before I proceed with it. The process will take just as much time as traveling."

    Shuichi then spoke, "Fine, Azrael, since you are hellbent on being straightforward, we''ll do your way. First, I took the decision on the spot after listening to Neymeryn here. Secondly, we actually had another demand but I couldn''t say it aloud in front of other clan heads and shame our clan''s reputation. To be honest, we aren''t interested in those cores at all."

    "Not cores? Then, what is it that you want?" Azzy was curious, although worried about his assumption.

    .net

    Later on;

    After finishing his meetings with the two clan heads without giving any sort of promise to their marriage proposals either, Azzy had another private meeting with the Moon Clan representatives.

    The guests were changed but the topic remained the same.

    Like others, the Moon Clan is also interested in forming a marriage alliance with the Death Clan. The only difference was that previously, they wanted Estella to marry off to his father. He argued with Qridus and got some time to resolve it. He went to Gideon and intended to unite him and Estella.

    How in the world could he expect that Gideon would go on his own and Estella would break up with him for good and she was actually interested in marrying him instead?

    It was quite difficult for Azzy to wrap his head around this matter. Hence, he asked for Elyssa to give him some time alone to talk with Estella.

    After requesting him to knock some sense into her clan heir, Elyssa left the room, leaving the two of them alone.

    Before Estella opened her mouth, Azzy quickly brought up the topic of Gideon.

    Estella was neither perplexed nor flustered about her former love. Instead, she calmly told him the truth that she told Gideon and her family members.

    "So, that is the whole truth, Rael... Azrael."

 Chapter 700: Azzys private meetings (part-2)

    At first, Azzy wanted to rebuke her, agreeing with her clan Matriarch about knocking some sense into this girl who went crazy, but then, as the remnant spirit of the founder added that Estella looked just like his wife, Azzy became speechless for a while and could only tell her that he would think about it, but added that he wasn''t considering due to their alleged past life connection or something. It is because she is the heiress of the Moon Clan.

    Azzy didn''t want to handle this at the moment. It is too complicated for his mind to wrap this up. The ex-girlfriend of his best friend is his wife from his past life? Moreover, she not only remembers her past life but is also now willing to marry him in this life too, and further promising to wait for even a century or two as long as he says yes? He doesn''t know what to make of it.

    The hidden clans are eyeing him like a big apple pie where all of them want a share, and his priorities lie in securing his clan''s protection and reuniting with Claire first before anything else.

    As a part of that, he sent Estella away without giving any closure as Elyssa hoped and went on having another private meeting, this time, with not a guest but a clan lord of his own instead.

    Azzy expected this old vampire would look all broody, accusing him one more time trying to throw Blood Clan away. After all, he just allowed unrelated hidden clans to merge with his. How could he ask Blood Clan to separate themselves now, on the grounds that they aren''t blood-related to Death Clan?

    No, he was worried that Francis Blood would propose a four-state country with the Blood Clan having their own territory and administration. It is the best thing for them.

    Hence, Azzy was all prepared to reveal the truth if he had to send him away. No matter what, he doesn''t want to have the Blood Clan coexist with them due to the future he saw through his precognition soul skill.

    Little did he expect Francis would act all calm and cool as he put another proposition, or more like a statement, taking Azzy by surprise.

    Azzy was slightly taken aback by his choice but he didn''t waver a bit and said, "We''ll see about it, Clan Head Francis. By the way, while scheming behind my back, have you ever wondered why I made so many changes as soon as I got the power? Why was I kicking out Blood Clan using some lame excuse? Why did you think I agreed to let those two clans merge with ours for simple proposals? And what made them think of extending the propositions of merger to me? Both of them were coincidentally the ones that attended my ascension ceremony. What kind of deal do you think I made with them? What do you think my end game was?"

    "Hmm?" Francis'' face stiffened a bit, and Azzy let out a smile, "Enjoy the mystery, Clan Head Francis."

    As the old man left his sight, the Reaper''s words heard in his head, "What was your end game? Please, kid, you don''t have one. You are merely following your instincts and your wishes. Azrael, your bluffs could be easily seen through."

    Azzy replied, "Well, only those who knew me can catch that. A person like him would probably think I have something up my sleeves, don''t you think?"

    "Still, it is beneficial to draw up closure rather than giving stupid ideas to a man like that, Azrael." The Reaper commented.

    "Well, I don''t want him to think that he has won or something."

    "Your wish, Azrael. You take actions, you either harvest the rewards or pay for the consequences..."

    "Anyways, now that I''m done with him, it''s time to meet with my mother-in-law..."

    "Alright, but be careful on what to reveal and what not to reveal..."

 Chapter 701: The exodus

    Ingrid Lefeuvre, the Queen of the Triastal kingdom and representative of Angels residing on Gaia; Azzy met her during the last meeting, too, although they didn''t talk directly as she doesn''t have any memories of him. Instead, he used Leah to enquire about Claire, albeit without any satisfying results.

    This time, he sat before her, expecting a better result.

    Queen Ingrid was hella confused about what this boy wanted to talk about with her. After all, the Angels were considered the weakest of the hidden clans; they don''t interfere in human affairs; the higher bloodline angels quietly stay in their hidden dimension while the lower bloodline ones often do mingle with everyone as normal human people, some hiding their identities as live within Triastal kingdom, close to their Queen, and some without even knowledge of their race, spreading all over the continent.

    With a look of calm interest, she waited for whatever came next.

    Meanwhile, Azzy was also maintaining silence for a while. He was pondering on how to start the subject.

    But in the end, he took a deep breath and spoke, "I want to talk about Claire."

    "My daughter?"

    "Yeah, I''m aware that she is the daughter of Archangel Michael and is now in Silver City."

    Experience new stories on m v|l e''-novelhall.net

    "How did you..."

    "She was my girlfriend when I time-traveled to the past, and she promised me that she would return when she has become a demigod, except that she didn''t."

    "Uhhh... what?" Ingrid sat there, dumbfounded and confused, her jaw practically onto the floor.

    The fact that they only had eight hours to decide made the commoners have different thoughts from the elites.

    In Both clans, The Elders and many Elites joined Gredor and Harvard, over dissatisfaction over Azzy''s new policies. Too many changes within a short time caused them uncomfortable.

    The commoners, who are living on a day-to-day basis, on the other hand, didn''t have much loyalty to their own clans. They don''t think too much about the potential future either way. They don''t know what it will be like in some other place, abandoning their homeland.

    Not to mention, they don''t have trust in their corrupted clan leaders, especially the Crescent Clan farmers. Since the former Clan Head and a few active and a lot of retired clan elders were staying behind, a little over seven thousand of them stayed.

    Smoke Clan, on the other hand, had over fourteen thousand of them stay behind, much to Azzy''s delight. Everyone finally understood why the clan leader Harvard was so down and ashamed. It''s cuz he couldn''t convince his clan.

    Francis Blood looked like he didn''t care much about it and simply ordered everyone to exit the clan village and wait at the Lake.

    A little over thirteen thousand people from other clans and another thousand from the Blood Clan all gathered at the lake, clearly overcrowding the place. Of course, the Night Clan assassins were keeping an eye on them to see how they were going to evacuate. Since it is only a crescent moon with not much light around, people had to use light-emitting skill cards to light up the area.

    Francis and Remia stood in the center as others moved back, giving them space to work.

    Together, they joined their hands, conjuring a giant teleportation seal that covered a wide region, forcing the Night Clan assassins to move away quickly as others got caught up in it.

    As the seal activated, every single member disappeared instantly.

    Gredor saw himself and everyone else appearing in some kind of vast plains, with giant statues everywhere.

    "You are all here on time." A voice was heard in the surroundings before everyone saw the appearance of a 14ft giant that looked completely like a human from top to bottom, wearing a traditional robe with a neat hairstyle and amiable smile like a civilized fellow. He seems to be at the peak stage of the Legendary realm. And it looked like it was morning in this place.

    Amid the gazes mixed with curiousness, fear, and admiration, the mysterious giant snapped his fingers to open a giant door behind him, "Welcome to Odyssea."

 Chapter 702: The aftermath

    Back at the Death Clan, the aftereffect doesn''t seem like a major change has happened, well, atleast for Azzy, as only twenty percent of the clan population when he was looking at like 60% possibility. With a little over fifty thousand citizens of the clan village still living, it gave Azzy a lot of relief.

    He originally intended to give all of them a common surname if their number was too small, but since they were significantly higher, he announced the clan name changes.

    For the Crescent Clan, he gave the option of choosing the surname of Phantom if they wanted a new beginning in the Clan of Forsaken/Phantom Clan, who would be taken care of by the palace and live in the Blood Clan compound with other forsaken warriors.

    Or they can continue to remain in their own clan, which will be renamed Starlight.

    Whatever is left will be divided among themselves but with a new surname of Starlight, although they were allowed to keep their former Crescent surname as a middle name instead as a reminder of their past. His granduncle, the former Crescent Clan leader, who stayed behind, took the temporary reigns of Starlight Clan.

    As for Smoke Clan, the same option was given, and the clan name, as well as their surname, changed to Haze. And Emiya Smoke, now Emiya Smoke Haze, Harvard''s own granddaughter and the clan heir left his side to become the Matriarch of the Haze clan.

    But, still, the mood in the village isn''t good. People are looking depressed, many stores are closed, Patrolling from Silver Clan is quite intense, and Night Clan is everywhere, spying on the villagers.

    A grand banquet was held on the next day to uplift it. The palace chefs worked hard to the bones to make delicacies for the entire village to start a new beginning.

    Of course, he had another meeting with the hidden clan heads, well, except for Einridi Odinson and Ayush, who left as soon as the meeting ended.

    This was an unofficial hidden clan meeting, one that didn''t involve establishing policies or making rules or taking any judgments on the world or anything.

    It was simply a meeting between five clan heads without any clan heirs, discussing their clans'' internal matters that aren''t confidential.

    .net

    Obviously, it goes without saying that everyone is curious about the sudden development of the Death Clan.

    The third option is to be thick-skinned and ask his great-great-grandpa for assistance.

    In the end, Azzy made a trip to the Forbidden Zone of the Arcana world, where Qridus returned after the clan meeting.

    He reached a wooden house built on a little island filled with sand beaches and palm trees, spotting Qridus meditating alone. He sensed three more presences within the house.

    As soon as he stepped on the island, one of them got out. A giant with eyes all over his body got out of the house with his broadsword. He didn''t hide his wariness, brandishing his sword and growling at Azzy, "What are you here for, Azrael?"

    Azzy glanced at Qridus, who was still in meditation, "I came for him."

    Argus rejected it, "The mortal requested us not to let anyone disturb him. Leave."

    Azzy shut his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "I''m really not in a good mood, Argus. This is between me and my predecessor. Just stay out of this matter, and we''ll be cool."

    "Your predecessor is my guest, Azrael." Argus raised the sword and pointed at Azzy; its blade tip was just an inch away from Azzy''s nose. Yet, he didn''t flinch a bit. Argus added with a serious warning, "Don''t think that you can imprison me like last time."

    "Chronos, a little help here."

    "Yeah, I know."

    In an instant, Azzy''s form changed. Flexed muscles, increased height, and long hair, change of eye color, and, of course, increased intensity of bluish-white lightning sparks; there was no surprise that Argus involuntarily stepped with his shivering hands, mumbling, "A true diety?"

    Qridus was forced to open his eyes, and the remaining two also exited the house to watch him.

    Rising slowly in the air, Azzy spoke in his deepened voice, "Do you want to challenge me, Argus?"

 Chapter 703: Azzy vs Argus; Departure.

    Argus and Azzy slowly rose in the air, intending to have a second round of battle. The former was sure that he wouldn''t be captured in that prison again, and the latter intended to test the full potential of Jupiter''s form.

    Qridus was also out of his meditation, but he was also calmly spectating the scene alongside his master and the divine cow, Io.

    The reason?

    Not because he is insensitive to the results of this battle or against Azzy.

    It is because of the wager placed by Argus himself.

    Azzy and Argus fight for ten minutes. If Azzy manages to strike Argus even once in his Deity mode, the latter would not only admit defeat but give away his weapon. But if Argus wins, Azzy will replace Qridus as the guard for the next ten years. In the meantime, Qridus will temporarily manage the clan as he wishes.

    So, whether he wins or loses, the clan''s immediate future is secured, except that his freedom is at stake here.

    Then, why should he take this nonsensical wager?

    Well, Azzy was dead confident about winning. No, the Reaper was one hundred percent confident in winning this challenge. Unlike usual, Jupiter''s transformation can be controlled by both of them at the same time, according to the Reaper.

    Brimming with confidence, Azzy charged forward at his peak speed.

    In an instant, he covered their gap and threw out a punch. Argus swung down the sword at a faster speed and he seemed like he was about to strike Azzy''s shoulder, but then, Azzy''s figure turned out to be a mirage and his sword passed through him while Azzy''s kick appeared behind him.

    Argus, with his reflexes, flew to the side and evaded the kick. But, Azzy didn''t stop it.

    He started throwing punches and kicks while Argus was swinging down his broadsword. Both of them are evading each other attacks and trying to strike down their opponent at the same time without launching any big attacks.

    Since neither has any enmity, atleast at the moment, with the other and both of them surprisingly have the same goal, i.e., proving their superiority over one another and not accidentally destroying the surroundings, they keep their battle simple.

    One minute, two minutes, five minutes, seven minutes, and eventually, the battle entered the ninth minute with no signs of Azzy dominating the battle. Azzy himself also started to get worried about his potential loss as the Reaper refused to get involved but encouraged Azzy to do better, maintaining his stance that he would help him out at the last second.

    Azzy''s concentration was at its highest, and his punches were getting faster as seconds passed by, forcing Argus to eventually go on the defensive and evade them instead. Of course, he was also prepared for any unexpected ambush with lightning attacks.

    But, before he blinked his eyes, something struck him on the chest and he blasted away, crashing into the sea.

    "Argus..." The divine cow beast, Io, panicked in worry.

    Qridus was stunned for a moment as Azzy appeared in Argus'' original place. Devorah''s smile widened, and she gave a nod of approval, "Although incomplete, he managed to bring out the ultimate form, the Titan."

    For a while, Argus didn''t resurface and Azzy went on diving into the sea, bringing an unconscious hundred-eyed giant to the island over his shoulder while carrying the broadsword.

    Leaving the giant broadsword on the ground, Azzy bowed to his ancestor, "Lady Devorah, before I invite you to our clan, there is something I would like to do for you."

    "Seal of Gluttony, unleash."

    A few days later;

    Azzy stood at the exit of the clan village, with his family members, clan lords, pavilion masters, and many other people standing in front of him. Affea was seen asleep, with a trace of tears on her face. Vesyrn was carrying her.

    Summoning the sword of radiance into his hands, Azzy bid his farewell to the ones who came to send off him, "I don''t know how long it takes for me to return, but I''ll try my best to return as quickly as possible. Until then, hang in there."

    "Dad, I leave the clan in your hands."

    "And Mom, I leave Dad and Affy in your hands."

    "Goodbye..."

    As he bid farewell and the gates of the clan village were closed, Azzy let out a deep sigh, taking a glance at the sword, "Alright. Let''s do this."

    He motioned the sword to the sky as if he was piercing it, shouting, "Lux Aeternum, let''s go."

    A beam of light was shot into the sky, which descended back onto Azzy, enveloping him before he disappeared from the place.

    As his eyes recovered the sight, Azzy found himself standing on one of the empty floating islands of a planet filled with nothing but water. Watching at the vast endless ocean, Azzy mumbled in surprise, "Where in the world am I?"

    The sword in his hand then brightly glowed as it spoke, "Welcome to the world of Aquilonis."

 Chapter 704: The world of Aquilonis

    Aquilonis, a world located in the lowest realm of Elysium, inhabits the race of Nephilims, beings that are born from Angels and other races.

    As for the Aquilonis, the floating islands were inhabited by Sky Angels and Primal Angels, Nephilims that are born to Angel and Bird-type monsters, and Angel and Land-type monsters respectively.

    On the other hand, the entire ocean down below is claimed by the Aqua Angels, Nephilims that were born to Angel and Marine-type monsters.

    Upon temporarily fusing with the sword of radiance, Azzy transformed into an Angel, grew up with six pairs of white feathery wings, a floating halo above his head, glowing eyes, and carried his plasma scythe.

    In his angelic form, he flew above the floating islands, searching for an abundance of life, like a big town or a city. He ignored the small villages on the way, considering they wouldn''t be of any use to him for his mission.

    According to Lux, the best way to go to the Silver City is by going through world gates, preferably from the lower worlds to the higher worlds, in order to escape unnecessary attention from Archangels. Apart from the twelve Archangels, theoretically, no one would be able to discern his true identity as a human.

    Azzy trusted Lux''s judgment and followed her way, traveling for several hours in the sky, maintaining thousands of feet of altitude, eventually reaching what seemed like a town on a large floating island.

    However, just like the villages, even the town seemed quite backward, with stone houses and structures seen everywhere in a disorganized manner. No proper roads were built either. But, at the very least, the streets looked very neat. Trash cannot be found anywhere on the island. Well, that''s to be expected. After all, they can just destroy the trash with their soul energy, unlike civilians on Gaia.

    However, another pressing issue bothered Azzy for a moment.

    "These are all ocean waters. I can sense huge amounts of salt content down below. What do they drink? Maybe their bodies are adapted to drinking salt water? In that world of Aeni I explored last year, people drank those water with high concentrations of ethyl alcohol too." He couldn''t help but wonder.

    "Anyway, let''s just go ahead and check it out."

    Throwing away unnecessary thoughts, Azzy slowly descended to the center of the town, expecting to attract attention due to his different appearance from the locals.

    Without any surprises, many locals, who were passing by, halted their movements and focused on the individual enveloped by a divine light.

    They gathered around him but maintained their distance as Azzy landed on the ground.

    Azzy saw a mixture of slight curiosity, moderate admiration, and a lot of fear in everyone''s gaze, and he decided to take the first step by addressing them calmly while Lux automatically converted his speech to Seraphic, the official language of Angels.

    Shrinking the plasma scythe to an arm-sized steel rod, he spoke, "I came here from far away. I need to speak to your leader. Who manages this place?"

    One of them hurriedly stepped forward, almost tripping himself in the process, to volunteer. "Your Grace, I''ll take you to Lord Owen."

    Azzy observed him. He looked like a middle-aged person with green scales on his exposed body, except for the face, and had a long tongue. It reminded Azzy of a lizard at one glance. As for his strength, the fellow seems to have soul power equivalent to a mid-2-star rank.

    "You are..."

    "Is it the trait of his monster''s side?" Azzy couldn''t help but wonder.

    Spreading his feathery wings, "Then, tell Owen that someone from Silver City came to see him. He''ll find me at Jorlan''s house."

    "Silver City?"

    A collective gasp escaped from everyone. Jorlan, especially, who stood beside Azzy, had his entire body shiver as if he was experiencing a terrible cold.

    Even the giant almost lost his balance for a second due to shock, "Six pairs of wings? I... I... I will tell it to My Lord."

    "Good." Azzy subtly nodded in satisfaction, turning his head to look at the friend, "Jorlan, what are you waiting for? Lead me."

    "Huh? Ah, Yes, Your Grace."

    "Let''s go then..." Azzy stepped outside. Jorlan gave a bow to the bodyguard and hurriedly caught up to him, escorting Azzy to his home.

    Jorlan''s home was quite near to Town Master Owen''s house.

    While the exterior looked more or less the same, the interior was quite small. It only contained two rooms.

    Jorlan had a family. But, at the moment, his little son was at school, and Jorlan couldn''t report to his duty because of Azzy''s self invitation to his home.

    Meanwhile, at Owen''s residence, in one of the rooms, a middle-aged black-skinned fellow, robust and bald, was in a deep sleep, snoring. The wine was spilled on the floor, and several pots could be seen empty in the corner of the room.

    The bodyguard giant reached there and tried waking him up. As his Lord continued to snore without any response, the giant raised his hand and firmly slapped the lord''s face.

    Owen opened his eyes abruptly with a handprint on his cheek. The anger filled his face, "You... damn pig. You dare attack your master?" A thick, dark aura erupted from him, completely sobering him up in the meantime. His rank pushed from 4-star to 5-star for a moment.

    However, before he took his action, the bodyguard giant spoke, "A Seraphis from Silver City came to our doorstep and asked to meet you."

    "Huh? Seraphim? That''s impossible. They don''t leave the God''s palace, much less the Silver City. Which imposter came to my place and fool around?" Owen furrowed his brows in displeasure.

    The bodyguard replied, "I didn''t say Seraphim, My lord. It is Seraphis. I saw Six pairs of feathery wings, real ones."

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    "Seraphis?" Owen abruptly tried to get up, only to roll around and fall to the ground. "Ouch..."

    As the bodyguard helped him to get up, Owen shouted at him, "Seraphis is the realm guardian or their successor candidates. What does a Silver City''s guardian successor candidate want to do with me? Where is he? Take me to him..."

 Chapter 705: Town Master Owen

    "So, you are Owen?"

    "I am, Your Grace."

    "Jarlon, leave us alone"

    Azzy sent Jarlon away from his own house for a moment to have a talk with Owen. The bodyguard was also kicked away. He was quite reluctant to leave his lord with a stranger but couldn''t help but leave, after taking a glance at the six pairs of wings that Azzy displayed for them, in order to gain their trust.

    As they find themselves alone, Azzy takes out a skill card and activates it, to unleash a noise-canceling barrier before conversing with the town master. "You must be wondering about the reason for my visit, aren''t you?" He commented.

    Owen glanced to the left and right in nervousness before slowly nodding, "Yes, Your Grace."

    Azzy then said, "Truth be told, I''m not from Silver City and neither am I a candidate for the realm guardian''s successor." Find exclusive content at m|v-l-novelhall.net

    "Huh? What!"

    "Yes, I''m from a faraway world, trying to get to Silver City cuz I believe my destiny lies there. I need your assistance," explained Azzy without actually telling the entire truth.

    "It''s... It''s impossible..." Owen almost lost his footing but stabilized himself, commenting, "No wonder you are here. And here I wonder what a Seraphis like you is doing in our world. You must be a direct descendant of a Seraphis."

    Azzy didn''t correct him and further said, "I grew up in a mortal world and didn''t know much about Elysium at all. I heard that I''m special even in the world of Angels. So, here''s my deal. Help me reach Silver City, but without gaining attention from Archangels and I''ll help you in return."

    "Why me?" Owen gasped, trying to digest what he was hearing. He was also seeing a huge opportunity here.

    Azzy shrugged his shoulders in indifference, "Your town is the first one I encountered. Call it fate."

    Owen rose to his feet in excitement, "Yes... yes... Yes... it is fate indeed, Your Grace. I''ll help you to the best of my abilities."

    "Good..." Azzy gave a satisfactory nod, feeling truth from Owen''s soul too, and extended his hand. "Your Grace?" Owen was taken aback, not understanding Azzy''s gesture at all.

    "For a pleasant partnership..." Azzy gestured for him to do the same. Owen cautiously took the hand, and Azzy shook it with a smile. Owen reciprocated the same.

    After a while, Azzy bid his farewell to Jorlan while requesting Owen to reward Jorlan for his tasks. The town master awarded him a promotion and pay raise instantly, earning a kowtow from him until they left his sight.

    Azzy returned to Owen''s residence and met Owen''s immediate family. He stayed there for a few days, understanding the ways of the Angels.

    As a sword of radiance with the soul of a guardian, Lux naturally gave Azzy the appearance of a Seraphis with the temporary fusion.

    Azzy knew this info from Lux, but he kept silent and let Owen go on with his explanation.

    "Since His Grace is not intending to gain the attention of the Archangels, at the moment, Aurelis would be the best choice for destination. It is ruled by His Majesty Archangel Michael, but His Majesty has been rumored to be missing for a long time now.

    In his absence, it is said to be governed by the son of God, Adam, who is not all an Angel. Heard that he is this race called human. We don''t know much about him, though, apart from the rumor that he is as strong as Archangels and Princess Claire''s master."

    "Claire? You say, Princess Claire?" Azzy suddenly grabbed Owen''s shoulders, interrupting his explanation and taking him by surprise. "Huh? Ah, Yes, She is the daughter of His Majesty. Heard that she grew among mortals."

    Azzy calmed himself and said, "I''m sorry. Please go on. The name just reminded me of a friend who is also an Angel. But, she isn''t a pure angel. Her mother was a human. So, anyways..."

    "Eh? A human?" Owen was once again surprised by Azzy''s words, but he continued nevertheless, as it was Azzy''s personal life and had nothing to do with him, "So... uhh... as I was saying, Aurelis would be a good place to start your career as a Knight. Once his grace is officially anointed as a Knight, no one would be able to move you to the guardian quarters to become the realm guardian successor candidate."

    "And what is the fastest way to become a Knight?" Azzy couldn''t help but ask. He doesn''t want to waste his entire youth to become a soldier, just to get closer to Claire.

    Owen answered, "There are three ways to become a Knight.

    One is to enroll in the military that you desire and then gain merits to climb up to the knight.

    The second way is to participate in the Battle tournaments, conducted twice annually in every kingdom. As long as one qualifies to the main tournament, one would be annoited as a knight. But, for that, his grace would have to win the regional tournament first.

    Third, the fastest way is to visit any of Aurelia''s military barracks with a recommendation of the regional warden, state your wishes to the Grand Knight, and reveal your soul realm. As long as one''s soul realm is above Tier-60, they would be allowed to take the Knight test directly. I can''t properly gauge His Grace''s soul realm, but according to my judgment, His Grace has reached qualifications. It shouldn''t be a problem to complete the Knight test."

    "Tier-60?" Azzy didn''t understand the term properly. To gauge his own strength, he questioned Owen about his own. As the latter revealed that he is at Tier-54, Azzy understood the system.

    Each rank is treated as tier-10 and each minor stage is treated accordingly in singular digits. Hence, by Elysium''s evaluation, he should be at Tier-99.

    Luckily, for him, there were no costs for traveling to Aurelis, and he was also eligible to step there as a Seraphis (fake). Moreover, the world gate is also built on Aquilonis. Hence, traveling isn''t an issue for him.

    After learning every bit of information about the Angel world that he needs to know from Owen, who claimed to possess the knowledge due to the fact that Aquilonis sees a lot of tourists from higher worlds, Azzy is set to get to the world gate as soon as possible, but before that, he had to fulfill his promise to this Angel with Jaguar bloodline.

    And what Owen asked is neither fame nor grace shards (Elysium''s currency). Instead, it was revenge for his murdered daughter against a beast that resides in the ocean.

    As a result, Azzy and Owen, with the latter''s giant bodyguard, departed from the town and dived into the ocean first thing the following morning.

 Chapter 706: An encounter with the Aqua Angels

    As they plunged into the ocean without any plans in mind, the Patrolling Aqua Angels nearby sensed their presence, and Azzy was confronted by them within a minute of entering their territory.

    Owen and his bodyguard giant were Sky Angels, who were more or less weakened in the waters as their movements were too restricted. However, Azzy found himself completely an advantage due to the high concentration of salts around, not that they were a problem in the first place to deal with anyway.

    With a slight motion of his hand, electricity gushed out of his body and incapacitated the patrolling team; Azzy made sure not to kill them.

    The three of them continued to swim down.

    Meanwhile, at one of the large cities underwater, an emergency assembly was called by the city lord.

    The Aqua Angels of the mermen bloodline assembled at the deepest parts of the cavern; the leader of them, Xarx, a 64-tier soul realm warrior, had a grim look on his face as if a terrifying nightmare was about to fall upon them.

    "A report from our Patrolling teams states that many of our brethren fell to the hands of a Sky Angel that wielded lightning powers."

    "Damn, those cunning Sky Angels. On the pretext of maintaining a false peace on the front, they were attacking us?" An Aqua Angel warrior furiously flapped his tail in anger.

    An elder of the council raised his hand in worry, "How powerful is the enemy? Should we prepare for a war?"

    The City Lord shook his head, "No, the enemy isn''t targeting us."

    "Then?"

    "The intruders were last found in Liravel Trench," replied the leader.

    "Liravel Trench?" .net

    At once, all the Aqua Angels gathered and let out a collective gasp. Their tails were suddenly tucked down straight in fear. Only a couple of them maintained calmness.

    The Leader continued, "Yes, Liravel. The monstrous creature and one of the ocean lords, which was resting in his nest not far away from our city. We don''t know their intentions, but if they unleash Liravel, our city will be doomed."

    "No, we have to stop them."

    "Yes, kill them."

    Azzy cut him off in the middle of his explanation, "It''s alright. No need for explanations. I''m not a petty person."

    Almost twenty minutes later, the elite team of aqua angels caught up with them, forcing them to momentarily halt their footsteps by surrounding them.

    Azzy had already informed Owen long ago when these aqua angels were still more than fifty kilometers away. Hence, the latter was already prepared to encounter them. At the same time, he didn''t have an ounce of fear due to his extreme confidence in Azzy, who so far defeated more than two hundred aqua angels with ease.

    If anything, he represented Azzy and spoke to the Aqua Angels instead, "Lord Azrael is here to slay the monster. Please give the way to His Grace."

    The Aqua Angels could only glance at each other, making Owen realize that speech cannot travel outside the bubble.

    Embarrassed as he was, Owen turned to Azzy, "Your Grace, I never learned the sign language."

    Azzy sighed, remembering Leah for a second. In the end, he could raise his hand, "Forget it." Sparks of Lightning appeared over his hand, and the Aqua Angels charged forward at them, deeming them hostile.

    Zzzzz

    Threads of electric currents released from Azzy''s fingertips in the next second, incapacitating all of them at once, just like the earlier ones, except for one.

    The captain of the force managed to evade it and swiftly charged toward Azzy. Shrouded by darkness for a moment, he disappeared and reappeared directly behind Azzy, trying to pierce Azzy with his trident.

    The trident struck Azzy''s back but its sharp pointy blades went flat and blunt at once, earning a surprise from Rynmere. "It''s impossible."

    Before he could get away, Azzy raised his arm and caught his throat, slowly turning his head to look at him, "Consider this a last warning, mister. I''m leaving you all alive because we don''t have any personal enmity. So, back off."

    As he left his throat, Rynmere landed on the ground. In an instant, he could already feel the changes inside the bubble, and he could sense Azzy''s realm and his fake bloodline, too. Slamming the tip of the trident to the ground, He went down to one of his knees, "We are not aware that a Pure Blood Angel has visited our lands. We thank for His Grace''s mercy."

    Owen then added, "Lord Azrael isn''t just a mere Pure Blood Angel. He is a Seraphis, warrior. He came here to eliminate Ocean Lord, Liravel." His tone was filled with pride as if he was proud that he was friends with such a powerful being.

    "Seraphis?" Rynmere''s throat felt dry all of a sudden. Taking a step back involuntarily with his tail hung down in submission, he kneeled one more time, this time on both knees, "We are truly honored."

    "Man, these Angels are too gullible and trusting. They even just believe the words of a stranger without confirming it?" Azzy thought at his words, before he shook away those unnecessary thoughts with reasoning, "Maybe, it is because I was too strong for them."

    "Anyway, you return to your business. We will go on our way." Azzy walked forward with indifference as if the so-called elites were nothing more than pebbles on the road. Just as Owen and his bodyguard giant followed him, Rynmere shouted, "Wait." He went forward and kneeled before Azzy, requesting, "Your Grace, we would be honored to fight alongside you."

    Azzy glanced at them. The first thought was mocking their strength but he then dropped off his plans and snapped his fingers, retracting the lightning energy from their bodies and freeing them, "Suit yourselves."

 Chapter 707: Astrael, the world of half humans.

    Escorted by more than two dozen Aqua Angels, Azzy and his two companions made their way to the edge of the Liravel Trench.

    From there, they could see a steep wall that extended for atleast another kilometer downwards to the ocean bed.

    Azzy didn''t hesitate to swim downwards. Owen and the other one followed along, but the Aqua Angels found themselves hesitant. Nevertheless, Azzy didn''t pay attention to them and continued his journey.

    Meanwhile, at the top of the wall, Rynmere confronted his team to take a leap of faith.

    As they refused it on the grounds of fear, he ordered them to return to guard the city and went after Azzy.

    Soon, he caught up to Azzy as they reached the new ocean bed and continued to walk for another half an hour to reach a sleeping giant creature that resembled a squid, although this one had more than sixty arms and ten tentacles.

    At the sight of the creature, Azzy couldn''t help but comment, "It is smaller than I expected."

    "Smaller?" Rynmere stared at him blankly as if he was asking, "Are you serious?" Even Owen took another glance at this terrifying beast that was hundreds of meters big.

    Azzy further said, "This one doesn''t have any survival instincts either. Even after we arrived, it was sleeping."

    Owen: "That''s because it doesn''t think too much of us after ruling this region for millennia."

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    Rynmere: "Isn''t this actually a good thing? We can just kill it in slee... Wait... what he is doing?"

    Azzy was seen then walking forward, exiting the bubble, and ordering them to stay there. He swam toward the creature, reaching its head.

    As it continued to sleep even after that, he raised his fist, which became a hundred times bigger for a moment, and gave a knock on its triangular-shaped head, "Get up." He shouted but only bubbles came out.

    Meanwhile, Liravel opened its eyes abruptly with a sharp screech; the vibrations released from its painful roar reached all the way to Owen and others but got negated by the bubble.

    As it rose and gazed at Azzy, the latter slowly floated in the water with sparks of lightning all over his body. Its tentacles rushed at him to capture him.

    "Not even at 8-star and think that you can defeat me? You seriously have zero survival instincts, squid..." Azzy released strong electrical currents this time, going for the kill instead of simply incapacitating his target.

    The three spectators watched the scene in awe as the torrent of electricity enveloped the creature, which screamed and screamed until it could no more and turned into a lump of fried meat. The fight lasted exactly eight seconds.

    "We have been terrified of this monster for several millennia and it was killed just like that?" Rynmere commented, awestruck by the scene.

    The bodyguard giant was stupefied and sweating profusely, remembering how he almost went against this Seraphis in their first meet.

    Owen nodded, "Indeed Seraphis are born differently from lowly Angels like us."

    Just like a door, they flew into the portal and seamlessly flew out from the other side without experiencing any sort of pressure, like one would experience when they teleport, like feeling pressure from all sides, pressing to their body for an instant.

    The world he left is just a planet with floating islands and water. No sceneries or so whatever. But, the one he entered had mountains in the distance, which had their peak covered by clouds, and endless grasslands with wild animals could be seen roaming around.

    More than that, Azzy was overwhelmed by the auras of humans in the hundred kilometers range. He could sense many Nephilims with human bloodlines in this place.

    It wasn''t just humans. Azzy could also see cars and planes that he was quite familiar with. He couldn''t help but wonder whether the Nephilims here had any connection to his world. Of course, he was happier, feeling like he was at home and not stranded in some alien world.

    As they slowly landed on the ground and walked toward the transport section where the so-called Lightstrider, which was more or less a cab, except that every vehicle here is given the same name.

    As the flying cabs are a bit too expensive, charging as much as 100 grace shards per ethereal unit (1 Ethereal unit=182m), mainly due to the fact that flying is banned within the perimeter of many cities except for these vehicles, Azzy and Rynmere took a Lightstrider to take a trip to the nearest city from the world gate, the city of Xarx, also known as the first city.

    The whole 90-minute trip to the city was quite spent in silence. Azzy hadn''t expected that the vehicles were here. Only small but several holes are there on each side of the door for ventilation. There was also a wall between the backseat and the front seat. All they have is a map that resembles GPS displaying before them and a meter on the side.

    After paying 1140 grace shards, both of them got down in front of the Hotel - Radiant Heaven, a decent luxury hotel Rynmere had only heard about, which costs over 3400 grace shards per night.

    After checking into the deluxe suite, which absolutely reminded him of the hotels at Gaia, based on the furnishings in the room, Azzy took a two-hour nap on the bed while Rynmere slept on the sofa.

    Once his mind and body freshened, Azzy sat on the bed and meditated for a while, scanning the entire city.

    As his senses covered the entire 5,000 sq.km, Azzy picked up the aura of several strong individuals gathering at different spots of the city.

    Soon, both of them got out of the hotel and took a Lightstrider to the nearest gathering spot.

    "That will be 233 grace shards, thank you."

    "Here we go..."

    As the vehicle left, Azzy raised his head to look at the sign written in an unfamiliar language. "Lux, a little help please?"

    "Archeon Guild," replied the sword of radiance''s spirit in his head.

    "A guild, huh? Good..." Azzy walked forward, "Rynmere, let''s go..."

    The Aqua Angel, however, didn''t move forward and stayed there with his head hung to the ground.

    "Hmm? What happened?" Azzy asked.

    Rynmere answered, "I''m afraid I''m not allowed here."

    "Hmm?" Azzy furrowed his brows.

 Chapter 708: Registering at a guild

    "Elemental Nephilim, i.e., Nephilim with monster bloodlines, aren''t allowed inside Guilds, My Lord. The barrier at the entrance would reject us. As the warriors here tend to see monsters as the source of energy and power, hunting them down in the worlds of the Eldara plane, they tend to believe that we are nothing more than prey," said Rynmere, clenching his fists tightly. He was clearly frustrated by unfair treatment by these Empyreal Nephilim, i.e., Nephilim with the bloodlines of intelligent races like humans, elves, dwarves, etc...

    Azzy couldn''t help but think of his own world. Monsters from the Arcana world are indeed the source of food, power, and everything for the Arcana masters. In fact, he killed so many of them as he didn''t have any shred of emotion for these monsters that treat humans as enemies, too.

    However, Nephilim should be different, right? Even with a monstrous bloodline, they are still part-Angels and have a normal civilization similar to humans, too. They are also intelligent.

    Then, why this discrimination?

    Perhaps it is because the Nephilim here are worried that Elemental Nephilim would side with the monsters they are hunting and betray them? Perhaps, such incidents occurred in the past? He wondered.

    But then again, he had nothing to do with Angels. It is their system, and they have been following it for ages. Who is he to worry about their matters? He should merely focus on earning money.

    In the end, he let Rynmere stand there outside, thinking that this Aqua Angel warrior should be prepared when he wanted to be his servant anyway and stepped inside the guild.

    As soon as he stepped inside the world, a gust of cool air hit his body. "This feeling... it''s not cool air. It''s..." His eyes were instantly drawn to the ceiling. He nodded with a smile in realization, "Indeed, it''s the air conditioning. Man, how long has it been since I saw one? I think when I was visiting WAMO last year."

    "What are you staring at, kid? Never saw an air conditioner in your life?" A voice rang in his ears, earning his attention. He glanced to the side; there was a topless, buffed guy showing off his muscles and scars over his body. He had a giant broadsword on his back, and a beauty''s waist was wrapped by his arm. "A 7-star?" Azzy was momentarily taken aback for a second.

    Letting out a grin, the Nephilim commented, "You must be from another world with low technological advancements."

    "Yeah, I guess?" As Azzy nodded, the Nephilim spoke, extending his free arm, "I''m Liam."

    "Azrael," replied Azzy, didn''t shake his hands though. Because of Rynmere''s situation, he had a slight bad impression on the Nephilim here. Hence, he wasn''t interested in building any friendships around. "If you excuse me..."

    Azzy was about to walk past him, but Liam suddenly grabbed his shoulder and used a bit of force as he commented, "That was quite rude of you, kid."

    Azzy''s eyes instantly turned cold as he glanced at him, "So, what?" A spark of electricity struck Liam''s hand, forcing him to retract it.

    "You..." Liam was momentarily taken aback but grinned one more time, "A pure bloodline Angel with lightning powers? You are interesting."

    Azzy shook his head, not intending to understand this man, and walked to the empty counter. He spoke to the receptionist, an Empyreal Nephilim with an elf bloodline, "Hi. I''m a first-timer here. May I know the whole process..."

    "Never seen Liam take the initiative to suck up to someone. Do they know each other?"

    "Shhh. Keep your tone down. You want to offend Liam?"

    Azzy''s ears perked up as whispers captured by his hearing. He couldn''t help but sigh as he replied to Liam, "Not sure about that crystal ball, but your presence indeed was bringing me unwanted attention. If you excuse me, I have things to do."

    Liam didn''t leave and instead burst into laughter, gaining even more attention from the rest of the adventurers, "Hahaha, you were even more amusing. Worrying about attention from the weak when you yourself are in a higher soul realm than myself, the third strongest of this guild."

    "Hey, did you hear that?"

    "That kid is above Tier 80? Impossible..."

    "Who is this kid?"

    "I''m sure he is a young master of some powerful noble house."

    "Liam is joking around, right?"

    "Possible. That exhibitionist had personality issues anyway. By the way, why he loved so much exposing himself?"

    "C''mon, you are just jealous because your crush became his girlfriend."

    "Man, it is seriously unfair..."

    "The Heavens are never fair to begin with."

    As the whisperings flew out again, Azzy was offended this time. He gave a cold gaze one more time to Liam, warning him, "I don''t know who you are, but if you annoy me or try to make trouble for me one more time, I won''t let you off lightly. Get lost from my sight... now..."

    Liam, as if he wasn''t bothered by Azzy''s threat, patted his shoulders in a row, laughing out loud, "Chill out, kid. No one cares about one''s background in Astrael. How about teaming up with me?" He winked by pointing at himself with his thumb, "I''m an adamantine grade medallion holder. You can take missions worthy of your strength if you are with me. How about it?"

    "Not interested," Azzy didn''t even think for one second about the pros and cons; he rejected the proposal.

 Chapter 709: Moonlighting

    "Oh my god." Enjoy new stories from mvl

    *Gasp* "he rejected Liam''s goodwill"

    "Look, Liam looked pissed"

    "Hahaha, serves him."

    "Shhh..."

    Liam was never surprised more. That foolish grin on his face was replaced by seriousness, "You really understand what opportunity you are missing?" He asked.

    Azzy looked directly into his eyes as he replied, "There is always a right way and an easy way to earn money. I prefer the right way." It wasn''t just an excuse to send away Liam. He had to keep his identity low. Teaming up with this exhibitionist would definitely increase his popularity in the city. The other guilds will learn about him; some will be interested in testing him, while some will have bad intentions for the guild. Why bother going through all this when he can just hunt down monsters and sell them to the guild? He is not here to become a famed adventurer anyway.

    On the flip side, it would be better to partner with someone like Liam. Just a couple of quests would net him enough money to go to Silver City.

    Why money, if one might wonder?

    Well, while the world gates are free of cost, the staying would be bleeding him. Earlier, he had ten thousand grace shards, which was a lot of money in Aquilonis, but here at Astrael, just the cab fare and night stay at the hotel already bled him half of his savings.

    But, even then, he would rather have a low-key life compared to making quick bucks with high profile life. Moreover, he was currently in his youth and exploring the worlds of Angels. He cannot just miss this opportunity to enjoy it, too.

    At the same time, an idea popped up in his head where he could have both money and still maintain a low profile.

    As a result, after plainly rejecting him and sending him away, Azzy waited for the receptionist as he filled out the form, just basic details like his name, age, race, hometown, etc....

    After a while, the receptionist returned, "I apologize... It''s actually my second day. I didn''t learn the rules properly."

    "It''s alright." Azzy waved his hand with a smile. "So, what did your superior say?"

    The receptionist nodded with a smile, "he said it is not mandatory, and he gave me this." She brought out a scroll and said, "He said that if your bloodline purity is above 85%, registration fees will be waived. Would you like to test it?"

    "Ah, I see... You have matured indeed." The Reaper commented in realization. Looking into the immediate future for a bit, he mumbled to himself, "But it seems fate has different plans for you."

    Azzy met with Rynmere, who was patiently waiting outside on the road, trying his best to ignore the insulting glances and stares he was getting from the passersby.

    "My Lord... what''s our next destination?" Rynmere couldn''t wait to fight, displaying his worth to his master.

    Azzy, however, replied, "We are going to the next guild."

    "Huh? Another guild?" Rynmere looked confused and asked, "Did My Lord not like this guild? I heard that this is the top guild of the city."

    Azzy responded with a chuckle, "Nope. Registered and got the quest. But I''m not interested in wasting my time here. Since I don''t plan on staying here for long anyway, this time, I want you to return to the hotel and wait for me."

    Dropping him off at the hotel on the way, Azzy continued to travel in the cab to reach another top guild, most importantly, a rival guild named Everlasting.

    However, he had a blank mask on his face this time. His soul realm was also suppressed to a 7-star rank.

    The receptionist over there was an experienced one. She dealt with him professionally on the registration. But the same system exists here, too.

    After he filled up the form, using the fake name Gary, which he used when he went undercover as a teacher back then, the crystal ball was placed before him. The receptionist asked him to place it and pour his soul energy.

    This time, he didn''t reject. Instead, he poured his soul energy into it.

    The crystal ball chimed, rapidly changing colors from white to red, and went on until black before it brightly glowed and burst into pieces within a few seconds, turning the entire guild hall into silence.

    The guild manager hurriedly rushed down to meet him, inviting him to his room personally.

    Azzy went with him amidst curious gazes from the adventurers and sat down. The tea was served to him.

    Taking a sip, the guild manager put forth a wide variety of benefits to him for joining his guild. However, Azzy rejected all of them.

    As the manager asked him what he wanted, Azzy looked at him through the eyes of the mask and replied with a mere three words, "The highest-ranked quests."

 Chapter 710: Submitting the materials

    During the following week, the rumors about a mysterious adventurer of Everlasting Guild completing S-class quests at a rapid pace spread all over the city.

    Not just city, the unnamed expert of Everlasting guild even became famous all over the world due to the fact that most S-class quests issued by the clients were usually posted in multiple top guilds of several cities.

    Completing those quests first is the same as stealing from other guilds too.

    In one week, Azzy, under the identity of Gary and wearing a mask, had completed more than twenty S-class quests, all of which involved killing strong beasts on different planets from the lower plane of Eldara.

    Overall, including the carcasses of other monsters he sold to the guild, he earned more than twenty million grace shards, which would be enough for him to buy a house anywhere in the city he was residing in.

    Everyone was curious about his identity.

    Meanwhile, his public identity as Azrael of Archeon guild, he had yet to submit the materials for the quest he took over a week ago.

    Currently, he was doing just that, after selling away the carcass of Vyzrath to Everlasting guild.

    He didn''t attract much attention compared to the last as it had already been a week since his sighting at the guild hall. No one remembered him.

    However, as he approached the reception desk where a familiar pointy-eared Nephilim was handling the quest rewards for the adventurer, the latter saw him and her face lit up instantly, taking the initiative to call him, "Azrael, you are here at last. I was really worried that something might have happened to you." She let out a sigh of relief, sending away the adventurer with his reward money.

    Azzy waved his hand with a smile, "Hi Lysa. Well, it''s an unlimited quest. So, I can''t return with a few numbers." Reaching the desk, he added, "Moreover, it was tough to kill those sand vipers without alarming Vyzrath. After learning the beast lord was killed by that expert, I returned to that desert world to kill more until I can''t find any."

    "Oh, I guess you are indeed lucky. So, how many of them have you gathered?" Lysa asked.

    Azzy pulled out the dimension bag that he received from his master years ago. He never used it because he already had a platinum-grade storage card. However, he cannot reveal storage cards in this world, as it will only generate unnecessary greed from people.

    Hence, he summoned the dimension bag, and poured down the heads of the vipers on the floor, making a large heap and earning the attention of the adventurers standing around.

    The sand vipers are as big as your average cobra, each about 3ft big. The heads aren''t that big. But, as the heap was atleast six feet at the bottom and the top almost reached Azzy''s shoulder height, meaning there were more than ten thousand heads poured down.

    "This..." As Lysa''s eyes widened, Azzy said, "Sorry, but I don''t know how to extract those venom glands properly. So, I just cut off their entire heads." Rubbing his head in embarrassment, he added with a sheepish smile, "I don''t know how many there are though. I just killed every sand viper I managed to find."

    At once, dozens of gazes fell upon Azzy.

    "Uhh? I need to find the manager..." She rushed off once again to the manager''s office; a familiar thing to Azzy. He could only wait in silence.

    "Liam seemed like he had gone crazy. Did he get injured in his last mission or something?"

    "But, I have to say, even though vipers are weak, he gathered an awful number of them. There must be thousands. Just look at the heap."

    "C''mon, surely, he had help. Even our guild leader couldn''t massacre so many in a week. There must be a team."

    "How much do you think he would make from this? One million grace shards?"

    "Might be higher because it was technically an A-rank quest"

    "Nope, it was degraded to D-rank after the death of Vyzrath. He submitted it after its death. Did you forget the guild policy? So, I don''t think he will earn much."

    As whispers floated around as they did last time, Azzy meanwhile no longer bothered himself to deal with troublesome Liam who seemed like he had seen through him. He didn''t give any reply and merely stood in silence, paying attention to the empty desk.

    "Azrael, you are awfully quiet. Are you thinking about my offer?" Liam pushed him more.

    Azzy stayed calm as he spoke, "It is useless to argue with an obstinate person like you, who doesn''t like to listen to others and just go on stubbornly believing what you want to believe."

    "Obstinate?" Liam was slightly taken aback by Azzy''s comment but stuck to his argument as he left, "Fine, I don''t bother you. Just remember my offer."

    After he left, Lysa returned with the manager. It was the first Azzy met the manager of this Archeon Guild.

    He was a tall man with a lean build, short black hair, and wore a monocle on his left eye. His unique purple eyes with dots on his sclera particularly stood out.

    The manager reached Azzy but went past him instead of greeting him and closely observed the heap of viper heads from all sides, "Hmm... about 26135 vipers, meaning 52270 venom glands. Originally, each gland was worth 100 grace shards due to the rise of market prices, but the quest is dropped to D, which will only net a gland one grace shard.

    However, we now possess too many venom glands. We can regulate their prices on the market for a while. Moreover, we still have to do labor to extract venom glands without damaging them. Hmm..."

    After pondering on it for a while, he cast a sidelong glance at Azzy and said, "Considering everything, the guild would pay you 24 grace shards per viper head. A total of 627,240 grace shards as your payment. Do you accept it?"

    Azzy didn''t think much of the amount due to his huge savings from other quests. He gave a subtle nod in silence.

    The manager then shifted his attention to the receptionist, "Lysa, upgrade his medallion to red."

    "Eh? Only one level up for such hard work?" Azzy raised his eyebrow in displeasure.

 Chapter 711: New Quest: Sparring Partner Needed

    Azzy could only complain in his head and accepted the upgrade of medallion he received from the reception before leaving the guild in disappointment.

    Even though the work was completely done by his undead army, he still killed over 26000 sand vipers in a desert. He expected atleast a triple upgrade, as the quest difficulty is supposed to be A class.

    He wasn''t aware that the quest difficulty rewards would be adjusted based on when he submitted them. In this case, Azzy could only blame himself for submitting Vyzrath''s corpse to the other guild before the venom glands here.

    Feeling embarrassed about his own choices, Azzy had to get out of there in the name of taking a break and returning to Everlasting guild to ease up his mind.

    Earlier, he didn''t take any other quest to take a break, but now Azzy felt like he should take another quest instead.

    As soon as he stepped inside the guild, the adventurers stopped what they were doing and stared at him, murmuring among themselves. They had just seen him an hour ago and he revisited the guild, making them wonder whether he completed another quest this time or something.

    The guild manager, Lantern, rushed down from his office to meet him at the guild hall as Azzy was looking at the A-class quest board.

    "Mr. Gary? I thought you weren''t interested in taking another quest," He said, acting a bit casually for the sake of maintaining his image in the guild. You know, being chummy with such an expert would obviously improve his image.

    Azzy also didn''t mind his tone and simply plucked out a scroll pinned to the Quest board and waved it to him, "Well, I changed my mind. Lantern, I want to take this sparring partner quest. By the way, what do you know about this Master Alaric?"

    *

    Quest: Sparring Partner needed.

    Client: Master Alaric Steelclash

    Eligibility: Soul realm Tier-70, and proficient in swordsmanship and hand-to-hand techniques.

    Risk of Death: Nil (However, the client isn''t responsible for any injury you receive during the spar)

    Details:

    Master Alaric Steelclash, a renowned swordsman and a combat instructor seeks a capable sparring partner for a week-long training regimen to complete his sword technique. The chosen adventurer will engage in intense combat practice to help refine Master Alaric''s techniques. The client requires a partner with proven combat skills and stamina.

    Job conditions:

    Duration: 7 days.

    Sparring sessions: 25-solatis (15-minute) sessions.

    Minimum of 2 sessions per day (required)

    "Okay... I''ll have to leave in a bit. After they return after my departure, can you inform Rynmere that I''ll be out of the city for a few days?" Azzy vaguely explained that he had to go to West Ocean City because of a quest.

    The house owner was surprised a bit, "Haven''t you gone for a week for the quests? You are leaving for another week? You are working too hard."

    Azzy could only embarrassedly smile, scratching his cheek, "Well, it isn''t much. I had plenty of rest. It is just that I''m just starting as an adventurer. We can''t miss any opportunities we get. Moreover, when do we work hard if not in our youth?"

    "Hmm... I agree," She nodded, crossing her arms, "If only all youth had your grit. My useless son just spends his time on things like parties all day, and my daughter only knows how to splurge all my money into fashion. Sigh... it is indeed tough to be a parent."

    Azzy didn''t comment on it and stayed silent.

    Eventually, he went back to his room, packed some clothes from the cupboard into a traditional backpack, had a quick lunch, and left for the West Ocean City, following a GPS tracker.

    This world didn''t have any smartphone technology, despite having satellites in space; they still use landlines and communication scrolls. Hence, he didn''t have any means to contact Rynmere and didn''t want to bother himself searching for his presence as there was no point.

    Azzy took a Lightstrider to West Ocean City instead of flying around, as in this place, only Angels with Tier-90 strength can do that without wings or having any mini tornado beneath their feet (wind manipulation).

    Trying to stay out of people''s attention is indeed damn inconvenient for Azzy here.

    After three hours of travel and paying more than ten thousand grace shards to the driver, he arrived at West Ocean City, otherwise known as the City of Healers.

    As its title suggested, many Nephilims residing in this city have light attribute and take the path of a healer. Many hospitals, aka healing centers, were found everywhere in the city.

    Azzy walked into the Steelclash Estate, and he was instructed to go to the training grounds by the security as soon as he showed him the quest scroll.

    While walking, he took the liberty to scan the entire estate. However, he furrowed his brows almost immediately, "The requirements asked for a 7-star Arcana Master as a bare minimum. And the client is supposed to be a strong swordsman in the past. It goes without saying that his guy is in the Exalt realm, but the strongest presence I could feel is Elite. Then, why was this taking me to the training grounds if the house owner was absent? Is it possible that someone else is going to test me?

    But, the rest of the Nephilims here are also too weak, far weaker than your average adventurer. All are 2-star and 3-star Arcana Masters. I seriously wonder how this guy is protecting his home from robbers with such weak security."

    Eventually, he reached the training grounds and waited as instructed.

    2 minutes passed, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, and even after 30 minutes, there was no sight of the client. Azzy slowly started losing patience as a result.

    Meanwhile, inside the mansion;

    A middle-aged man in his late fifties was engrossed in his meditation.

    Three to four knocks on the door were often heard, once every few minutes, but there was no response from him until he suddenly sensed great danger and abruptly opened his eyes.

    As he turned his head to the side, through the window glass, he saw a concentrated beam of energy shot into the sky, giving him shivers all over his body as if a gust of cold wind struck him, "An attack?"

    *knock* knock* knock*

 Chapter 712 Sparring against Alaric Steelclash

    In no time, the middle-aged fellow entered the training grounds to find Azzy in his mask, meditating on the ground; the concentrated beam of soul energy finally disappeared, and Azzy opened his eyes on his arrival, taking the initiative to speak, "Don''t bother to issue quests for fun, mister. Not everyone would like it." Azzy''s facial expression was quite serious.

    The client was taken aback, "Hmm? What do you mean?"

    "Why do you need a sparring partner with a greater soul realm than Tier-70 when you are only at Tier-56?" Azzy questioned him, standing up on his feet and staring directly into his eyes with a not-so-friendly gaze. "And do you think of us, who crossed Tier-70, as some mere employees who would accept disrespect for the sake of money? I have been here for half an hour." He added.

    Azzy didn''t mean any of it, the last part of the sentence was his actual point. He was the head of the prominent Death Clan and one of the strongest individuals on his planet or, maybe, the strongest under demigod.

    It is one thing people look down on him if he is trying to stay low, but it is entirely another thing if he didn''t hide his soul realm at all, and still, this client let him wait on purpose when he didn''t even seem like he was in a meeting. Using his Aura Sensing, Azzy could atleast see that this one-armed man was doing meditation.

    He had his pride to keep.

    Upon hearing those words from Azzy, Alaric Steelclash observed him for a couple of seconds; taking a deep breath, he gave a gentleman bow, "I apologize. I was in the middle of fighting an imaginary opponent in my head, using my sword dance. I wasn''t aware of your presence until you made it known."

    The sincerity in his words cooled down Azzy a bit, and he went on unfurling the scroll that had quest details, maintaining a calm demeanor, "Fine. Let''s just get into the matter. I won''t question your motives or whatever. In this scroll, it is mentioned that I would be tested before taking up the job. Will you test me or do you have anyone else? And what are the rules I should follow during this assessment?"

    Alaric answered directly, "As you can see, I need a partner to complete my sword technique. I need someone extremely proficient in swords. We don''t use our energy. It will be nothing but a pure swordfight. Based on what I could feel, you have a higher physique than me. Naturally, you have a higher probability of winning. But, the win isn''t important in the assessment. Skills are more important. If I''m satisfied with your sword skills, you are hired."

    Azzy went silent and pondered on the subject. He then asked, "Does it have to be sword skills or any type of blade is okay?"

    Alaric replied without any hesitation, "I would prefer a swordsman, but I think I''m fairly good enough to see through one''s skills even if it is another blademaster. So, yeah, you can use any blade for the assessment."

    "That''s good." Azzy nodded and opened the zip of the backpack that he put aside, taking out what looked like a black steel rod.

    "Uhh... I think I mentioned a blade," said Alaric.

    Azzy poured a bit of soul energy into it, and the so-called black steel rod suddenly expanded into a scythe of his height with an extremely sharp blade. "It''s my Plasma scythe."

    Alaric was at the peak of his speed and he tried to give a final attack, using all of his strength into it, stabbing Azzy''s occiput, the absolute spot for a person. Considering Azzy was standing still, it became easier for him to attack it.

    Just as the wooden sword''s tip was about to touch Azzy''s occiput, the latter changed his grip and his hand moved to the back. The wooden sword struck Alaric''s right arm, pushing it away. The wooden sword in his hand flew away and fell far away from them.

    "Sss..."

    Alaric hissed in pain as he staggered back a few steps. His prosthetic free hand was applying pressure onto its bruised hand to lessen the pain. Azzy turned around to face his opponent and said, "To be honest, I''m not trained in swordplay, Mister Steelclash. So, I''m not sure whether I''m acceptable to your requirements for a sparring partner. But I have reflexes enough to..."

    "You are hired, Mr. Gary," Alaric interrupted him with his answer. "You may start your week from tomorrow. Meanwhile, you are welcome to stay at our mansion as my guest. My Steward will show your room."

    As the steward of the estate escorted Azzy to his room, Alaric parted his ways midway and returned to his study room in a hurry, taking out some empty sheets with drawings from the table drawer.

    He placed them on the table and started drawing at crazy speeds.

    Once his work was done, he took a closer look at each sheet, depicting a man with a sword in different positions, one after another. It was as if Alaric had an eidetic memory.

    Looking at all the positions of the sword, Alaric grew the smile of what seemed like a crazy researcher who found a breakthrough in his research, "These sword movements... No doubt about it. It closely resembles the ultimate defensive swordplay, the Phantom Shield. Breaking this shield requires a swordmaster to become one with the sword, the ultimate stage of a swordsman. It''s a waste to use him to develop my sword technique. Plans change... Hahahaha... I struck gold... hahaha, thanks, Oh Lord for putting him in my path."

    Meanwhile, on Planet Roca, a world located in the same Empyreon realm;

    Under the full moonlight, a twelve-winged Angel was seen carrying a man filled with injuries and cuts all over his body, moving away from a castle located in an endless frozen land.

    As he was flying away in the air, the injured man slowly opened his mouth, "I made a great sin, master. I shouldn''t have brought them with me, knowing the risks. Their deaths are on my head. I shouldn''t have invoked the seal you put on me. I should have died with them." He was crying blood, although his voice was quite weak.

    The Seraphis replied in his heavy tone, "It''s not your fault, Thalorim. Don''t blame yourself. You wouldn''t have known that he could inflict more damage on pure bloodline Angels. We need Nephilims for this task. This time, I would participate in this battle and lead the team. I can''t return to Silver City without giving justice to your fallen brothers. We have time until the next full moon. You focus on recovering your state of mind during this time."

