One thing was certain however: they could never allow him to be the last holder of one of these rings.

The Emperor looked at the 16th Hour: "Take your niece as your disciple and make sure that she lives. That will be our priority."

She nodded happily as she very liked that order.

The Emperor turned to the other two: "You two should go and take care of Claw. Seagull is the only Evil that is unable to move freely and none of the others will care that his contestant was killed, quite the opposite even. It will take care of one problem."

They both bowed, acknowledging the order.

The 9th Hour still asked: "Should we go for Gaelic as well, Your Majesty?"

The Emperor waved his hand: "No need. That one is nothing more than the Clown's stupid attempt at borrowing a knife. It is quite likely that the King of the Seas will use that as a reason to end Gaelic himself."

They all agreed with that. Gaelic did fuck the Queen and not just once. While the King of the Seas did not kill him yet, it was not because he did not want to. Now that a valid reason was given to him, Gaelic's end was easy to infer.

The Emperor then turned towards Chunso: "Find Jin. Try to get the ring back, whatever the cost but do not, under any circumstances, start a fight."

Chunso began to sweat once more. How could he find Jin?!

Everyone had been looking for him for so many years to no avail. He was a well-known figure with wanted posters all over the world because he owned Cao Lei's weapons as well as the souls of previous ascenders.

Chunso dared not talk to The Emperor but he was very much certain that he would not succeed at this task.

The 16th Hour spoke on his behalf: "My Emperor, I believe that this task might be too difficult for Chunso."

While he did not enjoy the way she placed it, she was right and Chunso could only let it go.

The Emperor considered it for a moment before he said: "Take the Crow. Since it was made from one of his bones, he should be able to track it. You may give him a reward accordingly."

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"Yes, My Emperor!" stated Chunso hurriedly.

Taking that thing outside would change things...

...

A few hours later, deep underground within the Palace, Chunso arrived in front of a giant red wall.

He knocked a few times on it before a very old voice was heard from within: "Come on in, Chunso."

Chunso pushed open a gap within the wall and entered while being respectfully bowed.

He greeted the being within: "Chunso greets the Elder Crow."

A gigantic Crow the size of a castle looked down at Chunso. This Crow was different from all others not only from its size, it had three legs, three eyes and its feathers were seemingly like dark flames constantly burning.

It spoke in a very low-pitched tonality: "What brings you here today, Chunso? Do you need some more feathers?"

Chunso trembled.

The last time he came here was to ask for a feather in order to help another Elder reach the 60th stage.

The Crow snickered: "Or is it already time for you to harvest another bone from me?"

The trembling intensified. The time before the feather, he came to extract a bone from the Crow...

Needless to say, their relationship was not the best.

Chunso took a deep breath and stated: "We require you to track the last bone we took from you."

The raucous laughter of the giant began created sound waves that shook the entire area: "You actually got robed of my bone?!"

Chunso stayed silent.

The Crow moved forward and dropped his beak all the way down to Chunso. The tip of his beak big enough to be the same size as the First Guardian. As it opened it, a terrible fragrance of death spread along with its voice: "Why should I?"

Chunso remained stoic even though the stench and fear was creating a very horrible mix.

He told the giant bird: "The Emperor will reward you."

The Crow laughed once more: "How so?! By keeping me confined for another millenia?! By forcefully depriving me of my feathers?! OF MY VERY BONES?!"

Chunso was unable to related but he could undoubtedly understand where the Crow's reluctance came from.

He braced himself and stated: "If you help us and we get that ring back, with My Emperor's approval, you shall be freed."

The Crow took a step back as it looked at Chunso from a height.

It stated in a very solemn way: "Are you aware of your words, Chunso?"

Chunso nodded: "I am."

"Can you take responsibility for having spoken those words, little Chunso?" added the Crow.

Chunso pursued: "With the Heavens for witness."

The Crow laughed madly for a few seconds before it grinned: "DEAL!"

At that moment, both of them were very much aware that one of them would die.

...

At the same time, the 9th and 15th Hour were chatting as they left the Palace.

The 15th started: "How long has it been since we went on a trip, 9th?"

The 9th answered: "A few centuries I believe."

The 15th elbowed him gently: "What say you we go say hello to our greedy friend at the Casino?"

The 9th firmly admonished: "We have a task from His Majesty, 15th."

The 15th chuckled: "On the way back then. Anyways, how should we take care of it?"

The 9th grinned: "I am in the mood for some grilled Fish"

They both laughed as their figures blurred and disappeared from where they were.