-In Count Oliver's estate-

Count Oliver had a troubled expression on his face because he had been up to date with everything that was happening around those two Cities.

Albert was informing him of the situation when Ozul and the duo had just arrived in those Cities. Since he was a Count, owning long-distance communication devices was not a problem for him.

He was looking at all the reports about the investigation when Albert came running in, this time while sweating.

Oliver would rarely see Albert as someone who would lose his cool. He had been taking care of him since Oliver was just a kid, so he knew how professional Albert was.

If even Albert were sweating, the news surely wouldn't be something that he would like. Oliver may not admit it, but he had come to care for Ozul and Raven.

He wouldn't go out of his way just to help them, but he also didn't want them to die. They had been a big help to him in these past years.

Losing them would deal a ma.s.sive blow to his authority as even his superiors had come to know of Ozul through him.

"I H-have a piece of bad news!"

"What is it? Don't leave me hanging!"

Oliver was impatient and demanded Albert to hurry up. The more he delayed, the anxious Oliver got, so he could not take it anymore.

"The last report said that Ozul and the duo had reached Sester City. But this one said that sometime later, there was an explosion in the middle of the Count's estate!"

Oliver felt his headache increase. Were Ozul and the duo caught in the explosion!? But more than ever, he had cold sweat drenching his back.

'If the Eclipse's Order could explode that estate, they could do it to mine too...'

The feeling of being at the mercy of someone else wasn't something that Count Oliver like even one bit.

"Contact the person again. Tell him that I want him to give live reports right now!"

Oliver quickly made a decision as Albert brought the communication artifact. The call connected and the person on the other end began to describe the details.

*Cruchhh...*

But just as he was talking, both Oliver and Albert heard the inhumane scream before the connection was cut.

It alerted both of them because they could not figure out what it was. From the call, Oliver and Albert could not tell if the scream was close to the other person, or it had reached him from kilometers away.

It left Oliver with even more worry. Just then, he remembered his conversation with Ozul when he was drunk. Ozul wouldn't usually reply to him, but that was a rare moment.

"Hey, Kiddo, tell me~ What do you do in your free time?"

"... I watch the night sky."

"Oh~ So poetic. *Hic*... Never thought you to be such a type."

Oliver usually doesn't even remember anything when he was drunk, but he couldn't forget this conversation for some reason.

"You are so smart, huh. Tell me, what should one do... when one can't do anything?"

"Easy, You watch the night sky."- Ozul gave a slight pause while looking at the sky, and then continued;

"You look at the void between those lights... and ask yourself... Does it all even matter?"

Oliver still remembered those words as he repeated them while also looking at the void—Just as Ozul had said.

"You never told me what to do if I think that it matters..."- Oliver muttered to himself, not paying any attention to the confused Albert looking weirdly at him.

—————————

-Somewhere Else-

A Palace, even better than that of the Duke Edwin's, stood in the middle of the Capital City of Silverbird Kingdom.

This Palace, of course, belonged to the Royal Family, which ruled over the Silverbird Kingdom.

At this moment, the atmosphere in the throne room was solemn. Unlike any usual throne hall, it had a silver rug running down from the throne to the middle of the room.

The rug was silver in color with golden linings st.i.tched all on it, unlike the usual red carpets. Both sides of the hall had small quarters made for the official to stand. No one was allowed to sit in the presence of the Emperor!

Even though the Silverbird Kingdom was big enough to be called an Empire, for some reason, Emperor Luthien just named himself an Emperor but did not change the name of the Kingdom to an Empire.

At this moment, everyone was quiet while waiting for Emperor Luthien to make a decision. He was almost an End Stage Rank-9 Mage and a Rank-10 Fighter, so no one in the whole Kingdom dared to disrespect him.

Empress Sarana, an End Stage Rank-8 Mage, sat on the seat placed beside the throne. She and Luthien were discussing some things through when a man came seemingly from the shadows and whispered something to the Emperor.

Emperor Luthien narrowed his eyes when he heard the news. After a few moments, he raised his head and said;

"Sir Rufus, come forward."

Rufus was an old man with light red hair. If not for the wrinkles on his face, one would think that he was just 30 years old! This man was a Rank-8 Mage and directly reported to Luthien.

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

"Go and a.s.sist Duke Edwin in the Sester City. There have been some complications there."

"As you command, Your Majesty."

Rufus did not even raise his head and just left the throne room.

When he had left the throne room, Luthien just looked at the far distance while thinking, 'Interesting...'

—————————

-In another corner of the Continent-

The weird phenomenon caused by an End Stage Rank-10 Mage did not reach here. However, an Old man with a long white beard sitting crossed leg in a cave opened his eyes.

His eyes shone with a brilliant light before suddenly vanis.h.i.+ng into thin air. He looked in the direction of the Silverbird Kingdom;

"Some poor soul is trying to ascend?... How many decades has it been."

"I think the time has come..."

The Old man muttered to himself before coming out of the cave. He enjoyed the view of frozen mountains for some time before moving in the direction of some human settlements.

If anyone ever saw this Old man walking so casually in between these frozen mountains where even the air seemed to freeze, they'd be shocked to the core!

This place was what humans considered as the forbidden zone! Why? Because thousands of years ago, a Rank-9 Mage followed by a team of Rank-8 Mages had ventured into here. No one heard of them ever since!

This place was not something that mortals like them could ever explore. The Continent had many secrets, and this area was one of them. No one knew anything about this area, so they had just labeled it as forbidden.

Like this, people even started to call it "Forbidden Air" since even the air here seemed to freeze and fall to the ground!

Unknowingly, the weird phenomenon generated by the Monster in the Sester City of Silverbird Kingdom had attracted the attention of many powerhouses...

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