“You’re here! Good!”Despite her beauty, Elena was quite the fierce and stubborn woman. Her mastery in Magic and many achievements throughout the years were the main focus of her fame. Her attractive appearance wasn’t the main focus, so to speak. Still, there were many foolish people that tried to court her and ended up getting beaten. She was the head of the Whitefront Family, however, the lack of a husband by her side was what made many of her clan members try to wrestle her status away. Unfortunately for them, they were brought under heel by her absolute prowess.Now, such a woman barged into the room and was giving Zeke a rather menacing look.“Is there something you want?” Zeke stood up and faced the Archmagus.He could sense the monstrous quantity of Aether flowing through her body, but he also noticed that her movements were somewhat stiff, probably due to the serious wounds she sustained in Three Finger Mountains.“I’ve heard that the Emperor asked you to join us… but I’m not
“Good… good!”While wiping the blood off her lips, Elena immediately cast another spell which caused the ground to shake and light rays to surge forth. [Block Spell]Much to her confusion, however, the spell was stopped half-way as voltage crackled around Zeke. His silhouette blurred and shot at her, forcing her to retreat to the back while conjuring one shield after the other.The raging blue thunder was attacking indiscriminately, riddling the ground with holes and cracks as well as dancing uncontrollably in the air. Her shining white shields disintegrated upon contact and, within a couple of breaths, the youth was already in front of her.She swiped her staff from the side, attempting to counter-attack, but he deflected with ease and followed up with [Fury of Fists], which was strengthened by [Champion of Strength Mode] and [Sreyzhanian Arts].The ashen-haired Archmage was blown to the back, her body spinning in the air like a ragdoll. She was conscious enough to swiftly cast a sp
Zeke’s right eye was inside of an exquisite box inside of a glass pedestal. The Archmage approached it, used the talisman again to make the glass vanish, and then retrieved it.“Just so you know, we’ve conducted no tests whatsoever. Your eye is in a very good shape.”Zeke didn’t question her statement and merely accepted the box. He didn’t hesitate to open it and peek at the eyeball resting with it. It looked pretty disgusting with coagulated blood around it. The tiny blood vessels were abnormally thick and imbued with an outrageous amount of Aether, surprisingly.Zeke didn’t know how he was going to literally put his eye back into its socket, but he felt relieved that it was finally back to its rightful owner.Just as he was about to touch it, he heard hurried steps coming towards them. Elena furrowed her brow and exited the Vault.“What is the meaning of this?!”One of the elders, a relatively tall one with a dishevelled beard and eyes as small as beans, was angrily shouting with a
“I heard about what happened in the Whitefort household, are you alright?”A couple of hours after the strange occurrence in the Archmage’s home, Zeke returned to the Imperial castle and met with his mother.Since he didn’t have anything important to do, so to speak, he wanted to spend some time with her before she left for the Witch Association.“I’m fine. It was dealt with by the Archmage.”“I see…”Despite his assurance, Jennifer still thoroughly checked his body for any injuries. When she found nothing, she sighed and softly smiled.“It would be for the best if you avoid the politics of the Empire. They are even more messed up than the Nezulian Republic.”“That’s not hard to notice.” Zeke reciprocated with a faint smile.Although he didn’t actively show it, it was very clear that he was in a very good mood. He had cleared up a couple things with his mother and he felt comfortable to be at her side.Each of them had important duties… obligations that bound them to certain places. N
“You are leaving so soon?”Emperor Ascalon, ruler of the Empire, sat on his throne and gazed at the black-haired youth.Zeke Orland came to meet the Emperor for the last time before his departure.Jennifer had departed two days ago and it was also time for him to return to the Nezulian Republic.Sulong was also present, but he behaved awkwardly as he knelt on the ground and kept his head lowered. Despite his earlier claims, he looked quite nervous as soon as he entered the Throne Hall.Archmage Elena Whitefort, who had surprisingly become his bickering partner, was laughing from the side. She was fully enjoying his pitiful sight and sweaty bald head.“Yes, Your Majesty. I have rested for long enough. Thank you for your generous hospitality.”“...”The Emperor frowned and after a momentary silence, he asked,“Have you thought about my proposal? You will be a great boon to the Empire. As the Emperor, I will make sure that you will be given the highest possible status. Those are just the
The Sunken Metropolis,Central CityZeni Street was famous for being where all the wealthy companies build their Headquarters. The place was filled with skyscrapers or buildings seemingly made of glass.It wasn’t an understatement to call this region the heart of the Sunken Metropolis.The security here was top-notch and all corners and alleys were monitored by hundreds if not thousands of CCTVs. Therefore, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that no crimes ever happened in Zeni Street.At the very end of this street, there was a moderately sized building, one that couldn’t be more than 5-story-tall. Compared to the skyscrapers, it was like a minuscule ant, barely noticeable and totally out of place.However, despite its modest appearance, this building was famous across the entire Republic. After all, this was the Headquarters of the Lightning Flame Corporation.Founded five years ago, the Lightning Flame had risen to prominence and quickly became the biggest and strongest mercenary com
It has been a week since Zeke departed from the Serey Zhan Empire. So far, they encountered no attacks, either from beasts or bandits.As they got closer and closer to the territory of the Nezulian Republic, the devastation caused by the war became apparent.The carriage they used was neither too slow nor too fast, so they were expected to reach their destination in two more weeks, approximately.Sulong explained a couple of things about the Lightning Flame Company and how it had risen. Cecilia Eroa mostly maintained silence. After her brief argument with Zeke, she didn’t join their conversation and would simply sleep or absentmindedly look at the terrains they passed.However, considering this was a carriage that clearly belonged to the Empire, it wasn’t so unexpected for their path to be obstructed by agents from the Republic.In fact, Zeke still didn’t know what their response to his recent ‘feats’ would be. They probably think that he had joined hands with the Emperor and was com
“I will only reveal myself when necessary or when you’re alone.”Cecilia bowed and vanished into thin air. Zeke didn’t object, he just nodded and then turned his gaze toward the highway a distance away. They had discarded the carriage to not attract any attention and travelled through the forests instead of the main road.Aside from that one attack, they had not encountered any danger. There was a noticeable lack of monsters or bandits, but that could be attributed to the war.The conflict between the two nations had driven everyone and everything away. “I have a signal. We can wait for someone to pick us up.”Sulong tapped on his cellphone, looking particularly relieved and happy. He had become an influential figure, especially in the Sunken Metropolis. It wasn’t to the degree that everyone would know who he was, nevertheless, it wasn’t good to travel in the open. Zeke was accompanying him, and as someone who caused quite a ruckus five years ago, there were bound to be people that