Directly North of the Weiss Highlands was the Saha desert, which held the capital city of the Kingdom of Arad. In fact, the Kingdom of Arad was one of the seven spheres of power split into seven different cardinal directions of the Tiandiyu immortal continent. Each of the seven spheres of powers held a great immortal clan. The Arad Kingdom ruled the South of Tiandiyu, including the territory Weiss clan, which was relatively known to be one of the weakest great immortal clans. Although the Weiss Highlands could be considered as a part of the Kingdom of Arad, like the other great immortal clans, they did not subordinate themselves to their respective governments, and merely tolerated one another in a sort of mutual co-existence to deter the other spheres of power. And so, Tiandiyu had been in a precariously peaceful situation for years with the seven powers checking and balancing one another.

There had been a tacit agreement and covenant since time immemorial that those of the immortal continent will not intervene with the affairs of mortals and mortal continents, otherwise they’d put themselves at risk of being attacked by all immortals. However, those with sufficient power like the guild Paragon can entirely ignore this. No one would be mad enough to attack a guild with the backing of a transcendent realm being like Gideon. It had to be said that, putting it nicely, the average transcendent realm being’s battle capabilities were equivalent to that of ten peak stage immortals. A single transcendent realm expert alone was more than a match for one of the seven spheres of power. As such, others usually turned a blind-eye or humbled themselves to avoid the risk of offending such experts.

With that being said, the most influential and strongest figures of Tiandiyu can be divided as such: The seven spheres of powers’ governments, the seven great immortal clans, the seven immortal figureheads of the adventurer’s association in each capital of the seven powers, adventurer groups, Jaeger groups, immortal guilds, and some rogue or vagabond immortals. The absolute strongest of which are the hidden experts and hermits, peak stage immortals or those in the transcendent realm that usually aren’t interested in Tiandiyu’s affairs and aren’t bound to any power.

Right now, one such expert that had hidden themselves well up until this point was walking leisurely in the desert capital city of Arad. Two figures that had waited and rested leisurely for several days in the city were finally walking towards their destination. One was a skinny youth with dark rings underneath his eyes. He looked very refined and calm. The other was a wrinkled old man with both of his hands within the sleeves of his robes.

Their complexion was at a complete contrast to the usual bronze-skinned Aradian citizen, causing them to stand out conspicuously and gazes to come their way. The eerie aura they gave off made passerbys instantly part way. Many would unconsciously find their gaze attracted to their slowly moving figures. Some bystanders had noticed an odd phenomenon. Although the two were walking in the sand, only the elderly man left footprints behind. The lanky youth left no traces within the sand, it was almost as if he was a weightless spectre. This had only added to their ominousness.

“You want to exterminate that clan, grandpa?” The skinny youth asked the elder walking beside him.

“Yes, Aquila! After all…” the elderly man shifted the hands within his robes to reveal them, “It’s because of them and that boy that I lost these…!” Anger was evident in his tone. Shockingly, the elder’s hands weren’t the flesh of a human’s, but was made entirely of ice.

“Although I could easily annihilate the Weiss clan alone, it carries too many risks…” the skinny youth, Aquila muttered quietly.

“But-” Asher’s complaint was cut short.

“Don’t worry, grandpa. I’ve already thought of at least ten ways of getting rid of them without lifting a finger. That’s why we’ve been staying in this horrid place for the past few days,” Aquila reassured.

He had already envisioned several scenarios, and hatched countless backup plans in the case that his grandfather’s assassination attempt on Seria had failed.

Such was his, Aquila’s nature. He thought that the clans and powers that coveted prestige, dignity, face, and fame were nothing more than fools. To him, cautiousness, shrewdness, cunning, and shamelessness were worthy of respect.

(Strength can get you far, but intelligence can get you further…) Aquila thought, an imperceptible smirk forming on his lips.

He firmly believed in the philosophy that with peerless strength, you can conquer an area. While with peerless intelligence, you can conquer the world.

Even though he believed himself to be an unparalleled schemer, he was still cautious by nature. He did not particularly underestimate others, and also took into account the existence of the monsters that were centuries old. Even if he was a genius, could he contend in a battle of strength or wits with those with much more experience than him, those that have lived multiples of times of his entire lifespan? He considered the risks of personally annihilating the Weiss clan, and quickly discarded the idea before it even formed within his mind. Thoughts like ‘What if Seria and Cain’s mother somehow came back, would she come looking for vengeance?’ or ‘What if a survivor or witness manages to escape, and makes my existence and true strength public?’ passed through his mind. There were too many disadvantages to acting personally.

Aquila did not consider fame something to be actively sought for, and if possible, would rather avoid becoming famous or infamous at all costs. In fact, he had grown up hearing a legend. This legend involved how Sieghart Blackblood, the founder of the Jaegers, used the fame of a peak stage immortal that was rumored to soon breakthrough into the transcendent realm against them. Such a cunning individual like Sieghart was worthy of Aquila’s admiration and respect.

(The minute you become widely known, is the minute that you lose) Aquila sneered.

This was the reason why the true experts like those in the transcendent realm were hermits. They did not want to leak information about themselves or their powers, thoughts that coincided with Aquila’s. If information about you becomes known, countermeasures could easily be made against you and your abilities.

