TL: Nadu

Editor: Lesurous

A person who is in a high position for a long time tends to care about the thoughts people around him have towards them.

And so, the person spares no cost in building a good public image.

Muyoung wanted the Trial of Swords to continuously open and made a plan for that to happen.

It was 'rumors'.

“Did you hear? Ed Ranger was involved with Alexandro's disappearance.”

“Ed Ranger was? I heard it was Lennon.”

“Amanda said that he was communicating with the Forest of Death…”

“Really?! With that d.a.m.ned place?”

Malicious rumors.

However, would there only be 'malice' in the rumors?

They were all stories with the truth as a basis.

They weren't all 100% correct but the rumors would make those who knew about the truth be bothered by them.

It was already a situation where the Sun Guild was in the public eye.

The rumors spread like wildfire.

Of course, the ones involved with the rumors completely denied it.

“This is all a lie. What reason would I have to communicate with the Forest of Death?”

“I will find the person who spread these false rumors and punish him severely!”

Everyone besides Hyacinth was pressed by this matter.

In a situation like this, these rumors would only give hostile organizations a cause to act.

Even if the Sun Guild was the strongest organization, there were still a few who weren't far after them.

As if it was a good thing, there were a lot of places wanting a piece of the Sun Guild.

And within that situation, Hyacinth started to act.

Hyacinth was the only girl who went well with the description 'high integrity'.

Only Hyacinth was innocent of all the dirty rumors.

In reality, this was also true.

It was the reason why Hyacinth was the only one who could act when everyone else was being cautious.

“A few days ago, there were a.s.sa.s.sins who attacked me. They were the a.s.sa.s.sins from the Forest of Death. Second oldest sister, did you really want to kill me that badly?”

Hyacinth started to counterattack.

The woman who Hyacinth called as her second oldest sister, became as pale as death.

“This is a misunderstanding. You know very well that someone spread false rumors about me.”

“Would it only be a rumor? But, what about the evidence? The items found on the a.s.sa.s.sins who attacked me.”

It was a ring.

An expensive and rare item made from diamonds.

The design of the ring was unique and it was a treasure amongst treasure made by a dwarf.

All the brothers and sisters knew that this ring belonged to the sister.

“How, how did that?”

“Are you still going to deny it?”

“It's not me! I don't know why you have that ring but it doesn't make sense for me to a.s.sociate with the Forest of Death.”

In reality, the ring was provided by Muyoung.

But, it was true that the woman was communicating with the Forest of Death.

No, when you think about it, all of the executives of the Sun Guild had some sort of connection with the Forest of Death in one way or another.

How were they going to prove it?

The woman didn't try to kill Hyacinth through the Forest of Death.

She only tried to kill Muyoung but if Muyoung was killed, it was basically killing Hyacinth.

Hyacinth spoke with a serious look on her face.

“Sister, I request the Trial of Swords. Let's decided who's right or wrong there.”

“Are… you crazy? Do you think you would be safe after speaking like that?!”

“I'll see you in after a week.”

Hyacinth safely left her as she ignored the malice and swearing behind her.

s.h.i.+ver!

After she disappeared from the woman's sight, Hyacinth s.h.i.+vered her shoulders.

Muyoung cautiously placed his hand on her shoulder.

“You did well.”

“Just, I felt a slight chill. I'm not scared.”

“I know.”

Even if this tough appearance was just a mask, now was the time she needed to wear it.

The trial opened and the one chosen to be Muyoung's opponent was 'Lucas the Champion of Reversal'.

He was someone who enjoyed throwing his spear but was a veteran who wasn't weak in close combat either.

The 'Sage's Workshop' released a book called the 'Strongest 300' every year which listed the top 300 humans they ranked and Lucas was exactly at the 277th rank.

It was a rank that the ones called the sages created by gathering together and discussing with each other.

Although the ranking was renewed every year, Lucas was within the top 300 for a very long time.

It meant he was that strong.

He was a level higher than Bastille, the last opponent Muyoung faced.

Like last time, everyone thought Lucas would win.

Slam!

Thud!

…It was a shame that the person who just flew off was not Muyoung but Lucas.