    "Don''t worry about me, Master. I will get stronger. I will kill that fallen at all costs..."

 Chapter 713 An offer from the worlds strongest guild

    Almost three weeks later;

    On Planet Isa;

    A giant Chimera, with the head of a lion, the body of a rhino, the legs of a horse, and the wings of an eagle, was seen falling to the ground.

    Azzy, who had his mask on, was following it behind and eventually taking over it, caught it in mid-air with his one hand and stored it directly into his dimension bag before landing on the top of a grassy hill.

    Rynmere was waiting for him, looking all tranced and clapping in awe. With a slow, deliberate clap, he bowed slightly, "Your prowess is unmatched, Master. Truly, those rumors don''t do you enough justice."

    Azzy shrugged his shoulders indifferently, "it is just a Tier-90 beast. I have hunted stronger ones."

    "Only master could boldly say that a Tier-90 beast is nothing," Rynmeres eyes shone with reverence and he couldn''t help but add, "Master, you are beyond incredible."

    Azzy, however, sighed inwardly, thinking, "If only the monsters in this Angel realm had spirit cores, I could have added them to my army. But, it is just nothing but another undead skeleton I got. Well, atleast, I can get another million grace shards from this quest."

    Together, they returned to Astrael Planet''s Xarx City, where they were residing at the moment.

    However, as it is Everlasting Guild''s business, they separated for a bit. Azzy went to the guild to submit the quest''s proof and also sold the entire corpse for another 530K grace shards to the guild manager.

    With this, Azzy now managed to save 50 million grace shards overall and he intended to quit this adventurer business.

    Since the manager helped him indirectly, Azzy was about to speak to him but the guild manager instead asked him to follow to his office in order to speak of an urgent matter.

    Azzy went with him but found a stranger waiting for them in his office.

    Read exclusive chapters at empire

    Azzy was certainly unhappy with the guild manager''s intentions. Not to mention, he already planned on leaving after this. Hence, after quick thinking and consulting with the Reaper regarding this Baphomet, he said to the stranger, "Mr. Oriniel, I just need one other thing from what you are offering."

    "What is it? "

    "Independency. I don''t follow your team leader''s orders or whatever. I will act on my own, which definitely includes kill-stealing the main target, and I want everyone to put up with it."

    Oriniel: "..."

    Lantern: "..."

    Needless to say, both of them went speechless at Azzy''s unexpected demand.

    ***

    After a while;

    Azzy returned to his residence.

    *Creak*

    "Rynmere, we ha... Hmm?" Azzy spotted a familiar-looking middle-aged man who was having tea; Rynmere stood before him with his arms crossed forward like a servant.

    "Master, welcome back." Rynmere smiled big with a bow, letting out a sigh of relief.

    "Mr. Steelclash, what are you doing here again?" Azzy''s facial expression hardened.

    Yes, it wasn''t Liam, the one Azzy finds annoying. It was his client from three weeks ago.

    "Hello again, Mr. Azrael."

 Chapter 714 The Lost Eye of Odin

    Alaric Steelclash originally employed him as a sparring partner, and Azzy did his best to act as one. Azzy got paid and Alaric managed to make a breakthrough in his sword mastery.

    Because of this, he increased the amount, offering as much as 30,000 grace shards per sparring session. Azzy accepted the temptation of money. He earned as much as 14 million grace shards from him alone (first week-3.5 million and second week-10.5).

    But, at the same time, his face was also exposed in one of the fights with Alaric, who managed to break through his defenses and cut down the mask once.

    As a result, Azzy no longer renewed his contract regardless of the increase in pay and returned to Xarx City.

    Meanwhile, Alaric couldn''t achieve his dream, State of becoming One with the Sword. However, he felt like he was almost at the doorstep of it.

    Using his influence, Alaric tracked down Azzy to his residence as the latter continued with his monster-hunting business.

    He was rejected once and this is the second time Alaric came to Azzy''s residence to talk with him.

    Unlike Liam, Azzy never found him annoying. Not to mention, he decided to leave this plane for good, once this next quest was completed. Hence, he didn''t outrightly kick him out and instead sat together with him, informing him about his upcoming quest and the need for him to prepare for it.

    Alaric Steelclash has, however, something else up his sleeve this time. "Here." He placed forward a strange object wrapped up in cloth on the table, "twenty sparring sessions of 25 solatis (15 minutes) each, and you can have this."

    "Hmm? This is..." Azzy''s facial expression instantly changed as soon as the cloth was unwrapped, revealing a circlet but with a live eye, glancing left and right.

    "Oh my Lord," Rynmere just stepped away in reflex.

    Azzy, too, felt that it was creepy to look at. However, upon sensing divinity in it, he intently observed it and consulted the Reaper, "Uhh... Chronos, You know what that thing is?"

    The Reaper responded immediately, "Yeah, That is the lost Eye of Odin."

    Azzy charged at him pushed away his sword to the side, and then went on trying to stab his neck.

    Alaric felt like death was approaching him.

    The Fear of Death spiked his heartbeat to the peak. And memories of him holding the sword for the first time when he was a child appeared in his head.

    That joy of holding the sword. The recklessness to try every style, not to achieve something but just out of his pure love for swordplay.

    He suddenly realized the thing he had been missing all this time.

    It was at that moment his sword suddenly vibrated on its own, responding to his feelings, and for a moment, the world seemed like it slowed. Time seemed to be stretched, and for the first time in his life, the sword felt... weightless.

    No longer a weapon to control but a part of his body, a part of his soul.

    That instant, he didn''t even think. He let his instincts control his body.

    A swift duck from Alaric missed Azzy''s high-precision strike, and Alaric motioned the sword forward.

    Azzy acted in time and jumped back but Alaric pressed the foot onto the ground and threw himself off to the front, flying toward Azzy and motioning the sword forward once again.

    This time, a beam of concentrated energy enveloped the sword, becoming ten times its size in an instant, stabbing Azzy''s abdomen and pushing him away.

    As Azzy slid for a second and stopped, Alaric retracted the energy from the sword and brandished it like a whip, "I... win."

    Azzy looked at his own abdomen. There was a tiny bruise but he ignored it and looked back at his client, letting out a smile, "Congratulations, Mr. Steelclash."

 Chapter 715 The castle of Baphomet (part-1)

    Two more days later;

    Azzy once again bid farewell to Rynmere for another quest; what changed this time is that Azzy didn''t order him to stay behind as he usually does. Rynmere himself volunteered to stay behind.

    Perhaps he has finally come to terms with it and stopped being stubborn? One could only wonder.

    Azzy left for Planet Roca through one of the interplanetary portals, which cost him 36700 Grace shards for travel.

    Yes, unlike the big World Gate, the interplanetary portals cost money as they were controlled by private organizations.

    Azzy was now too rich to worry about such a meager amount but still paid for a round trip instead for 61000 shards, getting a pass that had an imprint of the dragon insignia on both sides. Why is this such a problem? This is because the round-trip pass only lasts 48 Hours.

    Once he passed through the portal and landed on the frozen planet, one of the insignias on the pass disappeared on its own, and Azzy put it into his pocket, and went on flying toward his destination with a map in his hands.

    It took him about six hours of flight to reach the campsite, located atleast three kilometers away from what seemed like a castle; there, only two people waiting for him at the site, an elevated flat and stone surface with a huge campfire in the center.

    Even from far away, Azzy could sense one of their strength. He didn''t even need Aura sensing to figure out the identity of the demigod among those two.

    As Azzy landed before them, the Angel other than the demigod rose to his feet and spoke, "You must be Gary of Everlasting guild. I''m Thalorim." At the same time, the demigod Angel stretched his hand to the side. His palm glowed for a second and a wooden chair appeared out of thin air.

    "Hello." Azzy subtly nodded and proceeded to sit on the chair, as gestured by the demigod.

    "So, Gary, before others arrive, let''s talk," Thalorim took the initiative to converse with Azzy once again. As he turned his head to pay attention to this Supreme realm Angel, the latter spoke, "I heard about your condition to participate in this raid."

    Azzy didn''t react to it and stayed silent.

    Thalorim continued, "Don''t worry. We don''t have a problem with it, but it would be nice if we knew what to expect from you so that our powers don''t clash. My master would the fallen, so..."

    Azzy glanced to the left, taking a glimpse of the demigod. Lux''s voice then rang in his head, "Be careful, he is a Seraphis."

    "Oh, a real one?" Azzy''s eyes glistened in curiosity for a moment. As if the Seraphis felt something strange, he gazed back at Azzy, who averted his gaze and said, "My abilities vary widely. I can''t list them all. But, for this upcoming battle, I will use lightning. My lightning often paralyzes lower life forms regardless of their strength. So, I''d stay away or atleast be alert whenever lightning strikes the enemies around if I were you."

    "Too vague," The Seraphis squinted eyes, thinking.

    Thalorim, on the other hand, nodded in understanding, "Yes, I''ll relay it to our teammates. Except for one, others are Nephilims you know."

    Azzy shook his head as he leaned to the front, resting his arms on his thighs, maintaining a deep tone under the mask, "You misunderstood me. When I say lower life forms, Angels too fall in that line." After a brief pause, he glanced at the demigod and added, "Even the Seraphis should be careful."

    "You..." Thalorim''s eyes darkened for a moment, fingers curled into fists. He glared at this stranger, who aimed such a disrespectful statement at his master. "Do think twice before what you speak of, Gary."

    Taking a deep breath, Azzy raised the sword of radiance and swung it down at the gate.

    The sword struck the barrier, clashing against an invisible wall before slicing through it like tofu. The barrier quickly repaired itself though. Well, quick was an understatement. It was almost instantly.

    "Alright then..." Azzy muttered, raising the sword once more.

    He unleashed a flurry of rapid slashes, dozens in a mere second. A large hole opened in the barrier, and Azzy calmly stepped through it.

    Before the gap could close, the two Angels flew just in time, landing next to him. Azzy turned his head, meeting their surprised faces.

    Thalorim still looked puzzled as before, having a tough time digesting the reality, but the Seraphis wore a deep frown. "Who are you? Which outer god do you serve?" He demanded, eyes cold, conjuring a saber filled with divine light. His earlier demeanor is long gone. It was as if he was staring at a potential enemy instead of an ally.

    Azzy blinked in surprise. This wasn''t what he expected. Usually, Angels would be surprised to look at a Seraphis, not immediately hostile.

    Did this Seraphis figure out that he is a human or something?

    The Reaper''s voice then echoed in his mind, "It''s probably because of the sword of radiance. They only serve the Olympian gods."

    "What? Why didn''t you tell me that before."

    "Azrael, I have already told you. There is nothing to worry about."

    "Fine, then, how to deal with this demigod now? This guy seems like he is ready to attack."

    "Azrael, follow my lead."

    Taking the Reaper''s advice to heed, Azzy answered them with a vague truth, "I grew up outside Elysium. That''s all. As for this sword, I snatched it away from an apostle of an outer god after killing him. Now, I''m more or less marked for death by the Olympian Gods. That''s all you strangers need to know about me. Now, if you still want to be hostile, I would have no choice but to reciprocate it." Azzy poured his Jupiter''s divine essence into Lux, generating sparks of lightning all over it. The Seraphis widened his eyes in realization, "Divine lightning? Zeus? You killed an apostle of the King of Outer Gods?"

    The Seraphis retracted the divine lightsaber back into his body and let out a deep sigh, "This is so much troublesome." Looking down at his feet, he scratched his head in frustration, "Alright. I''ll talk with Lord Zeraphiel about providing protection to you. A fellow Seraphis is a family. Can''t turn my back on you."

    "Huh? But, I don..."

    "Let it be, Azrael. He won''t do it. I saw the future." The Reaper cut off Azzy''s reply and just made him thank this Seraphis named Velorion.

    As they walked to the castle, Azzy felt a bit frustrated by the Reaper''s claim of future knowledge. Previously, he was all like, I don''t see the future. I see the possibilities. The future is ever-changing, blah blah blah. But, now, two times in a row, he was completely sure of the future.

    Azzy felt the urge to consume the Eye of Odin to have that knowledge of the future so that he could make better decisions on his own, just like how he expelled the Blood Clan over random precognition and opened up a new path for the hidden clans.

    But as they finally reached the entrance door of the castle and walked through it, all of those thoughts were gone from Azzy''s head and instantly replaced by one single thought as he took a glimpse at the black aura that enveloped Seraphis, "So, he dies?"

 Chapter 716 The castle of Baphomet (part-2)

    There was no army, minions, guardians, or whatever guarding the castle.

    It was just one enemy sitting in the throne room.

    The thing waiting for them was hard to look at. It had the head of a goat, huge with horns that curled up like twisted tree branches. Its body was weird, too, part human, part animal.

    As it rose from the throne, behind it, dark, bat-like wings stretched out. On its head, the pentagram glowed.

    At one glance, it looked like a demon with a layer of demonic energy enveloping his body, but Azzy could feel divinity running rampant in its body simultaneously.

    Baphomet didn''t even bother engaging in a conversation with the intruders and directly charged at them. Or more specifically, at Thalorim.

    *Cling*

    His claws were blocked by the Seraphis'' saber, stunning Thalorim for a moment in surprise.

    *zzzz*

    Azzy acted simultaneously, conjuring divine lightning in his free hand and following up with a palm strike to Baphomet''s abdomen.

    Baphomet blasted away a few meters and crashed to the floor. The lightning sparks were seen all over his body for a couple of seconds before disappearing as he rose to his feet and stared at Azzy silently.

    "It looks like the paralyzing effect doesn''t seem to work on him, Chronos," Azzy said in his head.

    The Reaper replied, "That goes without saying. Baphomet might not be a true deity, but still a deity nevertheless. Your current soul realm is not enough to paralyze him. Of course, Jupiter''s Transformation mode could harm him."

    "Then, what should I do?" He asked.

    The Reaper''s reply was instantaneous, "Why are you asking me that? Didn''t have like a dozen backup plans in case it fails?"

    "Well..."

    *swoosh*

    Azzy didn''t get time to respond to the Reaper''s statement as Baphomet summoned a scepter in his hand.

    "Careful. He summoned the scepter, meaning he would attack us with illusions, dark magic, and necromancy," The Seraphis warned Azzy, feeling that they might really pull this off before even full moon if they worked together.

    Baphomet pointed the scepter at Thalorim, shooting a beam of dark energy at him. Azzy acted swiftly, putting himself between the beam and Thalorim. He blocked it with the sword of radiance itself and charged along the beam''s path, flapping his wings. The lightning sparks gushed out of his body, increasing his speed by a thousand times at once; Azzy closed in their gap and gave a kick to Baphomet''s thigh.

    As Baphomet lost his balance and fell to the floor, Azzy followed it up with a soul skill.

    "Soul skill: Spear of Death"

    The Spear of Death appeared instantly in his left hand. He pierced Baphomet''s heart as the latter didn''t move for some reason and instead just stared at Azzy as if he was in some kind of trance or maybe shocked.

    The Death Spear successfully struck him and the Death energy started its work.

    "Is it over?" Azzy wondered.

    If it does, petrification will start, turning the enemy''s body into stone before becoming ash.

    Just then, Baphomet''s appearance changed. He transformed into the Seraphis.

    Suddenly, Azzy was staring at his demigod teammate, lying at his feet with death energy passed all over his body, which was rapidly turning into stone.

    "What the..."

    Azzy stiffly turned his head to spot Baphomet on the floor near the throne, where the Seraphis were supposed to be lying earlier. Baphomet slowly rose to his feet.

    "You evil fiend... You killed my master..." Another roar was heard from Azzy''s behind.

    "Die."

    "Hail, thou Golden Serpent of Heaven, hearken unto my call. I summon thee to deliver thy judgment upon the sinner."

    As Azzy turned his head, he saw a golden winged serpent in concentrated energy flying toward him.

    Thalorim''s eyes reddened in anger.

    Azzy timely sidestepped to dodge this demigod-level attack in reflex.

    The golden wingless serpent went past him and seemed like it was flying toward Baphomet. But then, in the next second, it flew up and turned back toward Azzy.

    "Wha..."

 Chapter 717 The castle of Baphomet (part-3)

    "This damn idiot..." Azzy stretched his arm, releasing a torrent of electricity as the golden-winged serpent aimed at him instead of Baphomet.

    Baphomet took this opportunity to shoot a dark energy beam at Azzy.

    The sword of radiance was raised high and blocked the beam simultaneously as the golden-winged serpent was momentarily paralyzed in mid-air by Jupiter''s lightning.

    Thalorim rushed at Azzy.

    "Come out, Vajra."

    The black lightning orb made its appearance and flew to deal with the golden serpent.

    Thalorim was about to strike Azzy''s back with an energy saber but Azzy''s no-look kick to the back hit his body, blasting him away.

    While Thalorim crashed into the wall and Azzy was still blocking the dark beam with the sword of radiance, Baphomet lowered his head and conjured a sphere of dark energy between his twisted goat horns, shooting it at Azzy.

    "Master."

    Suddenly, the golden-winged serpent, which was captured by numerous lightning threads of Vajra, moved against its will to the side, coming in between the dark beam and Azzy and taking the attack head-on.

    The dark beam obliterated the golden-winged serpent in a second, giving just enough time for Azzy to push out natural energy from his Sage core, forming a shield using Gaia''s essence.

    The translucent shield was hit by the dark beam and started cracking. The power behind the dark beam that the sword of radiance was blocking has increased by several folds. Azzy started sliding to the back.

    "Evil fiend..."

    Simultaneously, another annoying roar was heard behind, angering Azzy. A beam of divine light energy was unleashed at him.

    "This... I had enough..." Azzy moved the sword of radiance and flapped his twelve wings at the same time, jumping to the side.

    The divine light missed him and struck the translucent shield from behind. The shield was broken like glass and the dark beam and divine light clashed, releasing enormous amounts of energy.

    The other power dark beam that was launched by the scepter went on its path and directly struck Thalorim''s head.

    "Well, those two following you into the castle are in minor probability. So, that was unexpected. But, before that, let''s finish off this malevolent entity," said the Reaper, answering his doubt before Azzy got to ask.

    Meanwhile, Baphomet waited patiently for an answer. Before acting, he wishes to know whether it is an enemy or not. He already stated that he doesn''t wish to be an enemy.

    So, the choice fell upon Azzy''s head.

    And, after a brief discussion with the Reaper, Azzy gave his response to Baphomet.

    He responded by unleashing the ultimate form of the transformation, the Titan.

    Lightning energy pushed away from Azzy, before retreating to him and forming a giant humanoid armor, destroying the ceiling of the castle and encompassing the sky briefly before disappearing into Azzy and forming a thin bluish-white layer over his skin.

    With the crown on his face, Azzy indeed looked a king of gods in his transformation.

    "You made your choice."

    Baphomet''s skin glowed in a scarlet layer of demonic energy. His scepter disappeared and was replaced by twin daggers.

    Both of them charged at the same time, leaving behind a trail of respective energies.

    As they clashed, an enormous amount of energy was released like an explosion. A figure flew out and crashed into the wall, breaking it and falling on the other side. It was Baphomet.

    Baphomet jumped out of the hole and stared at Azzy, who was floating in mid-air in the exact spot where they clashed.

    "How?" Baphomet''s mouth opened widely, hanging down, "Impossible. It''s the Death. Did Thanatos manage to win against Jupiter and crush his will? That is a cosmic jewel. And what''s that cosmic energy that I don''t recognize?"

    The thick lightning sparks around Azzy changed from bluish-white to pitch black. Even his eyes were no longer the same as before he charged earlier.

    "You don''t have Jupiter''s will," Baphomet screamed. The vibration sent by his piercing scream destroyed the surroundings. Half of the entire castle was razed to the ground. The only thing that remained unaffected was the throne.

    The lightning energy turned the rubble around him into dust, clearing out his view. Baphomet also did the same and gazed at him with hatred, "I''ll take revenge for Jupiter." The demonic essence around him thickened to the point that the air became toxic in the surroundings as its aura spread around like dust.

    Azzy was, however, unaffected due to his transformation. He stood his ground and stretched his hand, "Vajra. Come."

    His deep voice trembled the floating lightning orb a bit, reminding it of one of its previous masters. Nevertheless, it transformed into its true form, a bolt of black lightning, returning to Azzy''s hands.

 Chapter 718 The End of Baphomet

    With a bolt of black lightning in his hands, Azzy rushed at Baphomet, who tightly grabbed the twin daggers.

    He stabbed them forward as Azzy reached him and attacked with the lightning bolt concentrated in his palms.

    The daggers released a terrifying amount of demonic energy as they met the lightning bolt, but it was destroyed instantly, and the bolt of black lightning hit the blades, releasing protos energy into the blade.

    The daggers were corrupted by the protos energy and turned to dust, while Azzy tightened his left fist and gave a solid punch to Baphomet''s chest.

    *Punch*

    Baphomet spat out black blood, rising to his feet after crashing to the ground hundreds of meters away.

    The wound on his body was swiftly healed, making Azzy clench his fist even tighter, "That full-powered punch was enough to defeat Leah and even Argus. It didn''t do much to this monster. How to defeat him? I don''t think my undead monsters would do much either. Ancestor, any ideas?"

    The remnant spirit of the clan founder gave a quick reply, "Azrael, you have already dismissed the very thing that can give you sure victory."

    "The sword of radiance''s primordial death energy?" Azzy was taken aback. He then said, "But Lux doesn''t work with this transformation mode. We had a deal. Lux will accept fighting for me, but she won''t go against any Olympian God or help the enemies of Olympians, like Jupiter. If I use Lux in my human or angelic form, I won''t be able to strike the enemy at my current level."

    A chuckle of amusement escaped from the remnant spirit, "That''s very simple, lad. Use the cosmic jewels to suppress its will. Unlike Vajra, they aren''t corrupted in nature and are divine. And unlike Jupiter, they aren''t the enemy of Olympians either."

    "No, I promised myself that I wouldn''t try bending her will; unless my very survival is at stake. And also don''t want to switch to Tellus." Azzy firmly rejected the suggestion from the person who understood him the best.

    "Hmm..." The remnant spirit of the clan founder pondered for a bit and said, "Then, in that case, give me some time."

    "What do you..."

    The connection was cut off before Azzy could hear his ancestor''s plans. Since it seemed like he got a slight edge in battle, although only for the next few minutes before his transformation''s Titan form would wear off, Azzy resumed his battle.

    Baphomet was being punched left and right; the black lightning bolt was striking his vital points, but it was all for naught.

    Baphomet''s almost instant healing ability could be compared to the jewel of life, and his divinity rampaging inside but being suppressed by this demonic personality of Baphomet was eliminating the protos energy that invaded his body.

    As for his soul skills, he had already realized that they were useless in front of his opponent. Neither his arcana spirits nor his undead army would be helpful in this situation.

    Everything made it difficult for Azzy to see any hope of victory.

    This doesn''t mean he was falling behind. Even Baphomet is in the same situation as him. Azzy was in Jupiter''s titan mode, his body could take powerful hits. And even in the event of injury, he had the jewel of life, which would make him nearly invincible already, and his eyes of god would dispel any illusion. Not to mention, much of his abilities were currently suppressed by his present condition.

    But then, after a couple of minutes, Azzy returned to normal Jupiter mode and Baphomet finally realized that Azzy''s attack no longer carried the power to deeply injure him or interrupt his instant spells.

    As he sat down, The Reaper crushed its will and split its power, the divinity supplied to his bones, meridians, and organs, evolving his true divine physique further.

    His divine physique at once directly entered Tier-11, causing the bones and all of his organs crushed, inflicting him even greater pain than when his body transformed into a divine physique.

    Meanwhile, in the mindscape, Jinn was fed the demonic essence. A layer of cocoon formed over it as if it were a caterpillar. The rest of the demonic energy rejected by his soul orb went to the Sage core. The divinity over there firmly rejected it too.

    As a result, the demonic energy decided to attack the newly forming organs but the Reaper guided it to another place, letting it slowly form a spirit core on its own.

    However, in order to keep its presence a secret from not only enemies but also Azzy himself, The Reaper hid it in a separate hidden dimension inside Azzy''s heart as it was reconstructed into god''s heart, which had so much divinity that it was next to impossible to sense the demonic core''s presence.

    At this moment, Azzy stopped being a human altogether and became an existence, akin to Baphomet, a balancer that is divine and demonic.

    Azzy, being unaware of the developments happening to his own body, just continued to meditate, keeping his trust in the Reaper. His soul was resting in the center of his soul orb, which resembled a star system with nine planets, one being ten times bigger than the former.

    The process went on for a long time.

    Meanwhile, the team of six 9-star experts reached the campsite and saw the castle looked like it had gone through a war. Surprisingly, Liam seemed to be in the group.

    "Guys, look over there."

    "The battle is already over?"

    "But, it is still a day."

    "Hmm? There seems to be someone over there."

    Vice guildmaster Oriniel adjusted the monocle he was wearing and pointed at the figure floating in mid-air, "That doesn''t seem like the outer god Baphomet."

    "Perhaps it is a form of Baphomet. The mythological records were always a sham," replied a teammate.

    "Should we check out?"

    "Guildmaster?" Oriniel looked at his guildmaster, who was silently staring at the scene and the only one who shut his mouth.

    The old but healthy-looking Nephilim with a staff in his hand was seen observing Azzy from far away too, caressing his long beard, "Hmm..." he seemed to be thinking something.

    "Guildmaster..." As Oriniel pressed him further, the guildmaster came to his senses and shook his head, "The divinity emitting from him is too strong and could even be compared to those noble houses of the heaven. It''s best not to offend him by disturbing him. He seemed to be trying to break through to the ascendant realm."

    "Umm... Excuse me, Vice Guild Master Oriniel, may I have that monocle? The aura emitting from that person seems familiar." Liam took the monocle from the only pure angel in the group and equipped it. His vision enhanced by hundred times instantly, letting him have a better look at the person.

    In an instant, his face lit up in excitement, "Guildmaster, I know him. It is the same person from the prophecy."

 Chapter 719 Evolving into a divine being

    Three days later;

    Azzy''s eyes opened at last. As he rose to his feet, the first thing he did was to observe his own arms.

    On the outside, he had the same lean physique as before, but he could sense pure divinity running through his veins, filling his bones, organs, and meridians; every inch of his body was filled with divine essence, which didn''t seem foreign as he felt with Jupiter''s or Gaia''s. It truly felt like his own.

    At the same time, the chilling winds around him didn''t bother him a bit. Earlier, he could atleast feel that the temperature was low enough for him to feel cold. But, right now, he felt nothing as if he had become a part of this world.

    He clenched his fist, opened and clenched it again a few times, and eventually formed a fist to give a punch to the air.

    A gust of wind generated from his punch which struck the lonely sitting throne on the platform, with its surroundings destroyed, and it blew away for dozens of meters, creating huge vibrations like a mini earthquake as it crashed to the ground.

    "Woah, that was some punch..." Azzy couldn''t help but be amazed as he looked at his fist again, "that throne didn''t move a bit during our fight and I blasted such a thing away with a simple punch?"

    The Reaper replied, "Earlier, when you absorbed Thanatos'' divine essence, only your bones turned to that of a divine being, but right now, your entire body went through evolution."

    "Hmm... it looks like the more deities I kill, the stronger I become?" Azzy couldn''t help but imagine the scenery of slaying all the gods that come at him in the future.

    The Reaper quickly put a stop to his imagination with a quick explanation, "Baphomet''s realm regressed to a demigod. And you weren''t an angel or a deity that he could inflict more damage, and neither the full moon has arrived completely. Conditions were completely unfavorable to him. That''s why you managed to win it. At present, you probably could defeat any demigod out there, but if there is a deity, a demon, or a divine being that''s in god''s realm (rank-11), even if it is an elementary one, you would die without any doubt, unless I take over your body. Don''t you dare think of challenging one before your breakthrough into the demigod realm. Understand?"

    "Alright... alright... you nagging guardian. can''t you let me dream for a second? I know my limits."

    "You brat..."

    Azzy chuckled, after irritating the Reaper for a second, and returned his sense to the material world.

    He didn''t even need to activate Aura sensing to realize the presence of various individuals watching him afar. He abruptly turned his head to look at the group of Nephilims, staying away but had a camp set up on this frozen land.

    His eyes captured a familiar individual, Liam, who was also watching him alongside others; Azzy muttered under his breath in a bit of annoyance, "No wonder this guy could find my secret identity. He is a Supreme realm Arcana Master from the start. But, how come I couldn''t sense his true realm earlier?" His eyes widened in realization, "Unless he had the knowledge of the Decarune seal or something similar."

    "That is not the case, Azrael," the Reaper said to him.@@@@

    "What do you mean?"

    "Well... that is..." Liam never expected Azzy to turn out as Seraphis, the noblest Angel that could be born (Archangels are born at the beginning of the universe''s creation. They aren''t usually counted). As a Nephilim, he was obviously pressured upon remembering how he kept on annoying Azzy. His speech stuttered as he explained, "I... I... I was just... just following... Guildmaster''s ord... orders..."

    As Azzy''s frown deepened, the oldest Angel in the group spoke calmly, "Pardon us, Your Grace. However, our guild''s Prophet gave us the prophecy, In the time of twilight and shadow, a stranger from realms beyond shall walk the soil of Astrael. He shall be the shield against the coming storm of Armageddon, when the beast of dread, the Behemoth, rises from the Gates of Hell. By his hand, the tide of darkness shall be stayed, and the world, once again, shall find its dawn."

    "Uhh..." Azzy stared at the old man in a daze. Obviously, he wasn''t well educated to the point that he understood the deep meaning behind the prophecy. He spoke in his head, "Chronos, a little translation please."

    "Sorry but the nagging Guardian isn''t available to talk," replied the Reaper, following up with a snort.

    Azzy''s mouth almost fell from his reply, "Seriously? You are a deity... how could you be so... sigh... forget it."

    "Ancestor..."

    He immediately reached out to his founder instead of arguing with the Reaper.

    The remnant spirit replied, "To put it in simple terms. It talks about someone who comes from outside of Elysium and puts an end to Behemoth, a monster of the legend that should be imprisoned in Hell." After a brief pause, he added, "By the way, Behemoth is a divine-grade beast that could go against even Archangels, if the legend is true. It swallows up planets and stars as food. It could even destroy galaxies. Better to stay away."

    Azzy felt tremors in his soul as soon as he heard that it could destroy an entire galaxy. It''s definitely an existence he cannot face.

    He didn''t care whether they think he is a coward or not. He simply commented, "I think I heard a similar prophecy about Behemoth, although it speaks about an Outergod. But then again, it is a headache of those Lords at the top."

    The old man''s eyes widened and involuntarily took a step back. The others also understood the hidden meaning. It has nothing to do with me or you.

    After his comment is met with silence, Azzy continued, "Anyways, I''ll be on my way. Need to return to Silver City and report about Baphomet''s demise. I hope all of you keep this a secret. We don''t know how many outer gods are hiding in this realm. It is best if you keep your people away from unknown dungeons that have conditions to enter, like this one. The best way to recognize such dungeons is by striking their invisible barrier. If an ascendant cannot destroy the dungeon''s barrier without relying on any specific artifact, it''s better to report those."

    Azzy didn''t wait for their response and flew away as if he were in a hurry.

    "So, the prophecy was real? I just made it up for appearances. Interesting," The guildmaster commented in surprise, stroking his beard.

    Others: "It''s not real?"

    They all shouted at the same time.

    "Hahahaha," The old man laughed at his guildmates'' reaction. Liam had the look of being betrayed. "Sorry about that, Liam. I just needed you to get away from the guild for a while because of your scandal with Lady Reiner."

    "Uhh... what?"

 Chapter 720 Parting ways

    "So, let me get this straight. You fell in love with the girl living downstairs and pursuing her. However, she still hasn''t reciprocated your feelings. So, I need to wait until you marry, and that too with the uncertainty of whether she too follows me to Heaven as my servant or not."

    Azzy had this look of seriousness as he stared at his servant, who followed him to this realm. "And why do you even think that I agree with your request?" He questioned the servant, standing before him with his head hung down like a guilty party.

    Apart from doing house chores, this Aqua Angel isn''t good at anything. Since his body constitution doesn''t allow him to have any food in the first place, Azzy himself had to cook for himself.

    Moreover, elemental angels were treated not so kindly in this world, and without the aqua angel living downstairs with the house owner, he couldn''t even shop properly. There''s also an issue of him getting a heat stroke if he stays too long in the sun as his kind usually lives underwater.

    So far, Azzy only felt like Rynmere was freeloading.

    And now, this guy wants him to do more favors for him? Azzy was obviously offended.

    Rynmere knew that his lord was displeased. Hence, he could only kneel down and request, "Milord, just give me three days."

    Azzy responded with a firm shake of his head, "No, the house owner was a good person. It goes against my principles to steal her servant, Rynmere. I can only leave you behind to resume my journey. All I can do is to talk with the house owner to employ you as her servant, too. Or, if you want, I will talk with Everlasting guild''s manager to look for a job for you. You can then take your time to pursue her and live happily here. But, don''t worry, I have a method to erase your memories of me. So, you won''t remember anything."

    "Milord, please don''t abandon me," Rynmere panicked at once. He pleaded Azzy, continuing to kneel, "I... I... I will forget her. I pledged my soul to the Lord. I won''t take anyone else as my master. Please don''t erase my memory. I beg you.."

    Azzy inwardly sighed upon feeling the truth in his words. It would be a lie to say that he didn''t move by this Nephilim''s loyalty.

    But then again, all elemental angels are closer to the monsters than angels, despite their appearance. Hence, their loyalty is also similar. Just like how an animal gets attached to its master, all elemental angels that become servants voluntarily are too attached to their master. They can handle separation from their master only if they are confident that their master will return to their side.

    In the end, Azzy raised his index finger, "Alright then. I''ll give you one day, until the end of tomorrow. Tell your feelings to the girl. If she accepts your love and is willing to follow me to Heaven, I''ll buy her from the house owner."

    Best regards, your friend."

    The scroll left Rynmere''s hand to fall onto the bed. He stood there like he became a statue for a moment. "No, this cannot happen. I... I... Master abandoned me..."

    ***

    Meanwhile, Azzy traveled to Planet Xyrian, the world filled with the highest percentage of pure angels race population in the plane of Empyreon.

    More than 40% here are pure angels who came down from Heaven and live here, some wanted to be adventurers, some married Nephilims and settled here, and some are criminals in hiding.

    Azzy didn''t bother to settle down here. He directly went straight to the World Gate''s location.

    However, this time, since he was alone, he used his Sage abilities, turning himself into a mosquito-sized person as he flew into the world gate, a giant portal that looked as big as a mountain.

    The presence of someone who is not a demigod/ascendant at this location is not attention-worthy for the passersby.

    Even if none could see him and could only sense his presence, Azzy didn''t attract any attention and smoothly disappeared from the plane in a flash.

    His surroundings changed instantly.

    However, before his sight, his nose experienced the change.

    The air wasn''t just fresh. It was brimmed with dense natural energy, although different from Gaia''s. Just taking a breath, a smile appeared on his face.

    "Welcome to Silver City."

 Chapter 721 Aurelis, the kingdom of Archangel Michael

    As with the clan village he grew up in, Azzy saw no sun in the sky despite the fact that it looked like a bright sunny day, except that it wasn''t a false sky.

    The clouds were seen passing by, although they weren''t made of water vapor.

    They were dozens of kilometers away, but Azzy could sense that clouds were condensed forms of divine energy.

    Far away, he could see the buildings, crafted from some kind of silverish stone, a material that was emitting divine energy.

    There are towering spires, several kilometers tall as if they were reaching toward the sky.

    Angels, with their feathery wings, could be seen flying toward the city. A lot of Nephilims could also be seen around, but their direction is toward the portals.

    Around the giant world gate, there are floating islands with smaller world portals. Although each of them was hundreds of meters big, in front of this giant structure, they looked quite smaller.

    Azzy observed the twelve floating islands. "I wonder which floating island takes me to Aurelis, where Claire is residing. Lux, any idea?"

    "No, I never came to this place," replied the spirit of the sword of radiance.

    "Chronos?"

    It was met with silence.

    "Ancestor?"

    The remnant spirit also gave a negative answer, "No idea." After a brief pause, he however added, "Just choose one at random. Mingle with the people over there and find out the information."

    "Hmm... I guess..."

    Maintaining his mosquito form, Azzy flew to a floating island and swiftly entered the closest portal he could see.

    Two soldiers, wearing the traditional knight armor that Azzy found on his planet, walked toward the girl.

    The old man shouted, "Please, No. I beg you."

    The wife also grabbed his leg, "She is ignorant. Please don''t punish her..."

    "Sigh... No matter where I go... the scene just doesn''t change..." A voice came from the crowd, gaining the attention of the noble. Azzy soon walked out of the crowd, disappeared in the next instant, and appeared in front of the knight.

    The knight flew high in the air, and everyone''s eyes followed his body. In the next second, a scream escaped from the young noble as Azzy was seen behind him, twisting his arm to the back.

    "Arghhh... you fiend... how dare you... arghh..."

    "Young Lord!" The remaining knight rushed forward but a no-look kick from Azzy blasted him away dozens of meters.

    "Shut your mouth," Azzy''s tone made the young noble shiver for a second but still retained his arrogance as he threatened, "Do you know who my father is? He is the cap... Argh..."

    "I said, shut your mouth." *Click*

    The young noble let out a piercing scream as Azzy used a bit more force than necessary and broke his bone.

    He casually pushed him to the ground, letting the soil and dust smear his clothes; Azzy went on helping the old man to stand up, "You alright?"

    "Ye... Yes."

    "You fiend... wait... Arghh... till my father hears about this..." The young noble didn''t shut his mouth and continued to threaten, rolling on the ground left and right, irritating Azzy even more.

    Azzy wanted to punish him, but since they didn''t have any personal enmity and neither did the opposing party act on him, he merely gave a warning in response, "Unless your father''s got wings big enough to blot out the sky, you''d best zip it and fly off before I clip yours."

    "Wow, this handsome big brother has a really innovative way to insult someone. Never heard of such an expression," mumbled the teenage girl, blinking her eyes as she curiously stared at Azzy.

 Chapter 722 Leaving for the tournament

    Soon after, Azzy escorted the wounded old man and his family to his home, leaving the young noble alone in the marketplace.

    He introduced himself as Rael, who came from Planet Xyrian of the Empyreon plane in order to make a name for himself.

    Through his subtle interrogation, which he was very good at, Azzy found out that the young noble he beat up earlier is actually the son of a captain who serves as the Knight of the House of Celestial Flame.

    The House of Celestial Flame is one of the four major noble houses of Aurelis, headed by Archangel Michael. By sheer coincidence, he actually flew into the region of Aurelis, and that too, to the planet ruled under the same major house.

    However, the major houses don''t directly control the world. The minor houses do.

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    One can imagine the Archangels as Kings. The heads of the major houses are Dukes. The heads of the minor houses are Barons.

    Each minor house rules a world in this one-planet star system.

    The major houses always compete with each other to increase the number of worlds in their control. As such, the number of minor noble houses below them isn''t exactly the same.

    Due to the absence of Archangel Michael for the past few decades and Adam, the acting King, mostly staying away from the affairs of the angels, Aurelis has lost its status as the strongest kingdom under heaven and is currently somewhere in the middle, with almost one-fourth of its territories snatched away by other kingdoms.

    Hence, the joining requirement for the Knight has been significantly lowered.

    However, Azzy didn''t choose the easiest route of direct application, since it would no doubt expose him before he could even get to meet Claire.

    Another new piece of information he found from this village chief is that Princess Claire is also majorly found at the Knight Academy of Celestial Flame. She was supposedly working as the head of Card Creation, a recently founded department in the academy.

    Claire brought the knowledge from her high school to establish the department there, making everyone understand the importance of Card Creation. How skill cards make their battles easier, how storage cards can be bound to one''s soul and replace traditional storage bags and rings, how message cards can be used for communication, etc...

    Angels, who don''t have blacksmiths, had it tough to manufacture them, but Claire seems to be working on it. At present, this technology has yet to become public, apart from skill cards, as they are just one-time-use blank cards where people can store their techniques as they wish.

    Azzy chose the tournament route as a result.

    As long as one reaches the top-8 at any regional tournament (on any planet), they will be receiving the academy pass to study there. Those who went through that route wouldn''t have to pay any fee.

    But, for those who want to enter normally, the fees would touch as high as ten million per annum.

    Elise tilted her head, "Not really, but I like to fight the bullies."

    Azzy chuckled, "Then, you must pursue it, especially if you want to fight against those bad guys who want to bully the weak, just like I did."

    "I will follow Big Brother''s example," Elise nodded firmly, making a determined expression. Azzy couldn''t help but smile again, wanting to ruffle her hair but forced himself not to do it.

    He then took out a skill card from his dimension bag and handed it to her, "Use this when you and your family are in crisis. Just pour your energy into this and Big Brother will come to your rescue, alright?"

    "Eh?"

    The next day;

    At Town Cardel, many Angels from nearby villages and many from far away places arrived for the tournament and lined up in front of the registration desks.

    There was a floating island right above the town where the semi-annual tournaments were supposed to take place. Such islands were dozens in number all over the world.

    While these floating islands looked cool, it is also just nothing but a simple island floating in the air. There was nothing on top of it.

    After paying a nominal fee of 10000 grace shards, Azzy received a token, which he carried in his hands as he went to the floating island by landing on top of one of the pillars that acts like an elevator. There are 3-star and 4-star ranks in the contestants who had yet to sprout their wings. Hence, such arrangement seemed perfect for Azzy, who doesn''t want to showcase his wingless flying ability or his twelve golden feathered wings.

    There, a guardian angel checked out everyone''s tokens and grouped them in one spot until it was noon and the registrations stopped altogether and a giant barrier was raised to cover the floating island, barring entry to others.

    Azzy found himself in the midst of atleast four hundred Angels, of which, the strongest one was only around 5-star rank, excluding the guardian angel who seemed to be at mid-7-star rank. Hence, he too suppressed his strength to a 5-star rank.

    Meanwhile, far away in the Silver City;

    A Seraphis walked into a large prayer hall and knelt down to an elderly-looking angel, who was silently staring at a giant statue resembling a man sitting on a throne.

    "High Commander Zeraphiel, there is a grave news. We confirmed the death of..."

    The elderly angel raised his hand, stopping him from speaking further. He spoke in a deep tone, "I know. I''m also aware that his death wasn''t caused by the outer god. It was caused by the death."

    "There is also another news, High Commander," said the Seraphis. "There is an appearance of a young Seraphis in the world of Astrael. A rumor states that he is from the outer world."

    "A Seraphis from the outer world? That''s impossible." Zeraphiel, the high commander of God''s Army and the leader of the Seraphis race turned his head in surprise, "Find him."

 Chapter 723 Divine arms

    The guardian angel then flapped his wings and flew high to take a look at everyone and announced, "You have five solastis (3 minutes). Spread to anywhere on the floating island. The last remaining one is the winner and proceeds to the regional tournament. Now. Go."

    The island wasn''t that big, but not small either. It was around 1.5 sq. Km, perfectly enough for more than five hundred participants to have space between each other. However, it was all plain grassland with nowhere to hide. Even if it wasn''t flat, one could still spot anyone as long as they fly high enough.

    As others flew away, Azzy stayed in his spot like a statue, among the few others.

    He and the other seven angels of 5-star rank drew the attention of the Guardian Angel as they didn''t bother running away.

    Instead, they checked out one another.

    And surprisingly, a few of them knew each other very well to the point that they were casually conversing around.

    "Hey, Tobial, it''s your sixth try. Why don''t you just give up?"

    "I''m stronger now, Camael."

    "Oh please, Tobial. Increasing your tier from 52 to 55 in half a year doesn''t mean you actually got stronger. You just focused on increasing tier"

    "Hmpf, and what did you do in the past 6 months, Aviell? I don''t see any single improvement in your tier."

    "I mastered a new skill, which should be enough to beat you"

    "What''s the use? We are still in tier-50s. Even if one of us win, we still can''t go into top-8 unless we make it to tier-60s."

    "Improving tier isn''t everything, Lumiel. You should focus on improving your weapon mastery."

    "Nah, skill mastery is more important, Ariel. If you are proficient in skills, you can make skill cards."

    "Oh please, not everyone is wealthy like you, Aviell. Skill cards are too expensive for people like us."

    "Well, I can''t do anything about it. Not everyone will born the same."

    "Hmpf, go on and brag all you want. You still won''t win this battle."

    "I see some new faces around"

    "Hey, by the way, I heard Gabrielle won the qualification to the regional tournament a few days ago.

    Azzy stopped paying attention to them once they started squabbling about nonsense. He silently sat down in meditation.

    "Look over there. That kid looks quite confident"

    "He is very young and already at Tier-56?"

    "He is typically what you call the young master, not me."

    "Hmm? Do you know him, Aviell?"

    "Nope, but just look at that attire... That coat he was wearing over his robes was made of high-tier beast skin; should be atleast over a hundred thousand grace shards easily. My distant cousin once wore a similar one..."

    "Oh my lord... that expensive... ugh... so hateful. Now, I want to beat him up even more."

    "Me too..."

    A while later;

    The guardian angel signals the start of the battle, shooting a light beam into the sky.

    The Battle Royale started between 412 angels.

    "What is this technique? Aviell?"

    "I have no idea..."

    Even the guardian angel, quietly, watching it, was taken aback by the scene.

    Azzy then mumbled as he opened his eyes, "It''s time to end this."

    The arm size grew further and extended toward them. Two more hands suddenly grew like branches and caught the three of them at the same time.

    From the left and right sides, similar golden divine arms erupted from his body and extended further and grew branches along the way.

    "Wha... What in the hell..."

    "Oh my lord... what is this hand..."

    "I can''t free myself"

    "Where did this hand come from... aaaahhh"

    "Why can''t I destroy this?"

    "What''s happening?"

    "Aaaah"

    Azzy slowly rose to his feet, gathering his golden divine arms with multiple hands growing from them like branches of a tree; each hand captured a 5-star rank. They looked all struggling but could get free from its grip.

    "Adieu..."

    Staring at them from down below, Azzy swung his arms with a thought, throwing all of them away from the arena. He ended up being the only one remaining on the floating island, alongside the guardian angel.

    "The... The... winner is Rael."

    The guardian angel announced the winner using some kind of sound amplification technique, which reached everyone in a few-kilometer radius.

    After he landed on the ground, using a divine sun technique, which is nothing but a light technique that gets launched into the air and makes it seem like an artificial sun that gives light to the entire town for a while, the guardian angel approached Azzy and took out a silver medallion in his hand.

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    Handing it over to him, he spoke, "Congratulations, warrior. You are now eligible to fight in the regional tournament. Take this medallion to the city of Tiara before the start of the tournament. The participants will get free accommodation until the end of the tournament in the city."

    "Understood..." Azzy took the medallion and observed it. Apart from the symbol of a man on one side and the throne on the other side, there isn''t much to look at on the outside. But, when he observed carefully, he could sense the divine energy of some Angel; the divinity doesn''t seem that potent though. Hence, he didn''t pay too much attention and placed it in his pocket.

    "Thank you."

    Azzy was about to turn away and leave but then the guardian angel suddenly grabbed his arm, "Wait."

    "Hmm?"

    "Those extensions of the divine arms... I saw a similar technique before, only once though, but it was done by His Majesty, Archangel Uriel," stated the guardian angel, taking Azzy by surprise. He then further said, "I feel like you haven''t shown your true strength at all. I saw no loss of stamina. You are not really in Tier-60s either, are you? What is your strength?" He asked.

    Azzy stared back at the guardian angel''s glowing golden eyes. He let out a smile and put his palm on his shoulder.

    The guardian angel wondered what it was. But then, in the next instant, a huge pressure struck his body, forcing him to his knees, and Azzy''s words slowly flew into his ears like a whisper, "How you interpret this is up to you, mister." He patted his shoulder twice, this time casually without any force. "Goodbye."

    Azzy jumped down from the barrier and shrunk his size to that of a mosquito amid several gazes from the ground, making it seem like he disappeared from their eyes.

    "This strength... Why is an ascendant participating in this stupid tournament?" The guardian angel''s eyes fluttered, and his mouth quivered uncontrollably.

 Chapter 724 A new friend

    Tiara, the capital city of the world, is where the minor noble house of the Crowned Jewel operates and the place that houses all the administrative buildings, wealthy individuals, training centers, etc.

    Just as with the floating islands above several towns, this city, too, had a large floating island above the outskirts of the city. However, apart from its size, there is also something else.

    Rather than saying that it is a floating island, one could say that it is a floating city.

    A large stadium with high seating capacity, some mansions belonged to the noble house and their relatives, The Tower of Spire, the hall of judgment, Sentinel force HQ (police), all of such buildings were built on top of this giant floating city protected by a giant barrier, which prevents unauthorized entrances.

    Azzy could only stare at it as he passed by the island, going to the main city to stay there.

    While the medallion would give him free accommodation in the city, he doesn''t want to stay in a hotel or so-called Stay facility, which sounded so tacky for Azzy but anyway, he doesn''t want to stay in such places for the next two and a half months. Moreover, he has enough savings.

    Hence, he decided to look for a rental house. But, for the current day, he checked into a decent hotel instead of trying his luck with luxury hotels. In the end, he got a room for free and checked in for the night.

    The next day morning, Azzy went into the city, where everyone seemed to be either flying or walking. There are absolutely no other ways of transportation in this place.

    Azzy could only turn mosquito-sized as he explored the city, searching for any to-let boards in residential areas. There are no rental agencies here.

    After two hours of extensive searching without any results, Azzy landed on the tallest building he could find and sat down on the edge of its terrace, looking down at the city. "Sigh... I wonder how Rynmere managed to find such a good house last time. I kinda miss him now. I wonder what he is doing right now... Hmm?" Suddenly, he sensed a presence approaching him and he turned around.

    An angel with silvery feathered wings was seen flying above, reaching the terrace and landing nearby.

    She was quite tall, although mainly attributed to her long legs. Her face was also small and cute to look at, but one thing that surprised Azzy was her soul realm. She appeared to be a teenager, about 14-15, well, atleast on the outside, but her soul realm was already at the peak stage of the 7-star rank.

    Azzy continued to sit at the edge and patted the floor beside him, gesturing her to sit.

    She went to him and sat down without feeling any suspicion or so whatever, although maintained a few feet of distance.

    As their eyes met, Azzy spoke, "Let''s say I''m a passerby. What about you? Do you have any story?"

    "Hmm..." Her eyes glowed a bit, intending to probe his soul realm once again but she couldn''t find anything this time too. In the end, she gave it up and simply introduced herself, "I''m Nyra, a Knight of the House of Celestial Flame."

    "House of Celestial Flame? What''s a person like you doing in this city?" He asked.

    She let out a deep sigh in response and explained while looking down at the city, "Actually, I just came from a mission and wanted to take a vacation, but my mother forced me to come here. My mother is from the House of Crowned Jewel, you know. She is the tournament organizer this time. She only told me to stand by her side, but after coming here, she appointed me as her stand-in as the city administrator. There is too much paperwork. I mean, I''m only 17, you know. I... What?"

    She suddenly paused, letting out frustration, as she heard a chuckle escape from underneath his mask. He subtly shook his head, "Nothing. You seem really stressed. Do you know the best way to release it?"

    "How?"

    Azzy answered, "Have a pure physical spar until your stamina is out."

    "A pure physical sparring?"

    Azzy gave a subtle and got up, "Want to give it a try?"

    "Hmm?"

 Chapter 725 Creators soul fragment

    "Ha" "yaaa" "Ha"

    Nyra was throwing down punches and kicks for the past twenty minutes at her greatest speed and Azzy merely focused on parrying her attacks.

    Over time, she got tired but fiercely attacked Azzy, all so that she could land just one hit on him.

    But, her wish never materialized and she collapsed on the floor, sweating from top to bottom and panting hard. Azzy''s breathing was stable and he calmly stared at her as he asked, "How are you feeling now, Ms. Nyra?"

    *Cough* "Yeah... ha..." Nyra took heavy breaths for a while and sat up, "Thanks, mister. It really feels like I felt relief from all the stress my mother gave me today."

    "Good." Azzy nodded and went ahead to sit down at the edge of the terrace once again. After a while, Nyra joined him, but this time, she sat closer and said, "You reminded me of my master, you know... Fuu... although she is a swordsman and a bit aggressive. I trained under her for six years, but forget about never landing a hit, I even almost had near-death experiences numerous times. But then again, she is an ascendant. So, I guess it can be obvious that I''m at her mercy, but still... you would expect your master to go easy on you, but she doesn''t. Many times, I thought that she had some grudge against my family or something. However, it wasn''t until a couple of years ago that I..."

    "Ugh... this girl just doesn''t shut up. She keeps on talking..." Azzy was having a bit of a headache as Nyra talked about herself and her master nonstop. He couldn''t help but think whether he might have made a wrong judgment earlier on an assumption that she was merely stressed. No, she is a chatterbox who has lots of things to share.

    Now, he wants to get away, but he also had another reason to help her out earlier.

    Hence, he maintained patience and stayed a good listener until the end before finally stating his intentions. Perhaps, having a mask gave him the confidence to speak his mind. Enjoy exclusive chapters from My Virtual Library Empire

    It is simple and out of expectations for Nyra as Azzy''s asking for a favor about finding a house to rent instead of staying at a hotel is something that doesn''t have any continuation of their conversation.

    In response, Nyra offered him a place to stay at her own residence, the very building they were sitting on. She explained that they have training centers, too.

    Azzy, of course, rejected it outrightly as he didn''t want to spend the rest of his days wearing a mask. Moreover, he doesn''t want to become her sparring partner every day.

    Hence, he had to use an excuse that he was looking for a house that looked a bit more modest and something that felt like a home without much disturbance.

    After thinking a bit, she unfurled her wings and asked, "What about a mansion in a remote location with no rental fees?"

    "A haunted mansion? Well, I can check it out before making a decision," Azzy wondered for a second before giving his nod.

    She clapped with a smile and said, "I think I know the best place that fulfills your requirements. Follow me." She proceeded to fly away. Azzy shrunk his size once again and followed her for atleast an hour until they reached the plains near the floating city.

    There was nothing in Azzy''s sight except for a large platform with eight pillars on its edges.

    Just as Azzy wondered whether they would go to the floating city or something, she took a turn to the left and flew away from that floating island. Azzy followed her.

    They eventually reach a grassland with an isolated lake. There was also a tiny island in the middle of the lake. However, no houses are seen around.

    Nyra looked around, unsure where Azzy was, but she didn''t ask him to show himself and simply asked, "what do you think of this place?"

    Azzy turned normal and replied with a question, "where''s the house you promised?"

    To which, Nyra chucked and pointed to the island, "That spot, in the middle of the lake, do you think it looks like to live in a house if it is located there?"

    "Hmm?" Azzy followed her gaze and nodded, although unsurely, "I guess?"

    "Good."

    Nyra''s smile widened, and she walked forward to the lake shore and joined her hands. Her eyes were shut and divine energy seeped out from her body, forming an aura over the layer of her skin.

    Azzy watched her in curiosity, wondering what she was going to do.

    Was there a mansion invisible on that island?

    Or was she trying to open the entrance to a pocket dimension?

    He could only wonder for a while until she opened her palms a bit, revealing a tiny sphere of some whitish energy sphere, which flew from her hand and flew to the island on the lake.

    As it landed on the lake, Nyra shouted, "Creation, unleash."

    Her voice reverberated in Azzy''s ears for a few seconds as a blinding flash of light enveloped the island for a few seconds before revealing a two-story wooden house all of a sudden.

    "The ability of Creation without transforming any existing matter," The Reaper''s voice echoed in Azzy''s head, taking him by surprise as he further commented, "Indeed, it is what I suspected all along. The Angels got hold of his soul fragment."

    "Huh? What do you mean, Chronos?" Azzy questioned.

    The Reaper explained, "You learned what happened when the universe was created, right? The split of the creator''s soul into many fragments. This is something only known to myself, Life, and Space. It was during the time when I was incomplete, in separate forms of Time and Death. One of the soul fragments actually merged with the 13th Archangel-Baraqiel, the twin of Barachiel, and became the Supreme Angel, which these people refer to as God.

    However, the Supreme Angel had something we didn''t have. He had the memories of the original creator and also the power greater than any other archangel or deity out there.

    So, he thought of merging us back into him to retain his original form. We refused. He attacked us, and we worked together to put an end to him. But, just like us, he cannot be destroyed into nothingness and can only be absorbed. All this while, we suspected he was hiding somewhere, and even Space couldn''t find his existence. Eventually, as many other things happened in the cosmos, we forgot about him.

    I thought that Angels were merely using a non-existent God''s name in the hopes of his return. But it looks like he had been hiding in Elysium all along. The ability to create any materialistic things with just pure energy is something only he had."

    "So, are you saying that this girl had the creator''s soul fragment?" Azzy asked, taking another look at the girl. Despite having significant strength at such a young age, he didn''t feel like she was that strong. Hence, it is tough to believe that assumption.

    The Reaper answered, "No, she doesn''t have it. However, the knowledge could be passed on to an immediate successor or apostle. Stick to her at all costs and find her master. It is likely that her master has already become the host and is in the process of becoming a Supreme Angel." After a brief pause, he added, "You might have come here for your love, but you now have to work hard for the sake of the universe. No matter what, the supreme angel cannot be resurrected. Unlike before, Space and I are no longer on the same terms. And Life has already sided herself with the Olympian Gods."

    "Hmm... What is it?" Nyra sensed that Azzy was intensely staring at her. "Are you impressed by my ability?" She couldn''t help but ask.

    Azzy could only nod, averting his gaze, "Yeah, I guess."

    Nyra smiled to her eyes.

 Chapter 726 Adam, the son of God

    A few weeks later;

    "Ha" "Ha" "Ha" "Damn it... Just stay still..." "Let me punch you once"

    Nyra was throwing down punches over and over as Azzy was evading them skillfully.

    "C''mon, you can do better, Nyra." "You haven''t hit your limit. Why are you slowing down?" "You are in Tier-70. You cannot depend on energy techniques, which are constantly consumed." Mages who can''t punch are cowards. C''mon, be a brave girl." "Punching someone feels more satisfying compared to slashing them with a sword or using some kind of energy technique."

    "If you want to use it, just concentrate on your hands and legs." "Increase your speed. Don''t slow down." "Remember our bet? Strike me once and I will be your servant for a day."

    Azzy moved smoothly like wind, evading her rapid punches; never once did he strike her back but simply provoke her with encouraging words, although for her, it felt like he was toying around with her.

    Nyra was frustrated and panting heavily but had this joy on her face as she was throwing punches at Azzy.

    "Stop you right now."

    She had divine energy layered over her fists and legs, increasing her speed faster and faster.

    "Nah, I don''t want to be your servant," Azzy moved zig-zag to the back, toward the lake.

    "You don''t have to, mister. Just let me punch your face once, oh, I mean the mask," Nyra suddenly threw a kick at his thigh.

    Azzy still evaded it with a backstep and replied, "Can''t do it. A promise is a promise."

    Nyra glanced at the lake and continued to throw rapid punches, adding more kicks.

    Azzy was moving back and almost reached the shores of the lake.

    Just then, Nyra thought of something and gave a punch to the air, before suddenly opening her fist, pushing out a large amount of condensed energy through her palms.

    Azzy was taken aback for a moment but he disappeared and reappeared behind her, giving a flick to her back for the first time.

    "Aaah..."

    She lost her balance and fell into the water at once, letting out a piercing scream.

    With her clothes drenched, she swam up to the surface and looked at Azzy with a gaze of betrayal, "What about your policy of not attacking back?"

    Azzy crouched down at the shore, looking at her through his mask, "And what about not using your energy attacks?"

    "Fine, I lost. Let''s get done for today," Nyra raised her hand. Azzy took her hand to pull her up.

    But her facial expression suddenly changed when she grabbed him. She used all of her strength to pull him down instead.

    Azzy lost his footing and fell into the water, his clothes drenched in water, and Nyra started laughing out loud, splashing water on him even more. He could only shake his head, blocking the water with his hands, "Nyra..."

    For a second, it was all good, but then, all of a sudden, a portal appeared out of nowhere, turning the atmosphere tense as a man stepped out of it. From top to bottom, he looked like the most perfect man ever to exist. And of course, Azzy cannot forget his face either, even though he only saw it once.

    The man spotted the two of them and raised his eyebrow as Nyra hurriedly jumped out of the water and came to the shore, "Grandmaster." She greeted him with one of her knees touching the ground and a bow.

    "It''s been a while since you left home and never bothered to see your message card. Your master is worried," said the man in a calm manner.

