Kael stood still for a moment, watching the torn pieces of James’s body slide across the blood-soaked ground. He clicked his tongue and glanced around at the stunned faces staring at him. "If not for all these eyes on me, I would have devoured him," he muttered under his breath. "What a waste of resources..Chee." With a faint sound, the small diamond-like crystal on his forehead vanished. Kael exhaled slowly, then turned his focus toward the others. His eyes immediately searched for Emilia. As he moved toward her, a small figure suddenly leapt into his arms. "Papa! Papa!" Elfina cried, her little hands gripping his collar tightly. She buried her head against his cheek, rubbing her soft hair against his skin as if she was trying to make sure he was real. Her body trembled, but her grip never loosened. Kael rested one hand gently on the back of her head, patting it softly. "It’s alright," he whispered in a calm voice, steady enough to stop her shaking. "Papa’s fine." He kissed her forehead lightly before shifting his gaze to Emilia. "Mother, are you alright?" "I’m alright," Emilia replied after taking a deep breath. Her eyes, however, wandered to James’s lifeless corpse on the ground. Her face was calm, but there was an unspoken heaviness in her gaze. Kael caught that look immediately. "It’s not your fault," he said firmly. "Yes, it’s not your fault, ma’am. Don’t let the words of some dead man weigh on you," Jess chimed in without missing a beat. She started rambling with her usual blunt tone. "Just a mutt of a man, daring to think about—ouch!" Jess stopped mid-sentence, wincing as a sudden punch landed square on her cheek. The swelling was instant. She turned sharply to glare at the Black Knights standing nearby. "You! Why didn’t you protect me when he hit?" "We only protect Her Highness," the four knights answered at the same time, standing straight and saluting Emilia without even glancing at Jess. Kael’s eyes narrowed slightly, studying them. All of them were S-rank, and he had known about their presence the whole time. It was one reason he had never truly worried for his mother’s safety. Still, their words caught his attention. "Why don’t you follow my orders?" he asked, his tone even. The knights looked at him with sharp, unreadable eyes. "We only follow Her Highness’s words," one of them replied. "..." Kael didn’t respond, only holding their gaze for a moment before shifting his attention elsewhere. Nearby, the priest who had tried to run earlier was being held in place by Ariana, her grip like iron around his arm. Vic stood over another unconscious, monstrous-looking man, giving him a sharp kick. "What should we do with him, my lord?" Vic asked without much emotion in his voice. Kael glanced at the struggling priest for a moment before answering. "Just kill him. We can take the head as proof." At that moment, one of the guards stepped forward. "My Lord, what should we do about the aftermath? With the death of Baron James, things might blow out of proportion." Kael’s expression changed slightly. His eyes swept over the Baron’s remaining guards, who were frozen in place, not sure whether to run or kneel. "Does he have children?" Kael asked. "Sir, Baron James didn’t have children," the guard replied quickly. "Then a wife?" Kael pressed. "He didn’t marry," came the answer. "..." Kael stayed silent for a few seconds, then exhaled slowly. "So, what should we do?" Seraphina asked from the side. Emilia’s voice was quiet but steady as she offered, "Can’t we leave this for the God of War to handle?" "That’s an entirely different organization," Kael replied without hesitation. His eyes darkened slightly. "And besides, they’ve already been wiped out by this group. There’s nothing left to hand over." He turned to look toward the city, his voice gaining a sharper edge. "We can’t stay here for long. Let’s clear out any remaining enemies and then leave. We’re only a few days from the capital, and this is the Emperor’s problem now, not ours. Send someone to inform the bureaucrats and the neighboring territories about what happened." Kael waved his hand dismissively as if closing the matter. Ariana nodded in understanding. Without a word, she raised her sword and brought it down in one clean motion, ending the priest’s life in an instant. The air grew heavier as the last echoes of steel faded. Blood pooled quietly into the dirt, and the distant sound of the wind was the only thing left to break the silence. The battle was over, but its weight lingered in every breath. In a massive mansion on the outskirts of the capital, a young black-haired man sat behind a heavy desk, his hands moving quickly as he sorted through stacks of documents. Each sheet in his hand was