Muyoung raised his fist after confirming that Lucas, who just smacked against the wall, had fainted.

It was a sign of victory.

However, the battleground was still quiet.

Muyoung had even won against a 'true strong man' who was ranked 277th.

Was he really a Prestige Knight?

Although Lucas, who was called the Champion of Reversal, was winning at first, he lost by a close call.

Everyone knew. That Lucas was more favorable until the halfway mark.

'This is the limit without using acceleration.'

Muyoung wasn't uninjured.

However, he didn't try to read the grains or accelerate time.

He won against Bastille and Lucas just using his pure fighting skills.

“This, this is a lie! This can't be possible!”

The defeated sister cried out loud.

She didn't want to believe in the results of the trial.

However, it already happened and the sister lost everything.

Hyacinth quietly shuddered. However, she didn't forget her duty.

To stare at others provocatively.

To give others' the feeling that 'they are the next target'!

That was what Hyacinth needed to do.

The expressions of her other brothers and sisters also changed as if they each eaten a bug.

Among them, there would be someone who might challenge her next by seeing Muyoung's injuries.

'I'll slaughter you all.'

Muyoung inwardly laughed.

The Sun Guild.

This place was an impregnable fortress when Alexandro stood by.

There was no way it could be swayed just because of Muyoung's meddling.

However, the Sun Guild without Alexandro was like a hollow fortress.

Swoos.h.!.+

A red jiangs.h.i.+ body crumbled.

As Bae Sungmin spread his arms out, a black ring popped out and tied up the surrounding red jiangs.h.i.+.

The red jiangs.h.i.+ was a level lower than black jiangs.h.i.+ and even though their numbers were great, they couldn't do anything against Bae Sungmin who was an arc lich.

“Who are you guys? Who are you to disturb our work?”

Tacan interrogated the jiangs.h.i.+ sorcerer.

However, there was no way for him to willingly give them a reply.

“I'll find out after I kill you then.”

Tacan announced his death.

Within a short period of time, the jiangs.h.i.+ sorcerer's whole body was slashed before he even noticed.

His body was slashed into dozens, then into hundreds of pieces.

After wiping out all of the enemy, Bae Sungmin spoke while he watched the display of skill.

“Your swordsmans.h.i.+p took a major step forward.”

“Hmph, this is nothing compared to what I want to achieve.”

“By the way, from what I heard, you originally agreed to leave. Why aren't you leaving?”

Tacan sheathed his sword and stared at Sungmin threateningly.

“At first, I was going to leave. Muyoung, he was originally much weaker than me, and I took pity on him while being thankful for being freed.”

“But, now?”

“I was instantly left behind. Even more, the guy learned extraordinary skills. I can't leave even if I want to until I make those skills my own!”

Tacan grounded his teeth.

Muyoung, his strength, had become Tacan's weakness.

He was going to leave without any lingering attachment once he learned and made the skill to manage time and the skill to see grains his own, but it was impossible for him to learn those two skills no matter how much he tried.

Just, that in the process, his swordsmans.h.i.+p had improved.

“It's a knight's sorrow.”

Bae Sungmin uttered a short phrase.

As he wasn't a knight, he wasn't able to fully understand Tacan's feelings.

“Besides that, let's hurry. We need to find out the next location before the mark disappears.”

As if it was useless, Tacan shook his head and searched the jiangs.h.i.+ sorcerer's body.

Their enemies' bodies each had a different mark, and if they were to interpret it, they would be able to find out their next destination.

However, they couldn't just scan the whole picture.

The Command Clan strictly moved in cells.

After confirming the mark on the jiangs.h.i.+ sorcerer's body, Bae Sungmin nodded his head.

“Next… is the Sky Library.”

***

Six.

It was the number of seals Hyacinth had collected.

It wasn't a majority but six seals was enough power to sway everyone's opinions.

It was because the ones who thought Muyoung had reached his limit, and moved to open the Trial of Swords, had all lost.

By now, they couldn't help but realize that something was off.

During his last fight, Muyoung had used '4 times acceleration', and the siblings still left realized that Muyoung's strength wasn't shown in its entirety.

