Sunday morning, the day after the final Exams ended.

Subsequent to Zeke’s agreement, General Zhang, Madam Jevani, and Minister Bhak Djinn acted swiftly and prepared everything by the next day.

The Space Soldiers escorted Madam Jorie to the conference room, which was filled to the brim with the strongest Special Agents as well the Team Captains of all three departments.

It was the first time in a long while that all the powerhouses of the Nezulian Republic were all present in one place. Even when the Ambassador came, not all the Special Agents dispatched to foreign nations were present.

Upon seeing the big crowd, the elderly representative of the humans furrowed her brows and walked toward a corpse lying on a small bed.

She scrutinized the lifeless body of the youth, recognizing it as Zeke Orland.

“I don’t know how, but he caught wind of our plans and tried to escape. We had to eliminate him.”

“...”

Jorie’s frown deepened as she touched the corpse before glancing at the leader of the Space Soldiers, the same man who displayed superhuman capabilities during the incident.

The man, whose facial features were the long helmet with black-colored glass, approached Zeke’s body and used somesort of identification device.

After a few moments of silence, he received a positive result so he nodded at his superior. It seemed that not even the Earthling’s advanced technology was able to bypass the might of magic and artifacts.

“This is regrettable… but still satisfactory. We shall take the body with us.”

“We have no need for it. Use it as you see fit.” Solemnly responded Zhang, who was the de-facto leader.

“...”

The old woman tried to read the man’s inscrutable and expressionless face, but she was unsuccessful, which made her sigh and dismissively wave her hand as she walked away.

“I trust we will see no retaliation from your part?” Asked Zhang right before she left the conference room.

“You misunderstand me, General.”

With her head half-turned, she stared back at the red-haired man and explained,

“Personally, I neither want a war nor a confrontation. I’m a soldier and the captain of my ship… and I care more about the wellbeing of my soldiers rather than exacting vengeance. Ultimately, however, the final verdict will be decided by my superiors.”

She paused for a half a beat before adding, “But I think they won’t recklessly declare war either. It’s not beneficial for either side.”

When she finally left along with her Space Soldiers, Bhakk Djinn clasped his hand and silently prayed whereas Jevani and Zhang breathed a sigh of relief.

…

North-West of the Sunken Metropolis, Frederic Whitefort was driving a large silver van while swearing non-stop. He kept looking to his rear and using an artifact that sent lazer beams to hinder or eliminate his pursuers.

Many large black trucks were in hot pursuit, and it was clear that they were from the Department of Defense.

Frederic was going to attend the meeting and ascertain Zeke's death, but, to his surprise, he was ambushed by none other than an old friend of his, Ghaoul.

He had immediately fled, but successfully losing his chasers proved to be much more difficult than anticipated.

His van had diverged from the dirt road and speeding through a rocky valley as bullets were raining down on it.

Eventually, the vehicle's tires were hit and Frederic was forced to jump away. He was holding a round crystal oozing a black fog on one hand and a short dagger on the other.

Frederic was unscathed but his escape route was blocked by one person. Two people were on either side of him, one was a handsome black-haired man and the other was a gentleman wearing an exquisite suit and a monocle.

“Why are you doing this?”

Frederic kept his composure as he glared at the assassin from Black Wing. The two were particularly close, which made it all the more surprising to see the man try to assassinate him.

Ghaoul spread his hands and shrugged while softly smiling,

“Whatever do you mean, Frederic? Was it not you who told me the truth? Furthermore, this was a job commission by dear old Zhang.”

Frederic gritted his teeth and glanced at the other person, who was, in fact, Edward Orland.

“You’re making a mistake. I will not go down so easily.”

“Oh! I’m sure you won’t, old friend.” Retorted Ghaoul as he chuckled. “This is precisely why he came to help me. Now then… any last words?”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Ghaoul extended his hand forward and clenched it, causing the space around Frederic to shatter like glass.

The vagabond jumped in the air then stabbed the dagger into his chest, which made his body grow bigger and turn golden.

Two large flying and spiky sharks made of water flew from Edward’s direction, crashing into Frederic and blowing him away.

Ghaoul, like a ghost, appeared next to the destabilised vagabond and snapped his finger, which made the latter’s arm get pulled into a void-like rift.

“Ahhh!”

Even with his body reinforced by the dagger, Frederic’s arm was easily cut-off. He shouted in pain and clutched his profusely bleeding shoulder. He threw the orb in the air then muttered an incantation, which made an ominous darkness spread at an alarming rate and form a dreadful black sphere.

Edward creased his brows and moved his hands, casting a defensive spell that enveloped his body into a big bubble of water. Ghaoul, on the other hand, literally pulled the air like a curtain and turned invisible.

Frederic didn’t wait for the black sphere to explode as he broke into a sprint. His golden body was shining brighter and brighter and his speed was outrageous.

Alas, Ghaoul and Edward came fully prepared; The former ripped the air again, but with a stronger force, which made the sphere disintegrate. The latter shot in the air before conjuring a frightening big wave of water that cascaded on the valley and swept Frederic along with it.

