“Let me… ha… rest…”

Patience held onto Ryker weakly, but honestly her grip was mostly useless. If not for Ryker’s strong arms around her, she would have already collapsed.

Ryker chuckled and brushed her sweat-slicked hair back, gently laying her on the bed.

“Ryker…” she said in a weak voice. “… is my father…”

Ryker blinked hearing the words, only understanding after a moment that Patience likely hadn’t believed his earlier explanation. Maybe she even thought that he was trying to distract her in hopes she wouldn’t go after the truth.

Ryker’s expression sobered up a bit and he looked into Patience’s hazy eyes.

“Patience, you’re my woman now. I wouldn’t lie to you.”

Patience’s heart skipped a beat, not expecting Ryker to say such words. Maybe in her heart, she still held some reservations, worrying that Ryker could leave her any moment now.

“Have a nice rest,” he said softly.

Those words seemed to take the last bit of strength she had away in a wisp, and her eyes closed gently. Soon, she was lightly snoring, an adorable little smile on her face.

Ryker rose to his full height, stepping away and entering the bathroom to clean himself.

He didn’t blame Patience, either for her lack of stamina or her doubts. His strength had reached new bounds and she had fallen far behind, it was hard for her to keep up. As for the latter issue… well, he was under no illusions about how their relationship had started.

However, he had his own plans.

The research papers of those three Clans had opened him up to a world of understanding.

Ryker stepped out from the bathroom, slipping on robes and strolling out with powerful steps. A “hero” would be coming home soon, shouldn’t he be there to greet him?

As he had said, he had little patience for politics… It was best he dealt with all of this swiftly.

Unbeknownst to everyone in the Federation, all three Crimsons were under his control. Effectively… all of this was already no more than a farce. Which was why his thoughts were elsewhere.

‘As expected, this world is special…’

This particular round of experiments was focused on gender’s role in combat. The Dao of this world had been tweaked several times in hopes of finding something that could target either the male or female strand of genes, and in the end, it was women who took the hit.

This was why there was such an imbalance of male to female Mythical Masters in this world, and it also explained the oddities occurring during the assessment of the Quota Check.

Back then, Ryker had noticed the talent detecting orbs sparking whenever a woman touched it, as though it wasn’t certain of what it was reading or not.

But this wasn’t all that Ryker had noticed.

Patience’s soul was exceptionally powerful given her Circle Talent, most had Soul Talent one level before their Circle Talent, but she had one a step above.

But it wasn’t just her that was like this. He had noticed similar things in Sofia and Rosemary, though not nearly as exaggerated.

This told him two things.

Not only had they managed to target women in specific with this change to their so-called “Dao”, but they had managed to target female souls in specific.

There was only one generalization when it came to gender that Ryker was aware of, and that was that female Mythical Masters tended to have stronger Soul Talent while men tended to have stronger Circle Talent.

This was only an average on a bell curve that was also particularly tall as well. But he found it interesting that these two things seemed to coincide.

That only left one conclusion…

‘Whatever specialty female souls have that allow them to generally be born with stronger Soul Talent was successfully targeted by this change in Dao.’

Ryker flipped a palm, and a booklet appeared in his hands. He didn’t open it, but he shook it, his blue irises dancing with a clever glint.

‘These people have yet to “reap” this world yet, so they haven’t collected samples, nor have they noticed that they’ve succeeded just yet. That means that the fruit of their labor is in my hands.

‘If I use the soul cultivation methods as a foundation, and I incorporate an understanding of what “Dao” they managed to target, wouldn’t I be able to create a unique soul method?’

Just from a cursory glance, Ryker had formulated many ideas.

He was confident that he wouldn’t just be able to create a cultivation method, but a method that could maybe heal the soul, and the one with the smallest odds, but one he felt he had a good chance at as well…

A method to even improve soul cultivation talent.

