The entire training hall was silent.

It was because of one man.

A Giant with disheveled hair and burnt marks on his body that was now foaming and lying on the floor.

Baldur didn't give in to Lith's provocation initially and suffered immaculately.

Lith didn't want to torture him and wanted to end things on a peaceful note, but Baldur wasn't cooperating whatsoever. With diplomacy not working, fists had to be brought in.

Sitting cross-legged atop the foaming Baldur's bulging belly, Lith held his chin and looked at Ojas and party.

"Did you hear what he said?"

Ojas, having watched his life's most horrifying torture, gulped and nodded his head.

"Do you know what to do?"

Ojas nodded again. He would be a fool if he didn't know what to do!

"Good. Then start acting on it and let me know if you need some help."

Lith then turned to the remaining Giants of Cimir's faction in the room.

"You lot shall stay here until the end of the week. If even a single person moves"

Lith didn't continue further. Threats were not needed after the torture that happened a few minutes ago.

Baldur was electrocuted, beaten black and blue to cough up whatever information he had. When he endured that as well, Lith attacked his soul and inflicted severe pain, causing him to break and answer.

Malros's faction was as good as gone. With this belief, the leader Cimir instructed these guys to begin wiping out whatever remained of Malros.

Even though there were a few days remaining, it mattered not to him as he wholeheartedly believed Malros would be gone.

He had no association to the Giants here as they were all mercenaries. Everything was kept under wraps to maintain anonymity. The only exception to this was Baldur, who was supposed to lead these mercenaries on orders from Cimir.

Baldur was a strong, old Giant. There weren't many who could compare to him. Those that could, they were taken care of and weren't in this cavern, making him the strongest Giant in this place.

Cimir's plan was perfect.

Well, almost perfect.

Malros had messed up big time by losing his temper multiple times in the court. The worshippers of Helvia were turning against her, which meant people were leaving Malros's side as well.

Malros was as good as banished at this point and the only reason for his continued stay was the final week he was given by the Chief.

Facts didn't lie and Cimir's calculations weren't wrong.

'The only thing this guy was unable to calculate was my appearance.'

Indeed.

Lith's intervention was unexpected.

Only someone at the level of a Supreme Rank or above could guess if an anomaly had popped up or not in their race.

Lith held his chin and looked at the mercenaries in the hall.

"What do I do about you guys?"

The mercenaries flinched. They dared not even breathe loudly in front of Lith.

Baldur was the strongest in the room, with him being beaten to such a degree, the mercenaries naturally knew whom to obey and listen to.

The strongest fist reigns was a rule that applied in most cases. This being no exception to it.

"How much were you getting paid?" Lith asked, interested.

A Giant stepped forward and said with a slight bow, "Ten low grade magic stones an hour, Sir."

For ten low grade magic stones these guys tried to do an evil deed. Not that it mattered to Lith, who was an outsider to this situation.

Good and evil, sin and virtue these concepts were subjective. If seen from Gunther's point of view, Cimir's side would seem evil, and the vice-versa might be true as well.

People didn't go after each other's throat without any reason. These things were taught to Lith by Mayzin during his training, and it was being applied properly in this situation.

'Although things could get done without me joining a faction, I'll do my batchmates a favor. I anyway need someone to coax the Giants into joining aunt.'

A plan formulated in Lith's mind as he watched the mercenaries here. The day when the Giants would stop their infighting wasn't long ahead.

"Ten low grade magic stones, was it? I'll give you guys ten medium grade no scratch that, I'll give you ten high grade magic stones an hour. All you have to do is a few simple things for me."

Lith's voice was like a devil's seductive whisper to these money hungry mercenaries.

They almost began drooling after hearing the amount and forgot all about the torture taken place in the room a few minutes ago.

"Sir, what would you like us to do?" The man that had spoken to Lith before asked cautiously, but was also secretly rubbing his hands behind his back.

Lith shook his head with a smile. Only loyal to money, these people would even sell their souls if given a big amount.

"I want you to pretend the job was done well. However, Baldur and a few others were injured and are now recuperating. The injuries weren't severe, so there's nothing to worry about. Say all of this to Cimir and ask him what next he wants you guys to do. Report to me after you're done. Take a few souvenirs from this place if you want to show Cimir some proof."

"Understood!" The Giant saluted, bowed, and began instructing his fellow mercenaries.

He didn't even bring up the payment to Lith. It was either he was confident that Lith wouldn't back on his words or he probably wanted to avoid offending him. Whichever it was, it didn't matter.

