Despite locking eyes with Rodrigo, the voices that yell the loudest throughout the room are the fire and wind users who radiate bright red divine energy.

"What is the meaning of this? My life has been a lie! My mind—I—" The wind user shouts out, now fully missing his hand and leg due to the lack of borrowed golden soul energy available to him.

"I gave over a decade to this damn Association, and still, you continuously manipulated all of us! Why are you even letting us in on your secret now? Why not just kill us?" The fire user, missing both of his arms, shouts out while red divine energy grows around him.

He looks over to the other side of the 18th floor to the newest recruits from the B-Class exams.

"Are those our replacements? Is this how it ends? Are we just being discarded after losing one battle in the Dark Continent? Is this—"

I don't let him speak any further, activating my skill [Heavy Hand] and exerting a force of pure mana alone to easily overpower both of the high-level A-Class hunters' divine auras.

In just fractions of a second, both of the men are pressed chest and face-first against the training room floor as I walk forward and let the elevator close behind me.

All eyes are on me, the manifestation of the unbeatable sun god who has taken over the 8 Great Regions and ruled for decades with no mercy for his enemies or even his own people who served beneath him.

The sounds of bones cracking under the gravity of my mana from the two strongest A-Class hunters on this continent are more than enough deterrent for anyone else in the room to speak up as I walk up to both of them and stare down at the floor where they're pressed for a full 10 seconds.

I finally speak up in a static monotone voice.

"There will be some changes made in this branch of the Association soon. You have been loyal hunters, so I wanted to show you the truth."

I keep the pressure pushing down on them steady, but reach into my item storage and pull out two mythic-grade self-regeneration potions and gently place them on the floor in front of both of them using telekinesis.

"Drink these and continue your training."

I turn to everyone else in the room.

"That goes for all of you. Just because you know the truth doesn't mean I can't track you down to any Region or Continent you try to flee to. Business continues as usual until I say so. If there are any complaints, you can talk to me directly and see how that ends for you."

I let the pressure of my [Heavy Hand] skill fade, and the two A-Class hunters slowly get up and examine the potions while I make a hand motion toward Rodrigo, who still stares at me with confusion in his gaze.

"You, come with me. I need a meeting with you alone."

He quickly nods and follows as I leave the awestruck room to get back in the elevator.

As Rodrigo walks in and the doors begin to close after I press floor 19, the sight of the two A-Class hunters' limbs growing back is the last thing we see while riding down to the lounge floor below us in silence.

He doesn't say a word, for fear of being wrong about his assumptions, and I admire him for staying safe and not jumping to conclusions because it's what I would do in the same situation.

Once the door opens again and I walk forward into the lounge area, I'm greeted by the two nurses with glowing white hands approaching me, ready to heal the director, but I shake my head.

"No, thank you. Please, take the rest of the day off, you two. I have some important meetings to attend to."

Their eyes widen with surprise as I motion for them to take the elevator upstairs, wondering if this is some kind of test, but once Rodrigo and I walk past them and toward one of the high-grade mana-shielded private rooms, they realize I'm being serious.

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

As the private room's door clicks open and we walk inside, both of the nurses power down their soft healing skills and ride the elevator upstairs with relief written all over their faces.

I walk into the center of the dimly lit mana shielded lounge room, filled with mana-dense air, a full bar, artwork, and exquisite black furniture.

Rodrigo closes the door behind us, and I put up a mythic-grade hush barrier mixed with a layer of my [Master of Illusion] buff to create a veil of audio and visual blockage that no one on this entire continent could break through. It is a necessary precaution just in case there are secret monitoring devices in here.

Then, I let my appearance revert back to its completely natural state.

"Nice to finally meet you face to face without that collar on. I hope this is a good enough thank you for getting me into the B-Class exams."

I grin, cross my arms, and sit back on the comfortable couch behind me while I watch the state of shock, happiness, and utter awe ripple through Rodrigo.

His eyes are wide, and his thoughts are racing at a thousand beats per second.

The only thing he manages to muster out is, "Jay? It's you... You really did it? The Director—he's?"

I nod and cut him off while pointing to a seat across the room.

"He's dead. The 8 Great Regions are now under new rule. Please, take a seat. We have a lot to talk about."

Still, a state of shock and disbelief is plastered on the face of the brother of my trade partner.

Not long ago, he warned me not to even look at Mr. Freeman the wrong way. I could tell he only got us into the exams as a personal favor to Bri.

The fact that I passed, managed to not fall under the director's curse, and in the end, killed the Apex Region's Director. This result is the furthest thing from his initial expectations.

I continue as he's frozen with his mouth open and speechless.

"You are the only one in the Association who knows, and I hope to keep it that way. There is already widespread respect and order held by the Apex Region's name alone. Even if that is temporarily fear-driven, it's best to keep it going. Announcing that the leader of all Directors has been killed by a rogue force from the Dark Continent will only spread panic..."

This plan has already been implemented and proven to work once, back in Valor City.

After defeating the Lich King, the entire city could have been informed that their Dark Guards and mysterious leader is no more, but it is better to keep the citizens happy and in a routine they're accustomed to.

Breaking unconventional news to hundreds of thousands of people can result in unpredictable outcomes. It's best to exploit a system that is already in place, slowly changing it to my liking over time rather than attempting anything drastic and rushed.

This realization creeps into Rodrigo's mind as I sit back and breathe in the mana-dense air, enjoying the silence and patiently waiting for a response from the baffled A-Class hunter.

"That... makes sense... I have no idea how you managed this..."

He touches his neck, pausing for a moment before continuing.

"But it's really done... No more mindlessly following orders, filing paperwork for hours every day, answering to the other Directors like a dog, and proctoring exams year after year. I'm finally free..."

He smiles and looks me in the eyes, accepting this reality.

Then, he taps his finger on his knee nervously, realizing something.

"Well... not yet. Just because you can fool a few A-Class hunters here doesn't mean you're out of the woods yet."

I raise an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

He stands up and pulls a silver tablet from his item box.

"Mr. Freeman used to do deals with a few other nations occasionally, other strong powers that had a similar yellow-golden energy as his own... And not to mention, dealing with the Regional Directors within this Nation. The Director was a busy man, believe it or not, he is the glue that holds these 8 Regions together."

Rodrigo begins pacing around the room, tapping on his tablet while nodding, smiling, and continuing to speak.

"Lucky for you, I was his mindless right-hand man for nearly a decade... I don't think he ever expected I'd be free of his curse, and quite frankly, neither did I. However, if there's anyone that has the insight to keep this nation running... it would be me."

My eyes light up with excitement, as Rodrigo says the words I was thinking to myself without even having to say them out loud.

Over the next 45 minutes, Rodrigo and I talk back and forth, devising a plan together to keep the 8 Great Regions running as usual, expanding it even further into the Dark Continent to merge the two nations, and how to properly deal with the ongoing trade agreements, Regional Directors, and Association-run businesses.

With his knowledge of the land and inner workings of this Nation, and my power to replace the Sun God's presence while simultaneously backing it with enough power to truly become this nation's leader; all of the puzzle pieces to my plan fall into place.

Everything being outlined now is being written down, and I plan to have it analyzed by my teammates and close business partners.

I stand up from my seat and pull two transport crystals out from my item storage, tossing one to Rodrigo.

"This is a good start. I'm glad I came to you first. However, I'm sure there's a whole lot more on your mind than just my own personal goals of expanding my empire. How about we go for a trip and get a second opinion? When's the last time you talked to your sister?"