Ryker stepped into a room and pulled out Patience’s father. He didn’t even bother to protect the room with Spirit Patterns, it was unnecessary. With his strength, no one who would step into this room would be a match for him, and with his senses, he’d know even before they touched the doorknob.

The room was actually just another normal bedroom, but Ryker didn’t really care much about this anyway.

Leaving Auberon lying on the bed, he stepped into the kitchen in an adjacent section and began to cook.

First, he whipped Phoenix up a meal, then he made a stew for Auberon and fed it to him.

Auberon’s injuries stabilized.

With a thought, Divined Chains formed out from Ryker’s body, and he wrapped an illusory chain around the Crimson Supreme’s forehead.

‘If I’m correct, this should keep his soul dormant and his body in an unconscious state. Oh, that’s right…’

Originally, Ryker hadn’t bothered to put up any Spirit Patterns, but that was because he couldn’t be bothered to waste the time.

But did it even take him much effort anymore?

‘Indeed. If the Valorians could form a barrier around an entire world with their chains, why can’t I block off a room?’

Ryker had felt that the scope of the “main” Valorian Clan’s usage of their Spiritual Resonance was far beyond that of his Clan’s the moment he heard of this truth, and he was soon proven correct.

With some reshuffling, the entire room basically became a separate space, as though part of the palace, and yet in another realm at the same time.

‘Amazing…’

The applications felt endless, but Ryker forced himself to focus.

For the next several hours, he completed his experiments on Patience’s father, trying out many methods.

By the time he looked up, the night had waned and another night was waning once more as the dull light of dawn began to peek over the horizon.

‘Well, that’s enough for now. I’ve made decent progress. At the very least, I have a working Soul Cultivation Method now.’

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Ryker stretched, listening to sounds of his bones crackling as he exhaled. It was about time he got to greet a certain someone.

He left Auberon on the bed, he didn’t really need him anymore and the man was of no threat.

‘I think I have a working method for how to heal his soul as well, but whether I give that to him or not will be based on his efforts. Too bad the method of improving soul talent—’

Ryker’s eyes suddenly glowed with a fierce light. He had actually overlooked something so important.

‘I’m an idiot. The Divine Daggers, they’re able to improve Circle Talent and can even suck away Soul Talent. They’re too dangerous to use, but that’s because they’re missing the insight from this particular experiment…’

Lost in thought, Ryker walked out of the palace through the main entrance.

It could be considered quite the brazen act. Usually, the main doors of the palace were only opened on special occasions or for the entry of the Crimsons. It was bordering blasphemy for someone who was effectively a live-in son-in-law to do the same thing.

A live-in son-in-law was a man who married into his wife’s family, often taking her name as well. For someone as prestigious as Patience to be his future wife wasn’t actually considered to be too bad, especially if Ryker was a great talent. People would soon enough forget about it. But Ryker had yet to do anything, so in the eyes of the people, he didn’t deserve such prestige… of course, that was because they had conveniently forgotten about his Junior Crimson Medallion.

There was another matter as well… and that was just how heavy the palace doors were. It usually required several men or the Crimson Supreme would have to open them, but Ryker stood at the top of the stairs alone, breathing in the air.

It had been a long time since he stood beneath the sun.

He closed his eyes and tilted his head up, his body soaking in the rays.

However, soon, he opened them.

Staring into the blue skies, he murmured beneath his breath.

‘To think this place is a prison… you all really got me good…’

With a stomp of his foot, he launched himself upward, circulating a technique not too different from Phoenix’s Soar.

He landed lightly on a building over 200 meters away from his starting position.

With every leap, he cleared large swaths of the city, moving like a swallow through the skies and catching the eyes of many.

The city had been in a state of festivity. Vie was coming back from his expedition, and even before the Crimson Guard was taken out by Ryker, the ball had already been set rolling.

Although many of the organizers felt it was odd that the Crimson Guard and Regent had just disappeared, they continued on with their duty regardless, diligently taking steps as they should.