    "Uhh... the Grandmaster is personally here, just for this?" Nyra was stunned at the reason.

    The man shrugged his shoulders, replying, "She is busy."

    "But, Grandmaster is the acting ruler of this entire kingdom, the God''s only son. How could she make you an errand boy?" Nyra couldn''t help but raise her voice. "Who does she think she is?"

    "She is the next God. So, don''t speak in that tone," replied the man, although added as an afterthought, "who is stubbornly lazy in her training to become one. At this rate, it would take centuries before she could accomplish her goal. Anyway, the point is that we can''t have her distracted by anything."

    Taking a glance at Azzy, who is still in the water and observing him from afar, Adam continued, "Look, I don''t care about your private life, whether you had a lover or friend or whatever, I just want you not to worry your master, alright?"

    "I understand, Grandmaster. I just thought that she would want me back there cuz she never approved of my visit to this world. So, I..."

    "Nyra..."

    "I''m sorry."

    "Well, since you know, then, I''ll be on my way." Adam was about to turn around and walk back into the portal but Azzy made his move then. He flew out of the waters and stopped him with a loud shout, "Wait."

    Adam looked at him and asked, "What is it?"

    Azzy spoke as he landed on the ground, "Lord Adam, I heard that you are as strong as Archangels, and it is indeed a rare opportunity to meet someone like you. Since I''m not aware that you are related to Nyra, I believe this is fate. So, I request for a spar."

    Nyra looked at him in surprise. No one dares to challenge Adam. That''s obvious.

    Adam''s eyes turned curious, "Oh, now, that''s interesting. I see that you are at the doorstep of becoming an ascendant."

    "This..." As Azzy was surprised by Adam''s comment, considering he had sealed away his soul realm to zero by the Decarune seal, Adam added a question, "Are you hoping that a spar with me would open up your horizons and give you the breakthrough that you needed?"

    Azzy shook his head calmly as he used a bit of his divinity to evaporate the water from his clothes, stating, "Not really. I just wish to take a glimpse of the strength of someone who stands at the peak."

    "Mister, you can''t just..."

    "Very well. I can''t do that much for my grand disciple," Adam cut her with a nod of approval. "Nyra, move aside."

    As she flapped her silverish wings to land far away, Adam calmly gazed at Azzy, "So, do you want to come at me or do you want me to come at you, child?"

    "I don''t want to prove my strength to you, Lord Adam. I want to see your strength," replied Azzy. One cannot see his expression beneath this unbreakable mask made of some unknown metal Tellus created but his tone oozes confidence and excitement.

    Adam couldn''t help but chuckle out of amusement, "First, politeness, and then follow up with arrogance. I like you, kid. Alright, I''ll show you a glimpse of my power."

    His facial expression suddenly changed. Adam clenched his fist and charged forward at a speed that almost looked like instantaneous movement.

    This time, Azzy could see his movements clearly even without activating the Eyes of God''s soul skill, although only when he was near. Continue your saga on My Virtual Library Empire

    Azzy''s eyes captured Adam, who was a couple of meters above him, and about to give him a downward punch at his chest.

    In that same instant, he could also see illusions of dozens of follow-up moves ahead if he evaded it in different directions.

    No matter how he saw it, the chances to dodge it are absolutely zero. However, he was confident that he would survive.

    Azzy swiftly raised his hand to block it.

    However, just before his punch almost strikes his palm, Adam puts up an abrupt break and slowly lands in front of Azzy, a foot away.

    "Amazing. It seems I''m wrong about my initial assessment, son," Adam gave a comment with a smile on his face and turned around to walk away, leaving the girl surprised.

    "Uhhh, Thank you? But, we aren''t going to spar?" Azzy confused. Adam replied without looking back, "I think you have already found what you want. So, there is no point in this spar. Is there?"

    Azzy wanted to say "Not really," but then again, as he cannot reveal his Jupiter transformation, Tellus, or even the sword of radiance, he could only agree with him as there is indeed no point, "Well, you are right."

    Nyra hurriedly flew back to Adam and asked, "What happened?" Confusion was clear on her face. To which Adam affectionately ruffled her hair, "Nyra, you have my blessing if you want to love him."

    "Wha... it''s not like that..." She blushed, averting her gaze, almost mumbling, "He is just my sparring partner. I don''t know what he looks like and I don''t even know his name."

    Adam leaned into her ear and whispered, "Well, I can see the feelings of love in your heart, and I can sense the feelings of love and uncertainty in his heart. Good luck, lmy ittle lovebird."

    "Uhhh..." Adam walked into the portal right away, leaving behind an embarrassed girl who couldn''t help but scream with a reddened face, "It''s not what you think it is..."

    "Huh? What is that guy who whispered to her that she was screaming? Was she still in a rebellious phase or something?" Azzy looked at her in wonder.

 Chapter 727 Regional tournament (round 128)

    Six more weeks later, the regional tournament started, which saw winners of all the preliminary tournaments that occurred during the past six months, all over the planet.

    Competitors from all over the world started arriving at the arena to hand their medallions and register as participants.

    Azzy was, however, busy accompanying Nyra, who promised him a meeting with his master.

    According to Nyra, her master, Claire, promised her that she would come to this regional tournament, which wasn''t worth enough for her invitation, but she was coming for the sake of her disciple.

    Since he was meeting with Claire, Azzy didn''t see the point of participating in the tournament, but as the closing time was coming near and Claire had yet to arrive, Azzy couldn''t help but become nervous. If he missed this tournament, he would have to wait for another six months. Or, choose another planet under Celestial Flame House.

    Eventually, not intending to wait any longer, Azzy gave an excuse to meet an old friend and bailed out of there, exiting the Arena, removing the mask, and displaying the soul realm of 6-star as he entered it to register his name.

    As soon as he registered his name, they took away his medallion and told him to go to the waiting hall.

    Azzy went there to find many fighters spread all over the hall and the atmosphere was quite... pleasing?

    "What the hell was this place?" Azzy felt like he had entered a nightmare instead. "This was a fuc*ing tournament, not a tea party."

    Everywhere, the Angels were nice conversing with their competitors.

    At the very least, in that preliminary tournament, he found some angels commenting in some sort of negative way, but here, where the so-called world''s top talents gathered in one room, it was entirely the opposite.

    There are two sorts of people in this place.

    One, the Angels who stand alone and have serious or fierce looks. And two, the Angels who are mingling among others as if they came to a Ball event.

    The overall atmosphere didn''t reek of competitiveness as he expected at all. As a result, Azzy had to stand in a corner, all alone, crossing his arms and closing his eyes too. Surprisingly, no one paid attention to Azzy either.

    Within an hour after Azzy entered this hall, all the remaining contestants arrived too, and this tourney''s guardian angel/referee stepped in with a list, announcing groups of four one after another.

    Azzy was in Group 12, and his other three competitors for the first round were all in 5-star rank, just like the other preceding groups. It was as if the guardian angels was purposely grouping 1 6-star rank with 3 5-star ranks. Or, atleast, it has been that way so far.

    Azzy had no problem with it. But it is just that they don''t look a bit ambitious at all. If anything, they were a bit too friendly. They were standing around him and talking about miscellaneous things. Azzy purposely gave them a cold shoulder, but they merely backed off and chatted among themselves.

    Meanwhile, the four-way battle royale started in the arena, with not so much attendance. In fact, the stands were empty. There were only five people up there. One of those was Nyra.

    After about three hours of waiting, Azzy''s turn came, and when he entered the field, even Nyra was gone, and only one left. If anything positive to be seen in this situation, the one who was watching it is an instructor at the Knight Academy of Aurelis/Celestial Flame.

    If one can impress him, they can directly enter the academy without needing to even enter the top 8 for the qualification.

    And he looked quite bored, leaning to the back and watching as if he was there on an obligation.

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    He sees the next set of four come into the arena and mumbles lazily, "There we go, a decent one and a bunch of weaklings. Not much difference between them. But, in the end, someone in Tier-60s always wins."

    The moment the guardian angels sent out the signal, he saw three of them suddenly charge at Azzy altogether as if they had already allied with each other.

    Since this has been a common occurrence for the instructor, he continued to lean back in a lazy manner. However, when they reach Azzy, he just sees they bounced back in different directions and crash to the ground, knocked out unconscious.

    "The winner is Rael," announced the guardian angel in disbelief.

    "What!" The instructor fell down from his seat and saw Azzy, feeling the same thing as the guardian angel, "I didn''t even see that attack properly. I thought there would be atleast an intense fight, but just one attack, and everyone is defeated?" He clenched his fist with a smile, "All alright, at last, found a good sapling among the weeds, one that can grow strong and bear fruit."

    As the winner, Azzy was escorted to another waiting hall, where fellow winners were waiting for him. Except for two, the remaining nine are all 5-star rankers and the entire hall goes silent as Azzy enters.

    This hall is different from the last one. Here, no one talked. They just sat or stood in silence; competitiveness oozing out of their eyes, especially the 6-star rank Angels.

    Azzy didn''t understand what was going on since it seemed to be followed by a group and not an individualistic issue. Azzy thought it was probably some trait of Angels, and he just shut his eyes and mind and rested until 32 competitors, which is like 18 hours of patience. Some matches after his match went on for hours.

    Due to the artificial sunlight technique that illuminated the arena as bright as a day, it went through the night too. No one was given any privilege of having a room or anything. All of them just slept, sitting down and leaning their back against the wall. Some of them meditated and some of them even slept standing like statues.

    Azzy was aware that Angels don''t get hungry, although they eat fruits to recover their soul energy. But, not having any room to sleep when there are so many waiting rooms in the arena on the upper floors. Moreover, none is allowed to leave the room either. Azzy couldn''t understand how they were all so comfortable with such an arrangement.

    Nevertheless, he isn''t one to complain and make himself feel like an odd one out. Hence, he, too, rested like the rest until a few hours of break after that round of battle Royale was over.

    Eventually, the guardian angel arrived with a new list, waking up everyone with a roar like a military commander.

    As Azzy opened his eyes abruptly, the rank-7 (Tier-78) guardian angel went on announcing, "Due to an order from the upper echelons, the tournament format changed this year. Instead of a one-on-one battle, you all will participate in another four-way battle again. The top 8 winners will further participate in one more four-way battle, leaving behind two winners. There is no final this time. The two winners will directly qualify for the Tournament of the Knights. Also, you are allowed to use skill cards from this round but restricted to a maximum of five in number.

    With that said, contestants: Dairus, Zorathil, Averion, and Rael. The four of you will be participating in the first match. You have ten minutes to prepare."

    Fifteen minutes later;

    *Boom*

    As soon as the energy sphere exploded in the sky like a firework, one charged at Azzy while the other two fought among themselves, like one vs one battle.

    The 6-star rank Angel was different from previous opponents he faced.

    While he charged, it wasn''t a blind charge. Instead, he flapped his white wings after covering the halfway distance between them. Flying high into the sky, a bow appeared in his hand, and a series of arrows rained upon Azzy.

    Azzy, however, merely stared at the shower of arrows and took out his weapon, too, but didn''t turn it into the plasma scythe. He merely maintained his base form and rapidly spun it around, deflecting the arrows one after another.

    None of the arrows hit him and hit all around him. The Angel furrowed his brows, looking at the scene from above, "This is the same guy who defeated his opponents in one punch. These simple attacks won''t work against him."

    He grabbed the string and pulled it to the back as much as he could, the veins popped up all over his arm as his soul energy gushed out of his body and formed an arrow with the head that resembled a serpent.

    "Skill: Serpent of the Skies."

    As he released it, the arrow transformed into a large serpent glowing in the light, landing on the ground, and started crawling toward Azzy. Just one look at it, Azzy could see through the skill''s strength, "a mid-rank-7, huh? Well, I guess slaying it would probably put a heavy dent in the confidence of its caster as well as the others."

 Chapter 728: Withdrawing from the tournament

    For a moment, the other two 6-star Angels paused their fight and glanced at the serpent. They couldn''t help but become nervous at its appearance.

    As the energy serpent was charging at him while the Angel was recovering his soul energy in the sky, Azzy also charged forward while the rod in his hand suddenly expanded and transformed into a scythe.

    With a swing from the plasma scythe, the serpent was slain instantly, and Azzy pushed his legs against the ground to jump high while transforming the scythe back into its base form before throwing it at the opponent.

    The spinning plasma rod flew toward the 6-star Angel, who was already stunned by the sudden defeat of one of his strongest attacks and barely managed to evade it with a flap of wings to the left.

    Seeing, Azzy slightly smirked as he stretched his hand, "You wish..." The spinning plasma rod changed its path, taking a u-turn and striking his opponent''s back at faster speeds.

    "Argh..."

    A loud scream escaped from the angel as the bone at the back of his neck was broken by its attack and he crashed to the ground, falling unconscious.

    Guardian Angel: "Was that a scythe he displayed earlier? I have only seen it in the books."

    Instructor Cassiel: "Good... very good. He is perfect for a Knight. The name''s Rael, right?"

    As Azzy ended his battle, the other two stopped their fight and exchanged a glance and a nod, charging at Azzy at the same time. They don''t need a talk to ally. Azzy''s performance was enough.

    Azzy stood his ground as the plasma rod returned to his hand. He brandished it like a whip, waiting for them to approach him. Tightly grabbing the hilt of the swords in their hands, they jumped at him in different directions but swung at the same time, one directly aimed at his chest and the other aimed at his shoulder.

    "Let''s put an end to this..."

    Azzy ducked to evade them and gave an uppercut to one''s chin. As the opponent blasted into the sky, Azzy swept his leg at the other, making him spin with his eyes widened.

    Finding himself horizontally in the air, the Angel momentarily saw the look at his opponent, who was looking at him in the same way he used to weak ones in his past.

    But, before he could do anything, Azzy swung the plasma rod, striking his abdomen and breaking his ribs.

    He spat out blood, blasting away dozens of meters and crashing to the ground.

    At the same time, Azzy jumped high above the other Angel and gave a punch to his stomach. The Angel fell to the ground and created a mini-crater.

    "The winner is Rael," announced the guardian angel, upon confirming that the other two were also not in any condition to battle.

    As he proceeded to heal them, considering those in 6-star or Tier-60s are important for the kingdom, Azzy stood there calmly.

    The guardian angel saw that he didn''t leave and told him to move to the next waiting hall for the top 8.

    Azzy responded with a question instead of directly following him, "I heard that Top-8 receive a qualification letter to attend the Knight Academy. If you give me the letter, I will be on my way."

    The guardian angel was healing the third one, the one who was knocked out first with a broken neck. He momentarily paused and looked at Azzy, "what do you mean that you will be on your way?"

    Azzy shrugged his shoulders, "I''m only here to enter the academy through the tournament route. Next round holds no significance to me."

    The instructor of the academy also seemed taken aback upon listening to their conversation.

    "You don''t want to participate in the tournament of Knights? You are one of the strongest contestants in this tournament. You have a high chance to make it to the top 2." The guardian angel asked with his eyes widened.

    Azzy shook his head, "No, I don''t want fame. I only want to become stronger and attain knowledge."

    The guardian angel composed himself after a couple of breaths and asked him in a serious tone, "Are you sure you want to withdraw from the tournament? Think again, Rael. The tournament of Knights will grace the presence of many noble houses and even Her Highness."

    "Yes." Azzy firmly nodded his head.

    The guardian angel then shifted his gaze to the instructor in the stands, and the instructor nodded with a smile.

    The guardian angel finished his healing and signaled for the attendants to take the unconscious contestants away to the first waiting hall as usual and then flew to where Azzy was standing.

    He handed him a medallion that looked a bit similar to the one he received from the previous guardian angel in the preliminary tournament. If anything is different, it is just that apart from the divine energy of the guardian angel, there is also a purple gem embedded in it.

    Azzy took it and walked away toward the exit instead of the waiting hall. As the others were called in, the instructor left his seat for the first time, swiftly reaching the exit gate before Azzy did. He waited for Azzy.

    However, Azzy was never seen.

    The academy instructor entered the arena but Azzy was nowhere to be found. He couldn''t help but wonder how did this fellow disappear under his nose.

    Meanwhile, Azzy, in his mosquito-sized form, left the floating city and came down to his house at the lake, sensing a familiar presence waiting for him.

    He transformed back, and Tellus swiftly created an Aeternium mask on his face as he slowly landed before the entrance, walking into the upper-floor residence of the two-story house.

    Nyra was seen alone, sitting on a wooden chair; her arms crossed her chest and there was a bit of anger on her face.

    As soon as her eyes fell upon the masked friend of hers, she got up abruptly and walked toward him in heavy steps as she spoke, "Mister... did you know what have done today?"

    Azzy helplessly sighed inwardly and apologized, "I''m sorry but something urgent came up."

    Nyra''s anger didn''t subside from his explanation. She complained, "With so much begging, I managed to bring my master to the arena. She waited for three lumens (1.5 hours) for you, but you were nowhere to be found. And how should I even contact you? I offered you a message card item my master created, but you rejected it. I don''t have any other means to contact you, and I had to keep requesting my master to be a bit patient. Do you know how embarrassing for me? How much stress did I face? I... I... I..." Tears almost formed in her eyes, but she held them out with a fierce stomp onto the wooden floor and returned to her seat, looking away while letting out a snort. "Hmpf... I don''t want to talk to you."

    Azzy knew that this was one of those apologetic situations where he would fall into a trap if he went ahead and promised her something. He faced enough moments with Claire in the past timeline and his sister in the present timeline, too.

    The moment he says what he can do for her to amend his mistake, the demands will be never-ending. Or atleast, it would surely make him uncomfortable, but for those two girls, they were his loved ones, and he had to do it. However, this girl isn''t a loved one. But, for the case of meeting Claire again, he had to adhere to her demands.

    Hence, after quick thinking, Azzy went on to give a perfect excuse, which is true but still can be misunderstood by others, "I was attacked, Nyra. And it was multiple opponents. I had no choice."

    "What?" Nyra''s facial expression changed suddenly to worry. She hurriedly scurried to him and asked, "Are you alright? Who attacked you? How dare some people try to make trouble in the city of Tiara."

    Azzy felt bad for misleading an innocent girl like her, but he could only avert his gaze and reply, "Everyone had their own set of troubles, Nyra. I told you before, too. I wear a mask for a reason."

    Nyra grabbed his hands in response, moving her face closer; her eyes were gleaming in innocence and sincerity, "How about you come with me after the tournament? I won''t ask you to stay at our home, cuz that has a higher chance of exposing your identity which you don''t want to, I know that, but you can still lay low at our Crystallis City."

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    Azzy was well aware that going into Crystallis City was the same as walking into the death trap. After quick thinking, he said, "I have already found a place to stay low-key, Nyra. It''s the Knight Academy."

    "Eh? Knight Academy?"

    "I have decided to stay low by posing as a student in the academy. That will give me some time. If you ever want to meet me, just come to the academy. I will find you."

 Chapter 729: The Knight Academy of Celestial Flame

    Soon, Azzy left the city of Tiara and traveled to Planet Celis through the interplanetary portal like a regular angel and went directly to the Knight Academy of Celestial Flame.

    After asking around, he walked into the Entrance hall or Celestial Courtyard (what it''s called here). This reception area appeared to act as the entry point for the new aspirants.

    The first thing that grabbed Azzy''s attention as he walked into the Celestial courtyard was the statue of a man on a throne at the end of the hall.

    The figure looked oddly familiar to Azzy. He looked like Adam but Azzy knew that it wasn''t the case. It was supposed to be the statue of their God, the creator of the universe.

    Azzy didn''t care about it, nevertheless, and walked straight to the long celestial table with glowing quills resting on top of it, where a few old and middle-aged-looking angels were sitting in their positions like statues except for those who are handling the young angels standing before them.

    Azzy figured out that those five also wanted to join the academy. As he walked to the empty desk and spoke about his wishes to join the academy, the elderly-looking angel asked him, "Do you have any recommendations or are you seeking admission through the standard process?"

    In response, Azzy calmly took out the medallion from the pocket and put it on the table, "Through regional tournament." He replied without giving any lengthy explanation.

    "Oh!" The Angel gave a nod of acknowledgment as he observed it to verify its authenticity, "Welcome to the Knight Academy of Celestial House." He smiled. The other angels, both registrars and the students, also momentarily glanced at Azzy as getting into the academy through the tournament was pretty much seen as an achievement. It also means that one has the strength. Your next chapter awaits on My Virtual Library Empire

    But, at the same time, it is just a top 8 medallion, not the top 4 or top 2 of a regional tournament, much less a ranking medallion of the main Knight tournament. So, their attention only lasted a moment and everyone continued with what they were doing as Azzy was being explained the process.

    The elderly angel continued, "As the medallion holder, you don''t have to pay any fees for accommodation, the usage of our library, or attending classes. However, it all depends on which grade you end up with. The higher the grade you attain, the greater the benefits. Anyways, you will learn the rest from your instructor. Fill this form with the quill first to proceed with the admission. Do note that the quill is magically enhanced with the Spell of truth. So, be careful when filling in your details."

    Azzy took the paper filled with angelic language, which he could barely read on his own. He had to take Lux''s help while filling in the details.

    As for the Spell of Truth, the Reaper said he doesn''t need to worry. So, Azzy didn''t worry about it and just wrote whatever was necessary.

    But then again, it isn''t much complicated.

    He just had to write his name, hometown, the planet''s ruler''s name, and his family status, such as whether they were commoners or related to any noble house.

    After thinking for a while on whether he should just blend in to live as a normal guy or an outcast who might not have much attention, Azzy started filling out the form.

    Name: Rael

    Hometown: Carnes City

    Ruling Noble House: None

    Family status: Commoners

    World: Astrael

    Plane of Existence: Empyreon

    Are you a pure bloodline or a Nephilim? = Pure Bloodline.

    Carnes City is one of the cities of Planet Astrael, which he had never visited and only heard of. The city is famous for having the world''s strongest guild and is known as the city of adventurers.

    The reason why he chose this world instead of some home planet in the angelic heaven is to give himself an excuse to question anything that he doesn''t understand while it is common for the other students. And even if he behaved weirdly, he can simply say that it was like that in his hometown. Most pureblood angels who were aiming to become Knights never come down to the lower plane anyway. Another reason, which could sound silly, is that the planet''s name rhymes with his name.

    Hence, this could work to his advantage, or so Azzy thought.

    For a second, Azzy was also tempted to use Nephilim as no one would care about Nephilims studying in the academy at a separate region, not to mention that the outstanding Nephilim would be employed in the Major House of Celestial Flame as a servant. Who knows... he might be appointed as a servant for Claire, too. Even if it didn''t happen, he could still infiltrate the palace and get closer to Claire without bringing too much attention to himself.

    However, he didn''t do it, not because it was beneath his status or something. But, it is because their freedom is too limited. And it takes five years to graduate from the academy.

    On the other hand, the Knight Academy students only need to accumulate enough merits through missions to graduate whenever they can.

    Upon filling out the form without the quill turning red at all, Azzy handed it to the angel, who took a glimpse through his details and calmly gave him the scroll of admission.

    He was told to take this scroll to the testing grounds where one of the combat instructors would test his fighting prowess and assign him the class.

    The testing ground wasn''t far away from the Academy''s office building. The giant Arena was visible to everyone.

    He walked to the place and upon showing the scroll of admission to the gatekeepers, they allowed him inside.

    He wasn''t given any instructions on how to proceed further. Even after he asked, they kept their mum and told him to find the instructor on his own.

    As a result, he used his Aura sensing to find the person on the second floor and walked straight to the place. There was actually no other presence in the entire Arena.

    Upon walking into the room, a sudden barrier appeared, sealing the room; Azzy''s eyes fell upon a red-haired lady wearing silverish knight armor, apart from the helmet. To his surprise, her soul realm is too high to be an instructor. She let out a smile, gazing at him with gleaming eyes of curiosity, "You locked onto my presence in the blink of an eye, lad. I never found such a trainee Knight who could do that in my four decades of career as an instructor. State your identity."

    "Rael of Astrael," replied Azzy in a confident manner.

    "Oh, from the lower realm but still in Tier-60s at such a young age? Interesting..." The instructor''s curiosity increased even more, and she said as she conjured a ball of light above her palm, "All right. Let me explain the process. You will go through three rounds. For the first round, you just have to catch this thing."

    "Can I use any method?" Azzy asked as she let go of the ball. It started bouncing off the walls at crazy speeds.

    "Sure... Use any method. You can even use skill cards or artifacts you want. But no damage to the furniture or the walls," As the instructor put a restriction, Azzy nodded in understanding and closed his eyes.

    His senses were at their peak. There was nothing but pitch darkness around him, and a glowing ball was moving at a slow pace.

    As if luck was on his side, it wasn''t even five seconds since he shut his eyes and the glowing ball was already passing by him, just a meter away.

    His hand suddenly stretched forward as his body leaned to the front, and the glowing light ball ended up in his hands. He tightly grabbed onto it and opened his eyes to look at the surprised instructor, "Here."

    "How quick..."

    The instructor was visibly surprised by Azzy''s superior senses. The blood in her body ran rampant in excitement, and she couldn''t help but let out a grin and said, "We''ll skip directly to the third test, Rael. Follow me to the Arena."

    The barrier disappeared, and she started walking. He followed her in silence, maintaining a steady pace.

    On the way, a blond guy who looked like he was in his late 20s and appeared to be quite lost spotted them and rushed toward them in a hurry, tearing up like a scaredy cat, "Sister Arin... you are here. I was looking for you all over the arena for the past lumen (30 minutes)."

    The instructor''s facial expression changed to deadpan/emotionless as she saw him, "A lumen? Didn''t I give you a clear set of directions?"

    "Eh?" Azzy was taken aback for a second. "A lumen?" He took another look at this stranger, "Come to think of it, I didn''t sense his presence just now either. Hmm... I can''t sense anything from him too. Some kind of mystical artifact?"

    "Azrael, look carefully. He doesn''t have a soul," The Reaper''s voice echoed in his head and Azzy yelped out in surprise, "No soul?"

    "Hmm?" "Hmm?"

 Chapter 730: Defeating an instructor

    The instructor and the stranger turned their heads to look at Azzy.

    "Oh, you are new here and from Empyreon Plane. I guess you have never met such an existence. He is my Divine soldier," Arin explained about this divine soldier of hers who addresses her as a sister, "When you grow strong enough, you can use a part of your body and sacrifice a Tier''s worth of soul energy to create an existence. They do your bidding as your soldier, act as your shield, and also your sword."

    The young man continued her explanation, pointing at himself with his thumb, "I''m not a mere soldier. I''m divine soldier Ark. I was created when my sister went through her divine awakening when she was 12. I can grow stronger with her and even if I die, I can still resurrect, unlike normal soldiers." He had a grin and a proud expression on his face.

    Arin, however, looked displeased. She raised her hand and gave a knock on his head, "he is past that age and cannot create a divine soldier even if he wants. Are you that bored to boast about yourself?"

    "Ouch... that hurts, sister."

    "So, he is Angelic world''s version of Arcana spirit, huh, except without any soul. But that also means that I''m vulnerable to spies. Also, this woman managed to figure out that I sensed her presence earlier. I really need to be careful when using the Aura Sensing technique from now onwards, especially when surrounded by 9-star rankers," thought Azzy, digesting the information.

    The Reaper quickly said, "It''s not an issue, Azrael. As long as you have mastered Aura Sensing, you can sense their presence too. As for this woman, she didn''t exactly sense that you had locked onto her. She merely figured it out by using a defensive technique. That was breached by something and you are the only one in the arena. It was obvious that she figured out that it was you."

    "Oh, I see... Wait what? I have yet mastered the Aura Sensing? For years, I thought I did."

    "Well, you only thought that you did, as you were satisfied as long you could sense the auras of life and only focused on increasing your range.

    After a while, the three of them made their way to the Arena''s battle platform.

    The divine soldier Ark acted as the spectator while the two got on top of the platform and were ready to fight.

    Instructor Arin then spoke of the rules, "No skill cards. No equipment. No Flight. And No time limit either. You can fight until you are either in no condition to fight anymore or give up on your own." Azzy couldn''t help but give a blank stare at her from top to bottom as if he were pointing out the fact that she was wearing equipment. The Nine-star rank Angel acted as if she didn''t capture the meaning and gestured him to come at her.

    Maintaining a speed comparable to those in 7-star rank, Azzy charged forward at her and threw a punch.

    Arin smoothly evaded with a sidestep. Azzy saw it and replied with his right arm, which missed the punch earlier, swinging to the side to strike at her waist.

    "Oh"

    Arin swiftly moved to the back, evading his arm swing. Azzy followed it up by taking a lunge at her with his right arm stretching further.

    Arin saw that the student''s aim was her neck. Her superior reflexes allowed her to evade it with a somersault, but just as she was about to land on her hands, an energy blast was shot out of Azzy''s palm, striking her left wrist and making her lose her balance.

    Her eyes widened in surprise, "wha... ugh..."

    As her cheek planted to the floor, her eyes captured Azzy''s next attack. He pushed out a lot of divine energy, and rapidly started condensing in front of his palm. "It''s divine energy, not the angelic light."

    Azzy shot out a thin but concentrated energy beam this time.

    Just in time, her wings erupted from her back and flapped swiftly, evading the divine beam. Azzy''s attack missed her hand and made a hole in the ground. He retracted it, transforming it into a condensed ball of divine energy.

    "Hmm? Silver?"

    Azzy found her wings were silverish, just like Nyra''s. It only indicates that she is likely from one of the minor noble houses.

    Flying in the air, instructor Arin looked down at Azzy and asked, "Do you really have no idea where your parents came from, Rael?"

    Azzy was slightly taken aback by a weird question, but he replied in the end, "I know where they are from, Instructor. I just don''t care." His vague reply caused misunderstanding for her, and she reacted by flapping her wings and flying at him, intending to punch him.

    She was about to punch him down with her fist but before it happened, she paused in mid-air and saw her abdomen. The divine beam that was still floating above his palm shot toward her abdomen, creating a fist-sized hole in her stomach area.

    "Wha... How?" She looked at him and then her abdomen, collapsing to the floor.

    This even shocked Azzy to the core. "What the..."

    Since she is of noble bloodline and a rank-9 expert, he thought she would be able to resist it but she couldn''t.

    He controlled its power strictly to 6-star, but his divine beam ignored her defenses altogether. Azzy couldn''t help but be impressed by Baphomet''s divinity, which seemed stronger than Jupiter''s. Little did he know that he merely absorbed Jupiter''s power, but he fused with Baphomet''s.

    "Argh..."

    Arin couldn''t help but scream in pain; blood started oozing through the gap, and her divine soldier rushed to the platform in worry, "sister."

    Azzy dismissed the attack quickly. "I''m sorry. Are you okay?"

    "I''m fine... argh... damn it..." As she stopped bleeding with a layer of energy over her stomach while rolling on the floor in pain, Azzy approached her normally and offered help, "Wait. Let me heal it." After attaining divinity from Baphomet, he also attained healing abilities but never explored them much. Hence, it isn''t that strong.

    It was just a basic healing technique that usually heals external injuries. As Azzy applied it to her abdomen, her skin regenerated, which stopped the bleeding, but her insides didn''t regenerate in the end.

    Nevertheless, she thanked Azzy, gave her stamp on his scroll of admission after announcing that his test was over, and left with her Divine Soldier to heal at the healing ward. Enjoy exclusive adventures from My Virtual Library Empire

    As he took a look at the stamp, it had nothing but the symbol of a star with the number 2 glowing on top of it.

    "Hmm... I wonder what this is. Let''s go and inquire around..."

 Chapter 731: Teammates

    Sector 2, Planet Celis, House of Celestial Flame;

    The entire planet of Celis was divided into 51 sectors, with the Knight Academy''s administration building as the center. Sectors 1 to 48 belonged to the Knight Academy. Sector 49 belonged to the Academy for Nephilims. As for Sector 0 and Sector 50, they were deemed as forbidden regions for different reasons.

    Azzy was allotted to Sector 2.

    He was escorted by an attendant of the academy straight to the housing area before everything.

    It has a series of large residences.

    The attendant explained on the way.

    Upon entering the academy, all Angels are allotted to a team of mostly either four or five. In some rare cases, six. The team will stay in this 6-bedroom duplex house with a large private training room with powerful spells reinforcing the walls so that they would absorb any attack under 8-star. There was even a yard in their compound to relax and a tiny garden with beautiful flowers for aesthetics.

    The houses aren''t very important for Trainee Knights as their sole ambition is to get stronger and acquire more knowledge; most trainees at Sector-2 aim to enter Sector-1 as those elite students have access to the forbidden regions, more prestigious missions, and later, receive a high position after graduation. Of course, some were only here for the knighthood as it would raise their status in society as well as their families. Hence, the word "teammates" doesn''t hold much for ambitious students.

    However, Azzy''s aim is something else. While the size of a house isn''t that important either, he needs teammates who he can trust. Unlike Angels who are either good or bad, trust is a bit of a luxury for Azzy who lived in the world of gray.

    This was an important step for Azzy and if the teammates weren''t worthy of his acknowledgment, Azzy was fully prepared to move to another team along the way. Such an option exists for every trainee knight.

    As soon as he entered the house, a gush of florescent scent hit his nose; it was quite pleasant and uncomfortable for Azzy at the same time. The attendant, however, went into a trance and started praying as he knelt on the floor, "Oh, Lord. Thank you for giving me another life. Your grace knows no bounds. Your..."

    "Huh? What is this fool doing?" Azzy couldn''t help but step away from the young man who started praising their god out of nowhere. He looked around and sniffed a bit, "is this the effect of this scent?" He wondered aloud.

    "Yes, it was, Junior," a voice responded to him from the top stairs.

    Azzy glanced at the stairs where a silverish-long-haired young man was climbing down at a slow pace with some kind of wooden bottle in his hand. The latter looked back at Azzy as he raised the bottle and explained, "It''s the scent from the perfume made of Reveriscent Bloom, also known as the Bloom of Whispers or the Petal of Gratitude. Those without strong souls are susceptible to its scent, revealing their gratitude towards the Lord. It works on mortals in outer worlds for sure, but even Angels are not completely immune either." Reaching the last step, he let out a smile and added, "I guess your win against Instructor Arin is not just a rumor after all."

    "You heard of it? It hasn''t been long since our battle finished."

    "Well, rumors pass faster than light here. The rumor was that Instructor Arin was injured in a test against a trainee knight, and you are the only one who was allotted to Sector 2. So... it is obvious to connect the dots." The man shrugged his shoulders and proceeded to stretch his right palm, "Absorb."

    In an instant, all the scent was absorbed into his palm, freeing the attendant and confusing the hell out of him. "Wha... what was I doing?" He looked left and right, over and over.

    Azzy didn''t pay much attention to this forgettable character and focused on this Angel in 7-star rank instead, "It''s not exactly a fight as you think it went like. My skill has the ability to penetrate any physical defense. She underestimated me and got injured." He explained it so that the latter wouldn''t take him as someone who defeated an instructor.

    At the same time, Azzy was also pretty much worried about the upcoming days. After all, all rumors pretty much become exaggerated at one point and all kinds of versions will come out of those creative geniuses until another big scandal breaks out.

    The clan founder''s remnant spirit, who read his thoughts, let out a chuckle, gaining his attention for a moment with his comment, "Just use your masked identity to create another scandal this night itself, like breaking into these forbidden regions. It''s simple."

    "It works?"

    "Of course. If there is one thing that is common to every intelligent species, humans, angels, elves, or even gods, they tend to be attracted to mysterious things..."

    "Hmm... I guess you are right. As long as there is no rank-11 present there, I can pretty much escape from them, too. But breaking into a forbidden region and getting caught will burn my masked identity for good. I''ll be labeled as a criminal. I should be caref..."

    "Hello... hello... eyes to the present... Hmm... He is completely in a trance but I have already removed the scent. And he wasn''t praying either. Was he resisting its effects all this long? I can help him though. Should I give a punch to him or a kick? No, that would unnecessarily offend him when I hadn''t confirmed his condition. I still have yet to figure out his personality properly. He is our future teammate. Making a bad impression would only hurt our teamwork. Then, should I leave? Maybe, wait for a while? Argh... this silence is killing me. I..."

    *Ahem* Your next chapter awaits on My Virtual Library Empire

    Azzy suddenly coughed, bringing the angel to reality from his overthinking. As he embarrassedly averted his gaze, Azzy didn''t give any explanation and instead directly changed the topic by introducing himself with a handshake, "I''m Rael. I have come from the lower plane. So, I don''t know much about etiquette I should follow here."

    "Empyreon plane? Seriously?" The attendant and the Angel collectively spoke in surprise.

 Chapter 732: The Divine Arts class

    Over the next few days, Azzy spent his time learning about the academy, the world, and his teammates.

    Ramiel, Seraphina, Caelith, and Aranis were the names of his teammates assigned to him.

    Ramiel is the guy who Azzy met first. A Tier-72 Angel with an influential background. The 26-year-old is from the House of Jewelled Nectar, a minor noble house. H

    Seraphina is Ramiel''s girlfriend and a Tier-64 Angel. The 22-year-old has a military background. As many as twenty generations of her family served as the Knights of the House of Celestial Flame.

    Caelith is another lady on the team and a Tier-68 Angel. The 37-year-old is also from an influential background, the heiress of the House of the Great Plains. She is a single mother with a son who currently stays at home while she is preparing to attain the knighthood.

    Aranis is her young lover for the past sixteen months or so, who is only 19 years old and doesn''t have any sort of background, unlike the other three. Yet, he is already at Tier 67 and also considered the most potential of the four, if one has to quote Ramiel''s words. It is just that he loves Caelith too much to the extent that he rejected the offer to move into Sector 1.

    In this world of good or bad, the angels usually have collective opinions about whether something is good or bad. From birth, they follow the doctrine of their God.

    In their eyes, if two are adults and are not of the same gender, their age difference doesn''t matter. Their status levels don''t matter. The difference in their strength doesn''t matter either. No pureblood angel in heaven would judge their love. They consider it pure, nevertheless.

    As for the others, like the same sexual relationship, an adult loving a person below 16, two teenagers loving each other, having a polygamy relationship, or having extramarital affairs regardless of the reason; all those things are considered sins.

    As someone who is in love with a woman 27 years older than him, well atleast according to the current timeline, who is he to judge them?

    It is just he doesn''t understand the point of getting into a relationship with a woman who has a child. After all, a child is always the number one priority for a mother. And if it is an only child, that would be the prince for his mother. No matter how hard he tries, Aranis cannot beat Caelith''s son.

    Nevertheless, he is here to get along with them, and he cannot let his feelings known. As optimistic individuals as they are, despite their thirst for knowledge, power, and all, Azzy also knows that they are quite easy to fool, believing in any lie if he can craft it nicely with half-truths and vague statements that have several meanings.

    As for the academy, the core curriculum, mandatory for all students to attend the classes, includes Martial Training, Divine Arts, Knightly Code and Ethics, Combat Strategy and Tactics, History and Lore.

    Each subject would net a student 5 merits for just attending the class. Monthly tests conducted on these core subjects would have a maximum of 300 merits per subject.

    Hence, in theory, if a student/trainee Knight attended the classes all 360 days in the academic year and got full marks in each monthly test, the maximum merits that could be achieved is around 27000. And 50,000 merits is what a Trainee Knight would need to challenge the graduation test and achieve Knighthood. Of course, it is next to impossible to achieve this maximum. On average, a good student would earn around 10000 from subjects and another 3000¨C4000 on missions, completing their graduation in roughly 4 years.

    Then there are advanced courses that might not give merits on attendance but surely give an additional 300-1000 merits on monthly tests. However, not everyone can learn advanced courses just because they want to.

    Some of them cost merits to learn. Some of them even need students to pass a test. It is entirely at that particular subject instructor''s discretion.

    Explore hidden tales at My Virtual Library Empire

    Luckily, for those in single-digit sectors, the trainee Knights get a free trial period. They attend five classes for free and then decide on the course. They could also first join the course and pay later within a few weeks.

    Originally, Azzy had no interest apart from Card Creation, the advanced course, which will have weekly lessons. But then, on the recommendation of his teammates, in order to stick with the group, he opted for two more advanced courses, Advanced Divine Arts, and Leadership & Command.

    On the sixth day as a trainee knight, Azzy followed his teammates to attend his first class of Advanced Divine Arts, at the Sanctum of Radiance.

    This is where another challenge popped up for Azzy. The Sanctum of Radiance is far away unlike the academy building that is near to their residential area.

    As the four of them flew, Azzy, who cannot reveal his wings, had to run after them, using the excuse that he needed to warm up. They bought his lie and continued their flight, not intending to run alongside him.

    After an hour of running, Azzy stopped at the entrance of a dome-like structure made of transparent crystal, allowing the sunlight to flood the space inside it and brighten up even more. Some mystical symbols, not runes, were engraved on the walls. They were glowing faintly.

    As they entered the sanctum, the first thing that appeared in Azzy''s eyes was the central altar surrounded by pools of shimmering water, said to be holy water. Then, there is the statue of their god, a man sitting on a throne with his right hand on the armrest and the left hand on his thigh. There are a few people on the altar, praying for God.

    The four of them made their way to the altar. First, take a vessel to collect the water from the fountain and drink one after another. Azzy was the last to do it.

    As soon as he drank the so-called holy water, some sort of divine energy flew into his insides, trying to cleanse any kind of impurities inside him. But, the divinity inside his own body swiftly acted against the foreign invader to absorb it completely. Azzy suddenly felt like drinking normal water.

    He followed the group to the altar.

    "Oh boy, your first challenge has appeared," The Reaper''s words echoed in his head as the other four kneeled and joined their hands, interlocking their fingers to pray.

    Azzy will never kneel before an entity that he didn''t acknowledge before. It has been this way since he was born.

    And the statue of the entity he was looking at is someone a threat to the universe if he had to quote the Reaper.

    What should he do?

    "Should I kneel and act like I''m praying?" "Hmm... There is no one around. I don''t need to. No, wait, those three still haven''t left the site. But, they were going away. They don''t turn around to look at us."

    "But, what if they do? If someone catches me, they will say that I''m a sinner. This guy is the ultimate being for the angels... Wait a second. Claire is the disciple of Adam, correct? A master has the equivalent status of a father. And Adam''s father is this God. God also trained Adam. So, this guy is more or less a grandpa of Claire. Then, it should be fine. I''m just greeting Claire''s relative... Hmm..."

    With his twisted logic, Azzy convinced himself to let go of his pride and knelt like the others and mimicked their actions, although, in reality, he just meditated until they were done with the prayer and got up.

    After the mandatory prayer, they flew to one of the floating islands in the sanctum. Azzy merely used his jump to land on it.

    Around sixteen of them are seen on this particular floating island, and they are all watching the instructor, who only gives a swift glance at the new students and continues with his lesson.

    There was an enchanted mannequin, acting like a puppet to the instructor''s bidding. It was mimicking the movements of an injured knight on a battlefield.

    Pointing at the glowing orb embedded in its chest that was becoming dim every second, the instructor said, "As you can see, this knight''s life force is slowly sipping away. Now, in this stage, if you focus on healing the knight''s external wounds, the knight would still end up dead due to the loss of life force. So, how should we save him? Anyone?"

    A hand shot in the air swiftly.

    "Yes, Vanys?"

    She spoke, "We can use the Art of Celestial Ward, setting up a barrier over the knight''s body to prevent the loss of life force."

    "But, Art of Celestial Ward is a high-level technique that can only be mastered by skilled individuals," commented another trainee knight.

    The instructor also said, "That could prevent the loss of life force but not necessarily save him as it won''t stop."

    Azzy muttered under his breath, shaking his head, "It is just simple. Just heal the heart and it will be solved in a jiffy."

    "Hmm?" The instructor''s ears perked and he abruptly gazed at him while Ramiel, who was standing next to him also couldn''t help but glance at him.

    The instructor pointed at Azzy, who was standing at the back, "You over there. Student, speak what you just muttered."

    "Huh?" Azzy''s eyes widened. He took another look at the instructor. "This guy is a 9-star ranker? I should have known... Ugh... unnecessary attention."

 Chapter 733 733: Divine art of Soul Recovery

    The other trainee knights turned their heads to glance at Azzy and so were his teammates.

    Azzy, in the end, inwardly sighed and explained loudly, "The heart is the core of our Life force. If the life force is sipping away from one''s body, it only means one thing. His heart was damaged by some attack. All one has to do is heal the organ."

    "Oh!"

    His words piqued the curiosity of the instructor as the answer wasn''t something he expected from a trainee knight. The instructor said, "But healing the heart organ also requires advanced mastery, student." He pointed at the mannequin and added, "As you can see, there was no external injury on the chest. His injuries are mostly on his abdomen. Manipulating one''s healing energy through the abdomen requires advanced mastery."

    Azzy shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Then, just cut the chest with a blade if there is none; a deep stab or a cut would allow our energy to reach the heart. Even basic healing could help in such a case."

    "Hmm?" The instructor furrowed his brows with clear, visible displeasure on his face, "You want to cut a wounded knight''s chest?" The others also looked at him like he was a criminal or something. Even his own teammates were uncomfortable with his idea.

    Azzy calmly explained, crossing his arms to his abdomen, "When a tree gets sick, we scrap away the diseased bark so the healthy wood can breathe and regrow. When you are bitten by the venomous monsters, you have to inflict more injuries around the wounded area to drain out the poison as the first method of first aid. If I have to put it metaphorically, you have to wage wars to protect peace.

    In the same way, to save the organs, you have to purposely injure the skin that was protecting it. This method is called surgery. I grew up among Nephilim adventurers of Astrael. It is a common thing they use on a regular basis, back at home. Hence, it is a proven method and not a sin."

    "Hey, he says he grew up among Nephilims?" "Was he really a pureblood angel?" "No way, the Quill of Truth would never let him lie. Moreover, do you think a Nephilim could make it to Sector-2?" "I heard that wanted criminals usually escape to the Empyreon plane and hide there. Were his parents sinners?" "Nah, I don''t think so. A lot of people who want to be adventurers often end up staying at lower planes as it is too bothersome to go from heaven to all over to Eldara plane." "Hmm... he looks so young for a tier-68 warrior." "And quite a looker..."

    As murmurs flew around, the instructor told them to calm down and informed Azzy that while he respected his method, such practices were not welcomed in Heaven.

    Conjuring an orb of light, he explained, "This is where the Art of Soul recovery comes from. An advanced technique that can be learned by even novices."

    As he slowly pushed the orb of light into the mannequin, the orb embedded in its chest that was slowly dimming once again glowed brightly. "This technique allows you to convert your own soul energy into life force at your will. At low mastery, the best you would be able to provide continuous life force to the fallen Knight, keeping him alive at the very least. But, when you have high mastery, you could use a portion of that soul energy to turn into divine healing and heal the heart organ while replenishing the knight''s life force."

    "Now, that''s what a technique should sound like." "Yeah, that guy''s earlier unconventional method sounded so cheap." "Well, he said that he grew among Nephilims. He can only think of such brute methods." "But, I like his method. It was quite effective if it occurred on a battlefield. Not everyone could learn advanced divine arts." "But, isn''t that the whole point of attending this class? To learn the techniques that normal people cannot learn in their lifetime."

    Azzy ignored their whispers and concentrated on the mannequin, trying to understand its concept.

    Soon, everyone was instructed to move away from each other in order to practice this skill.

    After everyone was separated by a couple of feet from each other, the instructor pushed out his soul energy and gathered it above his palm.

    "The soul energy you should gather in your palm shouldn''t come from your arms, but it should be the one from your heart instead. Then, you just have to fill your heart with your soul energy from its vicinity.

    This part of soul energy in the heart has the properties to heal one''s life force. You can also recover your ally''s soul energy through the same technique, except that you have to gather your soul energy from your liver instead."

    "Now, for the step two. It is your element addition. Once you achieve that, step three would be transformation."

    These two steps are pretty much known to the trainee knights here, who were all in 6-star or 7-star realms. These geniuses don''t need to monitor their progress or repetition of watching the technique either.

    Hence, the instructor directly proceeded with creation of the technique at a fastened pace.

    After adding his light attribute to the mass of energy and making it glow, he then slowly compressed it and transformed it into an orb of light. "And this is how you create it. Only the first step is challenging, students. Once you get that, it is as easy as flying."

    "Now, let''s see... who managed to get it in the first... Hmm?" His attention was swiftly grabbed by Azzy. The others were still in the process of gathering the mass of energy from their heart but Azzy has already an orb of light floating above his palms.

    But, there is something different about this one.

    "Woah, I could sense an enormous amount of life force in your Soul recovery Orb, Rael," commented Ramiel. The other three glanced to the side and looked at their new teammate''s accomplishment.

    Aranis became serious as he saw Azzy''s orb of light. His concentration increased exponentially, and managed to create an orb of light soon after.

    However, by the time he formed it and gave a proud gaze to Azzy, the latter had already dismissed it and stood there like a statue.

    Meanwhile, the instructor arrived at their group for the inspection. He walked directly to Azzy instead of inspecting Aranis'' light orb. "Conjure it again, student."

    "Why?" Azzy questioned back, although he knew why.

    The instructor responded with a question instead of giving a proper explanation, "Is that a problem?"

    Azzy replied with a straight face, "I''m not concentrated enough. I can only do it when I have peak concentration."

    The instructor didn''t buy it and said, "Then, unfurl your wings and halo. I wish to confirm something."

    "Hmm?"

 Chapter 734 734: The only wingless Angel

    Ten seconds later;

    Instructor: "Well? What are you waiting for?"

    Azzy: "No, I reject it."

    Instructor: "Why?"

    Azzy: "Just because I don''t want to"

    Instructor: "You have something to hide?"

    Azzy: "What if I have? What if don''t?"

    Instructor: "If you have nothing to hide, show us your wings."

    Azzy: "No, I don''t want to."

    Instructor: "I''m the class instructor here. You must listen to me."

    Azzy: "Then, I will opt out of this course."

    Instructor: "You would rather opt out of this course than show us your wings, huh? That is indeed suspicious."

    Azzy: "No, I would rather opt out of this course than listen to your unreasonable commands. I''m not your servant."

    Instructor: "Then, what will you do if other instructors will also ask you to show your wings? Will you opt out of their courses too?"

    Azzy: "Yes, if they order me."

    Instructor: "Indeed, it is as I suspected. You belonged to the royal family."

    Azzy: "What? That''s absurd."

    Instructor: "I sensed divinity in the orb you conjured earlier. Only royal families have it. Which major house you are from?"

    Azzy: "No, you are mistaken. I''m not royalty."

    Instructor: "Then, unfurl your wings right now. The color of your wings will show your bloodline."

    Azzy: "I don''t want to. And regardless of whether I''m royalty or not, it is none of your business."

    Instructor: "It is because we are aware of the identities of all the royal family members of the House of the Celestial House. If you are royalty, you belong to other kingdoms. We can''t have a spy."

    Azzy: "You can go through my details in the application form. I can''t lie with the quill. If you can manually use the Spell of Truth, you can do that too. I''ll answer your questions, which are necessary to prove that I''m not some spy."

    Instructor: "Nice try, but the Spell of Truth can do nothing to divinity."

    Azzy: ...

    Instructor: "I''ll give you two choices. One, reveal your wings to prove to yourself that you are not royalty. Two, I will have to use force to interrogate your identity.

    Amidst the several gazes, as the argument between them escalated to the point that this 9-star rank Angel threatened to attack him, Azzy inwardly sighed and spoke, with his head hung down and his voice loud as if he looked frustrated, "Alright, I''ll tell the truth. I can''t show my wings because they were cut off."

    "What? That''s impossible." The instructor''s eyes widened, among many others with similar expressions. His teammates couldn''t help but look at him in pity, realizing why Azzy was running earlier.

    Azzy explained, "They were cut off by a fallen who held a grudge against my family. If you need proof, I will remove my upper clothing to show my back, which has the evidence to prove my words. But I''m not willing to humiliate myself in front of these strangers. And the divinity I''m using isn''t a true one. It is an imitation, which I gained after consuming the Peach of Divinity by accident."

    "Peach of Divinity?" "Hey, he said Peach of Divinity." "Isn''t that the stuff of the legends?" "No, I heard rumors about the plantation of Divine Trees in the worlds of Empyreon plane." "Then, shouldn''t they be guarded?" "Yeah, I heard Cheburim would guard them." "Then, how could it end up in this guy''s hands?" "He didn''t seem like lying." "Only the Lord knows..."

    As Azzy already created the story, he decided to stick with it and continued to stay there. The rest of the class is pretty much a practice on a mannequin provided to each student.

    He mastered it in one try as soon as he figured out the secret behind the technique and, hence, spent his remaining time on meditation. Some thought that he was still angry at the instructor for the earlier argument, and some positively thought that he had nothing else to do since he already knew how to invoke this spell.

    Azzy didn''t care about their thoughts or constant gazes from the instructor either. He just meditated until the end of the class.

    Once the class was over, Azzy followed the others back to their house and talked with them a little bit. They didn''t question him about his past, his divinity, or his wings at all, which Azzy appreciated. They just talked about casual things, like the affairs happening in Sector 2, or their next mission, etc...

    A few more weeks passed away in the blink of an eye.

    Claire has yet to return to teach the Card Creation class, which was supposedly a weekly course but Azzy hadn''t met her once during the past three weeks.

    He attended the normal classes and the advanced classes on alternate days. For a while, he had been the topic of the academy. Everywhere he goes, people talk about him, whether it is the Peach of Divinity, the only wingless aspiring Knight, the one from the lower plane, or the instant learner. Having a flaw like this actually made other people feel about the fact that he defeated an instructor or learned Divine arts in one try.

    It is like he had incredible talent. So, what? He can''t still fly. It is the same as having a disability, although some would argue that disability would disappear when he reaches the Tier-90s.

    Unlike the Arcana Masters who could have wingless flight when they reach 7-star rank, the Angels should reach 9-star equivalent rank to learn wingless flight.

    As for why that would matter, well, flying is the same as running, as wings are a part of an Angel''s body. The Angels would consume stamina while flying, too. And wingless flight would consume nothing as long as they are mentally stable.

    Anyways, back to the present, Azzy and the other four left their residence in the morning, just like how they leave together every day, except that today is a special day for them.

    Unlike they go out on their own, this time, they are summoned by the vice principal of the academy.

    As the five of them entered his office, Azzy saw a familiar person he saw once weeks ago. It is the one who attended the regional tournament as a sole spectator.

    The four of them and the instructor also seemed to be familiar with each other.

    As soon as their greetings to the vice principal were over, the instructor raised his hand with a smile, "It''s been a while, fellas."

    They all greeted him in unison with their hands on their chests, "Welcome Back, Captain."

    "Relax..."

    "Captain Astro, this is Rael." The vice principal made the introductions. "And student Rael, this is Instructor Astro, a Knight Captain of Celestial Flame and a professional scout of our academy. He is also your team captain."

    "Astro? Hmm... no wonder this team is called Team Astro," thought Azzy. Shaking off his thoughts, he greeted the man just like others, "Captain."

    Astro smiled as he spoke, "I remember you from Tiara City''s regional tournament. To this day, I really wonder why you suddenly withdraw it. You can go as far as to the Tournament of Knights and..."

    Knowing Azzy''s discomfort about answering questions about himself, Ramiel interrupted him in the middle and changed the topic, "Uhh... Captain, we can talk about that later. Let''s talk about the mission."

    "Uhh... okay..." Captain Astro also realized the awkwardness from Azzy and he spoke, "We are going to the outer world."

    "Outer world?" Ramiel and others exchanged glances with each other in surprise.

 Chapter 735 735: A new mission: The world of Irth (part-1)

    "In the world of Irth, there have been reports of the sightings of a demon. Some rumors also state that it is a fallen angel. We are to go and investigate the reports and confirm the existence of the entity.

    However, the problem is that it is a mortal world of humans with advanced weaponry that can kill us with ease, as the world laws would prevent us from using our power. Hence, it is best to exercise caution. We are all going there disguised as normal humans and do our best to blend in their world too. Here..."

    Captain Astro gave a book to the five of them that has the book title, "The Typical Human Traits and Their Behavior."

    "Read them on the way to familiarize yourself with their rules so that you don''t appear weird. Okay, we will set out in ten minutes. Wait for me at the entrance and I will come in a bit."

    "Rael, you are from Astrael, right? I heard that the world is filled with Nephilis of human bloodline," commented Caelith on the way to their exit.

    Azzy shrugged his shoulders, trying to act as calm as possible and suppressing his excitement inside, "They act different from Angels around here but they aren''t still humans."

    "But, still, you had an edge over us in this mission. You have divinity and divinity cannot be suppressed by world laws," Ramiel commented, casually putting his hands over his shoulder like an elder brother. "We are under your care, Brother Rael."

    "I have false divinity, not the true divinity. It will be suppressed for sure." After a comment, Azzy let out a deep sigh as if he resigned to fate and nodded, "Well, at the very least, I know that humans are well known to be the most adaptive creatures in the entire universe, and Nephilims I grew up with also had similar qualities. I guess I''m adaptable."

    "I must admit, it''s nice when a man says something reassuring..." Caelith let out a giggle. Aranis became uncomfortable by her playful tone. He kept silent though.

    After a while, the team captain returned, and the five of them followed him to one of the world portals located at their Academy Headquarters.

    On the way, they were given the language scrolls that had activated spells in them. They act the same way Azzy''s Lux was acting on his behalf. They speak in their own language, and the spell would translate them to the host planet''s most spoken language.

    The guardian angel over there inquired the captain.

    The captain gave him the mission scroll with details of it and a stamp of approval.

    "The world of Irth in the Realm of Andromeda, huh? That''s quite far..." The guardian angel closed his eyes and pierced the sword into the platform as a spell was launched, covering the six of them and the portal.

    It took him more than three minutes before he opened his eyes and gave them the way. "You are now good to go, Captain."

    "Thank you for the effort."

    Azzy stayed silent throughout the process, trying to capture the essence of the spell launched by the guardian angel.

    Before he processed the information on his own, Captain Astro started walking forward. The others followed him. Azzy put away his thoughts and followed them into the portal.

    As they walked out of the portal, they found themselves standing on top of a skyscraper in some world, at late night.

    There is a large green-colored moon, visible in the sky, shining like an emerald; the two ladies were instantly captivated by the sight, letting out a squeal of delight, "It is so beautiful... The Lord''s creation is as amazing as ever."

    Azzy couldn''t help but comment, "It could be just abundant in Olivine mineral. Or maybe... just oxidized copper. That''s why it was reflecting a green light."

    "Hmm?" The others gave a curious glance at Azzy. Sensing their gaze, Azzy kept his mouth shut, not explaining anymore to these people who don''t have the concept of science and just treat everything as the gift of their Lord.

    They already knew that Azzy was weird and often spoke of things they didn''t understand. Hence, they didn''t pay him attention, unlike their instructor, and Ramiel went on walking further to the edge of the terrace, looking down at the bustling city of skyscrapers, "So, what do we do now, Captain?"

    Captain Astro then spoke to all of them, "Well, you have all been informed about the situation here. Our target is supposedly in this city, lurking somewhere in the shadows and dark places. It has the ability of possession, bringing out their dark desire and causing them to act mayhem. But, when the sun rises, they die somehow.

    From here on, we''ll separate. I''ll be on my own to look for the target. The five of you, on the other hand, will investigate the deaths of young people who died under mysterious circumstances during the last few days. I''m warning you again. These are all mortals but do not take them lightly because of your superior physique. The guardians here have weapons that could hurt us badly. If they knew that we were angels, they would capture us and experiment on us.

    In most outer mortal worlds I have traveled to, they had no idea that life existed outside of their little world at all. Don''t give them a reason to suspect. Humans are intelligent, greedy, and very cunning. So, be careful out there. Stick with each other."

    The instructor then left them by jumping down the building and disappearing into darkness.

    The four of them cluelessly looked at each other before they shifted their gaze to Azzy in unison.

    Ramiel: "So, what do you think, Brother?"

    Seraphina: "Can you lead, Rael?"

    Azzy calmly walked to the edge of the terrace and looked down at the city, just like Ramiel. However, instead of simply enjoying the view, Azzy narrowed his eyes and enhanced his vision, observing the people walking around. They were indeed wearing shirts and trousers that awfully looked familiar to him. It reminded him of his home planet Gaia.

    The 18-year-old then spoke to his team, "First, we need to change our attire. Our clothes will bring attention."

    He took out his own sets of clothes from his storage ring and gave them to others, "For now, change into these."

    "Uhh... are those yours?" Seraphina pointed at them.

    Azzy nodded, "Yeah, I don''t wear these because they would look weird in Heaven. You can temporarily wear them and then go to a store and buy ones that fit you."

    Seraphina looked a bit hesitant and gazed at her lover.