“You said that it was only you six there, and the sole surviving member of Sphinx wasn’t present, right?” Aquila asked his grandfather Asher.

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“That’s right,” Asher replied, albeit confused as to the meaning behind his question.

“Excluding you, that makes five. Seria, Cain, and three of Cain’s friends. It can be inferred from that, that Aegis is in possession of the Weiss clan,” Aquila made a smirk.That smirk seemed second nature to him.

Asher was puzzled. Wasn’t he just stating the obvious?

“Grandpa, think about it. Excluding the six of you, and now me, who else knows that Aegis still belongs to the Weiss clan?” Aquila questioned.

It was now that a realization seemed to have dawned upon Asher.

It had to be said that legendary artifacts such as Aegis possessed an immense attractive force to the factions on the immortal continent Tiandiyu.

“You understand? Let’s assume that the other five belong on the side of the Weiss clan, that means they’d clearly withhold information of their possession of Aegis to the rest of the continent. As far as the rest of the world knows, the last anyone has ever seen Aegis was within the hands of Sphinx and the Artifact Hunter Gyro… and where is Gyro now?” Aquila quietly chuckled.

A genius. His grandson was a genius. How could his grandson have noticed something that even he, with decades of more experience than him, had missed? Aquila was not like the other so-called geniuses that relied purely on martial might, but a genius with uncontested intelligence that had the potential to rule the world. At the thought of this, Asher brimmed with pride.

Aquila had a unique way of thinking, in which he would place himself in the perspectives of countless others that had experienced the events themselves, including putting himself and viewing things in the perspective of an observer, like this, it was almost impossible for him to not notice a simple oversight that others could have easily missed.

“He’s dead. The only people who know of this are us seven. In other words… the rest of the continent is chasing a dead man whom they believe to still have Aegis, and in the worst case scenario, the sole surviving member of the Jaeger group Sphinx,” Aquila explained.

At a first glance, that small piece of information may not seem like much, but it held many implications…

“We can use this knowledge to our advantage. Let’s say… attach ourselves to the ruling government of another sphere of power, and reveal this piece of information to them, manipulating them into a conflict with the Weiss clan for Aegis,” Aquila smiled.

Aquila had long predicted what this revelation would lead to. Another sphere of power would search for Aegis, and annihilate the Weiss clan in the process, but would the Kingdom of Arad simply sit still and let an invading force destroy one of their sources of power? Although the clans and their respective governing powers were not allies, they mutually benefitted one another to form a deterring relationship from other powers on Tiandiyu, so would the Kingdom of Arad just let an invading force weaken their overall power and destroy one of their metaphoric ‘limbs,’ namely, the Weiss clan?

The answer was: no. They would obviously act to stop them, aiding the Weiss clan and inevitably fight back.

This would lead to a war between two spheres of powers, two nations. This war would destroy the delicate balance between the nations of Tiandiyu, eventually erupting in an all-out war that would involve the entire continent and affect all seven powers.

And after the war’s conclusion, when all the powers are severely weakened, what then?

Who would be there to conveniently manipulate events to go their way, and ultimately unify the entire immortal continent behind the scenes? Aquila.

Aquila would go on to become the unspoken ruler of all of Tiandiyu.

(I’ve bided my time… waited patiently and acted like a weakling for years, all for an opportunity to present itself, but who would have thought that things would proceed so smoothly?!) Aquila thought.

A war would soon breakout that would be written down on history, and the events of which would be sung by bards all across the lands for times to come. All of this would result from the actions of a single person. An individual possessing strength, intelligence, and patience.

This individual was the ‘hidden monster’ of the Weiss clan. Aquila.

(But it’s too early to celebrate… In order to ensure that things proceed smoothly…) Aquila thought, as they had finally made their way over to their intended destination.

The adventurer’s association of the capital city of Arad.

Opening the doors to the adventurer’s association, the two immediately noticed something odd.

The room was in absolute chaos, with adventurers bustling with activity and creating a commotion. Some parts of the room were smashed, and the roof had a large hole that revealed the scorching sun above it.

“Grandpa, help me find out what’s all the noise about,” Aquila frowned. He ignored all the noise and made his way near a large bulletin board.

The top of the bulletin board had large emboldened words that stated, ‘WANTED JAEGER GROUPS,’ underneath of which, he saw some notorious Jaeger groups, and the photos of all the members of the Jaeger group Sphinx still listed.

Confirming his suspicions, he nodded, satisfied. So his speculations were correct, and the information that Gyro was dead still hadn’t been leaked to the rest of the world. He was able to slightly relax with this assurance.

Asher walked up next to his grandson, and said, “It’s nothing, they’re only so noisy because of a brazen Jaeger was sighted within the building a few moments ago. Most of the adventurers present had left the area to chase them.”

“Ah. There’s no need to get involved in such trivial matters, then. Let’s go make our way to another nation. Tell me, grandpa, which nation do you want to pick to be the one to destroy the Weiss clan?” Aquila leisurely asked as he walked out of the building with Asher.

The pair never knew that just a few moments before, the ‘worst case scenario,’ that Aquila had envisioned had already arrived, and the sole surviving member of the Jaeger group Sphinx, a small, blue-haired girl had made a grand appearance and caused a commotion within the building together with Zieg.