It was no surprise to Ryker that many people were acting as though it was Vie who had won the Junior Crimson Medallion and not him. This was no doubt a ploy of the Crimson Regent, and Ryker found it quite amusing.

On the way there, he picked up dozens of people mentioning the name Vie, and yet not one mentioned Ryker.

It only made sense.

Vie was sent right to the capital after the Quota Check concluded, while Ryker was sent to the outskirts of the territory. Vie was constantly out fighting and carrying out campaigns, while Ryker was “lazing” around in a palace. It was almost too easy for public perception to be manipulated in this way.

It was under this sort of situation that Ryker finally landed atop the city gates, appearing beside a familiar old man.

This old man was none other than the very same 8th Enlightenment Realm expert who had stopped him in front of the gates of the palace when he had first stormed into the city.

“Oh hey, old man. What’s your name?”

The old Crimson Knight was shocked. The city walls were so tall, and the nearest buildings were a healthy chunk of perimeter away. How had he just appeared here as though he had fallen out of the skies?

“I…”

Ryker gave him a cheery pat on the back that almost sent the old man spiraling to his death below.

He coughed. “My name is Kyrosen, young lord…”

“Ah, Kyrosen. It’s a beautiful day, don’t you think?”

Ryker grinned ear to ear as he spotted an army slowly making their way forward from the distance.

Kyrosen gave Ryker a weird look.

Others might be ignorant to what was going on, but how could he be as well? He was fully aware of Ryker’s… precarious position.

So why was he so cheery?

Thinking of how Ryker had just barged into the city the first time, Kyrosen felt his scalp and teeth itching a bit… he couldn’t be planning what he thought he was planning, right?

“… Listen, young man, there are some battles you just have to—”

“Tell me, Kyrosen. Do you have children?”

Kyrosen blinked. “I do…”

“Grandchildren?”

“Yes,” Kyrosen smiled, seemingly thinking about the little buggers.

“And those children and grandchildren of yours, do you want them to become the dogs of another nation?”

The smile on Ryker’s face was just the same, but his words weren’t restricted in the slightest. Several of the Crimson Knights lining the walls were shaken, their pupils trembling as they tried to pretend as though they hadn’t heard anything.

Feign ignorance and then feign ignorance again, this was the best policy.

But Kyrosen, who had been asked the question to begin with, practically felt like his heart was beating out of his chest.

This boy, why the hell was he so brazen?!

The rumbling of galloping beasts echoed in the distance, horns filled the skies and the practiced greeting performances were about to be launched when Ryker took a deep breath.

All the wind in the world seemed to swirl toward him in that moment before he bellowed out with a raging torrent.

“SILENCE.”

Kyrosen and the Crimson Knights hurriedly covered their ears, their bodies quaking and their inner organs rattling out of place.

Fear colored their eyes as they felt Ryker’s strength for the first time.

Was this the strength a mere 21 year old boy should have?

It wasn’t just them who were shaken.

The normal performers practically collapsed, unable to raise their instruments or twirl their hips in dance. At the same time, the army in the distance was taken aback, but because their distance was still considerable, they didn’t feel it like the people in the city had felt it.

At that moment, Ryker stood at attention, his hands clasped behind his back and his hair fluttering in the wind.

He preferred robes of blue, but today he had specifically chosen crimson and golden robes, ones that accentuated the air of the Crimson Federation.

The army closed the distance beneath silence, the cheers and adulation they had been expecting to receive coming with dull stares and a pregnant void instead.

And as they came to a stop before the gates, it was then Ryker took a step, falling off of the tall walls without a care.

Kyrosen’s eyes widened. He couldn’t have just done all of this to commit suicide with everyone’s attention, right?

But to the old man’s astonishment, Ryker fluttered to a stop, landing on the ground so softly that even the dirt roads were unable to kick up any dust.

Ryker walked forward, facing off against an army of a thousand entirely unmoved.

At their helm, there was a young man he recognized as Vie. He was riding upon the back of a Crimson Lion, an amusing sight to be sure.