    Ramiel smiled and took a set for himself, another set for her, too, "We don''t have a choice. He had a plan, and I don''t."

    Caelith, the 37-year-old single mom, didn''t look at her young lover like Seraphina. She directly took the hoodie and pants from Azzy.

    Aranis was the last one left. He asked, "But, where should we change?"

    "Huh?" The others gave a blank stare at him as if he were asking the obvious.

    The 19-year-old''s eyes widened, "Don''t tell me you want us to change here? There are ladies here."

    Another set of blank stares met his words

    Caelith gave a knock on his head, "What are you thinking, sweetie? Of course, we don''t change in open areas. That''s disgusting. We are standing on the top of a building, and it is night. You can barely sense any life below us. We can just go and look for an empty room and change."

    "Ah! Sorry..." Aranis blushed in embarrassment, earning a chuckle from his girlfriend.

    *Clap*

    "Okay, let''s regroup after changing clothes," Azzy decided to act like a proper leader. He also exuded confidence as a result.

    After a while, on the 98th floor of the building, they got out of each room one after another in t-shirts with hoodies and pants.

    Aranis had the same build and height as Azzy. Hence, it more or less perfectly fits into them. However, for Ramiel, who was a bit muscled and a couple of inches bigger, they were quite tighter. Seraphina was okay, too, except his T-shirt was a bit too loose. On the other hand, Caelith, who was the shortest of the group, didn''t even wear his pants. His sweatshirt almost reached her knees. She just came out with her exposed legs, making Anaris feel embarrassed by it as she looked quite hot; he couldn''t help but comment, "It looks inappropriate." The other two nodded in agreement and Caelith could only say that they were too big for her.

    Azzy shut them down by stating that if that was inappropriate for them, they would have a heart attack when they went out and saw the locals. He told others to bear themselves for a while.

    Soon, under his guidance, they got into the elevator. As it was going downwards and while the ladies were amazed by the human technology, Aranis questioned him about shopping, which needed money.

    Azzy explained to everyone to clear his doubts, "To make money, the easiest way in our world is to hunt down the beasts in Eldara plane or do missions at guilds. Such things won''t be here in such a mortal world. So, we have three options left."

    Everyone now started paying attention to him.

    Azzy raised his index finger first and said, "One, Rob people."

    "What! That''s a sin," Aranis shouted at him. Caelith grabbed his arm, "listen to him first. He is only stating the options."

 Chapter 736 736: The world of Irth (part-2)

    Azzy continued, "Two, look for a store to sell our things, like equipment or armor or any accessories and stuff. But, we won''t be able to get much money from that, if we want to stay low. Not to mention, we need cash and not some virtual currency."

    Ramiel: "Uhh cash? Virtual currency?"

    Seraphina: "Yeah, what are those? Food?"

    Aranis: "Maybe the needed items for survival."

    Caelith: "Oh, you meant like money?"

    Azzy nodded, "Yes, I only meant the general term I''m familiar with. I don''t know what name they will use in this world. Anyway, the third option is to look for a job. With our physical strength, we can look for jobs that offer security to a building or a house or whatever. But, we cannot choose a well-known person for this job because they might run a background check on us. And it is tough to trust strangers with unknown backgrounds."

    Ramiel: "So, what do you recommend?"

    As the gazes all fell upon him in silence as if they were prepared to trust him on this, too, suddenly, the elevator stopped and opened the doors. A man with a tucked shirt and pants was staring at them; surprise and confusion filled his face, and he shouted at them, "Who are..."

    Azzy swiftly rushes forward to shut his mouth. The stranger''s eyes widened and he struggled a bit before Azzy gave a swift chop to his neck and knocked him out.

    Ramiel: "Wha... What are you doing?"

    Aranis: "You hurt an innocent."

    Azzy pressed the button, making the doors close. "Wait for me downstairs. I''ll return in a minute or two."

    Seraphina: "Wai..."

    As the elevator left his sight, Azzy shifted his attention to the man lying on the floor. "Hmm... Tellus, I need your help."

    Roughly 15 minutes later, at the entrance hall of the building, Aranis was moving forth and back, often giving glances at the elevator. "See... I kept on telling you that our new teammate is nothing but trouble. The moment we left Elysium, look what he is doing."

    Caelith: "C''mon, sweetie, why do you keep acting like he is a villain or something? Losing his entire family and wings, the poor lad has been through so much of it. His actions could look unconventional but he is good at heart."

    Aranis: "Then, what should I think Rael is doing to him, right now? He assaulted an innocent one in front of our own eyes, and he sent us away to deal with him. Do you think he will kill him?"

    Seraphina: "Brother Aranis, don''t make your jealousy cloud your judgment."

    Aranis: "Who... who is jealous of him? I never thought I was less talented than him. We are the same age but I''m a higher Tier."

    Caelith: "Yeah, for this one, I side with Aranis. The difference in personalities could cause clashes, but Aranis doesn''t have any reason to feel jealous of Rael at all. Don''t bully him, please."

    Ramiel & Seraphina: "..."

    *Ting*

    "You have arrived at Floor 0. The doors are about to open."

    A familiar announcement made them turn their heads, only to see the stranger standing next to Azzy. Although the stranger looked uncomfortable, it didn''t seem like he was tortured or afraid.

    They walked together to the group, and the stranger let out a warm smile, "Hello, welcome to the city of New Caledonia. My name is Josh Hazelwood. You can call me Josh."

    Azzy then patted the man''s shoulder and said to the group, "Our friend Josh here is willing to take us as his guests. Until we are done, he will take care of us, right?"

    Josh nodded, "Yes, I would. It is my pleasure."

    "Good. Then, shall we go?" Azzy asked. Josh nodded like a chicken and scurried forward, "I''ll bring my vehicle to the entrance."

    Once he left their sight, Ramiel questioned him in place of everyone else, "Okay, what''s going on?"

    Azzy took out an unrefined 10kg gold bar from his dimension bag and let out a smirk, "the humans do favors for money. This is a bar of gold, and it seemed that just one of these would let one buy a house in a good locality. I promised him this in exchange for our stay. This also includes the compensation for unnecessary assault on him. He will also put his identity as collateral when we apply for jobs later on. Simple." He then gave a sharp glance to the 19-year-old and added, "I''m not some bloodthirsty murderer that I would kill him."

    Aranis was taken aback by the thought of Azzy hearing his words but threw that thought away in a second, thinking that he was just saying to clear unnecessary misunderstandings.

    The ladies were also happy with the fact that they didn''t have to sleep outdoors in those embarrassing clothes. Their impression of Azzy also grew more. The only thing that pressed them was, if Rael had the gold bar worth enough for a house, why would they even need jobs or accommodation in some stranger''s home? Can''t they just sell it and use the money to stay at the hotel until their mission ends? Well, it can only stay as a mystery for now. And later, it will be a forgotten topic.

    Azzy didn''t drag the conversation with them and went ahead. They followed him to the car. As they were five, they had to adjust to sitting in the back while Azzy took the front seat behind the stranger, not because he was the current team leader but it is because those four were couples.

    After a 40-minute drive, the vehicle stopped at its destination, a two-story independent house in the suburbs of the city.

    It''s a one-bedroom rental penthouse on the terrace. While there is enough space and privacy, the room is indeed too small for six members to live. Josh offered the bedroom for the ladies but they rejected it, saying that it was okay. Azzy also rejected it. Josh got to keep his room and others slept in the futons they bought on the way.

    Late in the night, the five angels were seen awake. The couples were conversing with their partners in low whispers, thinking that Azzy was asleep as his eyes were closed. However, in reality, Azzy was busy scanning the entire city with his Aura Sensing.

    Even after expanding his range to even five hundred kilometers, he couldn''t find any suspicious presence apart from one that was lying on top of a building¡ªthe instructor''s, and his four teammates.

    The next day morning;

    Azzy and Ramiel left the house with Josh in his car, leaving the others at the house.

    Josh dropped them off at a shopping mall as per Azzy''s request and left for his office.

    Azzy and Ramiel entered the unisex clothing store named Zara. With an observation of his surroundings, Ramiel understood how to shop, where to shop, and where to try the clothes; he went shopping for himself in the men''s section, leaving Azzy alone to shop for Caelith. But, since he didn''t know her size, he just randomly picked up good-looking dresses in different sizes.

    Meanwhile, a group of four girls was seen entering the ladies'' section, escorted by three men in suits and shades. They all had shopping bags in their hands.

    Friend 1: "Leiza, this is not a premium luxury brand. These clothes don''t suit your status. Even my classmates would laugh at me."

    Friend 2: "Yeah, Leiza. Let''s get out of here."

    Friend 3: "C''mon, don''t judge a clothing quality based on its price. Unlike those international brands, Zara is a home brand. That''s why it is inexpensive. Moreover, they have quite interesting designs. I wore them a lot of times on my dates. My boyfriend never commented once."

    Friend 1: *Scoff* "Yeah, whatever, Miss Caledonia. With a face and body like yours, your boyfriend won''t care which dress you wear."

    Friend 2: *Sigh* "I truly envy Ciesta. She had great looks, always in the top 3, she''s rich, and even had a faithful boyfriend."

    Friend 3: "You envy me? We are the ones who should be the envy of you. I would love to trade my study talents with your martial arts any time.

    Friend 1: "Yeah. And Babe, you are dating one of the hottest guys in the entire city, the national swimming champion. You know how many girls in our class were jealous of you?"

    Friend 2: *Sigh* "That''s the problem. Max attracts too many bees. Not to mention, he is very obsessed with practice. We don''t get to spend too much time lately. And sometimes, I feel like he is cheating on me."

    Friend 1: "Babe, you are overthinking. He isn''t a creep like Ciesta''s bf. Max acted as the most gentleman of all our boyfriends during our last triple date."

    Friend 3: "Hey, take that back. My boyfriend isn''t like your ex, Jennie. He merely pays attention to every detail. C''mon, don''t you want a boyfriend who is the first to notice any changes in you when you ask him and simply reply with ''you look the same''? Well, mine does without me even asking him, even when I change my earrings or do my nails, which kinda horrifies me sometimes, but that''s not the point. He had a great deal of patience, especially when we were shopping."

    Friend 1: "Yeah, that''s what I call creepy."

    Friend 3: "Hmpf, yeah, that''s why you are still single."

    Friend 1: "You..."

    "Okay, would you girls just stop arguing and help me out already?" A shout from the fourth girl of the group suddenly put an end to their verbal fight, and everyone once again paid attention to the silver-haired beauty.

    As if they were subordinates to her, they rushed ahead and started going through the dresses.

    Leiza was looking around and spotted a white one-piece dress. It kinda attracted her attention. Leaving the group, she walked to the rotating rack. Just as she almost reached it, a hand came into her sight and took the dress away. Her vision followed through the hand and fell upon a handsome face. Her eyes widened, and she went into a daze, although just for a second, until he spoke to himself the words, "Hmm... this looks good on Caelith."

    She got out of the stupor and went ahead to grab it, taking Azzy by surprise, "What?"

    Leiza replied, "Leave this, I want it."

    Azzy furrowed his brows in displeasure.

 Chapter 737 737: The world of Irth (part-3)

    "No"

    Azzy flatly rejected it, tightly holding onto the dress; he didn''t want to rip it off by using force.

    He wasn''t the type to intentionally quarrel with a rich girl and attract unnecessary attention but he doesn''t like to give in to the arrogant types.

    Yeah, he knew that she was rich, just from the fact that he had three guards who were all buffed and quite intimidating, although their muscles were now focused on carrying shopping bags.

    Leiza''s face reddened as she looked at him in the eyes, "Do you know who I am?" She looked quite serious. One of the bodyguards put down the bags and walked at them. Her three friends, too, rushed at her, smelling trouble.

    Azzy meanwhile replied, "Probably some miss whose arrogance stemmed from her parents'' money and not her achievements."

    "You..." Leiza was deeply flushed by his comment as if it hit her nerve. As the bodyguard arrived there, Azzy gave a calm glance at him and further said, "What now? Do you want him to beat me up for the sake of this dress and prove to others that you are nothing more than a narrowminded and spoiled brat?"

    At once, Leiza felt several gazes on her, and someone had already pressed the button on their smart glasses, recording the event.

    "You... you... you..." She stomped the floor in frustration and turned around to leave in heavy steps.

    "Leiza..." The others followed him, and the rest, too, like a flock of sheep. Azzy shrugged his shoulders and continued his shopping.

    After a while, everything became normal. Azzy and Ramiel finished their shopping and they lined up at the bill counter.

    There were only two more people before him, but just then, collective screams were heard all over the room; Azzy and Ramiel turned their heads to gaze outside.

    "Rael..."

    Azzy: "Yeah, I know."

    Ramiel: "You or me?"

    Azzy: "Rock, Paper, Scissors?"

    Ramiel: "Fine."

    Putting the bags aside, both of them engaged in a quick game of rock paper and scissors. Azzy threw a paper while Ramiel threw a rock. Azzy handed the bags to him, "After handing them the clothes, give them the card and press the number 5061 on that swiping machine. I''ll be waiting for you at the left street corner."

    "Understood."

    Azzy hastened his footsteps as he exited the store, watching the scene from the second floor. He saw a group of robbers/terrorists with guns in their hands, awfully looking like handheld energy cannons; their handles fixed onto their arms, and their fingers were on the trigger. With a click, the two ends would open widely to reveal a tiny barrel that would shoot energy blasts. It was obvious with a glance.

    Meanwhile, there are some familiar figures standing nearby. The three bodyguards were shielding the girls as they slowly backed away.

    "Too many people here. Wear a mask?"

    With a thought in his head, a familiar white metallic mask rapidly materialized over his face as he jumped down, landing on the floor like a hero.

    "Woah, look at him..."

    Everyone''s attention momentarily shifted from the terrorists to the masked hero.

    Even the gang leader couldn''t help but give him the attention. "Stop playing a hero. Stop right there." He pointed the weapon at Azzy.

    Azzy ran toward him.

    *Bang*

    The gang leader didn''t hesitate and clicked on the trigger, shooting an energy bullet. Azzy moved to the left, dodging the bullet but maintaining a speed that everyone could see, as he would rather be a masked vigilante than a mysterious Superman.

    *Bang* Bang* Bang*

    Moving in a zig-zag motion to evade three bullets, Azzy closed their gap to nothing to give a solid uppercut to the bald guy. He flew high in the air. The terrorists momentarily gazed at their boss flying in the air. Azzy took this opportunity to swiftly give non stop kicks and punches to them.

    In two seconds, the remaining five fell to the floor. All of them ended up unconscious.

    "Wooo.." Cheers erupted from the crowd; some wondered whether it was a public stunt, while some took him as a hero. Azzy, meanwhile, ran to the exit and briefly stopped at the security guard, who looked all dazed. He asked him to tie them up and hand them over to the authorities before leaving the mall in a hurry.

    Meanwhile, among the crowd, Leiza muttered under her breath, "The black shirt and pants, and that build... no doubt. It is the same annoying guy from before. No wonder he is not afraid of my guards. He is a master. I wonder which dojo he belonged to..."

    After a while, Ramiel exited the mall carrying all five shopping bags by himself and met with Azzy. Together, they returned to the residence in a cab.

    At the house;

    Caelith: "Wow... you know how to shop for ladies, Rael. I''m impressed."

    Seraphina: "Yeah, indeed." "Hey, honey... what''s this pink frock? You know I don''t like pinkish things..."

    Caelith: "You can take this. I don''t think this will fit me. It is bigger."

    Azzy: "Well, I don''t know your size. So, I just picked one from every size..."

    Caelith: "My... my... a sensible one, aren''t you? Thank you..."

    Aranis: *mumble* "Yeah, whatever..."

    Seraphina: "Anyways, now, I can finally go out."

    Ramiel: "Hey, hon, give a bit of credit, will ya. Do you know how tough it is to shop for women?"

    Seraphina: "Oh, honey... come here..."

    As Seraphina gave a kiss on his cheek as a reward, although mainly because others were around, Caelith looked at Azzy too and said, "Hmm... I wonder how I should reward you as a thank you."

    Aranis sweated bullets, and he shouted at once, standing before her with a serious expression on his face, "Don''t you dare ask for a kiss."

    "Huh?" Azzy gave a blank stare in response.

    Caelith giggled as she hugged him from behind, "Seriously, sweetie? Why do you think I would kiss a man other than you, even if he asks?"

    Azzy also changed his expression to that of disgust and added a comment, "You are weird."

    "Ah..." Aranis''s ears reddened in embarrassment, and his head started spinning as the other couple started laughing, calling him cute. He immediately rushed away from there and hid in the bedroom. Azzy too laughed along.

    Around noon, the four angels were going through the old newspapers found in the house, learning about the world as much as they could. The world might have internet, but they don''t have phones. Not to mention, the angels are too technologically backward enough to even understand how electricity works, much less the internet. Hence, Azzy didn''t bother shopping for mobile phones and intended to buy himself one secretly.

    As he was also passing the time with the newspaper thing, the doorbell rang, earning their attention.

    "Did Josh return?" They wondered.

    "Let me get that."

    Azzy went ahead to open the door, only to find an unexpected person standing in front of him instead of Josh.

    "Hello there," said Leiza. Her bodyguards increased by a dozen from before. The other three girls weren''t seen though.

    "You... what are you doing here?" Azzy furrowed his brows. Glancing at the bodyguards around, he added, "Are you here for a fight?" If so, he won''t hold back even if it causes him trouble.

    The silver-haired beauty however let out a smile, "Not really. I''m here to talk. Now, won''t you welcome me as a guest?"

    She walked past in, inviting herself as a guest. He didn''t stop her. However, when the bodyguard was about to get in, Azzy warned, "only one."

    The bodyguard at the front frowned. "Ma''am?"

    Leiza didn''t look back and simply said, "No need. Just stay outside."

    "As you wish." He stepped back and Azzy slammed the door against him as Leiza walked into the living room, attracting the attention of the other four angels.

    She gave a quick glance at the newspapers spread on the floor but didn''t pay much attention and found a chair to sit down.

    Azzy returned and stood in front of her, "So, what do you want?"

    The four angels curiously observed them.

    Leiza didn''t pay attention to them either and looked at him in the eyes, "Won''t you ask me how I found you?"

    Azzy shrugged his shoulders, "The rich always have their ways to accomplish their tasks."

    Leiza replied, "You wore a mask during the fight, but you have the same attire. The rest is obvious. I went back to the store and checked the CCTV footage to confirm my suspicions. I saw that you handed over the clothes to the friend over there to pay for them. I got the details of the credit card you paid with. The bank gave me the details of the cardholder, Josh Hazelwood. I called up his company and forced him to give me your information. I heard that you and your friends are the survivors of the Scarlet Dragon Dojo and are here to capture the serial killer to avenge your friends." She leaned to the back and crossed her arms with a smile, adding, "Don''t worry, I will keep your secret."

    "Huh? Survivors of Scarlet Dragon Dojo?" The four angels looked at her in surprise, then looked at Azzy''s back in suspicion. Withholding the truth is fine, but blatantly lying is a sin even to protect one''s life, much less for a mission. If that was true, none can forgive their fifth teammate.

    Azzy replied in a firm tone, "If you are here with a threat, forget it." His earlier frown deepened further. He crossed his arms but clenched his fists to control his emotions and deal with her as calmly as possible.

    Leiza remained unperturbed by his warning. She said, "I want you to work for me."

    "Huh?"

 Chapter 738 738: The world of Irth (part-4)

    "100,000 YER monthly salary, and a Black tier Credit Card (unlimited limit). It is the highest salary anyone ever offered to anyone in this country, higher than even our company''s managing director. In exchange, you shall guard me 24/7. You stay with me at our house and attend our academy as a fellow student. My father would arrange it for you since you''ll pass as one easily. Just for three months would do. Once I turn 18 and officially inherit the property, if you wish to continue, we can, and if you don''t want to, you can leave, too. Oh, I don''t have to say it, but I will add that you will be treated as a guard and not a servant like my other guards. How about it?"

    For a while, strange silence filled the entire room. Some were shocked, some thought it was absurd, and Azzy was only staring at the girl. She returned his gaze without any afraid in her eyes.

    Earlier, he saw the arrogance of wealth in her eyes. This time, he felt sincerity.

    However, Azzy had a lot to think about the pros and cons of accepting this offer.

    After much thinking, he turned around to look at his teammates and spoke in an Angelic language of Seraphic, "You all agreed to let me as the leader for this mission. Will you agree to let me make the decisions for the team once again?"

    "Hmm? What language they are speaking seems so foreign and old," thought Leiza. She couldn''t help but give another look at her friends.

    As they collectively nodded, Azzy returned his gaze to Leiza and spoke, "This is my counteroffer. If you like it, take it, or you may leave. 100,000 YER weekly salary, but the five of us will be employed. From morning 7 to evening 7, I''ll accompany you, whether it is at your school or outside. take care of your security. And from evening 7 to the next morning, preferably at your home, atleast three of my friends will take care of your security. And yes, as you reminded us, none of you will be treated as servants, neither by you nor your guardian, who is probably paying us the money. Also, we will have identity cards readied on the day of the appointment, meaning you will be taking responsibility for cleaning the mess we might make while finding our culprit."

    Everyone: "..."

    The angels never expected their fifth teammate to be so unbrashing. She was already giving them the best offer she could give and he went on testing her limits of patience with an even more unreasonable counteroffer.

    In their eyes, Azzy was just trying to make sure that she wouldn''t accept.

    Little to their expectations, Leiza nodded as she raised her index finger, "One condition. They have to prove their martial prowess. I saw your ability but didn''t see whether they are qualified for that kind of offer. There are 14 guards standing outside, each of them could take even three to four elite martial artists, while I reckon you can take on even ten of them with ease. So, if the four of them can defeat all fourteen guards I brought with me, I accept your counteroffer, Mr. Rael. Oh, I also need that dress back."

    Azzy turned his head to see his teammates, "so, are you up for it? Don''t need to consider this as an assault on innocents but it is like sparring."

    Seraphina was the first to react, flexing her knuckles, "fourteen? I''m alone to take out those bunch of weaklings."

    "I know but she only brought fourteen with her and I need her to see that four of you are able," replied Azzy.

    Leiza''s eyes widened, "are they serious? Or were they underestimating my elite guards?"

    A couple of minutes later;

    On the terrace, a dozen bodies belonging to muscled warriors who were lying down unconsciously, and the four angels standing there straight calmly; none of them had any scratches on their bodies and not even a sweat bead on their foreheads that could indicate they warmed up.

    Leiza was standing there in a daze, "How? I picked these experts from all kinds of dojos and ex-special forces after testing them rigorously, providing them with a minimum of 20,000 YER monthly salary and all kinds of benefits. These fourteen could take on even fifty experts at the same time. I was considered a walking fortress because of them. All of them were defeated by these four? Since when did Scarlet Dragon Dojo produce such monsters?"

    In the evening, Josh returned home. He slowly climbed to the terrace in tiredness but stood outside the door in hesitation. "What should I do? I told them about Rael and others. Will they take back the deal? I really wonder what their identities were that got the eyes of a giant like Bestial Corp."

    *knock* knock* *knock*

    He knocked three times in a row, but there was no response from inside. After waiting for half a minute, knocking on it a few more times, Josh tried opening it, and the door opened, "Oh, so, it is not locked."

    He opened it completely and entered the living room; the house was empty. "Hmm? Where did they go?"

    There was a letter under a paperweight, on the coffee table.

    Josh went ahead and picked it up. The contents of the letter were actually printed ones, probably cut from newspapers.

    *Thank* *you* *help* *the* *for* *Reward* *Promised* *delivered* *Quinoa*

    The words didn''t form a proper sentence, and it took Josh a few seconds to figure out the exact sentence. He rushed to the kitchen to search the shelves, eventually taking out the container that used to store quinoa.

    As soon as he lifted it, he felt the weight. He opened it hurriedly, finding a gold bar. Josh''s face lit up, "Just one day of accommodation and I''m rich..."

    Meanwhile, far away from his residence, in the affluent neighborhood of the downtown, in a 3-bedroom apartment flat, Azzy and the other four were sitting in a circle and discussing the matters.

    They had a large map of the city laid on the floor and Azzy was marking places with the pencil.

    "As you can see... the places with more number of casualties occurred in these three regions, the Ironwood Crossing, Wildflower Way, and Coyote Run Street.

    And when we join them..."

    As he drew the mark from one street to another, it formed almost a perfect triangle.

    He then drew three lines to divide the triangular region into three sub-regions A, B, and C, "Ramiel, Seraphina, you two patrol A. Caelith, Aranis, you two take B, and I take C."

    "You will be fine alone?" Caelith asked.

    Azzy shrugged his shoulders in indifference, "well, we are only 5. Someone has to be alone."

    Caelith said worriedly, "This is a fallen angel we are talking about. So, I recommend not to take any reckless action if you see it. Just run, okay?"

    Ramiel nodded to her suggestion, "Yes, I completely agree with her. We didn''t spend too much time, but knowing your personality, you would likely confront the enemy because you were very confident in your strength."

    Azzy smiled, "don''t worry. I''ll be fine."

    A while later, the five of them separated, moving to their respective destinations.

    At his fastest speed, Azzy reached his destination within a minute. On the way, his Aura Sensing is also in an active state, but he could only sense five other abnormal individuals in the area. Nevertheless, he took his spot on top of the tallest building in the area and kept on the lookout for all night.

    For several hours, nothing happened, but Azzy continued to stay vigilant. And, his patience bore fruit deep in the night when he suddenly sensed an additional presence coincidentally appeared quite near to their leader, who was far away from his location.

    "Found you."

    Azzy closed his eyes and mumbled, "The Art of..."

    "Wait. You can''t do it."

    The Reaper''s voice echoed in his head, stopping him from shrinking into mosquito size.

    "Eh? Why?" He questioned.

    The Reaper answered, "You are no longer a mortal, Azrael. Using the powers of divinity will incur the violation of world laws. You can run, just like how you did earlier."

    "Isn''t it better than unnecessarily gaining the attention of humans?" Azzy argued.

    The Reaper replied, "Using unauthorized violation of the world laws will bring the attention of the Watchers of Olympus."

    "Watchers of Olympus?"

    "Yes. Headed by Themis, the Goddess of Divine Law, Order, and Justice, the watchers of Olympus oversee the mortal worlds and make sure no divine being violates the world''s laws, such as displaying their divinity to the mortals to gain followers when they aren''t qualified to attain the status of a deity, making sure the gods don''t interfere excessively in mortal lives, ensuring their path of evolution remains unaffected by the actions of Olympians, etc...

    When you absorbed Baphomet''s divinity and reborn as a true divine being, I told you that no force in this universe is powerful enough to restrict your divinity, apart from Life, Space, and myself. You can freely use your powers in any mortal world as you wish, but remember ¡ª every action carries consequences, whether for good or ill." The Reaper explained.

    "Alright... I understand. I don''t want such a lengthy lecture to understand the point." Azzy jumped down to the ground and started rushing to his destination like a streak of flash.

    However, before he reached halfway, the presence of the fallen angel was gone and his captain looked like he was lying down. "Damn it." He could only curse and rush forward to meet Astro.

    By the time he got there, he found the Angel lying there unconscious. Meanwhile, there were two more corpses in the alley, belonging to two young ladies. Just like other cases, their hearts were plucked out of their bodies.

 Chapter 739: The world of Irth (part-5)

    "Captain..." Azzy approached him to check his condition, "No external injuries or internal injuries... Hmm?" He closed his eyes to increase his concentration, exploring the insides of the captain''s chest, and studying the condition of the soul orb.

    There was a chain over the soul orb, which is created by the world laws, but it remained undamaged. "I can''t find any problems. His heartbeat and breathing remained stable. No loss of life force. So, he just fainted?"

    "No, look carefully in the head section, Azrael," The Reaper''s voice echoed in his head.

    Azzy shifted his attention to the angel''s head. He observed the condition of the brain. The Angel''s brain is different from a human''s. It was smooth and uniform¡ª a pale, lump without partitions, ridges, or any sign of complexity. Perhaps, that''s why the angels can only see the world in absolutes: good or evil, light or dark.

    Or atleast that''s what Azzy''s thought when he took a good look at Captain Astro''s brain.

    As his vision pierced into his brain, Azzy then found some kind of black energy tied itself to the glowing vessels running like threads of energy to the rest of the body. The black mass of energy felt ominous at first glance. "What is it? It looked different from mere dark matter," He wondered.

    The Reaper replied, "It''s called the seed of the fallen."

    "The seed of the fallen? What is it?" He asked the Reaper.

    The Reaper replied, "It is a power unique to the fallen angels. Long ago, Lucifer used this very thing to turn many angels into his followers, the fallen angels, to rebel against Heaven. However, it depends on the one who conjured it. The stronger the fallen angel, the stronger the seed of the fallen would be."

    Azzy: "Ok, but what it does?"

    "Well, when the seed of the fallen is implanted into one''s brain, it will slowly take over one''s heart, turning them into a fallen angel. Their world of light turns to darkness. The things they love earlier will become the object of their hatred. They would go against everything they believe. There are a few ways to remove it. One, the user would have to remove it by themselves through their strong willpower. Two, destroy his soul orb, which would turn him into a mortal and have a high chance of becoming a cripple too. And three, use divinity to expel it from his brain. But, one has to be careful. A slight misjudgment turns him into brain-dead.

    Now, you have a choice, Azrael.

    If you leave him to fight his own fate, you could still do your mission and meet Claire as you planned. But, if you interfere in his fate and use your divinity, you will surely bring the watchers hunting you down. So far, the reason you are not being threatened is that the matter is related to Thanatos only, and he likely had decided to handle the matter himself, fearing the loss of his reputation among the Olympian gods."

    Azzy silently stared at the man for a while. He doesn''t know Astro much. They didn''t even talk together once. He doesn''t have any reason to help him.

    Moreover, his logic tells him that Astro separated himself from them to deal with the enemy all alone and he was merely facing the consequences of his actions.

    But, his heart doesn''t want him to abandon a victim, not when he had the power to protect him. It is against the principles he grew up with.

    After much contemplation, Azzy kneeled once again and put his hand on Astro''s head, mumbling, "I''m destined to fight against Olympians sooner or later. I offended them already. One more offense wouldn''t mount much. I can afford to wait for an opportunity to meet with Claire. I''m at her academy either way."

    "Think once again, Azrael. The situation is a lot more troublesome than you could imagine," The Reaper warns.

    Azzy replied firmly, "I have selfish desires, Chronos. I can lie to protect those desires. But, my values are more important to me."

    "Divine Healing."

    Divinity gushed out of his palms, entering the Angel''s head and penetrating his brain. His concentration was at its peak as he slowly removed the black mass of energy without destroying the vessels around it.

    Meanwhile, in the mindscape, The Reaper, watching the scene from standing at the edge of the cliff, mumbled to himself, "Good. Azrael still had the light in his heart, even after the darkness was growing rapidly. But will this be light enough when he faces his ultimate enemy, his true identity?"

    Back to reality, Azzy returned to the apartment carrying an unconscious Captain Astro on his back and lay him on the bed before returning to the living room and meditating.

    He waited until dawn when the angels returned to the residence, informing them about their captain''s state.

    After a while, they gathered in the living room. And the atmosphere was quite tense, as none talked. Or atleast for Azzy, feeling gazes from all around.

    They didn''t say anything for a while but Azzy could feel what was on their mind.

    In the end, Azzy spoke, "All right, it''s my fault. I didn''t anticipate the fallen angel would strike elsewhere from a high probable region."

    Ramiel responded with a comment, "That''s alright, Brother Rael. It''s not like we are never supposed to face an entity like a fallen angel."

    Aranis added, "And it is not like we expected great things from our investigations either."

    Azzy frowned at his comment, "What do you mean?"

    Seraphina replied with a question, "Why do you think Captain Astro separated from us?"

    Caelith sighed and let out a comment, "I don''t want to bring this up."

    Aranis also voiced his opinion, "I think Rael should also find out the truth why he was appointed as a leader and why others had no problem following his lead too."

    "Hmm? What do you mean? Be specific, Aranis," Azzy looked at him. A theory instantly appeared in his head and he wished to confirm it.

    "I will explain." Ramiel patted Azzy''s shoulder, gaining his attention. He explained, "In this mission, we had no true role, Rael. This is a tactic of understanding between us and the captain. Whenever he separates himself from us and tells us to investigate, it merely means that we enjoy what this world offers, and he doesn''t expect anything from us. If we gather some information, we will just include it in the reports. We had no idea about this world, and you seemed to be more familiar than us."

    Before Azzy digests it properly, Aranis added, "Since Captain failed and our presence is known, this mission is as good as dead. We won''t be staying here for much longer. We will soon return."

    "No, we can''t, sweetie," Caelith replied.

    "Why?"

    Seraphina answered his doubt, "On behalf of our team, he promised a human. Regardless of our mission, we have to live here for three months. Breaking a promise is a grave sin."

    "Not really, Sister Seraphina," Azzy replied. "Hmm?" As they looked at Azzy, the latter explained, "I made a deal, not a promise. It is an exchange where I work for her and she provides us with the money. In human terms, a deal doesn''t materialize into a promise unless they write a contract."

    Ramiel shook his head, "But that human has already provided us the house to live in, Brother Rael. Even if it is a few lumens of time, the connection of Karma formed. We can''t leave, atleast not without doing a favor to the human. Moreover, even if we have yet to make the promise "

    Aranis scoffed, crossed his arms, and rested against the wall. "Great. We should have stayed back at Josh''s house. We moved into this house unnecessarily."

    Azzy replied, "We don''t have to. I can change the terms in the contract in a way that only I can be employed. The four of you don''t have to stay. However, in a way, I promised her safety until her 18th birthday. Whether this involved a deal of exchange or not, it doesn''t matter. She cannot die before her 18th birthday under any unnatural causes."

    "No, that cannot be possible," Caelith firmly rejects his reply. "We can''t leave you here, lad. The fallen angel has already found our presence. It won''t be long before he finds us. We have to stick together at all costs."

    She then looked at others and added, "Rael cannot abandon his promise to that human and we cannot abandon our teammate. It looks like we have no choice."

    Caelith, Ramiel, and Seraphina: "Agreed."

    Aranis: "..."

    After a while, leaving others at the house, Azzy took a cab to Denver Estate.

    With a gate pass he received from Leiza beforehand, he entered the Estate and walked to the main residence after asking around.

    All the way, he found at atleast a hundred security personnel who all carried energy cannons or some weapon at their backs.

    Azzy ignored them and entered the residence, patiently waiting alone in the Foyer. He closed his eyes.

    Roughly two minutes after his entry, a familiar-looking guard came to him and informed him to follow him.

    Azzy expected to go to Leiza, but instead, he was taken to an office-type room where a middle-aged man with an eyepatch was sitting there with his leg resting on the other knee, a tablet in his left hand that looked human and the right free hand that looked robotic had a dagger.

    As soon as he stepped into the room, the dagger was suddenly shot toward Azzy.

    Azzy was only a few meters away but swiftly caught it in time. "Woah..." He let out a yelp of surprise.

 Chapter 740: The world of Irth (part-6)

    "You have great reflexes, kid," The man with an eyepatch smiled at Azzy''s response of action.

    Azzy, however, was displeased by his act, "and you have a terrible personality, old man."

    "Old man?" The man almost lost his balance for a second before he got up and looked at him, "Kid, you truly have the guts."

    "And you are too arrogant, Old man," commented Azzy, throwing the dagger back at him. It went past him at blurring speeds and pierced into the table behind him.

    "Wha..." The man was stunned for a moment; his whole body felt like it was paralyzed in fear as Azzy slowly walked toward him. Azzy walked past him and plucked out the dagger. Placing it softly on the man''s hand, Azzy spoke to him, "Before you talk about anything, there are three things I wish to inform you. First of all, Miss Leiza is nothing more than a client for me. She is not my boss who could order me, and neither do I have any remote interest in her. Secondly, I don''t care about your background and save it if you call me to give some sort of threat or try to interrogate me with the assumption that I approached the lady with ill intentions or something. Last but not least, if you aren''t interested in employing my services for any reason, I would want to hear it directly from my client''s mouth. Now, if you have anything to say, please do so."

    Azzy glanced to the side and walked away, dragging the chair to the man and sitting before him as the latter looked at him in surprise.

    "So?"

    The man observed Azzy for a few seconds before he calmly stretched his hand, "In that case, pleasure to work with you."

    Azzy nodded as he shook his hand.

    The guy didn''t talk much, except for telling him to keep Leiza safe and he could go back and wait for her.

    As Azzy left the room, the man mumbled with a frown on his face, "This young man has killed before." He took a smartphone into his hands from the table and sent a text message to someone.

    Roughly 20 minutes later;

    "Sorry for the wait."

    Leiza appeared before him in her unisex school uniform, which is a beige shirt and magenta pants with a magenta blazer over the top. Her pants complimented her long legs, and her ponytail exposed her smooth and long neck; additional makeup, a heart-shaped pendant, and beautiful two-tiered heart-shaped sapphire earrings only enhanced her beauty even more.

    "Let''s go..." Azzy got up to leave with her, but Leiza grabbed his hand all of a sudden, "wait. You want to go like that?"

    "Hmm? What''s wrong with these?" Azzy looked at his own wear. A black turtle neck t-shirt on the top, black chinos on the bottom, and a black coat over the t-shirt. His theme was all-black, obviously, as that''s the clear he likes the most, but it isn''t just that. They were also of a premium brand, quite more expensive than normal clothes. Hence, he could only ask her the reason.

    To which Leiza replied with a giggle, "You look like a street bully or someone who likes fights. Only a long gold chain and some rings are missing. Anyway, there''s still time till the homeroom period. So, we will stop by somewhere."

    "Ah, Okay..."

    After a while, his black turtle neck t-shirt changed to a simple white t-shirt at the mall, and then, they went to the saloon to fix up his messy, tousled hair look to something like a low-key slick back for a casual elegance look.

    It''s not that Azzy wanted a haircut, but he is helpless in this situation, too, as no scissor in this world would be able to cut even a strand of his hair.

    Together, they returned to the academy just in time.

    With no surprise, gazes fell upon them, some were admiring Leiza while some were curious about this new guy beside her.

    Leaving him at the principal''s office, she left for her class. Azzy stepped inside to talk about the formalities.

    The principal then summoned his homeroom teacher to introduce Azzy and his unexpected circumstances that led him to join the academy in the middle of the semester, which, of course, was a lie made by the principal on Leiza''s mother''s orders.

    Meanwhile, in Class 3A of twelfth grade, Leiza''s desk was surrounded by a bunch of girls who were enquiring about the guy who walked with her side by side and conversed with her.

    "Who is he?" "Your boyfriend?" "He is so handsome. We saw from the window." "Did you look at his height? Must be atleast 185cm." "C''mon, tell us Leiza." "You also looked like you put more effort today. When was the last time you did it? Three months ago, when you dated Bran?"

    A group of guys who gathered in the back rows couldn''t help but concentrate on their talk. The one in the center doesn''t look pleased.

    As Leiza continues to evade the topic and let their imagination grow wild, the homeroom teacher arrives with Azzy. Everyone returned to their seats.

    They were quite curious as Azzy definitely didn''t look like a local with his wheatish skin and hazel eyes. They were all pale-skinned and had black eyes.

    "Silence, please. Welcome the new transfer student."

    As the entire class fell silent, Azzy looked at all of them and introduced himself, "Hello, I''m Rael."

    And then, there were ten seconds of silence, and the homeroom teacher couldn''t help but turn his head, "That''s it?"

    Azzy asked in reply, "What else should I say?"

    The homeroom teacher then spoke to the students, "Rael here has lived abroad all his life and doesn''t know the customs around here. Due to a family situation, he transferred to this academy. Any questions?"

    A girl from the middle row swiftly shot her hand in the air; she had a bubbly smile, but the homeroom teacher seemed a bit annoyed but still maintained a forced smile, "Yes, Miss Yenna."

    The student named Yenna asked with all smiles, tilting her head as if she was enthralled by his looks, "Rael, do you have a girlfriend? Are you an exclusive type or an open-minded type?"

    "Ohhhh..." a collective cheer escaped from the back row, annoying the teacher even more.

    "Hey, be quiet." After scolding them, the teacher turned his attention to the student, "Miss Yenna, sit down. You..."

    Before he finished scolding her, Azzy interrupted with his reply, "Yes, I have a girlfriend, currently in a long-distance relationship, and I''m faithful."

    "Eh?" Leiza''s eyes widened for a moment but her calmness returned quickly.

    Yenna once again shot her hand, "What if you fell in love with someone else here?"

    "Yenna..." the homeroom got mad at her behavior, but Azzy once again beat him to him with his calm response, "That''s impossible but if it happens, then, I will break up with her and pursue my new love."

    "Oh!!!" As another collective cheer erupted from the back, some of them admiring his boldness to speak that way on his very first day while some thought that he was weird, Yenna questioned one more time, "What is your type?"

    The homeroom teacher couldn''t even speak this time as Azzy was ready with his answer, "I come from a martial arts family. Delicate girls are not my type. They don''t need to fight but they should atleast be mentally tough."

    "This boy..." the homeroom teacher shook his head with an inward sigh. Just as Yenna was about to question again, he acted this time fast enough, asking Azzy to take the seat.

    Azzy observed the classroom. Some, both boys and girls, willingly moved aside to share the desk with him. Leiza didn''t move but had her arms crossed and meaningfully looked at him.

    Azzy walked toward her.

    Leiza expected him to stop beside her and ask her to move aside as he is her hired bodyguard, but instead, he walked past her and stopped at the desk right behind her, where a gentle-looking boy in spectacles had books spread all over the desk. "Can I sit here?" Azzy asked him.

    "Hey, look at him." "He had to pick that nerd of all the people." "I thought he would actually ask Leiza." "I heard that they came together earlier in the morning." "Are they friends?" "Nah, that''s just a rumor. You know how it is. There are a lot of girls who are jealous of Leiza. She has beauty, brains, and background. What''s not to feel envious of?" "Uhh... I beg to differ on her brains though. She is not that... you know..." "C''mon, wasn''t she still in the top 20 all the time?" "That''s just because her mother is the biggest shareholder of this academy." "That''s just BS. Not all rich kids don''t use money. She is sincere," "Ho, it looks like someone has a crush on the lady." "Shut up..."

    Whispers filled the classroom.

 Chapter 741: The world of Irth (part-7)

    The bell rang, signaling the end of the class. Students immediately began buzzing with chatter. Leiza left her seat, and walked over to Azzy''s desk, her arms crossed with a frown on her face.

    "What?" Azzy asked her.

    "You don''t want to give any explanations, ignoring me like that?" Leiza raised her eyebrows.

    "So that everyone becomes too curious about who am I?" Azzy countered, not budging an inch.

    It goes without saying their conversation attracted the attention of the whole class.

    After a few seconds of silent staring contest, Leiza said, "Forget it. Anyway, I''ll introduce you to some of my friends."

    Azzy gave her a nod and stood up. Leiza led him to the middle of the classroom, where a small group of girls was already waiting. Their curious eyes flicked between her and Azzy.

    "Everyone, this is Rael," Leiza said, gesturing toward him. "He''s a transfer student, a family friend of ours."

    "Rael!" One girl with a bob cut beamed. "So exotic! Where are you from?"

    "Overseas," Azzy replied vaguely, his expression calm.

    "Which country?" another girl pressed, tilting her head.

    Azzy paused for a moment. "Northern Europa," he lied smoothly, his tone making it sound like an uninteresting fact.

    The girls exchanged glances, clearly intrigued. "Wow, your accent is different! Do you speak multiple languages?"

    "Yes," Azzy answered simply.

    The group erupted into a chorus of impressed murmurs. One of them boldly leaned closer. "Do you have a hobby? Something fun?"

    Azzy''s lips twitched into a faint smile. "Martial arts."

    Gasps of admiration followed, and the girls started to crowd him, throwing more questions his way.

    "Enough, ladies." Leiza stepped in, her voice cutting through their chatter. She placed a hand on Azzy''s shoulder protectively. "Give him some breathing space. He''s not a zoo exhibit."

    The girls laughed awkwardly but backed off, sensing her authority. A group of boys across the room exchanged sour looks, muttering to one another.

    "First day, and he''s already Mr. Popular."

    "Leiza''s acting like his bodyguard or something. Weird."

    "She doesn''t even let anyone near her, but now this guy?"

    "Don''t tell me they were in a relationship?"

    "No wonder she never went out with anyone, not even Jared."

    "Or maybe she has a crush on this fellow? I mean, look at him. Must be atleast 185cm. Ugh... his physique is so envious..."

    Before anything escalated, the mathematics teacher entered the room and called for attention.

    As he was teaching the class, he spotted Azzy paying attention to the windows. Obviously, the teacher was irritated.

    "Mr. Rael," the teacher suddenly called him out, adjusting his glasses. "Since you''re new, let''s see what you know. Can you answer this?"

    He scribbled a simple yet complex equation on the board, the kind that made atleast half of the students groan.

    sin(x)+2cos(x)=1,for 0¡Üx¡Ü2¦Ð.

    Azzy didn''t hesitate. He stood and stared at the board for a brief moment as if he were analyzing it, but in reality, his senses were activated to the maximum.

    Azzy had no idea what those terms were even.

    But, as someone who had experience as a teacher before, Azzy was aware that when a teacher asked a question, there would always be certain students who would mutter under their breath.

    With a quick scanning, he found two such people in the class, a girl sitting somewhere in the middle row and a boy in the front row. Both of them had the same answer and Azzy''s lips turned into a smile. He said, "Mr. Lestrade, the answer is 0 or 5.64."

    "5.64?" The whole set of students was taken aback when they heard his reply.

    With a quick glance, it was easy to point out that x=0 is an answer, but they wouldn''t know there would be another answer. Even if there was, how could this new student say without placing any pen on the paper? It was as if he had done calculations in his mind.

    Even Leiza couldn''t help but turn her head to look at him. She wondered in her head. "So, despite being a martial artist, he was also intelligent, huh? I thought all martial artists were dumb as they spent too much time in training. Muscle with the brain, a rare combination indeed."

    The class gawked, including the teacher, who gave a curt nod. "Correct."

    Leiza smiled faintly to herself. Good. She felt as if she was the one being praised.

    When lunch break came, Azzy followed Leiza to the cafeteria. As soon as they sat, a few girls from their class approached.

    "Rael, can we join you?" one asked, holding her tray nervously.

    Leiza didn''t wait for Azzy to respond. "Sorry, he''s busy," she said firmly, gesturing for them to leave. The girls pouted but left reluctantly.

    Azzy raised an eyebrow. "You didn''t have to do that."

    "You''re here to work, not flirt," Leiza replied, crossing her arms.

    Azzy shrugged and continued eating. He piled his plate with food, unfazed by the stares he was drawing.

    While Leiza stepped away to speak with someone, a group of boys from earlier seized the opportunity.

    "Stuart... go..." A red-haired boy ordered someone.

    One of them, a lanky student grabbed his tray a tray full of food, and walked toward Azzy.

    Just as he passed through his table, he lost his balance and "accidentally" tripped near Azzy, almost sending the contents flying toward him.

    In a blur of movement, Azzy caught everything mid-air: a bowl of soup, a sandwich, and a drink.

    "What!"

    Everyone who saw it paused their eating for a moment. His precision left the cafeteria in stunned silence.

    "Here you go." Azzy then smiled, handing the tray to the stunned student.

    "Uhhh... thanks..." Just as he was about to take it, Azzy''s balance faltered suddenly.

    He let the items slip from his grip, sending them tumbling back onto the instigator, drenching him in soup and splattering food across his shirt.

    "My apologies," Azzy said coldly, his tone sharp enough to slice.

    *Pfft* "hahahaha..."

    The cafeteria erupted in laughter.

    The lanky boy''s face turned red as he looked at his uniform. "You think you''re funny?" he snapped, his voice trembling with anger.

    Three other boys from his table stood up and walked over, cracking their knuckles, apart from their leader, the red-haired student.

    Azzy remained seated, calm as ever. "Do you really want to do this?"

    "You basta*d..." One of them lunged, but Azzy rose in a flash.

    His fist shot forward, landing a clean punch that sent the attacker sprawling onto the floor. The second boy charged, only to receive the same treatment, a single blow knocking him back.

    "Didn''t you hear anything? I trained in martial arts, you fools." Azzy commented. The third hesitated, but Azzy''s icy glare was enough to freeze him in place.

    As the cafeteria roared with cheers and laughter, Azzy adjusted his coat and returned to his seat, finishing his meal without a word.

    The day ended, but Azzy''s trouble wasn''t over.

    As students began leaving, a school staff member approached him. "The principal wants to see you."

    Leiza, who was beside him, frowned. "Why? Is it because of the cafeteria incident?"

    The attendant didn''t answer, only gestured for Azzy to follow. With a small sigh, Azzy complied. Leiza wasn''t one to sit back, though¡ªshe marched along with him.

    Inside the principal''s office, an air of formality settled in. The principal, an aging man with sharp eyes, clasped his hands together as he stared at Azzy.

    "Violence is not tolerated in this academy." His voice was steady, but stern. "I don''t care about your background, nor your abilities. If you cause trouble, it will reflect badly on our reputation."

    Leiza scoffed, stepping forward. "He was defending himself! What was he supposed to do¡ªlet them humiliate him? And you are talking about background, Mr. Principal, when you were being biased against Mr. Governor''s son."

    The principal''s gaze flickered to her. "Miss Leiza, I appreciate your reminder, but this matter has nothing to do with you."

    "You..." Leiza was about to flare up but then Azzy exhaled through his nose and turned to Leiza. "Wait outside."

    Leiza blinked. "What?"

    "As Mr. Principal mentioned, this has nothing with you. I made the mess, I will solve it by myself. So, please wait outside." Each word was so stressed that she felt like his voice carried a quiet authority. As someone who was born into a wealthy family and commanded dozens of guards, she was aware of such tones. At that moment, she felt like this boy had indeed gotten used to authority. It made her wonder whether this boy wasn''t just a simple member of the dojo but probably a successor to the Dojo master.

    She hesitated but eventually left, though her mind raced with questions.

    Inside the office, the door clicked shut. What followed... no one knew.

    Minutes passed.

    Then, the door creaked open again.

    Leiza, leaning against the wall outside, straightened as the principal stepped out¡ªhis entire demeanor shifted.

    "Thank you for your time, Mr. Rael," he said, bowing slightly. "If there''s anything you need, please don''t hesitate to ask."

    Leiza''s eyes widened. What?

 Chapter 742: The world of Irth (part-8)

    Azzy walked out casually as if nothing had happened.

    "Shall we?" he asked.

    Leiza remained frozen for a second before snapping out of it, hurrying after him. "Wait! What did you¡ª"

    "Later." Azzy''s response was final.

    Leiza narrowed her eyes but let it go. For now.

    Back at the luxurious house provided to them, Azzy''s four teammates were already waiting inside.

    A tall, silver-haired man leaned against the couch, arms crossed. A busty sharp-eyed girl sat on the table, legs swinging. The last two¡ªa broad-shouldered brute and a calm, calculating woman¡ªstood near the window.

    Azzy exchanged nods with them before speaking in a language unlike any other¡ªfluid, melodic, yet carrying a sense of power.

    "E?llimar va''na souir athan." (Report your findings.)

    His teammates responded in the same tongue, their voices blending seamlessly in an otherworldly conversation.

    Leiza, who had been watching from the corner, discreetly tapped her smartwatch. A soft red light blinked¡ªrecording activated.

    "Let''s see what you''re hiding, Rael." She thought, smirking.

    After the conversation, Azzy dismissed them and retired to the apartment he was given. The night passed in silence... until midnight struck.

    The moment the clock hit twelve, Azzy''s eyes opened. He slipped out of bed, threw on his coat, and vanished into the shadows.

    The city was asleep, but Azzy wasn''t.

    His steps were soundless as he navigated through the empty streets, following a faint presence¡ªsomething dark, something... fallen.

    It didn''t take long.

    At the edge of an abandoned district, a lone figure stumbled through the alley, clutching their side. Their black wings, barely visible under the moonlight, were tattered and bleeding.

    Azzy narrowed his eyes. A young fallen angel.

    But something was off.

    The angel wasn''t running from him.

    They were running from something else.

    Azzy stepped forward, but the angel''s eyes widened in fear. With a last burst of strength, they fled into the darkness.

    Azzy was about to chase when he noticed something else.

    A second figure. It was also a fallen angel.

    Collapsed against a broken wall, barely breathing. Unlike the first, this one was different¡ªstronger, older. His presence was powerful despite his injuries.

    However, he wasn''t a concern for someone like Azzy. This fallen angel is barely in the 7-star soul realm.

    "What the hell..." Azzy was taken aback. They were here to investigate the whereabouts of a fallen angel, but he only found two more fallen angels.

    For a moment, he debated whether to save this old man or not.

    Kneeling down, he placed a hand over the Angel''s wound. A golden glow emerged from his palm, seeping into the man''s body.

    Divine Healing.

    The wounds slowly closed, and his breathing steadied.

    Azzy exhaled. "You better be worth saving."

    Lifting the unconscious stranger onto his back, he disappeared into the night.

    Back at the house, the instructor lay unconscious in a spare room, his chest rising and falling steadily.

    He carried the stranger and threw him on the couch.

    Azzy sat nearby, deep in thought. "Who is this guy? Why were there two fallen angels doing in this city and why was he chasing the other one?" He let out a sigh, staring at the ceiling, "The mission either got more complicated or it became easier. Chronos, what do you think I should do?"

    A reply quickly came from the Reaper. "His man is a human, Azrael. He was corrupted by the seed of the fallen."

    Azzy suddenly sprung up to his seat. "Why didn''t you say it before?" He raised his voice aloud in surprise.

    Meanwhile, in her own room, Leiza checked her watch. The recording had been sent.

    As she stared at the encrypted file, a smirk tugged at her lips.

    "Let''s see what you''re really hiding, Rael."

    *

    As the first rays of sunlight pierced through the window, his teammates returned from their work.

    Their eyes immediately found the couch, where a stranger lay unconscious, his breathing steady but shallow. A tall man with silver hair, Ramiel, led the group, his sharp eyes assessing the situation in an instant.

    "Rael," he called softly, his voice a mix of curiosity and concern. "Who''s this?"

    Azzy, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor, opened his eyes and stood. "A fallen angel," he said simply. He glanced toward the stranger. "I found him last night."

    The team members exchanged surprised looks, their expressions a mix of shock and disbelief. Ramiel raised an eyebrow. "A fallen angel? Are you sure?"

    Azzy nodded, his expression serious. "I found him with another one. This is no coincidence."

    Seraphina, a sharp-eyed girl with a no-nonsense attitude, crossed her arms. "You found two fallen angels? What were they doing in the city?" Her voice was calm but tinged with suspicion.

    Azzy''s eyes flickered with concern as he began to explain the events of the previous night. "One was injured and fleeing from something. I didn''t get a chance to follow them, but I found this one," he gestured to the unconscious figure on the couch. "I healed him, but he''s still unconscious."

    The team stood in stunned silence. A few moments passed before Ramiel spoke, breaking the tension. "This is beyond our scope. We need to return. Reporting to our superiors is the right move here. We don''t have the strength to handle this situation."

    Seraphina stepped forward, her voice firm. "I disagree. We need to investigate further. We have a prisoner here who might hold valuable information. We can''t leave this matter unresolved."

    Azzy remained quiet for a moment, his mind racing with possibilities. Caelith, the busty single mother, gave a slow nod. "I agree with Seraphina. Azzy did a good job last night. This might make our mission easier."

    Aranis, Caelith''s young lover, couldn''t hide the bitterness in his voice. His jealousy was evident. "You two think it''s such a great idea, huh? Rael, you did well, but you''re making things more complicated than they need to be."

    Azzy''s brow furrowed as he looked at Aranis. He was aware of the undercurrent of jealousy in Aranis''s words but didn''t address it directly. Instead, he spoke calmly, "What do you want me to do then? I went to investigate the whereabouts of a fallen angel, and I found this."

    Caelith added, "What do you suggest then, Aranis? Are you proposing that two of us return and report while the rest of us stay behind?"

    Aranis''s eyes narrowed. "Exactly. It would make sense to return and report the findings. We don''t need to risk further complications. The superiors would take care of their own. If it is only one fallen angel, it would have been fine to hide for the sake of Rael''s stupid deal with that mortal but now, there are more of them."

    Ramiel shot him a sharp look, his voice stern. "That''s not an option. Dividing our team would make us vulnerable. We barely got our instructor back here alive last night, and we don''t know how many fallen angels are in this city. You''re being short-sighted, Aranis."

    Azzy turned to look at Ramiel and nodded in agreement. "Ramiel is right. The original fallen angel might even have an army with him. They work at night, and we''ve only seen the tip of the iceberg. Splitting up would only make us easier targets unless you want to escape on your own and leave your teammates to death."

    "Hey, don''t go too far, Rael. It''s not like that," Aranis looked momentarily embarrassed, his cheeks reddening. He remained silent, his thoughts racing.

    Caelith, ever the calm voice of reason, added, "It''s better to wait for the instructor to wake up. Then we can make a decision based on all the information."

    After a moment of quiet contemplation, Azzy stood, adjusting the collar of his coat. "I''m going to take care of my duties," he said, his voice steady. "You keep an eye on the fallen angel. We''ll talk in the evening."

    The team nodded, watching as Azzy left the room. His posture was confident, his eyes sharp with purpose. The others stood still for a moment, processing everything that had been said.

    Outside, Azzy slipped into his school uniform, his coat trailing behind him. The city was still, the streets quiet under the early morning sun. As he made his way to the school, his mind worked through the growing complexities of the situation. There were too many questions left unanswered, and time was running out.

    The sun had barely risen, casting its soft golden rays on the academy''s towering buildings as Azzy and Leiza walked side by side toward the entrance. Azzy kept his pace steady, his expression calm and focused, while Leiza walked beside him, her usual air of confidence more relaxed today, though her mind was clearly elsewhere.

    "You still haven''t told me how you convinced that stubborn old man," Leiza muttered, glancing at him from the corner of her eye. "

    Azzy''s lips curved into a faint smile. "I told you. That matter is over. There is no need to fret over it."

    She decided to forget about it and continued to walk. But then the moment they stepped foot into the main hall, the principal appeared out of nowhere, walking briskly toward them with a warm, almost too enthusiastic smile on his face.

    "Ah, Mr. Rael!" the principal exclaimed, clapping his hands together in a display of exaggerated joy. "Welcome back! It''s truly an honor to have you here with us again today."

    In an instant, it attracted everyone''s attention from the students who were going toward their classrooms.

    Leiza''s eyes widened and she looked at Azzy. "This guy... just what in the hell did he talk to the principal?"

 Chapter 743: The world of Irth (part-9)

    Students watched in astonishment as the principal practically hovered around Azzy, guiding him from one place to another, as if treating him like royalty.

    The principal''s mannerisms were almost exaggerated¡ªtoo perfect, too warm, too eager.

    "Mr. Rael, your schedule for today has been adjusted to accommodate all your needs. Allow me to accompany you to your first class," he said, his voice laced with enthusiasm, his hands clasped in a respectful gesture.

    Azzy''s expression darkened.

    "I don''t need a tour guide," Azzy muttered, his voice low but firm. "I''m fine on my own."

    The principal''s smile faltered for just a second but quickly recovered. He gave an eager nod and followed Azzy step by step, practically hovering at his side. It was like Azzy couldn''t shake him off.

    After a few minutes of this, Azzy''s patience finally snapped. He stopped abruptly in the middle of the hallway, turning to face the principal with a sharp, annoyed look.

    "Get lost," Azzy said coldly, his voice full of authority.

    The principal''s eyes widened in surprise, but he didn''t argue. With a quick bow, he backed off and turned to leave, still maintaining an air of reverence as he did. Azzy sighed in relief as he finally had space to breathe. This situation had escalated far beyond his liking, and he couldn''t help but feel increasingly uncomfortable.

    Leiza, who had been watching this entire exchange with amusement, chuckled softly as she caught up to him.

    "What the hell was that about?" she asked, her tone incredulous. "You''ve got the principal acting like your personal servant. How did you pull that off? Just what happened in those two minutes yesterday?"

    Azzy glanced at her, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "It''s a secret."

    Leiza raised an eyebrow, not satisfied with the answer. "A secret? Seriously, don''t keep me hanging like this! How did you do it?"

    But Azzy just shrugged. "I told you. It''s a secret."

    Frustrated but intrigued, Leiza let it go¡ªfor now. Something about Azzy''s response intrigued her more than she cared to admit, but she couldn''t shake off the odd behavior of the principal.

    After lunch, Leiza''s curiosity got the better of her, and she decided to pay a visit to the principal''s office. Her plan was simple: get some answers.

