High above the sky of the capital's pass.
A tide of black bats blotted out the sun, as if intent on swallowing both the heavens and the great star itself.
Yet within this black tide, two figures stood motionless. Not a single bat dared to approach their position, creating a pocket of gentle light amidst the darkness.
The light cascaded down, driving and compressing the entire swarm toward the center, where Grand Duke Grant of the Blood Tribe stood.
Grant’s gaze was fixed on the figures of Sophia, the General of the Realm, and Blaise, the Minister of Magic. His expression was grim.
These two—one should have been guarding the eastern frontier, and the other should have been in the far west researching the grey mist.
Their presence here, outside the capital's pass, meant only one thing—a trap!
They had discovered his presence long ago. In fact... Grant suddenly remembered the intelligence report he had received.
The report from the spies planted in the capital had reached him shortly after the priest examination had ended.
In the past, the speed of intelligence reaching Nightmare had never been that fast!
“It has been a long time, you two.”
Grant stared coldly at the two flanking him. With a sudden surge of his body, the power of the legendary rank erupted, and a single wing, black as ink, sprouted from his back.
“I may not be able to kill this foul-mouthed priest today, but you won't be able to protect him forever!”
Grant shot a vicious glare at Leon before quickly activating a translocation technique, wrapping himself in a sickly green chaos shield.
With these two present, he knew he couldn't kill Leon.
Grant calmed down instantly and prepared to warp away.
“Since you’ve already come all this way, did you really think you could leave without leaving something behind? You underestimate the Heron Empire,” Blaise, the Minister of Magic, said calmly, raising a staff encrusted with an S-grade magic crystal.
“Oh?” Grant shifted his gaze to Blaise, then back to Sophia.
“You want to stop me? Or is it you?”
“With just the two of you trying to stop my translocation technique... Hmph, how arrogant.”
The reason Grant had been able to face that peerless divine talent, Elias, multiple times and escape successfully was because he mastered the most powerful translocation techniques.
These techniques had become even more refined and potent after he stepped into the legendary rank.
Even the God of Thieves could not compare to Grand Duke Grant when it came to space translocation and escaping.
Seeing his arrogant attitude, Blaise was not angered. Instead, he frankly admitted, “With my and General Sophia’s abilities, it would indeed be difficult to break your chaos shield.”
“But... who told you there were only two of us?”
Before his voice even faded, a brilliant flash of lightning cut across the sky from the direction of the capital, as if stripping all color from the world!
Grant’s face changed drastically as he whipped his head toward the northern capital.
A thunder dragon, ten kilometers thick, roared across the distance in an instant. The destructive energy contained within it made even this legendary Grand Duke of the Blood Tribe tremble with horror!
Just as his eyes met the sight, the thunder dragon slammed violently into the seemingly indestructible chaos shield!
Boom—!!!
Lightning exploded across the sky. The forest stretching for thousands of meters below was turned to dust by the strike, and wild air currents swept across the fields like a raging tide.
With Grant at the center, everything within a radius of several kilometers was shattered into dust by the lightning.
The black tide of bats that had blotted out the sun was completely purged by the thunder in that instant, and light once again spilled from the darkened heavens.
Under the continuous bombardment of the violent lightning, a series of sharp cracks echoed from the shield's surface. It held for only a single second before shattering completely.
The thunder dragon, having pierced the shield, met no further resistance. It drove straight through Grant’s body.
A shrill scream of agony rang out as the Grand Duke of the Blood Tribe plummeted heavily from the sky toward the ground.
“This is no place for you to stay. Leave at once.”
Blaise reinforced the barrier magic around the ox-horse carriage and gave Leon a brief command before he and Sophia charged toward the fallen Grand Duke Grant.
Leon nodded heavily and immediately ordered the guards to inject the ox-horses with frenzy potions, driving the carriage at full speed to escape the battlefield.
The surrounding earth had been leveled by the terrifying lightning, leaving only the area around the carriage intact, thanks to the magic barrier Blaise had placed in advance.
The ox-horses, their eyes turning blood-red from the potions, neighed as they burst forward with incredible speed, racing toward the edge of the battlefield.
After driving some distance, Leon couldn't help but look back.
In the center of the battlefield, pale blue magical radiance and golden streams of combat aura intertwined as they shot into the sky.
Following a piercing shriek, a burst of blood-colored arcane power erupted, dyeing half the sky a deep crimson.
...
The Capital, Royal Palace, Star-Gazing Tower.
The Sage King slowly lowered the withered wooden staff in his hand. The Uncolored Crown atop his head quickly shifted from a prismatic glow back to a pale, colorless state.
“Every time I witness Your Majesty’s super-tier magic, I am filled with admiration,” the Imperial Prime Minister, William, praised from beside him.
“Are you finally at peace now? Are you willing to work steadily?”
The Sage King turned his head to look at William.
William bowed and said, “What is Your Majesty saying? As the Prime Minister of the empire, I have always been diligent and conscientious. How could I ever be anything but steady?”
The Sage King gave a faint smile but did not reply.
Ever since that boy Leon had displayed his talent during the priest examination, many capital officials had begun reporting to the Sage King that problems were cropping up in various parts of the city.
However, the capital had always been under William’s management.
With William’s capability, how could he fail to handle issues in the capital?
The Sage King knew that William had realized something and was using these minor disruptions to pressure him.
The pressure was light, much like a child saying, “If you don't give me candy, I won't play with you.”
The Sage King was always generous toward valuable, clever people, so he didn't mind William’s small maneuvers.
And William, likewise, knew that the Sage King was aware of and tolerated his actions.
Although William was hailed as the “Greatest Minister of the Empire” and rumors of his extraordinary wisdom were widespread among the people, he still could not fully fathom the Sage King’s intentions.
Therefore, he still had to make these small moves.
After all... perhaps these small gestures of intent would be the final straw that saved his second son?
Now, seeing the Sage King personally take action, William finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Of course, he certainly couldn't admit to the Sage King’s words.
Seeing that the Sage King remained silent, William asked, “Your Majesty, can General Sophia and Minister Blaise kill Grant?”
The Sage King shook his head.
“It is difficult. Grant’s escape skills are top-tier in all of Ommisiah. If he wants to run, it is very hard to keep him there.”
“However, making him lose half his life and forcing him to go into seclusion to recover for fifty years won't be a problem.”
After he spoke, silence fell over the Star-Gazing Tower once more.
The Sage King and William both stared toward the south, watching the developments.
It wasn't until dusk began to fall that two dark shadows appeared on the horizon south of the capital.
The two shadows flew directly to the Star-Gazing Tower and bowed to the Sage King together.
“Greetings, Your Majesty.”
The Sage King nodded slightly. “How was it?”
General Sophia tightened her fist. “After severing one of Grant’s wings, he escaped with heavy injuries.”
“That is enough.” The Sage King raised his golden eyes and turned to William.
“Prepare. War mobilization.”
“Yes.” William took the order and left quickly.
Sophia and Blaise also returned to the frontiers they guarded at the Sage King’s signal.
Only the Sage King remained on the Star-Gazing Tower, watching the sun dip below the horizon.
“Time... is running out...”
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