The Crimson Lion was a sacred beast of the Federation, and yet it was given to an outsider just as a show of force. Ryker could even sense that Vie hadn’t even bound it in contract.

By Vie’s side, there was a man Ryker faintly recognized, not because he had seen him before, but because he was described to him by Patience.

It was a tall and stoic man, but he had a scar running the length of his face. This man was the Vice Crimson Guard, a man appointed to act as the Crimson Guard once had while the Crimson Guard himself retired from active duty.

Behind them, there were Adren and Barsan, two individuals Ryker had long since forgotten about. They had participated in the Quota Check and were ruthlessly stomped beneath his feet. Quite frankly, if not for his excellent memory, he wouldn’t even remember their names. All he knew about them was that one was tied to the Crimson Regent and the other the Crimson Guard.

It hardly mattered which was which.

Before any of them could speak, Ryker spoke first.

“Who okayed this campaign?”

The words came as a shock. What did he mean? Obviously, the Crimson Guard had. All expeditions of the sort were okayed by him. What did he think that he was saying?

The Vice Crimson Guard frowned. “Who are—”

The slap came so swiftly that no one saw how it happened. The Vice Crimson Guard was sent sprawling out from his seat upon his lion, a roar of wind crisply anchoring against his cheek.

“Know your place and understand who you can and cannot question. I am the one asking here, and you’re the one’s answering. Do you understand?”

The Vice Crimson Guard’s eyes lit with fury.

“YOU—!”

BANG!

The Vice Crimson Guard’s head exploded, the blood splattering all across Vie’s face and once gorgeous armor.

The young man sat frozen, his eyes opened so wide that he couldn’t grasp what was happening.

The Vice Crimson Guard… he might have had the prefix Vice before his title, but he was still an 8th Enlightenment Realm monster. In fact, he was at the very peak of the Realm, just a step from the 9th.

How had he died just like that?

Although Vie had entered the 7th Enlightenment Realm recently, he could barely fight the Vice Crimson Guard to a standstill. But Ryker had killed him with a single punch at the air?

“Now, I will ask again,” Ryker spoke in a low, rumbling voice. “Which of you were brazen enough to order an expedition and act on your own?”

Vie sat unable to even breathe. He was the only one left at the front of the army, and his hands were gripped to the reins of the lion beneath him so tightly that it looked as though his entire hand had been covered in a sheath of white gloves.

No one dared to speak. Adren and Barsan practically bit their own tongues off, Vie was frozen in fear, and the army behind were both confused and astonished.

“I see, so no one wants to talk?”

Ryker waved a hand and a gust of wind Vie couldn’t fight back against ripped him from the back of the Crimson Lion.

Vie’s throat was clamped in Ryker’s palm. He scratched and clawed trying to regain some semblance of control, but he got nothing in return.

Ryker didn’t even pay attention to him, his gaze landing on the Crimson Lion he had just sat upon.

A ripple echoed through the beast’s soul and it suddenly seemed to snap awake, looking around in confusion.

Ryker snatched the beast pouch from Vie’s waist and held the young man out toward the confused beast.

Almost instantly, the Crimson Lion growled and swiped a claw, almost cutting Vie in half.

Vie’s screams filled the skies, the only echo in the endless silence.

“Not only do you act without military orders, you prop up an outsider and hand him the most sacred beast of our Federation?”

Ryker’s voice was low and resounding, but every word struck a chord.

If Vie had subdued that beast, how could it ever attack him so casually? Shouldn’t it have attacked Ryker instead?

“Let me go! LET ME GO! The Shadow Clan will never allow this—!”

CRACK.

Ryker snapped Vie’s neck and threw him to the Crimson Lion.

“Arrest them all!” Ryker’s voice boomed. “I really want to see how many traitors my Federation has.

“Today will be a day of celebration, but for an altogether different reason. From today on, we will no longer have rats scurrying in our streets.”

Ryker looked up and met Kyrosen’s eyes.