    If Azzy doesn''t want to tell, she will try getting her answers from the old man who was acting like a subordinate.

    When she arrived, the principal was seated at his desk, looking more calm and collected than he had earlier in the day. But there was still something off about him. Leiza crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe, eyeing him suspiciously.

    "Mr. Principal, I need to know something," she said, her voice cutting through the silence. "What''s going on with you and Rael? Why are you treating him like... that?"

    The principal looked up at her, his expression unreadable, but there was an air of something deeper lurking in his eyes¡ªsomething she couldn''t quite place.

    "I can''t share that information with you, Miss Leiza," he said, his tone polite but firm. "Even if you threaten me with using your uncle''s name, I cannot tell you."

    Leiza''s eyes narrowed as she stepped closer, her posture demanding answers. "You can''t tell me? Why not?"

    The principal leaned forward slightly, his eyes shifting as if making sure no one was listening. "All I can say Mr. Rael is someone we cannot offend, Miss Leiza. We have to treat him with utmost respect¡ªlike servants. Only by doing so can we attain heaven."

    Leiza''s blood ran cold at his words. Attain heaven? The principal''s words felt too unnatural, like he was reading from some sort of script. His voice had taken on a reverent tone, and his eyes gleamed with something she couldn''t describe. His expression almost seemed hypnotized.

    Leiza stepped back, confused and increasingly uncomfortable. What is going on here?

    She turned and left the room, her mind swirling with questions. She had expected to get answers, but instead, she felt more lost than ever. What kind of power does Azzy have over this man? she wondered.

    Once Leiza was gone, the principal sat back in his chair, his hands clasped together in deep thought. His mind wandered back to the events of the previous day, when he had witnessed something that he couldn''t fully explain.

    His eyes glazed over as he recalled the memory. He had seen it¡ªthere was no denying it. A being, a figure so divine, so powerful, it could only be described as an angel. Azzy had appeared before him, but he was not the boy he had met today. No, this Azzy had been transformed¡ªhis six wings spread wide behind him, a glowing halo above his head, divine light radiating from every pore of his body.

    The principal''s lips parted in awe as he mumbled to himself, "I... I was graced with the presence of an angel."

    The words seemed to leave his lips almost automatically, his eyes distant, as if trapped in a trance. The memory of Azzy''s true form burned brightly in his mind. He had seen something divine, something sacred. Azzy was no longer just a student. He was a being of a higher power, someone they could not even begin to comprehend.

    The principal leaned back in his chair, his hands trembling slightly as he whispered under his breath, "It is a testament to my faith. Millions are following the ways of atheism, and they think our Torah is nothing more than a book of stories written by some writers thousands of years ago. His presence is just enough to say everything written in the Torah might be true. The heaven is true, and the hell is true. Haha... And I''m one of the few people who knows this... Oh, Lord, please grace us with..." He went down to his knees and went on praying.

    Leiza, meanwhile, was far from finished with her investigation. But after her encounter with the principal, she was more confused than ever. What is the truth about Azzy? What is he really?

    It was a quiet lunchtime, and most of the students had already dispersed, leaving the cafeteria nearly empty.

    Leiza had made sure her friends were out of the way, giving her the perfect opportunity to confront Azzy without distractions. She sat down across from him, eyes narrowed with determination. Azzy, however, appeared unfazed, taking a slow bite of his lunch.

    "You''re avoiding the question," Leiza stated, her voice sharp, a trace of frustration creeping in. "I need to know what''s going on, Rael. Tell me, did you know how to hypnotize people too?"

    Azzy glanced up from his food, his expression unreadable. "I told you already. I''ll tell you when the mission''s over."

    Leiza crossed her arms, not backing down. "That''s not good enough." She leaned forward slightly. "You''ll tell me sooner or later, so how about this?"

    With surprising decisiveness, she stuck out her little finger. "Pinky promise me that you''ll tell me when the mission is over. No more evading."

    Azzy stared at her for a moment, trying to read the sincerity in her eyes. Despite the firmness in her voice, there was a trace of childishness to her demeanor¡ªan endearing, almost desperate need for answers.

    He let out a resigned sigh, rolling his eyes. "Fine. I promise. Now, stop pestering me."

    Leiza smiled smugly, her eyes sparkling with victory. "Pinky promise. You can''t back out now."

    Azzy shook his head, a hint of amusement in his voice. "You''re impossible."

    Back at the house, the atmosphere had shifted. Captain Astro, who had been unconscious for what felt like an eternity, was finally awake. His eyes blinked open as he slowly took in his surroundings. His body was sore, his movements sluggish, but he was no longer in the grasp of unconsciousness.

    His teammates were gathered around him, expressions ranging from concern to impatience. The elderly fallen angel, still unconscious, was chained by energy bindings, lying helpless on the floor. The fallen angel''s body was battered, showing the marks of a brutal fight.

    Azzy''s teammates had been waiting for Astro''s recovery before making any decisions. Now that their captain had returned to full consciousness, the air was thick with tension. Astro''s sharp eyes scanned the room, his gaze landing on the imprisoned fallen angel.

    "Report," he rasped, his voice hoarse from unconsciousness.

    Ramiel stepped forward first, his arms crossed. "The situation is more complicated than we anticipated. We found not one but two additional fallen angels, and they are connected to the one we were tracking."

    The rest of the team exchanged uneasy glances, knowing that this development would change the course of their mission. They couldn''t afford any mistakes now.

    Astro''s expression grew serious as he processed the information. "We can''t afford to underestimate them. Keep the fallen one contained. We need to know everything about them."

    The room fell silent as the weight of the situation settled in.

    This mission, which had already been complicated, was growing more dangerous by the hour.

 Chapter 744: The world of Irth (part-10)

    The bell rang at the end of the school day, signaling the conclusion of another exhausting set of classes. As they walked down the steps of the academy, Leiza nudged Azzy with her elbow, her tone casual but with an underlying invitation.

    "So, this weekend," she began, "I''m heading out to a private island, owned by Ciesta, with some friends for a little getaway. So, I hope you clear your schedule for it."

    Azzy raised an eyebrow, pausing for a moment. "A private island, huh?" He was here to catch a fallen angel but the temptation of vacation struck his head.

    "Yeah, a small private retreat," she continued, her voice light but sincere. "It''s just a weekend thing, and it''ll be fun. What do you say?"

    Azzy thought for a moment, weighing the potential benefits. Plus, the chance to learn more about Leiza and her connections could serve him later. After all, he is staying here for three months anyway, regardless of his mission.

    "Yeah, you can count me in," Azzy replied, shrugging nonchalantly. "Sounds like I could use a break too."

    Leiza grinned. "Great! I''ll make sure you''re ready. It''ll be fun."

    Azzy wasn''t one to back out of things once he committed, so when Leiza asked, he agreed after a little bit of thinking.

    "Perfect," Leiza replied with a mischievous smile, as they made their way out of the academy''s front gates. "It''s settled then. You''re coming."

    As they made their way toward the parking lot, Leiza''s expression turned slightly more business-like. "Oh, and there''s one more thing," she said, glancing at Azzy. "I need to go shopping before the weekend, and you''re coming with me."

    Azzy looked at her, slightly confused. "Shopping? Why?"

    "I need a few things for the trip. Plus, I think it''s about time you updated your wardrobe too," she teased.

    Azzy sighed, knowing better than to argue. He wasn''t exactly a fashion expert, and it seemed harmless enough.

    "Fine," he muttered, accepting the situation. "But don''t expect me to do anything more than carry bags."

    Leiza smirked. "I''ll drop you off at your house so you can freshen up and change. Be ready to meet me at my place in one hour. Got it?"

    "Got it," Azzy replied, his tone flat. With that, the two of them parted ways briefly, and Leiza''s car drove off to begin her errands.

    As they made their way toward the parking lot, Leiza''s expression turned slightly more business-like. "Oh, and there''s one more thing," she said, glancing at Azzy. "I need to go shopping before the weekend, and you''re coming with me."

    Azzy looked at her, slightly confused. "Shopping? Why?"

    "I need a few things for the trip. Plus, I think it''s about time you updated your wardrobe too," she teased.

    Azzy sighed, knowing better than to argue. He wasn''t exactly a fashion expert, and it seemed harmless enough.

    "Fine," he muttered, accepting the situation. "But don''t expect me to do anything more than carry bags."

    Leiza smirked. "I''ll drop you off at your house so you can freshen up and change. Be ready to meet me at my place in one hour. Got it?"

    "Got it," Azzy replied, his tone flat. With that, the two of them parted ways briefly, and Leiza''s car drove off to her home.

    Azzy entered the house, only to see their captain sitting in the living room. His teammates gathered around. The prisoner hasn''t been awake and bound by energy chains.

    "Captain..."

    "Rael, you are back."

    After a brief exchange of greetings, Captain Astro''s eyes met Azzy''s, his expression somber. "So, I was briefed about the whole story. Thanks for your help. But anyways, I need to say something important. Sit down." Despite his usual calm demeanor, the fatigue from his earlier ordeal lingered in his posture.

    Azzy sat upright, listening to the captain.

    "I encountered the fallen angel," Astro began, his voice still a bit strained from his recovery. "But I wasn''t strong enough to fight it. Not on my own."

    The rest of the team, who had been quietly waiting for their leader to regain his senses, all leaned in, their expressions serious. This wasn''t good news. The tension in the room seemed to grow thicker, the threat of their mission expanding with each word.

    Azzy''s eyes narrowed, already suspecting the gravity of the situation. Astro continued, his tone grim.

    "The fallen angel was attempting to corrupt humans," he explained, his voice low and filled with unease. "His goal wasn''t to kill them. It was trying to convert them into fallen angels. There''s a method to it¡ªa twisted process that uses something called the Seed of the Fallen. It''s a demigod-level power, unique to certain fallen angels."

    Azzy''s mind clicked into action, processing this new information. He had heard of the Seed of the Fallen from Chronos, but hearing it from Astro brought new weight to the reality of the threat they were facing.

    Astro''s eyes darkened, his voice growing more serious as he continued.

    "The Seed of the Fallen usually corrupts angels, turning them into more fallen angels," he explained. "But this one¡ªit''s different. It doesn''t just corrupt angels. It can also corrupt humans. Give them power. But at a price¡ªonce someone is tainted by the seed, they''re not just empowered, they''re enslaved to the fallen angel. Unfortunately, not every human could bear the seed. Most of them would die as a result."

    Azzy''s expression remained unchanging, though the implications of this revelation weren''t lost on him. "So, the so-called serial killings in this city were caused by experimentation, huh?"

    "This power doesn''t belong to just any fallen angel," Astro continued. "It belongs to someone far worse. The original fallen angel¡ªAbaddon, the Angel of the Abyss¡ª was directly corrupted by the Devil himself during the ancient wars."

    Astro paused, letting the words sink in. The room was silent, everyone processing the full magnitude of what they were up against.

    Azzy''s teammates, despite having heard similar accounts from their instructor before, grew more serious at the mention of Abaddon''s name. The atmosphere grew heavier, the urgency of their mission becoming clearer.

    "This is no longer just a mission," Ramiel muttered, his voice a mix of concern and resolve. "We''re dealing with a force that can bring about a new generation of fallen angels. This isn''t just a threat to us¡ªit''s a threat to everyone."

    Seraphina nodded in agreement, her usual calm demeanor replaced by a rare edge in her eyes. "We can''t let Abaddon succeed."

    Azzy, however, remained unfazed by the gravity of the situation. He had already been briefed on this by Chronos, the Reaper, and had known that things were more dangerous than they appeared. While his teammates seemed rattled, he stood at the center of the room, calm and composed.

    Breaking the silence, Azzy''s voice rang out, cutting through the tension.

    "Do you know anything else about this fallen angel, Captain?" he asked, his tone steady and curious. His eyes remained focused on Captain Astro, awaiting more information.

    Astro, though still visibly tired from the ordeal, met Azzy''s gaze. "He''s dangerous¡ªnot just because of his power, but because of what he''s trying to do. His influence is spreading slowly, turning people and corrupting them. But there''s more¡ªhis presence is a direct threat to everything we''re working toward."

    Captain Astro took a deep breath, his eyes darkening further as he spoke the name that haunted the air.

    "Abaddon," Astro muttered, almost as if saying the name brought a shadow over the room. "He''s no ordinary fallen angel. He was once a transcendent being (god realm) but after the fall of the Devil, his soul realm regressed to the demigod level, like the other fallen angels."

    The room grew even more somber as if the weight of Abaddon''s backstory alone was enough to make the air thick with unease. Azzy''s expression remained focused, unaffected by the grandiosity of the name.

    "But don''t let the regressed realm fool you," Astro added, his voice quiet but heavy with warning. "Even in his current state, Abaddon is stronger than any of us. In fact, he''s stronger than our entire team combined."

    A quiet tension filled the air as the team absorbed the full scope of what they were facing. The fallen angel they had been sent to find was no simple foe¡ªit was a being of immense power, capable of twisting the very fabric of humanity to his will. The scale of their mission had just become far more complex and dangerous.

    Azzy, however, seemed unusually calm. The news didn''t rattle him as it had his teammates, and there was a reason for that: He was just confident.

    Captain Astro took a deep breath, the weight of his words evident in his expression. He knew that Azzy had a strong sense of duty, but there were moments when the bigger picture couldn''t be ignored.

    "I''ve heard about your deal with the human," Astro began, his tone softening slightly. "Protecting her, I mean. I understand your sense of responsibility. But this matter¡ªthis situation we''re facing¡ªit''s of utmost importance. We need to report this to our superiors, Azzy. We can''t afford to stay here any longer. We are leaving before the sunset."

    Azzy''s gaze was steady as ever, his expression unwavering. "I''m sorry, I can''t follow the order."

    **************

 Chapter 745: The world of Irth (part-11)

    Azzy''s voice cut through the air with quiet determination. "I can''t back out of a deal," he said firmly, his eyes never leaving Astro''s. "You go and report to the superiors if you want, but I''ll stay behind. I''m not leaving. I''ll see this through."

    Captain Astro''s eyes narrowed, his hand rubbing the back of his neck as he let out a frustrated sigh. He had anticipated this response, but it didn''t make it any easier. Azzy''s resolve was unshakeable, even when it went against the group''s collective safety.

    "You know the consequences, Azzy. This isn''t just about you anymore. This is bigger than one person," Astro warned, his voice edged with concern.

    Caelith, her expression becoming more serious, tried to reason with Azzy out of worry. "Rael, It''s too dangerous for you to stay behind. Those two fallen angels you encountered¡ªthey weren''t just wandering around aimlessly. It seems they were trying to find us. Our prisoner briefly woke up in the noon and we found it from his own mouth. They were ordered to track down our team."

    Azzy''s gaze remained resolute. He had already considered the dangers, and he was prepared to face them. But Astro continued, unwilling to back down.

    "Abaddon became aware of our presence when I found one of his fallen angels," Astro continued. "And since I didn''t succumb to becoming a fallen angel myself, thanks to you, by the way, Abaddon must have sent his subordinates to find and eliminate anyone connected to us. We''re dealing with a being who has resources now and not a single entity anymore. If he''s aware of us, then the situation is already critical."

    Azzy''s mind raced, but his posture remained unwavering. He wasn''t shaken by the gravity of the situation, nor did he appear concerned by Astro''s warning. The threat of Abaddon was real, but Azzy wasn''t the type to run from danger.

    However, as Azzy processed Captain Astro''s words, a different thought began to form in his mind. It didn''t align with what Astro had said, but the pieces didn''t quite fit.

    He spoke up, breaking the silence. "Wait a minute," Azzy said, his voice calm but filled with thought. "I don''t think the fallen angels were just following orders blindly. The one I saw running away wasn''t fleeing because he wanted to wreak havoc. He was running from either this prisoner or someone else. It''s highly possible that they weren''t all under Abaddon''s full control. Maybe one of them doesn''t want to follow the orders. The one I saw might have been a traitor. Perhaps Abaddon sent the other fallen angel to deal with him... to capture or even kill him. We can get more answers when we thoroughly interrogate the hostage."

    The idea seemed to resonate in the silence that followed. The team exchanged glances, each member processing Azzy''s theory. Could it be true? That there were fallen angels who didn''t fully obey Abaddon''s will?

    Captain Astro hesitated before speaking, uncertainty flickering in his eyes. "You might be right, but we can''t afford to take risks with unknowns. If there''s even a chance that one of them is acting on their own, it complicates things. It makes them unpredictable, and that''s dangerous."

    Azzy''s resolve only grew stronger. His eyes, still filled with unwavering determination, met Captain Astro''s. "I''d rather die than break my principles," Azzy stated simply, his voice devoid of any doubt. "I made a promise, and I''m not going to walk away from it. I''m staying. You can go and report to the superiors if you wish, but I''ll see this through, no matter what."

    There was a finality in his tone, a decision made. Azzy wasn''t just staying behind to protect his promise to the human. He was staying because he believed in his principles¡ªno matter the cost.

    Captain Astro stared at Azzy for a long moment. He could see the determination in Azzy''s eyes, the weight of his words. He had always known Azzy to be a stubborn one, but now, more than ever, that stubbornness seemed to define him.

    "Alright," Astro finally said, his voice quiet but tinged with resignation. "You''ve made your choice. But remember, Azzy¡ªthis won''t be easy. There''s no turning back from this."

    Azzy nodded, his expression steady as ever. The path ahead would be treacherous, but it was one he had already chosen to walk.

    As the tension settled, Aranis couldn''t hold back his frustration. The silence in the room was thick, and he finally let it spill over. He crossed his arms, his brows furrowing as he looked toward Captain Astro.

    "This is ridiculous, Captain," Aranis muttered under his breath, his tone dripping with annoyance. "Rael''s attitude¡ªhe''s being reckless! He''s not thinking things through. We''re dealing with a power far beyond us, and he wants to stay behind. What''s he hoping to accomplish by throwing himself into danger like this?"

    He paced back and forth, clearly agitated. "Our mission was merely to investigate the presence of fallen Angela and the captain found it. We basically completed our mission. We don''t need to probe too much into it, trying to investigate Abaddon''s intentions at all. But instead, Rael here wants to play hero and put the whole team at risk. This isn''t how we operate!"

    Astro remained silent for a long moment, letting Aranis vent. The others exchanged looks, but no one spoke up. They all understood Aranis'' concern and quite agreed with him in silence, but they also knew Azzy''s determination. It was a difficult situation for everyone involved.

    Captain Astro stood still, his hands clasped behind his back as he thought carefully. His eyes seemed distant, focused on the larger picture. After a moment of reflection, he made his decision.

    "Alright," he finally said, his voice calm but filled with authority. "Rael and I will stay behind. The rest of you will return to report our findings to the higher-ups. I''ll keep watch over him and ensure that things don''t spiral out of control. You all need to return and let our superiors know about the situation, but I''ll stay here to deal with this directly."

    His words hung in the air as the team absorbed the implications. There was a mix of disbelief and worry on their faces, but they knew better than to argue when Captain Astro had made up his mind.

    Aranis opened his mouth to protest once more, but Captain Astro''s stern gaze silenced him before he could say another word.

    Both Caelith and Ramiel couldn''t hold back their protests. They tried to speak at the same time, their voices a mixture of concern and frustration.

    "Captain, this is a bad idea," Caelith said quickly, his voice tense. "You''re putting both of yourselves in even greater danger."

    "Agreed," Ramiel added, crossing her arms. "Staying behind could be a deadly decision, and we''re not prepared for what''s out there."

    But Captain Astro''s expression didn''t falter. His eyes hardened with resolve as he cut through their objections.

    "This is not up for discussion," Astro said firmly, his voice unyielding. "I''ve made my decision. Rael and I will handle things here. The rest of you go back and report. Now, that''s an order."

    The others reluctantly fell silent, though their concern was still evident in their eyes. They knew better than to challenge Captain Astro directly, but it didn''t make the situation any easier.

    Azzy, who had been listening to the conversation without interruption, nodded in agreement with the arrangement. Though it was clear that there were disagreements within the team, he didn''t let it distract him. His mind was already on the next task ahead.

    "I agree with the arrangement," Azzy said, his tone neutral yet firm. "I''ll take care of what''s left here. You all do what''s necessary."

    Without waiting for any further discussion, Azzy stood up, excused himself, and left the room. The others watched him go, their expressions a mix of worry and resignation.

    Azzy left the house and made his way to Leiza''s place. The weight of the situation was clear in his mind, but he wasn''t about to back down from what he had promised. It was going to be a difficult path, but it was one he had chosen.

    As he approached Leiza''s house, he felt a strange sense of calm wash over him. There was something grounding about her presence, something that kept his thoughts steady amidst the chaos surrounding them. He needed to focus now more than ever.

    Azzy rang the doorbell, and within moments, the door opened. Leiza greeted him with a warm smile, though she could sense that something was off. Without a word, Azzy walked past her and made his way inside. There would be time for explanations later. For now, he needed to prepare for the days ahead.

    Azzy arrived at Leiza''s house, his mind heavy with the decisions made earlier that day. His steps were steady as he approached the door, and he rang the bell. Moments later, the door swung open, revealing Leiza standing in the doorway, her usual smile tempered with curiosity.

    "Come in," she said, gesturing him inside.

    As Azzy stepped over the threshold, his eyes quickly scanned the surroundings. The atmosphere inside had shifted since his last visit. His sharp senses noticed the heightened security at once: at least fifty bodyguards patrolled the house, each armed with energy cannons. Every corner, every entryway seemed to be guarded. The air felt tense, as if a storm was brewing just out of sight.

    He couldn''t help but wonder why the security had been tightened so drastically. Was there a new threat looming over Leiza''s family?

 Chapter 746: The world of Irth (part-12)

    Azzy was led through the grand hall of the mansion, his footsteps echoing in the expansive, luxurious space.

    When he came last time, he didn''t observe it properly. Now, when he did take a proper look, he saw the walls were adorned with fine art, and the floor was polished marble that reflected the soft light from elegant chandeliers overhead.

    The house was indeed magnificent, but his attention was caught by something else.

    Sitting at a long table, sipping from a fine porcelain cup, was the same middle-aged man he had met a few days ago¡ªthe one with the eye patch.

    He was flanked by a couple of bodyguards, as usual, but there was something different about the way he carried himself this time. His posture was relaxed, almost like he had been expecting Azzy.

    As Azzy approached, the man looked up and greeted him with a casual but pointed smile. "Mr. Rael," he said, his voice smooth and confident. "Come, sit."

    Azzy stood still for a moment, analyzing the situation, then made his way toward the table. The man''s presence was calm, but there was an underlying weight to it.

    Azzy sat down across from him, his eyes not leaving the man''s face as he did.

    The man, Phillip Nightingale, set his cup down and studied Azzy for a moment. "You know," he began, his tone thoughtful, "when we first met, our interaction could have gone... better." His lips curled into a small, wry smile. "But I suppose that''s the nature of things, isn''t it? Sometimes, a bad start is just the beginning of something more interesting."

    Azzy didn''t react to the comment at first, instead leaning back in his chair slightly, his hands resting on the arms. "It''s not a matter worth discussing," Azzy replied flatly. The tension from their first encounter still lingered, but Azzy wasn''t here to rehash old confrontations. He had more pressing matters at hand.

    Phillip nodded, seemingly understanding. "Fair enough," he said, his eyes glinting with a hint of amusement. "But that''s the past. Let''s move forward, shall we?"

    Phillip took a deep breath before continuing, his tone shifting to something more serious. "You see, Azzy, it''s the policy of the Nightingale family to prioritize skill over one''s identity. We respect ability and power above all else. But," he paused, letting the words sink in, "I am Leiza''s uncle and her guardian. That changes things."

    Azzy felt the shift in the atmosphere. His instincts told him that this wasn''t a casual conversation.

    Azzy met Phillip''s gaze with steady eyes, neither showing any hesitation nor arrogance. He''d seen enough power plays to understand the unspoken dynamics at play.

    "Leiza''s safety is paramount to me," Phillip continued; his voice firm but not unkind. "And it''s clear that you have a role in that. But just remember where you are, Azzy. You''re stepping into a world that runs on influence, power, and loyalty. There''s more to it than what meets the eye."

    Azzy listened, his mind processing every word, but he didn''t give anything away. "I understand," he said simply. He wasn''t here to challenge the Nightingale family or its policies. He had his own mission and his own path. Leiza and her mission just makes it easier for him.

    Phillip''s gaze lingered on Azzy for a moment longer before he nodded, a sense of approval in his eyes. "Good. Then we have an understanding."

    Phillip Nightingale leaned back in his chair, his eyes narrowing as he continued speaking, though his tone softened with concern. "Naturally, I''m worried for my niece''s safety," he said, his voice tinged with protective care. "Leiza means a great deal to me, and I can''t ignore the unusual people she''s surrounded herself with."

    He paused, considering his next words carefully. "I made some inquiries about you and your friends," he continued as if testing the waters. "But honestly, I found nothing concrete. What I did find, however, raises more questions than answers."

    Azzy listened attentively, maintaining a composed expression.

    Phillip continued, "For one, I''m sure that neither you nor your friends are truly part of the Scarlet Dragon Dojo as Leiza thinks or that guy named Josh insists even when threatened with a cannon. During your time at school with Leiza, I''ve seen two of your companions leave their residences on alternate days. They would roam the city, sometimes together, sometimes alone. And they often ask about the serial killings that have been plaguing the city for the past couple of months."

    Azzy''s brow furrowed as he processed the information. The serial killings? This man is indeed keeping a close eye on their whereabouts. But the fact that his teammates couldn''t realize that they were being followed troubled him.

    But then again, it doesn''t matter anymore. His teammates would return to their homes anyway.

    Phillip paused, his eyes scanning Azzy''s face carefully. "What''s more unsettling," he continued, "is that all of you speak an unfamiliar language¡ªone that I''ve never heard in my life. Rather than some lost language, it seems like an invented language, almost like a code. Far more effective than any simple cipher, as it would be impossible to decode."

    Azzy didn''t react immediately, though his mind raced. It seemed like Phillip had been digging deeper than he had expected. But he wasn''t wrong. The language Azzy and his team spoke was unique to them, the language of Angels, a way of communicating without being understood by the outside world.

    The next part of Phillip''s analysis deepened his frown. "You and your companions are far more powerful than ordinary humans. I''ve seen it. Each of you could dodge a car speeding at 120 km/h and save someone from certain death with ease. You''re not ordinary¡ªno, far from it. There''s only one organization in this world that has such capability."

    Azzy''s frown deepened to the point that it was visible that he is extremely displeased. He had a pretty good idea of where this was going.

    Phillip''s voice softened, as if realizing the outcome his words had created. "I apologize, Mr. Rael," he said sincerely. "I didn''t mean to test you or your friends. I have no intentions of hurting your friends, truly. But I''ve seen too much to ignore it."

    Azzy remained silent, still absorbing the implications of what Phillip was saying. "Go on." He said.

    Phillip leaned in slightly, his gaze intent. "There is only one organization capable of training people with such power. It''s an organization that takes children from various places and molds them into cold-blooded assassins. I must ask... are you a part of Pavel?"

    The question hung in the air, heavy and charged. Azzy blinked, the name Pavel sounding completely unfamiliar to him.

    He saw Phillip''s eyes narrowing, waiting for his answer.

 Chapter 747: The world of irth (part-13)

    Azzy''s expression remained neutral, even though he knew that Phillip had completely misunderstood the situation. The mention of Pavel was likely a mix-up. He didn''t have time to explain the complexities of his mission or the true nature of his team.

    Rather than correct him, Azzy chose to let the misunderstanding stand. He offered a simple reply, his voice steady. "We are here on a mission. The serial killings in this city are suspected to be linked to someone we know, and we are here to apprehend the traitor. That''s all you need to know."

    Phillip didn''t press further, but the curiosity in his eyes remained. Azzy wasn''t willing to divulge more at this point, letting the guy think whatever he wanted.

    Azzy''s tone turned more serious as he continued, making it clear that this wasn''t just about the mission¡ªit was about his duty to Leiza. "And as for Leiza," Azzy added, "I''ve made a contract with her. I will protect her until she turns eighteen and inherits her family''s property. That''s my duty now. So, when I say that my mission has nothing to do with you or Leiza, you must take it as it is and don''t try to poke your nose in it."

    The room fell silent for a moment as both men weighed the implications of those words.

    Azzy finally rose from his seat, his posture firm and resolute. "Also, my friends have been decommissioned from this mission," he explained, his voice calm but carrying a sense of finality. "They will be returning to report their findings. But as for me... I''ll remain here. So, from this point onward, I''ll be protecting Leiza 24/7."

    Phillip Nightingale''s expression remained serious as he stared at Azzy, clearly not convinced by the young man''s unwavering confidence. He leaned forward slightly, his voice laced with a mix of skepticism and curiosity. "Are you really capable of protecting her?" he asked, the weight of his question hanging in the air. "No matter how powerful you are, you are still just one person. All it needs is one bullet from a distance to take away one''s life. There are countless dangers in this world, and you can''t do everything alone. At one point, you would find yourself resigning."

    Azzy met his gaze, his calm demeanor unchanged. It was clear that Phillip was testing him, but Azzy wasn''t intimidated.

    His voice was steady and resolute as he replied, "Capability doesn''t lie in one''s strength. It lies in one''s willpower. With willpower, even an ant can carry ten times its weight and continue gathering food. And even with all the strength in the world, a sloth spends most of its time hanging from a tree, barely moving."

    Philip sat in silence, his piercing gaze never leaving Azzy. There was a flicker of contemplation in his eyes before he finally spoke again. "So, how much willpower do you really have?" His tone was probing, as if daring Azzy to prove his words.

    Azzy stood up, a confident smile playing on his lips. "Why don''t you watch for yourself?" he said, his voice laced with quiet determination. With that, he turned and motioned for Phillip to follow him.

    Philip hesitated for a moment, but then nodded and stood. The challenge had been laid down, and he was eager to see what Azzy was truly capable of.

    Azzy led him outside, walking through the grand halls and into the lush garden that lay beyond. The evening sun cast long shadows across the manicured lawns as Azzy stopped in the center of the garden.

    "Order your guards to gather here," Azzy instructed. "And have them try to shoot at me."

    Philip''s assistant, standing nearby, shot Azzy an incredulous look. "Are you serious?" he muttered under his breath. "This guy''s too arrogant."

    Azzy didn''t respond, his expression calm and unbothered as he waited for the guards to assemble. His mind was focused, already preparing for the challenge ahead.

    Phillip, who had been watching from the sidelines, gave a nod. "Go ahead."

    Soon, the guards gathered and had their attention on Azzy; their orders were to shoot him but not kill him, meaning they must not hit his vital points.

    Once they were ready with the guns, Azzy made his move.

    In an instant, the guards fired their weapons, aiming at his shoulders or his legs, but Azzy was already moving, his body a blur of fluid motion.

    He dodged every shot with grace and precision, his feet barely touching the ground as he weaved through the attacks. Within moments, all of the guards were on the ground, groaning in pain, their weapons discarded, while Azzy remained untouched.

    From the start of the battle to the end, only 32 seconds were passed. The entire force, the elite guards of the mansion were down.

    He stood there, looking completely unfazed, as the guards struggled to regain their bearings.

    Philip wiped the sweat from his brow, his eyes wide with shock. His assistant stood in stunned silence, unable to comprehend how Azzy had done it so effortlessly

    Azzy casually walked back toward the house, a smile tugging at his lips. "Good warm-up," he remarked nonchalantly, as though nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.

    Phillip stared at him in disbelief, still processing the scene he had just witnessed. Azzy was like nothing he had ever encountered before¡ªan enigma wrapped in power and confidence. As the young man stepped back inside, he followed, still trying to shake off the shock.

    Azzy settled into a chair; his posture relaxed as he resumed sipping his coffee. It was clear that the test had been just as much for Phillip as it had been for Azzy¡ªhe now understood just how far Azzy''s willpower and abilities extended.

    As the scene settled, the door to the room opened, and Leiza entered, her cheerful voice filling the space. "What happened here?" she asked, noticing her uncle''s nervous demeanor and Azzy''s calm, collected posture as he sipped his coffee.

    Phillip quickly forced a smile, but there was a strained edge to it. "Nothing, nothing at all," he replied, his voice betraying his nervousness. "Everything''s fine, just... a little test." He tried to cover it up with a chuckle, but the unease was palpable.

    Leiza raised an eyebrow but didn''t press the matter. Instead, she smiled and glanced at Azzy. "Well, if it''s all settled, shall we go?"

    Azzy nodded, setting down his coffee cup and rising from his seat. "Let''s go," he said, his tone relaxed as ever.

    As Leiza and Azzy prepared to leave, Phillip couldn''t help but watch them with a complex mixture of emotions. His niece''s safety had always been his primary concern, but with Azzy by her side, that worry seemed to dissipate.

    He turned to his assistant, speaking in a quiet tone, as if to himself. "This boy... he''s someone we can never afford to offend." He sighed, shaking his head in amazement. "With him by her side, I don''t need to worry about Leiza anymore. And regardless of whether he''s a killer or not... It would be nice if he stayed by her side for the rest of her life."

    As the limousine drove off with Leiza and Azzy inside, Phillip stood at the doorway, watching them go.

 Chapter 748: The world of irth (part-14)

    Leiza and Azzy stepped into the brightly lit shopping mall, the glass storefronts reflecting the warm glow of the overhead lights. Despite her usual entourage of bodyguards and friends, today, it was just the two of them. No security detail. No prying eyes.

    Azzy found it slightly odd, but Leiza seemed completely at ease. It was as if she had planned it this way, wanting a moment of normalcy¡ªjust the two of them, shopping together without the weight of expectations.

    Azzy, however, soon realized that he was being dragged into a world he had little understanding of¡ªfashion.

    Leiza took full control, picking out various outfits and forcing him to try them on. To him, clothes were simply clothes, nothing more than a necessity. But Leiza saw them differently¡ªeach piece she selected carried a certain style, a statement.

    "Try this one," she said, holding up a sleek black jacket.

    Azzy sighed but obeyed, slipping it on.

    "Hmm... Not bad," she nodded in approval.

    Whatever she liked, he decided to purchase without much thought. Soon, a pile of clothing had been sent to the counter, and just when Azzy thought he was done, Leiza grabbed his hand and pulled him toward another section.

    "The men''s section is done. Now it''s my turn!" she declared, eyes twinkling mischievously.

    They arrived at the ladies'' section, which was completely empty apart from them. Leiza browsed through the racks, picking up dress after dress, disappearing into the fitting room, and emerging each time with a new outfit to show off.

    "What do you think?" she asked, twirling in a light blue dress.

    "It''s good," Azzy replied flatly.

    She tried another¡ªa red evening gown. "And now?"

    "Yeah... good."

    Another¡ªa white summer dress.

    "Okay," he nodded.

    Leiza pouted, puffing her cheeks in frustration. "Can''t you give a more enthusiastic answer?!"

    Azzy just shrugged. "They all look fine."

    With a huff, Leiza turned and stomped back into the fitting room, clearly not satisfied with his lack of excitement.

    After a moment of silence, she peeked out from behind the curtain, her head barely visible. Her voice was sweet yet playful as she called, "Rael~"

    He raised an eyebrow, sensing trouble. "What?"

    She giggled. "I need some help."

    Azzy frowned. "With what?"

    "The zipper," she said, her tone innocent. "I can''t reach it."

    He hesitated. "Why are you calling me?"

    "Who else am I supposed to call?" she teased. "Come on, I can''t stay in here forever!"

    Azzy sighed and stepped inside the fitting room, expecting to see another one of her usual dresses. But when his eyes landed on her, he froze.

    Leiza stood there in a tight, one-piece swimsuit, her thighs exposed, her smooth skin practically glowing under the soft light. The suit hugged her figure, accentuating her curves in a way that made Azzy uncomfortable.

    He quickly averted his gaze, focusing on the zipper rather than the sight before him. "Just stay still," he muttered.

    She smirked, clearly enjoying his reaction. "Why are you looking away? It''s just a swimsuit."

    Ignoring her teasing, he swiftly unzipped the back of the swimsuit, stepping away as soon as the task was done. "There, it''s done."

    Leiza hummed. "Thanks~ But don''t go just yet."

    Before he could react, Leiza casually began undressing right in front of him.

    Azzy turned his head sharply, his face heating up. "What are you doing?!" he scolded.

    But when he dared to glance back, he realized that she wasn''t naked¡ªshe was still wearing her undergarments.

    Leiza burst into laughter. "Relax, Rael! You''re so easy to mess with!"

    He clenched his jaw, feeling utterly played. "Stop messing around," he grumbled, turning to leave.

    Still chuckling, Leiza slipped into another dress. "You''re too serious all the time, Rael. Learn to have some fun!"

    Azzy folded his arms, narrowing his eyes at Leiza. "That joke wasn''t embarrassing at all," he stated firmly.

    Leiza, however, only smirked, a glint of mischief flashing in her eyes. "Oh? You think that wasn''t embarrassing?" She stepped closer, tilting her head. "Then maybe I should show you what real teasing looks like."

    Azzy frowned, sensing trouble. "What are you¡ª"

    Before he could finish, Leiza suddenly let out a loud, dramatic moan.

    "Aaah~! Rael~!" she cried in an exaggerated, sultry voice.

    His eyes widened in horror. "What the hell are you doing?!"

    She didn''t stop. "Mmm~! Rael~ not so rough~!"

    Azzy immediately turned to leave, but just as he stepped out of the fitting room, he locked eyes with a staff member who had been walking past.

    The woman froze.

    Azzy froze.

    The air between them grew painfully awkward.

    The staff member''s eyes flickered between Azzy and the closed fitting room curtain, her expression slowly turning into a knowing smile.

    Azzy''s face turned crimson. Without another word, he spun on his heels and stormed out of the store, his jaw clenched in frustration.

    Behind him, Leiza burst into laughter. Holding her stomach, she wiped away a tear and grinned. "That was way too funny!"

    A couple of hours later, the sky had darkened, and the streets of the city were glowing with neon lights.

    Leiza wasn''t done yet. With boundless energy, she dragged Azzy toward a bustling night market filled with food stalls selling everything from grilled skewers to sweet desserts.

    Azzy spent another two hours with her, following her from stall to stall as she excitedly tasted different foods, occasionally making him try some as well.

    Just as he thought the night was finally coming to an end, Leiza suddenly tugged on his sleeve.

    "Come on, one last stop!" she declared.

    Azzy sighed. "Where now?"

    Leiza grinned mischievously. "The movies!"

    Azzy immediately shook his head. "No. I need to get back to my residence."

    Leiza, however, wasn''t having it. She smirked and placed a hand on her hip. "Rael~ Just an hour ago, you did promise to protect me 24/7, because your friends were returning, right?"

    Azzy tensed. "...Yes."

    "Well then!" She clasped her hands together dramatically. "What if I get attacked inside the theater? What if a dangerous assassin is hiding in the seats?"

    Azzy pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling sharply. "Seriously?"

    Leiza giggled in victory and practically skipped ahead toward the movie theater, dragging him along. "Let''s watch a romantic movie! I heard this one has the best ratings~"

    Azzy didn''t even bother arguing anymore. He simply resigned himself to his fate.

    And so, he found himself sitting in a dimly lit theater, watching a romance film filled with dramatic confessions, passionate kisses, and emotional love scenes¡ªnone of which interested him in the slightest.

    Leiza, on the other hand, was enjoying every second of it. Occasionally, she''d steal glances at him, a satisfied smile playing on her lips.

    Tonight had been way too fun for her.

    For Azzy, however, it was one of the most exhausting days of his life.

 Chapter 749: The world of Irth (part-15)

    The movie was a medieval love tragedy¡ªa forbidden romance between a noble princess and her loyal knight.

    Despite their deep love for each other, their relationship was doomed from the start. The knight was but a warrior, bound by his oath, while the princess was shackled by royal duty. In the end, faced with the crushing weight of society, they made the painful choice to part ways.

    But the princess could not bear the separation. On the eve of her wedding to a noble suitor, she succumbed to heartbreak and passed away in her sleep.

    The film ended with the knight, now an old man, standing before her grave, whispering her name one last time before fading into the background.

    As the credits rolled, the theater was filled with muffled sniffles.

    Leiza wiped her tears, still shaken by the tragic ending. "That was so unfair," she murmured, her voice trembling. "They loved each other so much... why did it have to end like that?"

    She turned to Azzy, expecting to see some kind of reaction, only to find him completely unfazed. His face was blank, his golden eyes devoid of emotion.

    Leiza frowned. "Hey... did you seriously not feel anything?"

    Azzy blinked. "No."

    Her frown deepened. "What do you mean, no?"

    "I don''t think it was a good story," he said plainly.

    Leiza stared at him in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? It was beautiful! It was about love, sacrifice, and¡ª"

    "It was about weakness," Azzy interrupted, his voice cold.

    Leiza was taken aback. "Weakness?"

    Azzy leaned back against his seat, his arms crossed. "The princess and the knight were cowards. Love isn''t supposed to bind people with rules and fear. It''s supposed to make them free."

    Leiza narrowed her eyes. "What are you saying?"

    Azzy sighed. "If they truly loved each other more than they feared society, they would have fought for their love. If the world stood in their way, they should have resisted together. And if that wasn''t possible, then they should have run away and lived freely somewhere far from the kingdom."

    Leiza fell silent, processing his words.

    "Instead," Azzy continued, "they chose to be prisoners of their own circumstances. And because of that, they lost everything."

    Leiza bit her lip. "That''s... that''s easy for you to say. But real life isn''t that simple. What if the knight had no choice? What if he truly couldn''t escape his duty?"

    Azzy met her gaze, his eyes unwavering.

    "Then he didn''t love her enough," he said.

    Leiza sucked in a sharp breath.

    "If I were in the knight''s place, I wouldn''t let anything take my love away from me," Azzy stated firmly. "Not duty, not society, not even an entire army."

    Leiza''s heart pounded.

    "If I had to abandon everything¡ªmy home, my title, my past¡ªI would do it." His voice was resolute, unshaken. "As long as the person I love stays with me, I wouldn''t care about anything else."

    Leiza''s breath hitched. She stared at him, her cheeks flushing.

    Her heartbeat raced.

    "Y-You..." she stammered, but the words wouldn''t come out.

    Azzy simply stood up and stretched. "Anyway, let''s go."

    Leiza followed behind him silently, still stunned.

    Her mind replayed his words over and over again.

    Her chest felt tight, her hands clammy.

    And for the first time in her life...

    She didn''t know how to respond.

    The limousine came to a stop in front of Azzy''s temporary residence. The evening air was cool, the city lights flickering like distant stars.

    Azzy stepped out, stretching his arms.

    Leiza leaned against the car door, pouting. "You''re really going to make me go alone?"

    Azzy gave her a flat look. "I have to pack my things first. I''ll be there in an hour."

    She huffed. "Fine. But don''t take too long."

    Azzy gave a nod before turning towards the house. The moment he stepped inside, a strange silence greeted him.

    The living room was empty.

    The energy chains that had once restrained their fallen angel hostage were gone. His teammates were missing. His captain, nowhere to be found.

    Azzy frowned. Something was off.

    His sharp gaze scanned the room until it landed on the coffee table. A single envelope sat there, untouched.

    He picked it up and unfolded the letter inside.

    "Caelith, Ramiel, Seraphina, and Anaris have returned home.

    I am taking the hostage with me to locate the fallen angels'' hideout. I will send word if I need assistance.

    Stay on your mission. Protect your client."

    ¡ª Captain Astro

    Azzy let out a quiet sigh, folding the letter back neatly.

    It was just like the captain to make a reckless move on his own.

    Shaking his head, he made his way to his room. He didn''t have time to worry about that now¡ªhe had a contract to uphold.

    After freshening up and packing his essentials, Azzy made his way to Leiza''s estate.

    When he arrived, he was surprised to find that his room was situated right next to hers.

    Even more surprising¡ªit was Philip Nightingale, Leiza''s uncle, who had arranged it.

    Leiza, on the other hand, was delighted. She smirked at him, clearly enjoying his mild discomfort.

    "I guess this means you''ll really be watching over me 24/7 now," she teased.

    Azzy sighed. "I would have watched over you regardless of where my room was."

    Leiza only chuckled, pleased with the arrangement.

    Later that evening, with Philip caught up in work, Azzy and Leiza had dinner alone.

    They sat across from each other in the vast dining hall, candlelight flickering over their plates of gourmet cuisine.

    Leiza twirled her fork in her pasta before casually asking, "So... what was your childhood like?"

    Azzy barely glanced up. "Normal."

    She raised a brow. "That''s vague. Try again."

    Azzy sighed. "There''s nothing to talk about."

    Leiza leaned forward. "Come on. You know so much about me. I don''t even know where you grew up, or if you have a family."

    Azzy was silent for a moment. His fingers curled slightly around his knife.

    "...I had a family," he finally said, his voice quieter than usual.

    Leiza''s expression softened. "What happened to them?"

    Azzy''s gaze lowered to his plate.

    "Nothing. They are fine. It''s just I had to leave them for a girl I dated for only a year."

    The air between them grew still.

 Chapter 750: The world of Irth (part-16)

    For the first time, Leiza saw something different in his black eyes.

    A flicker of something deeper. Something buried.

    She wanted to ask more, to pry further into the enigma...

    But something told her not to push.

    So, instead, she offered a gentle smile. "I see. Well... I''m here now."

    Azzy looked up at her, slightly taken aback.

    Leiza gave a small shrug. "I mean, since you''re my bodyguard and all, I''ll be around for a while. So... if you ever feel like talking, you know where to find me."

    Azzy blinked. He hadn''t expected that.

    For a moment, he simply stared at her, unreadable.

    Then, quietly, he nodded. "...Alright."

    Leiza smiled, satisfied.

    And just like that, their dinner continued¡ªlighter, but with an unspoken understanding between them.

    Azzy stared at his untouched plate for a moment before answering.

    "I had a big family," he said, his voice steady but distant. "All of my relatives, from several generations, lived in the same village. It was a close-knit place. Everyone knew each other."

    Leiza listened intently, resting her chin on her palm. It was the first time he had spoken this much about himself.

    "My great-grandfather... he chose me as his successor," Azzy continued. "And then, he left. After that, I became the head of the family."

    Leiza''s brows furrowed. "But... you left too, didn''t you?"

    Azzy nodded. "I had to. There was someone I needed to find."

    Leiza tilted her head. "You mean the girl."

    Azzy sighed. "Yeah... It was a girl that I dated for a year. But, we are no longer together because of fate."

    Leiza''s expression froze for a fraction of a second before she forced a casual smile. "What happened?"

    Azzy leaned back slightly, his golden eyes darkening with memory.

    "Due to certain circumstances... I had to leave her behind." His voice was quieter now, filled with something that wasn''t quite regret, but wasn''t peace either.

    "And when I finally returned... she was gone."

    Leiza''s smile faded.

    "She left for her own place, her own responsibilities," Azzy continued. "Family issues. She cut off all contact with me. No trace, no messages. Just... gone."

    Leiza swallowed. "So... you''ve been looking for her all this time?"

    Azzy gave a small nod. "I just wanted an answer. So, I''m traveling over the places, hoping that one day I can meet her again and ask her why. But, things happen along the way and here I am, trying to find out the whereabouts of the serial killer."

    Silence hung between them.

    Leiza lowered her gaze, twirling a strand of her hair. "So... are you still in love with her?"

    Azzy exhaled through his nose. "I don''t know."

    Leiza slowly looked up at him.

    "No other girl has moved my heart since then," he admitted. "Well... except for one."

    Leiza''s heart skipped. "...One?"

    Azzy sighed again. "But I''m not sure anymore." He ran a hand through his hair. "I do miss her, but whether I still love her or not... I can only know that when I meet her again."

    Leiza remained quiet, processing his words.

    A small part of her wished he would say he had moved on completely and another part of her even started to wonder whether she was that One.

    After a moment, Leiza stood up from her seat.

    Azzy raised a brow as she walked over to him and sat down beside him instead.

    She crossed her arms, staring at him. "...Tell me about her."

    Azzy blinked. "What?"

    "Your girlfriend," Leiza clarified. "What was she like?"

    Azzy sighed but smiled faintly. "She was reckless. Aggressive. Always looking for a fight."

    Leiza smirked. "Sounds fun."

    "She got offended easily," Azzy continued. "She was a terrible cook. The worst, actually. She somehow managed to ruin simple dishes like fried rice or porridge."

    Leiza chuckled. "Yikes."

    "But," Azzy''s voice softened, "she was always truthful to me."

    Leiza''s laughter quieted as she listened.

    "She never hesitated to put her life at risk to save mine," Azzy said, his eyes distant again. "She would fight anyone who belittled me. She never questioned my choices¡ªnever demanded explanations. She just... trusted me. Well, she was my first love..."

    Leiza stared at him, her heart tightening.

    The way he spoke about her... was different from how he usually spoke.

    Warmer.

    A kind of warmth she had never heard from him before.

    A warmth she wished, deep down, someone would one day have for her too.

    But for now... she just sat beside him, listening.

    And wondering.

    Leiza stayed quiet, her fingers absentmindedly tracing patterns on the tablecloth.

    Then, in a quiet voice, she asked, "Rael... what if your girlfriend just moved on?"

    Azzy''s golden eyes met hers, unwavering.

    "Then I''ll forget her and move on too," he said firmly.

    Leiza blinked, surprised by how simply he said it.

    "But," Azzy continued, his voice carrying an unshakable resolve, "if she was in trouble... if she left because she had no choice... then I would do everything in my power to save her."

    Leiza looked away, feeling something tighten in her chest.

    Silence stretched between them.

    Azzy let out a quiet sigh. "Honestly... it would be better if I just forgot her and moved on."

    Leiza''s fingers clenched slightly.

    "I have a long life ahead of me," Azzy continued, his gaze distant. "There''s no reason to keep suffering over someone who''s already gone. No reason to stay away from my family just to find her."

    Leiza swallowed.

    "But I can''t do that," Azzy admitted. His voice was calm, but there was a weight behind it. "No matter how much I tell myself to let go... I can''t."

    He exhaled deeply. "Sometimes, I wish I could just fall in love with someone else instead."

    Leiza forced a smile, though it didn''t quite reach her eyes.

    Azzy, oblivious to the emotions swirling inside her, picked up his fork again. "Anyway," he said, changing the topic, "what about you? Have you ever been in love?"

    Leiza blinked, caught off guard.

    "W-What?"

    Azzy tilted his head slightly. "Have you ever loved someone, you know falling in love with a guy, whether it is a one-sided love or dated someone?"

    Leiza quickly shook her head. "No."

    Azzy raised a brow.

    "I mean... I''ve had occasional crushes," she admitted, twirling a strand of her hair between her fingers. "I''d get butterflies in my stomach sometimes, but that was just because the guys were handsome. It wasn''t real love or anything."

    She huffed. "Besides, all the guys who proposed to me had terrible personalities. Arrogant, selfish, or just plain stupid."

    Azzy nodded as if he understood. "So, you won''t accept anyone like that?"

    Leiza crossed her arms. "Of course not. Why would I date a bunch of dorks?"

    Azzy chuckled softly.

    After finishing his meal, Azzy pushed back his chair.

    "I''m full," he said. "I think I''ll go for a jog."

    Leiza looked up at him, a trace of sadness in her eyes.

    "...Okay," she said quietly.

    Azzy gave her a small nod and turned to leave.

    As he stepped out into the night, Leiza remained seated, her expression unreadable.

    She lowered her gaze to the table, deep in thought.

    A part of her already knew the answer.

    She knew what she felt.

    She just wasn''t sure if she wanted to say it out loud.

 Chapter 751: The world of Irth (part-17)

    Later that night;

    A soft knock at the door pulled Azzy from his light sleep. He sat up instantly, eyes sharp. The knock came again, hesitant but persistent. He opened the door, only to blink in surprise.

    Leiza stood there in the dim hallway, clad in oversized bear pajamas, her arms wrapped around herself. Her hair was slightly disheveled, and her lips pressed into a small, uncertain line.

    "What are you doing here?" Azzy asked, keeping his voice low.

    Leiza shifted on her feet. "My uncle''s plane got delayed because of the storm in Oakland. My maid''s on leave because of my trip, and I don''t trust those guards." She exhaled, glancing away for a second before meeting his gaze again. "Can I stay here?"

    Azzy raised an eyebrow. "Here?"

    "I''ll sleep on the couch," she hurried to add, holding up both hands like a peace offering. "It''s just for four hours. We''ll be leaving before dawn anyway."

    Azzy hesitated. The idea of sharing a room, even under these circumstances, was unusual for him. But she looked... uncomfortable, almost vulnerable, and that wasn''t something he often associated with Leiza.

    "Take the bed," he finally said, stepping aside.

    Leiza''s eyes widened slightly. "Are you sure?"

    He nodded. She gave a small, sheepish smile before slipping past him. As she sat on the edge of the bed, she turned toward him. "Sorry and thanks," she murmured before lying down.

    Azzy took the couch without another word. He lay on his back, staring at the ceiling, closing his eyes¡ªbut not to sleep.

    His consciousness expanded outward. Azzy activated his Aura Sensing, his awareness stretching over the entire city like an invisible web. The pulses of life flickered against his senses¡ªthe steady rhythm of sleeping humans, the restless movements of nocturnal creatures. The distant, unmistakable energy of someone powerful.

    Then¡ªsomething stirred.

    Azzy''s entire body tensed as his Aura locked onto something vast, ancient, and suffocating. A presence unlike anything he had sensed before. It was not just powerful¡ªit was overwhelming, a swirling vortex of malevolence so dense that it threatened to pull him in.

    And then, it moved.

    Azzy''s breath hitched. The presence turned as if it had sensed him sensing it. In return, the presence tries to lock onto his location instead.

    "Oh Sh*t..."

    Without hesitation, he severed his connection, retracting his aura as if slamming a door shut. He kept his breathing even, forcing himself to remain still. "That was close. If only Leiza wasn''t staying here with me, I could have just gone out and lured it directly... but circumstances..."

    Meanwhile, thirty kilometers away from his location, somewhere in the suburbs, something monstrous had just become aware of him.

    Miles away, standing atop the ruins of an abandoned cathedral, Abaddon smiled.

    The fallen angel''s presence exuded nothing but malice, a towering figure cloaked in abyssal shadows. His six great wings, once divine, had turned black as the void itself, tattered at the edges like burnt parchment. A faint, eerie glow pulsed from the cracks in his skin, as if something unholy burned beneath.

    His golden, slit-pupiled eyes gleamed in the darkness. "Divine aura..." he murmured, his voice a blend of silk and poison.

    His gaze shifted downward, toward the two lifeless bodies sprawled at his feet. One was Captain Astro. His once-proud uniform was torn, his body unnaturally twisted, as if he had died in agony.

    The other... was the fallen angel Azzy had captured and was taken away by Astro.

    Abaddon chuckled, crouching down, his clawed fingers brushing against the corpse''s forehead. He tilted his head, inspecting his work, before rising again.

    His wings stretched, their shadowy expanse swallowing the dim moonlight. "I bet this is the same angel that managed to reverse the seed of the fallen a while ago. Things indeed just got interesting."

    With a single, effortless motion, Abaddon vanished into the night.

    A few hours later, Azzy''s sleep was interrupted by the sound of soft knocking at his door. His eyes fluttered open, groggy from the restless night. When he saw Leiza standing there, a familiar warmth bloomed in his chest. Without thinking, he muttered, "Claire..."

    He reached out to touch her cheek, the softness of her skin stirring something deep within him. But Leiza recoiled, a look of confusion crossing her face. "Rael?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.

    Azzy froze. His hand halted midair, and his eyes snapped open fully as reality settled in. Not Claire. The warmth faded instantly, and the blur of his thoughts shattered. "I''m sorry, Leiza. I didn''t¡ª"

    She gave a small, understanding smile, though her eyes still held an air of caution. "It''s alright, really," she said, stepping back. "Just get ready. You''ve got 40 minutes."

    At the airport, the early morning air felt crisp and unwelcoming, and the low hum of the crowd surrounded them. Azzy, standing beside Leiza, scanned the gathering group. His eyes narrowed slightly when he recognized one of the girls. Ciesta. She was standing with a few others, and the recognition was instant. They had been in the same class.

    Leiza glanced at him and gave a small nod. "This is Ciesta," she said. "You know her, right?"

    Azzy nodded in return, offering a polite smile. "Yeah, we''ve met a couple of times during lunchtime."

    Leiza gestured toward the others. "And this is Nash Wells," she continued, pointing at the boy standing next to Ciesta, "he''s her boyfriend from 12th-C."

    Nash gave a brief nod, his posture stiff but friendly.

    Leiza then pointed toward two other girls who Azzy didn''t recognize. One was tall with brown hair and an easy smile. "This is Wendy," Leiza said, "and her boyfriend Max." Wendy waved cheerfully, and Max offered a polite nod.

    The last girl, a petite figure with short black hair, was introduced as Rina. "And this is Rina," Leiza said. "and her cousin Zack is right here." She gestured toward the young man standing awkwardly beside Rina.

    Rina''s cousin, Zack, hesitated for a moment before offering a strained hello. As the others continued talking, he leaned in closer to Rina. "You didn''t tell me Leiza was bringing a guy," he whispered with a slightly concerned tone, his gaze darting toward Azzy.

    Rina simply shrugged, not too bothered. "Give me a second." She pulled him back into the conversation with the group. "Hey, Azzy," she said, flashing him a bright smile. "Is he your boyfriend?" she asked, her eyes twinkling with curiosity.

    Leiza laughed lightly, shaking her head. "No, no," she responded, "He''s just a friend. Nothing more." After a brief pause, she muttered, "atleast, not yet."

    Ciesta chimed in from beside her, clearly eager to clarify. "Rael," she began, using Azzy''s full name with a smirk, "is apparently a family friend of Leiza''s. He lived abroad in Northern Europa until recently. He transferred to our school a little while ago."

    Rina''s cousin, Zack, studied Azzy carefully, his expression hard to read. "Hmm..." He shifted awkwardly, his gaze flickering from Azzy''s height to his physique. Something in him didn''t sit right, but he couldn''t quite place it. Jealousy? It was hard to tell, but he couldn''t shake the feeling that there was something more between Leiza and Azzy than met the eye.

    The group exchanged pleasantries, each person offering a small greeting or comment. The air buzzed with light conversation, but Azzy''s attention drifted. He wasn''t much for idle chatter, but he smiled when needed, his mind half elsewhere.

    Once inside Ciesta''s private plane, the atmosphere shifted. The group settled into their seats, and the questions about Azzy started coming fast. Wendy raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "So, Rael, I heard you can do martial arts. So, what''s your style?" Her voice was light, almost curious. Of course, as a boxer and a martial artist herself, she was indeed happy to see a bird of the same feather.

    Azzy''s gaze flickered to her, a slight smirk pulling at the corner of his lips. "I know a little bit and I don''t have style. It''s a freestyle that incorporates many fighting styles into it," he answered diplomatically.

    Her boyfriend, Max, who was sitting across the aisle, chuckled. "Fighting skills, huh? That''s pretty sexy," he commented with a wink toward Wendy before kissing her on the cheek. Wendy blushed at his action.

    Azzy didn''t react, but inside, a flicker of discomfort crossed his mind. Would they just stop focusing on him and talk among themselves instead?

    A few hours later, the plane touched down with a gentle thud, and they disembarked. The sun hung low on the horizon, casting an orange glow across the water as they boarded a boat. The boat ride to Ciesta''s family''s private island was smooth, the scent of saltwater and fresh air filling Azzy''s lungs.

    He glanced back at the others, all chatting excitedly, their voices lost in the soft hum of the engine. A private island. There was something serene about the place, but also... far too isolated.

 Chapter 752: The world of Irth (part-18)

    The plane''s wheels met the tarmac with a smooth, practiced touch, a subtle jolt running through the cabin. Outside, the world was bathed in golden hues, the late afternoon sun stretching long shadows across the private island''s airstrip. From above, the place had looked like something out of a dream¡ªpristine white sand, dense green forests, and an azure coastline that kissed the horizon. But now that they were on the ground, Azzy felt the isolation pressing in.

    A man in a crisp, tailored suit approached as they descended the stairs. He was middle-aged, with sharp features and an air of efficiency. "Welcome, Miss Ciesta," he greeted with a polite nod. "Everything has been prepared as per your instructions."

    Ciesta barely acknowledged him with more than a smile before waving a dismissive hand. "Thank you, Mr. Graves. We''ll head straight to the resort."

    The group was ushered toward a waiting limousine, its sleek black exterior gleaming under the sun. As they climbed inside, Nash let out a low whistle. "Damn, girl. A limo? You sure know how to live."

    Ciesta smirked. "What''s the point of having money if your kids can''t enjoy it?"