"Get going then."

Lith chased the guys away, then got off Baldur and had a small chat with Ojas and his group.

These guys had resentment blooming over their faces as they saw him, but soon got over it and listened intently as Lith gave them a plan to work with.

Once finished, he walked out of the cavern and made his way towards the Inn Fei was at.

While on the way, Lith took out his phone and dialed a number.

Ringgg Ringgg

..

On a rooftop bar, big TV screens lay everywhere and played the same loud scene.

Masked individuals stared at them intently while sipping on alcohol and chatting amongst their peers.

In a corner of the bar, a masked, blonde-haired individual was seated on a high chair, holding a microphone. By his sides, there were two black screens showing some numbers in red.

"Haha, ladies and gentleman, now who will you bet on?"

Behind the individual was a big screen. On it, two groups of people were clashing with each other.

"The Free Adventurer's Association or the World Adventurer's Association?" The blonde individual asked in a cheerful tone.

An individual seated close to the blonde guy raised a placard that had WAA written on it.

"1000 peak grade magic stones."

He took a sip of his drink and said unhurriedly.

"Hoho, that's quite the sum from table number 21!"

Beside the blonde guy, on the black screen, numbers in red flashed once.

+

1000P TN 21

+

Looking at that, a person from table number 11 sneered. "Anyone can place a bet on the WAA. It's not going to fall whatsoever and is safe to do so. But this one this one will be betting on the FAA, just watch, you idiots."

Provoking everybody in the air, a man in red robes from table number 11 said and raised a placard that had the letters FAA written on it.

"1000 medium grade magic stones!"

The masked blondie laughed heartily. "Here I was worried that there wouldn't be any supporters for the Free Adventurer's Association!"

A lady in blue sparkling robes from table number 2 scoffed and put her champagne down.

"This prick from table 11 just wants to have attention to himself. I am sure he knows that the FAA can't hold a candle to the WAA which is made by none other than the main eight."

Laughters rang out in the rooftop bar as the sun set and cast a golden glow on everybody present.

"Aah young miss from table 2, you shouldn't worry about me. I'm just throwing some leftover nickels, nothing much. And as for grabbing attention, I don't need to do that, but let's say I was doing it. There's one thing about me that I don't need to show a lot of skin to do that."

The man threw a jab at the lady whose gown had a heart-

shaped bodice that was at such a height that even a centimeter's slip down could result in the lady's pink pearls being out in the open for everybody to feast upon.

The lady frowned hearing such a comment. "That's quite an unsightly comment. I expected nothing less from second generation young masters."

It was the man's time to frown now. "Who are you calling a second generation young master, young miss?"

It looked like a fight would erupt soon in the bar if the situation wasn't resolved.

The blonde masked individual was about to say something to stop them, but his phone began vibrating in his pockets.

Calls were put on priority, so whoever must've called was probably someone important.

He cut off the mic's connection and picked up the call, ignoring the problems in the bar.

"Yuwen, it's me."

It didn't take him long to know who it was on the other side.

Yuwen hurriedly said, "Ah, Your Highness. How may I be of help?"

"What bets are currently going on?"

"It's the World Adventurer's Association and the"

"Place a million peak grade magic stones on the FAA for me. You have my card, do it."

"Ah"

Yuwen was surprised by the sudden comment.

"Is His Highness sure?"

It was not his job to advise, but this was going to be really risky. There's no way the WAA was going to lose to the FAA!

"Yes. And while you are at it, start the betting session on the war between Angels and Demons."

Yuwen was surprised once again when he heard that. The war between the Angels and Demons didn't look like it would end soon so the betting was going to be there after a while. But now that the Prince had said it

Yeah, he definitely knew a lot of things that Yuwen could never imagine.

Smiling and bowing subserviently even though Lith couldn't see him, he said, "It will be done at the earliest then, Your Highness. Anything else I can help you with? "

"That's all."

Beep.

The call was disconnected.

'His Highness definitely wouldn't make such bets without reason. I wonder what's going on behind the scenes'

"You son of a bitch!"

Yuwen's thoughts were soon broken by a shrill voice.

Turning his head to look at the source, Yuewen gasped.

A lady in blue robes was running at a man in red while holding a chair in her hand.

"Ah dear guests! Please calm down!"

Before the bets, there were some bigger issues Yuwen had to resolve.

Being a son-in-law of the World Merchant Association's President really wasn't fun