Afterwards, they spared themselves from opening the Trial of Swords.

Either way, with six seals, it became possible to even enter the 'hidden room'.

“Normally, this place is only accessible by the guild master. The information collected from the special intelligence branch of the guild is all placed here.”

Hyacinth spoke tensely.

Underneath the guild.

The place they reached after gaining access pa.s.sed the numerous security and obtaining certification.

In front of Muyoung's eyes, dozens of doc.u.ments flew around.

They were connected to pipe like structures, and even now, doc.u.ments that were heavily secured moved around continuously.

'It's here.'

The place Muyoung wanted to enter so much.

The place where all manner of information was contained!

As Muyoung returned from the future, his memory was imperfect.

It was because Muyoung wasn't active during this period.

It was around the time he first came out into the world after being kidnapped by the Forest of Death and spending ten years in training.

He only had information right before the start of the great calamity and any other information was only from looking at people's status viewer histories.

'I will be able to figure out the exact whereabouts of Alexandro.'

The Sun Guild had an uncountable number of intelligence branches.

Every branch was independent and neutral, and each had a different authority.

Only the guild master, Alexandro, was able to make them act.

“Muyoung, please… take this.”

Hyacinth cautiously handed an earring.

Muyoung couldn't help but be surprised as he looked down on it.

'Was this in the Sun Guild?'

As he concentrated on the earring, information regarding it popped up.

Name: Conqueror's Earring

Rank: +

Cla.s.sification: Equippable type

Endurance: 55,000

Effect: A necessity for a conqueror.

* Only equippable when pure intelligence and wisdom stats are above 400

* The higher the number of territories conquered or the level of territories, the recovery ability increases. (+177%)

* Intelligence +20

* Wisdom +20

** When worn with Contempt for the Weak, 'Magic Resistance +50' and 'Wilderness' skill is usable.

“I found it by chance when I looked around the A rank storage room. The ring you are wearing is Contempt for the Weak, right? Ah, don't get me wrong. I can see information as a picture.”

Hyacinth cautiously spoke.

She meant that she brought it after confirming how the Contempt for the Weak ring looked like through a picture and because it was the same thing as the one Muyoung wore.

However, it wouldn't have been simply by chance.

The storage rooms the Sun Guild possessed were all ma.s.sive.

It was no different for the A rank storage room.

All A rank equipment were within the same storage room even though not all A rank equipment was outstanding.

She would have spent days and nights looking for equipment that would help Muyoung.

The dark bags under her eyes told the truth.

“Thank you.”

It would have taken a long time if he was to try and look for it on his own.

As he wore the earring, he felt that his body became a bit st.u.r.dier.

A reality marble!

It meant that it was a unique type that was matched to Muyoung.

A 'reality marble' had the power to reverse any situation depending on how it was used.

An unexpected gain.

After placing his hand on Hyacinth's head for a moment, Muyoung continued to look for doc.u.ments.

He looked through the mountain of papers for a quarter of a day.

'Huh.'

And he found out about an unexpected truth.

'I didn't think I'd find this here.'

Muyoung's gaze became deeper.

Tacan and Bae Sungmin went up the Sky Library.

It was easy to avoid everyone's attention.

However, the person Bae Sungmin and Tacan met was enough to completely outrun their expectations.

“I can feel Asura's energy. Are you guys Asura's underlings?”

Ding ding ding.

A man appeared as he played the lute.

He wore a turban and gave off an uncommon vibe.

“It seems like you guys were the ones who disturbed our great work. Hoho.”

His face was young but his voice and his tone were no different than an elderly man.

As the man played the lute, the surrounding environment changed and a barrier was created.

“A reality marble…”

Bae Sungmin spoke as if the man got him.

Even Bae Sungmin didn't think he would be able to make a barrier so quickly.

“Who…are you?”

Tacan asked.

He wasn't able to get the gist of this strange energy.

It was an energy Tacan felt for the first time.

The surrounding world slowly changed into the man's color.

Then the man who held the lute spoke as he smiled.

“I am 'Moon', the sect leader of the Sky Devil church and the successor of Makura, one of the Eight Deva Guardians of Buddhism.”