    The drive through the island was breathtaking¡ªwinding roads cutting through thick tropical foliage, occasional glimpses of the ocean breaking through the trees. The hum of the engine was the only thing filling the silence for a while, until Wendy leaned forward. "So, what''s the plan?"

    "We''ll meet in the lounge in thirty minutes," Ciesta replied. "Get settled in, freshen up, and then we''ll discuss how we''re spending the weekend."

    One by one, the others were handed their room keys. The two couples¡ªCiesta and Nash, Wendy and Max¡ªhad their own suites. Rina and Zack shared a connected twin room. But when Azzy stepped forward, expecting his own key, Leiza spoke first.

    "He''s staying with me."

    A beat of silence followed her words. Even Mr. Graves blinked, but he quickly recovered, nodding before moving to the next task.

    Azzy, however, turned to her, eyebrows raised. "What?"

    Leiza gave a nonchalant shrug, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. "You''re my bodyguard. You have to stay with me 24/7 when I''m away from home."

    That earned a reaction. Zack, who had been standing beside Rina, let out a scoff. "This place is perfectly safe, though." His eyes flickered toward his cousin, almost as if waiting for backup.

    Rina hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, the island''s security is top-tier. There''s no real need for¡ª"

    Leiza turned to her with a sharp look. It was quick, barely a second, but it carried weight.

    Rina''s voice faltered. Then, as if reconsidering, she cleared her throat. "¡ªbut, um... I guess it''s better to be safe than sorry."

    Azzy caught the shift, the unspoken communication. Leiza had expected pushback. She had anticipated objections. And yet, she was firm. Why?

    He sighed, rubbing his temples. "Fine," he muttered. It wasn''t as if he actually needed his own space, but still, this arrangement was going to be... uncomfortable.

    Zack, on the other hand, didn''t look pleased. His gaze flickered between Azzy and Leiza, something unreadable crossing his expression. But he said nothing.

    As the group dispersed to their respective rooms, Azzy trailed behind Leiza, his mind already turning. If there is a possibility of threat of abduction¡ªthis trip was going to be anything but relaxing for him. Fortunately, this isn''t a city with people around. So, his job also becomes easier.

    Leiza turned to Azzy with an easy smile, as if nothing about the situation was unusual. "Let''s go," she said, her tone light.

    Azzy didn''t respond immediately, only giving a slight nod before following her. As they walked down the hallway toward their cabin, a few lingering gazes trailed after them.

    From behind, Ciesta watched the two with a knowing smirk. "Something''s going to happen between those two before we leave," she mused aloud.

    Nash chuckled, shaking his head. "You think so?"

    Ciesta hummed. "Just a feeling."

    Nearby, Zack clenched his fists at his sides. He didn''t say anything, didn''t react beyond that small motion¡ªbut the tension in his stance was undeniable.

    The cabin was spacious yet minimalistic, a balance of luxury and comfort. The soft scent of saltwater lingered in the air, carried in by the ocean breeze through the slightly open balcony doors.

    Leiza set her bag down near the bed and turned to Azzy. "Want to use the bathroom first?" she asked.

    Azzy shook his head. "Go ahead."

    She nodded, gathering a set of clothes from her bag before disappearing into the bathroom. The faint sound of water running soon followed.

    Alone, Azzy took in his surroundings. The cabin had a modern aesthetic¡ªwarm wooden floors, soft ambient lighting, and floor-to-ceiling windows that framed the ocean beyond.

    Drawn by the view, he stepped toward the window, resting a hand lightly on the frame as he gazed out. The resort was built atop an elevated flatland, giving a panoramic view of the vast, unbroken stretch of water. The sun had begun its slow descent, casting molten gold across the waves.

    It should''ve been peaceful.

    But Azzy''s thoughts weren''t on the scenery.

    His mind drifted back to the presence he had sensed the night before¡ªthe ancient malice that had nearly locked onto him. The fallen angel Abaddon.

    Azzy exhaled slowly, eyes narrowing as he stared at the horizon. He should be out there, hunting his target, tracking the target down before he caused more destruction. Instead, he was here. Stuck. Playing bodyguard.

    He clenched his jaw.

    Meanwhile, far from the mortal world, beyond the reach of time and decay, the Silver City gleamed with ethereal brilliance. Its towering spires, woven from light and divine essence, pierced the sky, their radiance stretching endlessly across the heavens. The air shimmered with sacred energy, a presence both overwhelming and comforting to those who dwelled within.

    Yet, in the heart of this divine realm, hidden away in a secretive chamber, the atmosphere was anything but serene.

    Claire stood before a massive floating crystal, her striking blue eyes reflecting the golden light pulsating from within. Suspended inside the crystal was a figure¡ªan angel, frozen in time, his form barely visible through the shifting glow. His wings, once pure and radiant, were dulled, his expression serene yet hauntingly still.

    She clenched her hands at her sides, her golden hair cascading over the intricate silver armor she wore.

    The gentle sound of footsteps echoed behind her. She didn''t need to turn to know who it was. "Master?"

    Adam, the Son of their creator, moved to stand beside her. His gaze, piercing yet unreadable, rested on the suspended angel before shifting to Claire.

    "A report just came in," Adam spoke, his voice as steady as ever. "A team in the mortal world confirmed the presence of a fallen angel."

    Claire''s brows furrowed as she turned slightly toward him. "A fallen angel?"

    "Abaddon," Adam said, the name itself heavy with history, "An original one. Corrupted by Lucifer himself."

    Claire''s lips parted slightly in surprise. "Abaddon. That name hadn''t been spoken in the Silver City for centuries." The first of the fallen, the harbinger of destruction, a nightmare etched into the past of the heavens.

 Chapter 753: The world of Irth (part-19)

    Adam continued, his gaze still on the crystal. "If you capture him, if we extract his essence... there''s a high probability that it could be enough."

    Claire stiffened. She knew exactly what he meant. Her heart pounded, hope battling skepticism. "Enough to free Father?" she asked, barely above a whisper.

    Adam finally looked at her, his golden eyes calm yet absolute. "There is a high chance."

    Claire''s breath hitched. A high chance. Not a certainty. Not a promise.

    Just like last time.

    Her mind flashed back to Beelzebub. How they had been told the same thing¡ªthat capturing and using his fallen essence would be the key. But it hadn''t been enough. It hadn''t worked.

    She turned back to the floating figure, her fists tightening. "You said the same thing about Beelzebub," she murmured. "And it failed."

    Adam did not waver. "Nothing is absolute in this world, Claire," he said. "But if there is even the smallest possibility... would you not take it?"

    She closed her eyes for a brief second.

    Would she?

    She already knew the answer.

    When she opened them again, her gaze was hardened, filled with unwavering resolve. "I''ll do it," she said, her voice clear and steady. "Even if the probability is small, I''ll do everything I can to capture him."

    The glow of the crystal pulsed faintly, as if in response.

    Adam gave a small nod of approval, turning away as his robes shifted with his movement. "Then prepare yourself," he said. "The hunt begins soon."

    As he left, Claire remained, staring at the silent figure within the crystal.

    "Father... wait for me. I will not fail this time."

    *

    The morning sun bathed the island in a golden glow, casting shimmering reflections over the turquoise waters. A salty breeze rustled the palm trees as the group sat down for breakfast at the beachfront, the scent of fresh tropical fruit mingling with the crisp sea air.

    Azzy sat at the far end of the table, half-listening to the chatter around him as he quietly ate his food. His plate was simple¡ªeggs, toast, and some exotic fruit Leiza had insisted he try. The others, however, were fully engaged in their island experience.

    Wendy and Max laughed over an inside joke while Nash kept stealing bits of food from Ciesta''s plate, much to her annoyance. Rina was busy snapping pictures of the sunrise, while her cousin Zack sat beside her, his gaze flickering toward Leiza and Azzy every so often.

    Leiza, of course, sat beside Azzy, not particularly talking to him, but occasionally nudging his foot under the table just to see if he''d react.

    After breakfast, the group moved on to the next activity¡ªjet skiing and boat rides. The island staff had everything set up, and the excitement was palpable.

    "Come on, Rael!" Wendy called out as she adjusted her life jacket. "You''re not just gonna sit there, are you?"

    Azzy, standing at a distance, shook his head. "I''ll pass."

    Max grinned. "Don''t tell me you''re scared of the water?"

    Azzy just gave him a blank stare. "No."

    Leiza chuckled beside him, stretching her arms. "He''s my bodyguard. And I challenged him earlier to make a big sand castle for me. He has to follow my orders."

    Ciesta, who was already seated on a jet ski with Nash, smirked. "You''re really playing that role to the extreme, huh?"

    Azzy didn''t respond, and Leiza merely shrugged. "That''s what I pay him for."

    The others laughed and went off with their respective partners, leaving Azzy alone on the shore. He let out a quiet breath, rolling his shoulders.

    The ocean was vast, the waves crashing softly against the sand. He could sense Leiza''s aura among the others as they rode across the water, but he wasn''t concerned about her safety¡ªnot here, at least.

    So, instead of watching the jet skis, he crouched down and started building a sandcastle as he was supposed to.

    At first, it was nothing more than a pile of sand. But then his hands moved with practiced precision. Towers formed, walls took shape, and within minutes, what had started as a simple pastime turned into something far more intricate. A grand castle, complete with small bridges and detailed carvings.

    He was so focused that he barely noticed when someone approached.

    "Whoa..."

    A soft voice pulled him from his work. He glanced up to find Rina sitting before the sandcastle, her phone raised as she recorded a video.

    "You''re really good at this," she commented, shifting slightly in the sand. Her black hair clung to her damp skin, still wet from the boat ride. "I mean, I thought you''d just be some boring, overly serious guy, but this... this is actually impressive."

    Azzy shrugged. "It''s just a sandcastle."

    Rina tilted her head, lowering her phone. "Nah, this is a masterpiece. Do you sculpt or something?"

    Azzy shook his head. "No."

    She chuckled. "Man of few words, huh?"

    There was a moment of silence between them.

    Rina''s gaze drifted¡ªnot toward the castle, but toward him. The sun highlighted the droplets of seawater on his skin, his damp shirt clinging to his body, outlining muscles that seemed sculpted to perfection. The way his dark hair, slightly tousled, framed his sharp features didn''t help either.

    Unconsciously, she bit her lip. Damn.

    "You''re..." She cleared her throat, feeling her cheeks warm slightly. "You work out?"

    Azzy raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in conversation. "...A little."

    "Yeah, no kidding." She let out a small laugh, but her eyes lingered for a second too long before she pulled herself together. "Anyway, uh... don''t mind me. Just keep doing your thing."

    She returned to filming the sandcastle, but every now and then, she found herself glancing at him again.

    After a while, Azzy''s sandcastle had grown into something beyond a simple beach sculpture¡ªit was a fortress. Ten meters wide and nearly three meters tall, it was an architectural marvel made purely of sand. The details were intricate, from arched doorways to tiny staircases, and even the illusion of windows carved into the grand structure.

    The others had long since abandoned their jet skis and boat rides, drawn in by the spectacle of Azzy''s relentless construction. At first, they had only stolen occasional glances, but as time passed, they stopped what they were doing altogether, watching as the silent, enigmatic boy crafted what looked like an ancient city out of nothing but patience and skill.

    Leiza, standing a few feet away, had a distant look in her eyes. She wasn''t saying anything, wasn''t even smiling¡ªjust watching.

    Watching him.

    Her gaze wasn''t unnoticed.

    Zack, who had been growing increasingly restless, clenched his fists at his sides. He wasn''t sure why it irritated him so much, but it did. The way Leiza seemed... entranced. The way everyone seemed to focus on him.

    "Alright," Zack clapped his hands together, forcing a grin. "This is taking forever. Let''s do something fun instead¡ªbeach volleyball."

    The suggestion was met with instant agreement. It was getting close to noon, but the island''s temperature remained pleasant. The idea of a quick, competitive match sounded appealing to the group.

    Ciesta raised an eyebrow as she looked around. "Wait, we''re seven people."

    Zack shrugged. "We''ll rotate players. It''ll be fun."

    Before anyone could suggest otherwise, Rina stretched her arms lazily and sighed. "You guys go ahead. I''m sitting this one out."

    Wendy turned to her. "Huh? Why?"

 Chapter 754: The world of Irth (part-20)

    "I''ll film the game. Besides, I still need to record the rest of this." Rini gestured toward Azzy''s sandcastle, her expression unreadable. "It''s too good to ignore."

    The others gave her skeptical looks but didn''t argue. Soon, they had formed teams and moved a little further down the beach, setting up for their game.

    Meanwhile, Rina took a seat beside Azzy, her camera resting on her lap. She watched him for a moment before speaking.

    "You ever gonna take a break?" she asked, tilting her head.

    Azzy, still focused on shaping the details of a tower, replied without looking up. "No need."

    Rina chuckled. "Figures."

    A pause.

    She leaned back, resting on her elbows, and let her gaze drift toward the sky. "You know, you''re a weird guy, Rael."

    Azzy didn''t respond.

    "Most guys would be out there, playing, showing off, trying to impress the girls," she continued, glancing at him. "But you? You''re just here, making a sandcastle like it''s some kind of serious mission. What if you made a bet with Leiza? You just have to make a simple sand castle, not this grand."

    Azzy finally paused, turning his head slightly. "Does that bother you?"

    Rina smirked. "Not at all. In fact, I think it''s kinda cool."

    Silence stretched between them, the distant sounds of the volleyball game filling the space.

    She studied him carefully before deciding to push further. "So... you and Leiza. What''s the deal?"

    Azzy gave her a blank look. "What do you mean?"

    "You know exactly what I mean." She raised an eyebrow. "Is there something going on between you two?"

    Azzy went back to smoothing out the sand. "No."

    Rina observed him, searching for any hint of dishonesty¡ªbut there was none. He was either telling the truth, or he was ridiculously good at hiding things.

    "So you''re just her bodyguard?" she pressed.

    "Yes."

    "No feelings? No tension?"

    "No."

    Rina hummed thoughtfully, her lips curving into a small smile. "Huh. Interesting."

    Another pause.

    "Guess that means you''re single, then."

    Azzy didn''t answer immediately. He was single but at the same time wasn''t. But, why should he bother himself telling her his love story with Claire and make up all kinds of logical reasons, etc... Hence, he glanced at her briefly before nodding. "Yes."

    Rina''s smile grew. She leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand as she continued watching him.

    The more they talked, the more intrigued she became. There was something about him¡ªsomething untouched by the usual social games people played. He wasn''t trying to be charming, wasn''t trying to impress anyone. He was just... himself.

    And for some reason, she found herself wanting to know more.

    Azzy wiped the last grains of sand from his hands and exhaled slowly, stepping back to admire his work.

    The sandcastle, now complete, stood as an intricate fortress against the golden shoreline. Towers, archways, and even the illusion of a moat surrounded the grand structure, each detail carved with meticulous precision.

    "Damn," Rina murmured, clearly impressed. "This thing looks like it belongs in a museum."

    She reached into her bag and pulled out a cold bottle of water, offering it to him.

    "Here. Hydration is important, you know."

    Azzy took the bottle without hesitation, twisted the cap, and drank deeply. Then, in one swift motion, he tilted the bottle and let the remaining water cascade over his head. Droplets traced down his face and onto his already damp shirt, clinging to his toned frame.

    Rina, still kneeling in the sand, blinked.

    Well. That was unfair.

    Clearing her throat, she quickly busied herself with her phone. "Alright, now that you''re all refreshed, it''s my turn."

    She handed him the phone. "Take a picture of me with the castle."

    Azzy raised an eyebrow but took the phone without question.

    Rina wasted no time, jumping to her feet and positioning herself in front of the grand structure. She threw up peace signs, did mock regal poses, and even pretended to "guard" the entrance like a knight.

    Azzy took the pictures, his face impassive as always, though a flicker of amusement briefly crossed his eyes at her exaggerated expressions.

    From the volleyball court, Leiza was supposed to be focusing on the game. But as she prepared to receive a serve, her gaze wandered¡ªand landed on them.

    She saw Rina laughing, twirling in the sand as Azzy captured the moment with practiced ease. The two of them looked... comfortable. Relaxed.

    Something tightened in her chest. "Why does this bother me?" She bit her lip in discomfort

    It was then the volleyball shot past her.

    "Leiza!" Ciesta''s voice snapped her out of it.

    The ball smacked against the sand. Point lost.

    Ciesta let out a frustrated sigh. "Seriously, can you focus?"

    Leiza hesitated for half a second before handing off the ball. "I''ll be right back."

    Before anyone could question her, she turned on her heel and walked toward Azzy and Rina, her expression unreadable.

    As she approached, Rina was in the middle of striking another playful pose. "Okay, last one. I swear¡ª"

    Leiza stopped right beside them. "Are we done with the photoshoot?"

    Rina paused mid-pose. She glanced at Leiza, then at Azzy, before lowering her hands.

    Leiza''s gaze flickered to the sandcastle. "It''s impressive," she admitted, though her tone was neutral. Then, she turned her attention fully to Azzy. "Come on, let''s go. We''re playing volleyball."

    Azzy glanced down at Rina''s phone, then back up at Leiza. "I''m not interested."

    "You don''t have to be," she replied smoothly. "We need players."

    Rina smirked slightly, sensing the shift in atmosphere. She dusted off her shorts and stretched. "Well, I guess that means I''m playing too."

    Leiza met Rina''s gaze briefly. Neither girl said anything, but something unspoken passed between them.

    Azzy, as usual, said nothing at all.

    Instead, he handed Rina her phone and followed Leiza toward the game.

    Azzy didn''t overthink it. He simply followed Leiza and joined the others at the volleyball court. The sand felt warm under his feet as he took his position, standing tall and relaxed.

    Behind him, Rina was about to jog past and join the game when a hand caught her wrist.

    She turned, only to find Leiza staring at her with narrowed eyes.

    "What are you doing?" Leiza''s tone was casual, but her gaze was sharp.

    Rina blinked innocently. "Huh? What do you mean?"

    Leiza crossed her arms. "You know exactly what I mean. I''ve been watching you."

    Rina let out a small laugh, but something about Leiza''s unwavering stare made her uneasy. "Okay... and?"

    "You were flirting with him," Leiza stated bluntly.

    Rina''s amusement faltered for a second before she shrugged. "So what if I was?" she admitted, tilting her head. "It''s been a while since I broke up with my ex. I''m just having some fun."

    Leiza''s lips pressed into a thin line. "That doesn''t mean you should just¡ª"

    "Relax," Rina cut in, waving a hand. "I''m not looking for anything serious. Just a little... fling." She followed Leiza''s gaze toward Azzy and let out an appreciative hum. "And with a body like that? I mean, let''s be real, even Ciesta''s boyfriend doesn''t compare."

    Leiza felt a strange irritation crawl up her spine.

    "Besides," Rina continued, turning back to her, "unless you have feelings for him, it shouldn''t be a problem, right?"

    Leiza stiffened.

 Chapter 755: The world of Irth (part-21)

    Leiza stiffened. "I¡ªI don''t!" she shot back, a little too quickly.

    Rina smirked. "Really?"

    "I just don''t want him getting distracted," Leiza insisted, folding her arms. "He''s my bodyguard, and if he''s busy messing around with some girl, it could interfere with his job."

    Rina chuckled and patted Leiza''s shoulder. "Relax, princess. I won''t get in his way."

    With a playful wink, she jogged off toward the volleyball court, where Azzy was waiting.

    Leiza stood there for a moment, feeling an uncomfortable weight settle in her chest as she watched Rina easily slip into conversation with him.

    With a quiet sigh, she followed after them, shaking off whatever strange feeling had crept into her mind.

    *

    The game carried on with an intense energy. Azzy stepped in for Ciesta, and Rina took Wendy''s place. From the moment he entered the game, it was clear he was on a completely different level.

    Azzy didn''t know beach volleyball¡ªnot the rules, not the proper serving techniques¡ªbut that didn''t matter. What he did know was how to read movement, how to react with precision, and how to strike with power.

    His jumps were impossibly high, and each time he spiked the ball, it landed perfectly in an empty spot within the boundaries, leaving the opposing team scrambling helplessly. He couldn''t serve, but he could receive and attack, and that alone was enough to dominate the game.

    Leiza, watching from her side, felt her earlier discomfort slowly fade away. She was caught up in the excitement, cheering every time Azzy scored. It was thrilling to watch him move, to see her team winning so effortlessly.

    But not everyone felt the same.

    Zack''s jaw clenched as he watched Azzy steal the spotlight. With every powerful spike, with every effortless point, the knot of frustration in his chest tightened.

    Then, a mistake. Zack, attempting to return a difficult shot, hit the ball too far to the side. It rolled across the sand, stopping near the massive sandcastle Azzy had built earlier.

    He jogged over to retrieve it, but as he bent down, an idea crossed his mind.

    Turning back toward the group, he pretended to aim a throw in their direction. But instead of a normal pass, he hurled the ball with unnecessary force¡ªright at the sandcastle.

    The impact sent a portion of the structure crumbling down, a whole side of the grand castle collapsing into a heap of broken towers and fallen walls.

    The group went silent. All eyes flickered to Azzy.

    Zack immediately put on a look of fake shock. "Oh¡ªoops," he said, widening his eyes as if he had just realized what he had done. "I didn''t mean to throw it that hard..."

    Before anyone else could react, Rina stormed up to him, fury flashing in her eyes. "Zack! What the hell is wrong with you?!" she snapped. "That was an amazing piece of art, and you just destroyed it!"

    The others murmured in agreement, sending disapproving glances at Zack.

    Azzy, however, remained completely calm. His face was unreadable as he looked at the ruined castle, then back at Zack.

    For a moment, silence hung in the air.

    Then, Azzy simply dusted the sand off his hands, his expression indifferent. "It''s fine," he said coolly. "It was just sand."

    His reaction¡ªor lack of one¡ªsomehow made the tension worse. Zack felt an odd frustration bubbling inside him. He had expected at least some irritation, some kind of emotional response. But Azzy didn''t seem to care at all.

    Leiza narrowed her eyes at Zack, seeing through him immediately. "That wasn''t an accident," she muttered under her breath.

    Zack avoided her gaze. "Like I said, it was just an accident," he replied, shrugging.

    The game didn''t resume after that. The mood had shifted, and everyone seemed unsure of what to do next.

    Ciesta sighed, breaking the silence. "Let''s take a break and grab something to drink."

    Everyone agreed, though the atmosphere felt different now. As they walked away, Rina lingered beside Azzy.

    "Seriously, you''re not mad?" she asked, peeking up at him.

    Azzy glanced at her and gave a small, barely-there smile. "Things that can be rebuilt aren''t worth getting angry over."

    Rina stared at him for a moment, her lips parting slightly. She wasn''t sure whether to be impressed or frustrated by his attitude.

    As they headed toward the resort, Leiza glanced back at Zack, her eyes full of suspicion.

    Something told her that this wouldn''t be the last time Zack caused trouble.

    Zack put on a sheepish expression. "Sorry, man. I really didn''t mean to do that."

    Azzy didn''t even look at him as he responded. "It''s fine," he said calmly. "Sandcastles are like mortal lives. Eventually, they cease to exist."

    Without waiting for a response, Azzy walked toward the ball, picking it up with one hand. His gaze flickered toward the ruined castle for a brief moment, and he mumbled under his breath, "He did it on purpose... but there''s no need to get angry unnecessarily. Soon, I''ll be out of their lives anyway. Why bother ruining their friendships over something like this?"

    Leiza, watching him from behind, felt a strange sense of worry settle in her chest. There was something about Azzy''s back as he stood there¡ªhis posture, his quiet demeanor¡ªthat made her uneasy.

    Then, without a word, Azzy knelt down and started repairing the sandcastle. His hands moved quickly, but it was clear the rebuild wasn''t as smooth or detailed as before. It wasn''t about perfection this time¡ªjust fixing what was lost.

    No one interrupted him.

    By the time Azzy finished, he stood up, dusted off his hands, and returned to the group as if nothing had happened. "Let''s keep playing," he said casually.

    The others exchanged glances but said nothing. If Azzy wasn''t making a big deal out of it, they wouldn''t either.

    And so, the game continued.

    When it finally ended, the group prepared to return to the resort for lunch. Some of them stayed back for a bit, taking pictures with the newly rebuilt sandcastle, admiring how Azzy had managed to salvage most of it despite the damage.

    Zack, however, wasn''t pleased. His fists clenched as he saw how little impact his act had caused. Azzy wasn''t even phased. If anything, the others seemed to admire him even more now.

    His jealousy shot through the roof.

 Chapter 756: The world of Irth (part-22)

    By the time they returned to the resort, everyone quickly freshened up, taking swift showers before heading back to the beachfront. The scent of grilled meat and sizzling seafood filled the air as the group settled down for a relaxing BBQ lunch by the ocean.

    Despite the earlier incident, the atmosphere was lively again. But Zack... Zack''s mood was anything but light.

    As he sat there, barely touching his food, he realized something.

    If he wanted to rattle Azzy, breaking a sandcastle wouldn''t be enough.

    Azzy stood by the grill, his movements precise as he flipped the sizzling pieces of meat. The rich aroma of barbecue filled the air, blending with the salty ocean breeze. Max stood beside him, casually helping out while sneaking a few bites here and there.

    "Man, you''re really good at this," Max commented, watching Azzy work.

    "It''s just grilling," Azzy replied simply, his focus unwavering.

    Meanwhile, Rina had stationed herself near Azzy, leaning slightly closer every time she spoke. "So, Rael," she began, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, "where did you learn to grill like this? You seem like the type who''s always busy with, I don''t know, martial arts or something."

    Azzy, without looking up, responded, "I just picked it up."

    Rina chuckled. "Mysterious and talented. You''re really something, huh?"

    Azzy didn''t react, but Max smirked, clearly amused by Rina''s obvious flirting.

    A few feet away, Zack was making his own attempts¡ªflirting with Leiza.

    "You know," he said smoothly, "I was thinking, Leiza. We don''t really get to talk much. Maybe we should¡ª"

    "I''m talking to Wendy," Leiza cut in flatly, not even sparing him a glance.

    Zack chuckled awkwardly, trying again. "Yeah, yeah, but I mean¡ª"

    Leiza''s gaze subtly shifted toward Rina and Azzy, her focus lingering on them more than anything else.

    Zack noticed. His jaw clenched. Ignored. Again.

    By the time the grilling was done and everyone had their plates filled, Max glanced around and raised an eyebrow. "Wait... where''s Zack?"

    Rina barely looked up from her food. "Probably went for a leak or something," she said with a shrug.

    Leiza, clearly unimpressed with Zack''s presence in general, sighed and picked up her fork. "Whatever. Let''s just eat. I''m hungry."

    Everyone agreed and began eating, the conversation picking up again as laughter and casual chatter filled the beachfront.

    A few minutes later, Zack reappeared, slipping back into his seat as if nothing had happened.

    Azzy, despite keeping his usual calm demeanor, instinctively noted the slight shift in Zack''s aura.

    Something was off.

    *

    After a while;

    Azzy looked down at the small slip of paper in his hand, his name scrawled alongside Rina and Leiza''s. He didn''t think much of it, but a quick glance at Leiza revealed her slight frown.

    Rina, on the other hand, grinned. "Well, well, well. Looks like fate wants us to spend more time together, Rael."

    Leiza rolled her eyes but didn''t say anything.

    Ciesta clapped her hands. "Alright, teams! You have until sunset to find as many egg baskets as possible. Each one has a unique color, and they''re hidden all over the island. The team with the most by the end wins a special prize!"

    "Which is?" Max raised an eyebrow.

    Ciesta smirked. "A surprise, of course."

    Nash groaned. "That means it''s probably something ridiculous."

    Ciesta only laughed in response. "Now, let''s get started! The first clue is on your cards. Good luck!"

    Everyone gathered in their teams, reading their respective riddles.

    Azzy, Rina, and Leiza huddled together as Rina read theirs aloud:

    "I stand tall with arms stretched wide,

    Under me, you''ll want to hide.

    When the sun blazes, I offer shade,

    Find the egg where children played."

    Rina tapped her chin. "Hmm... sounds like a tree, right?"

    Leiza nodded. "Most likely. A big one where people gather, maybe near the beach."

    Azzy glanced toward a cluster of palm trees nearby, his sharp eyes scanning for anything unusual. "Let''s start looking."

    As they moved toward the trees, Zack scowled from afar, his mood souring further.

    Teamed with Wendy. The last person he wanted.

    And worse, Azzy was with both Rina and Leiza.

    Clenching his fists, Zack muttered under his breath, "This game just got a lot more annoying."

    With their first clue in hand, Azzy, Rina, and Leiza set off across the island. The sun hung high, casting shimmering light over the tropical landscape. Palm trees swayed lazily in the ocean breeze as the sound of distant waves filled the air. The game was on.

    As they walked toward the first location, Rina kept inching closer to Azzy, her voice playful. "You''re surprisingly good at figuring out riddles, Rael too. Good cooking skill, practicing martial arts, having great looks and physique, making the best sandcastle ever I have witnessed, are there any more talents waiting to come out?"

    Azzy didn''t react much, merely responding in a neutral tone. "It wasn''t a difficult riddle."

    Leiza, walking slightly ahead, rolled her eyes. "Come on, stop wasting time flirting, Rina. Let''s focus on finding the basket."

    Rina smirked. "Who said I was flirting?" She nudged Azzy''s arm. "Was I flirting, Rael?"

    Azzy blinked, clearly not reading too much into her behavior. "I don''t know."

    Leiza let out a frustrated sigh. "Forget it. Let''s move."

    Their next clue led them deeper into the woods, where the trees grew taller and the air became cooler under the shade. The card had read:

    "Where water falls but does not rise,

    A hidden prize is in disguise.

    Through the curtain, a cave unseen,

    Your egg awaits behind the screen."

    Leiza looked up from the card. "That has to be the waterfall, right?"

    Azzy nodded. "Most likely."

    Excited, the trio hurried down the dirt path that led toward the waterfall. The sound of rushing water grew louder, and soon, they emerged from the dense foliage to find a breathtaking sight¡ªa waterfall cascading down into a crystal-clear pool. Mist filled the air, cooling their skin from the tropical heat.

    Rina gasped. "Wow, this place is beautiful!"

    Leiza smiled slightly. "Yeah, I wasn''t expecting something this nice."

    Azzy didn''t comment¡ªhis focus was already on the waterfall. His keen eyes traced the rock formations, and just as the clue suggested, he noticed a small opening behind the water, partially concealed by moss and shadows.

    "There," he pointed. "Behind the waterfall."

 Chapter 757: The world of Irth (part-23)

    Leiza followed his gaze. "You''re right. But it looks like we''ll need to climb a bit to get inside." She turned to Azzy. "You''re the man here. Think you can do it?"

    Azzy nodded without hesitation.

    As he stepped forward, Rina dramatically sighed. "If only I had a strong, handsome bodyguard like Rael to do all the work for me," she teased.

    Leiza shot her an irritated look. "He''s my bodyguard, and he''s doing this for the team."

    Rina chuckled. "Relax, Leiza. I''m just having fun."

    Azzy, as usual, ignored their exchange and waded into the shallow water. He found sturdy footholds in the rocks and easily pulled himself up the slippery incline, reaching the cave''s opening. Carefully, he slipped inside, the dim light making it difficult to see at first.

    After a few seconds of searching, his fingers brushed against a small wicker basket tucked into a crevice. He grabbed it and peeked inside¡ªsure enough, a collection of colorful eggs rested within.

    Turning back, he called down, "Got it."

    Leiza let out a relieved breath. "Great! Now just be careful coming down."

    Azzy climbed down as effortlessly as he went up, stepping back onto solid ground and handing the basket to Leiza.

    Rina clapped. "Nice work, hero."

    Azzy simply nodded, wiping a few droplets of water from his arms.

    Leiza examined the eggs. "That''s one down. Let''s move to the next clue."

    As they left the waterfall, Rina leaned in toward Azzy again. "I have to say, watching you climb like that was kind of... impressive."

    Before Azzy could respond, Leiza cut in. "Alright, alright, let''s go before the others find more than us."

    As they trekked back into the forest, Azzy walked ahead while Rina and Leiza exchanged glances¡ªone playful, the other annoyed.

    The hunt was far from over.

    As they walked through the jungle path back to the resort, Rina abruptly stopped, making Leiza halt as well. Azzy was walking ahead, unaware of the sudden tension brewing behind him.

    Rina crossed her arms. "Alright, what''s your deal, Leiza?"

    Leiza raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

    "You''ve been interrupting me the whole day. Every time I try to talk to Rael, you step in. Every time I joke around, you have something to say. What''s your problem?"

    Leiza scoffed, flipping her hair back. "I don''t have a problem. I''m just looking out for him."

    "Looking out for him?" Rina narrowed her eyes. "Or do you just not want me anywhere near him?"

    Leiza''s gaze hardened. "You can have anyone you want, Rina, but not him."

    Rina''s expression shifted, hurt flashing in her eyes. "Wow. You really think you can dictate that? Just because he''s your bodyguard?"

    Leiza didn''t back down. She was used to speaking her mind arrogantly, but for some reason, this time, it felt different. "It''s not about that. He has responsibilities. For that he needs to be focused. And his main priority should be me. He doesn''t have time for your little flings. So, stop chasing him and annoy me."

    Rina clenched her fists. "I see. So that''s how you think of me?"

    Leiza''s lips pressed together, but she didn''t reply. The silence between them grew thick, heavy.

    For the first time, Rina didn''t have a witty remark or teasing comment. Instead, she exhaled sharply and walked ahead, catching up to Azzy without another word.

    Leiza bit her lip, watching her go. A strange feeling twisted in her chest, something she wasn''t used to. Guilt? No, she wouldn''t admit that.

    The rest of the walk was tense and quiet.

    As they reached the beach, the sight before them made Leiza gasp.

    Azzy''s sandcastle¡ªhis impressive 10-meter-wide creation¡ªwas ruined. Not just slightly damaged but almost completely destroyed. Large portions had crumbled, and footprints trampled what remained. It would take hours to repair.

    Azzy stared at it for a moment before simply saying, "It doesn''t matter."

    Leiza looked at him in disbelief, "Rael, someone clearly did this on purpose. It was Zack, isn''t he?"

    Azzy shrugged. "It was temporary anyway. Like all things. And don''t trouble him. Let it go." Without another word, he turned away and continued toward the resort.

    Leiza followed, frowning.

    Rina, still quiet from their earlier argument, cast a glance at the wrecked castle but didn''t say anything.

    Back at the resort, they found Ciesta and her team already there, relaxing in the lounge with their egg basket proudly displayed on the table.

    Ciesta grinned. "Took you long enough! We won, obviously."

    Leiza clicked her tongue in annoyance, but before she could reply, the doors opened, and Zack and Wendy finally arrived¡ªempty-handed.

    Zack looked exhausted, while Wendy just seemed mildly irritated.

    "You guys lost," Ciesta announced dramatically, pointing at them. "Which means... you have to help the staff make dinner!"

    Surprisingly, neither Zack nor Wendy protested.

    "Fine," Zack muttered.

    "I don''t mind," Wendy shrugged.

    Before anyone could react, Rina suddenly spoke up. "I''ll help too."

    Everyone looked at her in surprise, even Zack.

    Leiza frowned but said nothing.

    Rina didn''t explain herself. She just followed Zack and Wendy toward the kitchen.

    As Leiza watched her go, she knew that their conversation earlier had truly upset Rina.

    And for the first time, she felt a pang of regret, hurting her close friend like that.

    As the darkness loomed over the island, the lights illuminated the place.

    The pool area was illuminated by soft golden lights, music pulsed through the speakers, and laughter filled the air. The adolescent boys and girls enjoyed their night, sipping on drinks and splashing water at each other. The boys were shirtless, except for one¡ªAzzy. He was simply sitting there on a chair, enjoying a mocktail.

    Max and Nash, noticing this, couldn''t resist teasing him.

    "Yo, Azzy, what''s the deal?" Nash smirked. "Afraid of the water?"

    "Or don''t tell me¡ªyou don''t know how to swim?" Max added with a grin.

    Azzy sighed, clearly uninterested in their provocation. But seeing how everyone was staring, he relented. With one smooth motion, he pulled off his shirt.

    A hush fell over the girls.

    Even with the dim lighting, his perfectly sculpted abs and toned muscles were on full display. The way his physique glistened under the lights left an undeniable effect on everyone present.

    Rina practically bit her lip, unable to hide the heat rising in her cheeks.

    Leiza, despite herself, found her gaze lingering.

    Even Wendy and Ciesta had their eyes locked on him.

    Nash, feeling the shift in the atmosphere, grabbed his girlfriend. "Babe, you have a boyfriend here!"

    Ciesta scoffed and smacked his forehead. "Idiot! What are you thinking?"

    Ignoring the reactions, Azzy walked to the edge of the pool and dove in.

    Max whistled, watching the smooth motion. "Damn, perfect form!"

    Azzy emerged from the water, his hair slicked back, water dripping down his chiseled frame.

    Max swam up to him with a challenging grin. "Alright, hotshot. You got the form, but can you keep up? Let''s race."

    Azzy met his gaze and gave a small, knowing smile. "I''m okay."

    But the challenge was already set.

    As everyone climbed out of the pool to watch, the two lined up at one end.

    Ciesta raised her hand. "On my count¡ªthree... two... one¡ªGO!"

 Chapter 758: The world of Irth (part-24)

    Both boys pushed off the wall at the same time, cutting through the water with powerful strokes. Max was fast, but Azzy... he was something else. He was smooth, efficient, almost effortless.

    However, unknown to everyone, Azzy held back. He matched Max''s pace for most of the race, letting him stay just a little ahead.

    As they reached the final stretch, Azzy finally picked up speed. He surged forward, nearly catching up, but stopped just short of overtaking him.

    Max slapped the wall first.

    He won¡ªbarely.

    Panting, he turned to see Azzy emerging beside him, barely looking winded.

    There was a moment of silence before the reactions began.

    "Expected," Nash shrugged.

    "Still, that was so close!" Wendy remarked.

    "Rael almost had it in the end!" Rina added.

    Leiza narrowed her eyes, sensing something was off. Azzy didn''t even look like he had exerted himself.

    Max, however, had an ugly expression. They couldn''t see, but as a professional, how couldn''t he understand what happened? He knew Azzy had held back.

    But he couldn''t call him out on it.

    So, forcing a grin, he patted Azzy''s shoulder. "Not bad, man. You''re fast."

    Azzy just nodded, his usual calm demeanor unchanged.

    As Max caught his breath, Wendy waded over to him with a bright smile.

    "You were amazing," she praised, before pressing a soft kiss on his lips.

    Max''s earlier frustration melted away as he grinned and pulled her closer. "Of course, I was," he teased.

    The music shifted into a slower, rhythmic beat, and the two couples¡ªMax & Wendy and Nash & Ciesta¡ªstarted swaying together in the water, dancing under the warm glow of the lights.

    Azzy was about to step out of the pool when suddenly¡ª

    Leiza moved in front of him.

    Without hesitation, she placed her arms around his neck, pulling him into the dance.

    Azzy blinked in surprise.

    Her violet eyes met his, daring him to pull away.

    Azzy glanced around. The others were watching, and if he refused, it might embarrass her. He sighed internally and placed his hands lightly on her waist, allowing her to lead the dance.

    Leiza smirked slightly, satisfied.

    Their bodies moved in sync, floating gently in the water. The soft glow of the lights reflected in her wet hair, and for a moment, she looked... different. Relaxed. Almost happy.

    On the other side of the pool, Rina and Zack were watching¡ªboth wearing equally ugly expressions.

    Rina''s fingers clenched into fists under the water. She was trying to be patient, but seeing Leiza take Azzy like this, dancing so naturally in his arms, made something burn inside her.

    Zack, meanwhile, gritted his teeth. He had already endured enough today, but seeing Leiza get close to him¡ªhe couldn''t stand it.

    Neither of them said anything. But their eyes held the same thought:

    This wasn''t over.

    *

    The warm scent of grilled fish, spiced meats, and tropical fruits filled the air as Wendy finished setting up the long dinner table under the open sky. The others were still gathered near the pool, laughing and talking, completely unaware of what was happening in the kitchen.

    Rina wiped her hands on a cloth and exchanged a glance with Zack. It was time.

    "Wendy," she called out sweetly. "Can you go tell everyone dinner''s ready?"

    Wendy, unaware of anything suspicious, nodded and left.

    As soon as she was gone, Rina reached into her handbag and pulled out a small vial. Inside was a clear liquid¡ªcolorless, odorless, but dangerously potent.

    Zack furrowed his brows as she pulled the cap off an injection. "Are you sure about this?" he asked, watching as she filled the syringe.

    Rina scoffed. "Of course. I use this every week. Trust me, the dosage is enough." She flicked the needle, releasing a tiny drop, before leaning over the steaming pot of seaweed soup. Carefully, she injected the liquid into the broth, letting the drug mix with the swirling greens.

    Zack frowned slightly. "But there''s so much soup. Won''t it get too diluted?"

    Rina smirked. "That''s the beauty of it. It doesn''t need to be concentrated. Once it''s in their system, it''ll heighten their senses. Lower their inhibitions. Tonight, Rael will be mine."

    Her fingers curled into fists as she thought about Leiza. That arrogant bitch, always acting superior. How dare she try to control her? To tell her who she could and couldn''t have?

    Rina turned to Zack, her eyes gleaming with malice. "And you," she whispered, "can do whatever you want with Leiza. She will be at your mercy. But, make sure to leave an evidence behind."

    Zack''s breath hitched slightly at her words. "You meant the video?"

    "Make sure to take it," Rina said darkly. "Once we have it, she''ll have no choice but to keep her mouth shut. She won''t be able to afford a scandal. Not when she''s so close to inheriting everything."

    Zack hesitated for only a second before a twisted excitement flashed in his eyes.

    Rina smiled, feeling victorious already.

    Tonight, she would get what she wanted. And Leiza¡ª

    Leiza would finally learn her place.

    *

    Dinner was lively, filled with laughter, conversations, and the clinking of glasses under the warm glow of lanterns. The ocean breeze carried the scent of grilled seafood and tropical fruit across the open-air dining area.

    Azzy ate in his usual calm manner, noticing the smirks exchanged between Rina and Zack as they watched everyone consume the seaweed soup¡ªeveryone except for them. However, he acted as if he didn''t see it, to see where this will go.

    At first, nothing seemed unusual.

    But then, one by one, the changes began.

    Ciesta giggled uncontrollably, her face flushed as she leaned into Nash. Wendy''s laughter turned into slow, sensual movements as she ran her fingers over Max''s chest before pulling him into a deep kiss. Nash, grinning lazily, wrapped an arm around Ciesta and pulled her closer. The couples were just making out in the open, without even bothering to go for privacy or care about their surroundings.

    Azzy blinked as Leiza suddenly clung to him, her body pressing tightly against his.

    "Rael..." she murmured, her voice husky and eyes hazy.

    He stiffened as he felt the warmth of her body against his, her soft curves pressing into him. Something wasn''t right.

    Leiza''s fingers traced along his arm, her breath warm against his neck. "You''re always so distant..." she whispered, looking up at him with half-lidded eyes.

    Azzy didn''t react. He wasn''t affected by whatever was happening. His mind remained clear.

    His sharp eyes flickered across the table.

    His gaze landed on Rina and Zack, who sat at the edge, untouched bowls of soup in front of them. They were watching the scene unfold with too much amusement, too much satisfaction. However, to play it out, he acted all hazy, just like the others.

    It was then, with a sudden movement, Zack grabbed her arm, yanking her away from Azzy.

    "Come on, dance with me, Leiza," Zack said smoothly, pulling her toward him. Leiza, her vision hazy, frowned slightly and struggled, but the drug made her weak.

    At the same time, Rina took advantage of the separation and slid up to Azzy.

    "Let''s go somewhere quieter," she whispered seductively, fingers tracing down his arm.

 Chapter 759: The world of Irth (part-25)

    Azzy allowed her to lead him a few steps away from the others. Then, in an instant, he moved.

    A swift chop to the side of her neck¡ªsilent and precise.

    Rina''s eyes widened in shock before her body went limp, collapsing into his arms. Azzy caught her gently and placed her on the floor, ensuring she wouldn''t get hurt before turning his focus back to Leiza.

    She was struggling as Zack was carrying her toward the stairs, his intentions clear.

    Azzy narrowed his eyes. He shrank his body instantly, turning into the size of a mosquito, and flew after them unnoticed.

    By the time Zack shoved open a bedroom door and threw Leiza onto the bed, Azzy had already landed inside.

    Zack, panting slightly, smirked as he reached for her dress.

    That was the final cue Azzy needed to act.

    In an instant, Azzy appeared behind him, his full size returning as he materialized from thin air.

    Zack froze, feeling the air shift. He turned around, his eyes widening in horror as he met Azzy''s cold, emotionless gaze.

    "You... How¡ª?"

    Zack threw a punch in desperation.

    Azzy didn''t flinch.

    He simply raised his hand and delivered a single, powerful slap across Zack''s face.

    The impact sent Zack flying across the room, crashing into the wall with a loud thud. He groaned, sliding to the floor, dazed and injured.

    Azzy ignored him. He walked over to Leiza, who lay on the bed, giggling softly in her dazed state.

    He lifted her gently into his arms.

    Leiza snuggled into him, murmuring incoherent words as he carried her out of the room, leaving Zack groaning on the floor.

    As Azzy walked through the dimly lit hallways, Leiza clung to him, her body warm against his.

    She giggled, running her fingers over his chest as she slurred, "You''re so... strong..."

    Azzy ignored her, focusing on getting her safely to her room.

    "I just wanna¡ª" she hiccupped, "tear that stupid shirt off you and caress your abs..."

    Azzy''s lips twitched in amusement, but he remained silent.

    Leiza lazily opened her eyes, staring up at him. "You know... I''ve never met a boy like you. So big... so strong... so caring... so talented... and still... still so handsome."

    Azzy sighed. She was completely out of it.

    She kept mumbling, her fingers gripping his shirt. "Why do you even wait for that girl who doesn''t want you? You can get any girl you want..."

    Azzy glanced down at her. He had no idea where this was coming from, but she wasn''t done.

    "Girls love bad boys," she continued, "but only if they don''t have a shitty personality. And you''re... you''re just perfect. Strong, handsome, and..." She trailed off before laughing softly, resting her head against his chest.

    Azzy remained quiet as he finally reached her room and carefully placed her on the bed. He pulled the blanket over her, brushing a strand of hair away from her face.

    As he turned to leave, she suddenly stirred.

    "It''s... so hot..." Leiza mumbled, her fingers fumbling at the straps of her dress.

    Azzy froze. His eyes darted to her face, but her gaze was unfocused, her body still under the influence of the drug.

    He knew this wasn''t truly her¡ªit was the substance controlling her actions.

    Still, his body reacted. He was human, after all.

    Leiza''s dress slipped slightly, revealing more of her smooth, bare skin.

    Azzy clenched his fists and turned away, forcing himself to leave.

    But before he could take a step, she suddenly grabbed his wrist.

    Her grip was weak but desperate.

    Before he could react, she pulled his arm, hugging it tightly against her chest. "Stay with me. This is an order... order... stay..."

    Azzy inhaled sharply as he felt the softness of her bare skin pressing against him. A wave of heat surged through his body, the natural instinct of lust awakening despite his best efforts to suppress it.

    His mind screamed at him to move.

    Instead, he shut his eyes tightly.

    He forced himself into meditation, activating his mental discipline to block out his body''s urges.

    His heartbeat slowed.

    His breathing steadied.

    The fire of desire inside him began to cool.

    After a few moments, he carefully pried Leiza''s arms off of him and tucked her under the blanket.

    Without another glance, he left the room, closing the door behind him.

    Outside, he exhaled.

    This night was dangerous¡ªfor more reasons than one.

    *

    The morning light filtered through the curtains, casting a soft glow over the room. Leiza groggily opened her eyes, feeling warmth against her body.

    As her senses awakened, she realized something¡ªher arms were wrapped around something firm.

    Her fingers twitched, feeling hard muscle beneath her grasp.

    Then, she noticed it¡ªAzzy''s hand was caught between her breasts.

    Her eyes widened in horror.

    Azzy was on the floor beside the bed, seemingly asleep, but his arm was still trapped in her embrace.

    Leiza''s entire face turned red. "What the hell happened?!"

    Carefully, she freed his arm and quickly pulled the sheets over herself.

    As soon as she let go, Azzy''s eyes flickered open. He calmly sat up and rolled his shoulder, massaging his arm.

    "Finally," he muttered. "You wouldn''t let go all night."

    Leiza''s embarrassment turned to shock. "W-What?!"

    Azzy looked at her with his usual composed expression. "Good morning."

    Leiza yanked the sheets tighter around her body. "Don''t ''good morning'' me! What the hell happened last night?" she demanded.

    She tried to recall the events, but her memory was a haze of heat, dizziness, and... Azzy carrying her?

    "How did we end up like this? And why did everyone act like they were drunk?!" she questioned. Then, as more fragments of memory returned, her expression darkened. "Wait... Zack. That bastard! He¡ª"

    Azzy sighed and leaned against the bed. "Yeah. Zack drugged the seaweed soup with ecstasy. Everyone lost control except me."

    Leiza clenched her fists, fury burning in her eyes. She finally remembered Zack dragging her somewhere... trying to¡ª

    "Where is that bastard?!" she growled.

    Azzy stretched his arm and responded casually, "Tied up on the balcony."

    Leiza blinked. "What?"

    Azzy gestured towards the sliding glass door. "I knocked him out and restrained him. He''s been there since last night. Probably frozen or dehydrated? I don''t know his current status."

    Leiza threw off the blanket, still wrapped in the sheet, and stormed toward the balcony. Her rage was just beginning.

 Chapter 760: The world of Irth (part-26)

    After a while;

    The atmosphere in the lounge was tense. Zack was forced to kneel, his head bowed and a fresh red handprint marking his cheek.

    Everyone surrounded him, their expressions filled with anger and disgust.

    Rina stood nearby in silence, her heart pounding in panic. Will he sell me out?

    But Zack remained loyal to her.

    Taking a deep breath, he clenched his fists and spoke.

    "I... I like Leiza," he admitted, his voice hoarse. "But she''s too hard to get close to. I thought if I could break through her defenses, she''d see me differently. That''s why I... I stole the injection from Rina''s bag and used it."

    Rina nearly gasped, but she bit her tongue. "He''s covering for me..." She thought, although she wondered why. She doesn''t know what Zack went through the night. He definitely doesn''t want to implicate her now that he understands the potential consequences. And unlike him, Rina''s background is a bit weak to face Leiza''s wrath too, now that there is no substance they had for any kind of blackmail.

    Zack lowered his head even further. "I know I screwed up. I shouldn''t have done it. I let my emotions take over and did something horrible." He looked directly at Leiza. "I''m sorry. Please... just give me one chance to make up for it. I promise¡ªI will never do anything like this again."

    The room fell into a heavy silence.

    Then¡ª

    THWACK!

    Leiza''s foot connected with Zack''s face, sending him sprawling onto the floor.

    Everyone flinched.

    Zack groaned, holding his face, but he didn''t retaliate. He knew he deserved it.

    Leiza stood over him, her body trembling with fury. "Don''t ever show your face in front of me again," she spat. "If I see you near me or my friends, I swear, I''ll do something I might regret. And I''m sparing out of my friendship with Rini, not because your father is a fucking mayor."

    No one spoke.

    Leiza turned on her heel and stormed toward the exit. "This vacation is over," she announced coldly. "Everyone pack your things. We''re leaving."

    Wendy, Ciesta, and Max exchanged glances before nodding. They knew better than to argue.

    As the group began to move, Rina hesitated. Then, she stepped forward.

    "I... I''m really sorry for Zack," she said, bowing slightly. "I''ll make sure he understands how badly he messed up. I''ll stay behind and punish him more."

    Leiza shot her a look, but she didn''t say anything. With a final glance at Zack''s pitiful state, she turned away and walked out.

    One by one, the others followed.

    The vacation was over¡ªbut the consequences of this night would linger far longer.

    The journey back was suffocatingly silent.

    Leiza sat with her earbuds in, listening to music, her expression unreadable. She didn''t acknowledge anyone¡ªnot even her closest friends.

    Azzy, on the other hand, remained indifferent. He gazed out the window, quietly appreciating the changing scenery. At least we''re leaving early...

    When the plane landed, Ciesta hesitated before trying to speak. "Leiza¡ª"

    But Leiza didn''t respond. Without sparing a glance at anyone, she strode toward the sleek black car waiting on the runway.

    Azzy followed behind, expression calm as always. The others could only watch as the car door shut behind them, carrying Leiza and Azzy away.

    Upon arriving at the grand estate, Leiza stepped out without a word and headed straight for the house.

    "Leiza¡ª" a deep voice interrupted.

    Her uncle stood there, arms crossed, his piercing gaze observing her.

    She barely spared him a glance. "I''m tired, Uncle. Excuse me." Her tone was short, and without waiting for a response, she rushed past him toward her room.

    Azzy stopped, sighing internally. He turned to Leiza''s uncle and gave a short bow. "Sir, I should explain¡ª"

    As Azzy recounted the events, Leiza''s uncle''s face darkened.

    "That little bastard..." His voice was a low growl. His eyes flared with rage. "Does Zack think he can do as he pleases just because his father is a mayor?"

    His hands clenched into fists.

    "No one¡ªno one¡ªdares offend my family and walks away unscathed. Neither the brat nor his fucking father." His voice was ice-cold, laced with deadly intent.

    Azzy simply stood there, emotionless. He had expected this reaction.

    *

    Soon after, Azzy reached Leiza''s room, sensing the weight of her emotions even before he knocked. He had expected her to ignore him, to bury herself in solitude, but to his surprise, the door clicked open almost immediately. Without a word, she walked back inside and collapsed onto the sofa, hugging her knees.

    Azzy stepped in cautiously, closing the door behind him. He sat beside her, studying her tense expression before gently patting her arm. His voice was calm, steady. "It''s over. Nothing happened to you. Just breathe."

    But Leiza shook her head, biting her lip as her eyes welled up with tears. She had held herself together in front of everyone else, but now, in the safety of her own space, the dam broke. Her voice trembled as she spoke, each word laced with bitterness and betrayal.

    "I trusted Rina... She was one of the few real friends I had. And she¡ª" She choked on her words, wiping her tears aggressively. "I knew she was behind it. After I warned her to stay away from you, she looked at me like she wanted to rip me apart. And now... because of that bitch, I don''t know if I can trust anyone again." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I don''t even want to go on vacations anymore."

    Azzy remained quiet for a moment, letting her vent her emotions. Then, with his usual calmness, he said, "Life is like refining gold, Leiza. Gold is valuable, but to become something beautiful¡ªan accessory¡ªit has to endure fire. It has to melt completely before it can take shape. You should be more vigilant, yes, but don''t let this incident distance you from the people who have done nothing wrong to you. Don''t let one betrayal make you distrust everyone."

    Leiza sniffled, staring down at her hands as she absorbed his words. Then, slowly, she wiped her face and took a deep breath. "Thank you," she muttered, her voice steadier than before.

    Azzy smiled slightly. "Go freshen up. We can go out after noon and spend the weekend however you like."

    Leiza blinked, caught off guard. Her lips curled into a small smirk as she turned to him. "Are you asking me out on a date?"

    Azzy met her gaze with his usual neutral expression. "Not exactly a date. Just an outing."

    Leiza let out a soft laugh and stood up as if her mood had already recovered a lot. "Alright then. I''ll be ready."

    The same evening;

    The city stretched out beneath them, a dazzling sea of lights that pulsed with life. Azzy and Leiza sat at the edge of Radiant Tower, the tallest building in the city, their legs dangling over the side as the wind ruffled their hair. Around them, an assortment of snacks lay scattered¡ªchips, chocolate bars, a bottle of soda¡ªremnants of an unplanned but strangely comforting night out.

    Leiza lay back against the cool steel surface, her arms stretched out beside her, staring up at the vast night sky. A soft, contented smile played on her lips. "It''s peaceful up here," she murmured.

    Azzy, still sitting upright, glanced at her before shifting to lie beside her. "It is."

 Chapter 761: The world of Irth (part-27)

    For a while, they just listened to the distant hum of the city. Then, Leiza broke the silence.

    "You know, I was five... when I lost my parents." Her voice was calm, but there was a weight to it. She didn''t look at him as she spoke, her gaze locked on the stars above. "We were on a trip. I wanted ice cream, so my dad changed the route. Just fifteen minutes later, as we were leaving a flyover, a truck hit us."

    She paused, her fingers curling slightly against the metal floor. "My parents didn''t make it. Only I did... barely. I was in the ICU for days. It was one of the most painful days I ever had..." As if she went in a daze, she continued, "And that night, I had this weird dream that kinda haunted me for years."

    Azzy became intrigued. He urged her to go on.

    Her voice grew quieter, almost hesitant. "I saw... a figure. I don''t know what it was. It wasn''t human, but it wasn''t terrifying either. Just... there."

    She suddenly stopped, shaking her head. "It''s a stupid childhood memory. Doesn''t matter now."

    Azzy turned his head slightly to look at her. Her expression had shifted¡ªshe was forcing herself to smile, but there was something distant in her eyes, something unresolved.

    He didn''t press her. Instead, he let the silence settle between them again, only the wind and the city''s murmur filling the space. Some wounds, he knew, weren''t meant to be pried open. They simply needed time.

    Leiza let out a small laugh, as if shaking off the heaviness of the moment. "Anyway, enough about the past. We''re here to enjoy the night, right?"

    Azzy nodded. "Right."

    And so, they lay there, staring at the night sky, two souls suspended between the past and the present, surrounded by a city that never stopped moving.

    *

    For a while, they talk about various things. However, their conversation interrupted as her brows furrowed, her lips parted slightly, and she pointed toward the sky.

    "What is that?" she asked.

    Azzy followed her gaze. Something was descending toward them¡ªfast. His eyes narrowed, sharpening his vision to make out the approaching figure. The aura it emitted was unlike anything natural in this world. It had the unmistakable appearance of a fallen angel¡ªdark, ethereal wings, a humanoid form that radiated power, and an unsettling presence that sent a chill down the spine.

    Without hesitation, Azzy grabbed Leiza''s hand. "We need to go."

    Leiza gasped as he pulled her to her feet and rushed toward the exit. "Rael, what¡ª?"

    There was no time to explain. They burst through the terrace gate, and Azzy quickly led her behind the metallic door, pressing himself against the cold surface as he listened. His instincts screamed that engaging right now wasn''t an option. His Soul Orb was completely sealed with the Decarune Seal, erasing any traces of soul energy within him.

    Then, suddenly, he did something unexpected.

    He wrapped his arms around Leiza and pulled her close.

    Her breath hitched in surprise. She had never been held like this before¡ªso firm, so protective, so intense. Her cheek was pressed against his chest, and she could hear his heartbeat¡ªstrong, steady, yet... faster than she expected.

    Her own heart pounded wildly. Was he scared? Was he protecting her? Or was this something else?

    In reality, what she perceived as an elevated heartbeat was simply the difference between their worlds. Here, an average human''s heartbeat ranged between 50-60 beats per minute, but where Azzy came from, the standard was closer to 80 bpm.

    She doesn''t know that. She only felt like the other party''s heart is beating faster. And the warmth of his body, the firmness of his muscles against her, and the scent of his sweat that traveled from his neck to his chest made her feel an unbearable heat rising inside her.

    She wanted something¡ªsomething irrational.

    Her fingers twitched as she fought the inexplicable urge to tear off his shirt and feel every inch of him beneath her touch. Her mind screamed at her to stop, and her body was fighting against her urges.

    Azzy, completely unaware of the turmoil in her thoughts, remained still, listening intently for any sign of danger. The fallen angel''s presence still loomed nearby, but for now, it had not detected them.

    Leiza, on the other hand, had never felt more confused in her entire life.

    Meanwhile, the fallen angel descended onto the rooftop. His wings, black as the void, spread wide before folding behind him as he stepped onto the concrete. His glowing red eyes scanned the surroundings, his brow furrowing in frustration.

    Azzy held his breath. Leiza, still pressed against him, was trembling slightly, her fingers unconsciously gripping his shirt.

    Abaddon, the fallen angel, exhaled through his nose and muttered to himself in a normal tone, "It was just two mortals... embracing?"

    His lips curled slightly in amusement. "Tch. I must have been mistaken. The scent of an angel was faint, but it was here. And now... it is gone."

    He turned away, the tension in the air beginning to fade. Azzy remained completely still, even as he felt Leiza''s shaky breaths against him.

    But then, just as Abaddon was about to leave, he halted.