The pressure from the water flattened the vagabond, causing his bones to be broken and his legs to be quasi-crushed.

“I… won’t…”

Frederic, vomiting blood, tried to resist and say something but he was near-death and in a miserable state.

Edward approached him and used a Crystalline blue spear to stab his chest then his head. Unexpectedly, a couple of seconds later, Frederic’s body turned into sand.

“Survival Sand Watch. He escaped, but the artifact he used only switched his body with sand, it didn’t heal his injuries. There’s a strong chance he’ll succumb die.”

Edward snorted and pulled his spear from the sand, his expression ugly and filled with anger.

“Don’t take it personally, Mister Orland.” Calmly stated the elegant man.

“Frederic targeted your brother solely because of the System. He wanted the eyes to attempt somesort of ritual that might transfer the System to him. After all, he’s ever been infatuated, if not obsessed, with the Systems.”

“I don’t care about his motives. One day, I’ll kill him.”

“Well, good luck with that.” Ghaoul performed a polite bow, “I believe my job here is done. I’ve fulfilled my end of the contract.”

“Wait…”

Edward hesitated for a bit then asked, “Why did you accept? We didn’t offer you a lot of money. If you went to Frederic, he would’ve paid much more.”

“That will risk souring my relationship with the General. Moreover, were Frederic to get the System, there’s no telling what he might do. In comparison, Zeke Orland is manageable and relatively docile. We’re a business, Mister Orland, and businesses chase after profits.”

“That sounds contradicting

“Not at all.” Ghaoul shook his head and happily delineated, “Directly or not, we believe that Zeke Orland will bring us more money than Frederic. Plus, we’re on particularly good terms with the Whitefort Family, therefore, siding with the heir they exiled wouldn’t be beneficial.”

…

“Don’t be sad. I’m fine. Look!”

Zeke flexed his grown muscles at the dejected Angel, who insisted on visiting him.

He was currently staying in the hideout provided by the General. The place is situated at the outskirts of the Sunken Metropolis and heavily guarded by dozens of Special Agents.

No electronic devices were allowed and Zeke had to be inside the estate at all times. It was a necessary precaution that had to be followed until the Earthlings departed, which shouldn’t take long.

As one of his close friends, Sulong was contacted and notified about what happened. In fact, Zhang was cooperative enough to let Angel and Sulong come visit during the evening.

Zeke chuckled and caressed the little girl’s head as she slightly cheered up.

She had become more expressive and less scared or sad, especially after her birthday party. She also no longer avoided the scary-looking Sulong and seemed to be getting along with him.

“So… I’m going alone tonight?”

Sulog referred to the job commissioned by Madam Rodrey.

“That seems to be the case. Still, you’ve become quite strong so it shouldn’t be hard.”

Sulong laughed outloud as he enjoyed the comfortable sofa while gobbling up the delicious dishes on the cart.

“I have indeed grown stronger. Look!”

The muscular bald man conjured his crimson flames then manipulated with deep concentration, making it take the shape of a rabbit then a sword then a teddy bear.

“I know nothing about Aether, but I can feel it more distinctly. Speaking of which..”

Sulong glanced at Angel, who was munching on a cookie, and continued,

“She told me she can see Aether. Is that normal?”

“Oh? Is that true, Angel?”

The girl nodded her head while sweetly smiling. She pointed all around her while making comical motions as if trying to explain something.

“Here, your notebook.”

As she was incapable of speaking due to physiological and psychological issues, Angel relied on a pen to write her thoughts.

“Aether. Green. Pretty.”

She wrote those words while clinging to Zeke and wobbling her head left and right.

“Wow! Our Angel is really good… isn’t that right, Sulong?”

“Yes yes! She’s the best!” Sulong subtly winked back.

Angel giggled and shyly dangled her feet as she avoided Zeke’s gaze.

“But you should be careful, okay? We’ll play more together when I come back.”

“By the way, what did Doctor Xavier say?” Asked Zeke as he handed her another cookie.

“Umm… I don’t know a lot about the medical field so the only thing I understand is that she needs an operation. Ah! He also said he can’t do it alone and that you should decide.”

“...”

Zeke lowered his head and looked at the girl for a bit as he pondered. From the outside, Angel’s looked healthy and energetic, but Xavier did say that her body was crumbling and reforming itself.

Were it not for her strong regenerative ability, she would have died a long time ago.

“We’ll talk about this once I’m out of this place. There’s many things to sort, after all.”

“Alright. One last thing…”

Sulong grunted in annoyance as he lowered his voice, “That wench, Signora, she contacted me. She’s coming here, apparently. She didn’t deign to tell me the details, though. Shit! I don’t want to see her.”

Seeing Sulong act too repulsed, Zeke sighed.

Velvet Signora might be one of the high-ranking members of the Ascetic Blasphemers, but she had become the Seat of Death and a valuable and absolutely loyal subordinate to Zeke.

Recruiting her was not a deliberate act from Zeke’s part, but he was eventually pleased with the outcome. Velvet, known as the Collector, was strong before and even more now.

Her arrival would significantly facilitate the apprehension of Rebecca and Beatrice, the spies from the Ascetic Blasphemers.