a piece of information coming from different channels. His eyes scanned them carefully, not missing a single detail. The entire empire was in chaos. Every corner had its own problems, and trouble seemed to rise like wildfire. For the Assassin Tower, times were golden. When fear and unrest spread, people became desperate for information. They wanted to know who was moving against them, where threats were coming from, and which side was winning. Information. Vale knew better than anyone that it was more than words on paper. If used right, it could change the outcome of a war. A single report could mean victory or destruction in a battlefield strategy. "These are quite crucial. You need to verify all of these," Vale said at last, sliding a small stack across the desk. The butler, Aman, nodded and stepped forward to collect them. But just as Vale reached for the next set of papers, his eyes stopped on one line. His hand froze, and his expression darkened. "What the hell is this nonsense?" Vale muttered sharply. Aman frowned, unsure what had provoked such a reaction. "Lord Vale, what happened?" "Read it yourself." Vale tossed the paper toward him. Aman’s eyes moved down the page, and the further he read, the deeper the crease between his brows grew. "Another group named Crimson Choir tried to take over and sacrifice the City of Cantilever... and worse, the Baron was working with them. All of this was stopped by Kael..." Vale’s gaze turned razor sharp. "How did he manage all that?" "It could have been the knights of Veydrin," Aman offered, though his voice lacked certainty. "But how can that be?" Vale leaned back, his stare fixed on the wall as if piecing together an impossible puzzle. Seeing Aman’s confused look, he explained, "Those knights don’t follow orders from just anyone. They only obey those they truly respect. Yet Kael... months ago, he was a complete nobody. How did he change so much?" His voice grew harder. "Getting stronger is one thing. But the way he’s advancing... it’s ridiculous." Vale’s thoughts turned darker. Not only had Kael already gained two A-rank followers, but they weren’t even from Veydrin. One of them, Ariana, had gone from a mere F-rank to A-rank in just a few months. That kind of growth wasn’t normal. Since when has becoming powerful been so easy? Before Vale could think further, a sharp sound like a string snapping echoed faintly. It was small but clear. His whole body went cold in an instant. His assassin instincts, sharpened by years of living in danger, screamed at him with the clarity of a death sentence. "Aman—" he started, but Aman had already moved. In a single motion, the butler grabbed Vale and leapt out of the chair, hurling them both toward the open grounds. The next instant, a blinding bluish beam tore through the air. It wasn’t just light. It was destruction given shape. The sound hit like an explosion of a thousand storms at once. The beam slammed through the mansion’s center, tearing through stone, wood, and steel as if they were nothing but paper. Entire walls disintegrated before the heat, massive pillars turned to dust in seconds, and the central hall was gone—completely vaporized, leaving nothing but a yawning hole of smoking air. The destruction didn’t stop there. The beam kept going, cutting through everything in its path. Decorative towers crumbled into rubble, the reinforced walls burst apart in showers of debris, and the shockwave shattered every pane of glass in the surrounding area. The attack carved a long wound through the land until it finally reached the sky, where it exploded in a burst of blue fire. The once-grand mansion, nearly the size of a small castle, was reduced to ruins in less than a heartbeat. Half of it was nothing but a scorched crater. Vale lay on the dirt outside the wreckage, his chest heaving. His ears rang, but his eyes darted to Aman, who was crouched nearby with his body tense like a coiled spring. Vale’s shock turned to rage. "Who... who is it?" His voice cracked, but his anger only grew. "I’ll kill you!" As his voice echoed, a deep, unsteady laugh rose from the smoking debris. Heavy footsteps followed, crunching over shattered stone. A man emerged from the dust, his figure slowly becoming clear. His presence was heavy, suffocating, and his gaze was locked straight on Vale. "Boy," the man said, his voice low but carrying like a thunderclap. "It seems you’ve grown bold enough to interfere with the people of Veydrin... without knowing the consequences of your actions." Before Vale could answer, the man’s aura exploded outward. The air grew thick, pressing down with an invisible weight. The ground trembled. It was as if the heavens themselves shook in response to his presence.