    Slowly, he turned his head back toward the metallic door where they were hidden. A grin stretched across his face¡ªsubtle but unsettling.

    For a moment, it felt as if his gaze could pierce through the walls, through the darkness, through everything.

    Then, just as suddenly as he arrived, he spread his wings and took off into the night sky, vanishing from sight.

    Azzy didn''t move. He waited until the oppressive aura had completely disappeared. Only then did he exhale quietly and release his grip on Leiza.

    Leiza stumbled back slightly, her breaths still uneven. "R-Rael... What was that?"

    Her voice was filled with confusion, fear, and something else¡ªan emotion she wasn''t sure how to describe.

    Azzy, always composed, quickly formulated a response. He couldn''t tell her the truth. Not yet.

    "I thought it was a robotic soldier," he said, brushing off the tension. "One of those high-tech units used by certain organizations. I''ve made my fair share of enemies."

    Leiza blinked. "Robotic soldiers?"

    Azzy nodded. "They''re like unmanned drones, but for ground operations. Only a few groups have access to them because of how expensive they are. Makes sense they''d send one after me."

    Leiza frowned. "What did you do that such a high tech weapon is being used against you?"

    Azzy avoided her gaze. "It doesn''t matter. It''s gone now."

    She narrowed her eyes, clearly sensing that he wasn''t telling her everything. But for now, she let it go.

    Azzy turned toward the exit. "Come on. Let''s get out of here."

    Leiza hesitated for a moment, still feeling the heat from his embrace, still shaken by the eerie encounter. Then, without another word, she followed him.

    As Azzy and Leiza stepped away from the rooftop, the tension from their encounter still lingered between them. They descended the stairs in silence and soon found themselves walking along the quiet city streets.

    The air was crisp, carrying the faint scent of street food and the distant hum of late-night traffic. Leiza''s heartbeat, which had been wild moments ago, had finally begun to settle. Yet, her mind remained restless.

    Her eyes drifted to Azzy''s hand, swinging naturally by his side. A sudden thought crossed her mind¡ªshould she hold it?

    A simple action, yet it felt impossibly difficult. Her fingers twitched slightly as she debated within herself. Would he pull away? Would he mind?

    Just as she was mustering the courage to reach out, Azzy suddenly stopped.

    His entire demeanor changed. His posture stiffened, his jaw tightened, and his eyes became sharp and focused.

    Leiza looked up at him in confusion. "Azzy?"

    He didn''t respond immediately. Instead, he mumbled under his breath, his voice barely above a whisper.

    "...An illusionary realm?"

    Leiza''s brows furrowed. "What?"

    Before she could process his words, the world around them twisted. The buildings, the roads, the faint glow of streetlights¡ªeverything warped and melted away like a mirage dissolving under the sun.

    The comforting city night was gone.

    In its place stretched an endless, barren wasteland. The sky turned into a swirling abyss of dark crimson, and the ground beneath them was nothing but cracked, blackened soil, devoid of life.

    Leiza''s breath hitched. Her entire body froze.

    A sharp gust of wind swept past them, carrying with it a suffocating pressure, as a dark figure descended from the sky.

 Chapter 762: The world of Irth (part-28)

    Abaddon''s wings stretched wide, casting an imposing shadow over them. His crimson eyes burned with amusement as he observed them.

    Leiza screamed involuntarily, watching the terrifying creature that appeared in front of her eyes.

    She instinctively grabbed onto Azzy''s arm, her fingers almost trying to dig into him as she trembled. "What in the hell is going on?!"

    Abaddon grinned, his sharp fangs barely visible as he tilted his head. "You thought you could fool me by suppressing your strength?" he mused, his voice smooth yet dripping with malice. "Your divine essence is a dead giveaway."

    Azzy''s expression remained cold and unreadable. He instinctively placed himself in front of Leiza, shielding her from Abaddon''s gaze.

    "She has nothing to do with this," Azzy said calmly. "Let her go."

    Abaddon''s grin widened. "An angel forming a close bond with a human? How... fascinating."

    His piercing eyes locked onto Leiza, who was visibly trembling behind Azzy.

    "Tell me, little mortal... what makes you so special?"

    Leiza could barely breathe. Her legs felt weak, her body paralyzed with terror. This wasn''t just some ''robotic soldier'' like Azzy had claimed before¡ªthis was something else.

    And for the first time, she truly realized...

    Azzy had been lying to her.

    He wasn''t just some strong, mysterious boy, tied to some mysterious organization. He was something else entirely.

    Azzy exhaled deeply. He had wanted to avoid this. He had wanted to keep his true nature hidden for as long as possible, but now¡ªthere was no choice.

    A radiant glow enveloped his body.

    Six pairs of feathery golden wings burst forth from his back, spanning majestically as a divine light surrounded him. His golden halo, faint but undeniable, shimmered above his head. His dark clothing shifted into silver-white robes embroidered with celestial patterns.

    Azzy had transformed.

    "A Seraphim, eh?" Abaddon raised his eyebrow. "Now, that''s interesting."

    Meanwhile, Leiza''s breath caught in her throat. Her hands trembled as she took an instinctive step back. This wasn''t just some secret ability. This wasn''t just ''Azzy being strong.''

    This was something entirely beyond her understanding.

    Her mind screamed at her to make sense of it, but all she could do was stare at him in sheer disbelief. "An Angel? As in the Angel from Torah? Those things exist for real?"

    Abaddon flexed his wings and smirked. "But... you''re not strong enough to capture me. You aren''t even an ascendant (demigod)... You think you can go against me, Abaddon? That''s beyond funny."

    Azzy didn''t respond. He didn''t need to.

    The sword of light materialized in his grasp, its radiant blade humming with divine energy.

    And then¡ªhe moved.

    Faster than even Abaddon could track.

    SHING!

    A sharp, blinding arc of light slashed across the air.

    For a moment, everything seemed still.

    Then¡ªblood spilled.

    A deep gash tore across Abaddon''s chest.

    The fallen angel staggered back, eyes widening in shock. He clutched the wound, watching as golden energy burned at his flesh, refusing to let the injury heal.

    Azzy stood there, silent. His glowing eyes unreadable. His sword still humming with power.

    For the first time in centuries... Abaddon felt true fear. "You... that sword... It''s impossible. How does an Olympian''s sword of light is in the hands of a Seraphim?" He shouted.

    Azzy didn''t reply and pressed forward. Every strike of his blade carried divine energy, searing into Abaddon''s flesh even through his defenses. His attacks were relentless, and the fallen angel had no choice but to remain on the defensive. The world law that repressed his strength to demigod level only made it worse.

    Crack!

    A streak of divine lightning surged down from the sky, striking Abaddon square in the chest. He roared in pain, his dark energy wavering.

    And then¡ªSHING!

    A clean slice.

    One of his wings fell to the ground.

    Abaddon gritted his teeth, fury glowing in his red eyes. "You think... this is enough to bring me down?"

    A dark aura exploded from his body, warping the very fabric of reality. His form shifted¡ªhis beautiful, fallen angelic appearance burned away to reveal his true demonic nature.

    His horns extended. His eyes became pits of molten darkness. His body expanded, covered in layers of obsidian-black armor, pulsating with dark energy. He managed to break through the world laws, pushing the limit of his strength that he can use to the elementary god realm aka the transcendant realm.

    And with a single command, he summoned his army.

    The ground trembled.

    From the depths of the abyss, corpses rose.

    Some were monstrous, grotesque beings with rotting flesh and jagged claws. Others bore armor and weapons, remnants of warriors who had fallen long ago¡ªnow twisted into demonic creatures.

    Among them¡ªAzzy spotted a familiar face.

    Captain Astro.

    His once-proud golden armor was now tainted with shadow, his glowing eyes replaced with eerie black pits.

    Azzy grimaced. "You even corrupted him...?"

    Abaddon laughed. "Tens of thousands of years of war... I''ve gathered quite a collection."

    But Azzy didn''t flinch.

    His dark eyes burned brighter as he whispered, "I don''t lose in numbers either."

    "Soul skill: Rise of the Undead."

    From the depths of space and time, Reaper''s power surged forth.

    A massive gate of bones emerged behind him, cracking open.

    From within¡ªbeasts of legend emerged.

    Colossal, demigod-level creatures that Azzy had personally slain in the Forbidden Zone. The undead dragons, titanic war beasts, and monstrous creatures¡ªall under his command.

    The two armies clashed.

    BOOM!

    A shockwave tore through the battlefield.

    Azzy''s undead warriors tore through the demonic army with overwhelming force. The undead Fenrir crushed Abaddon''s corrupted warriors with a single swipe of its claw. The undead Hydra unleashed its soul skills one after another to destroy bunch of them in single swoop.

    Within minutes¡ªAbaddon''s forces were annihilated.

    Abaddon growled. His demonic aura pulsed violently.

    "Enough!"

    He lunged at Azzy¡ªhis final, desperate attempt to turn the battle.

    But just before their blades met¡ª

    He disappeared.

    Azzy''s eyes widened.

    In the blink of an eye¡ªAbaddon reappeared beside Leiza.

    She had been frozen in place the entire time, unable to comprehend the battle before her.

    She never even saw it coming.

    Abaddon smirked, placing a hand on her shoulder. Dark energy flooded into her body.

    Azzy''s heart dropped.

    "Let her go!" he demanded, his voice sharp with warning.

    Abaddon grinned. "Too late."

    Black tendrils coiled around Leiza''s soul¡ªthe Seed of the Fallen.

    Azzy''s eyes flared with divine power. The Hourglass of Time appeared in his hand, its white sand shimmering.

    He would reverse time. He would fix this.

    But¡ª

    "It won''t work, Azrael."

    Reaper''s voice echoed in his mind.

    Azzy froze. "What?"

    "If you reverse time, her body will be restored¡ªbut the Seed of the Fallen has already invaded her soul. She will die the moment time resets."

    A deep, burning rage ignited within Azzy''s chest.

    Abaddon chuckled. "Now, what will you do, little Guardian?"

    Azzy clenched his fists. His entire body trembled. His aura flared¡ªshaking the very realm itself.

    And then¡ª

    He let go.

    He let go of all control.

    His ultimate form received from Jupiter''s essence was awakened.

    Titan Form: Activation.

    A blinding golden light erupted from Azzy''s body. The air itself trembled as an enormous divine armor, a hundred meters tall, materialized around him. Sparks of lightning traversed from its head to the feet.

    And then¡ªit merged into his body.

    Azzy''s strength skyrocketed beyond mortal comprehension.

    Abaddon barely had time to react.

    Azzy moved.

    BOOM!

    One punch.

    Just one punch.

    Azzy''s fist connected with Abaddon''s face at speeds that shattered the sound barrier.

    His head turned into blood pulp.

    A deafening silence followed.

    The demonic army¡ªvanished into dust.

    The blackened sky¡ªcleared.

    And Azzy... stood there, his golden aura burning like a second sun.

 Chapter 763: The world of Irth (part-29)

    Azzy knelt beside Leiza, his golden aura flickering as he looked down at her trembling form. Her breath came in short, shallow gasps, her eyes wide with shock and confusion. Her body was paralyzed, not from fear but from the dark corruption that had invaded her soul. The Seed of the Fallen was spreading within her, devouring her life force, inch by inch.

    Her once vibrant skin was turning an eerie shade of pale, and an ominous aura of death clung to her like an unshakable shadow. Each breath she took seemed weaker than the last, and her lips quivered as if she wanted to say something¡ªbut she couldn''t. Even her voice was slipping away.

    Azzy gritted his teeth. He would never forgive himself if the client he promised to protect died because of him.

    "Chronos..." His voice was strained, desperate. "There has to be a way."

    The ancient entity within him remained silent for a moment, as if contemplating something. And then, in that cold, emotionless tone, it finally spoke.

    "Merge the Eye of Odin with her."

    Azzy''s breath hitched. He hadn''t expected that. The Eye of Odin was an ancient artifact, a divine relic that had the power to bestow immense wisdom and insight¡ªbut it came with a price. It was never meant for a mortal body. It would rewrite her existence, reshape her soul.

    "She won''t remain human," the Reaper continued. "She will transcend into a divine entity, just like you."

    Azzy didn''t even hesitate. This was his fault.

    Leiza had been nothing more than an innocent girl caught up in a war she never asked for. He had dragged her into this world of angels and demons, of celestial beings and ancient powers. If she had stayed ignorant, if she had never met him¡ªshe wouldn''t be on the brink of death right now.

    He clenched his fists. He had to fix this.

    "Do it," Azzy said, his voice unwavering. "Save her."

    A surge of energy erupted from his body as the Eye of Odin manifested before him. A golden, radiant orb floated between his hands, pulsating with divine energy. It was an artifact that could reshape destiny itself¡ªbut it was also a burden. Once merged, it would forever alter the soul of its wielder.

    Azzy placed the glowing orb against Leiza''s chest. Immediately, golden runes spread across her body like living veins of light, creeping along her skin, embedding themselves into her very essence.

    She let out a small gasp, her body shuddering violently.

    Her soul was changing.

    The dark corruption that had been eating away at her was now being devoured by something far stronger. The Seed of the Fallen¡ªthe very thing that had doomed her¡ªwas being obliterated, replaced by something entirely new.

    Her human limits were being erased.

    Her existence was being rewritten.

    Azzy watched as her body glowed brighter, her transformation accelerating. But he wasn''t done. There was one more thing he had to do.

    He reached into his own soul orb and summoned a creature that had long been dormant within him¡ªThe Thousand-Faced Spider.

    A platinum-grade Arcana beast.

    He had barely used it since acquiring it, considering it to be of little use compared to his more powerful abilities. But now... it could serve her.

    Following the Reaper''s guidance, Azzy channeled his energy, directing the Thousand-Faced Spider''s essence into Leiza''s newly forming soul orb.

    A surge of power erupted from her body.

    Her fingers twitched.

    Her breathing steadied.

    Several hours later;

    Leiza stirred awake, the soft warmth of her bed comforting yet oddly unfamiliar. Her body felt light¡ªtoo light, as if she were floating just above the mattress rather than resting on it.

    For a brief moment, she thought everything that had happened the previous night had been nothing but a nightmare. Maybe she had simply fallen asleep at the Radiant Tower. Maybe none of it was real.

    But then the memories surged back like a flood, crashing into her mind all at once. The illusionary realm. The battle. Abaddon. The terrifying moment when darkness had consumed her. The sensation of her soul being torn apart.

    Her eyes snapped open, her breathing quick and shallow. Something inside her felt... different. It was like an energy she had never experienced before¡ªsomething powerful, something alien.

    Before she could fully process it, an overwhelming surge of power erupted from within her.

    Instinctively, she thrust out a hand.

    A blast of golden-white energy shot from her palm, crackling like divine lightning as it tore through the space in front of her. The very air trembled from its force.

    And then¡ªAzzy moved.

    In a fraction of a second, he was there, standing before the blast, his palm raised. The energy slammed into his hand, but instead of burning through him, it dispersed instantly, vanishing as if it had never existed.

    Leiza gasped, her eyes wide with horror. She stared at her hand, then back at him, panic creeping up her spine.

    "Wh¡ªwhat was that!?" she stammered.

    Azzy lowered his hand and let out a small sigh. His expression remained calm, but his eyes studied her carefully. He had expected this.

    "Leiza," he said in a soothing voice, stepping toward her. "Calm down."

    Her breathing was still ragged, her pulse pounding in her ears. She had just fired something from her own hands. A blast of energy¡ªnot something mechanical, not a weapon, but her own power.

    She clutched her chest. "What''s happening to me?"

    Azzy sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at her. His gaze wasn''t one of pity, but neither was it reassuring. It was simply honest.

    "What do you remember about last night?" he asked.

    Leiza pressed a hand to her temple, trying to think through the haze in her mind. She had been so close to death. She had felt the darkness creeping inside her, suffocating her, swallowing her whole.

    Then¡ªnothing.

    Her voice quivered. "I remember... we were stranded in some illusionary realm." She took a deep breath. "Then a demon came¡ªAbaddon." Her hands clenched into fists. "You fought him. And then... I was dying."

    She lifted her eyes to meet his.

    "What happened after that?"

    Azzy exhaled slowly. He had known this conversation was inevitable, but that didn''t make it any easier.

    He stood up and took a step back. Then, without a word, he revealed his wings.

    Brilliant, ethereal feathers of radiant silver and gold emerged from his back, spreading wide. A celestial glow surrounded him, making him seem almost otherworldly.

    Leiza''s breath caught in her throat. She felt like she was staring at something unreal¡ªsomething divine.

    Leiza swallowed hard. She pointed at him, her fingers trembling. "You''re not human... are you?"

    Azzy shook his head. "No."

    Her entire world tilted.

    Everything suddenly made sense¡ªthe strange way he fought, his strength, his speed, his knowledge. He had always been too powerful, too mysterious, too unnatural.

    But before she could fully process that, Azzy spoke again.

    "And neither are you."

    Her heart stopped.

    For a long moment, she simply stared at him, not comprehending what he had just said. Not believing it.

    "No... that''s not possible," she whispered. She clutched at the sheets beneath her as if trying to ground herself in reality. "I''m human. I was born human."

    Azzy''s gaze softened. "You were born a human. Not anymore."

 Chapter 764: The world of Irth (part-30)

    Leiza shook her head violently. "No. No, I¡ª" She looked at her hands again, the same hands that had just released a blast of energy without her even knowing how.

    She felt it now¡ªthat foreign power coursing through her veins.

    It wasn''t human.

    It wasn''t her.

    She gasped, gripping the edges of the bed, her entire body trembling. "What did you do to me!?"

    Azzy hesitated for a moment, then answered, his voice quiet but firm.

    "I saved you."

    Leiza felt as if the world around her was crumbling. Her heart pounded violently in her chest, her breathing shallow and erratic. This had to be a joke. There was no way this was real¡ªnone of this could be real.

    She clenched the bed sheets beneath her, her fingers digging into the fabric. "You''re messing with me, right?" Her voice came out hoarse, barely above a whisper. It was impossible. She was human. She had always been human. How could that change? How could she suddenly¡ª

    Azzy, standing before her with his celestial wings still spread, didn''t waver. His golden eyes held a quiet patience, but there was no humor in them. No teasing.

    "Focus," he instructed gently. "Focus on yourself. Feel the energy within you. The answer is already there¡ªyou just have to acknowledge it."

    Leiza swallowed hard, shaking her head in disbelief. "No, this¡ªthis doesn''t make sense. I can''t¡ª" She clutched her chest as her breath hitched. "Just tell me what''s going on, Rael!"

    Azzy let out a small sigh and finally sat down in the chair near her bed. He rubbed his temples, as if trying to find the right words, then looked at her with a calm, steady gaze.

    "Alright," he said. "Then let me start by introducing myself. My name is Azrael Garcia and I''m from Planet Gaia, which is located thousands of light years away from this place. And my world is..."

    And so, he told her everything.

    He told her about his world¡ªa place where Arcana Masters existed, where people possessed supernatural abilities, where strength was dictated by one''s soul power. He described how he grew up in a different reality, one far beyond anything Leiza had ever imagined.

    He told her about Claire.

    His first love. How he had met her when he was just thirteen, how she had changed his life. How they had shared countless moments together, only for her to disappear one day without a trace.

    "She left," Azzy continued, his voice soft but firm. "No warning. No explanation. Just... gone." His hands curled slightly into fists before he exhaled and unclenched them. "I spent years trying to understand why. And eventually, I found out the truth¡ªshe was an angel, the daughter of Archangel Michael."

    Leiza blinked, stunned. "An Archangel''s daughter." It is a bit tough for her to accept his story¡ªa world filled with these superheroes he could only find in the comics, but this... their holy book of revelations says that Archangels are genderless. They don''t have families and stuff like that.

    Azzy nodded, watching her carefully. "She had been hiding her true nature from me. I didn''t know at the time, but... she wasn''t meant to stay in the mortal world. She had duties. A life beyond what I knew."

    A bitter smile crossed his lips. "But I wasn''t willing to just let her go. So I chased after her."

    Leiza listened in stunned silence as he explained how he had followed the clues, how his journey had led him to the celestial realm¡ªthe world of angels. And how that journey had eventually brought him here. To this city.

    "The people who came with me?" Azzy continued. "They''re angels too. Just like Claire. I came here because I knew she would eventually appear." His gaze darkened slightly. "I''ve been waiting for her. That''s the reason I''m here at all."

    Leiza felt her throat tighten. So everything¡ªeverything¡ªwas because of some other girl.

    Some angel girl.

    Something inside her twisted painfully. It is indeed true that he had come here for his girlfriend who left him.

    She clenched her fists. Why did that hurt?

    She shook her head, forcing herself to focus on the bigger issue. "Okay, fine," she said, her voice slightly unsteady. "I get it. You''re not human. And you''re here for Claire." She swallowed hard before forcing the next words out. "But what about me?"

    She placed a hand on her chest, feeling the strange energy inside her. "You said I''m not human anymore. What did you do to me?"

    Azzy''s expression turned serious. "I told you already. I saved you. If I hadn''t done that, you would have been turned into a fallen nephilim, roaming in the dark while actively hunting down humans without being to control yourself."

    Leiza''s breath caught.

    He took a deep breath before saying the next words carefully. "I merged you with the Eye of Odin."

    Leiza froze. "What is that? Whose eye?"

    "The Eye of Odin," Azzy repeated. "It''s a divine artifact. A source of immense power. It transformed your body, making you stronger, more powerful, and a divine entity. So, basically, your lifespan is extended beyond an average human. You won''t get sick, you will age slowly, you will be one of the smartest individuals on the planet, etc..."

    Leiza''s pulse pounded in her ears. It was too much. Too overwhelming.

    She looked down at her hands. Was that why she had released that blast of energy earlier?

    Azzy continued, "Not only that... but I also bonded you with an Arcana spirit. A creature known as the Thousand-Faced Spider."

    Her breath hitched. "A¡ªA spider?"

    Azzy gave a slight nod. "It''s a Platinum-grade beast. Incredibly rare and powerful. But, it is weak and I had no use for it... but you did. It merged with your soul orb during the transformation as it seemed very compatible with your soul."

    Leiza''s body trembled.

    For a long moment, silence filled the room. She could hear her own heartbeat¡ªloud, fast, uneven. Too much had changed. Too fast.

    Her life had been normal. Ordinary. She had been a student. A girl with friends, with a future, with dreams.

    Now?

    She didn''t even know who¡ªwhat¡ªshe was.

    Her gaze locked onto Azzy''s. "You turned me into a monster," she whispered.

    Azzy''s eyes darkened. "No," he said firmly. "I turned into a goddess, Leiza."

    Leiza''s breath shuddered. "But at what cost? I can no longer have any normal life."

    Azzy stayed silent and looked down. "I''m sorry for that." He whispered.

 Chapter 765: The world of Irth (part-31)

    Leiza inhaled sharply, trying to steady her swirling emotions. The weight of everything¡ªher transformation, the truth about Azzy, the fact that she would never be normal again¡ªpressed down on her like an avalanche.

    She needed time. Space.

    "I just... I need to be alone for a bit," she muttered, running a hand through her hair. Her fingers trembled slightly, but she ignored it.

    Azzy studied her carefully for a moment, then gave a small nod. Without another word, he turned and left, closing the door behind him.

    Leiza let out a breath she hadn''t realized she was holding. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to process everything. Her body felt strange, like there was something alive inside of her¡ªpower thrumming beneath her skin, just waiting to be unleashed.

    She had to get control over this.

    Five minutes later, she marched out of her room and straight into Azzy''s.

    He was seated on the floor, eyes closed in meditation. Without hesitation, she walked right up to him. "Teach me."

    Azzy''s golden eyes flickered open. "What?"

    Leiza crossed her arms. "I can''t live like this. I''m¡ª" She gestured vaguely at herself. "I''m unstable. I feel it. If I go out there without control, I could hurt someone, or worse, kill them." She clenched her fists, remembering the sheer force that had escaped from her earlier. "I''m a walking nuke, Rael. If you''re the reason I ended up like this, then you have to take responsibility."

    Azzy sighed and stood up, towering slightly over her. "You actually have a choice," he said calmly. "I can take away your powers too."

    Leiza''s breath hitched. "What?"

    "I can erase them. Permanently." Azzy met her eyes. "Your divinity would remain¡ªyou''d still be physically stronger than before. You''d still have tougher bones, enhanced reflexes, and the wisdom granted by the Eye of Odin. But your raw power? Your Arcana abilities? Those energy blasts? I can remove them if that''s what you wish for."

    Leiza''s mind reeled. She could still be normal? No energy blasts. No fear of losing control. No worry of hurting someone accidentally.

    She could go back to living a normal life...

    Except... she wasn''t normal anymore. Even without Arcana, her bones were like steel. A simple punch or kick could shatter concrete. If she wasn''t careful, she could still kill a human by accident.

    And then there was the Eye of Odin. Azzy had said it granted knowledge, wisdom¡ªsometimes even glimpses into the future. That wasn''t something she could just shut off, was it?

    She shook her head. "No." Her voice was firm. "I won''t live in fear of myself. I want to learn how to control it. I need to."

    Azzy studied her for a long moment before sighing. "Even if I train you, I can''t stay in this world forever. Training in Arcana arts takes months, if not years."

    Leiza didn''t hesitate.

    "Then I''ll come with you."

    Azzy blinked.

    Leiza took a step closer, determination blazing in her eyes. "You said you''re from another world. That you''re waiting for Claire. I don''t care. My life here is over, Azzy. I can''t stay among normal people when I''m not one of them anymore."

    She clenched her fists, feeling the energy pulsing within her. "I refuse to be weak. If I have to leave this world to learn how to control this power, then so be it."

    Azzy took a step back, his golden eyes narrowing in disbelief. "Are you serious?" he asked. "You really want to follow me?"

    Leiza didn''t waver. She met his gaze head-on, her expression firm. "Yes."

    Azzy exhaled sharply, shaking his head. "Leiza, you have a peaceful life here. You have everything¡ªwealth, security, status. In this world, you''re already untouchable." His voice softened slightly. "You don''t need to throw all that away."

    Leiza''s lips pressed into a thin line. "You don''t get it," she murmured. "I can''t stay here, Azzy. Not like this."

    Azzy sighed. He could see the determination in her eyes, but he wasn''t going to let her make this decision lightly.

    "There''s another option," he told her. "If you''re worried about control, I can train you for three months. That''s enough time for you to master your basic strength. Enough to ensure you don''t accidentally destroy things or kill someone by mistake." He paused, watching her reaction carefully. "With the Eye of Odin, your intelligence and precognition abilities alone would let you rule this world." He glanced at her, his tone serious. "No one would be able to threaten you anymore. You''d be immortal in a world where everyone else is fragile."

    Leiza crossed her arms, contemplating his words. "And what if I keep my soul orb and train as Arcana Master?"

    Azzy pulled out a storage card from his pocket and materialized his backpack from thin air. Leiza''s eyes widened slightly at the sight.

    "If you become an Arcana Master," Azzy explained, "you can store and summon objects like this." He tossed the backpack onto the bed. Then, extending his hand, he conjured a swirling energy ball in his palm. "You can manipulate energy like this."

    Leiza stared at the glowing sphere in fascination.

    Azzy suddenly lifted off the ground, hovering effortlessly in the air. "And when you reach a certain level, you can do this too."

    Leiza''s breath caught. Flying. He was actually flying.

    Azzy descended back to the ground, his expression serious. "If you keep your soul orb, you won''t just be powerful¡ªyou''ll be a force beyond human understanding. You''ll be able to move faster than a plane, run on water, and extend your lifespan by hundreds of years." His voice dropped lower. "You''ll be able to do things no human could even dream of."

    Leiza''s heart pounded in her chest. The possibilities he described were beyond anything she had ever imagined.

    "But," Azzy continued, his expression darkening, "it comes with great risks."

    A long silence filled the room.

    And then she opened her mouth.

    "Compared to the benefits I''ll get," she said, "the risks and everything else just... pales in comparison."

    Then, without warning, she jumped down from the bed and threw her arms around him. Azzy stiffened at the sudden embrace, but she only clung to him tighter, her voice softer this time.

    "Just stay by my side," she murmured.

    Azzy exhaled, feeling the warmth of her body pressed against his. Stay by her side? He had dragged her into his world, into a life filled with danger, battles, and uncertainty. And yet, despite everything, she still chose to stand by him instead of blaming him.

    He raised a hand and gently patted her back. "I will."

    Leiza pulled back slightly, her bright blue eyes searching his face. "Then what''s the plan now?"

    Azzy took a step back, creating a little distance between them as he regained his composure. "For now, you need to take leave from school," he said. "Stay home. We''ll start your training immediately."

    Leiza frowned. "Take leave?"

    Azzy nodded. "You won''t have time for school, not with the kind of training we''re about to do. If you''re serious about this, we have no time to waste."

    Leiza tilted her head slightly, considering his words. Then, with a confident smirk, she crossed her arms.

    "Fine," she said. "I''ll do whatever it takes."

    Azzy looked at her for a moment before nodding. "Then let''s begin."

 Chapter 766: The world of Irth (part-32)

    The sky above the city darkened as Claire descended, her golden wings folding neatly behind her as she landed gracefully on the rooftop of Radiant Tower. She exhaled slowly, allowing her divine senses to expand across the cityscape. Within moments, her gaze snapped toward a specific point¡ªAbaddon''s location.

    Her brows furrowed. Something was off.

    With a single step, she blurred through the air, landing atop the tower where she found Abaddon, his once-mighty form now bound in chains, unconscious and unmoving. Divine energy radiated from the bindings, preventing any regeneration. Someone had defeated him¡ªand not just anyone.

    As she scanned the rooftop, her sharp eyes caught another presence. A lone figure stood before her.

    He was clad in black, a mask covering the lower half of his face. Though his presence exuded an overwhelming divinity, it did not feel angelic. Instead, it carried an ancient authority, something far beyond what most celestial beings possessed.

    Claire instinctively placed her hand on her sword''s hilt. "Who are you?" she demanded.

    The masked figure took a step forward, his voice smooth yet distant. "Earn the right to know."

    Claire''s eyes narrowed. She didn''t waste time with words. She moved.

    A flash of golden light streaked through the air as she lunged forward, aiming to strike before he could react. But the moment her blade came within inches of his body¡ª

    His hand caught her wrist.

    A controlled grip. No pain, no struggle. Just overwhelming speed and precision.

    In the next instant, Claire felt her body being thrown backward, but not with brute force¡ªwith exact precision. She landed on her feet several meters away, sliding against the rooftop tiles. Her breath hitched.

    He had toyed with her.

    "Who... are you?" Claire whispered under her breath, but she didn''t wait for an answer.

    She drew Agatha, her divine sword blessed by Archangel Michael himself, and her aura flared with celestial radiance.

    "Let''s see if you can keep that arrogance."

    She attacked.

    The Clash

    Blades met in a violent burst of divine power.

    Claire''s Agatha struck down with enough force to shatter mountains, but the masked figure summoned a radiant blade of light and met her assault head-on.

    Clang!

    The impact sent shockwaves across the city, bending the air around them. The moment their weapons connected, Agatha¡ªthe divine sword¡ªlet out a shriek.

    "Impossible," Agatha''s spirit gasped. "That is¡ªa Sword of Light!"

    Claire''s mind reeled. Only Olympian Gods wielded Swords of Light!

    Her opponent... who was he truly?

    Gritting her teeth, she leapt backward and steadied herself. "Whose apostle are you?" she demanded.

    A slow smile formed beneath the mask.

    "You are not yet qualified to know."

    The words barely registered before he moved.

    In an instant, he was in front of her. Faster than light. His sword lashed out, slashing downward.

    Claire instinctively raised Agatha to block¡ª

    And then it happened.

    A single strike. A clean, precise cut.

    Agatha¡ªMichael''s Treasured Sword¡ªsplit in half.

    The divine spirit of Agatha let out a wail before vanishing into Claire''s mindscape, severed from its physical form.

    Claire''s heart pounded. She barely managed to land on her feet, gripping the broken hilt of her weapon. He broke Agatha? No¡ªhe erased its connection to reality.

    Her golden wings flared open, her breath uneven. "Who... the hell are you?"

    The masked figure tilted his head. "Do you have any other tricks?"

    Claire''s fury ignited. Fine.

    She raised her hand to the sky.

    "Pillars of Heaven!"

    From the heavens, six divine pillars descended, encircling her enemy. The moment they hit the ground, golden runes blazed, forming a barrier that even Seraphim would struggle to break.

    Claire''s breathing was heavy, but she smirked. "Let''s see you escape from this."

    But the masked man... simply smiled.

    He raised his hand¡ª

    And summoned an hourglass.

    The Sands of Time

    Time froze.

    The entire world stood still.

    The divine pillars, the rooftop, even Claire herself¡ªmotionless.

    Only he could move.

    With unhurried steps, he walked forward, placing a hand on one of the pillars. He then raised **another weapon¡ª**a massive, dark-bladed scythe.

    With a single swing, the pillars shattered.

    Time resumed.

    Claire gasped as she felt the spell break. "What?!"

    The masked figure stood before her, completely unharmed, the remains of the divine pillars turning into nothingness.

    His voice was low, almost amused.

    "You are not ready."

    Claire stood there frozen, her mind struggling to process what had just happened. The masked warrior¡ªthe one who had shattered her divine weapon, the one who had defeated her so effortlessly¡ªwas standing right before her. Her eyes darted left and right, looking at the hourglass and the death scythe.

    She already knew who it was.

    And then, he removed his mask.

    The moment she saw his face, a jolt shot through her entire being. Her throat tightened, her breath hitched, and her golden eyes widened. She parted her lips, barely able to whisper the name that surfaced from the depths of her memories.

    "Azzy!"

    Azzy gazed at her, his expression unreadable, his deep eyes reflecting emotions she couldn''t quite grasp. His voice was calm, but there was an unmistakable weight behind it.

    "It''s been a while, Claire." His voice carried years of longing, of pain, of countless hardships endured just to see her again. "And I have some questions for you."

    Claire took a deep breath, gathering herself. The trembling in her hands subsided as she closed her eyes for a brief moment. When she opened them again, her gaze was cold.

    "There''s nothing to talk about, Azzy," she said. Her voice was firm, but there was something beneath it¡ªsomething hidden, something she wasn''t willing to acknowledge.

    Azzy''s expression darkened slightly. "Nothing?"

    She exhaled sharply. "We were together for barely a year and a half. Then you left. More than three decades passed, Gaia''s time." She looked at him, her golden wings spreading slightly, as if creating distance. "I found my destiny. Our paths no longer align. It''s as simple as that."

    Azzy''s fingers clenched slightly.

    Simple?

    The sheer absurdity of that statement made something inside him snap.

    "As simple as that?" He took a step closer, his divine aura pressing against hers, the intensity of his emotions spilling into his voice. "Do you have any idea how much I''ve sacrificed just to find you? How much I''ve endured? How many worlds had I had to infiltrate? How many years have I spent waiting for the right opportunity?"

    Claire remained silent, her eyes unreadable.

    Azzy continued, his voice filled with a raw, unfiltered intensity.

    "I left my family. I left my village. I abandoned my world." He exhaled, his gaze unrelenting. "*I crossed entire dimensions. I fought gods, demons, beings beyond comprehension. I was stranded in this forsaken world, all while tracking down a Fallen Angel¡ªall in the hopes that it would lead me to you."

    He paused, his next words slow and deliberate.

    "And now, after everything, after all the blood and sweat I spilled, you tell me you just... ''moved on''?" His jaw tightened. "You tell me you no longer love me, and that''s just it? Do you want me to just take that simple statement as it?"

    Claire''s gaze faltered for a fraction of a second¡ªso quick that even Azzy almost missed it.

    But he saw it.

    A flicker of hesitation. A shadow of something buried deep beneath her cold demeanor.

    She closed her eyes for a moment before reopening them, her expression turning unreadable again.

    "Yes, Azzy," she said, her voice softer this time. "It is as simple as that."

 Chapter 767: The world of Irth (part-33)

    Claire''s voice was resolute. "Yes, Azzy. It is as simple as that."

    Azzy stood there, his entire being demanding that he refuse to believe it. His fists clenched at his sides, his divine aura fluctuating with his emotions.

    But then... he saw it.

    A single tear, slipping from the corner of her eye.

    She turned away quickly, her golden hair cascading like a veil, but it was too late. Azzy had already seen the truth.

    His voice was calm, but it carried a depth that cut through her defenses like a blade.

    "Then why are you crying?"

    Claire froze. She reached out to the tear drop on her cheek and wiped it away.

    Azzy took a step forward. His tone softened, but his words hit harder than any battle they had fought.

    "Just admit it. You still love me."

    She trembled slightly, but didn''t turn around.

    "I''ve already shown you my strength. Whatever is holding you back, whatever burdens you carry, you don''t have to bear them alone." His voice held an unwavering conviction. "I will help you, Claire. I will stand by your side. All you have to do is believe in me."

    For a moment, just a moment, her walls cracked. Her shoulders tensed, her breath hitched, and Azzy could almost feel her inner conflict.

    But then, like a sudden storm, she hardened herself.

    She turned back, her golden eyes cold once again. Her face was impassive, yet her voice was filled with a quiet fury. "No. I don''t love you anymore."

    Azzy felt like the wind had been knocked out of him.

    But Claire wasn''t done. "And even if there was anything left in my heart, I have no intention of being with you again."

    Azzy staggered internally, but his face remained unreadable.

    Claire''s gaze was unwavering now. She had made her decision. "I am the daughter of Archangel Michael. I have my own path to walk. My own goals." She took a deep breath. "And I have chosen a life of celibacy."

    Azzy''s eyes widened slightly. "Celibacy?"

    She nodded firmly. "I have ascended to a demigod. If I wanted to return to you, I would have. But I didn''t. That alone should tell you where my heart stands."

    Each word felt like a dagger to his soul.

    She wasn''t just rejecting him.

    She was severing every last connection between them.

    "Move on, Azzy." Her voice carried a chilling finality. "Live your life. Stay away from me."

    Azzy felt numb.

    But Claire wasn''t finished. She stepped closer, her golden aura flaring with an unshakable resolve. "And hear me well, Azrael Crescent Garcia."

    She had never used his full name like that before.

    "If you ever interfere with my path... if you ever set foot in the Angel World again¡ª" her voice turned sharp, laced with warning¡ª "I will have no choice but to call upon my master... to imprison you."

    Silence descended upon them.

    Azzy''s heartbeat thundered in his ears. Even the air felt heavy with the weight of her words.

    But then, something sinister stirred.

    In the depths of his mind, a cold, ancient voice whispered. "Kill her."

    Azzy''s eyes darkened for a brief second. "Throw her into the reincarnation cycle. Destroy the Supreme Angel''s soul fragment before it grows beyond control." The Reaper''s voice slithered through his consciousness, urging him to do what must be done.

    But Azzy didn''t flinch. He ignored the voice. He shut it out.

    No matter what...

    He would never harm Claire.

    Even if she was the one breaking him apart piece by piece.

    Claire walked past Azzy without another glance, her presence commanding the heavens themselves. With a mere motion of her fingers, a pillar of light erupted from the sky, descending upon Abaddon''s lifeless body. The divine energy encased the fallen angel like a cage forged by celestial will.

    Azzy remained still, his expression unreadable. His hands clenched at his sides, his knuckles turning white. He wanted to speak¡ªto say something, anything¡ªthat could turn back time, that could rewrite what had just happened between them. But what was left to say?

    Instead, he spoke words that weren''t for his own heart, but for hers. "I''m sorry."

    Claire''s fingers faltered mid-air. The golden radiance in her hands flickered slightly.

    Before she could respond, a dark, ethereal mist seeped from Abaddon''s corpse, swirling in the air like liquid smoke. The Jinn¡ªthe true source of Abaddon''s corruption¡ªemerged from the fallen angel''s remains.

    Its hollow, piercing eyes stared at Azzy for a moment before it silently returned to him, vanishing into the depths of his mindscape.

    Claire''s breath caught in her throat.

    She turned sharply to Azzy, her divine senses scanning the remains of the being she had come to subdue. What she saw made her blood run cold¡ªAbaddon was nothing but a corpse. The entity that had once been a great and terrible force was now nothing more than an empty husk.

    Her golden eyes flicked back to Azzy, demanding an answer.

    But he gave her none. His face was carved from stone, his gaze steady but distant. Instead of an explanation, he simply said, "Do me a favor on the account we were once friends."

    Claire narrowed her eyes. Azzy continued, his voice unnervingly quiet, like the remnants of a fading dream. "When you return... tell my teammates and your disciple that I''m dead."

    A tense silence stretched between them. Claire stood frozen, her hands curled into trembling fists. For years, she had believed she was prepared for this. That if he ever found her, she would have the strength to turn away, to cut him from her life like a blade slicing through fate itself.

    But nothing had prepared her for the ache in her chest.

    Still, she refused to falter. Her answer was a barely audible whisper, carried away by the wind. "I will."

    Azzy gave her one last glance¡ªone last, lingering look¡ªas if trying to memorize everything about her.

    Then, without another word, he turned and flew away.

    Claire watched his silhouette disappear into the rain-heavy sky.

    The moment he was gone, the dam broke. Tears slipped from her eyes, tracing delicate paths down her pale cheeks. She didn''t wipe them away. She let them fall, vanishing into the storm.

    Her lips parted, a whisper lost in the downpour. "It''s too late, Azzy. Even if I wanted to go back... my destiny is sealed."

    Somewhere deep within her, in the sacred space where her soul and divinity intertwined, she felt it¡ªthe Creator''s soul fragment growing stronger. The final, irreversible step of her ascension was nearing.

    The path she had chosen was no longer just hers to walk. She couldn''t turn back anymore.

    Even if she still loved him.

    Even if she had never stopped.

 Chapter 768: The world of Irth (part-34)

    As if mourning the fate of two souls torn apart, rain poured in heavy sheets over the city. The streets glistened under the storm''s relentless fury, water pooling in uneven roads, neon lights reflecting in distorted puddles.

    Azzy walked alone.

    His head was bowed, his dark hair soaked and clinging to his skin, but he didn''t care. He barely felt the cold. His steps were slow, unhurried¡ªhis mind trapped in the past.

    Flashes of memory surfaced, vivid and relentless.

    Claire''s laughter when they first met.

    The warmth of her hand in his when they used to sneak away from the academy to watch the stars.

    The whispered promises made under moonlit skies, when love had felt like an absolute truth¡ªa force of nature as undeniable as time itself.

    And then, the shattering moment when she had looked him in the eyes and told him, with unyielding certainty, that she no longer loved him.

    His chest ached, a hollow, gnawing pain that even divine strength could not heal.

    He had gone through hell to find her. And for what? To be told he no longer had a place beside her? To be discarded as though the years they spent together meant nothing?

    The Reaper''s voice echoed within his mind, whispering of his foolishness, of the futility of human emotions.

    But Azzy ignored him.

    He walked through the storm, through the deserted streets, until he reached the apartment where he had been staying before shifting to Leiza''s house.

    The moment he stepped inside, the world fell silent.

    The only sound was the quiet dripping of water from his clothes, forming small puddles on the wooden floor.

    He sat down heavily on the edge of the bed, running a hand through his soaked hair. The weight of exhaustion pressed down on him¡ªnot just physical, but something deeper, something he couldn''t shake.

    Then¡ªa noise at the door.

    His senses flared, but he didn''t react aggressively. He simply lifted his gaze, watching as the door swung open.

    Leiza stood there.

    She was breathless, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Her hair was damp, and she held an umbrella, though it had done little to keep her dry.

    Azzy frowned. "Leiza? What are you doing here?"

    The storm outside raged on, relentless and unforgiving. The sound of raindrops drumming against the windows filled the dimly lit apartment, creating a rhythmic echo that matched the silence stretching between Azzy and Leiza.

    She stood there, drenched, her breath still uneven from running through the city in search of him. The umbrella she had brought¡ªnow abandoned on the floor¡ªserved no purpose anymore.

    Her eyes, filled with an intensity that Azzy did not expect, searched his face.

    "I looked for you everywhere."

    Her voice was laced with something deeper than concern. A quiet desperation. A need to reach him.

    Azzy barely moved. His body felt heavier than before, as if the weight of the world had settled into his bones.

    Leiza hesitated for a brief moment, then stepped forward, closing the distance between them.

    "Did you find her?" she asked softly.

    Azzy didn''t answer immediately.

    His gaze flickered toward the window, where flashes of lightning illuminated the storm outside. Then, in a voice that carried none of the usual strength it once held, he finally spoke.

    "It''s over."

    Leiza''s breath hitched.

    Something inside her clenched painfully at his words¡ªnot because she didn''t already know the answer, but because of the way he said it.

    Not in anger.

    Not in sadness.

    But in the quiet, hollow tone of a man who had let go of something he had spent years holding onto.

    Slowly, she stepped closer. Then closer still.

    The storm outside faded into the background as she reached for him.

    Azzy barely had time to react before he was pulled into her embrace. His body stiffened for a fraction of a second.

    Then, without meaning to, he exhaled.

    It wasn''t relief.

    It wasn''t acceptance.

    It was something else entirely¡ªsomething he didn''t have a name for.

    Leiza held onto him as if she could shield him from the storm inside his heart.

    Her arms tightened around him, her warmth pressing against his cold, rain-soaked form. She didn''t speak right away. She just let him exist in that space, letting her heartbeat fill the silence he had been drowning in.

    Then, slowly, she pulled back just enough to look at him.

    Her hands came up to his face, her thumbs brushing lightly against his damp skin. "I know this isn''t the best time..." she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper.

    Azzy''s golden eyes, weary and unreadable, met hers.

    Leiza swallowed hard, but she didn''t waver. "I need you to know... there''s someone who loves you more than anyone else in this world."

    The words fell between them like a confession etched in eternity.

    Azzy''s breath caught in his throat.

    Leiza didn''t stop. She couldn''t. Not now. "I know I''m not strong." Her voice trembled, but her grip on him did not. "I know I''m weak... that I''ll probably always need you to protect me."

    She inhaled sharply, as if trying to gather every ounce of courage left in her soul. "But I promise you... one day, that won''t be the case. One day, you won''t have to worry about me."

    Her hands, still cradling his face, tightened ever so slightly.

    "It''s only been a little over a week since we''ve met." A sad, almost self-deprecating smile tugged at her lips. "I don''t even know when it happened. I just..."

    She exhaled, shaking her head.

    Then, with raw honesty that left no room for doubt, she whispered, "I love you."

    Azzy froze.

    Leiza''s gaze burned with sincerity, with an unwavering devotion that had no expectations¡ªonly truth. "It doesn''t matter if you love someone else. It doesn''t matter if you never see me that way."

    Her fingers curled slightly against his skin.

    "All that matters is that I love you. And it hurts... it hurts so much to see you like this."

    Azzy didn''t know what to say.

    For the first time in a long time, he was at a loss for words.

    The rain outside continued to fall, but at that moment, it felt distant¡ªas if the only world that existed was the one within these four walls.

    Leiza didn''t expect him to respond. She didn''t expect anything at all. But even so... she couldn''t take back what she had said.

    She wouldn''t. Because it was the truth. And he deserved to know it.

    Azzy stared at her, his mind clouded in a way he had never felt before. He was always calculating, controlled, composed. But right now?

    Right now, he was none of those things.

    Leiza''s confession still echoed in his ears, raw and unfiltered, stirring something deep inside him that he wasn''t ready to face.

    And yet, when she cupped his face with trembling fingers and pulled him closer, he didn''t move away.

    Her breath mingled with his, warm and uneven, carrying emotions that words could never capture.

    His golden eyes flickered with something dangerously human as their lips finally met.

    The moment their mouths pressed together, a spark ignited¡ªa slow burn that started in his chest and spread like wildfire.

    Leiza kissed him as if she had been waiting for this moment her entire life, pouring everything she couldn''t say aloud into the way her lips moved against his.

    And Azzy?

    He let her.

    He let himself get lost in the sensation, let himself drown in the softness of her touch, the warmth of her body pressing against his. Perhaps, he just wanted a distraction from the pain he felt from the official break up with Claire or perhaps, it was truly intoxicating.

    A part of him knew that he was crossing a line he could never uncross.

    But he didn''t care.

    Not now.

    Not when she was here¡ªholding him together when everything else was falling apart.

    His hands found her waist, pulling her closer, feeling the way her body trembled against his. Her fingers tangled in his hair, gripping him tighter, as if she was afraid he would disappear.

    But he wasn''t going anywhere.

    Not tonight.

    Not when she was the only thing keeping him grounded.

    They broke apart only for a second¡ªjust long enough for their eyes to meet.

    Leiza''s cheeks were flushed, her lips slightly parted, her breathing ragged.

    Azzy didn''t give her time to say anything.

    He leaned in again, kissing her deeper, harder¡ª as if this was the only way he could express what he didn''t have the words for.

    Somewhere between the feverish kisses and the way their bodies pressed closer together, clothes started to disappear.

    Leiza''s hands roamed over his skin, tentative at first, then bolder. Caressing his chest, lowering down to the abs, her hands reached lower down to his waist, slipping into his underwear.

    Azzy shivered at her touch, a sensation he wasn''t used to¡ªwasn''t prepared for.

    But he welcomed it.

    For once, he let himself feel.

    The storm outside raged on, but inside this room, loud moans filled.

 Chapter 769: The world of Irth (part-35)

    The morning light filtered through the half-drawn curtains, casting a warm glow over the quiet room. The storm from the night before had long passed, leaving only the soft hum of the city in the distance.

    Azzy lay there, his golden eyes half-lidded as he stared at the ceiling, his mind a battlefield of thoughts.

    The weight of reality settled on him as the last remnants of sleep faded away. His body ached in ways that had nothing to do with combat, and the warmth against his chest was undeniably real.

    Leiza.

    His arms were still wrapped around her bare form, her soft breathing rhythmic and peaceful. She was snuggled into his chest, completely vulnerable, completely trusting.

    And that was when it truly hit him.

    He had given himself to her.

    Not in a calculated decision. Not in a strategic move. But in the most human way possible.

    For the first time in his life, he had acted on pure emotion. No logic, no hesitation¡ªjust feeling.

    A quiet groan escaped him as he ran a hand down his face. What had he done?

    He was never the type to regret his choices, but this¡ªthis was different.

    Not because he regretted being with Leiza, but because he knew how deeply it changed things.

    As he let out a slow breath, a name drifted into his mind, unbidden.

    Claire.

    The woman he had chased across worlds, the one he had loved for years, the one he had sacrificed so much for.

    And yet, when he thought about her now...

    Azzy sighed.

    For the first time since Claire had walked away, his heart didn''t ache as much.

    He had spent so long clinging to a love that had already died, chasing after someone who had already let go.

    And last night, for the first time, he had let go too.

    "Good morning."

    His voice was soft, yet steady, pulling Leiza from her sleep.

    She stirred slightly before her long lashes fluttered open, revealing sleepy, slightly unfocused eyes.

    Then, as reality dawned on her, her cheeks flushed a deep red.

    Azzy watched with a small smile as she blinked in surprise, clearly caught off guard by the sight of him lying beside her.

    "Good morning," she finally mumbled, her voice still laced with sleep.

    Azzy chuckled, calm and composed once again. "I didn''t notice before, but now that I''m actually looking... you really do have an incredibly pretty face."

    Leiza''s blush deepened, and she quickly turned her gaze away.

    She wasn''t used to such direct compliments from him. From anyone, really.

    Clearing her throat, she hesitated before asking, "About last night..."

    Azzy''s smile softened.

    Last night.

    The night where he stopped running from the past.

    "The only thing that matters," he said gently, "is that I was here with you."

    And for once, he had no regrets.

    Azzy lay back against the pillows, one arm lazily draped over Leiza''s bare shoulders as she rested against him. Her face was still flushed with color, but there was a distinct glow about her¡ªone that had nothing to do with embarrassment.

    She looked... elated.

    She stretched her arms above her head, flexing her fingers as if testing something. Then, with a thoughtful hum, she looked at Azzy and spoke, "I heard from my friends that after the first time, it''s supposed to be sore... but I feel amazing. We went on three times, and I still feel like I could run a marathon."

    Azzy chuckled, his fingers absently tracing small circles along her shoulder. "That''s because you had a breakthrough."

    Leiza blinked. "A breakthrough?"

    Azzy nodded. "You''re rank-4 now."

    She frowned in confusion. "Rank-4?"

    Azzy turned slightly to face her, propping himself up on his elbow. "I suppose I never really explained how Arcana Masters work."

    Leiza shook her head.

    With a sigh, Azzy sat up properly, pulling the sheets around his waist before he began his explanation.

    "Arcana Masters are classified based on their soul energy reserves," he began. "To put it scientifically, when a person mutates their stem cells in a specific way, they generate a unique form of cellular energy. These cells become immortal¡ªthey can die and revive infinitely¡ªand this energy is stored within a space inside our bodies called the Soul Orb."

    Leiza listened intently, her brows furrowing as she processed his words.

    "The energy itself is called Soul Energy, and the number of these special stem cells in your body determines your power. We call that Soul Power."

    Azzy raised a hand and conjured a small wisp of energy between his fingers.

    "To give you a clearer picture¡ª" He let the wisp float above his palm. "¡ªwhen someone has ten of these mutated stem cells, they reach Rank-1. When they reach a hundred, they become Rank-2. A thousand makes Rank-3, ten thousand is Rank-4, and so on. The more cells you have, the stronger you are."

    Leiza''s eyes widened. "Wait... so I have at least ten thousand of those weird stem cells now?"

    Azzy nodded. "That''s right. Your body underwent a rapid transformation last night, thanks to the Eye of Odin merging with you."

    She let out a slow breath. "That''s... insane."

    Azzy smirked. "It gets crazier. There are only a few ways someone can mutate these cells and increase their Soul Power."

    Leiza tilted her head. "Like what?"

    Azzy held up four fingers. "There are four main ways:

    One¡ª When an Arcana Master kills a monster and absorbs its Spirit Core. The stronger the monster, the greater the boost.

    Two¡ª When someone awakens an Arcana Spirit¡ªlike how you now have the Thousand-Faced Spider inside your Soul Orb.

    Three¡ª Natural mutation over time. This is the slowest method, and not everyone can even experience it.

    Four¡ª Absorbing natural energy from the surroundings and forcing the mutation. This is how advanced Arcana Masters train to get stronger."

    Leiza''s eyes widened as she absorbed the revelation. "Wait... so you''re saying..." She trailed off, her face turning an even deeper shade of red.

    Azzy nodded, his expression remaining composed despite the awkward nature of the conversation. "Yes. When we... did it last night, something happened at a cellular level."

    Leiza swallowed, shifting slightly under the sheets. "And that''s what caused me to jump from Rank-3 to Rank-4?"

    Azzy sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "It seems so. Divine energy is highly volatile when it comes into contact with other supernatural forces. Your body, already undergoing a transformation due to the Eye of Odin, must have absorbed it in a way that rapidly accelerated your evolution."

    Leiza processed the information, her fingers absentmindedly tracing the outline of Azzy''s arm. "So... your divine energy directly influenced my growth." She paused before adding, "Does that mean this could happen again?"

    Azzy blinked at her, his expression momentarily unreadable. "Possibly. But there are too many unknowns. I wasn''t expecting any of this, let alone that kind of reaction."

    Leiza smirked, though her cheeks still burned. "So, you''re saying that if we do it again, I might keep getting stronger?"

    Azzy shot her a flat look. "It''s not that simple."

    She laughed, the tension in the room breaking slightly. But then, her smile faded, replaced by something more serious. "Azzy... does this mean that I''ll keep changing? That I''ll become less human the stronger I get?"

    Azzy exhaled slowly, considering his words carefully. "In a way, yes. The more divine power you absorb, the further you step away from humanity. But that doesn''t mean you''ll lose yourself. It just means you need to decide who you want to become."

    Leiza stared down at her hands, flexing her fingers as if she could physically feel the power surging beneath her skin. "I never asked for this, you know?" she murmured. "I was just a normal girl... and now, in a matter of days, I''m suddenly an Arcana Master with divine traits."

    Azzy reached out and placed a hand over hers. "I know. And I won''t force you into anything. But now that you have this power, you have to take responsibility for it. If you don''t learn how to control it, you could become a danger to yourself and those around you."

    Leiza nodded slowly. "Then teach me. Whatever it takes, I''ll learn."

    Azzy studied her for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Alright. But this time, we''ll do things properly."

    Leiza smirked. "Properly, huh? You mean, no more unexpected power-ups through... unconventional means?"

    Azzy sighed, shaking his head. "Exactly."

    She chuckled, but deep inside, she knew things would never be that simple.

 Chapter 770: The world of irth (part-36)

    Leiza collapsed onto Azzy, her breath ragged, skin slick with sweat. Her chest rose and fell against his as she let out a satisfied sigh. "Yep," she muttered, a lazy smile playing on her lips. "Definitely the case."

    Azzy exhaled, his own body still humming with exertion. He gave a small nod. "Yeah. Your reserves are stronger now."

    Leiza chuckled, tilting her head to meet his eyes. "I think I might be getting obsessed with this."

    Azzy frowned slightly. "Don''t. Gaining sudden strength again and again will make you lose your control. And losing control of your strength could have serious consequences, both you and others."

    She smirked, brushing a damp strand of hair from her face. "I wasn''t talking about my powers. I was talking about s*x." Leaning down, she pressed a soft kiss against his lips. "I love you, you know."

    "I... uh..." Azzy hesitated. The words hung between them, heavy. He wasn''t sure if he could say them back. Not yet. He was trying to move on, trying to forget a love that still lingered like a shadow in his heart. It felt unfair¡ªto her, to himself¡ªto use her as an escape.

    Leiza suddenly shifted, sitting up on his chest, her expression playful but firm. "Listen here, mister. I''m Leiza. If I want something, I get it." She leaned down, her nose barely an inch from his. "And you are not going anywhere after taking away my virginity. If you don''t love me now, fine. I''ll make you fall in love with me."

    Azzy blinked. "Uh... okay?" He wasn''t sure if she was joking or dead serious.

    She grinned. "I''ll make you fall so hard for me that you won''t even remember your ex. Or any other woman, for that matter."

    Azzy chuckled, mischief glinting in his eyes. "You can try." With one swift movement, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.

    Leiza gasped, then froze. Her eyes widened as she felt something pressing against her from below. She pulled back slightly, giving him a knowing look. "Again? Seriously?" She shook her head in mock disbelief. "How much of a beast are you? You''ve got more lust than a demon."

    Azzy''s face flushed as he cleared his throat. "It''s your fault for sitting like that. Your, uh... thing was touching my stomach."

    Leiza stared at him for a second before shaking her head with a laugh. "Unbelievable."

    Meanwhile, far away in the realm of Elysium;

    Silver City glowed under the twin golden moons, their soft light washing over the palace balcony where Claire stood. The night air was cool, but she barely felt it. Her gaze stayed fixed on the horizon, lost in thoughts she couldn''t push away.

    Footsteps behind her. She knew who it was before he even spoke.

    "How are you holding up?" Adam''s voice was gentle.

    Claire didn''t turn. "I''m fine. I did the right thing."

    Adam watched her for a long moment before speaking again. "Everyone deserves happiness, Claire. You don''t have to follow the path your father set for you. It''s not too late."

    She finally looked at him, her eyes reflecting the moonlight. "If I choose my happiness, Azzy will become an enemy of all Elysium. He and his people will suffer because of me." She let out a slow breath. "Besides, I was created for one purpose¡ªto become the Supreme Angel and restore our glory. It''s my destiny. For the sake of our realm, I''m prepared to give up my love, and my life."

    Adam''s expression softened. "Every angel would be proud of your sacrifice."

    Claire gave him a sad smile, her fingers tightening around the balcony railing. "Maybe. But that doesn''t make it any easier."

    *

    Three months passed in the blink of an eye on Planet Irth.

    The days melted into weeks, and before Azzy even realized it, he had adjusted to an entirely new life¡ªone where Leiza was at the center of it.

    A few weeks ago, Azzy had learned that Leiza was pregnant. The news had hit him like a tidal wave, of course, there was a shock, he had just recently turned 19, after all. But he was also happy. Yes, the lingering feelings toward Claire were still there in his heart but he was genuinely happy to move on and spend his life with Leiza.

    Perhaps, the main reason he was genuinely happy with her is because he doesn''t have to bear the burden of Death Clan on his head or act like an Arcana Master. It was a normal peaceful life, free of burdens and duties. And Azzy wanted that all of his life.

    He just wanted to enjoy his youth, just like a normal person, and when he was with Leiza, he achieved that. Regular dates, going for an overnight trip with a girlfriend, camping, and having s*x, those three months were quite memorable for Azzy.

