--Four years ago.

Koal sat on the couch with his wife in front of the fire. Christina, who was now twelve years old, sat on the floor, engrossed in a thick book titled

'The War Among Gods.' It was a significant book in this world's culture.

His wife quietly updated him on the progress of his organization,

"Si Lang has already become the district leader of the twelfth district. Charles has managed to recruit some new followers, and..."

Koal listened attentively. His organization was growing bigger and more powerful day by day. But Koal knew very well that it was still far from enough to challenge the magicians. It would take time, and he understood that.

As his wife finished her account, Koal's mind started to ponder. Then a name came to him, and he asked,

"What about this Uriel?"

His wife's gaze shifted from their daughter back to Koal. "He's... interesting. He goes around talking about how the magicians think they're the best but are just hypocritical scoundrels. Most ordinary mortals try to avoid him, but there are some who join him."

Koal fell into deep thought.

"Are you planning to involve him in our plan?" his wife asked.

Koal immediately shook his head.

"He indeed has the right mindset, but he's too conspicuous. We can't risk him finding out about our plan. Make sure to convey that to the other members of our organization. I don't want anyone reaching out to him!"

"I'll take care of it tomorrow," she said.

Koal continued to observe his daughter as she read the book. She was his greatest achievement. This girl was everything to him, and he would do anything to ensure her safety. She was his top priority. He still had an important question he wanted to ask the magician, but he hadn't appeared for two years now.

Koal was growing impatient.

--One year ago.

Koal sat across from Uriel in his office. As Koal had foreseen, Uriel was soon arrested for blasphemy. He spent two years in prison, but a year ago, he was finally released.

Since then, he had been behaving inconspicuously and obediently. At least on the surface. Early on, Koal learned through some of his followers that Uriel had started expanding his small group of magician haters.

Initially, Koal only wanted to observe from a distance, but to his surprise, Uriel proved to be a competent leader. His group started growing larger, and soon there were even overlaps between Koal's and Uriel's organizations.

That's when Koal decided to invite him over.

Of course, Uriel had already heard about Koal's organization too, and readily agreed to the meeting.

Uriel arrived with suspicion and greeted Koal with a handshake. They exchanged some formalities at first before finally getting down to business.

Koal told Uriel about what he had learned and shared his plan, leaving out only one crucial detail: that he obtained this knowledge from a magician.

Uriel despised magicians, not just those in this camp, but seemed to have something against all magicians in general. He wouldn't believe Koal if he knew it came from a magician. After nearly seven hours of discussion, Uriel smiled.

They had reached an agreement. They would merge their two organizations, and Koal and Uriel would share the leadership position. Koal rubbed his forehead wearily.

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"It's great that we've finally come to an agreement, Sir Uriel."

Uriel extended his hand, "I'm looking forward to our collaboration, Lord Koal. Together, we can finally put the magicians in their place!"

Koal bid farewell to Uriel and walked over to his beloved armchair. He sank into it and let out a loud and relieved sigh.

"What a mental... damn it!" There was a loud and firm knock on the door.

Grumbling, Koal rose from his seat once again and went to the door. Had Uriel forgotten something? Koal prayed to the gods that it wasn't Uriel with some unresolved issue.

With a grim expression, Koal opened the door, and his heart skipped a beat.

Standing before him was none other than Siril von Liedgrad, the mysterious magician. It had been three years since Siril had last visited Koal and handed him the handcuffs to capture Gerald. Koal hadn't expected to see him again, but he was glad. He had an incredibly important question for him.

"Please come in, Lord von Liedgrad," Koal said, opening the door.

The small man raised his eyebrows, surprised. "You remember my name?" he asked.

"But of course! Please come inside," Koal urged again, but the magician shook his head briefly.

"I have to leave any moment now. They're already onto me. I just wanted to ask how things are progressing,"

Koal smiled. "Excellent! Just a few minutes ago, my organization doubled in size. We're already incredibly powerful, controlling ninety percent of the districts. All the community leaders have already joined us. I estimate that in about two years, we'll be ready!"

The magician looked at him briefly. "You don't have that much time. In less than a year and a half, Gerald will begin his next experiments. And Christina will be one of his test subjects. You need to hurry!"

"But how...?"

"You'll figure it out, Koal. If you have any more questions, ask them now. I have to disappear again."

Koal didn't hesitate. "What about my daughter?"

"What about her?"

"You said she has the potential to be a magician!"

"And? Do you want me to turn her into a magician?"

Koal nodded eagerly. "Please! I don't want her to live a short, unfulfilled life as a mere mortal. I want her to become as powerful as you sir!"

Siril didn't reply but simply turned around. "If you manage to destroy this camp within a year, I will come and take her as my disciple. I swear it upon my name, Siril von Liedgrad!"

With that, he vanished into the shadows as always.

Koal was satisfied. It wasn't perfect, but it was more than he could have hoped for. He would destroy this camp. He would do it for Christina!

--Back to the present

The camp was like a ghost town. Only a few mortals went to the task halls to receive assignments, and even fewer lined up for Ascension. Many were even retracting their Ascension requests. It had been three days since the last rumors started circulating, and the mortals were desperate. Koal didn't need to spread new rumors anymore; from now on, everything ran on its own.

Mortals began to contemplate their situation in this camp, and, more importantly, they started talking about it. More and more rumors and speculations spread—some vanished immediately, but others stuck like ticks.

"Have you heard the latest? They found out the magicians use our skin to make clothes!"

"No way!"

"Yes, it's true!"

...

"The magicians are robbing us of our power to prolong their own lives. These camps are massive storage facilities, and they control everything here!"

...

"Apparently, they've been tampering with our minds..."

...

"Have you ever thought about why they take away our newborns? I heard they eat them..."

...

These seemingly harmless rumors circulated and stuck in people's minds. Slowly but surely, uncertainty turned into fear. And from fear, anger arose. Not even two days later, a call echoed among the mortals: Fight!

In a tavern in the 34th district, two close friends sat at a table together. One of them was already slightly drunk.

"Have you heard the latest? We're supposed to fight back!"

"What do you mean?"

"We're supposed to take up arms. We're supposed to fight against the magicians!"

"How can we, mere mortals, fight against magicians?"

"Have you forgotten already? A mortal recently captured one of the magicians single-handedly. They're not as powerful as they want us to believe. And, above all, there are thousands of us, and they're just a few dozen. How many magicians are there? A hundred? I think it's time we showed them their place. Show them that they can't get away with everything!"

The other mortal nodded eagerly.

The drunk one stood up. "Listen to me!" he exclaimed loudly, soon capturing the attention of the entire tavern.

"How long have we been working here? I've been working in this camp for twelve years, but some of us have been here for decades. And for what? For a lie!"

Agreeing murmurs arose among the mortals present.

The man hiccuped and continued, "Day and night we work for these oh-so-high masters so that they don't have to move their lazy asses. We toil day after day, and all we get are laughable credits. And those credits won't sustain us until death! Don't you think it's time we kicked those bastards in the ass?"

Agreeable murmurs grew louder and more excited this time.

"Don't you think it's time we regained our freedom? Don't you think...hic...we should forge our own path?" Cheers erupted from the guests.

"Then take up arms, ladies, and gentlemen. We must rise up! We must fight back!" loud cries of approval resonated throughout the tavern.

"WHO'S ON MY SIDE? WHO WILL HELP ME KICK THOSE MAGICIANS IN THEIR HIGH AND MIGHTY ASSES?"

The whole tavern shook with the approving roar of the people.