    And upon learning that he is going to be a father, without hesitation, he proposed. She had accepted with a smirk, calling him an "overly serious idiot," but the tears in her eyes betrayed how much it meant to her.

    Her uncle, a man of sharp instincts and hidden agendas, had surprisingly given them his blessing. Maybe it was because he saw Azzy''s potential, or maybe he simply didn''t want to go against Leiza''s will, or maybe, it was because Azzy had no one else and Leiza would still lead the company. Either way, the engagement was official, and the media had gone wild with speculation.

    Leiza had taken care of everything else, crafting a fake background for him, and spreading enough rumors to turn them into accepted truths. By now, even the most curious reporters had stopped asking questions.

    Of course, with her pregnancy and engagement, school became irrelevant. Leiza had dropped out without hesitation. Azzy followed suit, though he had never been attached to it in the first place. It was just something he accepted to guard Leiza anyway. They had bigger priorities now.

    Meanwhile, in the world of angels, Azzy''s absence had already been addressed. Per his request, Claire had informed their team that both he and Captain Astro were dead. When the princess spoke, everyone had to accept it as truth. It was a clean break. No one came looking for him. No one from his team searched for answers. Of course, the fact that Azzy didn''t have a much closer friendship with anyone helped him that. Captain Astro was missed by many but Azzy was forgotten in a few weeks.

    And just like that, Azrael Garcia¡ªthe enigmatic fiance? of Leiza¡ªbecame a part of this world and had no ties left with Angels.

 Chapter 771: The world of irth (part-37)

    Present day;

    The grand halls of the Denver estate were adorned with extravagant decorations, celebrating Leiza''s 18th birthday. The entire media industry had their eyes on the event, covering every little detail about the young heiress and her mysterious fiance?.

    Leiza moved through the grand ballroom with ease, laughing and chatting with celebrities and dignitaries. The golden chandeliers reflected in her wine glass as she engaged in conversation, her presence effortlessly commanding attention. Azzy followed beside her, nodding politely as curious guests asked about their love story. Some were intrigued by their relationship, others pried into his background.

    "So, how did you two meet?" a woman in an elegant silver gown asked, her eyes twinkling with curiosity.

    Leiza chuckled, glancing at Azzy. "Oh, it''s quite the story. It''s just the movies. One day, I was going out shopping and some gangsters entered there with the guns for something. Our hero here..." She grabbed Azzy''s arms with affection with a smile and continued, "singlehandedly beat them up. You should have seen this. It was quite heroic."

    Azzy replied with a casual raised voice as if he was lodging a complaint. "Oh, C''mon. That''s not our first meeting. Our first meeting was when you wanted to..."

    *Smack*

    An instant playful smack was struck on his lips, surprising others. Leiza spoke, "C''mon, I''m elevating your image here, Babe." As Azzy stayed silent, Leiza turned to others and said. "It''s nothing. Just an embarrassing incident happened right before his heroics. We kinda fought about something stupid. Anyway, after that fighting scene, he disappeared and I never expected to see him again, either. And look at fate, he actually turned out to be a family friend who lived abroad. One thing led to another and here we are..."

    "Woah..."

    "You only dated like three months and are already engaged..."

    "Well, it was hasty but I feel it is the right time and I just don''t want to let him go..."

    "Well, it looks like the missus fell hard for the handsome..."

    "Can''t you blame me? Where did you find a perfectly handsome guy with a great personality?"

    "Awww..."

    Another guest, a man in a crisp navy suit, leaned in. "And what about you, Mr. Garcia? Not much is known about your past. Some say you are a billionaire tycoon and some say you have background in martial arts..."

    Azzy took a sip of his drink before replying, his tone light. "Well... my background isn''t that interesting. I had a simple life but I love to travel a lot."

    The man raised an eyebrow. "That''s rather vague."

    He answered casually, weaving through the questions with half-truths and vague remarks.

    "How did you the two of you fall in love? I mean like, what is that moment you thought you fell in love with each other?" "No, no, no, answer this first, Leiza. Who proposed who first?" "Ohhh!"

    Leiza smoothly redirected the conversation, her charm effortlessly keeping the attention on her. Azzy appreciated it, but soon, his focus wavered when he spotted something¡ªor rather, someone¡ªin the crowd.

    A figure stood near the far end of the banquet hall, exuding an aura unlike any he had seen before. It shimmered with divinity, powerful yet restrained. Azzy''s instincts flared, after three months.

    "I need to step away for a moment," he murmured to Leiza, who barely had time to nod before he moved through the throng of guests.

    The man he followed had long blond hair and carried a glass of wine, his posture relaxed as he made his way toward the balcony. Azzy trailed behind, keeping his distance until the stranger stopped, gazing out at the moonlit city below.

    Azzy approached cautiously. "Who are you?"

    The man turned around, devoid of expression, and replied. "Just someone who know you."

    In that instant, the Reaper''s voice echoed in Azzy''s mind, solemn and foreboding. "The time has come. Everything is going to change."

    Azzy''s brows knitted together. His body tensed, muscles coiling as if preparing for a fight. "What do you mean by that, Chronos?"

    "Listen to what he has to say, and you''ll understand it, Azrael," replied the Reaper.

    Azzy looked at the stranger named Uriel and said. "You are an Angel."

    The man nodded. "Yes."

    Azzy then said. "If you recognized me, then, you must have known that I''m alive." After a brief pause, he asked. "Are you here to question what happened to the mission, three months ago or something?"

    The man, however, replied, "No."

    "Then, are you here to capture me?"

    The man''s expression remained unreadable. His voice was devoid of emotion, mechanical in its precision. "And it would be beneath me to engage in battle with someone who has yet to ascend, much less a human who was pretending to be an angel."

    "Yet to ascend?" Azzy studied him carefully. When he did, he felt that this man actually suppressing his strength to demigod. And it was subtle but there is a hint of pure divinity emitting from his body, instead of simple divinity. It''s kind of divinity he sensed when he fought Baphomet. The fact that the person addressed him as human and not an angel says a lot of things. Azzy''s eyes narrowed. "Who are you really? And what do you want, exactly?"

    The man replied. "The name''s Uriel and I''m here to give you some information."

    "Uriel?" Azzy became tensed for a moment. "The Archangel Uriel?"

    The man nodded. "Yes."

    "What do you want to talk with me?" Azzy asked.

    Uriel took a slow sip of his wine before speaking. "I have come to tell you the truth about my niece¡ªMichael''s daughter. The real reason she broke up with you."

    Azzy''s jaw clenched at the mention of her. He looked away briefly, then back at Uriel with a hardened gaze. "It doesn''t matter. Whatever her reasons, she decided I wasn''t capable of handling her problems. She didn''t trust me. That''s all I need to know."

    Uriel remained unmoved. "This concerns more than just your past heartbreak. It is tied to your own fate."

    Azzy narrowed his eyes. "My fate?"

    The Reaper continued to spectate in silence, waiting for things to fall in place.

 Chapter 772: The world of Irth (part-38)

    Azzy stood on the balcony, the cool night air brushing against his skin, as Uriel snapped a finger, casting a subtle noise-canceling spell around them.

    The bustling sounds from the banquet hall were gone, replaced by an eerie silence.

    Uriel turned to face him, his long blond hair flowing softly in the breeze. His eyes, distant and unreadable, locked onto Azzy''s.

    "Let me tell you a story," Uriel began, his voice cold, detached. "A story that stretches back millions of years. Back when the Olympians had just won the war of gods."

    Azzy raised an eyebrow, intrigued but skeptical. "What does this have to do with me? Why don''t you just get to the point right away?"

    Uriel ignored the question and continued, "After their victory, the Olympians greedily absorbed the divine essences of the Outer Gods. This period is called the ''Great Merge''. This incident increased the power of Olympus exponentially. The Angels who already lost their Supreme Angel were now weaker than ever. We Archangels became all worried about their possible designs on our realm. We made a deal with Zeus, not to be involved in their territories in exchange for peace. But what they didn''t know is that our Supreme Angel isn''t truly erased from existence. His soul still existed. Moreover, we had a couple of cosmic jewels lying in our treasure, which our Lord has collected back when he tried to reclaim his strength."

    Azzy frowned, "The cosmic jewels?"

    "In order to create a suitable body for the Supreme Angel''s power. After all, only a cosmic jewel has the strength to bear our Lord''s soul," Uriel went on, his tone steady, "We used the Jewel of Death and used a technique our Lord left with us. With it, we created a new figure¡ªThe Angel of Death."

    Azzy felt a shiver run down his spine as he felt something big, but Uriel''s gaze never wavered. "This Angel of Death was meant to be a host, a vessel for the Supreme Angel''s return. But something unexpected happened."

    "What?" Azzy asked, leaning in, his curiosity piqued.

    "The Angel of Death fell in love," Uriel said flatly, "with Zeus'' daughter, Artemis."

    Azzy''s eyes widened, taken aback by the news. "Artemis? The Virgin goddess of the hunt?"

    "Yes," Uriel replied, his voice devoid of emotion. "But because of the long-standing animosity between the angels and the Olympians, and the fact that he shares a similar power to Thanatos, he was betrayed. Led into a trap, and killed mysteriously."

    Azzy felt a weight in his chest, though he wasn''t sure why. He was about to ask more, but Uriel went on, unfazed by the tension.

    "Artemis, devastated by his death, vowed chastity. She rejected all forms of marriage for the rest of her life. In the meantime, the jewel of death vanished into cosmos, never to be found again."

    Azzy took a deep breath, trying to piece together the fragments of the story. "So, what''s your point? What does this have to do with me?"

    Uriel stared at him, his eyes still empty, but now, there was a slight shift in his tone. "As I have said earlier, this story... it ties directly to you. And to your fate. Be patient."

    Uriel paused for a moment, letting Azzy digest the information before continuing. "Anyways, the Angel of Death''s demise consumed Brother Michael with a vengeance as he was looking forward to our Lord''s return, more than anyone else. Elysium almost went to war against Zeus, who was actually looking forward to it. But, we stopped him and forced Zeus to agree to another round of peace as long as he gave up a few territories for us to manage. The peace was established and thousands of your earth years passed away. But, the peace wasn''t everlasting. Michael was still hung up on his dream. He shifted his attention to our long-time enemies, the fallen ones and their demons. After tormenting them for so long with continuous wars, Michael managed to acquire the Jewel of Light from Hell. And using it as a base, he created a new figure. A being named Celeste."

    Azzy blinked, a spark of recognition flashing in his eyes. "Celeste?" he repeated. "Wait. I remember her name. Devorah Garcia introduced herself as the daughter of the Death Clan''s founder... and an angel princess named Celeste. She was my ancestor''s wife..."

    Inside Azzy''s mind space, the remnant spirit of the founder hummed in approval and said. "I married many women, Azrael but she is the only one I ever truly loved."

    Azzy made a mental note but focused on the Archangel standing before him.

    Meanwhile, Uriel nodded, his expression unreadable. "Yes. She was the one."

    Azzy''s thoughts raced. The pieces were starting to fit together, but there were still too many gaps. "So, did Celeste know that she was a vessel?"

    "She didn''t know," Uriel said, his tone unwavering, "because there was opposition¡ªJophiel, one of our brothers, was against the emergence of our creator."

    "Why?" Azzy frowned. "Anyway, what happened afterward?"

    "Jophiel took her soul to Gaia, to Earth," Uriel continued, his voice now tinged with an ancient bitterness. "There, she was planted into the body of a witch named Morgana."

    Azzy''s eyes narrowed. "Morgana? The witch from the Arthurian legends? Wasn''t she the sister of Arthur Pendragon?"

    "Yes. Celeste was born again as Artaigne Pendragon," Uriel said as if stating a fact. "She lived her life unaware of her true origins. Eventually, she fell in love with your founder, Azrael Garcia¡ªor should I say your own past self. Together, they had a child. They lived in peace... until my dear brother found her.

    Azzy''s frown deepened. "You mean, Michael?" The more he listened to the story, the more he started having unpleasant feelings for this Archangel, who is basically by the way the most celebrated Archangel in not only Elysium but in this own damn world of Irth¡ªThe Lord''s Right Hand.

    "Yes," Uriel interrupted, "Michael. When he found Celeste, she refused to return with him. So, he used deceptive means to control her mind. In the end, he forced her to take the life of Arthur Pendragon¡ªthe Emperor of that mortal world."

    Azzy felt a cold chill run through him. "And then?"

    "And then," Uriel said flatly, "Azrael Garcia, devastated by what had happened, was forced to take her life with his own hands."

    A sigh rang out in his mind space.

 Chapter 773: The world of Irth (part-39)

    Azzy''s heart thudded painfully. He knows that he is the reincarnation of the founder and it felt like he was the one who killed his own wife. "So, Celeste... was she¡ª"

    "She returned to her original form, just like every cosmic jewel," Uriel interrupted again, "the Jewel of Light. Captured by Michael once more, before Void (Space) transported it to a distant location in the cosmos."

    Azzy stood there, speechless, his mind spinning with the weight of the story. He couldn''t help but feel disgusted by Michael''s acts. It''s an irony that such a shameless conspirator is revered by many.

    Uriel continued. "After capturing the Jewel of Light again, Michael used it to create Celeste once more. But this time, he didn''t stop there."

    Azzy''s brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

    "After seeing failures two times in a row, Michael realized that cosmic jewels are not immune to death and vulnerable to attacks from greater strength either way. In order to keep his next creation safer, he added fragments of the Jewel of Life into it," Uriel explained, his voice flat but heavy with significance. "After that, he then directly planted her into the womb of a Nephilim living in the mortal world."

    Azzy blinked in surprise. "A Nephilim?"

    Uriel shrugged. "Well, he was worried about Jophiel and other angels who were against the return of our Lord. In order to hide the jewel''s existence away from cosmic entities, he chose a Nephilim in a mortal world. In the mortal world, there won''t be powerful enemies and the jewel of life''s fragments would give her incredible healing powers. It will keep her safe until she reaches the demigod stage." His eyes then darkened, his gaze unwavering as he added. "And to ensure that no one with ill intentions would destroy his plans, Michael took further precautions. He sent his own sword to protect her. Agatha. As her strength improves significantly, a portion of Agatha''s power also gets unlocked."

    Azzy''s mind raced. "incredible healing power? Nephilim mother? Agatha?" His eyes widened in revelation at once. Taking a deep breath, he asked. "Is it Claire?"

    "Yes," Uriel replied with a nod. "That person... is Claire."

    Azzy''s heart skipped a beat. "Claire? You''re saying that Celeste... is reborn as Claire?" So, they were also lovers in the previous life?

    Uriel nodded slowly, his expression unreadable. "As fate would have it, both of you were not only reincarnated... but you fell in love with each other. But Michael, acting quickly, made sure to separate you before your bond could grow too strong. Before you could even form a deep connection with his daughter."

    Azzy''s fists clenched involuntarily, anger bubbling up inside him. "So, it was Michael''s fault, all along?" He suddenly felt a tinge of regret blaming Claire. He should have pursued the truth a tad bit longer instead of moving on, that fast.

    "Yes," Uriel confirmed. "Everything seemed to be going according to plan. But something changed when Michael finally planted the Lord''s soul fragment in Claire. Something went wrong during the fusion process, and Michael ended up in a state of hibernation. He fell into a deep slumber. Others think that he is missing but in reality, he is in a deep state of hibernation, which requires pure divinity to wake him up. So, as a result, Claire was hunting down fallen angels and outer gods, extracting their divinity and supplying it to her father."

    Azzy''s mind raced. "So, if Michael''s out of the picture, what stopping Jophiel or others from acting against her? She is only a demigod."

    "That''s because..." Uriel said, his voice carrying a cold finality. "In his absence, Adam¡ªthe Supreme Angel''s first-ever creation and our Lord''s son¡ªbecame Claire''s master."

    "Adam?" Azzy repeated, remembering the incident when he challenged him for a spar. Back then, had that punch landed, he would have truly obliterated from existence. "I suppose he too wants the Supreme Angel to return."

    "That goes without saying," Uriel explained. "Under his guidance, not only has Claire gotten stronger at a rapid pace, but the fusion between her soul and the Lord''s soul fragment also intensified."

    "And once the merge is complete?"

    "Once Claire becomes transcendent, once she enters the God Realm as you mortals call it,..." Uriel''s voice faltered, as though even he struggled with the weight of what he was about to say. "The fusion will be complete. Claire will cease to exist forever. The Supreme Angel will be reborn, and with that rebirth, the cosmos will fall into chaos once again as the three tribunals (Chronos, Life, and Space) swore to Zeus not to be involved in the affairs of celestials unless the entire universe is in the verge of collapse. Countless worlds will be destroyed as a result in case a war will erupt between Elysium and Olympus."

    Azzy took a step back, his mind reeling. "What are you saying? That Claire... will cease to exist? That everything she''s become... will be gone?" He doesn''t pay too much attention to the consequences but more to the fact that Claire will be gone for real.

    "Yes," Uriel replied softly. "There will be no more Celeste or Claire or even the Jewel of Light."

    Azzy felt a surge of panic, his thoughts swirling. "Then... there''s no way to stop it? No way to save her?"

    "Only her death can save her. It is necessary to stop the resurrection," Uriel said flatly as if the matter were already decided.

    Azzy turned toward him, eyes wide. "What? You can''t be serious. You''re talking about Claire''s death." His voice trembled with disbelief.

    Uriel met his gaze, unshaken. "Yes. Her death is the only way to stop the Supreme Angel''s resurrection. As soon as the other Archangels realize that Michael is in hibernation, some of them will undoubtedly try to kill her. And they will do. In that situation, only you can save her¡ªand also put an end to this whole mess once and for all."

    Azzy shook his head in frustration, his chest tight with anger and confusion. "How can I save her? How am I supposed to stop all this from happening?"

    Uriel''s expression remained emotionless, but his next words made Azzy freeze in place. "Well, it is because the Angel of Death... is none other than you."

    Azzy stared at him, wide-eyed and stunned. "What?" he screamed, his voice raw with shock.

 Chapter 774: The world of Irth (part-40)

    Uriel nodded solemnly, the words hanging heavy between them. "Just like Claire and Celeste were the personifications of the Jewel of Light, your soul is the personification of the Jewel of Death. You carry the primordial death energy, which has the potential to erase any being from existence¡ªeven the Supreme Angel."

    Azzy went awfully silent and murmured, looking down at his feet "I''m the Angel of... Death?"

    "You have three Seraphic months," Uriel said, his voice as firm as a stone, not intending to care about what Azzy was going through. "Exactly three months from now¡ªone Earth year¡ªClaire will attempt to absorb all the pillars of heaven. Once she succeeds, she will become a transcendent being¡ªan Archangel. But then the merge will be complete. The Supreme Angel will be reborn, and chaos will reign."

    Azzy stayed silent and he still couldn''t get out of the shock about his own existence.

    "If you fail to stop her," Uriel continued, "Claire will either be killed by the Archangels or cease to exist entirely. The other Archangels won''t take that risk. They can only wait for a while, on my word. Remember, you only have 3 Seraphic months. I recommend you to breakthrough to the ascendant realm, just in case."

    Azzy watched as Uriel faded into the shadows, his form disappearing into nothingness, leaving him alone in the quiet, empty space. His mind was still spinning from the revelations, his thoughts like scattered shards of glass¡ªsharply fragmented, impossible to grasp.

    For a long moment, Azzy remained frozen, trying to process everything Uriel had just told him. The weight of it all seemed too much, too overwhelming to fully comprehend.

    His voice shook as he muttered to the air, almost as if hoping that Uriel was trying to fool him. "Chronos... is this true?"

    There was a brief silence before a familiar, cold voice echoed in his mind.

    "Yes," the Reaper replied simply, the voice as neutral as ever.

    Azzy stumbled backward, his heart racing. Suddenly, everything clicked¡ªeverything he had experienced, every strange moment in his life.

    Why had the Reaper chosen him as the successor to Death?

    Why had his future self warned him not to trust the Reaper?

    Why had the Reaper kept so many secrets from him?

    Why is it almost impossible for a normal human to be able to bond with a cosmic jewel but he had been able to bond with three cosmic jewels without a single issue?

    Why had he been able to handle a sword of light, something that should have been far beyond his reach?

    And then there was the Guardian God, who had taken him on as a disciple... and Gaia, who had supported him in ways he could never understand.

    All this while, he wondered whether he was not ready to hear the answers from the Reaper. When he is ready, the Reaper will tell him. But now that he got his answers, it made him realize why the Reaper kept these things from him.

    He was the Angel of Death. His soul, the very embodiment of the Jewel of Death¡ªalso created by Michael as a vessel for their Supreme Angel, and now, he is being used by the Reaper to dethrone Thanatos.

    Azzy''s breath became shallow as the weight of the realization pressed down on him like a crushing force. His heart thudded loudly in his chest. His head swam with a thousand thoughts, all colliding at once.

    "This... this is too much," Azzy whispered, his voice breaking. His hands trembled as he grabbed his head, his vision blurring as the digested truth overwhelmed him.

    "I... I can''t..." His chest tightened, and his breath hitched in panic. His vision flickered, the world spinning around him in dizzying circles. The room seemed to constrict, the air thinning as if the weight of the truth was suffocating him.

    Suddenly, his legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground. His heart raced, his breath came in ragged gasps, but it was no use. The truth, the overwhelming flood of knowledge, was too much for him to bear.

    Everything blurred, his mind fading into darkness as he fainted, the last thing he heard being the distant whisper of the Reaper''s voice in his mind.

    "Rest, Azrael. You''ll need your strength."

    Many hours later;

    Azzy slowly stirred, blinking as his mind began to clear.

    The dim light of the room filtered through the curtains, and his senses gradually returned to him. His head was pounding, and he felt strangely disoriented. As his vision sharpened, he realized he was lying on their bed.

    Leiza was sitting beside him, her hand resting gently on his forehead. She looked worried, her brows furrowed with concern. The moment she noticed him wake up, her eyes softened, relief flooding her expression.

    "Rael..." she whispered, her voice tinged with worry. "What happened? Are you okay?"

    Azzy took a deep breath, still feeling the weight of the revelation that had nearly broken him. He turned to face her, his heart heavy with everything he had learned.

    "I... I''m sorry, Leiza," Azzy began, his voice shaky as he struggled to find the right words. "I didn''t mean to worry you. I learned some things from a visitor..." His gaze dropped to his hands as if he could somehow make sense of everything by looking at them. "Things about Claire... and about myself."

    Leiza''s expression grew more serious, and silence stretched between them as she waited for him to explain.

    "Claire is in deep trouble." Azzy continued, his voice quiet but steady. "And it seems only my powers of death can help her."

    Leiza''s eyes widened as she processed what he was saying. Her lips parted as if she were about to speak, but she remained silent, watching him intently.

    "I''m sorry," Azzy added, his voice thick with affection. "But there''s something I need you to understand. While it''s true that Claire may have her reasons for breaking up with me... I don''t want to get back together with her. I''ve moved on, Leiza. You... you are the love of my life now."

    Azzy reached for her, his hand gently cupping her face as he looked into her eyes with unwavering sincerity. "You''re the one I want in my future."

    Leiza stayed quiet, her expression unreadable, her eyes searching his. It was clear she wasn''t entirely convinced by his words, and her doubts hung in the air like a heavy fog.

 Chapter 775: The world of Irth (part-41)

    Azzy saw the uncertainty in her eyes and, without hesitation, pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her. "Listen to me," he said softly but firmly. "We''ll set a date, next week, instead of a couple of months as we originally planned. We''ll marry here, among your friends, and whatever family you have left. Then, after that, we''ll leave this world behind, and I''ll take you to my homeworld. We''ll marry again there in the presence of my family."

    He paused, watching her reaction carefully, wanting to make sure she heard every word. "I promise you, Leiza. I''ll stay by your side until our baby is born, and only then will I leave for Elysium."

    Leiza''s eyes softened, and the tension in her face eased. Slowly, she nodded, her lips curling into a smile as she relaxed in his arms. "Okay," she whispered, her voice light with relief. "I believe you."

    Azzy smiled back, the knot in his chest finally loosening. With a deep breath, he hugged her tighter, feeling her warmth and the steadiness of her presence. "Thank you," he murmured, pressing his forehead against hers. "I''ll make everything right. I promise."

    Leiza, now fully at ease, let out a soft laugh. "You always say that, but... I know you''ll keep your word."

    Azzy chuckled softly. "I will. I''m going to make sure of it."

    And for the first time in what felt like forever, Azzy felt the weight on his shoulders begin to lift. He wasn''t alone in this anymore. Leiza was by his side, and no matter what came next, they would face it together.

    Ten days passed away in the blink of an eye. The news about Leiza''s marriage spread like wildfire, all over the country, once the news about Leiza purchasing a bride attire from a store even though she already paid money to a custom fashion designer for handmade bridal attire, a couple of weeks ago.

    As a result, the ceremony took place in a small, serene temple, tucked away in the heart of Silver City instead of making it grand.

    The air was thick with anticipation. Invited guests had gathered, dressed in formal attire, with the hum of excited conversation filling the room. Azzy stood at the front, dressed in a simple yet elegant suit, his expression a mixture of calm and nervous excitement. Leiza stood by his side, radiant in a soft, flowing white gown, her hand tightly clasped in his.

    The ceremony began with the "Blessing of the Betrothal" (Kiddushin). Azzy and Leiza stood before the rabbi, who began by reciting the prayers of blessing over a glass of wine. The couple each took a sip, symbolizing their shared life ahead¡ªone that would have both sweetness and challenges.

    The rabbi, a wise figure with a calm demeanor, turned to face them. "As you stand here before us today, you bind your hearts together not just in love, but in partnership. May your union be a blessing, and may you always find joy in each other''s company."

    Azzy smiled down at Leiza, his heart swelling with emotion. He felt the gravity of the moment as he reached for her hand.

    The next part of the ceremony was the signing of the Ketubah¡ªthe traditional marriage contract. It outlined the responsibilities of both partners, ensuring that the marriage would be founded on respect, trust, and mutual care.

    Azzy and Leiza stood beside the witnesses¡ªclose friends who had been by their side through thick and thin. The Ketubah was written in beautiful script on parchment, its words timeless and binding. The rabbi held it in his hands as Azzy and Leiza signed their names with a flourish.

    With the signing of the Ketubah, their marriage became official. The words on the parchment, echoing the vows they had already made to each other, now held legal weight in the eyes of their people.

    The ceremony continued under the Chuppah, the wedding canopy that symbolized the home they would build together. The Chuppah was held up by four pillars, each one representing the support and stability they would need to nurture their marriage.

    Under the canopy, the couple exchanged vows, and promises of love, loyalty, and protection. "I will love you not only in this moment but every moment that comes after," Azzy said, his voice strong and sincere.

    Leiza smiled, her voice steady with emotion. "And I will walk with you through every storm, side by side, as we build our future."

    The rabbi then recited the traditional prayer, V''ahavta, the prayer of love, reminding them that the foundation of their marriage was not just commitment but a shared devotion to one another.

    One of the most memorable and symbolic parts of Azzy''s wedding is the breaking of the glass. This act has many interpretations, but the most common one is that it symbolizes the fragility of life and love and the fact that even in moments of happiness, there will always be challenges to face together.

    Azzy took the small glass wrapped in a cloth and stomped on it, shattering it to cheers from the guests. "Mazel Tov!" shouted the crowd, their faces beaming with joy.

    Leiza laughed, her hand over her heart. "That was louder than I expected."

    Azzy scratched his cheek in embarrassment. "The glass is too fragile."

    With the ceremony complete, the newlyweds walked hand in hand down the aisle, greeted with applause and smiles from their loved ones. The reception was held in a large hall adjacent to the temple, where the guests gathered around a long table laden with food, wine, and treats. It was a feast, a celebration of love, union, and the future that awaited them.

    Azzy and Leiza were seated at the head of the table, basking in the warmth of their friends and family. Laughter filled the air as speeches were made, toasts were raised, and well-wishers offered heartfelt blessings.

    The dance floor soon came alive with joy, music playing as couples swirled around, and Azzy and Leiza shared their first dance as husband and wife. Leiza smiled up at Azzy, her head resting against his chest. "This is perfect," she murmured.

    Azzy grinned down at her. "It''s just the beginning."

    They danced the night away, savoring the moment, knowing that this day¡ªtheir wedding day¡ªwas just the start of a beautiful chapter in their lives together.

 Chapter 776: The world of Irth (part-42)

    Deep in the midnight on their wedding night, a naked Azzy lay beside Leiza, the warmth of her body against his bringing him a sense of peace and a bit of arousal. He''d never thought he''d find this kind of comfort¡ªthis kind of love¡ªafter everything he had been through. The night was calm, and the soft rise and fall of their breathing was the only sound filling the room.

    But then, just as he began to drift into sleep, the familiar, unsettling sensation took hold of him. A coldness crept down his spine as his mind plunged into darkness.

    It was the nightmare again that troubled him for years but kept evolving every time. It happens.

    In the dream, he was standing in a grand hall, its stone walls adorned with tapestries and banners.

    His father sat on the throne, his eyes distant and cold, surveying the room with an air of authority.

    Azzy felt a presence beside him, and when he turned, there was his sister, smiling softly at him. On the other side, there was an unfamiliar young man, but strikingly similar to himself, then, there was Leiza in her wedding gown, her eyes filled with happiness. It used to be Claire but now, she was replaced with Leiza.

    Azzy''s heart pounded in his chest. His family, his friends, and others¡ªsome familiar, others not¡ªstood around him. Among them were elves, their pointed ears and ethereal beauty a stark contrast to the other figures. Strange, unfamiliar faces also loomed in the crowd, their eyes filled with reverence and anticipation.

    Suddenly, an explosion shattered the silence, and Azzy''s body stiffened in response. He watched, helpless, as fire and smoke billowed from the ground, consuming everything in its path. The scene shifted, and the sky was suddenly filled with modern aircraft, their engines roaring as they rained bombs and missiles upon the world below. Destruction and chaos filled every corner of his vision.

    The dream didn''t end there.

    Azzy could hear the ground trembling beneath him as vampires, fierce and relentless, tore through a village, their sharp fangs glistening in the flames.

    Giants stomped across the land, their massive forms breaking the earth beneath them.

    Then came the dinosaurs¡ªgiant, hulking creatures that roared with primal fury, their massive bodies tearing through the landscape, leaving destruction in their wake.

    Azzy''s chest tightened, his breathing ragged as the nightmare reached its peak. Just as it felt like the world was falling apart around him, he was jolted awake.

    "Hah!"

    He gasped for air, his heart racing, the images of the dream still vivid in his mind. Sweat clung to his skin, and his body shook as though he had just experienced the horrors firsthand.

    Leiza stirred beside him, her eyes fluttering open in the dim light of the room. Her hand instinctively reached out to him, concern etched on her face.

    "Honey?" she whispered softly, her voice tinged with worry. "What happened? Are you okay?"

    He blinked rapidly, trying to shake the remnants of the nightmare from his mind. His eyes met hers, and he gave a weak smile, though it didn''t quite reach his eyes. He shook his head slowly as if to dispel the lingering effects of the dream.

    "It''s just a nightmare," he murmured, his voice hoarse. "Nothing to worry about."

    Leiza sat up slightly, her hand resting on his chest. "Are you sure? Your heartbeat is going crazy," she asked, her eyes searching his face for any sign of distress.

    Azzy leaned forward, planting a soft kiss on her forehead. The warmth of her touch was grounding, a reminder that he wasn''t alone. "I''m sure. It''s nothing I can''t handle."

    But even as he spoke the words, the weight of the dream lingered in his chest, a foreboding sense of something that was yet to come.

    Leiza didn''t press him further. Instead, she lay back down beside him, her body curled against him. "Get some rest," she whispered, her voice a soothing lullaby in the darkness. "Just don''t forget that I''m always here by your side, no matter what."

    Azzy nodded, though his mind was still racing with the fragments of the nightmare. One of the scenes in the nightmare was a scene from his precognition, the very thing that forced him to evacuate the Blood Clan from his clan and the reason why he wanted to form a country together with other hidden clans. He already had trouble ahead because of Claire''s situation and now, he has to worry about the dream, too? Just thinking about it gave him a headache.

    In the end, letting out a sigh, Azzy went back to sleep, cuddling his wife.

    *

    Six months passed away in the blink of an eye.

    Azzy and Leiza didn''t leave the world and returned to his world as he originally planned. The reason was that Leiza''s uncle became sick. Or should one say, his sickness came to light.

    He had stage 4 Liver cancer for a while and it was incurable by even the healing skill card possessed by Azzy.

    Leiza, who was pregnant, with her fluctuation of hormones, broke down upon learning it. She felt like she should have known. She was so busy spending time with her husband as a newlywed and a pregnant woman that she ignored her uncle all these months. If only she could have paid attention to why he was always leaving out regularly, she could have done something. Or atleast, her husband could have done it.

    Since it is already late, Leiza decided to live in the mansion, until her uncle''s death. Azzy agreed with her, too.

    In the meantime, he tried to explore more about improving his master over death energy, rather than looking for a breakthrough.

    In the present day, Azzy''s eyes fluttered open as the early morning light filtered through the curtains. He felt a cold shiver crawl up his spine, as though the very air around him had shifted. Then, as though pulled from the depths of his consciousness, a voice echoed in his mind.

    "You don''t have time, Azrael."

    Azzy''s heart skipped a beat. The voice was unmistakable.

    He bolted upright in bed, the sheets tangled around his legs. Leiza stirred beside him but remained asleep, her soft breathing the only sound filling the room. He glanced over at her, trying to ignore the weight that pressed down on his chest.

    And then he heard it again¡ªclearer this time.

    "Azrael, you must come now."

    With a surge of determination, Azzy swung his legs off the bed and stood, his feet hitting the cold floor. He didn''t need to turn around to know that Leiza was still asleep. He quietly padded out of their room and down the hallway, his mind racing.

    The hallway of the mansion was dark and quiet, and Azzy''s footsteps were muffled by the plush carpets beneath him. He didn''t stop until he reached the study room, where the shadows seemed deeper than usual. There, standing by the window, was Uriel.

    As before, Uriel''s expression was unreadable. His poker face reflected nothing but cold, detached professionalism, his golden eyes piercing in the dim light. Azzy''s pulse quickened, a part of him wishing that he could turn away and pretend none of this was happening.

    But he couldn''t.

    "Uriel," Azzy said, his voice steady, though a knot formed in his stomach. "I think we still had a few weeks left, according to the time you given me?"

    Uriel turned to face him, his expression never shifting. "Unfortunately, Claire has started the process of accumulation earlier than I anticipated," he said flatly, his voice devoid of emotion. "If you want to save her, you need to act now."

    Azzy felt his throat tighten. "But Leiza..." He swallowed hard, his mind torn between the woman he loved and the woman whose fate now hung in the balance. "My son is about to be born in a week, Uriel. I can''t just leave now. I won''t."

    Uriel didn''t flinch at Azzy''s words. He was a figure of unwavering calm, unmoved by anything. "I fear you don''t have the luxury of time," he replied, his tone unyielding. "If you come with me now, I will take you directly to her. If you choose not to, then I''m afraid the decision is out of your hands. I''ll be leaving."

    The finality in Uriel''s voice made Azzy''s heart race. His fists clenched at his sides, a surge of conflicting emotions flooding him. Leiza, his unborn son, Claire¡ªhe couldn''t abandon any of them. But Uriel was right. If he didn''t act now, it might be too late for Claire. Claire has no one else on her side while Leiza had people to help her, even if he disappears.

    Azzy''s gaze softened as he looked back toward the bedroom, where Leiza lay, unaware of the choices now before him. His throat tightened once more.

    "Give me some time," Steeling his heart, Azzy said, his voice low but firm. "I need to say goodbye to her. Please, just a moment."

    Uriel''s gaze locked onto him, and for a brief moment, Azzy swore he saw a flicker of something¡ªsomething almost like understanding. Uriel nodded once, the smallest gesture of concession.

    "Very well," he said, his voice as calm and emotionless as ever. "But make it quick. Time is not on your side."

    Azzy quietly opened the door to their bedroom once again, stepping softly into the room. The moonlight from the window cast a soft glow over Leiza''s peaceful form. She was lying on her side, her hand resting gently over her swollen belly.

 Chapter 777: The world of Irth (part-43)

    Azzy hesitated for a moment, watching her sleep, his heart heavy with the weight of what he was about to do. He knew it was going to be hard¡ªleaving her, especially now¡ªbut he also knew there was no other choice.

    He gently sat beside her, careful not to disturb her too suddenly. But it was time.

    "Leiza," he whispered softly, brushing a lock of hair from her forehead. "Leiza, wake up."

    She stirred, her eyelids fluttering open slowly as she groggily blinked up at him. "Honey?" she mumbled, her voice thick with sleep. "What is it...?"

    Azzy''s heart clenched as he looked into her eyes. She deserved so much more than this, but the weight of the situation was too great to ignore.

    "The time has come," he said, his voice quiet but filled with urgency. "I need to leave."

    Leiza''s eyes shot open wide in an instant. She sat up quickly, her hand instinctively going to her belly as if to reassure herself that everything was still okay.

    "What?!" she gasped, her voice filled with confusion and panic. "Honey, what are you talking about? You can''t just leave now! Not now, of all times!"

    Azzy felt a pang in his chest, but his resolve didn''t waver. He didn''t want to go, didn''t want to leave her when she needed him the most. But there was no other choice, not if he wanted to save Claire¡ªand maybe even everything else.

    "I know," he said softly, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "I don''t want to leave either, but I don''t have any choice. The situation is... urgent. The fate of billions is at stake here." He looked at her, his eyes pleading. "I promise I''ll come back. By the time our child is born, I''ll be here. I''ll make it back in time, Dear. I swear."

    Leiza''s face was filled with a mixture of disbelief and concern as she stared at him, her hand resting protectively over her belly. She opened her mouth to protest, but the words seemed to die on her lips. She could see the sincerity in his eyes, and despite the turmoil swirling within her, she knew he wasn''t doing this lightly.

    "How can you just leave me like this?" she asked quietly, her voice cracking with emotion. "I thought... And now, just when I need you the most..."

    Azzy knelt beside her, taking her hands in his. His voice was steady but full of regret. "I don''t want to leave you, my love. But I have to do this. If I don''t act now, it could be too late. I know it''s not fair, and I wish there was another way. But this is something I have to do."

    Leiza took a deep breath, her eyes filled with both sadness and acceptance. She knew that if Azzy stopped now because of her, he would be filled with regrets for the rest of his life. She can''t be selfish right now, even though she really want to be selfish.

    With a resigned sigh, she looked at him, her expression softening despite her fear. "I can''t convince you to stay, can I?"

    Azzy shook his head, his heart breaking. "I wish I could stay. But I can''t."

    Leiza closed her eyes for a moment, breathing deeply as she steadied herself. When she opened her eyes again, there was a mix of resolve and love in them. "You better come back quickly, Honey," she said, her voice steady despite the emotion behind it. "Or else... I swear, I''ll never forgive you."

    Azzy''s heart ached at the thought of leaving her in this state, but he knew she understood. She knew the stakes. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead gently, his lips lingering for a moment longer than usual.

    "I will," he promised, his voice quiet but firm. "I swear, I will."

    Leiza gave him a small, bittersweet smile as she nodded. "Just... be careful. Come back to us."

    Azzy lowered himself down and kissed her belly. "Hang in there, son. Don''t be in a hurry to come out and don''t trouble your mother with kicks and punches. Just wait for Papa. Love you." He spoke as if he was giving his farewell message, for he knew that the risk of death was still there. He was confident to return but still, he didn''t want to leave behind any regrets.

    He then stood up, his body tense as he prepared himself to leave. "Wait for me, Leiza."

    "I pray for your safety and may the lord bless you with luck, my love," replied Leiza, tears forming in her eyes.

    With a final glance over his shoulder, Azzy turned and walked out, the door clicking softly behind him. Leiza didn''t follow him as she felt like she wouldn''t be able to control herself, which is not a good thing for the baby.

    Soon, Azzy stood with Uriel on the balcony, the cool night air brushing against his skin, as the first light of dawn began to break across the horizon. The soft glow from the rising sun painted the sky in hues of orange and pink, but it did little to lighten the heaviness in Azzy''s chest.

    Uriel, as always, remained impassive, his expression unchanged by Azzy''s situation. With a slight motion of his hand, a rift in space opened, a swirling vortex of energy that seemed to pull the very air around them.

    Azzy looked back once more, his heart heavy, but filled with a determination he couldn''t ignore. Then, without another word, he stepped into the rift. The swirling energy closed around him, and in the blink of an eye, he was gone.

    Leiza sat there on the bed, her body trembling as the last vestiges of her tears slipped down her cheeks. Wiping the stream of tears, she murmured. "I need to be strong now, more than ever. Rael will return for me and my baby. I know that he will."

    *

    "I leave the rest in your care, Azrael. Good luck." Uriel said, dropping him off right at the entrance of the throne room.

    Azzy''s attention shifted to the sight before him. The air around him felt thick with an unspoken power. The walls of the god''s palace were lined with towering pillars, each one etched with intricate designs, glowing softly in the dim, ethereal light that radiated from them. As his gaze drifted upward, the sight of the celestial throne caught his attention.

    There, sitting upon the golden throne, was Claire.

    Her figure was regal, draped in exquisite clothing that shimmered like the stars, her golden crown sitting elegantly atop her head.

    But it wasn''t the crown, nor the clothing, that held Azzy''s attention¡ªit was the sheer aura of divinity that seemed to wrap around her. It was as if her entire self changed from half a year ago.

    Her eyes were closed, her expression serene, and the pillars surrounding her pulsed with power, thirty-six of them in total, each one a glowing column of celestial energy.

    One of them was visibly being absorbed into her body, its light flickering as it merged with her form. The room hummed with an unnatural quiet, the power in the air thick with the process she was undergoing. It was a moment that felt frozen in time.

    As Uriel vanished, the doors to the throne hall slammed shut with a resonating finality, and a barrier of shimmering light surrounded the room. The sound of distant footsteps, voices, and the usual divine hum of Silver City seemed to fade away, leaving only the two of them in the heavy silence. Azzy was alone with Claire now, with nothing but his own resolve.

    His heart ached as the memories of their past¡ªof the love they once shared, the promises they made¡ªflooded his mind.

    He remembered the laughter, the quiet moments spent together, their plans for the future. And now, here she was a vessel of godly power, teetering on the edge of removing herself from existence.

    He stepped forward, his seraphic wings unfolding behind him, casting a soft glow against the darkness of the throne room. His voice broke the silence, quiet but full of emotion.

    "Claire..."

    At the sound of his voice, Claire''s eyes snapped open, her golden irises gleaming like molten metal in the dim light. For a brief moment, Azzy saw a flicker of recognition in her gaze, but it quickly shifted to something colder, more distant.

    Her voice was calm, almost devoid of emotion as she looked at him, her head tilted slightly. "How did you get in here, Azzy?" she asked.

    Azzy''s heart clenched at the sight of her. She wasn''t the woman he once knew and loved.

    He didn''t answer her question immediately. Instead, he took another step forward, his eyes never leaving hers. "I learned the whole truth, Claire. Everything about you, about me, about us," he said, his voice trembling slightly. "I know why you''re doing this, why you''re becoming... this."

    Claire''s gaze narrowed slightly, a flicker of confusion crossing her features before they settled back into their serene, almost detached expression. "And what are you going to do about it?" she asked, her voice colder now. "Are you going to stop me? To stop this?"

    Azzy shook his head, his eyes filled with a deep sadness. "I''m not here to stop you, Claire. I''m here to save you."

 Chapter 778: The world of Irth (part-44)

    A flash of surprise flickered in her eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. She looked at him, her golden crown gleaming as if mocking his words. "Save me?" she repeated, her tone colder now, almost as if she were speaking to a stranger. "From what? From myself? You don''t understand, Azzy. This is my destiny. I don''t have a choice anymore."

    Azzy took another step forward, his voice more desperate now. "You do have a choice. You always did. This isn''t your destiny, Claire. You were never meant to become this... thing. You were always meant to be yourself, the Claire I loved." His voice faltered, the weight of the words pressing on him. "You''re not just some tool for the Angels. You''re not just a pawn to be used."

    For the first time, a flicker of something¡ªsomething human¡ªappeared in her eyes. But it was brief, fleeting. Claire blinked, her gaze softening for just a moment, before she turned away, her eyes closing again as the pillars continued to merge with her.

    "I don''t know what you''re talking about, Azzy. I am the Supreme Angel. I am the one who will bring balance to the world," she said softly, her voice distant, as if the woman he had once known was slipping further away with every passing second.

    Azzy''s chest tightened as he watched her, the weight of the moment crashing down on him. He stepped closer, reaching out as if he could somehow break through the barrier that had formed between them. "You''re not the Supreme Angel, Claire. You''re Claire. The woman I loved in both my past and present life. You don''t have to do this."

    Her eyes flickered open again, and she looked at him with an unreadable expression. "Love? Is that what you still think of me? If I remember correctly, you are married, Azzy."

    Azzy''s heart clenched. He nodded, his voice barely above a whisper. "Yes. I moved on and married someone else. Perhaps, it is true that I might not have the same love I had for you, years ago. But a part of me can never move on, can never stop caring about you. And what you''re becoming... it''s cruel. Please, Claire, let me help you."

    For a long moment, she said nothing, and the sound of the merging pillars grew louder, each one slipping into her body with a soft, resonating hum. Azzy could feel the time slipping away, and with it, the chance to save her. His wings fluttered slightly behind him as he took a deep breath, steadying himself.

    "I can''t stop this," she finally said, her voice barely audible. "I have no choice. This is the way it has to be."

    Azzy''s gaze softened as he stepped closer, his voice thick with emotion. "It doesn''t have to be, Claire. Please, I''m begging you. Come back to me. Don''t let them control you. Don''t let this be your fate."

    She didn''t respond, her gaze turning back to the pillars, her body starting to glow brighter as more energy flowed into her.

    "I don''t wish to be saved," Claire said, her voice turned more and more detached. She barely glanced at him, her eyes locked on the pillars, the ethereal glow in them intensifying with each passing moment. "Leave now, Azzy. If you don''t, you''ll alert the Guardians."

    Azzy''s chest tightened as his heart ached with every passing second.

    His voice broke through the silence, pleading and desperate. "How can I leave? Knowing that you''ll cease to exist? Claire, once you do this, there will be nothing left of you. Not even your memories. Do you understand? This¡ªthis isn''t living. This is suicide. You''ll disappear, Claire. Forever."

    Her gaze finally shifted towards him, but it was cold, distant, almost resigned. "I told you before. It''s my path," she said, her voice steady but empty. "My sacrifice will bring the Supreme Angel to life. That''s my purpose."

    Azzy''s anger flared, mixed with deep sorrow. "No! This isn''t a sacrifice, it''s a death sentence. The Supreme Angel''s birth will bring chaos to the universe, a war that will ravage everything. It''s not a salvation, Claire! It''s destruction. It''s madness."

    Claire''s frown deepened at his words, but there was no trace of regret or fear in her expression. "You don''t understand a thing mortal," she said, her voice clipped, her eyes turning cold again. She even stopped addressing his name. "Whatever happens, this is an angelic matter. It has nothing to do with you. You have no connection to this event. You should leave, mortal. Go back to your life. Live it as you always have."

    Azzy''s heart sank at her words.

    After six months of time, The Reaper''s voice once again rang out in his mind, but it didn''t carry any suggestions. It contained the command. "Kill her now, Azrael. She no longer cares for you, and she no longer cares for this world. She is beyond redemption. End it. End her life before it is too late. At the very least, she will have the prospects of reincarnation."

    Azzy''s body went stiff, a cold chill creeping up his spine. The Reaper''s words echoed in his ears, pushing him to act. His hand instinctively moved to the hilt of the sword of radiance that was hovering around him, his fingers trembling as he wrapped them around it.

    For a moment, the thought of ending it all¡ªthe pain, the destruction, her transformation¡ªfelt so clear, so simple. But his heart rejected it. The part of him that still loved Claire, that still believed in her humanity, fought against the words of the Reaper.

    Azzy took a step forward, his wings flaring slightly, and his voice trembled with emotion. "You''re wrong, Claire. You have a choice, Claire. You always have had one. I won''t let you go through with this. I''ll fight for you. I''ll fight until you remember who you are."

    Claire''s gaze hardened, and for a moment, Azzy thought he saw a flicker of the woman he once knew. But it was fleeting, replaced by a coldness that was far more profound than he could understand. "You can''t fight me, mortal. You can''t fight fate," she said, her voice growing distant, her eyes closing again as the golden light enveloped her once more.

 Chapter 779: The world of Irth (part-45)

    "I can and I will," Azzy insisted, his voice gaining strength. "Because no matter how much power you''ve absorbed, no matter how much you''ve changed, you''re still Claire. And I will save you."

    The pillars around her continued to pulse, each one drawing closer to her body, merging with her in a brilliant display of divine energy. The room hummed with power, and Azzy could feel the world shifting as her transformation accelerated.

    The Reaper''s voice rang in his mind again, louder this time, more forceful. "She is lost, Azrael. There''s no saving her. You must make the choice. Kill her now, or let the world burn."

    Azzy tightened the grip on his sword and pushed forward.

    As Claire started absorbing the second pillar, the divine energy surged, filling the room with a radiant glow. She turned her eyes toward him, cold and empty, and then, with a flick of her wrist, the remaining thirty-four pillars hovered around her like sentinels ready to protect and also to strike.

    Azzy''s eyes narrowed as he saw the pillars of heaven revolve around Claire. There, he spotted tiny gaps between each.

    With a simple thought in his head, Azzy shifted, his form shrinking until he was the size of a mosquito. His wings beat with incredible speed, buzzing through the air like a blur. The pillars of heaven shot forward, each one aiming to crush him, but Azzy was too fast and too tiny to be caught. With each movement, he dodged with ease, entering their defenses and reaching Claire in no time.

    "Sealing Technique: Decarune."

    Claire''s eyes barely registered his movement before Azzy''s hand shot out, unleashing the Decarune seal onto her. The ten runic symbols in the form of zodiacs entered her body and sealed her soul orb. All of a sudden, she turned into a mortal, her eyes widening in surprise. "This... I"

    Before she was even able to react properly or the pillars of heaven aimed inwardly where Azzy was, the latter acted swiftly, materializing into his normal size and striking her neck with precision. His touch was light but forceful, a simple chop that rendered her unconscious on the spot.

    The pillars faltered, their energy swirling aimlessly as Claire''s body collapsed, lifeless for the moment. Azzy caught her as she fell, his heart racing, but his mind focused on what he had to do next. "Now, I need to take her away."

    "What are you doing, Azrael? I told you to kill her. You haven''t stopped the fusion yet." The Reaper roared inside his head.

    Azzy didn''t respond to the Reaper''s call at all and raised the sword of radiance. "Get us out of here, now." He ordered the weapon.

    The sword of radiance obliged his command, glowing faintly in the dim light as it cut through the very fabric of space, transporting them from the chaos of Silver City to the serene landscape of Planet Irth.

    As soon as they disappeared, Adam was seen storming into the throne room in a hurry. He saw that the room was empty. The pillars of heaven were lying on the floor, immobile. At the same time, there was a tear in the space that seemed to be repairing itself. Adam wanted to go through the spatial tear, but before he took the action, it closed up. "The sword of radiance is being used. Which Olympian god dared to intrude and abduct Claire?" He clenched his fists, his face reddening in anger.

    Meanwhile, back on Irth;

    The moment they landed, Azzy''s breath caught. Standing calmly before him was Uriel, his expression unreadable as ever. "You did it."

    Azzy nodded. "Yes."

    Uriel''s eyes locked onto Azzy''s as he spoke, his voice devoid of emotion. "Thank you for your assistance, Azrael," he said, his words flat, almost as though he were stating a fact. "Now, if you could hand her over, you can leave."

    Azzy''s grip on Claire tightened, a frown pulling at his face. His heart skipped a beat, confusion and dread swirling in his chest. "What are you talking about?" he demanded, his voice tinged with suspicion. "You want me to hand her over?"

    Uriel blinked once, his gaze unwavering. "Claire is already beyond the scope of saving," he replied with a matter-of-fact tone. "You may have interrupted her transformation for now, but the truth is, she''s already too far gone the moment she started absorbing the pillars of heaven. The pillars of heaven were nothing but the extension of the leftover will of the Supreme Angel. Only Archangels and special existences like Claire can control them. And the moment she absorbed one of them, her fate was sealed."

    Azzy''s mind spun as the pieces of the puzzle started to form, reminding the Reaper''s warning all along. "So you knew this was going to happen," he murmured, his grip on Claire instinctively tightening. His heart was still in turmoil over everything that had happened, but he couldn''t allow himself to be manipulated. Not now.

    Uriel gave a small nod. "Yes, I knew. But Adam''s protection would have kept her from being taken. The only way to forcefully extract her from the gods'' palace was by using the sword of radiance. And luckily, you possessed one. Now that the confusion is cleared up, hand her over."

    Azzy felt the air grow thick with tension, every fiber of his being screaming to protect her. "What''s your true objective, Uriel?" He asked.

    For a moment, Uriel said nothing. The stillness hung between them like a suffocating weight. And then, Uriel spoke again, his voice colder than ever. "My objective? To fulfill my duty. The Supreme Angel must never be reborn. I can''t let her continue this path. And you¡ª" Uriel''s gaze turned toward Azzy, his eyes narrowing slightly, "you''re too emotional to see it."

    Azzy''s pulse quickened as a wave of anger surged through him. His heart ached for Claire, and he couldn''t¡ªwouldn''t¡ªstand idly by while someone sought to use her life for some grander, twisted purpose.

    "You think she''s just a tool? A means to an end?" Azzy''s voice trembled with a mix of anger and disbelief. "She''s a person. She deserves more than to be discarded like that."

 Chapter 780: The world of Irth (part-46)

    Uriel''s expression didn''t change. "You have no choice. If you truly cared for her, you would understand that this is the only way. Hand her over, and I will ensure her peace. If you resist..." Uriel''s voice trailed off ominously, the subtle implication hanging in the air.

    Azzy stood there, weighing the situation, Claire''s unconscious form still cradled in his arms. The light from his wings flickered, responding to his inner turmoil. His mind raced with conflicting thoughts, but one thing was certain¡ªhe wasn''t about to let Uriel take her without a fight.

    "I''m not handing her over to you," Azzy said firmly, his voice resolute. His wings flared behind his back as he lifted his head, eyes burning with determination. "With the sword of radiance, I can leave with Claire and go anywhere in the universe. You can''t stop me, Uriel."

    Uriel''s gaze hardened, and for the first time, there was a hint of something resembling emotion in his eyes¡ªsomething cold and calculating. "You won''t. Not because you can''t. But because you won''t. Your wife and unborn child are nearby, aren''t they? What would happen if, say, the moon over there were to crash onto the planet? I can''t act directly, but I can create some patterns so that the crash will happen naturally."

    Azzy froze, his body stiffening at the mention of Leiza and his unborn child, and the death threat on them.

    Uriel''s words were like ice in his veins. "I know everything about you, Azrael. The inheritor of Chronos. The one with the ability to bend time. The one who can escape fate itself. But I don''t care about your affairs. I only care about the well-being of the universe. And for that, Claire must be extinguished. She cannot be allowed to exist. She is the final key to the rebirth of the Supreme Angel. And as long as she lives, the universe will remain in peril. It is for the greater good, Azrael."

    Azzy''s anger flared at Uriel''s callous words. His hands shook, not from fear, but from the surge of power and fury bubbling within him. "You''re insane," Azzy muttered, eyes blazing. "From childhood, I have learned something. The concept of *Greater Good* was created by the wise men in order to escape the sins committed for the sake of good. But let me tell you. It was nothing more than a sin. You''re willing to kill Claire in the name of preventing the Supreme Angel from being born, but the truth is that you are killing an innocent human who hadn''t done sins. As for this Supreme Angel, whether he is evil or not, you can only punish one when they had done evil or displayed the motivation of doing the evil act, not by speculation. Can you, an Archangel, be able to hold your head high for doing such a sinful act while claiming yourselves as the champions of righteous, truth, and justice?"

    Uriel didn''t flinch at Azzy''s accusation. Instead, he replied. "I am the angel of wisdom and prophecy. I''ve seen what lies ahead, Azzy. I know the price of saving the universe. You, too, will come to understand that it is a price worth paying when you witness it yourself."

    Azzy''s heart felt like it was being torn apart. Every instinct screamed at him to protect Claire. "I won''t let you have her," Azzy said quietly, his voice low but firm. "Not now. Not ever."

    The silence between them was thick with the weight of what was to come.

    Azzy stood there, facing Uriel, Claire still unconscious in his arms. The sword of radiance pulsed in his hand, a symbol of the power he possessed but also the burden he carried.

    It was then that the Reaper''s voice once again echoed in his head. "Azrael, time is running out. It''s better for you to kill her right now and save her soul, rather than let Uriel kill her." The Reaper''s voice was cold and detached as ever. "Even with the laws that bind Uriel''s soul realm to the demigod realm, you cannot win. No matter what you do, even if you use all your powers¡ªJupiter''s, Baphomet''s, the cosmic jewels, none of them will stand against Uriel, because he is the master of patterns. He can see through every move of yours, Azrael. The only way to defeat him... is to kill Claire now, and absorb the jewel of light."

    Azzy''s blood ran cold at the Reaper''s words. "No," He muttered, shaking his head. His voice cracked with emotion. "I won''t do it. I can''t."

    But the Reaper''s voice pressed on, relentless. "You think you have a choice? The future of the universe is at stake. Your love for her¡ªyour hesitation¡ªit won''t save anyone. It will only lead to more suffering. If you don''t act now, everything will be lost. She will cease to exist, and the Supreme Angel will rise. And whatever follows it, the chaos in the universe, the deaths of billions, the war in the cosmos, you will be held responsible."

    Azzy gritted his teeth. His mind spun with the horror of it all. He could understand what the Reaper was saying, what Uriel was trying to say, but his heart just refused to listen.

    As he wrestled with the decision, a sudden voice echoed in his head. It wasn''t the Reaper this time. It was a voice he hadn''t heard in what felt like an eternity¡ªAzrael¡ªthe remnant spirit of the clan founder.

    "Azrael... there is a power within you that you haven''t yet unlocked. It can give you the strength to challenge even an Archangel."

    Azzy''s breath caught in his throat. He knew what his founder was talking about. In fact, it is the very power that brought the founder to him. "The Protos energy."

    Founder Azrael''s remnant spirit agreed. "Yes, I stopped you back then, because I didn''t wish to lose yourself. But right now, you aren''t a mortal. You carry the divine bloodline of Baphomet, which should give you enough resistance against the Protos energy source. You can accept its power, but there will be a cost and we don''t know what it will cost you, either."

    His fingers tightened around the sword of radiance, his wings flaring out in a surge of power. The shimmering glow of the sword seemed to pulse in tune with his heartbeat, as if the weapon itself was aware of the monumental choice before him.

    Azzy closed his eyes for a moment, inhaling deeply.

    "Ancestor... if this is what I must do to save Claire..." Azzy whispered, his voice filled with determination. "Then I''ll do it."

    He concentrated on going back to that imprisoned space, where a dark mass of energy, looking just like him, is imprisoned by seals. He was about to proceed to unseal the Protos energy source to gain unlimited power, but before he could go through it, Azzy felt a sharp pain deep within his soul, his consciousness pulled away from the place. In a flash of light, the world around him twisted and turned, and suddenly, he found himself in a familiar place.

    Azzy''s spirit was yanked into his mindscape, where Vajra was lying around. This time, he isn''t just inside his mindscape. He an Vajra, both were tied by some sort of energy chains.

    However, as his consciousness is still connected to his body, he could see what was happening outside.

    Meanwhile, on the outside, Uriel furrowed his brows, watching Azzy''s eyes turned pitch white without any visible pupils and the atmosphere around him suddenly shifted. "This isn''t a possession by the sword of radiance or Chronos. What is this power?" He couldn''t help but wonder.

    Then, the voice spoke through Azzy. "My Lord completely agrees with your analogy, Archangel. So, I''m going to help." Azzy''s tone suddenly turned all distorted, taking Uriel by surprise. For someone who knows everything there is know about Azzy, or atleast that''s what he thought so far, Uriel didn''t expect such a turn of events.

    In front of his very eyes, Tellus let go of the sword of radiance and raised his hand, turning it into a sharp adamantine metal.

    With a single, swift motion, he reached out with a chilling, unnatural calmness and plunged the adamantine shard directly into Claire''s chest. The impact was immediate, the force of the strike leaving no room for resistance.

    Before Uriel could even react¡ªbefore Claire could even get her consciousness back, she crumpled to the ground.

    "No..." Azzy screamed, his voice echoing all over his mindscape.